Birthday Boy

Even though I asked him really nicely not to, he still did it...he turned 2. At least we had fun celebrating though! Mom and Dad came down for a day out with Thomas the train at the Spencer Transportation museum. There were lots of Thomas activities for the kids to do besides riding the train. I'm pretty sure riding on Thomas was Lincoln's least favorite part. He really liked looking at the model trains and the old airplanes, trains, and cars. I will def have to take him back to the museum sometime!

Our good friends Rachel and Dave came down for a good ole' steak and potato dinner. Dave tried out cooking the steaks on his smoker, and they turned out so yummy. Rachel brought down Elmo cupcakes for Lincoln and a Peanut Butter/Chocolate cake for Mom's birthday, which was just a couple days before Lincoln. At first Lincoln was shy about Elmo, but after he took a bite, he was hooked. His tongue was bright red from the Elmo candies.

Even though this child does not need presents, Dave and I bought him 1. It is a soft remote control car that is meant for 2 year olds. To say the least, he loves it! As he was playing with it on Saturday, he kept saying, "I love you car." and then he would give it a big smooch. The love hasn't faded, he is actually playing with it right now. He got some cards from family members, and his favorite was the monster truck one from my Uncle Barry.

My little cutie is 2, and I couldn't love him more! I'm very grateful to Dave that I can stay at home with him and see him grow up (if he has to).

My baby

Please be thinking about me this weekend, as I try to deal with my baby not being a baby anymore. He will be...2. Yikes!

Museums

Lincoln and I have ventured out to 3 museums in our area. Mama Shinsel went with us to the Children's museum. I was running out of batteries, so this is the only picture I was able to take before the camera died. Sorry it's a butt shot Link. They were climbing up a fort to play with trains. Lincoln made a picture for Dave's cubie in the art room, and he enjoyed playing in the Krispy Kreme donut factory. This museum was so fun, mom has decided to buy us an annual pass for Lincoln's birthday.



When Dave had his job interview, Lincoln and I drove down to keep him calm and collected in the car. While he was busy with the interviews, Lincoln and I went to the science center close by. We didn't have enough time to see it all, so we need to go back soon. His favorite parts of the museum were the music room and the human anatomy room (he loved the huge teeth you can climb). I knew Dave would be proud of the wall size guitar Lincoln was playing with.




Last week, we drove to Greensboro to meet up with some friends at the science center. I worked at Ace Hardware with Natalie (her dad Chip owns the store), and haven't seen her in years. It was so nice to meet her little one, Madison, who is just a couple months younger than Lincoln. The museum was alright, but the best part was their mini zoo outside. The kids got to see monkeys, tigers, wolves, snakes, wallabies, and lots more. There was also a petting zoo with goats and sheep. Lincoln felt right at home running up to the goats, because of all the visits to the Huntsman's farm this summer. All of the excitement made the kiddos hungry. They were so cute eating their lunch side by side.

Ouch

These pictures will make you cringe...

My nephew Kyle started playing football this year. He has had to drop out...

He was wisked away to surgery shortly after this picture was taken. My other nephew Jaden knocked heads with another football player and got a nasty concussion. This is exactly why Lincoln will be enrolled in baseball or ballet, just not football.

My niece Penny had some eye surgery done to correct her nystagmus, a condition that is associated with albinism.

What a trooper. Those red eyes make me hurt, but she still has a smile on her face. We will know in 6 months how much the surgery has helped, but mom said Penny held her gaze for a while, which is more than she has ever done! I'm pretty sure my mom's heart melted instantly.

Back to Lincoln

What kind of mother am I, that I wrote 2 blog postings without mentioning my son?? Lincoln has been so chatty lately, and he has finally started to sing. I always sing to him, so I'm thrilled he started to pick up on it. I caught him the other morning singing the Apples and Bananas song. Now his favorites are the clean up song and the mickey mouse clubhouse theme song. I love his high pitched notes. I just hope that he gets more singing talent than I have.

He has been making lots of new friends. Yesterday, Shay from nursery, came over while her mom went to the dentist. Lincoln kept repeating "Shay Shay" before she came. They played really well together. While he was running, Lincoln wanted Shay to say, "Ready, Set Go" instead of me. This morning Dave and I woke up to Lincoln saying, "Airplanes, Helicopters (totally normal), Shay (that's when we started laughing." Today his buddies Sean and Mason are coming over to play.

People have always told me girls are such drama queens, but I'm not so sure Lincoln is any different. Maybe it's just a 2 year old thing...For example: We were at the park after it had rained, and I was wiping off a puddle at the bottom of the slide. I guess Lincoln noticed me do this, because he went to the top of the slide where there were only 2 drops of water. He started yelling, "OH NO, ALL WET." I had to brush it off before he went down. It is hard not to laugh during his temper tantrums; how he just throws himself on the floor.

I will be a better mom next post and might even include some pictures of the little guy!

Purple Power

I am by no means a photographer or an expert in plants. One thing I know is that there is a power with purple plants. They make me so cheerful! I have planted some purple plants at our new place and some others too.


The grounds are beautifully kept at BYU, and I'll always remember the pansies that were usually planted during winter semester. They have that purple power, because they make me smile when I drive home. These are right outside my front door.

Mums are such a Fall flower. They remind me of Halloween and the crisp Fall air. They also have that purple power.



Oh wait, more pansies...




I was lucky to have a friend dig up lots of plants and bulbs from her garden. These are day lily bulbs, which will be beautiful and purple this Spring.



These fun prickly grasses were almost dead when I planted them, and I was excited to see some life. They aren't purple, but I guess I'll keep them.



The family that moved left a very old lawnmower in the garage. I tried to start it, there was gas and oil, but it wouldn't turn over. From my Ace hardware days, I remembered spark plugs need to be changed frequently. So, I bought a new spark plug, put it in, and it worked! I was so excited to fix the lawnmower for $2.19, rather than to buy a new one. I really like to mow the grass, it is therapeutic for me (I know, weird). I think it is that you can see the results of your work immediately.

Love my brother

I do love both of my brothers, but I also love my brother sewing machine I just got! I have only been sewing since the summer, but it is kind of addicting and very empowering. I finished my first project with my machine yesterday. I made curtains for the kitchen. I didn't use a pattern, just measured, cut and sewed. I forgot to add a couple inches for the top fold on the pair, so they are a little too short. They still serve 2 purposes: 1. They keep out the sun. 2. They make me happy! I seriously squeeled when I hung them up.

I will never forget...

Today is the 9th anniversary of the terrific attacks that occurred in our country on September 11th. I still tear up every anniversary. I would never have guessed something so horrible could happen in the US, but it did. This day makes me so thankful for all those who serve in the military and local departments to keep us safe. This day makes me mourn for all those who lost family members. This day makes me so grateful to live in a country that came together so strongly. This day makes me realize how lucky I am to have my family and to live in the best country in the entire world.

Lincoln and I went to an airshow today, while Dave was at work. They did a great tribute to 9/11: there were several firetrucks/police cars doing formations while the national anthem was sung. All of the sudden during the song, 2 F-16 jets roared through the sky. It was so powerful, it gave me goosebumps! The airshow was huge; there were tons of helicopters, planes, and jets, but also there were race cars, buses, and trucks. Lincoln was in heaven!!

To make it even better, a man walking in gave me a free ticket. I wasn't planning on spending any money, because the ticket was a little expensive, but with the money I saved, I bought Lincoln a toy helicopter and hot dog. I wish I would have recorded his happy dance when we walked through the gates and saw all the planes. He kept repeating,"PLANES, HELICOPTERS." I love it how everything from childhood is exciting again with little ones!

How could I forget?

I don't know how I forgot to mention I have a new niece! Congrats to Barry and Amy: Mya Shinsel is a precious little girl and I am so anxious to meet her!

Past week

I have been holding off this post, because I wanted to add pictures. In fear of forgetting what we have done this past week, I decided to go ahead and blog.

Dave, his parents and my parents went to Washington D.C. for the Restoring Honor rally last weekend. They had a great time! Actually they said the rally was more spiritual than political.

While they were off in D.C., Reed was so nice to hang out with Lincoln and me. On Friday, we went to all of the consignment stores looking for furniture to fill our house. I didn't really care for the lime green dresser from 1970 or the pleather couch, so there were no purchases. Lincoln had a first on Saturday: we went hiking at South Mountain State park. I have a fantastic hiking backpack, so we made it all 2.7 miles up and around the water fall. I let Link out for the last mile, but he was such a slow-poke. He just enjoyed looking at acorns and picking up leaves. After a while, I broke out the peanut butter M&Ms and bribed him down the mountain. We had a fun dinner with the Edwards that night, and Sunday we were off to OUR house!

Mama Shinsel and Dave met us at the house, and the week of working, unpacking, sorting, hanging, and cleaning began! Dave had a great first week of work and has been impressed with the company. He has already been able to take over some of the work load in his team. While Dave was at work, Mama S and I worked like mad women to get the house set up. We got all the necessities put away, so we were able to go have some fun too.

We ventured to the park one morning. By 10am, the sun was getting too hot, even though it was only 46 degrees in La Grande. Mom and Reed came down one day to go to Old Salem with us. It is a small version of Williamsburg. It was just as cheap to get a family membership, so we will be able to come back with Dave. I know he will love the woodworking, gun making, and forging that they do there! We also took Lincoln to the children's museum, which was so rad. There was tons for him to do!

It was a sad Saturday morning when we had to take Mama S to the airport. We had been telling Link that she was going to get on a plane and go home. It really sunk in when we dropped her off and pulled away. He started crying and saying, "Jamma" (his word for Grandma). It just stinks that our parents like on opposite sides of the country!

We made up for Grandma leaving by meeting Mom, Reed and Reed's good friend Hawke at Emerald Point water park in Greensboro. Even though it was crowded, we had a good time.

Church was our next adventure. As soon as I walked in the chapel, I saw my old friend Lori, who worked with me out in Utah. She is living in Memphis and was just visiting an old roommate. I love it that the world is so small! Everybody was super nice, and I am looking forward to getting to know some of the ladies with other kiddos Lincoln's age.

We made it up to Hickory for some Labor Day fun later that day. Monday, Dave was able to work on some of his wood projects, and Lincoln and I went off with Dad and Reed. We ended up with the Edwards for lunch on Monday and headed home later that evening.

Wow, that was the longest journal type entry I have done. Will I really ever enjoy reading this later?