Bluegrass Festival

On Saturday, September 19, 2009, we went to Flagstaff for Pickin' in the Pines. Chad loves to go to Bluegrass festivals. We went one in Tucson two years in a row and another in Benson. It's really good music and fun people to watch. There are some people who are serious about their Bluegrass. It started out a nice day but the clouds quickly rolled in and we had to make a break for the covered amphitheater. While we were making a break for the cover, I slid down a muddy/grassy embankment and landed right on my rear end. It was gross. I was also holding Cole and pushing the stroller. This is the second time I have fallen with Cole in my arms and he has yet to get hurt. I'm getting pretty good. As many people as possible huddled under the covered areas while it poured and hailed on us. The music just kept on playing though. It finally stopped raining but the clouds stayed so it was nice and chilly. Grant didn't seem to mind though. He was running around barefoot with no jacket on. He had a great time playing in the grass, chasing bubbles people kept blowing and dancing to the music. They had a Kid's Corner where Grant painted a paper plate music shaker and had his face painted. Cole was a little more difficult around nap time but he did get a 45 minute nap in that helped.

(Cole thankfully napping on the drive up to Flagstaff)

(Grant napping on the way up to Flagstaff)

(Chad being so cute for the picture - compare to others where he is equallyy cooperative)

(Cole enjoying his Puffs snack when we first arrived - this was before it rained)

(Grant being silly with his Goldfish - he asked me to take this picture)

(Grant's face painted bee cheek - when asked what color he wanted he said yellow and when asked what shape he said square, the facepainter was stumped so she asked if he'd like a bee (I thought of Spongebob but kept my mouth shut because that's the last thing I wanted on this face))

(He got a lion on his other cheek)

(Both boys snacking when we first arrived)

Below is Cole trying to get the armoir open. He now tries to pull the door open with one hand then stick his head in the opening in an attempt to get the door to stay open. It's pretty funny to watch. Good use of his head though. I always knew he was headsmart.

Last night, Chad and I were sitting on the couch and the boys were playing on the floor. I looked down to check on them and they were each chewing on a tool with their eyes glued to the TV watching The Simpsons. The are true Mellens.

These are the boys the only time they have ever had matching outfits. Kitty went to Outer Banks, NC for Labor Day and brought these t-shirts for the boys. She sent them for Cole's birthday and Grant's un-birthday. I matched them to send a picture to Aunt Kitty. She loved it.

(Cole walking with his walker)

(Cole pushing his walker on his knees, cheating)

Happy Birthday Cole!!!

Happy Birthday to my little one year old. Yesterday, Cole turned one year old. Where has the time gone? We celebrated his birthday on Wednesday, September 16, 2009. We had homemade macaroni and cheese and then cake and ice cream. Cole loves mac 'n cheese and realy enjoyed his first piece of cake. When we sang Happy Birthday to Cole he started crying. Poor thing. I think he thought we were yelling at him. We certainly were not the most in tune singing group. After cake and ice cream Cole opened his presents. Well, actually Grant did the present opening for Cole and Cole just played with the wrapping paper and bows. He had little interest in most of the gifts until he got the couple of toys unwrapped. Oma, Papa and Aunt Kitty got Cole some clothes and we got him a Little People airplane, a bath toy and some new little shoes. It was a pretty low key party with just our little family, Aunt Shelli and our friend Matt but it was fun, especially for an event Cole will never remember.

Cole sure has grown up a lot and has the funniest personality. He is already such a little troublemaker and mischief maker. It's adorable. He is pro at harassing his brother already and such a smilely little boy. He is full of adventure and will try anything Grant is doing. He is also a spectacular tantrum thrower. If he does not get his own way we hear about it very loudly, complete with throwing himself on the floor, rolling around and screaming at the top of his lungs.


(Here is Cole with his first birthday cake - He tried numerous times to grab that candle flame)

(This is Cole when he broke into tears during our lovely rendition of "Happy Birthday.")

(Cole enjoying his birthday cake)

(Cole checking out his new birthday clothes)

(Grant and Cole with Cole's presents)

(Cole trying on his birthday present bow)


(Cole in his forward facing car seat for the first time - he cried slightly for about the first five minutes of his first ride)

(Cole trying out the walker for the first time - He's finally getting up the courage to stand and try walking)

Happy Birthday Matt!!! This is Chad's friend Matt. They went to pharamacy school together then did their residency at the Tucson VA together. Now they are both working at the Prescott VA. Matt's birthday was on Tuesday and no one made him a cake so he came over for Cole's birthday celebration and we celebrated his birthday too.

We worked on the letter D last week in preschool. Grant painted a dumptruck, daisy and dragon. we also learned the song Five Little Ducks. He is really starting to enjoy singing the songs finally. He still loves painting. We went to Goodwill earlier this week just to check things out. I found him a bag of little Legos for $2 that he hasn't stopped playing with, except by force. He loves building things and taking them apart. Aunt Kitty got Grant a fun ice cream shop Play-doh toy that he is also obsessed with. He will play Legos and Play-doh for hours. Thanks Kitty for a great gift.

My little garden is growing. It is growing in small patches but still growing. My broccoli is the most successful. I have about three carrots and I may even have some spinach and peas growing but I'm not sure. They may just be weeds. We'll have to wait and see.

(My broccoli plants)

(My little carrot plants)

(My broccoli)

Videos of Grant at preschool

This is Grant with his letter "C". He is really liking preschool. He loves painting and he is actually learning and singing the songs we are working on.

Grant singing Baa Baa Blacksheep. He learned this in our little home preschool.

Grant playing hopscotch. He loves to hold the stick figures and take the letters off the BINGO sign I made to help learn the song.

Grant singing BINGO.

Grant singing Five Little Ducks.

The World's Longest Tantrum

Below is the aftermath of one of the longest and worst tantrums Grant has thrown to date and he's thrown some doozies. It started at the YMCA. I took him there after walking for his gymnastics class. He was fine until it came time to give his card to his teacher and go into class. He wouldn't do it. He actually laid on the floor in the middle of the lobby and covered his face. He would not go to gymnastics. Finally, we just sat in the chairs and he watched his class. Toward the end, he got up and tried to play on some of the equipment so I said he either needed to go to class, sit down and watch or we would leave. He wanted nothing to do with sitting or class so we headed out. That's when all hell broke loose. He didn't have his shoes on and he wouldn't hold still for them so I headed out the door with him screaming behind me. I had to drag him to the car and put him kicking and screaming in his seat. He is in a booster seat now with just a seat belt and has figured out how to undo the seatbelt. I would get him buckled and get myself in the car and he would have the belt undone. This happened numerous times. Somehow, I finally managed to make it out of the YMCA parking lot and down the road but by the time I got to the first light he had the belt undone again. I was at the YRMC/Hastings light for those familiar with Prescott. The funny thing is that when I started driving at the light change he freaked out because his belt wasn't buckled. I pulled into the Hastings parking lot and took him out of the car and sat on the curb for about 10 minutes with him snuggly in my arms while he screamed, spit, writhed, bit, kicked and did who knows what else. Poor Cole was in the Jeep with the a/c on all by himself during this. Finally, I put Grant back in the car, a little more calmed down. However, we only made it to the Williamson Valley/Iron Springs light before the seat belt was off again and don't be fooled there was much screaming and crying and yelling during this entire drive, which really only takes about six minutes. Again, when I made the turn at the light Grant started freaking out because he wasn't buckled, even though he was the who unbuckled himself. I turned in the Abia Judd parking lot and buckled him but before I could get back into the car he unbuckled himself again. By this time I was only about two minutes from home so I left him unbuckled and drove home. I did not say much to Grant during this ordeal and was even struggling not to laugh because it was so ridiculous and that just made Grant even madder. At home, I silently removed him from the car, dragged him up to his room, shut the gate and left him up there. About 10 minutes later, as I was trying to feed Cole, who by this time was crying himself from being made upset by Grant's screaming, I hear, "I just pee peed my pants." I left Cole in his boosterseat and went upstairs. I found Grant without underwear or pants on and a big pile of pee on the our thankfully wood floor in his room. He had removed his pants but peed in his underwear. He was already in the process of putting on new underwear and shorts. I went and got a rag, wiped it up and shut the gate again without saying one word. Grant was of course still yelling and crying through all of this. About 20 minutes later, I went to put Cole to nap and checked in on Grant. Below is what I found. The video helps because he turned the music on by himself. It was just one of those days.

Cute videos

Here are two videos I tried to post yesterday but they would not work. They worked today. Go figure. The first is Cole and his adorable laugh. The second is Grant and his amazing dancing to bluegrass music at the square this past Saturday.

Labor Day and other odds and ends

We had a great Labor Day weekend. Let me just say at the outset that our weekend involved a lot of eating. I'm not sure how or why but we ended up eating quite a bit of junk but we did.

We started the weekend Saturday morning with breakfast at the Apple Pan. It had great food but it took a little while to get our food and Cole does not do well in restaurants. Chad sat with Grant at the table while he colored and I had to take Cole outside to crawl around until our food came. Once the food came Cole was just fine. He ate about half a plate size pancake and would have eaten more but we cut him off. We had delicious omlettes and apple pancakes. After breakfast we walked from the restaurant to the square for Fair on the Square. The weather was perfect. It was very overcast and nice and cool. It didn't rain until we were almost home so it was perfect. At the square we looked at all of the booths then bought a caramel apple and chocolate covered cheesecake (yes, after just having eaten breakfast...see what I mean). We also sat on the lawn and listened to a fun bluegrass band. Grant ran around all hopped up on sugar. He also had a great time wrestling Chad and dancing to the music.

(Chad and Grant with an old train next to Sharlot Hall Museum)

Sunday we did the usual church thing, with nothing exciting. Monday, we took a road trip to Jerome. I have never been to Jerome (unless you count the time we drove through in our little Rabbitt with our yellow moving trailer moving to Prescott from Idaho when I was six). Jerome is only about 30 miles from Prescott but the road is extremely windy and slow going so it takes about an hour to drive there. Before heading out of town, we stopped at McDonald's for breakfast. Grant had a biscuit and a box of apple juice. Grant also gets extremely car sick on windey rodes so about half way to Jerome he started puking. He tried to hold it in but couldn't do it. Why don't I ever bring a bowl or extra clothes? This is the third or fourth time this has happened. Luckily, he puked right as we were coming up on a recreation area so we pulled off and washed him down as best we could. Sadly though he was not done puking. Thank goodness for that empty McDonald's bag. We made it to Jerome finally and walked around. There is not a ton to see or do but it has a beautiful view and a lot of art if you've got the money or the taste for it. There was a fun, little park with swings, grass and a slide that we played out for awhile. Cole had his first swing ride and Grant had fun pushing him. Mommy even got a little swinging in too.

We ate lunch at a place called the Haunted Burger. Jerome is known for its ghost town theme and haunted buildings. Again, the restaurant dining experience was pretty awful. They did not have any available high chairs and our 4 person both was connected to another four person booth. I was holding Cole trying to make him happy for as long as I could but I think he is programmed to think, "Restaurant. Go crazy and grab everything in sight." My water was spilled. He flung water from my straw onto the woman in the booth next to us. He managed to yell and scream (not cry) over and over in a very small upstairs room of the restaurant. Finally Chad took him outside until our food came. Things were going well until...you guessed it. Grant said the infamous, "I need to go potty." I had to take Cole with me or he would start screaming (he's in the I only want mommy phase these days). We headed down the treacherous, old, too skinny stairs to the bathroom that wasn't really big enough for one person, let alone three. I literally had to put Cole in the sink. Grant, who stands to pee, was a little to short, so he was aiming up more than down and got pee everywhere, including all over my foot. Cole, meanwhile is complaining and doing his best to dive off of the sink (there was no counter). It was a disaster. We managed to finish eating and I headed out with the boys. Chad stayed behind to pay. Literally, ten minutes later Chad surfaced. He said our waitress greeted about four new tables before she took care of our bill. We were relieved to get out of there. We walked around a bit more and found a little bakery. I had a homemade chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich. We walked to the bottom of a big hill, Jerome is filled with them, and Chad went back up to get the hill. We piled into the car and headed home a less windey but longer way home. Both boys fell asleep within about 10 minutes and then me shortly thereafter. It was a much smoother drive home. It was a fun outing and we learned a few valuable lessons:
#1: We will always travel with dramamine, a bowl and extra clothes and shoes for Grant.
#2: We will never eat in a restaurant again until our youngest child is over three years of age.
#3: We need to eat far less junk on long weekends.

(Chad at the park...no pictures please)

(Chad outside the movie store that is part of the old silent film theater currently under renovation)

(Grant enjoying some black cherry ice cream and Cole upset at not getting any)

(Cole swinging for the first time - although his face looks like he's upset, he really enjoyed it)

(Grant pushing Cole on the swing)

(Grant with his walking stick - also imagine a slight vomit smell coming off of him)

(Jerome)

(Part of the sidewalk...I like seeing these stamps on the sidewalks in the old AZ towns)

Other funny things

Yesterday, chad and I were getting ready for church. Chad was in our bathroom and I was in the kitchen making some cornbread. Chad called to me to show me what our children were up to. Cole was in the baking cupboard (you will see pictures below of another time he did this) and then he showed me what Grant was up to. Grant took all of the shoes off our shoe shelves in our closet and made a huge pile in the middle of our closet with Chad's ties and clothes. We asked Grant what he was doing and he said he was making a "big pile of junk."

(Grant's big pile of junk)

(The empty shoe rack...This is mine and Chad has one too)

Here is my cute Granty hamming it up in his new t-shirt from his aunt Kitty from Turkey. My children look like the most well travelled children. They have t-shirts from Honduras, Puerto Rico, New York, Turkey and Costa Rica. I just wish it was me who had brought them back for them. My sisters are the lucky ones who get to do all of the traveling.

This is Grant rocking out on the drumset to Rock Band. We had dinner at our friend Matt's house a week or so ago and Matt has the microphone, drumset and two guitars for Rock Band. We let Grant think he was playing drums while we played and he had a great time banging on them.

Next door to us lives a family from our ward. They have a little four year old girl Ava, who gets along really well with Grant. She loves to come over and Grant loves to go play at her house. This is Grant driving Ava around in his Jeep.

A few Fridays ago we went to Barnes and Noble for what we thought was going to be the reading of an Arthur story by the author, Marc Brown. We thought this because that is how I read the sign advertising it. I was wrong. We got there and it was merely a Barnes and Noble employee reading the story then a giant Arthur came out to meet the kids. Grant loves Arthur so it was still a fun outing, just not as fun as we'd originally anticipated. It should also be noted that ever since Grant was very little he has had a huge fear of giant mascot type creatures like Sally Sidewinder at Sidewinders games. He did really well with Arthur until it came time to standing right next to him for a picture. You can see how well that worked out. Chad pointed out after looking at the picture that it looks like Arthur is about to hit Grant and Grant is flinching.

Grant did not start preschool this year but he is ready. I have started doing some things with him at home during Cole's naps. Each week I work on a different letter with him. He already knows the letters but we are working on sounds. He also loves to do art so we do a lot of painting, cutting, gluing, coloring and the like. We make a letter poster each week with pictures of words that start with the letter we are working on. I am also trying to teach him some songs and nursery rhymes that go with the letter. He's not big on singing but likes me to sing and has learned some of the songs. He all of the sudden a week or so after learning Baa Baa Blacksheep during "B" week, started singing it by himself. Grant loves doing his preschool and everyday from the second Cole wakes up starts asking if it is Cole's nap time and preschool time. It actually gets quite tiresome even though his enthusiasm is good.

I have been trying to put a lot of emphasis on those things that Grant can do all by himself these days to help get him to be more independent. We have been working on getting dressed alone, specifically. He has just learned how to put socks on and now loves to put on his socks and to put on Chad's socks. It is an almost daily occurrence these days and he looks hilarious. Grant also found some knee high moccasin slippers of Chad's in his closet and loves to put those on too.

Cole is growing so fast. He will be one year old in less than two weeks. He has the most hilarious little personality. He is a bit of a menace and has to be watched continuously so as not to sneak up stairs or fall down stairs but he is fun. His latest quirk is that when he sucks his middle two fingers he lifts up his shirt to play with his belly button. He makes his belly and belly button so read but doesn't seem to care. It cracks me up.

Cole also loves my brother David. He loves for David to just sit and hold him and what's even greater is that David loves to just sit and hold him. It is adorable.

(Note Cole in his New York t-shirt from his aunts and Oma)

Cole loves to put things in things, stack things on things and climb in things. I put him in this basket and he just sat there forever and loved it. Grant has been playing with one of our remaining moving boxes and Cole loves to climb through it too like a tunnel.

Cole loves to stand up and see what he can see. He won't try to walk though or even creep. If he wants to move even slightly farther than he can standing in one spot, he will get down and crawl rather than hold on and slide his feet. He has absolutely no interest in walking. Here Cole is trying to get the toys that Grant is playing with at the table. He always wants what his brother has.

While we were playing Rock Band at Matt's house, Cole hung out on the giant bean bag.

This is Cole emptying my baking cupboard. Any chance he gets, he emptys something.

Can you see the mischevious look on his face?

Here he is with the mixing bowls from another cupboard.