Loved the Olympics

I know this post is a bit late coming, but I needed to post about how much our family loved, loved, loved the Olympics. We watched every night we could and had a blast doing it. Gavin and I screamed and jumped up and down when Michael Phelps won by .01 seconds. Greg groaned when the women's relay team dropped the baton. And we all looked at each other baffled when we realized that BMX biking and trampoline are actual Olympic sports. Gavin and my favorite sport to watch was swimming and Greg enjoyed watching the ice skating (no, really that's what he said. Acutally he liked the swimming, too!). We were completely bummed that they showed too much marathon (really, they are just running) and had fun watching gymnastics, water polo and beach volleyball and indoor volleyball (is that what they call it?). Greg has already informed Kate that she is not allowed to compete in beach volleyball because of the skimpy uniforms. I know that the Winter Olympics are only in two years, but they just aren't as much fun as the summer games. We can't wait for London in 2012! My aunt had this link on her blog and Greg and I laughed so hard. It's great fun and really worth watching. Check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EO_BnsrWMnI

Backyard Remodel

A few months ago, I blogged about our new trampoline. At the end of the post I promised that more changes were coming to the backyard and I would keep everyone updated. Finally, I have something to say. Our new shed was installed the first part of July. After pricing out sheds, Greg decided that the $250 he would have saved doing it himself was not worth spending the rest of his summer nights and weekends working on the shed. I absolutely agreed. A big thanks to James Hobbs who was great to work with and gave us a great "neighbor" deal on our new shed. We loved how it turned out and it is wonderful to have our garage cleaned out.












This afternoon, Greg finished up our zip line that runs along our back fence. It was a big tricky to put in since Greg anchored it to the large tree in our yard. He got to act like a kid again and climb our tree numerous times to tie the wire. The boys are so excited and Enoch couldn't wait to try it out. We (I say we loosely, Greg knows that means him!) still have to build our play tower next to the shed, which will have the take-off platform for the zip line. That's the next project; we are hoping to have it finished before the weather turns bad.

A Boy and his Bike

While taking our evening walk on Thursday, we noticed that Enoch's front wheel on his Big Wheel was significantly veering to the left. Half way through our walk, the entire front section of his bike had broken off; the plastic cracked and it permanently damaged. After we got home, we discreetly put the bike in the recycling bin and made a big fuss about getting down the big boy bike from it's hook on the garage's ceiling. Greg realized that the bike needed major repairs. He took off the back tire because it was worn down to the treads. The next day, Enoch pedaled his bike and had a great time. I say he pedaled because with the back tire missing and training wheels on, the bike wouldn't move when pedaled. Enoch would pedal as fast as he could and then get off and push the bike a couple of feet and get back on and pedal some more. It was hilarious to watch and Enoch didn't seem to mind the unorthodox way of riding his new bike.


Today, Greg and Enoch went to the bike store to get parts to fix up his bike. Enoch was beyond excited to go to the big boy bike store with Dad. They went to The Bike Barn in Lehi (just a plug, Greg thinks The Bike Barn is great!) They came home with two inner tubes, two tires, a seat and hand grips. He was disappointed he didn't get a 'ding bell'; maybe for Christmas. They fixed up the bike and Enoch love to hand Greg his tools and help out where he could. When they were finished, he wasted no time hoping on and riding down the sidewalk. I think he was a bit frightened when his bike actually started to move when he pedaled. He has had a great time and I'm planning to stock up on band-aids and Neosporin!

Kate is 1/2 year old!

Today is Kate's 6 month birthday. Sometimes it seems like she was born a few weeks ago and sometime it seems like she has been with us for more than 6 months. She is such a cute little thing and we love her immensely. Her brothers can't get enough of her smiles and laughs and love to hold her. They fight over feeding her, playing with her and holding her. What a lucky girl! Some words to describe her are fun, moody, adorable, emotional, wiggly, spoiled, smart, tolerant and happy. Every time I tell her she is cute, Greg reminds her that she is also smart and kind (because being cute isn't the most important thing!).
She still loves to be held and is not in any rush to grow up. She is rolling over from her back to tummy and is getting her knees up under her. She still won't roll over from her tummy to her back, but my kids don't really do that until they are crawling. She loves to talk and more than one stranger in Target or Macey's has commented that she is quite chatty. We love it except when she is screaming in her high-pitched girly shriek (which really does make your brain rattle in your head).
She is growing well and loves her peaches and does okay with rice cereal and applesauce; she does not like bananas at all. She wants to eat what we eat and Greg has already fed her frozen yogurt, lime and Cheerios. At her 6-month check today she weighed in at 16 lbs. 9 ozs. and is 26.25 inches tall. We love her strawberry blond hair, long eyelashes, giggles and smiles, her sweet spirit and we are constantly blessed to have her in our family.

First Day of School!

I've been waiting for this day all summer (just kidding; okay, I'm only partly kidding!). I know that some moms were complaining that this summer was too short, but it was feeling pretty long at the beginning of August. Gavin quite enjoys school and the social part of it and Enoch is so excited for preschool in next week that my kids were ready to get back to school.

Gavin was accepted into the A.L.L. program in the spring and made the decision to accept his position even though it meant changing schools to Sego Lily. It wasn't that hard of a decision after hearing about all of the awesome field trips, projects and very fun science experiments. He knows a few kids in his class from Eaglecrest and is very excited for the next year. We had a lot of fun this summer, his favorite activity was Camp Invent, but he is glad to be back in school. By the way, check out those new shoes; not only are they clean and white, but they are a size 8! Yikes!
Enoch is very excited for preschool and starts next week. His first homework assignment is to make an "About Me" page to share with his new friends. I thought I'd share his cute picture and answers.

Favorite Food: chicken nuggets, White Cheddar rice cakes (no joke!)
Favorite Treat: frosting cookies (sugar cookies), birthday cake
Favorite TV show: Clifford, Curious George
Favorite Color: Blue
Favorite Book: Thomas, The Hungry Caterpillar
Favorite Toys: Thomas Legos, Glow Sticks, and Marbleworks
Favorite Place to go: Grandpa's Cabin
Favorite Word: Why? But Why? But Why?
Favorite Brother: Gavin
Favorite Sister: Kate
Favorite Name: Enoch (he told me his name is cooooool!)
PS - We visited Enoch's preschool on Thursday. When he got out of the car, he put his hands on his hips and said, "This is not my school. This is a house!" His is quite disappointed, but I'm sure he'll recover!

Swimming Lessons

Because of lack of planning on my part, the boys didn't get into swimming lessons until the last session (the last two weeks before school started) at 6:45pm. Gavin hates swimming lessons and was not the least bit excited about going, but Enoch was very anxious to get swimming. I was lucky to have Greg there with me most nights to help entertain Kate and help with Enoch in the locker room. A big thanks to Gavin who helped Enoch change when Greg was not there. Thanks, Gavin!



Enoch did very well and for the first few lessons he would just swim away from his class and go out on his own. After the first few days, he did a complete reversal and would only be in the pool if his teacher was holding him. I'm not sure what caused the change, but luckily there were two teachers for his class and one could devote all his attention to Enoch (I know, I have the child that all of the other moms resent because he monopolizes all the teacher's attention. Sorry!).









Gavin did very well in his class, despite his anxiety about the deep end. His teacher was very impressed with his breaststroke. After watching Michael Phelps in the Olympics, Gavin asked his teacher to teach them the butterfly stroke. Gavin did very well and had fun practicing that stroke. He passed his level (Greg told him he couldn't swim in Tuttle's pool unless he passed his level) and he relieved he doesn't have to take for another year. Ha ha - he doesn't know about winter swimming lessons!!

Meteor Showers!

Our entire family loves anything to do with space - rockets, stars, NASA - you name it, we love it. One thing that we feel we can do as a family a few times a year to to watch the Persoid meteor showers (basically a great show of shooting stars). Lucky for us, this time it fell in August, which is so much more pleasant than laying in your sleeping bag in the backyard in the snow at 2am shivering in February (yes, we have done that, more that once!). The meteor shower is something that we can all enjoy and do together, the only downside is that it always occurs in the middle of the night. We all get up, drag our sleeping bags and blankets outside and wait. Some years are better than others (last night was not great). A few years ago we couldn't believe how many we saw; two, three, four falling through the sky at once for as long as we were watching. We can't wait until the next shower (I'll have Greg post the date on our blog and you can watch too!). I know the picture isn't great, but it's the only one that somewhat turned out (just to have proof we actually did it).

Brother's Day

Every second Saturday in August is Brother's Day. This isn't a national or state holiday, just a Fowler family holiday when we let the boys decide what we are doing all day and remember how much fun it is to have brothers. We started this tradition the year Enoch was born and have kept doing it every since. I know, I know - I need to change to name since Kate is not a brother, but I'm doing good to actually celebrate the holiday this year let alone come up with a new name.
This year we decided to visit Kennecott. I can't believe I've lived in Utah pretty much my entire life and have never been there; for Greg the last time he visited was as a Cub Scout. We thought it would be a good 'boy activity'. Gavin and Enoch loved it, especially the gigantic tire at the visitor center. Every thing is enormous, the tires, trucks, equipment and obviously the hole. It was great fun and I'm glad we went.


After Kennecott, we stopped at a fun park in Herrimann and ate our lunch. I know this is funny, but my kids love, love, love tuna fish sandwiches. For them, that is better that McDonald's (not that McDonald's is that great). I have to limit them to tuna on Saturdays only so for our picnic we had tuna fish sandwiches, watermelon, Cheetos, juice and cocoa Rice Krispies treats. WOW - tuna, Cheetos and juice all in one lunch; the boys were in heaven. After lunch, we had a great time on the playground. My kids have never played on a merry-go-round at the park and they loved it and spent most of their time on that.
We were going to go see a movie after that, but we couldn't find anything rated G or PG (and I wasn't about to sit through Wall-E again!) so we gave them the option of renting a movie or buying a valueDVD at Wal-Mart. They chose to browse through Wal-Mart and came home with Cody Banks 1&2 (on the same DVD). Gavin really enjoyed the movies and I snuck out to watch the Olympics. We had such a great day and look forward to it every year (especially at the end of summer - we really do love our brothers, right?!) If anyone has any suggestions for a new name for our tradition, let me know; Kate is feeling left out!

Fairview Fun

Since Greg and Gavin were spending the weekend Cub Scouting at Webelos Woods, I took Enoch and Kate down to Fairview to visit Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Jarom. We had a wonderful time and can't wait to go again. We left on Friday afternoon (stupid, I know, driving south on a Friday afternoon) and sat on the freeway from Lehi to Spanish Fork reaching speeds of 15 mph! Lucky for me, Enoch kept me company by talking the entire time. Every time we passed someone hauling 4-wheelers he would yell for me to follow them and asked why they had his Grandpa's 4-wheelers. Needless to say, it was a long drive. We arrived in time for dinner (Grandma fixed a big spread with grilled chicken, potato salad, baked beans, fruit, veggies and chocolate cake; I haven't had a Friday night dinner like that for quite awhile). After dinner we went outside and just enjoyed the quiet. Enoch played in Grandpa's pile of wood chips and Kate had an absolute ball in the swing. Grandpa pushed her for 30 minutes and she loved it! She would laugh every time she swung toward Grandpa and he would tickle her toes. Enoch grabbed the camera and snapped some pictures of Grandma and Uncle Jarom (isn't Jarom cute? He's available girls!)

I can't say I slept great that night. We all slept in the same room; me and Enoch in the bed and Kate in the Pack-n-Play. The kids slept well but I was concerned about them waking up and waking up everyone else. Plus, I don't sleep well anywhere but in my own bed (I love my Temperpedic!). The next morning, the kids and I spend some time on the back deck enjoying the morning air and quiet. After breakfast, Grandpa got the 4-wheelers out (finally, because we were all sick of listening to Enoch ask about them!). Grandpa and Enoch went out for a bit and then I took Enoch up on the mountain for a long ride with Grandma leading the way. It was so fun, despite the dust in my eyes and sticking to my chapstick! We had a great time and Enoch absolutely loved it. Uncle Jarom took Enoch out later that afternoon for a short ride. He was so excited because they saw a deer, "a Gavin-sized deer" (I think that means a medium-sized deer?!).
After lunch, Grandma, Aunt Michelle (who was also down visiting), me, Enoch and Kate went to the resort pool for a quick dip. Actually only Enoch swam in the kiddie pool (oh, excuse me, the big boy pool, as opposed to the bigger boy pool!) He had a great time with the toys, especially the boogie board and the pool noodles. Kate was so stinking cute at the pool. Aunt Michelle helped her wade her feet and she was not sure about it at first. But soon, she was splashing up a storm and had a great time. She was kicking, singing and smiling. Check out those thighs! Greg keeps telling her it's all muscle, no fat. I know the video takes a while to download, but it really is cute of Kate playing in the water.

We headed home soon after that. The kids were ready for naps and I was ready for a quiet car ride home without constant conversation from Enoch. We had such a great time and are so lucky to have a great Grandma and Grandpa Randall. PS - Greg and Gavin had a great time at Webelos Woods, too!

Happy Birthday Harry Potter!

I realize this might seem odd to many people out there, but true Harry Potter fans will completely understand. Every year on Jul 31, we celebrate Harry Potter's special day. We usually watch a Potter movie (only choosing from the first three because after that they are rated PG-13). This year we watched Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (fast-forwarding through the scary werewolf parts for Enoch's sake). We also ate treacle fudge and pumpkin milkshakes. The shakes were a hit (made from frozen bananas, orange juice, vanilla ice cream, milk and a bit of pumpkin). The treacle fudge was not so great. I think the molasses threw everyone off; when you think of fudge you think chocolate and treacle fudge is not so chocolately!
Thanks for everyone who participated in our poll. The winner was book 3: The Prisoner of Azkaban. For that one person (and I know who you are!), seriously, it's time to read the books! They are great, we love them, they make you laugh, you can't put them down, keeps you on the edge of your seat and all the other cliches about fantastic books!
We can't wait until the next movie comes out this winter (although we all know they aren't quite the same as the books). It is quite depressing not to be able to look forward to another book, we'll have to console ourselves with reading and rereading books 1-7.

Book 1: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone	1 (6%)
Book 2: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets	0 (0%)
Book 3: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban	5 (33%)
Book 4: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire	3 (20%)
Book 5: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix	0 (0%)
Book 6: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince	3 (20%)
Book 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows or Harry Potter Goes Camping	2 (13%)
Who's Harry Potter?	1 (6%)