Gotta Love Living in Oregon!

What does daylight savings time mean in Portland?

An extra hour of rain.

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A newcomer to Portland arrives on a rainy day. She gets up the next day and it's raining. It also rains the day after that, and the day after that. She goes out to lunch and sees a young kid and, out of despair, asks, "Hey, kid, does it ever stop raining around here?"

The kid says, "How should I know? I'm only 8."

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"I can't believe it," said the tourist. "I've been here in Portland an entire week and it's done nothing but rain. When do you have summer here?" "Well, that's hard to say," replied the local. "Last year, it was on a Wednesday."

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What do you call two straight days of rain in Portland? An average weekend.

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What did the Portland native say to the Pillsbury Dough boy?

"Nice tan."

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Kindergarten Graduation

Justin and his friends who are also in our ward, Aidan and Magdalena

Today was Justin's last day of school. He was so excited and I was a little bit sad. I'm happy for him to go on to learn new things, but I'll miss this fun Kindergarten stage. He had a fun field day today and then after lunch, both Kindergarten classes put on a concert in the gym for all of the parents. The kids sang several cute songs and we all got to join in for the big finale of "A-Tu-Ja-Ta" with all of the silly actions.

After the concert, we moved into Justin's classroom for their little graduation ceremony.



Mrs. Zielke handed each child their diploma and a little butterfly as she read aloud each child's own thoughts on kindergarten. Here is Justin's:

The best part of Kindergarten was P.E. because I like games like "Teacher, Teacher, What Time is it?" I learned that moths aren't butterflies. I know that there's one butterfly that looks like a Monarch because a Monarch tastes yucky. I am proud that I learned about plants. They start out at the top of the food chain.

When I grow up, I want to be a paleontologist because they dig up dinosaur bones and I love dinosaurs!

Tyler just wanted to sneak off and play with all the dinosaurs. He'll really be happy when he can finally go to Kindergarten.



Justin wanted to ride the bus home one last time, so we waited with him and took a picture of him with his nice bus driver. She told me that Justin has been her favorite this year and that he reminds her of her nephew. I have appreciated her this year knowing that someone is watching out for him on the bus each day.





Justin told me that he wishes 1st Grade could begin next Monday and that he wouldn't have such a long summer vacation. He really loves school and I'm sure he'll miss it. But, when I told him he has 12 weeks to play this summer, he said, "I better get going!"

Guess What Happened at School Today?

Justin lost a tooth! Another one? Yep, this is #6. It fell out during circle time when they were reading "James and the Giant Peach". He tells me, "I knew it was going to fall out right then because I was turning it and it got stuck half way around." His teacher gave him a cute little plastic tooth-shaped holder for his tooth along with a red cord to wear it as a charm around his neck. He was so excited that it happened while he was at school. And in the nick of time since his last school day for the year is tomorrow.

Tonight, after dinner, Justin immediately wrote a letter to the tooth fairy and addressed an envelope to put under his pillow with his tooth. He showed it to me and asks, "Can I go to bed right now?" It was 6:45 p.m. After that comment, I think it wouldn't be so bad for him to loose a tooth every day! At least I think the tooth fairy will need to start working overtime with all these teeth falling out! I hope he saves some for the 1st Grade. Wowsers!

Three's of Me

This post took me over two weeks to finish. It's tough to nail down these things about myself. I definitly learned a thing or two about the good old me, myself and I. Well, here we go:

Three Joys
1. Holidays. I love the togetherness of holidays! I love planning for them! I love getting together with family and friends to celebrate whatever! I love that my birthday is on St. Patrick's Day, Tyler's will sometimes be on Easter, and Justin's will fall on Mother's Day when he turns eight. Double the fun and double the anticipation!

2. Family. I love my little family! Travis and the boys bring me joy every single day! I look forward to spending time with them and they always make me laugh! I am so happy to have them.

Guptill Family December 2005 (Tyler 7 months old and Justin 3 1/2 years old)

3. My flowers. I feel joy when I see my pretty little flowers thriving and blooming. My little piece of heaven. The sun on my face feels so good when I'm working in my yard.

Three Fears
1. Spiders. Creepy crawlies, webs, googly-eyes and bites. Can't be good and I'm training my boys to squash them for me. I figure since I have two strong boys, they can learn to protect their mother. I do try to put on a strong face when we come across a big one. Nah, they don't bother me! I don't want Justin or Tyler to be afraid of the creepies. Who would get rid of them for me? But inside I'm yelling "Yikes! Get me out of here!"

2. Lost Child. I'm worried that Tyler is going to get separated from us and become really, truly lost. He's a runner and I have to keep my eye on him whenever we are out in public. He isn't really trying to get away from us, he just has no fear and wants to go wherever he wants to go. Today at Target (again), I had to assign Travis to Tyler and he still was trying to take off the whole time. It makes me shop faster. Maybe that's a good thing. We buy less this way....

Our happy Ty Guy!

3. Running out of gas. Can't be a good thing. When I had my learner's permit in high school, our station wagon ran out of gas while I was driving it and my mom and I coasted into the high school parking lot. How embarrassing! I'm sure it would be even crazier these days with a car full of kids! Or if there was some sort of emergency and we had to leave town right then. So, I always like to make sure the tank is at least half full. Travis is so good to keep gas in our van and I definitely appreciate it.

Three Goals
I know everyone thinks of their own "save the world" goals. I'm thinking smaller here. I'm thinking "save the fam" goals. Here are my three "get us through the day" goals:
1. Plan dinner. My day will rock if dinner is rolling by lunchtime.

2. Shine the kitchen sink. The whole house becomes magically clean if this happens first thing in the morning. Yup, it really works.

3. Happy Mommy. If Mom is happy, everyone is happy. The opposite also applies, so I plan for the first.

Three Obsessions
1. Rachel Ray. I love her cookbooks and my family loves to eat at our table when I use her recipes. The talk show is fun too. I record every episode.

2. Washing Hands. Gotta do it kids. No ifs, ands or buts about it!

3. Popcorn. I don't know if this is an obsession for me, but I can't live without it. Well, in that case, you could say it is definitely leaning torwards an obsession. A yummy one!

Three Surprising Facts
1. Brush with Celebrity. I stood next to Marie Osmond once at the doctor's office's front desk in Provo.

2. Travis kissed me for the first time while we were breaking up.

3. I love mustard. I used to eat mustard sandwiches and the funny thing is that it actually sounds good to me right now!

Time for a Top 5

Busy week, no new posts. I think it's time for "Our week's Top 5":

1. Gotta love Kball! For those of you who don't know, just imagine t-ball for a team of kindergartners. I know I'll miss these games. Only two more left....





2. Well-child doctor visits. I love the "well" part of that.

3. "Mom, yesterday was my best day ever!" - Justin watched the space shuttle Discovery's launch on Saturday and then played all afternoon with his five 6-year-old buddies down the street. He was so happy!



4. Sunday dinner with our friends, Kirstin and Jeff. I'm getting excited for summer barbecues!

5. Update for Justin's leg: I took him to get fitted for orthopedics today (crossing my fingers) and then Tyler begged for a celebration picnic lunch in the backyard. We even lucked out with an airplane flyover! Good idea, Ty!

It's Good Being a Mom!

Ty all decked out in Justin's Kball gear

Tonight Justin had a Tball game and Tyler was totally into it. He would wear Justin's team hat and mitt while Justin was up to bat. Then when Justin would go out to field, Tyler would wear a batting helmet until the team came back in. At one point, when Justin and his team were going out to the field, Tyler had on his own mitt and Justin's hat and he just tromped on out there with the team. Then he turned around to look at us like he was ready to play ball with the big kids. He gave everyone a good laugh.

Here are some more random Mommy thoughts:

I love to see how Justin loves life and always has a deep thought for us to ponder on. He is able to really think things through and asks a lot of questions. I often say, "That's a good question. (Meaning...I have no clue what the answer is!) You'll have to ask your dad when he gets home tonight."
When I can actually "WOW" him with a correct answer, he often compliments me with, "Hey, how did you know that? You're really smart, Mom!" I like that! On our rotating Family Home Evening chart, Mom turns into Wow on different weeks. He always points that out to me and points it out to me thinking he's so clever. He makes me laugh!

Justin just lost another tooth last week!

And Ty Guy is such a fun boy! He is always trying to make a joke! His 3-year-old humor cracks me up! This afternoon, Justin and Tyler were giggling in the playroom when Justin yelled, "Mommy salami? Tyler is coo-cooing me up!" I love that they have fun together!

I had to post a picture of one of Tyler's latest schemes:



He got Justin to help him move that heavy mattress and was sliding down it upside down and backwards when I walked in. That mattress is HEAVY and I had to wait for Travis to get home so he could move it back.

It's good being a Mom...these boys keep me hoppin'!

72 Hours...

What do you need to SURVIVE for 72 hours? And not just you...what about your kids? And then after you survive will you be happy? We won't be happy if we don't revamp our emergency kits soon. I'm afraid newborn diapers and baby formula will only keep a six-year-old and a three-year-old happy for just so long.

We have been inching through our 72-hour kits for our Family Home Evenings over the past few weeks. Still inching, but we're making some progress. Now that I have thrown away expired fruit cups and granola bars, we need to peel open one of those mystery MRE's and see if we even like them. Who eats those? We all have them in our kits for that "emergency", but have you actually tasted one? I remember eating one of those astronaut freeze-dried ice creams from the Hansen Planetarium. I hope the MRE's taste like that.

Spooked

Watch out, the Oregon Zoo is a scary place! How would you feel if you came face to face with a huge, roaring T.Rex?



Would you run, too? So you could see Packy the Elephant instead?



Or would you act all cool like it's no big deal and then admit after hurrying out of the exhibit that "I was a little bit scared!"



Who me? No, I just wanted to stay longer to read all the dinosaur "fun fact" signs and to admire those awesome animatronic dinosaurs that roar, snarl, and move with lifelike ferocity! There's one thing for sure though, Justin is going to think twice before he goes on another 3D Dinosaur Thrill Ride!

Picture Time!

We just got back home from the boys' photo shoot. The boys did great and I didn't lose anyone! :) Here's a quick flashback to way back when (at least it feels like that!):





Oh, I remember these boys...These pictures were taken three years ago. The reason I wanted to add them to his post is that Tyler is now the same age as Justin was in these pictures. I think they look a lot alike. When you view our photos from today, you can decide if I'm right. What do you think?

It is going to be tricky to decide on just one picture. Here are the instructions to follow if you would like to take a peek at their pictures:

Go to www.yuenluistudio.com

Click on view/purchase photos (located in the upper right side of your screen)

You will be asked for the event name:
080523BVTPGuptillk

Enter in the password:
kayelynn

Enjoy! Note to Grandma and Grandpa: Don't order online, we've got you covered!

*These pictures will go offline in 10 days, so make sure you view them soon!

Lost

Today has been a fun and crazy day for us! Justin got to go on his FIRST kindergarten field trip to the Oregon Zoo. He was counting down the days all year and said they had a great time.

Ty and I went on a "quick" shopping trip to Target this morning. I needed to find some coordinating shirts for the boys to wear when they get their pictures taken tomorrow morning. Tyler was walking next to me...O.K., I was trying to hold his hand and he was trying to get away as we were looking in the boys section. We were standing next to the clearance rack and I grabbed one shirt off the rack as he continued around the same rack. I continued walking (without stopping) around the same rack to continue shopping with him right next to me. When I got around to the other side, he had VANISHED! I quickly looked around the racks close by and looked below expecting to see him hiding from me. Nothing! I started to panic and hurried to the main isle. Nothing! There was one lady with her child in the boys section and I quickly asked her if she had seen a little guy in a blue hooded jacket. She hadn't seen anyone. My heart dropped.

I looked around again and headed over to the baby section. Two red-shirted Target employees were standing there so I hurried over to tell them I had lost my son. The girl looked at me with worry in her eyes and spoke into her walkie-talkie "CODE YELLOW repeat CODE YELLOW!" She asked for a description of Tyler and I was so glad that I actually remembered what I had dressed him in today. She asked me to come with her quickly to the front. By then I was trying not to cry and kept telling myself that we'd find him while praying that he'd be o.k. Every minute felt like five and finally I asked, "Should I just start walking around to find him, too?" It seemed weird to ask her permission to search for my child. She said, "No, you need to stay here so we can watch the doors in case anyone tries to walk out with him." I felt so helpless just standing there looking around. But I was so glad that there was only one main exit.

The girl asked me to give her another description of Ty. I started telling her about him as a man and a woman were on their way out of the store. The man turned around and asked, "Little blond guy?" I said, "Light brown hair?" He said, "Yeah, he just about plowed me over back by the DVDs and Cd's." I thanked him and the girl told security to check in that area. Throughout all this time, I kept hearing an update from security with an area and "clear". That was the worst! Then, thankfully, I saw Tyler walking past the cashier stations towards the dollar section and the main entrance. I think he would have tried to walk right out of the store if I hadn't been right there. I gasped, "Oh, that's him! Thank you!" and ran over to him. He looked at me like "What's the big deal?" He wasn't worried at all. Sigh! If he only knew what he just did to me!

I told him I didn't know where he went and that I was worried about him. I told him he needed to stay close to me while we are shopping. He said "O.K., Mom" and then ran the other way weaving into the clothing racks again. Aargh! I scooped him up and we went to get a cart. I plopped him in the back and we hurried back to the kids section to try to find those crazy shirts. Now I'm sure those shirts are fine, I'm just really flustered at that point. Tyler started trying to get out of the cart and so I let him help me push it. He took that as a ticket to run again. After chasing him around the clothes again, I grabbed the first white shirt I saw that was in his size and we b-lined it right to the express checkout. The cashier knew what I had just been through and she offered to put my cart away for me. Bless her.

I was all shaky for the next hour. What an adrenaline rush! I called Travis on the way home to tell him what had happened. I'd like to say he was surprised, but he wasn't. He said, "You know what? He we totally lost him at the father/son camp out last weekend." (Now he tells me...) I guess Travis had asked his friend to watch Tyler while he went to help Justin in the bathroom. Well, the friend turned his back for a second and Tyler vanished! Travis ended up finding him over by all the cars. He said Ty kept trying to take off the whole time and was relieved to get back home so he could take off his hawk eyes. Well I know for sure I can't take this one shopping by myself anymore. Those kid leashes sure sound like a good idea to me today.

We picked up Travis on the way home so he could have lunch with Ty while I hurried off to a hair appointment. Travis is so great to come work from home for a while here and there when I need to go to an appointment or something. When I got home I found that I can type this fast with two boys wrestling next to me and bumping the computer while Justin is repeating each word I type several seconds after I typed it...

68 words

Speed test

You know that's not my final score. I'm going to keep taking this speed test until I get into the 70's at least. What's your score? It's good practice anyway.

So, after the whole typing escapade we went to cheer Justin on at his Kball game and then I got to go to book club. It was a great end to a crazy busy day!

I'll post a picture tomorrow...I'm bushed!