Pinky and the Brain

Our family has a new addiction - Pinky and the Brain. It is seriously one of the funniest show I have ever seen. It is not on TV anymore so we rent the DVDs from the library. I usually don't like cartoons, but these are hilarious. Greg and I literally laugh the entire time. Gavin and Enoch love them too and can't wait to watch them. The idea behind the show is two lab rats hatch ideas to take over the world every night when the lab closes. The schemes they come up with are absolutely crazy funny. Greg and I were teasing one day that we should call Kate, 'Pinky', because she is always in pink. Enoch didn't think that was a good idea because Pinky is stupid. But, we could call him Brain. (It's a good think he doesn't know what humility is yet!) How about we just keep laughing as a family watching a great show. NARF!

Remembering Kds (June 2008)

Gavin - Gavin is a great brother. He read bedtime books to Enoch and will even change Kate's diaper.
Enoch - The other day Enoch said to me, "I love you, Mom. I keep you." Whew, I was worried about him giving me away!
Kate - Our poor Kate has been suffering from allergies and is very stuffed up. Greg calls her Darth Kater.

Kate's Pictures

After feeling incredibly guilty for not having Kate's pictures taken in her blessing dress, I caved and took her in (even though it was a month and a half and 3 pound later). I don't care; they turned out so cute. The photographer said she had never seen such an expressive baby. Here are a few of my favorites.

Kate Update (4 months)

I can't believe our Kate is now 4 months old (June 19). She is such a fun, cute little girl and we are completely in love with her. Her personality is developing and we can predict her moods and reactions to most things. She always has a big smile first thing in the morning, but if she doesn't get her bottle right away she shrieks, not cries, but a high-pitched girly shriek. It's amazing so much noise can come from such a little person. She is generally a happy baby (especially if she is being held or outside), but when she gets mad or ignored - watch out! She is quite entertained by her brothers (who needs toys when you have older brothers). Gavin and Enoch both love to hold her and feed her (yes, Enoch will feed her an entire bottle and does a great job). She likes going for walks with Mom and will still sit in her stroller and be happy. Kate also likes playing with and being 'scared' by her dad. Greg loves to startle her and yell, 'Boo!'. Kate usually jumps and then smiles. She doesn't like being ignored, laying on her tummy, snuggling or her binky (she prefers her fist and thumb). We love her so much and are so happy she is in our family.
PS - At her; 4-month check (1 Jul) she weighed 14 lbs. 14 ozs (50%), 25 inches long (75%) and 41 cm head circumference (25%).

Scott Dee Randall

Our family is amazingly blessed to have two great grandpas in our family. My dad is a terrific example of hard work, compassion, love of family and of the Gospel. He loves to spend time with his family and will go to great lengths to make sure that happens. He plans vacations with us, organizes camping trips to Yellow Pine (our favorite camping spot), babysits the kids and pretty much does almost anything we ask. He is great to take the initiative when we need help with something. I remember when I complained to him about Gavin running away when we first moved into our house. Within the week he had constructed a large chicken wire play pen for him to play in and had also called a bunch of fence companies to get quotes for us. Wow! I appreciated it so much. I am so grateful for the example he has set for my kids. He loves the Gospel and it shows by his actions and decisions. He has served two missions (Texas and Philippines) and has served happily and faithfully in all his church callings. We love our Grandpa Randall!
Gavin - Gavin likes to go snowmobiling with Grandpa and remembers a time going around Grandpa's 'Walgreen' house.
Enoch - Enoch likes to play with Grandpa's toys. He had a great time riding ATV's with Grandpa at his house.

DeVere A Fowler

One of the greatest blessings in our lives is Greg's dad, Dee. What a tremendous person he is. He has been the best example to our family in everything he does. He is completely committed to the Gospel and his family and lives his life accordingly. He is extremely hard-working, honest, kind and truly the most generous and helpful person I know. Last winter when our Trooper broke down, Greg called his Dad for help. Without hesitation, he came and helped Greg until the problem was solved. When Greg expressed his thanks, Dee responded by saying, "This is what I live for, to take care of my family." That is absolutely true. I can't hardly think of a home improvement project we have done without Dee's help (he was especially great helping us with the basement). I can't think of a better example for our kids than their Grandpa Dee.
Gavin - likes spending time and talking to Grandpa. His favorite memories are of going camping with Grandpa Dee and Dad at the Father and Sons camp outs.
Enoch - likes playing in Grandpa's backyard on the zip line and going on the boat with Grandpa.

Father's Day

We had a wonderful Father's Day today. It was a beautiful day and we walked to church. (We've been trying to get in that habit; thanks $4 gallon gas!) Church was great even though Greg didn't get a chance to attend much of his meetings because he was walking the hall with Kate. His highlight at church was the Father's Day Nursery Muffin Munch. Greg (and all the other dads) joined their kids in nursery for the first 15 minutes and ate muffins, fruit and juice with the kids. Greg and Enoch both had such a great time. Enoch though it was so neat to have Dad in his class. (I only took pictures for our Primary DVD; I'm really not so obsessed with my blog as to take my camera to church and take pictures of nursery!)

For dinner, we had grilled salmon, roasted red potatoes, peas and watermelon. It was very good; Greg did a great job with the salmon. We had chocolate chip cookies for dessert (Greg's favorite). After dinner we just hung out and talked, jumped on the trampoline and went for a walk. Greg already knew what his present was, so opening presents wasn't that exciting. He got the entire Stargate SG-1 series on DVD - 54 DVDs! Wow! I wonder how long it will take for him to watch the entire series? We spent the evening at the Fowlers, visiting and eating cake and ice cream. It was a great day and we are so lucky to have such a great dad in our family.Gavin's favorite thing to do with his Dad is building and launching rockets. One his favorite memories of his Dad is eating Oreos. When Gavin was about four, they both sat down for a bedtime snack. Gavin got the milk and Greg got the Oreos. They sat across from each other at the table and tried to stare the other one down before giving up their half of 'cookies and milk'. Honestly, to this day, I don't know how it ended. I went to bed. I know better than to get involved with stubborn Fowlers!
Enoch's favorite thing to do with his Dad is playing with his 'dangerous' toys. When I pressed him to name some toys, he said his Magtastiks and Marbleworks. He also likes playing outside with Dad and jumping on the trampoline.
Kate's favorite thing to do with her Dad is being held by him. Sometimes at night, Dad is the only one who can calm her down (or hold her calmly when she is screaming). Dad also makes sure that Kate's headbands aren't too tight, her skirts and shorts are modest and her fingernails are cut. Dad also makes sures to ooh and aah when Kate is wearing a new outfit (yes, I know Greg, boys wear clothes, but girls can wear outfits!)
We are so lucky to have such an amazing Dad in our family. We love him so much!

Celebrate Red, White & Blue

Okay, so now that I have figured out how to change the background on our blog, it has became a lot of fun. Thanks to all who took part in our poll. It seems that most people liked our new look. However, I'm a total sucker for everything red, white and blue. I'm changing to a patriotic theme for a few months to celebrate my favorite holiday, the 4th of July. I decided to change today, it being Flag Day. I love this time of year, seeing all the flags flying so often. I can't wait to get my bunting up on the porch. As I say to my kids about America, especially this time of year: LOVE YOUR LIBERTY, REMEMBER YOUR RESPONSIBILITY!

Thanksgiving Point Farm

It was a beautiful afternoon yesterday and I was sick of the kids watching TV, so we made a trip to the Farm at Thanksgiving Point (I had to bribe Gavin with ice cream afterward, but it worked). Once we got there, we had a terrific time. Gavin and Enoch love feeding corn kernels to the goats. It was especially fun this time because the baby goats were old enough to eat the kernels and would follow the boys around, bleat and eat the kernels out of their hands. Enoch was a bit apprehensive about having the goats lick his hands so he would just throw the kernels in the pen and giggle. Gavin liked having the big goats stand on their back hooves to eat out of his hands. Enoch got a huge kick out of the donkey who paced in front of his stall and brayed (did I spell that right?) over and over. That was the only time that Kate woke up; she even slept through the bumpy wagon ride.
We decided to put off ice cream until after dinner when Dad could go with us. We went to Arctic Circle and the all of the boys had ice cream. This morning Enoch told me how much fun it was to get an ice cream cone and he wanted to do it a hundred more times. It was a great reminder to me of how much fun we can have together without a bunch of planning (a huge hang-up of mine thinking that everything needs to be planned out). I'm glad my kids and Greg are spontaneous and I am trying to learn from their great examples!

Best Friends

This afternoon, Gavin, Enoch, Kate and I were sitting in the family room with me looking at the clock wondering how much longer until Greg would get home. (Gavin and Enoch had just finished a teasing/fighting session.) Enoch surprised me by looking up at me and saying, "Gavin is my best friend. I love him. I keep him." To hear Enoch say that about Gavin just melted my heart. It seems that Gavin is always teasing Enoch, and Enoch is always over-reacting to the teasing. I sometimes wonder if they even like being together. But in typical boy fashion, 30 seconds after fighting they are best buds again. There is nothing quite like having a brother to fight with, play with, share with and love. They have a tremendous amount of fun together. Their favorites are jumping on the trampoline, wrestling, riding scooters, watching MacGyver, playing with the wagon and drinking hot chocolate together. I am so thankful that my boys are unique in who they are, with their own talents and interests, but also best friends!
PS - When I asked Gavin and Enoch to sit for these pictures tonight, Gavin groaned, "Oh no, THE BLOG!" He has me all figured out.

Car Wash

I don't know if someone taught this game to my kids or if they made it up themselves, but their new favorite thing to do is to play "car wash" on the trampoline. The game goes like this: someone runs or jumps down the middle of the trampoline while two people stand on the sides and spray them with squirt bottles (I'm relieved they are using small squirt bottles and not a full-powered hose!). Both Gavin and Enoch like to be the 'car' and also the 'washers', so this game works out great for the two of them. The problem is that they have to recruit either Greg or me to be the other 'washer'. This would be great fun except for the fact that once Greg or I have a squirt bottle in our hands we become fair game for being squirted ourselves. It usually turns into a water fight, which is probably the entire point for the boys. Greg and I don't might getting wet if it means playing and having fun with the boys!

I Love Chicken!

Whenever Gavin is feeling excited, happy, sad or mad, he yells, "I love chicken!". We're not sure where this saying came from but it has become a common occurrence in our home. Gavin does like chicken, but he is not obsessed with eating it, just saying it. I appreciate the fact that he is saying something comical and not mean or inappropriate, but I still just don't get it. Nothing new there; if I understood Gavin my life would have been a lot easier for the last 10 years! However, it still makes me laugh every time Gavin yells, "I love chicken", over and over. I like it when he says it with a smile on his face, rather than growling it with a snarky smile or screaming it while stomping out of the room. I don't know how long this will last, but I'm enjoying his quirky sense of humor for now.

72-Hour Kits

Our ward is currently making a huge push for everyone to have an updated 72-hour kit. We put some together a few years ago, but the food was expired, clothes too small and nothing for Kate at all. So, that has been my project this week (even though the Priesthood in the home was supposed to head it up; ladies, we all know how that goes! I think I'll put Greg in charge of the camping things, while I handle the clothes, food, first-aid and hygiene). I can't complain too much, Greg is willing to help how he can. Enoch has been my best helper by unloading each backpack numerous times a day looking for the shaker flashlights, chapsticks, stuffed bunny and money; and not just from his backpack, but everyones. What a good helper! Gavin keeps eyeing his $20 cash and beef jerky and asking if his tin foil blanket really does work (I have no idea, I hope so!). After attending an Enrichment activity about 72-hour kits last night, I came home feeling ours were woefully inadequate. I think some people could live off of theirs for months! However, we do have them and we will be fine for a few days. I just have to get a few more food items, some camping gear and a first aid kit for Enoch. After that, I can put them back in the hall closet for one more year. I hope I'm not getting them out before that to use them in an emergency. But I do know they are there for us and that lets me sleep a little easier at night!