House Projects

Well, Laron's been busy around here making our house just perfect (although we sure have a LONG ways to go!). Here's a little of what he's been up to lately... Making a garden box for our strawberry patch.

He also made an area for our raspberries to go,

both of which are filled up with starts from my parent's garden.

Thanks Mom and Dad!

Installing a ceiling fan into our Master Bedroom...

Installing lights into the Living Room...
(Yes, there were NO lights in this room at ALL before!)

He put 2 lights on the ceiling & 2 lights on the wall to accent our picture of Christ. This project was definitely the most time consuming one of all because Laron had to get up in the attic and drill holes and cut through sheet-rock and re-wire breaker systems... Wow hun! Your experience in electrical work sure paid off. Our house is looking great!



We also inherited a trampoline & a swing set from our backyard neighbors who are going to move to Wisconsin & didn't want to take them with them. Although Skyler was super excited about them, it still meant a day of work for Laron to take them all apart at the neighbor's house & put them back together at our own. I suppose it was worth it though!



We also just planted the second planting of our garden (sorry, no picture). We had already planted peas, carrots, potatoes, green onions & lettuce a couple weeks ago, but my Grandpa Erickson said he thought it was now warm enough to plant the rest of the crops, so we went for it... We planted beans, corn, spinach, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers & watermelon. I'm sure this will be a very educational experience for us doing a garden entirely on our own this time, but we're hoping for the best!

Skyler's 1st Shower

Skyler suddenly became interested in the idea of taking a shower (I guess he wants to be cool like Mommy & Daddy), so although I was hesitant to let him try it out on his own, I finally gave in. It took him awhile to put more than just his hands into the water, but once he got used to the idea, he liked it. But I think this will be his last shower for now... at least until he learns to wash himself on his own (because I ended up getting a shower at the same time while I was trying to help him!).

"Kimberly can talk now!"

The other day Skyler was talking to Kimberly. Apparently she said something that sounded like an answer, because Skyler excitedly ran over to me and announced, "Kimberly can talk now! I'll go tell Daddy!" Although Skyler's enthusiasm for her to grow up was super cute, I realized how much I need to enjoy her today and not just hope for the accomplishments of tomorrow.

The Living Planet Aquarium

While my brothers Chris & Jeff were staying with us a few weeks ago, we went to "The Living Planet Aquarium" in Sandy. Skyler loved seeing the snakes, fish, penguins and seahorses, but he especially loved that his uncles were there with him!

We'll definitely have to do it again sometime!

Skyler's 2nd Easter Egg Hunt

The week after Easter, my brothers Chris & Jeff came and stayed with us for a few days while my parents were out of town. While they were here, they decided to throw Skyler another Easter Egg hunt of his own.

Thanks Chris & Jeff! We had fun!

EASTER... Finally!

Okay, so I'm a little late on these Easter pictures, but I guess I just didn't want to sort through them all... But here's out Easter fun finally!

We did an Easter Egg Hunt at my Aunt Linda's house this year, and Skyler's uncle Timmy helped him find most of his eggs so Mommy could take pictures (Laron was up at his Dad's house so they could go to the Priesthood Session of Conference together).

His Grandma & Grandpa Erickson gave him this fun "Car" Easter Basket. He loved it! And now he uses it to drive around his toys...

Kimberly's first Easter Egg experience!
With her Grandma Erickson, who was MORE than happy to hold her...

Finally, onto the GOOD part of the Easter Egg Hunt!

My Dad made these Jello Easter Eggs for the dinner afterwards... They were the hit of the dinner!

Skyler playing with cousins (or maybe they're his second-cousins)... Whatever!

Feeding Kimberly

We finally were able to feed Kimberly rice cereal for the first time the other day. She's been really eye-balling our food lately so I thought she'd LOVE it, but she wasn't so sure about it. And of course, she has a lot to learn when it comes to keeping the food INSIDE her mouth, but it was fun anyway. And I had a GREAT assistant helping me as well, which made it even funner!

Going to School

For some reason, Skyler has been fascinated with the concept of "School" lately. We have a little backpack we got awhile back that he likes to put on & pretend to go to school.

Here he is on his way out the door...  Leaving his Mother behind...

Now wait, "Where do you think YOU'RE going?"

He was upset that I made him come back inside, but then we had our own little "School", so he felt a little bit better about things.

My Kid has Style

It doesn't matter what Skyler does, he does it in style... Whether it's sleeping, posing for a picture, or kicking a ball, he has a style all his own, and I love it!

Daddy's Belt

While I'm getting ready in the morning and Skyler has nothing to do, he often goes into our room and gets Daddy's belt & begins tying things up around the house.

Sometimes it's himself... And sometimes it's the fridge or dresser drawers or bathroom cabinets...

I'm not sure where he learned to be so creative with tying things up, but I sure love it when he can entertain himself like that!

"Milo came to see me!"

My parents have a cat named "Milo" that Skyler loves. He loves that when we go to visit them, Milo is often the first one to greet us at our car.

Well, our next door neighbor apparently has a cat that looks similar to Milo, and the other day Skyler was looking out the window and excitedly proclaimed, "Milo came to see me!" I tried to explain that the cat sitting on our neighbor's front porch wasn't actually Milo, but Skyler wasn't convinced. So now we just call our neighbor's cat Milo, although we should probably learn what it's real name is sometime...

Toe Jams

Skyler absolutely LOVES getting the lint out from between his toes. I'm not really sure where he learned it from, but we get in BIG trouble if we forget to let him do it before putting him to bed. My parents learned this the hard way when they babysat him for us one night... He loves it so much in fact that he volunteers to help Laron & I with ours if we ever happen to take off our socks in front of him... Weird.

And sometimes, if he's being disruptive while we have company over (like the Home Teachers) & we keep asking him to sit still and be quiet, he'll simple whisper "Toe Jams?" with a twinkle in his eye until we give in and take off his socks and let him pick at his toes. And let me tell you, it works like a charm! He'll sit quiet and content for several minutes, engulfed in the task at hand.

Kids sure come with their own personalities, don't they?!

"Not my Fault"

Skyler's latest phrase is, "Not my fault." When Kimberly was younger and would be crying, Skyler would try and go over and comfort her. But most of the time it only made her cry more, so when he'd feel bad that his attempts to make her happy didn't work, we'd tell him that "it wasn't his fault she was crying." Well, a couple months later, now Skyler has learned that he often gets in trouble when Kimberly starts crying (because it often IS his fault). So a week or two ago he started defessively saying, "Not my fault" whenever she starts crying. Whether or not it is his fault or not, it surprised me that he'd already be trying to get himself out of trouble... They sure learn fast!

Cellphone Savy Already

A few weeks ago, Emily and Adam gave Skyler one of their old cell-phones, which of course he LOVES. He keeps it above the head of his bed, and sometimes when I tell him we're going to go to Grandma's house or something, he'll go grab his phone and "call" Grandma to let her know we're coming over.

Look at those texting fingers!  He knows just how to hold it...

Thanks Emily and Adam!

Beautiful Things

After spending all day cleaning up toys, dishes, & kids and trying to MAKE things beautiful, it sure is nice when things become beautiful on their own...

Kimberly's First Cracker

A couple weeks ago, I gave Skyler a bowl of crackers while I got ready in the morning. A minute or two later I heard Skyler excitedly say this: "Mom, Kimberly likes crackers!" Sure enough, Kimberly was trying out her first cracker, and although she didn't have it in her mouth long, I think she liked it.