Losee Vacation

For the Losee vacation this year we went to Bear Lake for a few days and stayed in a big cabin. My whole family was able to go. It was so fun to spend time together playing games and swimming. One of the highlights for Will was tie dying an "awesome shirt." He would wear his awesome shirt every day if I'd let him, dirty or clean, he doesn't care.
 

 Andrea had researched on the internet how to tie dye shirts. Lisa and I tried to to copy her and I think we did a pretty good job. Mar struggled a little bit with hers.

My sweet little thumb suckers

Will didn't quite understand how the Balloon Stomp game worked.

Our family is pretty competitive and Russ set up a 40 yard dash race. It was so fun to watch everyone race. Will jumped in every race he could and probably ended up running 10 races. He was such a good sport. I think he's going to be a runner!

The Losee Clan

Bike Parade

On the 24th of July, our neighborhood does a bike parade around the block. Will got to decorate his bike for the parade and picked blue and green crepe paper. He put tons of tape all over his bike. He was such a good helper with the decorations.

He had so much fun biking with the big kids. It was fun to watch him. Xav and I followed the kids around the block with the stroller.

Cherry Hill

We got passes to Cherry Hill this summer and the boys have loved it. They are both such water bugs! We've gone 2 to 3 times a week all summer. It's been so great to be able to escape the heat in the water.

One of the first times we went to Cherry Hill, Will said he needed to go to the bathroom. I asked Jeff to take him to the bathroom. Jeff told Will to pee in the water. I told Jeff not to teach Will that. The next time we were at Cherry Hill, Will and Jeff were floating down the Lazy River and Will told Jeff he needed to use the bathroom. Jeff whispered to Will to pee in the water. Will yells, "You're not supposed to teach me to pee in the water, Dad."  Jeff said everyone turned to stare at them. Will is a smart boy and knows you don't pee in the pool water.

Boober Cuters loves to sit on the stairs at the pool and play with toys or go to Pirates Cove and crawl around in the water. He likes going down the pirate slide, too.

Will likes to put his head under the water and swim. He even dives in the deep part of the pool. He has gotten to be such a good swimmer. It's been such a fun summer with lots of swimming!

Naughty!

Will is full of vinegar sometimes. One morning he insisted that I paint my toe nails blue. It was 8 am and I didn't really care to paint my nails, but he kept asking me to paint my nails. So, I painted my toe nails blue and leaft the nail polish on the kitchen table. I knew I should've put it away in the bathroom, but I was getting the boys breakfast and thought it would be fine on the table for a little while.

A couple of hours later, I'm talking to Richie on the phone and I see Xav smearing blue nail polish all over the kitchen tile and Will standing there with the nail polish brush in his hand. Will had painted himself, Xav's face, the kitchen chair and the tile blue! What a mess! I asked Will if he knew he was being naughty when he painted Xav's face and he said yes. What a stinker! I put both boys in the tub and started wiping off Xav's face with actone, then baby wash. I felt so bad for Xav because his little eyes were watering, but I didn't know how else to get the nail polish off. I got the nail polish off both boys, and when I went back to clean up the kitchen, the polish had completely dried on the wooden chair.  I really wish I just would've put the nail polish away right after I used it that morning.





















Will is very determined. We were outside playing and he wanted to turn on the water spigot. I told him we weren't playing with water. He whined for a little while, but I just kept telling him that I didn't want he and Xav to get all wet.  We all went inside and I laid Xavy down for a nap. When I came out of Xav's room, I  couldn't find Will anywhere in the house. I look outside and he had pushed the kitchen bar stool off the deck, so he could stand on it to reach the spigot. He still couldn't quite reach it. This kid will try and try until he succeeds!











Will loves to play in baby powder. I've told him he can't play in the baby powder because it's for Xav and it makes a big mess all over. Will doesn't listen very well...

I had used the baby powder on Xav and left it on Xav's night stand. I went in to the kitchen to get dinner ready and went back into Xav's room to check on the boys because they were being quiet and I found Xav and his room covered in powder! I asked Will what I can do to remind him not to play in the baby powder and he simply said, "Hide it."  He is such a funny kid!

A few days later I was getting the boys ready to go to the wedding reception. The plan was to pick Jeff up from work, grab some dinner and head down to the reception in Pleasant Grove. I had just gotten the boys out of the bath tub, and Xav was dressed in his nice clothes. I went in my bathroom to finish getting ready and come out to the living room to a big powder mess! Will had covered himself, Xav, the TV, the Playstation and the speakers in powder. I was furious! I had to re-bathe both boys. I was in such a flurry trying to get out the door on time that I forgot to bring Jeff some dress clothes for the reception. We were lucky to get out the door at all.

Swim, Swim, Swim

Will took swimming lessons from a neighbor this year. He loves water and I thought he would love the lessons, but I was wrong...

The first lesson, I walked him up to the neighbor's pool and went back home because Xav was napping. I had forgotten a towel for Will, but I didn't think it was a big deal because I could take a towel with me when I picked him up. He'd be in the water the whole time anyway, right?  Wrong. 20 minutes later I went back to pick him up and one of the other mothers said that Will had a terrible time, was freezing and wouldn't  use anyone's towel because it wasn't his own. He was crying and completely traumatized! He said he didn't like swimming lessons and didn't want to go back.

The second lesson, he put on his swimming suit but wouldn't even get in the water. He had a death grip on me the whole time.

The third lesson, he wouldn't  even put on his swimming suit. I told him he could have an ice cream cone if he swam. He refused to swim, but I made him go to the lesson anyway and watch the kids in the pool. At the very end of the lesson his teacher picked him up, and held his feet in the water and had him kick. She praised him for being such a good kicker. That night we took the boys to McDonald's to get an ice cream cone. This is the first time the boys have ever been to McDonald's and they loved it! They loved the play place inside.

The fourth lesson, Will swam and loved it! His teacher said he was acting like a completely different kid and asked what happened. I told her we bribed him with ad ice cream cone. From that lesson on, he loved his swimming lessons. He can jump in the water by himself, blow bubbles and put his head in the water to pick up toys on the stairs. He's so comfortable in the water and really enjoys swimming.

Ogden Marathon

The Ogden Marathon was May 19,  2012. I was nervous and excited for it. It was my first marathon back after having the boys and had been 4 years since my last one. I was shooting for 6:30 pace per mile which would have been 2:50. It's hard to gauge what shape you're in for a marathon, but I was just going to go for it. Jeff had looked up the course record for the marathon, and if I ran 6:30s, I could break the record.

My little brother, Richie, ran the marathon, too. He stayed at out house the night before the race so we could ride to the starting line together. I woke him up a little after 4 and we ate breakfast. I went back to my room to change and came out when it was time to leave. I found Richie still wearing his pagamas, clipping his toe nails in the bathroom! I couldn't believe it! It was time to leave and Richie wasn't ready at all. He's so funny and laid back.

It was nice to have Richie there to ride the bus up to the start line and wait in lines at the bathroom. By the time I got through the bathroom line, I heard a guy announce that there were 7 minutes until the start of the race. Yikes! I hadn't warmed up yet. I did a quick couple of minutes jog, shed all my warm clothes and dropped my clothing bag off at the truck. I headed for the start line and was able to start really close to the front.

When the gun went off, I found Jed Johanssen, a former WSU runner, to run with. We ran the first 8 miles at 6:30 pace, but I felt like we were slowing down, so I started picking it up. I ran the rest of the race by myself. I saw Jeff, Lisa and the boys at mile 8. I always run faster when I see my boys cheering for me. I was feeling really good and comfortable running 6:30s. At mile 13, a biker came up to me and said he would escort me through the finish. There were so many people cheering for me, it made me emotional. It was so nice to have the biker notify people in front of me that I was coming, so I didn't have to dodge through them. The second half of the race I locked in to 6:20 pace and felt really good. While I was running, I kept thinking, "I love this! I feel so good!" The last part of the race was awesome! The finish was lined with people cheering and holding their hands out for me to slap. It gave me chills to finish the race. I was so happy to finish as the first female with a time of 2:47:22 and broke the course record! I really feeling running is a gift I've been given and I'm so thankful for it.

My boys, my biggest fans!

Willy Man's Birthday!

Hooray! Hooray! Hooray! Will turned 3 today! We filled his room with balloons before he woke up, so he was so happy to wake up to balloons. Will and Xav had so much fun running and playing in the balloons.

Will wanted a Thomas Train cake for his birthday. I had spent weeks looking for cake ideas. I finally found one on pinterest. This cake took hours! It was all worth it when I showed Will the finished product because he was so excited to have a train cake.









We had a party at the park with Will's cousins. We ate, played and did a pinata. Will wanted a froggy pinata, so we spent a couple of days before his birthday making it.

 Will has such a fun personality and likes to tease. We love him so much. He's a sweet boy.