Inchworm

Spencer had the backwards crawl mastered.  Every time I turned around he was under a bed or halfway under the couch.  Anytime he was crying it was usually because he got stuck somewhere, and much farther away from his destination. 

One morning, I wanted to doze for 20 more minutes, so I put him on the floor with some toys, I opened my eyes to this cuteness mostly under my bed.  

This week, literally the last two days, he finally got his toes in on the action and is moving forward.  It's so fun to watch babies figure out how to use these bodies they are given.  He now can eye something from across the room, paper, ALWAYS PAPER, and make his way to it.  It takes a few minutes, but he's getting it.

And this kid is a pro in the high chair these days too, finger foods and spooned baby slop.  He sits there with his mouth open waiting for more to be shoveled in faster.  He grabs the spoon to put it in his mouth if I'm not fast enough.  I love this baby of mine.  Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE babies?!?!

A Good Food Buddy

Luke is such a good eater for a toddler!  He really will try anything and usually likes just about everything. While he definitely loves junk food, he also LOVES healthy food.  Anytime someone has food, he climbs in your lap and says, "I wan suuuum!" and proceeds to take bites whether you let him or not. If I pull out junk food he's good to have around because I only end up eating about half of it.  And if it's healthy food, I never bat an eye at pulling out more for my kiddos!  So it's a win/win! He's on a salad kick right now.  If I don't put it on the table, he goes and grabs it.  "Need tao-wid (salad)."  I think he just uses the lettuce leaves as a spoon for the Ranch on his plate, but I'll take it. :)

Face Painting Wish

On Tuesday before Easter, we went out to eat for a special occasion with our Florida best friends, the Greers.  We went to the place that had face painting (which from Friday, the Spring Fling,  until Tuesday, Isabelle reminded us EVERY. SINGLE. DAY).  It was so fun!  It's just a burger, wings kind of place, but was so good!  They had an Easter bunny and a cute lady clown that did face painting.  And the kids ate for free!  Count us in!  Such a fun night!

The second we showed up Isabelle went to get her face painted.  She was so happy.  There is nothing like making your kids happy by fulfilling a much anticipated wish.  She got a cute doggie face.

Michael wanted nothing to do with the Easter bunny.  Luke liked him, but didn't get a good picture. 

Our cute little puppies.

Michael didn't want his face painted, but he requested 3 rain drops on his arm.  SO funny!

Spring Fling 2014

Isabelle's school's biggest fundraiser is their yearly Spring Fling.  It's a blast! Bounce houses, pony rides, a train, food, and music.  We went last year and everyone was looking forward to it again this year.  Last year Mike got to come the whole time.  This year he got held up at work and didn't make it home until the end.  I remember last year having the thought "How do parents keep track of their kids solo?!"  And then I got to do it!  We had a great little system, mostly because Luke was tired and just wanted to be in the stroller.  Isabelle and Michael were great at the buddy system.  

Haha!  Michael wanted to go on this one for all the big kids.  Isabelle took charge and literally brought him to me.

Luke and Spencer fell asleep about 30 minutes in and slept for an hour.  SO NICE!!!

We met up with the Greers later.  Caylee picked up Spencer and he just snuggled into her.  My kids LOVE this girl!  "Tay-Wee!!!"  

Ready to go!!!!  So excited!

Buckling in for the train ride.  I love how much she takes care of him and he lets her.  They were seriously so good! 

Pony rides!  Despite the picture, they loved it, as always.  Is it worth the 30 minute wait?  They apparently think so.  

The biggest fail of the night, was totally my fault. Isabelle wanted her face painted, and the line was FOREVER long, and Michael didn't.  I told her we would do it as soon as Dad got there so I didn't have to wait with everyone (it was also by the blaring speakers, not the greatest spot for baby ears).  We met up with Mike and immediately ran to get in line and they had closed the line.  Tears, devastation, and the meltdown began.  It was so sad.  Luckily we found out a local restaurant did kids eat free and face painting on Tuesdays, so we promised her a trip there.  That cheered her right up. All in all, a fun family night.  

The Pond

So this winter was WAY wetter than last winter. Jacksonville stole everyone's rain.  Our backyard literally had a pond in it ALL. THE. TIME.  To the point we had ducks and fish in it at some points. Now I'm a pretty cool mom when it comes to playing in the water and mud, but every single day was getting old.  Even when I would say, tomorrow, but not today, someone would still end up in it.  This picture is so deceiving.  This stretched the entire width of our yard and was 10 feet wide at the widest and about knee deep on me. We noticed in general our yard was just a sopping wet mess all the time.  

We decided to fill it in a little by getting some dirt.  We had a bunch of dirt delivered to our driveway.  My kids were in heaven!  We let them play in it while we wheelbarrowed it back to the pond. Now this was good, black dirt.  

And no, Isabelle is not wearing socks.  She is THAT black. 

 Well the dirt pretty much just pointed out how huge our pond actually was.  Pretty much didn't do anything. So then Mike hooked up some water hoses and we siphoned it out into the storm drain.  It was great!  Except for the fact we had to do it every time it rained and it took every hose we owned and two different neighbors hoses. So we decided to "dig a little trench.  Let's put in a french drain." Um yeah, sounded like a great plan on a Saturday with nothing better to do.  So we started digging.  Apparently we forgot that it took 150 ft of hose to reach from the pond to the street until we had dug 1/3 of the way to the road.  So we dug for a few days.  The kids had a blast running around and playing in more dirt and water.  It was a pain.  Took an entire week of both of us working on it and dinner was a mess, kids were ignored. We dug a ditch by hand, some spots 2 feet deep. Had a bunch of rocks delivered,  Filled it up with rocks, and then covered it back up with dirt.  There wasn't much of an after picture.  150 foot dirt trail is all it looked like.  We used the dirt that we pulled out to help raise the low spots where the pond used to be. It didn't look like much, but MAN IT WORKED!!!!!  Our yard was so so nice!  (until the voles were no longer drowning in our yard and showed up again.  Haha!  One problem switched for another!)  All in all, it was a good project. 

 Luke was "helping daddy." Trip after trip with the wheelbarrow, Luke walked along holding a handle. It was so cute!

Dog Park

Last Saturday we cleaned all morning and then took a family outing to a dog park and the kid park.  It was a gorgeous afternoon! I love Saturdays where we work hard and play hard together. 

Addendum to Food!

Apparently I took pictures with my phone and camera for this first feeding event. And who says only the first gets all the attention? These were too cute not to share.  Especially this first gem.  Oh I LOVE this boy! 

Head Lamps

Mike and I tend to use a headlamp anytime a flashlight would work.  The kids took double dice and taped them to their heads and for days we had "Head lights" for everyone.  They were so funny to watch!!!  Nut jobs!  I live with a few cute little nut jobs!  

Conference with Kids

I've always LOVED conference.  Growing up we had to go to the church and we lived far enough away we went and stayed all day, had a fun pizza picnic lunch in between sessions on Saturday (and usually a bag of Easter candy). As I've grown up, my love for conference hasn't changed, but everything else has.  I've had challenges adapting to: 

1. watching it at home. 

2. Creating our own family traditions. 

3. Changing those traditions as we change time zones drastically. 

4. Not yelling at my children to keep it quiet-ish so I can hear....(Yes, there are all sorts of things wrong with that pictures. 

5. Not getting frustrated that I miss ALOT of live conference.  I love that all the talks are in my fingertips hours/days after, but there is just something about the live experience of conference. 

As I try different things, some things work, some things don't.  This year by the end of conference I had lots of realizations about time and seasons and I took a serious chill pill. 

Before

 After...yes, that is the dog scrounging for scraps

We did something new as a family that I really enjoyed and can already see how it will adapt as they get bigger.  I've always had questions for conference, but I wanted my kids to see how conference truly is personal revelation.  We came up with a question together as a family. It was so fun to see the kids hear their question answered not only once, but in two different talks/sessions. I hope even through all the crazy, my kids gain a love of and testimony of General Conference....glad I have LOTS more chances to try. :)

FOOD!

This baby loves food!  We started solids last week.  All the kids have loved taking turns and helping.