Lake Powell

Way back at the beginning of June we took a trip to Lake Powell.  My sister and her husband have a time share on a house boat at Bull Frog marina.  What started out as a family trip slowly turned into a friend/family/anyone who can come trip!  For awhile we thought we would have to beg people to come to Lake Powell.  Come on people, it's Lake Powell!  So it turned out to be a super fun trip with super cool people {My sis Allison and her husband Tyler and their two boys Max and Jack, my sis Katie and her "friend" Kyle, my cousin Kristin and her friend Emmy, our friends Todd and Bethanie, and our friend Kenny}.  This was the first time we left Henry for more than a couple of hours.  He stayed with my mother in law and my mom.  We were gone for 6 days!  That's a long time to be away from my little boy.  But we all survived, and it was heaven not having a 14 month old in Lake Powell on a houseboat.  

^^ Good old Canyon Rose... straight out of the 90's ^^

^^ Group photo ^^

^^ Sisters & Cousin ^^

^^ Cliff jumping Clark.  I hate cliff jumping.  It scares me. ^^

^^ I'm more at home playing in the water with the kiddos! ^^ 

^^ I always look so lovely in all the Lake Powell pictures. But it feels so nice being without makeup for a week! 

"Green" Cleaning

Today I decided I better clean my house.  It was getting a little yucky.  Plus there is someone interested in renting our place once we move out (hopefully by the end of this month...)  So I decided to put my Norwex products to work!  And boy did they work.  Henry even helped me because I'm not using any harmful chemicals, I don't mind him being in the bathroom while I'm cleaning.  Before, I had to clean while he was napping because I didn't want him breathing in the fumes or accidentally "taste testing" any cleaner.  But not today.  He was right there with me.  Another great thing about Norwex is they actually have a children's line of cleaning products.  Awesome right.  So if you have children that are actually old enough to have chores and jobs around the house, you can make it a little more exciting by giving them their own cloths and mops to use.  When I was a kid cleaning would have been much more fun if I had my own cool stuff to use.  Even at the young age like Henry when they start to want to "help" and they copy everything their parents do, you could give them their own dusting cloth or enviro cloth and let them go to town.  Since you don't use any cleaner or chemicals they can't really hurt anything.  If anything they will help get the job done faster.  And isn't that why you have children in the first place :)  

Henry loves to dust mop the floors

So the bottom part of the window in our shower always had white soap scum stuff on it.  I used a Norwex antibacterial enviro cloth on the left side and it cleaned it up quite nicely.  That's even after the water had dried, so it doesn't look that nice because it is wet.  That's just how clean it got.  (The upper part of the window is clean I promise.  The white is just the glare from the sun)

Henry just hanging out emptying drawers while I clean. 

Look how shiny!  Can you believe I only used water.  It's pretty sweet.  

Norwex

So I decided to become a Norwex consultant.  I've heard great things about the company and their products from a variety of people.  So I decided it might be a nice way to earn some money.  I don't like to be a pushy sales person so we will see how this goes :)  

But for real.  They have some great products.  The thing I like the most is that they are good for the environment and I can stop using so much cleaner and chemicals. With little Henry around, I always hate spraying cleaner or using Clorox wipes on surfaces he eats from immediately after.  Norwex has a ton of awesome microfiber cloths that grab all the dirt/dust/grime.  The antibacterial cloths have silver in them which has antimicrobial properties.  I probably don't explain it very well.  Just go to their website to learn more!  They also have a dust mop for floors that is awesome!  I usually just sweep my wood & tile floors and then use my Shark steam mop (which I hate by the way).  I swear it never cleans my floor, especially the tile.  So I swept the floor with a regular broom, and then I used the dry mop floor duster and it picked up a ton of stuff!  Awesome!  So if you want to know more about Norwex go to my website.  If you find stuff you love, you can order from my website or let me know and I can order it for you.  

http://LauraPierson.norwex.biz
or
email me at pierson.laura@gmail.com

Happy Shopping!  

Memorial Weekend part 1

Clark is the assistant coach for the Twin Falls Rapids U17 boys team.  They had the State tournament in Idaho Falls over Memorial Weekend.  So we made a little vacation of it.  They had a game Friday night so Clark left work a little early and we hit the road.  We made it to Idaho Falls just in time for their game.  Henry and I watched the first half, then we went and checked into our hotel.  It was right across from the falls and you could see the temple from our room.  It was pretty nice.  Then we went back and picked up Clark when the game was over. This was our first "real" vacation that we stayed in a hotel with a baby.... I don't recommend it.  We brought his Pack N' Play to sleep in, but since it is just one big room we couldn't really "hide" him anywhere so when it was time for him to go to sleep he just stood in the crib watching us and crying.  It was a long night of him finally falling asleep in our Queen bed around midnight, then moving him to the crib, then having him wake up at 3am and coming back in bed with us and then being wide awake at 7am.  The team had a game Saturday morning so Henry and I went and watched.  He fell asleep in the car on the way to the game (luckily) so I drove around Idaho Falls and found the Temple. When Henry woke up we went and "watched" the last half of the game.  Henry mostly just wanted to walk around and pick up garbage and other things off of the grass, or try to walk onto the soccer field. His favorites were a rock and a pine cone he found. He carried them around for a good hour.  The simple things that entertain a child!  At least he was happy.  The team had games on Sunday and Monday but Clark wanted to go explore Idaho so we didn't stay for the other games.  The U17 boys ended up taking 3rd in State, so Clark was a proud coach! All the boys signed a soccer ball and gave it to Clark, and I even saw a few give him a hug.  It was sweet.  We decided to hang around Idaho Falls for the day and went to their local zoo.  Clark's brother Brett and 2 of his kids had been in Yellowstone so on their way home to Utah they drove through Idaho Falls.  We met up with them at the zoo and then took some pictures down by the falls.  It was fun to see them for a couple of hours.  Then we drove to Rexburg to stay the night. This time in the hotel there was a wall where the bathroom was so we hid Henry behind it so he would sleep better.  It was definitely better than the first night.  But still not much fun with a 1 year old in a hotel room.  Sunday morning we got up and drove to the Craters of the Moon National Monument.  We went and explored one of the many caves/caverns formed by volcanic activity.  Apparently eruptions have been happening every 2,000 years and it has been over 2,000 years since the last one... Is Twin Falls far enough away from Craters of the Moon?  I sure hope so.  Southwestern Idaho really does have a ton of lava rock everywhere.  It's kinda crazy.  After our cave hike we made the drive home.  Henry did so well in the car.  He slept most of the time.  Luckily each time we drove it was only a 2-3 hour stretch with long stops in between.  It was a lot of fun to explore Idaho together as a family.  

Now for the pictures:

Cousins in Idaho Falls

Matthew, Liza, and Henry

Idaho Falls Temple 

Idaho Falls are cool since they are right in the middle of town, but the falls in Twin are way bigger (and cooler too!)

I'm not sure why I'm crouching down so awkwardly... I guess to get Henry to stay still.  You can tell in all of these pictures he just wanted to walk around and not bother with holding still or smiling. 

Random photo of Henry in front of the Tabernacle in Rexburg.  In the basement they have a little museum about the History of Rexburg and also about the Teton Dam & Flood.  

 These next pictures are of Craters of the Moon:

It was windy... What else is new?  Southern Idaho is ALWAYS windy.  

Cool Cave.  Henry was in Rock Heaven.  We were bad and let him bring home a lava rock.  Shhh don't tell the park ranger. 

Climbing out of the cave.  We were kicking ourselves for forgetting Henry's carrier.  It would have been nice to just strap him to our backs.  There's always next time. 

Oh look, it's Henry enjoying a rock.  

Pretty views of dark lava rock and then pretty green hills and mountains.

I'm gettin' artsy with the landscape photos, ha! 

More crazy lava rock formations.  

Now I'm sure you all want to drive to Idaho and visit Craters of the Moon.  You could actually camp there (but with the wind, I'm not sure why you would want to) and they had a lot more caves and rocks you could hike to.  It was pretty cool.  On Monday (Memorial Day) we hung out in Twin Falls and went to 3 different waterfalls.  I'll blog about that next.  

Spring has Sprung

Our latest happenings in pictures..

Henry is 1 and he loves to be outside any chance he can get. I love Spring because of all the pretty flowers that start blooming.

Mother's Day part 2... I didn't get a good photo with Henry on Mother's day so a week later we took one.  Henry & Clark bought me that pot and those flowers for Mother's Day.  That was my mother's day wish, to plant some flowers.  

These babies love to have baths together... This really has nothing to do with Spring, but they are cute.  I love squishy baby bums.

Henry looked so handsome before church I had to snap a picture. He was wearing his new spring tie!

Lovin' the slide... or maybe not.  Haha he looks a little worried.  I think it tickled his belly

I survived my first 10K!  woo woo!  We are all training for Ragnar (except my Mom on the end, she ran for fun)

Henry loves to watch Clark coach soccer.  In this picture he is practicing his headers

Cute picture of my Mom (Nana) with 4 of her 5 grandsons

(L-R) Henry, Max, Jack, Greyson (Merrick is the one missing.  He is too far away in CA)

One Year Old

** I started this post FOREVER ago.  Henry is now 13 1/2 months old :)


Can it really be true that I have a 1 year old?! Clark and I were saying how "grown-up" Henry seems all of a sudden.  Yesterday he was just standing at the coffee table eating a little snack out of his bowl like a big kid.  But then he had a rough night last night and was still my little guy cuddling on my lap and falling asleep.  That is the good thing about this age.  They are old enough to play independently and eat big people food but they are still babies and need to be cuddled.  He has had a runny nose the last few days, but I think it is mostly due to teething.  He is getting one of his molars in.  ouch!  I put a pillow in his crib to keep him propped up a little and for some reason he loves it.  We catch him cuddling with it after he wakes up.  He really likes to cuddle with anything soft, but mostly he loves his donkey!  He has a little gray stuffed animal donkey that my aunt and uncle gave Henry.  Thanks Curt and Barb!  He loves it!

Milestones for 12 months {These are a list I put on my phone and I'm sure I've left things out}

• Screams!! When you move him away from something, or keep him from something he wants he throws his head back and screams.
• walks holding onto something or pushing something
• loves to climb the stairs and is an expert at it now.  All I say is "turn around" and he will turn right around and go down on his belly.  I obviously still make sure I'm there and never let him go down alone. 
• He will point to our nose and eyes if we say "where's mom's nose/eye" but if you say "where's Henry's nose?" he looks at you like you are speaking jibberish!
• He loves to be outside (even in 20 mph winds).  He gets so made if we have to go back inside.  He discovered the slide at Grandpa and Grandma Pierson's house over Easter.  He now loves slides and going to the park
• He has always liked to pull on my hair when he would nurse and he still pulls it when I feed him his bottle.  But recently it seems like he is using it as a comfort item and he will hold it and suck his thumb.  He will also pull my hair in a mean way and kind of do this evil grin.... should I be concerned?!
• He also likes to bite!  He will bite my shoulder when I'm holding him and it hurts!  
• He will play alone for 10-20 min.  It is usually when he is emptying baskets and filling them back up. I love to just watch him play, it is the cutest thing
• He will play peek a boo with his blankets.  Especially at night when he should be falling asleep.
• He will kick his little soccer balls.  I think it's mostly that he walks into the ball and just happens to kick it.  But we are starting him young on learning his soccer skills.  
• Points and grunts/babbles at everything.  When we go to Fred Meyer he loves all of the balloons they have blown up over by the card section.  He just points and "talks" to them.
• He knows that socks/shoes go on his feet.  He will put the sock on top of his foot like he is trying to put it on. 
• Still drinks 3 bottles a day.  We are starting the transition to whole milk. We have to mix a little whole milk with his formula and warm it up so its not too cold. 
• Loves to eat all sorts of fruits.  He hasn't fallen in love with vegetables yet.  They are hit and miss.  But he will usually eat broccoli and sweet potatoes really well.  He also loves cheese.  String cheese & cottage cheese are his favorites.

Picture overload from his birthday--

Birthday decorations

The birthday boy waking up and finding his balloons

• 
  He is happy to be 1
  
  
  
  
  Trying to walk on his own
  
  
  
  This is what happens when we make him come inside.... 
  
  
  
  
  Then we find his Donkey and all is well again
  
  
  
  
  Birthday Cake
  
  
  
  Classic picture with all your birthday loot. 
  
  
  
  Trying out the new toy
  
  
  
  
  
  

Happy Birthday to Henry!  What a wonderful year it's been.

Bullying

I just read a blog post someone shared on Facebook and it was about bullying. The blog author's nephew has been being bullied at school, and it sounds like no one is helping the poor kid.  It breaks my heart to think of children that are afraid to go to school and feel stress and anxiety because of a bully.  I don't remember bullying being a problem when I was growing up.  No one stole lunch money or stuffed kids in lockers.  Or I'm naive and it was happening all around me.  I'm sure kids were bullied, but it just didn't seem like the problem it is today.  If any of my own children or nieces and nephews are bullied I will become an angry momma bear and get the problem taken care of!  

In my last post I talked about those handouts I was making for my old work.  Well I made one about bullying so I think I will share it.  Along with the link to that blog I read.  People need to be informed! The blog is http://trytobebrave.blogspot.com/  I guess the aunt named it that because the little boy told his mom when he was being bullied he would try to be brave and not cry.  That just about made me cry!  Poor little kid.  Breaks my heart.  

I especially like the part for Parents & Caregivers. Children learn a lot from adults! We need to make sure we are teaching our children how to be kind and how to be a friend.  Remember: Actions speak louder than words.  I hope that little boy can one day go to school and not be afraid.  I hope he doesn't have lasting issues with stress & anxiety.  That is just too much for an 8 year old to have to deal with.  Let's all be a little kinder today, and set a good example for those children around us.