Finally Spring!

We have been waiting (and waiting and waiting and waiting and.... you get the idea) for spring and it seems to finally be here. We took the kids to the river today. We like to park about a mile or so down the trail from the park and ride our bikes up. A rides in the bike trailer but everyone else rides their bikes...including K! (Who also happens to be the only one I took a picture of. doh.)

The kids played in the river but they had strict rules about how far out they could go. The water is really high and running fast.

Notice the picnic table in the top of this picture:

Usually you have to talk a long way past that table to get the water. The river is officially 3 feet over flood stage right now.

A was pretty content to sit on a park bench and enjoy some snacks. She did some playground playing and swinging but didn't have much interest in the river. I'm glad. She's too little.

D and I rode over to a nearby lake. It is flooded too. There is usually a nice sandy beach. In fact, you can see some white poles that are the beach volleyball pit. Not much volleyball going on there right now!

We passed this 'possum on the way. He was really excited. "My first 'possum!" I told D we'd better take a picture because I know K's going to want to see it. D's response was, "Yea! Take a picture of MY. DEAD. 'POSSUM." Like he's so proud of this dead animal he found.

Actual Conversation with K and computer stuff

Me: Who told you you could be so cute?

K: Jesus told me to be nice. and. cute. (strong empasis on nice and cute)

I've been working on a 30 day challenge for our YW to do before girl's camp. It is great and I'm really enjoying it but I'm about 10 hours in and only half done. It is saved on my computer so imagine my sinking horror about 20 minutes ago when my power button was unresponsive. I couldn't get my computer to turn on! After praying (for my computer, yes), telling Roy and feeling general hopelessness, I used Roy's laptop to google "power button on laptop not working". I clicked on the first site and read a recommendation to remove the battery and unplug the power cord. Then hold the power button for 30 seconds. Replace the battery and power cord and push the power button. IT TOTALLY WORKED. What?? It is like computer voodoo. I only tried it because I figured I had nothing to lose. You can bet that my first order of business was to email my documents to myself!

Fashonista

Takin' on the road!

Last week in a glance

I haven't posted because there hasn't been much to post. I do have some news today though! D is officially training wheel free! He has been riding with them on his bike but they haven't been touching the ground much for a while. So yesterday, Roy took them off and D did it. No parental running required. I cannot figure out how to make my video work on here so you just have to take my word for it.

K gave her first talk in Primary today. It was short and very sweet. She was totally NOT shy. She hopped right up and said what I told her to say. K is definitely outgoing and social. She loves people and being with people.

A says, "Pweese?" All the time now. Whenever she wants something she says, "Pweese?" and it usually works. The other day though we had to drag her away from a playground all the while she was crying, "Pweese? Pweese? Pweese?! Pweese?" Honestly, she is so stinking sweet sometimes I could just squeeze her and eat her up!

A also has a serious toothpaste addiction. I think we're going to have to put her on a 12 step program. Every time I turn around she's got another toothbrush and is begging for toothpaste. Sometimes she manages to get the toothpaste at walks around eating it. I can now feel validated when I forget to give her fluoride vitamin to her. Obviously, she's finding her own.

Roy and I went out Friday night. I'll give you a minute to recover from the shock and get up off the floor. We actually had a real live DATE. We went to dinner with some friends from church. They are so much fun. We sat at the restaurant for 3 hours! Mostly we left because it was closing time. Mongolian Grill, yum!

Thursday evening D's school had a little Fiesta! His class sang a song and HE PARTICIPATED!! Here is actual visual proof of the participation:

He's sandwiched in there between his friend from down the street and his future bride.

One of the kids' favorite activity lately is to go for walks. K rides her bike and D pushes A on the tricycle. He takes her down the street and around the block. It takes D about 15 minutes to walk his little route with the baby. A just sits on her bike happy as a bee that someone is talking her for a walk. It is really very precious!

K's an animal

She just announced that she is a blue flying cat. She has a blue tail. "See, it's wiggling!"
Yesterday she turned her little tushie to me and asked if I could see her "fluffy bunny tail".

UPDATE 5/21/2011: Tonight in the bathtub K informed me that she needed to wash her tail. She then waved the scrubber in the air behind her behind as if there were an actual tail there that she was scrubbing!

She crawls into our room in the morning and curls up on our bed like a kitty.

She flaps her arms and roars like a dragon.

She hops like a bunny.

She waddles like a duck.

And of course makes every animal noise in character.

On the whole, we may never have to visit a zoo again.

Monday Madness

Today my neighbor's 5th wheel trailer blew up. It generated some excitement to understate the adrenaline rush I had when I looked out the window and thought my neighbor's house was on fire. Crazy what a little flame and smoke will do to your heart rate. Luckily everyone is fine. The trailer is no more and the house sustained some damage but no one was injured and the house is still there.

Tonight for Family Home Evening we had a special activity at the local Winco. It is called "Grocery Shopping". It was an activity designed out of necessity for food. Since I went with Roy I came out with 2 bags of chips, 2 tins of sardines, 5 gallons of ice cream and cones that were not on my list. I feel rather accomplished at keeping his so reigned in!

There's a story that goes with the sardines. D has been asking to try them for a while. We bought a tin a few months ago but Roy ate them one night when the kids were already in bed. D was pretty upset when he found out. So tonight, he wasn't taking any chances. As soon as we got home he was whipping out a tin of sardines to try. All three kids tried them. K popped her half a sardine in her mouth and never looked back. A asked for a second helping. D ate 2 whole sardines. He did okay but was pretty weirded out when the fact came out that the bones are still in the sardines!! I managed to stay in the kitchen preparing dinner without having run to the bathroom once. It was a trick though when I saw D holding a full sized sardine and biting into it. If I was pregnant there is NO WAY I could have stayed in the HOUSE!!

And so there you go. Madness.

Mother's Day

Today was a great day. In a lot of ways it was just like any other Sunday, but there were some special differences. During Sacrament meeting, they invited the primary kids up to sing on the stand. I was scrambling around helping K get on her boots (because they never stay on through the meeting!) when the kids started walking by our bench. This was all the invitation A needed. She took off with the crowd and headed up to the stand. She made it to the middle of the podium before I managed to snatch her up and head back to our seats. K went up and stood next to her friends from her class. D opted to stay in his seat next to Roy and not go up. It was really fun to see K up there. She didn't sing, but she stood very nicely and only waved once. So sweet!

During the third hour of church the Priesthood brethren had made special arrangements to cover all the primary classes and young women so that all the women could attend Relief Society where the Bishop taught a fantastic lesson about mothers and women. They also handed out Haagen-Daz ice cream bars. It was great!

After church, D gave me the gifts he made at school. He's been very secretive about them, telling me to not look in his backpack and such. He gave me a nice card (not handmade) and a bracelet that we've decided I can use for a necklace. He strung beads together on an elastic. It was a lot of fun for him to point out his favorite beads. I wore it for a few hours this afternoon. Best of all was the book he made about his mom. It was illustrated with great care and detail. It says:
"My mom is as sweet as me."
"My mom is as strong as my dad."
"My mom is as smart as me."
"My mom is (as) sweeter (as) than anyone." (He crossed out the two 'as')
My favorite illustration is the smart one. He drew a picture of himself as well as a picture of me and wrote the word "Ding" over each of our heads.
"You know, like we both got an idea!"


Roy cooked dinner and cleaned up the kitchen after. He made lasagna in his dutch oven. He also made 2 loaves of bread. D and K took one to our next door neighbor for Mother's Day. They love to do that stuff!

We also had some good friends visit. They moved to Colorado a little over a year ago but were back in town visiting family. They came by for a few hours. It was great to pick up like no time had passed. We have kids in the same age range and all the adults get along really well. It is so fun to have good friends.



I feel very blessed to be the mother of three wonderful children. I'm grateful that the Lord has trusted me to take care of His children. What a blessing to be a mother!