Cowgirls, Longboards and the Garden

We're well into summer vacation.  I'm hearing about boredom more and more, but not too much because my solution always involves work (isn't that how mom's always answer?).  Since Gordon was born, we've stuck pretty close to home.  Well, I've stuck close to home.  Gray's been to Yellowstone, Goblin Valley and scout camp.  Both the kids will be heading to Green Bay soon.  Then Gray will off again, this time to Ecuador.  I'm just enjoying my time at home.  It's been a long time since I've been able to hang out with my kids and not worry that the weekend's almost over.  Monday morning's no longer find me at the library, but at home doing home things (primarily trying to keep the dishes washed our grass green -ish).

This is a typical summer evening at our house:

 Naomi has been doing lots of dress-up.  This night found her geared up as a cowgirl.  

 She rode her trusty dog up into the pasture.  I'm not sure what she was after, but she was stalking something for quite a while.

 While Naomi saved our homestead from bandits, Gray worked on his longboard skills.

We finished up the night in the garden doing a little weeding and trying to kill off the ever growing population of grasshoppers. 

All About Gordon

I've been saving up pictures of Gordon so that I could make one big post covering the past six weeks.  Ok, not really.  I just haven't taken the time to post any so they're all coming at once.  These pics are in chronological order.  The last two are from yesterday, loving the smiles! 

 

 

Irish Recital

Meant to get this video posted earlier, but just barely got around to downloading it from the camera.  This is from Naomi's dance recital in April.

Hello Gordon!!

Our family has been blessed to have a new baby boy join us!

We welcomed Gordon Caelum Pitcher on May 7.  He was 8lb 9oz and 20 in., born at 7:52 am.  Little Gordon is such a blessing to have around.  He is a wonderful little baby.  Gray and Naomi are great helps to me and love to spend time with their little brother.  I'm pretty sure that Gray has been telling Gordon everything he could possibly want to know about bikes and snowboards.  Naomi makes sure her little brother always has everything he needs.  It is heartwarming to watch them interact.

Grandma Olsen spent time with us and it was great to have my mom close by as I tried to remember everything about taking care of a newborn.  Gray and Naomi also loved their Grandma time.

I often find these two napping together, both totally relaxed (although Gordon looks like he's dreaming of boxing?).

Fade Out

I've let this blog fade in and out.  It's definitely been in the fade out mode for a while now, but it's time to get a few more pictures up.  Here is just a sampling from April.

 The kids rediscovered the joy of magnifying glasses.  Naomi eventually got bored burning leaves and turned a little more artistic.

 The kids were charged with putting together the crib for our coming baby.  I think it was definitely a learning experience for everyone.  The result of all their hard work (and a few tears) was a beautiful and well-built crib waiting for baby.

 On a particularly hot Sunday afternoon we went for a drive up Logan Canyon and relaxed.  Well, I relaxed.  The kids played by the river and snow.

 Naomi has been doing all sorts of science experiments.  Some more successful than others.  Here she's holding her soap cloud made by sticking a bar of Ivory soap in the microwave.  Notice her cute apron?  My mom made it for me when I was a girl.

 It's always fun to see what's on my camera when I download pictures.  This time, there were lots of flower pics.  Thank you to my cousin Brooke for these!  I'm loving them!

Naomi competed in her school's annual mile race.  She took third place and was able to move on and race with a relay team against all the elementary schools in the district.

Out and About with Naomi

A sampling of what Naomi's been doing this past week.  

 

She took the camera and the cat out for a walk in the yard.

 On St. Patrick's Day, she performed as part of Celtic Night with her Irish dance group.  This is a picture of her and her teacher after the show.

  

As part of Naomi's school literacy night, her class recited poetry.  She was part of a few group presentations and this solo act, reciting a Shell Silverstein poem. 

And Cyclocross Begins!

Our first race of the year was at Fort Buenaventura in Ogden.  I'd only ever been there in the snow so I didn't realize what a pretty place it was.  Naomi and I had lots of fun exploring and taking goofy pictures, but I'll just put the cute ones up here. 

Kory raced his single speed.  The course had a bit of everything.  In this section, they had to ride under a bridge over river rock and through a sand pit.  Most people found it faster to just get off their bikes and run.

Gray might look cool and collected here, but he was a bundle of nerves all day.  We got there at about 9:30 in the morning and he didn't race until 3:00.  It was just too much watching and waiting!

Kory looks so expert in the turns!

So much mud!  I think it rained the entire night before and was still sprinkling when we got there.  Here's Kory with some fellow teammates, Robert and John.  The race announcer commented a few times about how cool their arm warmers were.  I have to agree.

Naomi found a great vantage point for watching the race that also doubled as the perfect place for a nap.

 

Finally, time for Gray to race!  This was his first time to race his new bike.  It's bigger than his last one but he handled it like a pro.  The kids have been practicing barriers in the back yard for weeks so it was no surprise that he flew right over these.

Graysen said that his goal was to be the first one to pass the announcers stand (a point about 40 yards after the start line where the course narrows and a racer wants to find themselves at the front of the pack).  The announcers were giving coupons for a local restaurant to the first person past the announcer stand in every race.  That smile says it all, he shot off the start line like a rocket!