A Little Catch Up....

I have been trying to catch up on blog posts for weeks now because wonderful, fun, and sometimes not so fun things keep happening and I want to document IT ALL!!! However, being a working Mom with a two and three year old seems to steal all my time. When I am home I want to spend every waking second making memories with my kiddos. Whether it's cooking, playing outside, play dates, pool days, gardening, sunny days at the Wet 'n Wild water park, yoga lessons with Mama, and don't forget those post workout snuggles....

 .....or in today's case, Austin's great attempt at potty training his sister (hahaha!), grocery shopping, and a giant water balloon war on the front porch.....

For some reason Austin decided today was the day Evie would be potty trained and HE was going to be the guy to do it! I laughed so hard when she politely told him, "No thank you" and walked away, leaving him totally frustrated! hehe!

These mini shopping carts are a must have when you have two toddlers! It actually works out really well and they have so much fun! Now, I just need to help Evie learn how to be a better driver haha! She took out a whole wall of cookies today.....

WATER BALLOON WAR!!!!!!

My half naked babies on the front porch + water = happiness!

Such a goof ball :).

Eve took the whole situation VERY seriously.

Oh, and this week I started remodeling our kitchen! The first big step was to paint the cabinets and HOLY COW was it a painful process! I could barely walk for two straight days from painting layer after layer in the garage (I had removed the cabinet doors to paint them in the garage) but it is done and I am SOOOO happy with how it turned out! Next up is the tile backsplash and the floors! Austin was a big helper throughout the whole ordeal and he loved carrying the cabinet doors into the garage after I took them off the hinges. At one point he told me, "Mama, you are really lucky Heavenly Father sent me to you because I'm the strongest boy in the whole world!!" I couldn't agree more :).

My biggest helper!

BEFORE

AFTER

Anyways, some fun things happened a little while ago and I wanted to make sure I document it before I completely forget!

Austin got to work on our cars with Grandpa Nathan and he had THE BEST time! He was in little boy heaven for three straight days! We needed to change out the shocks in both of our cars and the guy at the shop was going to charge $1000 which was ridiculous so off to Grandpa's we went! I am so glad we did because it was an amazing moment for Austin to get to work side by side with his Grandpa and feel so big! Austin is very mechanically minded so this was right up his alley! I was in heaven watching them and listening to their adorable conversations. Nathan basically let Austin do everything and just guided him! and the amazing part is he did so well!! Definitely a future engineering degree for this kid!

Under the car with Grandpa while Evie hung out with the dogs :).

Taking off the old shocks.

We were both so proud of this boy! He was so strong, and did so well! Seriously. AMAZING!

He learned all the names for the tools and remembered all of them! I know I'm his Mom and am therefore biased, but my boy is so freaking smart!

Austin's happy place :).

To add to all that fun, I also have to write down how we went to Utah for my Cousin Jayson's wedding! The wedding was the reason we went, but we spent an extra week there just hanging out in Layton and having fun every day with Grandma and Grandpa Ronnenkamp! We did something different every day and didn't let the rain and snow stop us! The wedding was in May. Seriously Utah?? Josh had to work, so I drove by myself with the kids. It was extremely nerve wracking as I drove through a blizzard in Beaver pass but we survived!

I brought Austin with me to the temple ceremony so he could get another special temple experience and learn for himself what a temple wedding is like! Of course he had to wait in the lounge while the actual sealing went on (my Mom waited with him so I could attend) but it was so special for him (and I) nonetheless! I love getting to share my love and testimony of the gospel with this special boy! I especially loved how he understood the reverence of the temple and how he was so worried that his clothes weren't nice enough for Heavenly Father's house. Of course he was dressed in his Sunday best so this just showed me how sweet and innocent he is!

Hanging out with family outside of the temple after the sealing. We love Great Grandma Wiegel!

It was so nice to see Grandma Diana looking healthy again after Grandpa's funeral. It was also nice to see my parents enjoying time together since the rehab fiasco....

Austin and Grandpa Nathan

4 generations photo! I feel so lucky to be raising my children so close to family and these wonderful women!

Dancing at the reception! We had fun listening to Grandma Wiegel's stories about her dancing days and having her show us some moves!

Evie dancing with Grandma Jill while Austin blew bubbles :).

So in love with my girl!

This moment of dancing with Austin must have left an imprint on his little mind because just last night he asked me to dance with him just like this in Evie's bedroom (while we were getting them ready for bed and listening to music) and then told Daddy to dance with Evie :). I am so grateful for those sweet moments that our children bring into our lives!

Bubbles in Grandma Ronnenkamp's back yard!

As you can see, bubbles are ALWAYS a good idea :).

Attacking Grandma!!!!!

Baking with Grandma and having a grand ol' time!

The final product with LOTS of sprinkles! Yummy!!

There was of course and Arctic Circle date for hamburgers, the indoor playground, and ice cream :).

My handsome boy got to visit Grandpa Steve's childhood farm! He loved the cows but was even more interested in the cat that was hanging around :).

We also visited the Ogden Dinosaur Museum!

Digging for Dinosaur bones.

This was seriously so fun! Even I got down there and dug with them!

Austin loved this petrified tree/slide! He went down it more times than we could count!

Austin also got to visit the Hill Air Force Base Airplane Museum with Grandpa! Yet another "in awe" moment!

Although the planes and helicopters were right up his alley, Austin still says he wants to be a Fireman :).

Oh and we went to the Sea Quest Aquarium!

We got to touch and feel all sorts of sea animals and had an amazing time! Austin's favorite was putting his hand in the aquarium full of trout and Evie liked the star fish!

Meeting this giant tortoise was so cool! Can you believe this guy is only a baby?!

We also got to go inside a giant bird cage with containers of bird seed and feed the birds! Within seconds they all swooped down on us and Evie obviously wasn't impressed hahaha! That poor bird, it looks like she's squeezing it to death!

Staying true to his nature, Austin was cautious but interested.

Grandma and Austin enjoying a little toe nibbling :).

Of course Evie had to try it too!

Petting a sting ray!

The kids slept the entire 6 hour car ride home (minus the stop in St. George to stretch our legs and visit with Great Grandma Wiegel). I couldn't believe it! We must have seriously worn them out! They were sad to leave Utah and all that fun, but they sure were happy to be home playing in the water on the front porch again!