mothers day/ memorial day

how was your mothers day. mine was great. i felt so loved. i got a delicious breakfast. omelette and strawberries. perfect homemade presents and cards from the kids. rocking chairs for the front porch and some delicious treats. the kids and my hubby made me feel so loved.

this was some of the pages from g''s school book. (he's 8-almost 9)

i was so happy when i read this page, because i really am. i love having my kids get home from school, giving them hugs and hearing about their day. i really honestly miss them.

 then i read this page. thats me, sitting on the couch, watching tv and holding the remote. 

g is upstairs in bed. 

awesome.

look at this beautiful place i get to live in. 

as a side note, how was your memorial day. i took no pictures. that's right. i thought about it. but i was having such a great day being with family, i just didn't. k marched in a parade with his scout troop in the morning. we had a ward bbq. there was a great turnout and an epic softball game from what i understand. then we headed to a friends house to swim and hang out. it was such a great day to recharge, be with family and think about all those who have protected and served our country for my freedom. grateful for time to reflect on loved ones who have passed on and how their lives have influenced mine for good.

outside!

finally. the weather has been nice enough to enjoy some time outside.

k had a 5 mile hike he needed to do for his scouting merit badge. they went one morning. 

they were pretty tired. c said they would just lay down on the trail. he thought it would be pretty easy. he thought differently by the time they got back.

 c and i went to an outdoor auction. it was truly a real auction. auctioneer yelling '29, 29, 29, 30, 30, who'll give me 30.' it was so funny. they had trees, garden gnomes, tables, tractors, play sets, chicken coops. there was a huge array of things.

this guy got a garbage can. 

 these two love being outside. 

if i don't take them out, they go out themselves which is never a good thing (c bolts every chance she gets. it's terrifying. she is so quiet and sneaks outside, usually into the middle of the road-or up the street to the canal- it is so scary. i think i had to put her in time out 49 times before she realized if she goes outside without me, she's in trouble)- but  i try to get them out a lot.

 j caught a white butterfly on her finger.

 this was a view from my morning run. 

blossoms are amazing.

with all this sunshine, we definitely will be eating more popsicles and seeing lots more colorful tongues!

end of school concerts

with the end of school approaching,  it comes with it kids concerts.

k has been playing the trumpet. we got to go see his band perform. they did a good job. they had really improved from the last time i heard them perform.

this sweet funny girl. she was giddy with excitement waiting for her concert. she came home from school and right away chose her outfit. she kept asking WHEN  it was time to go.

we got there and she was searching and searching for us. she was shading her eyes and looking all around. i was waving, standing up, she couldn't find us. finally, after about 3 minutes, she found us.

she was so happy when she saw where we were sitting. 

it was so cute. she couldn't wait to sing all her songs for us.

fishing derby

a week or so ago, the boys scout troop had a fishing derby. now, i can say that a great time was had by everyone. a more accurate statement would be that i think my little gal had the BEST time.

she is a funny girl with a great personality. she is caring, sweet and thoughtful. but she also doesn't mind getting down and dirty. in fact, i think she lives for it.

she was baiting the hooks with worms she had  pulled in two (a little graphic for the weak stomached), taking the fish off the hooks and releasing them back into the pond. she doesn't have a  squirmish tendency in her body. the boys holler to her when they have found a worm or bug that they want picked up. i love her!

 g caught 8 fish, J caught 7. 

they had a great time!

mornings...

the other day i went for a jog.

 there is a perfect loop near my house that is just barely shy of 3 miles. it's perfect. 

it's quite a workout pushing two kiddos and having a lot of the run up hill-i'm always pretty sore for a day or two afterward-so i have to get geared up.

but look at this view... how could i not want to go out.

spring is here and the ground is starting to wake up. i love the green and newness everywhere.

these two cheer me on. really, they tell me to go faster. after pushing them up quite  a hill, while running, i could hardly breathe and started walking, trying to catch my breathe- b started chanting, 'go faster, go faster' 

cheering always helps. love these two cheerleaders.

hey hey hey

 actually its not hay, its straw.

oh how i have come to despise this stuff. it gets everywhere. 

clothes, nose, hair, socks- it knows no bounds. it's itchy, scratchy and uncomfortable.

in the lovely east, the majority of people put straw on their grass seed to help keep the moisture in. 

it didn't seem like a daunting job-until we got started. seeding and trying to throw straw on 3 acres is a beast of a job.

we got the front yard done in the good part of the evening, and then the next morning.

the kids were great helpers.

 this little gal was actually doing cheers with the straw.

at one point, she was clutching a bunch to her chest and throwing out handfuls. she said, 'look mom, it's like I'm pulling hair from my chest' and just started cracking up. she is one funny lady

 another of my hubby's days off was spent trying to re-direct our water run off. it was a HUGE  job. He and our neighbor were out there for 10 hours. 

the backyard is pretty big. we knew we couldn't do it on our own. we enlisted the help of some missionaries, a great friend and one of our sons friends. we got about 1/3 of the back covered in straw  (took about 3 hours) before we ran out. i guess we needed more than 100 bales.

this cutie loved getting rides in the wheel barrel 

 queen of the straw

we had a crazy windstorm the night after we laid out the straw. i woke up and saw this. straw blown all over, all clumped up.  i'm pretty sure i shed a tear.

so much work.

everyone pray for our grass.

i can't bear the thought of doing it again.