Perspective

I found these pics on my camera after a lunch visiting teaching visit. Carter was quite pleased with himself. It was fun for me to take a peek into his perspective and see the things he found picture-worthy.

Moms chatting in the kitchen

Taylee playing in her room

Tay's hippo toy

Extreme close-up of Zach

Far shot of moms in kitchen

Tay's lamp and cd player

Jane and Kate at the barbie house

open dresser drawer

roof of barbie house

Budding photographer!

Interview with Carter

Ty's work has picked up a lot lately which means he's been gone a lot, so I've been trying to come up with different things to keep evenings (you moms know-those hours between 4:30 and bedtime) fun and SANE without him here to change things up. Marci posted a cute interview with her daughter that I thought I'd conduct with Carter. I love getting to know his little personality and thoughts better through things like this.

This is me according to my 3 1/2 year old Carter:
His answers are in blue and my thoughts are in red

What is something mom always says to you?

Be nice

What makes mom happy?

When I don't punch
(I can't recall EVER saying that to him??)

What makes mom sad?

Punch
(at this point I realized he probably didn't even know what "punching" was, so I asked him what he thought punching was)
I don't know, I guess it's being bad

How does your mom make you laugh?
Be silly
What was your mom like as a child?
Going to the park
How old is your mom?
5
How tall is your mom?
First he lifted his hands high in the air, then counted out the "stages" (??) of height "1-2-3-4...You're 4"
What is her favorite thing to watch on TV?
Mom shows
(I always watch my local news station's Studio 5 during my lunch preschool break while I rock Taylee. He's always asking me what they're saying on my mom show)
What does your mom do when you're not around?
Play at Jamin and Shandas (see my last post to see the humor in this)
If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Being laughy
(I've been told my laugh is a little obnoxious, so maybe...)
What is your mom really good at?
exercising
(no way...he just sees me do the "firm parts" VHS workout movie)
What is your mom not very good at?
not lifting up heavy things like the white box
(very true...I am definitely an upper body weakling)
What does your mom do for her job?
clean up our house
:)
What is your mom's favorite food?
Broccoli
hmm...not that I dislike it or anything, but my favorite??
What makes you proud of your mom?
saying nice things
If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Superwhy, but only Princess Pea because boys can be superwhy and girls can be princess pea and you're a girl. But Taylee could be red riding because we have roller skates for her in your closet.
What do you and your mom do together?
exercise
(Yes, he often does the "firm parts" workout movie with me)
How are you and your mom the same?
Cleaning up our house
How are you and your mom different?
Cuz you're wearing your shirt backwards
(For April Fools, I wore my shirt backwards and crazy hair... he thought it was so silly)
How do you know your mom loves you?
Because you're nice and kind
What does your mom like most about your dad?
Talking good words...sometimes you talk bad words to Dad and sometimes Dad talks bad words to you
(Umm...not sure what to say here except Carter definitely always takes Ty's side in disagreements and will totally defend him. AND "bad words" in Carter's mind is raising your voice. We are definitely both not "bad word" type of people...really!)
Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
to August to my birthday

I adore my Carter Mckay and feel like he teaches me everyday in his sweet and humble way to be a better person. He is truly a great example to me.

I love you Carter!!

Carterisms

Last night, we were driving around BYU campus waiting for my sister Sara to get out of a class. Carter was asking if BYU was a school and I explained that it was a big school with lots of classrooms and lots of students including Ty and I at one point. He got really confused and asked why we didn't bring him when we went to school there. I told him he wasn't born yet. He kept pushing, "but why didn't I come? Where was I?" I told him he was in heaven, but that answer just didn't cut it. He kept asking in different ways why he wasn't with us and didn't come to class with us. Finally, after none of my responses appeased him, he said "I guess I was at Jamin and Shanda's house." Jamin and Shanda are Ty's brother and sister-in-law who watched our kids while we were on our cruise and are pretty much our go-to for babysitting. I guess in Carter's mind, if he's not with us, he must've been with them :)

Road Trip

Last Thursday morning, the kids and I embarked on a road trip to Albuquerque to hang out with my sis, Janessa, who is 35 weeks pregnant with her third child, trying to sell a house, without her husband (who is living in Texas where their new job is), packing up the house and getting ready for a move, among a whole lot of other chaos.

The drive from Lehi to Albuquerque is 11 hours and I have to say that almost the entire 22 hours (both ways) was really fun. My kids are awesome in the car and I think enjoy road trips as much as I do. Taylee gets her best sleep in a moving car and Carter is totally content to play imagination with things he sees outside the car or whatever is in his head. I was able to listen to an entire general conference and all of my favorite CDs (Ty doesn't usually like all my music, so this was rare).

Here are some snapshots from Carter:

"Mom, it's the girl spaceship from Wall-E!"


"I want a truck with really big wheels like that in my room" ( and Carter got a nice long look at this truck's backside because it went 30mph in a 65mph no passing zone...lovely)


"They are so lucky they get to keep their house and bikes on their road trip"

Both kids also referred to all the big bulky telephone poles (not the wood ones, but those metal ones that look like they have arms) as robots.

While in Albuquerque, we had a blast hanging out with Janessa, Grace, and Abby. Janessa is so on top of things and put together I felt so bad I couldn't do more to help, but we really did love spending time with them before they move. Carter was worried every night that we would have to leave and kept telling us he wanted to stay and go to Texas with them. Hopefully soon, Carter.

Taylee lived it up having tons of fun girly dress-ups, shoes, and toys at her disposal.

The kids and I (minus Abby because my car can only fit 3 car seats :() took a trip to the Albuquerque Zoo. I've been wanting to visit this zoo since the Hogle Zoo sent their hippos to them a few years ago. It was a really warm day and really nice to be out and about. We took a ton of pictures of different animals because Grace felt so bad that her sister couldn't be there to experience it. So, Abby we're sending a bunch of pictures your way.

This rental wagon was a lifesaver. It fit all three kids

The train ride was REALLY SLOW, but the kids seemed to enjoy it regardless. And, it allowed us to see the Elephants without walking all the way across the zoo, which was really important to me after dragging the wagon for two hours.

This road trip allowed me some time to just sit and reflect as I passed beautiful scenery with my sweet children. I've always been able to feel the Spirit so strongly when I'm surrounded by nature. In a college biology class, we read a book by Rachel Carson called Sense of Wonder. I remember being so moved by it that I skipped a day of work and class, jogged to Y mountain, found my way up a trail that was secluded and spent a few hours just soaking it all in. I felt so close to Heavenly Father and felt like I was really able to receive direction that has influenced the rest of my life. Being out on the open road brought me back in a small way to that experience and helped me remember the feelings and thoughts I had. I'm really excited that the snow is melting (hopefully!) and the weather will be more conducive for fun trips with my kids. I want them to experience nature and it's possibilities.

3 beautiful States...the kids and I just had to sing through "50 nifty United States" each time we passed a state sign

New Mexico

Utah

Colorado

I have to admit I was a little hesitant about going on this trip without Tyson because there are so many things that can go wrong that Tyson can fix and I can't. I don't even like to go to the grocery store at night without Ty...it just feels so much safer. That being said, there were some things that did make me feel safer.

Ty's car

The navigation system led the entire way and to the zoo, gas stations, and grocery stores once in Albuquerque. Carter started referring to it as she as in "she said turn left, mom" because we heard so much from the nice navigation lady voice.

The left side of the dash showing RANGE told me exactly how many miles I could go before I ran out of gas. This coupled with the navigation telling me how many miles I had to the next city made it easy to plan my stops (well, the kids' potty breaks helped schedule those as well).

Really really grateful for great kids who are my good friends and kept me company. We had some great conversations and laughs that I'll remember for a long time. I don't know what I did before my kids. I must've been so bored :)

Grateful for the opening out of Price Canyon on Highway 6 into Spanish Fork. And especially grateful for the sign saying we only had 30 miles to go until HOME

Next road trip:

Yuba State Park
Goblin Valley State Park

Anyone game??

St. Patrick's Day

We celebrated St. Patrick's Day one day early in preschool.
When the kids walked into the classroom, it was a mess with leprechaun hair, shamrock stickers, gold coins, and footprints. Those leprechauns sure know how to make chaos!

And although my kids had repeated the whole "follow the leprechaun footprints to the pot of gold" twice in preschool the day before, they still were completely thrilled and surprised to find more footprints coming out of the vent in the hallway on St. Patrick's Day morning.

We invited some families in our ward over for corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes and traditional irish soda bread. There were three 3 year olds, Taylee, and 2 babies. It was really fun. We love getting to know people in our area better.

For Family Home Evening the Monday before St. Patrick's Day,

I copied a lesson idea from Everyday Food Storage about Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost being separate beings but one in purpose. We had a fun time. Ty and I are really loving the ages our kids are at. They're independent, but still need and love us. I LOVE watching them learn so much and seeing those "aha" moments in their eyes. Ty picked out which green jello we'd be using in our cookies...it was lime. The cookies turned out pretty limey tasting, which ended up being good because I didn't devour them all.


A new favorite of the kids
The Train Game