The Proofs in the Pics.

I AM TELLING YA...

It's looking, tasting, feeling, smelling, AND sounding...

LIKE SUMMER ROUND' HERE!

A Taste of Summer

We tasted summer yesterday....not spring...but FULL BLOWN summer!

1. It was 85 degrees in Boise yesterday.

2.My kids ran through the sprinklers at their friend's house.

3. I lathered the monkeys in sunscreen and basked in the smell of it the rest of the day.

4. I wore shorts (mayonnaise legs and all).

5. The sprinklers turned on, watering our green grass.

6. I drove with my windows down and the warm breeze in my hair.

7. The cement was hot on my feet when I went out to retrieve the mail.

8. My kids ate lunch on the back porch.

9. Robert went on a long bike ride and got a sunburn.

10. We slept with our windows open last night.

We tasted it, and it was Deeeee-licious!

AHHHH, SUMMER!

Totally Worth It

Bob called me last week and said he heard the Easter train ride from Horseshoe Bend to Banks was, "Totally worth it!" So, get some tickets pronto he demanded. Since I bow down to him and follow every demand he gives, I quickly got on-line and purchased tickets....ya right. I really did get those tickets though. I don't know who was more excited for the outing, us, or the kids. I love train rides. I remember going on a few as a kid and thinking it was the coolest thing ever.

So, Sat. Bob is farting around, he leaves to go get his hair cut about a 1/2 hour before we need to get in the car and drive the 40 min. drive to Horseshoe Bend. Needless to say, he gets home late. I am stressed. We don't have enough time to get to Horseshoe Bend, and I am going to probably start crying if we miss this train ride. So, on the way, we prep the kids for disappointment. "We just might not make it," we let them know. Tensions were high on the little jont, but Robert peeled into the parking lot and the girls and I jumped out and sprinted to the train before they closed the doors and took off. Whew! We barely made it. SERIOUSLY!

Boy was I glad we did because we ended up having such a fun time. The kids loved walking through to the various cars, getting snacks, and enjoyed the picturesque views. The weather was great, not too cold at least. Our favorite thing was sitting in the outdoor car where you could feel the wind in your hair, smell the fresh mountain air, and look out at the beautiful river below. We sat right by Mr. Idaho Potato. Owen and Avery felt the need to keep him company, hugging him, shaking his hand, and even danced a little jig with him.

The train stopped in Banks and let the kids off for an egg hunt. Payton gathered up her 10 eggs quickly. Poor Owen only found one, and little, miss Avery found NONE! That was a let down, but that's what happens when your kids are timid and don't yet know how to throw an elbow to get an egg.....maybe next year! After the hunt, it was back down the mountain to Horseshoe bend. It was fun to watch the kids giddy with excitement over the train ride, and I think Bob was right......

"It was totally worth it!"

Easter 2009

This picture would lead you to believe my kids were having the best night ever dying eggs together, laughing it up....good times......

Truth be told..........someone farted! Lovely...aren't they?!

The Easter Bunny showed up Saturday morning. Pay and Owen were up early...no signs of sleeping Avery yet.

The bunny brought Pay some food for her Baby Alive doll. I had a good laugh watching her feed her baby on the toilet! She's a multi-tasker like her mama.

Avery showed up an hour or so later. She was pretty excited about her stuffed bunny, which she ended up losing. We searched and searched the house for a day. Then Robert ran to Wal-Mart and bought her another. Sure enough the old bunny surfaced. His response to Avery when she asked with confusion about the two bunnies, "Wow! It must be an Easter miracle!" Good one, Bob!

Easter morning we spruced up the kids in their new spring, Easter outfits.

The dirty monkeys clean up nicely!

I am pretty much in love with these three kids. Holidays....and our lives in general are so much richer because of them. I really think this is my favorite stage in life so far.

April marks one year since we have been trying for another baby. I have had a rough few weeks. I am feeling sad and thinking we might be done, and I am not ready...because being their mom......has brought me my greatest joy.

Thank you, Payton, Avery, and Owen.

Withdrawls

I've been in a blogging rut. I don't even carry my camera with me anymore, and I couldn't tell ya the last time I downloaded photos. It's a crying shame, I tell ya. It has to be common though, right?! I'll find my blogging mojo soon, won't I?

I hope so, because I love blogging, and more than writing my own thoughts and posting my own pics., I LOVE viewing every one else's blogs. That's me, blog stalker number 9. So, I think, I must keep going. Because what would happen if everyone was in a blogging rut and stopped blogging entirely? Oh, that would be bad. This girl would go into some serious withdrawls!

COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS!

I woke early today, went down stairs, grabbed my Primary manual and sat at the kitchen table to prepare my lesson. Yes, our church starts at 9, and no I hadn't looked at the lesson until then, but it was just one more thing I put on the back burner last week. My mind began to wander...it's Sunday, this is my last day of spring break, life continues as normal tomorrow, the weather is going to be cold and cloudy all week, I have so much to do.......on and on and on.

Next, that turning, almost panicky feeling took over my insides and made me sad, heaviness in the chest, water in the eyes, sad. YUCK! I don't like feeling this way. Bob meandered downstairs, hair in serious disarray and eyes straining to open, "How ya doin', " he asks. "Not good." I answer. "I am sick inside. My life resumes tomorrow, and I am not ready!"

You see, I spent the last week doing nothing. I had NO work to do. My kids had NO school, piano, swimming or soccer. We didn't help watch friend's kids or have friends over to play (despite their pathetic pleading attempts). It was just me and the kids for one whole week. I loved every minute of it (minus a few moments...I mean lets be realistic!). We played outside, grocery shopped, went to lunch, hung out at the mall, rode the many escalators, held every whining puppy in the pet store, cleaned out closets, made pot pie for dinner, rented movies, watched a lot of basketball, and even weeded the yard. This is how life is supposed to be.

Robert dropped himself down on the couch and held out his giant, monkey arms to me. I snuggled up to him, and as he patted my back he said,"Just two more months. You can do it." He's right. I hadn't thought of it that way. There is light at the end of this (Calgon take me away) tunnel. Two more months and it's SUMMER. Two more months and he will be more acclimated to his new job, thus getting him home at a decent hour. His big race will be ending, thus having him home with us more often instead of him out swimming, biking and running. And as for me, I am taking the summer off...TEACHING HIATUS, I TELL YA! It will be three months of bliss, no work, me and my kids, sun shining, no school, piano, swimming, or soccer.

Luckily, the sick, heaviness in the chest, eyes slushing with tears, sad feeling, began to slowly subside.

And so I say, "Bring it on Mr. Tomorrow. Throw a million THINGS TO DO at me like you're slinging mud, because I can take it!

But, don't think for a slim second this anxious mama isn't...

COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS!

Much Better

It was late one night and Bob was working on his computer, frustrated, he kept running his hands through his hair....thus the outcome below.....I got such a kick out of his BIG hair that I had to snap a photo, or two or three. So, Robert just came in the kitchen and let me know my last post was lame. I deleted it. I think this one is much better.

Hey Bob..........How do you like me now?!

"Mom....me three today!"

Yes, you are my baby boy.......sniff, sniff..........oh, how they grow so fast, too fast.

It is hard to believe he's only been in our family for three years. Maybe because I just can't imagine life without him now.

Owen has been such a joy. He was the sweetest, best baby, and has continued to be that way today. He is shy but kind, loving and sweet. His heart is as big as the moon, and so is his smile.

Owen is all boy. He loves to play ball. He spends his days shooting hoop, throwing the football, hitting the hockey puck, fighting with swords, and wrestling. But, he has a feminine side too. He loves to have his finger and toe nails painted. Today he is sporting blue fingernails, and orange toe nails, Boise State colors, of course.

Owen is my buddy and when Pay and Aves are at school it is our time. I love having him around, and wish I could freeze him, so he'll stay my baby boy, side kick, attached to my hip, forever. Because when he asks me if he can have a blue alligator (gatorade) or if I will shamPOOP his hair, it makes me smile, and nothing makes me happier than grinning at my sweet boy.

So, hap, hap, Happy Birthday, Owen boy!

We're going to make this day super special.........just like you!

Love, love, love you much, my baby boy......Mama

I thought it was safe

...but it wasn't!

I needed a book to help pass the time while Bob is away, so, after the kids were long asleep, and I didn't want to lay in bed listening for prowlers or scaring myself with every creek, crack, or movement of the house, I picked up Nicholas Spark's novel, Dear John. I must admit, his novels aren't usually my first choice for a read, but I thought it would be light, quick, easy and harmless. By harmless, I mean, it wouldn't have an effect on me. Because you see, I have been known to get too involved emotionally with a book. I get attached to the characters and actually feel their pain. That sounds ridiculous, and it is. A perfect example is that after reading, The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, I cried for three straight days...pathetic, I know.

So, Nicholas Spark's books are pretty predictable. They're a little cliche as well. You know, the sweet, innocent girl meets the rough, rebellious guy, they fall in love and everything is great until some giant obstacle comes between them and their relationship. Dear John followed suit, but as I turned the pages, reading away.......I could't stop reading. I was HOOKED! I found myself really liking the characters, and even though the romance was a bit cheesy, it was exciting too. I must give credit because I think he does a fine job capturing just how giddy and nervous we all are when we fall in love, when we find that certain person who makes us weak, flushed, and incredibly happy. I loved reading about this young couple doing just that, and enjoyed thinking back at my own life, reflecting on the fun and excitement I experienced while falling in love.

So, I finished the book last night and it happened. I layed in my bed and cried. DAMNIT! I didn't want it to get to me, but it did. The book was sad and didn't end the way I wanted it to, but at the same time, it ended perfectly. I loved how the characters were so good, how they loved each other so deeply that they were completely un-selfish, which is so rare. I loved that book for the very reason that it reminded me once again that nothing in this world, materially, matters. It is only the relationships we have in this life that will bring us real joy. So, to work on them and devote ourselves to our loved ones (family, friends, neighbors, etc. ), should be our only concern.

This reminder was good for me. I needed it.......and it is something .......I really want to work on! I think I started too, because today on the phone Robert asked me why I was being so nice to him. I didn't tell him it was because of the sappy, romance novel I just read, which heightened my feelings for him and reminded me how lucky I was to be in love.

....but I think he knows!