taking me back....

guess what i got to do this weekend?


see more here...

chickies

one of the great excitements of this spring was bringing home some baby chicks! they kids have anticipated them for a long time...saving their pennies....dreaming and wishing about what they wanted them to look like and what color eggs they would lay. the day finally arrived and much to our disappointment, the ranch store had gotten the chicks in 3 days before their set date...so we were left with slim pickings....although the kids are thrilled with the ones that they chose. the wood and wire which will be their coop in our backyard is currently abandoned in the garage and for now, the chicks are under a heat lamp in our family room...in a tank of course. they are very cute and have been the attraction of the neighborhood as well as adored by all my piano students. it's amazing to watch them grow everyday. they now have feathers and are probably twice their original size....


penny seemed to recognize her and would just drift off to sleep within seconds of her picking her up...she knows her mommy...

the black one (caleb's) was given the name of "thunder" and the other little one, we call "pearl"
caleb singing his a sweet lullabye....

firsts

each of our children experienced a significant "first" this weekend. some were expected some were not. so here they are in chronological order....

caleb experienced his first STITCHES! yikes! it is amazing to me especially as a mother of two young stuntmen all that they get away with without getting hurt!!! it's really astounding...and then one friday afternoon he's just running along, trips and wams his head into the wall, and there you are....a two inch gash in the head. it was quite gruesome as they skin was hanging down over the eye. but i managed to slap my hand over it before a drop of blood reached my new carpets. this is also when living two houses down from your mother and your husbands work five minutes away really comes in handy. mom was over the fence within a minute and took joshie for me and eric was on his way home for lunch anyway. we took caleb to urgent care where they confirmed out only option was to stitch as it was too wide and deep for any other option. he had 5 or 6 stitches on the inside and about 10 outside. he was such a good boy!!! i'm not a sugar coating mother and i tell my kids like it is....and he rustled up some real bravery through the numbing shots and actually fell asleep while they were stitching him up. this was the next day but you can see it's still quite swollen. (i thought about bringing out the camera but it was really quite gruesome and don't think you would have really liked to see it.)



next on the agenda was maryn's first soccer game which was so fun. i've never had a child in soccer before and she is so thrilled and excited about it. she's still not quite sure what is going on in the game but she just goes for it anyway. one of my favorite things was on the way there, she was a little nervous and asking all kinds of questions like....."what if we get all worn out?" "what if somebody passes out?" "are we going to wear helmets?" i'm not quite sure what she had cooked up in that little mind of hers, but apparently, she thought it was going to be rather hard core! a few minutes into the game, the coach asked if anyone needed a drink of water...she immediately raised her hand. but on being sent off to get some, i don't think she realized that that meant she was on the sidelines for a while. needless to say, she didn't ask for another drink the rest of the game and she did everything in her power to stay on the field! it was a great time.

she also thought she looked pretty awesome in her uniform! she was right!

then on sunday, came joshie's first day of NURSERY!!!! woo hoo! i don't know if this is more of a right of passage for the parent or child but it was a long awaited day. the drop off was successful and without a tear....and apparently he slept for an hour during nursery. so no complaining here. we just hope he keeps it up! can't believe my baby is so big!!!

spring break 1

so here i am trying get caught up with hundreds of pictures...know that this is a VERY condensed version...

spring break started with a bang....tons and tons of snow!!! and eric's boss said, 'hey! take the day off' thanks mark!!! so we got to have him all to ourselves to play in the snow to our hearts content, build a snow cave and a snow man, eat dangerously delicious orange rolls with cream cheese frosting and drink hot chocolate. it was definately a good day....









more of spring break to come...

go, caleb, go!

we just got to celebrate caleb's 4th birthday!!! i can't believe how big and grown-up this boy is getting. this is the first time i've thrown him a REAL party and it was such a treat! i don't know about you but i always find when throwing a party, i get to a point (usually the day of) that i am wondering why i've signed myself up for all this. this party was different though. i've never had such an enthusiastic and appreciative recipient. he ate it all up! caleb is our 'backround boy' and doesn't really demand much attention but he loved having the spotlight on him for one special day. the party was a diego 'animal rescuer' party supposed to be in the backcountry but earlier in the week with all the snow, it became quite apparent that that was just not going to happen. so we came up with a new plan which included, rescuing animals from a pool of goo (jello), some fun games and a complete "animal rescuer training course" in the basement. it was a lot of fun.

favorite color: "ba-loo"
favorite movie: cars
favorite animal: tiger
what do you want to be when you grow up: "shooper heero!"
best friend: sander & grace
favorite thing to do: "gwive" (drive)

sunday will come

we wish you all a very happy easter and hope that your hearts are filled with his love for you whatever you may be going through....

live again

this week we had quite the shock at the news of the passing of my auntie sonja. she died very suddenly at age forty-five leaving behind her husband (my mom's brother larry) and five beautiful children.

as i have gone through this week, i have obviously missed my family in south africa terribly and wishing that we could be with them at this time. i have been going through the motions of easter. making granny charsley's easter eggs for the family and sewing maryn's easter dress and today will make hot cross buns. these acts have been almost therapeutic to me as i have thought so much about our savior and what easter is really about. i am grateful that he died for us on good friday and for the knowledge that i have that he did rise again. i am grateful to know of his love for each one of us that we may be comforted in times of grief and we may know that their will be a new day and that he did rise again. i am so grateful for the atonement. for sealing powers and the atonement that seems to bind those.

to larry, megan, mikaela, paige, abby-ann and little lyle....we love you and are in our thoughts and prayers!!! your beautiful mother will be greatly missed! our hearts go out to you and hope that you will find the comfort and peace of the savior during this easter and in the months and years ahead!

did jesus really live again?
yes, when the third day came.
he wakened and he left the tomb.
he called mary's name.

and there were nail prints in his hands
and a spear wound in his side.
did jesus really live again
after he had died?

oh yes!!! and so shall i.