FEBRUARY

The beginning of February brought a small amount of this. . . .

. . . which brought a lot of smiles and FUN!

The middle of February brought temperatures that allowed to play outside like this. . .

. . . which brought more smiles and FUN

Man we love Southern Weather!

Mother's day goal

Kids . . . I Love kids! I have always loved kids! Before I had my own kids I loved teaching kids especially the really challenging ones that made you learn to be creative in your interactions with them so a. they would know they were special and loved and b. you could get a desired behavior out of them. I went to college and learned about kids. I guess you could say I am a kid person. This brings me to my thoughts of late. Swifty and I are both kid people, who believe in age appropriate ______________ , it doesn't really matter what the blank is it could be restaurant, movie, music, etc.. I wonder if we have naturally and joyously made our children's lives so age appropriate that without even realizing it we have hindered our children's growth. I wonder if I have sheltered their world so much that I have taken all of me and Swifty out of our family. That their memories of me will not reflect the person I am or strive to become. That the things they remember about our family and their childhood will not reflect the things we like to do individually or as a couple, or even worse that they are not able to step out of their comfort zone because they have never had too. Yes I realize age appropriate things are good and yes I realize my children are still very young and there is time for them to learn these skills, but I also realize that time is now and life is fast. Hey I think it is the fact that life is fast that got us here, most days there just isn't time for a lot of those things, and a lot of things we liked to do we don't like anymore but there isn't time to find a replacement for that thing. I don't feel like I have lost myself in my children or that I don't know who I am, but am afraid that they don't know who I am or what is important to me. So in honor of Mother's day my goal for the next year is to make my family a little more equal, meaning mostly age appropriate life with a little bit of Mom and Dad stuff thrown in to help our kids understand us and hopefully be stretched in their growth and patience even if just a little.

moments

Buster: Hieselt can we just pretend you are a girl with short hair.

Ideas

I need ideas!! There are about 8 youth in our ward that are graduating this year and headed out West for college. Matt and I both teach them so I would love to do something for them. Any ideas on Great (Inexpensive) graduation gifts?

Basket of Love

Last night I woke up to my sweet little girl tapping me on the shoulder asking for the basket of Love! I kept saying KB what basket are you talking about finally Swifty sits up and says she wants the basket of Love. I looked at him and said what is that as he rolls over and goes right back to sleep. Lovely! Finally I look at KB and say I don't know about the basket of love breathe deeply (probably sounded more like a childish huff!) roll over and close my eyes, Surprisingly KB dropped to my floor layed down, pulled a blanket over herself and went to sleep too. The next morning it was made clear that there was no basket of love and I am not CRAZY!

our little farmer

We have been tilling our ground for a few weeks trying to prepare for a garden. WOW check this boy out! He has been right by his dads side every step of the way. He LOVED the idea that we were farmers working on our crops. Now even when dad is not around if I have lost track of Buster I just look out the back window and sure enough there he is farming the ground. His main goal at this point is to pick up the dirt and put it on a giant pile to make a Volcano, you know their soil is great for plants, Oh thank you books for feeding this little farmers interest in knowledge. We have loved watching the boys and KB play and play in this little dirt mound, almost to the point that I feel guilty actually planting a garden. I guess we will just need to dig up a new spot in the yard for volcanoes and such!

Look at that jump onto the shovel he has some skill!

Next you loosen the dirt

Maybe another jump to really get the dirt nice and loose

Then you scoop!

One Hour. . .Too much to ask

At 10:00 a.m. my Living room and Dining room were Spotless. By that I mean they had been picked up, swept, mopped, walls washed, baseboards cleaned. This is how my living room and Dining room looked at 10:30 a.m. The grumbliest, not a word but hey it works for me, part about this is if you look close enough you will see that the floor looks as though it hasn't been swept or mopped. Or maybe the grumbliest part about this is, the sweet little monkeys that made this mess have moved on to another room! Now I am not complaining, okay maybe I am complaining a little. For the record this picture makes me feel

1. Totally Frustrated: that my efforts to a clean home are stopped at every corner ( but even more frustrated that I have not taught my children to clean up after themselves)

2. Happy: the sounds that came out of those two rooms while this mess was being created was so joyful

3. It makes me giggle to think about how GREAT my kids imaginations are

4. Wonderful: that my 3 children can play happily together and enjoy themselves

5. nostalgic that in 10 or maybe 20 years I will miss this