Happy Birthday Nolan!

Yes, Nolan's birthday was in April, but we finally got around to celebrating it this week (he can be very patient with us). No really, we did celebrate it in April with presents, songs, signs, food, etc., but, due to our move this summer and the major amount of preparations that went in to the move, we didn't get to his choice of a family activity until Monday night. Nolan wanted to go to Liberty Land for his birthday. I went online and bought $50 worth of gift certificates for Liberty Land for $30 (cashed in on a great promotion). We got to Liberty Land and found that there was a 50% off promotion that night. Instead of paying $16.50 a piece for Dan and the boys to play, it was only $8.25 each! Our total was around $26. I handed the cashier the $50 gift certificates and she handed me back $23.xx in CASH! The big boys had unlimited access to all the activity (except laser tag) for about $7 out of pocket! Off they went to have fun. They rode the little roller coaster, drove go-carts, cruised around and squirted each other in the bumper boats (side note... the bumper boats could squirt bystanders as well. I was watching and holding Miles. Jonathan was nearby and I wasn't paying too much attention to him. I felt water running down my legs and thought "gross, Miles' diaper is leaking and he's peeing on me... but no, it didn't take me long to realize that the fluid was cold and that, thankfully, it was Jonathan squirting us!), did the climbing wall, and played miniature golf. We played a "Belnap" version of mini golf which we named "Miles golf". We'd put Miles down on the green and the object was to get your ball into the hole before Miles could chase it down and grab it. I thought it made the game much more interesting. It was free for Miles to play and he got to ride the train. So, Happy Birthday Nolan, and next year, I promise we'll celebrate your big day closer to your actual birthday.

Out of Touch?

Maybe it's just me, but I was really floored by this ad that came in today's paper. It was a really glossy 12"x12" add that folded out and was advertising a new housing development in Heber City. This development, Red Ledges, is located on the new Jack Nicklaus golf course. "Homesites start in the mid-$200s and Cottages from the low $900s." The "Cottages" (love that word... cottages!) feature native stone, hand-hewn timber, copper gutters (don't want to polish those!), and expansive decks. The interiors "welcome" with hardwood and natural stone floors, granite countertops, fireplaces, and "of course, dramatically large energy efficient windows". I love the description. But what really gets me is that if you buy one of these "Cottages", "every home comes with a NEW Mercedes-Benz"! Hahahaha! That is so funny! Seriously, the ad states "Purchase a homesite or Cottage at Red Ledges and we'll thrown in a Mercedes-Benz for your driveway". That is insane! Evidently, with our 1993 Toyota Pick-up and 2002 Chevy Prizm, we would not be welcome in this new neighborhood. Oh, and if the Mercedes is not your taste, you could choose $95,000 in furnishings instead. Interested? Well, check out www.RedLedges.com for more details. See you there... not!

A Big First

First, not such a big deal, but I wanted to record it anyway, Miles knows his second sign... ball! Today I was at a meeting at Oak Canyon with Jonathan's principle and he has an 18 month old who signs too! Mr. Sumners even knew what Miles was saying just by watching him.

Okay, the big first... Yesterday, at 9.75 months old, Miles took his first step! We were in the computer room and Miles wanted to go from where I was sitting in the "big chair" to the "little chair". He was holding my hand and took 2 steps towards the little chair, then let go, stood there, then took a step on his own, wimped out, sat down and crawled the rest of the way. Way to go!

We Love DI

Yesterday, Amy, Miles, Nolan, and I went to DI. Amy was jeans shopping (no luck, but found some groovy red work shorts!), Nolan wanted books (he found 4; 3 Goosebumps which I will only buy at DI, and one Pokemon book; another "only at DI" purchase). I went with no plans or expectations, and Miles came along for the ride. I ended up finding treasures though! I bought Dan a pair of long snowshoes for his birthday (he better not read my blog until after next Thursday), a "new and in the box" Santa from Costco that I already had a twin of (so now I have two identical ones), a puzzle, and thought about a cheese dome (which I thought about buying only because it was the lamest wedding gift we received and I was tempted to share it with Leslie, but I put it back). Someone (or somebodies) cleaned out their board books and Miles got 6 good, classic board books (like Hungry Caterpillar, Napping House, Wheels on the Bus, Goodnight Gorilla, etc). Jonathan wasn't with us, but I even found a clarinet book for him. So everyone got something. But, Miles was the most excited. While I was wandering DI, I saw a US flag. Miles is flag obsessed. He climbs/crawls over our neighbors rock wall to see their flag. I picked the flag up and Miles took it away from me. I carried Miles and he carried the flag (it's a big flag too... 3' by 5'). There was no way he was leaving DI without his treasure. Lucky for me, it only cost $2!

By the way, I did another Albertson's run this morning... 2 boxes of Kix, 2 boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios, 2 pkgs. Betty Crocker Mini Warm Delights, 1 bottle of Wishbone Salad Dressing, 2 boxes of 24 count Popsicles, and 5 packages of Klondike bars. Pre-tax total... $58.70. My pre-tax total... $4.41 with another $4/5 Bryers/Popsicle coupon, and $15 in "like cash" coupons!

Utah County Swim Meet

Swim team season ended last Saturday with the the Utah County Gold Swim Meet (there are 3 meets... Bronze, Sliver, and Gold, with the gold meet being for those with the fastest times). It was an interesting meet for Nolan. First, it was in Spanish Fork and those wicked canyon winds were blowing. It was FREEZING cold and we were not prepared! Nolan swam the fly in the medley relay, individual free, fly, and back, and was the anchor leg in the free relay. Something was up with his fly though... he's had fabulous times this season... sub-20 seconds was his standard. On Friday he came home from swim practice and said he just knew he was flutter kicking. I told him "no way" and to forget about it and swim fly like he had been all season. Well, he psyched himself out and his fly times were WAY off (by 5+ seconds). He ended up 14th in the county in fly. His medley relay team had a rough go as well. They had been undefeated all season, but the backstroker hit the lane line, the breaststroker had something weird going on with his stroke, and then there was Nolan with his butterfly issues... they ended up 3rd. Not bad. Nolan placed fifth in the backstroke. He was cruising until he got crooked and hit the lane line, but still had a strong finish. He finished second in the 50 free with his second best time of the season. Finally it was free relay time and his team was looking for some redemption from the medley relay disappointment. There was a false-start and their lead off leg didn't hear the callback and swam his leg... ugh! No worries though! He walked back to the block and swam another great leg. The next two legs were strong as well. Nolan's relay was ahead by about a body length when it was his turn. He swam a beautiful anchor leg, went sub-14 seconds and his team won by over 1/3 pool length. After getting over his disappointment with the fly, Nolan felt good about his other swims! Great season, Nolan!

Communications 101

It's so fun watching/listening to Miles learn to communicate. He's got an impressive vocabulary for an almost 10 month old, granted most of his words are "words" that only Dan and I can understand. He can say mama, dada, tree, fish, flag, eat, drink, up, backpack, light, and bye. But what's been really cool is watching him sign. Yes, he still only uses one sign... want, but on Sunday he used it very clearly in combination with other body signals. We were at Parley and Bona's for dinner. The "big kids" were done eating and were headed outside to accomplish whatever mischief they had planned. Miles loves being outside and wanted to go too. To communicate this, he did the following. First, I was holding Miles and he knew he had a better chance of getting what he wanted if he was with Dan; so he lunged from me to Dan. Then he looked at the door, verbally indicated what he wanted while stretching his arm towards the door and signing "want", meaning "want outside". He got what he wanted and the look on his face indicated triumphant communication!

A Picture is Worth...

... at least $50! Another successful shopping adventure completed, this time, to help the visual learners, I included a picture of my score! 4 packs of 10 count Bic pens, 3 bottles of All laundry detergent (now I have no excuses to not do laundry), 2 bags Nature Valley Nut Cluster things, 2 packages of Knorr Rice & Pasta side dishes, and 5 packages of Klondike Bars. Pre-tax, non-sale, pre-coupon total... $65.24. My total... $17.25... but wait, it's better... printed out at the register was a coupon for $4 off 5 more Klondikes and $15 in "like cash" coupons! So when I go back tomorrow, I'll buy a bunch more stuff, use the $15 "like cash coupons" and the Klondike coupon, and pay about $4 out of pocket and get another Klondike coupon and another $15 "like cash coupons". Do you see a pattern starting?