Sometimes a double stroller is just too big and bulky.

Ivan likes all things little kid.... he still wants to eat in the high chair, he still likes me to feed him, he still drinks ovaltine from a bottle and he wants to ride in the stroller. Jack likes to push Ivan in the stroller! You can't tell, but Ivan has his hand tightly fixed to Jack's cheek as he's slowly falling out the bottom.

We don't get to see Danny much these days, but when we do it's always a treat!

Jack was totally impressed by my mad shuffling skills.

Candace is in town and you know what that means... Panguitch Rummy here we come!

Dance Recital #31

The best part is running wild on the stage afterward

or dancing like you were in the recital

Brotherly Love- Please let it last

Jack got a hold of Ivans ball pictures and just could not stop looking at them. I'm sure he's thinking "aw, if I could only be as cool as my big brother."

Then Ivan hasn't been feeling well and it looks like Jack can sense it. Brothers intuition.

Sometimes a double stroller is just too big and bulky.

Ivan likes all things little kid.... he still wants to eat in the high chair, he still likes me to feed him, he still drinks ovaltine from a bottle and he wants to ride in the stroller. Jack likes to push Ivan in the stroller! You can't tell, but Ivan has his hand tightly fixed to Jack's cheek as he's slowly falling out the bottom.

Our favorite little people

Another Day Another Breakfast

Itty Bitty

We signed Ivan up for Itty Bitty Baseball. I don't really have much to say about it. It is what it is...a room full of 3 & 4 year olds trying to listen and learn some skills. It was half fun and half too much work trying to coax Ivan and Charlie to stay out there with the kids and do what the teachers were doing. Oh well.

Better Luck this week

Well, we got a little more work out of the boys this week. There's hope for the building of good work habits

"Ok Jack, get over here and help. I'm getting tired and my nose is run'n"

"Nah, I'm good"

" Ok fine! I'll help"

"Thanks"

Both boys are very helpful... until they get a speck of dirt on their hands or in their shoe. If you'll notice Jack's shoe off in the distance. He got dirt and grass in it.

Same with Ivan. It puts a quick end to all the hard work!

Testing, Testing, 1 2 3

Well we accomplished new years resolution #2 and got a new camera for Mothers day. I decided to give it a quick test run last night. Probably my favorite 3 seconds of the week... I turned to Mike and started snapping really fast and for some odd reason it spun him right out of his character into model mode. Something you won't see often- so enjoy!

I often blog things and just keep them in our drafts, he begged me to keep these pictures as a draft, but I feel I must breech his trust this once

Just a small taste for all the ladies!

Mothers Day

I try not to yell at the precious little ones...

so when I get angry, instead of yelling I make this obnoxious loud errrrrr sound in the back of my throat. It makes me feel like I got to yell, without yelling. It's probably not the best thing, since it gives off the same vibe and I should known it will come back to haunt me sooner or later (see questions below)


Mike did this little questionnaire with Ivan, just to see what kind of answers he'd get

My Mother- By Ivan Balle

My Mom likes to - "play with me"My mom is good at- "football"My mom's favorite food is- "apples"What do you love about your mom- "toys"My mom is special because- "I have toys"

If your mom had a billion dollars how would she spend it?- "Um, maybe buy me a toy"My mom always says- "errrrrr"What is your favorite thing to do with your mom- "play"What is something nice you are going to do for your mom today- "eat dinner"

Another enjoyable mothers day this year. Mike spoke in his home ward about his mom and did such a good job. I really enjoy watching and listening to him speak in public. Maybe it's because it's not his favorite thing, yet he does such a good job and looks so smart, handsome and confident up there. I really do love being his wife and a mom of the 2 cutest boys ever. It's kinda like a mission- there are lots of hard and trying times on the mission and sometimes you wonder what the heck you are doing or why the heck you are there, but at the end of the day it seems you can only remember the good and at the end of the 18 months there's nothing you love more than your mission. As I ended my day yesterday I could only remember the good about being a mom. As hard and trying as it is sometimes, there is nothing I love more than being my boys mom. Jack and Ivan- I love you more than you will ever know! I will try hard to get rid of the growl.

Work ethic

Yesterday was our first day of yard work, FINALLY. May 8th and the sun was actually shining. We go all winter with no yard care and then this day comes around and it's a sure reminder of how time consuming a yard is. That's ok, we got up early and were excited about working hard with the boys, instilling in them a great work ethic...

Ivan had to have his teeth worked on this week. Not fun at all. I guess I'm a wimpier mom than I thought. I DID NOT like it when they put him out. All kinds of strange feelings an emotions. I can't imagine if it were anything more serious than dental work. I pray I don't ever have to find out how that would be. Anyway- he was out for about 2 hours. When they were done I sat with him for about 30 min waiting for him to wake up. He couldn't walk or talk. We went back to grandma Balle's to rest for the rest of the day and let it all out of his system. He had to crawl and kept tipping over. He kept wondering why the house was shaking. He couldn't eat or drink anything. We gave him sip of water around noon and he threw that right up. Soooo we did a lot of this....
Which is actually my favorite part of parenthood. I could lay around all day if one of my boys would snuggle with me.

He was finally able to eat something at about 9:00 that night. But then threw that up in the middle of the night. The next morning he was about the same until 10:00. He was able to eat some. He then fell asleep for about 3 1/2 hours and when he woke up he was totally back to himself. It was a hard day and a half- minus all the snuggling!