Binkie Boy!

For those of you who don't know, my Lendon is addicted to his binkie. He loves it. He'll see one and start saying please (so cute) then, when he gets it he opens his mouth super wide and chomps down on it as dramatically as possible. haha - you'd have to see it. :)

Well, today he was very sad about the toothbrush being taken away from him and after a few minutes of sadness, I decided to look for his loved binkie. I found 2 sitting in a regular spot and give him one. "Please" he says pointing to the other one. So, I give it to him. "Please" again .. I look, he's pointing to a binkie on the floor. I laugh and give it to him (why not!?!). "please" --pointing to yet another binkie hiding partially under the couch! You've got to be kidding me!! However, I admit, I gave that to him too! So, he went down for his nap just now with one binkie in his mouth, one in one hand, and 2 in the other. (Happy as can be, I might add!)

Silly, cute little boy!

There he is with his binkie .. and Kayson with his finger and "blue blanket"! My boys!

Thank you to my wonderful husband!

Here is a big THANK YOU to Jess!! His work schedule is always so busy, yet he is always so willing to work it out so I can go do fun things. A couple weekends ago was the BYU Women's Conference. If you haven't been or haven't heard about it, it is a wonderful experience. It is 2 days full of spiritual upliftment. It was well needed for me and without Jess, it would not have been possible. He worked from home both days so he could watch the boys while I went. I'm sure you can imagine, it wouldn't be easy to watch a very active almost 3 year old and a very cuddly 1 year old AND try and work as well. However, my Jess is amazing and he managed just fine!

This is me, Sharece, and Shonda waiting for our class to begin on making your Sabbath day more committed to Christ .. it was great!

This last weekend, my sister's had a "sister sleepover" planned. It was all 6 Petersen sisters, plus Bettie, and even Karina, Lydia, Renae, and Gideon. We all met at a hotel in Salt Lake City and spent a night of fun and laughter together. Again, without Jess and his support, it wouldn't have been possible. He stayed home with the boys, putting them to bed and taking such good care of them for a full 24 hours! This break was also well needed, more in an emotional way. We laughed and laughed with everything we did .. and laughter is very good for me. It made me set a specific goal to LAUGH more with my boys. WHY NOT!?! Life can be full of laughter here too! And it is!

I didn't get a pic of the full group, but here is one of 3 of us. Just chillin' at the hotel room after a fun(ny) time of swimming in their pool and a yummy pot luck meal we brought!

Lastly, a pic of the hero of the hour with his wonderful boys. They love him soo much! Lately, Kayson will cry and cry when his daddy goes to work. It is so sad. But I sure love the excitement when Jess comes home - both boys run to him as happy as can be! I am very blessed to have such a wonderful husband who loves me and who takes such good care of me and my boys. I couldn't ask for a better husband and best friend.

Thanks, Jess, for all you do!! I love you forever!

Happy First Birthday!

My sweet Lendon turned one on March 5th .. I can't even believe it's already been a year. We are so blessed to have that sweet, smiley, cuddly, loving boy in our lives!

Can you believe how much he has changed??

Opening presents!

He loves hugs (when he wants them!) Sweet Karina.

His cake! What do ya think? :)

First taste.

Loving it now!!

So thirsty .. they sure dug into it!

On his birthday we went to the aquarium ... the boys had so much fun! Kayson even touched the starfish! He was trying to touch the stingrays, but the water was too deep! Lendon just loved watching the fish swim around. He would just stare and try to touch them! It was a wonderful day!

A video of the cake .. I love that Kayson was right there with him. So much fun!

Happy birthday, sweet boy!

My newest project!

My big project right now is getting our 72 hr kits complete. I am so close! It seems like in the past, every time I would start and be so ambitious, but then I'd get stuck on something, not know what to do, and I wouldn't look at it again for a couple months. But this time, we are really going to do it. If all goes as planned, I should have them complete next week. I am so excited! This has been a GREAT project for me! I love having something worthwhile for me to do. It is more than just filling my time. I am doing something that might save my family if an emergency hits and we need to leave our homes quickly. The prophets have told us to prepare every needful thing. This is one thing I can do to follow their council, then I'll go on to the next! It feels so good to be prepared.

We're alive ... and even smiling!

I know it has been a long time. Part of me wants to play catch up and give you pics and stories of Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's weekend, and so many other fun things. Instead, I will just post some of my favorite random pics of that last few months. Be ready for some cuties! :)

**Sledding!**

**I told Kayson stockings were like socks ... **

**Kayson's snow man**

**Writing his letter to Santa with his cousins**

**Our nativity play (minus Lendon who was acting as baby Jesus!)**

**Have you ever seen such cute curly hair! I love it! **

**I know it's a bit blurry, but I LOVE them "reading" together!**

**Handsome Kayson!**

**Play time!**

**Handsome Len -- and getting so big!**

And for a LATE update ... Lendon is crawling like a pro now. He is soo fast! He loves to walk around with our ottomon and Kayson's train. He also crawls up our stairs (when he is feeling very brave) AND is starting to try and stand on his own .. only for a few seconds, but he gets so excited when he does! He loves to copy, copy, copy. He watches us and loves to try and do what we're doing and say what we're saying. He is growing up so fast in my eyes! He is so much fun .. he loves to laugh. He'll be playing by himself and I'll catch him laughing thru out. I love my Len.

Also.. Kayson is now potty trained!! He'll still have random accidents when he doesn't get to the potty fast enough, but I am loving having a potty trained li'l boy! His confidence seems to have sky-rocketed since he goes potty too .. in a lot of ways! He wants to do everything himself .. "I do it" and is soo pleased when he does it, even if it is something he has been able to do for a while. The smile on his face is so sweet. He also LOVES to give hugs and kisses. I won't complain!! Especially during meals. He leans over and gives kisses and hugs. It makes mealtimes go slow sometimes, but I don't mind. He really is such a sweetheart. If he is ever in trouble, usually all he wants is a hug from me. He sure brightens my days!

My happy helper

Kayson is my big helper. Here is a clip of a few things I caught him doing. These are not just for the video .. he does these things with me often. As you can see, some of them are more imitating than actually doing it, but I still think it is wonderful and so fun to watch! Enjoy! He is also learning how to put on his own pants ... mostly!

My fun project.

I know .. when I post, I really post. Make sure you look below, there are about 4 new posts for you to enjoy. This one is about ME! I've found a new hobby. It isn't an every day thing, but for special occasions, I sure have fun doing it. My dad had his 60th birthday on Saturday, so we all got together to celebrate. I was put in charge of the cake because I've had some fun with others before. My dad grew up as a farmer and, as Shonda said, he will always be a farmer! So, in celebration of his birth and who he is, this is what I did: It is far from being done professionally, but it was a lot of fun to do! It took a little time and planning, but fun projects like this are just what I need every once in a while. I am slowly trying to add fun things in my day-to-day life to give myself a little more ... substance! So this was great!