Happy Birthday, BIG Henry!

As of Saturday, May 14th, Henry is officially "this many."

Henry's birthday celebrations began on Friday when we took him to see Seussical the Musical at BYU followed by a trip to Spoon it Up for some frozen yogurt, "with cookies," as he always adds.

Suessical held his attention pretty well and he loved every second that "cat in the hat" was on the stage but overall this production seemed a little low budget or a bit too symbolic for kids. They really should have gone more literal and used actual feathers to represent the birds feathers rather than clothes tied together. I don't think many kids got or appreciated that. Either way he sat still the whole time and still likes to tell people how he saw the cat in the hat and had ice cream.

Henry with Spiderman on our way to see Suessical.

Spiderman and Henry going to bed after Friday's festivities. Yes, my son has a thing about pinatas which you may review here if you so wish.

Moving on. Saturday was a crazy day. I had a relief society activity to help with, left part way through for a bridal shower, all which Henry enjoyed and was spoiled when people learned it was his birthday. By midday he already had tons of sugar in him and a balloon from the shower to boot. After the shower I was able to drop him home with Johann, help clean up at the RS activity, run to a couple stores for last minute supplies, head home and finish decorating for the party. And this was all on 4 hours of sleep. Whew. So, scenes from the party day which was Batman/superhero themed per Henry's request:

We had just a couple of friends over. Johann and I are really bad at making friends with people who have kids Henry's age. We'll need to work on this. Anyway it did make life easier in that I only had 3 capes to make for the kiddos.

Henry seeing his party which he had been asking for all day and getting pretty excited.

Opening gifts at a kids party, always a communal thing.

He got great gifts this year too. Two books that he now asks to read each day so far for both nap and bedtime reading; robots in all forms-superhero, learning, dinosaur and space; Hi-Ho Cherry-0 and some new summer clothes. Which he'll be able to use someday, I hope, when Provo decides to get with the season! Anyhow, needless to say, he has been a content little player since this birthday weekend.

Cupcake and toy admiring time.

Time to bust open the pinata. Get your game face on.

*Thwack*

After all of the kids had multiple times bopping the pinata, Charlie broke it's neck and Bert decapitated it. We were happy to see that Henry didn't take it too hard, though he did ask later that night for Johann to put spiderman's head back on him.

Enjoy the candy and toy guts!!!

Which they did.

It was a crazy day and it's interesting to see how quickly your apartment becomes tiny when you squeeze a kids party into it. I am glad we did it though despite the time/effort and sleep deprivation because Henry still talks about 'my party' all the time and loves to see the pictures.

As far as turning three, "he's not a toddler anymore-he's a preschooler," seems to be the biggest thing to blow Johann's mind. I have to admit, it is strange that he is definitely no longer what can be deemed a 'baby'. A little sad, but all the same, it's exciting that he is learning and growing and since it's going to happen no matter what I do, I can just do my best to enjoy it.

I'm so happy that we have this 'big boy' in our family. He brings so much joy and I have learned more about the capacity to love and desire for another than I believe I could have otherwise. I hope I can be the kind of parent he needs and help him fulfill his potential. He is such a thoughtful, funny kid, I am happy to know he's in our family forever!

Cinco de Mayo & Mothers Day

Henry loves doing 'crafts.' He is always asking me when we can do another one because though I would like to be a fantastic mom and have one for him to do every day or at least every week, I usually don't that often. Cinco de Mayo rolled around and he was again asking to do a craft so we decided to make construction paper tacos.

Coloring his tortillia

Putting in the lettuce, tomatoes etc

He said he wanted a picture of him eating his taco. If nothing else this is proof he was born in Utah. Okay, okay so I guess they do it everywhere.

On to mothers day.

First, a shout out to my mama who really is a wonderful mother. She was able to be here in Utah with us when I started to miscarry and it's humbling to realize that no matter how old you are, there are just certain times when you want your mommy to be there too. I really can't think of anyone else who could have been as good a mom to me as her. Love you, mama!

What the day looked like here in Provo:

Trying to get a good picture with Henry before church. This is what motherhood really looks like most of the time for me.

What it looks like on those rare but precious occasions where your child decides to cooperate.

We have 9 o'clock church which means a nice breakfast is pretty much out of the question, so Johann decided to make breakfast for dinner

Henry helped with his favorite portion of preparation, mixing.

French toast, eggs and bacon breakfast. mmm.

*Sidenote: I was SO SO happy to have a ridiculous free Mothers Day sacrament. You know what I'm talking about.
Also, I find it funny that to celebrate Mothers Day, we, as mothers are suppose to relegate all our mothering (and housekeeping) task to our husbands for the day. It doesn't quite make sense. Yet, I'll still let Johann make dinner. =)

Gymnastics

Today was Henry's last day of Tumbling Tots, aka, gymnastics for kiddos 2-3.

They each took a turn showing their favorite trick and then got to stand on a little podium to receive their certificate and 'medal'. It was actually pretty cute.

Henry proudly showing his certificate

After everyone got their medals, the teacher called for party time and whipped out some goldfish and animal crackers and the kids sat together for a snack and then got to have free time.

some of the kids from the class having their 'party'

What I learned from taking Henry to gymnastics follows:
1. He is really good at the beam. He rocked that beam.
2. He is terrible at somersaults.
3. He is really good about being kind when he is interacting with other kids in general, and when they do things like take his turn or push him etc. Most of the time he just shrugs it off.*
4. He can be a pretty darn good listener for a two, almost three year old.
5. I need to be better about taking him to groups with other kids. He loves it and I won't lie, I love getting to be around and talk with other adults!

Hopefully wherever we end up we can keep having Henry involved in some fun community activities like we've been able to do here.


*Funny story: the first day of class one of the girls was being really pushy and you know, acting like a 2 year old kid can act. We have a very strict no hitting kids back policy for Henry, though I was tempted to rescind it with this girl a few times, so he would usually move away from her or say stop. Well, I guess he was sick of it when it started happening on day 2 again but instead of hitting back, this little guy, and he was indeed little compared to her, decided to use, here it comes, presence. He walked right up to her and just stared her down and wouldn't budge. I wanted to die laughing. The funniest part- it worked! She left him alone and pestered other kids instead. Ha! She eventually mellowed out too and was fun to have there. I think she was just a little over-excited the first few classes!

Easter

The week after we got back from Las Vegas, we headed to my hometown, Apple Valley, Ca for Easter week. It's always fun to go back, eat at our favorite places, remember growing up there and seeing our families.
The week consisted of:

Playing robots and aliens with Abuela & Grandpa

Playing drums

Riding on Papa's longboard (oh and getting a haircut from Vinnie)

'Meeting' his cousin, Max.

Visiting Lake Greggory and Arrowhead

Then came the weekend. We decided to celebrate Easter the way one of my friends mentioned on her blog last year, which is to do all the bunny business on Saturday and leave Sunday to remember the ultimate meaning of Christ's triumph over death.

Saturday's surprise from the bunny. He made out well this year. Probably due to being in CA where there are three grandparents.

Since my mom was a kindergarten teacher for a while, she had all these fun Easter games to pull out and play. Henry loved throwing eggs in the blow-up bunny's basket.

Johann's parents came out to Apple Valley and we all dyed Easter Eggs. Henry's had a robot on it.

The finished products.

We went to my mom's ward's Easter picnic and egg hunt that evening. Henry loved running to look for the eggs.

Off he goes!!!

Happy to have found some eggs.

Sunday morning Henry got to put on his new easter duds thanks to Grammy Goodwin.

We went to my mom's ward and enjoyed a good sacrament meeting as well as good lessons. We talked with Henry about what resurrection means and how we can live again and our bodies will never be sick. He still is grappling with understanding coming back to life, he would usually say, "He died, but then he wasn't really dead." =)
We had a quiet day at home and had a family dinner that evening.

I'm so grateful for the resurrection. To me the blessings of the resurrection mean the joy of health, the lack of worry and sadness over illness and loss; the mercy of God and His Son made manifest and the knowledge that we'll be able to live again with those we love and miss. It is the triumphant Christ who has overcome sin and death and who will again come to bring an end to all sin and sadness in the world.

Visiting

In addition to having lots of visitors these past few months, we've done a couple visits. The first was a long weekend visit (Thurs-Sat) to Las Vegas/Henderson for an internship interview with Clark County School District.
My cousin Nancy and her family were gracious enough to let us stay with them and to feed us. Thank you again, Nancy! Johann's parents also made the three and a half hour drive to come visit us for the day on Saturday and we got to go to the birthday party for the son (Raiden) of my other cousin George.

Friday consisted of lots of nerves waiting for the interview for Johann and myself, but Henry enjoyed having a backyard and new toys to play with. We also got to do a group date with my cousins which was lots of fun. Rare to have a calm dinner out with other adults!

Henry hangin' with Sully

Sliding with Nancy's daughter, Ariana

"Yeehaw"

Saturday we met up with Johann's parents and ventured to see the Hoover Dam and Boulder City.

On our way to the Hoover Dam with Grandpa and Abuela

Bridge over the Hoover Dam

Boulder City Diner, "Mel's". "Never trust a skinny cook." Amen.

Henry's giant pancakes.

They had DELICIOUS fries. The burger was way good too.

Cute Raiden on his first birthday.

Aunt Janice & Henry passed out on the couch at the party.
This picture pretty much sums up how we were feeling by the end of our fun quick trip.

Visitors

I've been bad about posting what has been happening this year. I've mostly been indulging my own strain of thoughts here. What a narcissist. So, I'm attempting to catch up with what has been going on and add some pictures. Here we go:

From the beginning of March through the beginning of April we had lots of visits. It was a lot of fun to have family around especially since winter here is long and sometimes a little lonely because we don't get out of the house as much. So here are some pictures from the visits of three uncles and one Grammy.

Uncle Derek came for about a week and painted some masterpieces with Henry. My favorite part is when Derek painted a pig and Henry asked what it was. When Derek replied, "It's a pig," Henry laughed and said, "OH I thought it was a DOG," in a 'wow that's a horrible pig' type of way.

Practicing good hygiene.

Then came uncle Jacob for his spring break to play superheroes. Can you imagine leaving sunny LA for snow plastered Utah for SPRING break. He must be crazy! ;-)

Then came Grammy to do lots of reading...

and lots of toy buying. Henry was definitely good with this aspect of the visit.

Trying to copy Grammy in the car, and happy to have a backseat companion.

Then came uncle Aaron. Henry was really excited to show him he had a hat 'just like his.'

My favorite portion of Aaron's visit. Aaron bought Henry this giant foam sword. I told Henry it's called an 'Uncle stick' and only to be used on Uncles. He made sure to get his fill of using the uncle stick on all three but I think he was most vigorous with the giver of the uncle stick. HA!
1 point mom, 0 points uncles!

And the final picture is of my attempt to be a good LDS mom during conference. The coloring packets worked for a while but the whole, pick the candy with the apostle's face that is the same as the one speaking, was a HORRIBLE idea. After just two of those mini candies Henry went bonkers and could not hold still. Needless to say, we won't be doing that one again.

Thanks to the fam for coming out to visit us. It really is fun!

"Does this make my liver look fat?"

I've been thinking about my liver lately. No, really. I had a weird dream about it a while ago and when I mentioned it to my brother, he referenced an article about sugar ruining your liver and causing diabetes as well as cancer.

You can read the article here.

The simpleton summation is this: too much sugar (both sucrose — beet and cane sugar, whether white or brown — and high-fructose corn syrup) gives you a fatty liver which has been connected with diabetes and cancer. This is true across the board for skinny to obese people which is what makes it even more compelling to show it is environmental rather than genetic. It also means that even if you exercise your butt off or are naturally skinny, health-wise it does you no good if you keep filling your body with sugar.

The main thing that stuck with me from the article was this:

"How much do we have to consume (of sugar) before this happens?"

When Glinsmann and his F.D.A. co-authors decided no conclusive evidence demonstrated harm at the levels of sugar then being consumed, they estimated those levels at 40 pounds per person per year beyond what we might get naturally in fruits and vegetables (note this does not mention/include things like bread, pastas etc)— 40 pounds per person per year of “added sugars” as nutritionists now call them. This is 200 calories per day of sugar, which is less than the amount in a can and a half of Coca-Cola or two cups of apple juice. If that’s indeed all we consume, most nutritionists today would be delighted...

But 40 pounds per year happened to be 35 pounds less than what Department of Agriculture analysts said we were consuming at the time — 75 pounds per person per year — and the U.S.D.A. estimates are typically considered to be the most reliable. By the early 2000s, according to the U.S.D.A., we had increased our consumption to more than 90 pounds per person per year.

Another point of reference for understanding what 200 calories of sugar is, 1 gram of sugar=4 calories. That means you should only be consuming 50 grams of sugar a day aside from fruits and vegetables. Now go look at your cereal box. Yikes, right?

Now I don't want to freak out and believe my liver is going keel over any day now but I definitely think it's cause to be much more cautious. I'm already happy that I kicked soda in middle school and I drink only water and milk so I don't have to worry about liquid sugar. I think my problem is with things like cereal and baked goods. So, I am definitely working to pare down the amount of sugar our family eats. Even if the studies turn out to show it not causing cancer, I doubt our bodies will really suffer for want of excess sugar.

So, wish me luck. It's going to be a process weening ourselves from so much of the food that contains too much sugar but I think it will be worth it.

Boot List

I don't like the way, "Bucket List" sounds. I also didn't like the movie. So I looked up synonyms for the phrase and found a list of titles in foreign countries for the above mentioned film. Apparently in Hungarian the title "Bakancslista" translates to "Boot List," which I find sufficiently more pleasing and therefore our list of things to do before we leave Utah will be called our "BOOT LIST."

We are still not positive where we will be but all signs point out of Utah since the districts here are crowded already with interns. Enough of that, this isn't time to whine about not knowing our future, that'll be for another post. Now some of these are silly or may seem stupid but they are things we've thought of that we can't do or do again outside UT so why not do 'em now.
So, without further adieu:

Simonds' family Utah Boot List:

1. Attend a session at the Salt Lake Temple
2. Go to the Gateway Discovery Children's Museum
3. Go to the Springville MOA
4. Go to the BYU MOA and eat at the MOA Cafe. yumm...
5. Visit Logan and/or Ogden. (We've never been north of SLC so we thought we should give it a whirl)
6. Visit one of those fancy SLC bakeries
7. Go to a BYU performance
8. Attend the SLC symphony or opera
9. Go to Seven Peaks
10. Eat at Diegos
11. Go bowling at BYU or FatCats
12. Hike the Y
13. Drive the Alpine loop
14. Ride the Heber Creeper
15. Ride one of the city buses
16. Visit Manti and see the temple
17. Go to the Spiral Jetty (I doubt we'll be able to do this one since we don't have a truck...sigh)
18. Go to the Cathedral of the Madeline
19. Attend a UofU symphony or Opera performance
20. Visit Magna (I know...but Johann's grandma was born or grew up there so he wants to see it)

Well, there we go. If we can even do half of these with the little time we have left I will be pretty happy. If you can think of any more that are ridiculously important for us to include, please leave a comment.
Here's to the boot list!