In the Zone...

I've heard the joke that once you have 3 kids, you have to switch from playing man-to-man defense in favor of zone defense, now that you're outnumbered.  I always thought that was a funny analogy, and today I saw this illustration to go along with it.  Yep, that's Team Terry now.  But I love it.

Shark Teeth, Smiles, Ducks, and Cake

I think I mentioned before that Tess has "shark teeth," with adult teeth growing in behind her baby teeth.  She has 2 on the bottom and when I asked the dentist about it he said that the grown-up teeth would probably push the others right out.  So far, one has.  Tess was eating chips with Miles in the backyard the other day and they came running in excitedly to tell me that her baby tooth fell out.  The remaining baby tooth is actually 2 teeth which have been fused together (another weird tooth anomoly that we discovered when Tess was two years old.)  So I assume they have to fall out together since they're fused, which may be tricky since there are 2 roots.  We'll see.  In the meantime, Bryan and I are already starting to save our pennies for orthodontia for all of our children... 

 Here's a photo of Bree on the butterfly (activity gym).  This has been one of the favorite toys for all our babies.  Bree is no exception.  She loves to lay on it and look at the toys.  This was the best photo I could get of one of her smiles.  They are so cute to see, but they are usually very quick, so it's hard to get a good picture.

 On Sunday afternoon we decided to take a few stale hot dog buns and feed the ducks at the pond.

 And finally, tonight I got to attend an activity to learn how to decorate cakes with fondant frosting. I've never used it and I've been intimidated by it; but I've really wanted to learn how to do it. Well, it WAS pretty tricky and somewhat frustrating at first, but after a little practice I felt like I sort of got the hang of it. I definitely would like to try it again!

Dryer Disaster

The day after camping is always a laundry marathon. I did seven loads on Thursday and on Friday morning I went to the dryer to unload the last batch to be folded. When I opened the door, this is what I found:

As is always the case with blog pictures, they looked much worse in person.  Green glittery crayon melted all over the clothes and the inside of the dryer.  There were a few clothes of Tess's (including her darling new birthday outfit from G&G!) but they were mostly Bree's clothes.  Pro:  she outgrows them so quickly anyway, plus they would be much cheaper to replace if need be.  Con:  Because her clothes are so tiny, there are a million of them in one batch of laundry, so the amount of clothes ruined was much bigger.

So of course I went straight to where we all go for wisdom:  the internet.  There were lots of suggestions about how to get the crayon out...this is what I ended up doing:  Rewash the clothes with detergent, Borax, and vinegar (I did this 3 more times.)  That got most of it out, but for the worst stained clothes I soaked them overnight in a tub of the same detergent, Borax, and vinegar mixture, only more concentrated because there was a smaller bit of water.  That worked quite well.  In the end there aren't too many green stains, and the ones that ARE there I can live with.

As for the dryer...I tried cleaning it with Lysol, then Comet, then Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, all to no avail.  Nothing was working.  So I ended up throwing an old white towel in there, turning it on, and hoping that it wouldn't continue to transfer the green crayon.  Luckily, it didn't.  I guess all of the crayon rubbed off on the original batch of clothes and the rest just stained the inside of the dryer.  So, my dryer is still streaky green, but I don't care as long as the clothes are not!

Moral of the story:  check pockets more carefully before washing clothes!

4th of July / 6th of July

We are all doing great around here.  Bree is 3 1/2 weeks old and she's as cute as ever.  She's getting pretty chubby and she has developed the darling, squishable cheeks that are so fun on babies.  Here's a photo of her first actual "in-the-tub" bath, instead of just a sponge bath.  I love this picture for lots of reasons:  her chunky belly, those awesome cheeks, the crossed eyes, and her pokey pokey hair!  She is a sweetie.

 For the 4th of July, our ward Primary decorated this "float"/trailer.  I rode on it with the kids.  They loved throwing candy.  I've mentioned before that Miles is a really good thrower...he can throw very far and with really good accuracy for a 3-year-old (he is a much better thrower than his big sis.  Heck, he's probably a more accurate thrower than his old mom too!)  Anyway, I heard more than one person say "Whoa!  Good throw!" to him as the salt water taffy landed right in their lap (when all the other candy was going on the road in front of the kids, Miles would toss it right to the parents in their lawn chairs.)

 After the parade, we packed up the trailer and went up to Hyrum Dam.  Anyone who knows Bryan and me knows how much we LOVE Cache Valley.  If Bryan didn't have to commute, we would move there in a heartbeat.  And, this trip was only my 2nd trip in our new trailer (we went once last Fall when we first bought it.)  So, I was very excited to go!  I wasn't able to water-ski this time, since I just delivered Bree, but it was still a lot of fun to get out of the house and relax with my family.  On Monday night we watched the fireworks in Hyrum.  They were pretty good for little ol' Hyrum!  (By the way, this picture is the first picture ever taken of all 5 of us!)

Unfortunately the weather was kind of cold and windy on Tuesday, but Tess and Miles still had a great time playing in the water and sand with their cousins.

Here's Bree with her Papa. 

 Bayli and Melanie.

 It seems like on this trip Miles realized that he has a new baby sister.  He hasn't cared too much about her so far.  But all of a sudden, he wants to hold her, look at her, and touch her!  This photo is of the first time he's ever held her!  (Up until now he's had a "meh...no thanks" attitude when we ask if he wants to hold her.)

On Tuesday evening, Papa and Bryan took the kids out fishing.  They didn't catch anything, but they had fun trying!

On Wednesday the weather was beautiful, warm, and sunny.  Everyone enjoyed swimming, boating, tubing, skiing, etc.  (I don't think that Tess was upset in this picture; she's just squinting.)

 I love this photo of my 2 favorite guys!

 Miles with his cousins Bayli & Emma.

 Tess playing on the Hot Dog.

At first she was very reluctant to ride, but Bayli & Emma finally talked her into it.  She had a great time!

We had a wonderful trip!  It's been 12 years since my mom passed away on July 6th.  It's hard to believe.  I sure am glad that we have this tradition of boating each year on the anniversary.  I know that boating was one of her very favorite things that we did together as a family, and it's one of my very favorite things to do too.

6th Birthday Interview

I realized that I posted about Tess's birthday without doing her yearly birthday interview.  It's kind of fun to read back over last year's interview and compare it to this year's.  So, if you're interested, here it is:

Favorite color: pink
Favorite food: Chicken Cordon Bleu
Favorite drink: water
Favorite thing to play: Just Dance 2
Are you excited for 1st grade?  It will be lots of older kids, not many of my friends, I don't know.
Favorite trick from Tumbling class: running cartwheels and back walk-overs
Favorite treat:  toast with Nutella
Favorite book: the Henry and Beezus books, and "My Father's Dragon"
Favorite song: "Heavenly Father, Are You Really There?"  ("A Child's Prayer)
Favorite TV show: SpongeBob SquarePants & She-Ra
Favorite movie: MegaMind
Favorite veggie: carrots
Favorite fruit: strawberries
Favorite place to go: Lagoon
What makes you laugh? my friends
What makes you sad? someone dying
Who are your special friends? Mari, Rylan & Mabry
Anything else you'd like to tell me? "I love you Mommy, and I loved my birthday." (Aahh, shucks!)