June 30, 2013

 We love how Annie sticks out her tongue when she concentrates on writing and coloring.

Tommy's awesome hair!

 What a busy week we had!  The girls started swimming lessons, we've been working hard in our yard and garden, we've had friends over to play, and had fun playing as a family.  Tommy is now three months old.  His hair seems to settle into a faux hawk unless I try to slick it down with something.  Annie has been especially busy this week...as you will soon see.

 We had Lily's new friend Claire over for a day of fun.  They had a princess tea party - complete with costumes, macaroni and cheese, and ice water "tea".  The girls also helped pull weeds in the garden, pick strawberries, and make some jam.

 Don't worry, that is not poop in Annie's hair.  It is a product called Couvre that Mommy uses on her hair.  One afternoon while Mommy was in the shower, Annie got into Mommy's travel toiletry bag and smeared Couvre all over the top of her head.  As if that wasn't enough, she also tried to shave her mustache hairs with a razor - but ended up slicing her top lip with the blade.  When Mommy got out of the shower, she was greeted by a bloody mouthed, nasty haired Annie who explained she was "just trying to be pretty" like Mommy.  We cleaned off all the blood before taking the pictures. Thankfully the cuts weren't too bad and the brown stuff washed out. 
 

 The kids are loving swimming lessons.  Tommy even likes watching.  Annie is in a Parent-Tot class, so Daddy gets to swim with her for every session.  Lily is really taking to the pool.  She is doing things she used to be too afraid to try.  It is exciting to see them have fun and learn at the same time.

 Just want to be pretty Episode #2.....Annie got into Mommy's mascara and blobbed some on her eyebrows.  We washed it off, talked about how little girls are beautiful without make up, and talked about how she needs to stay out of Mommy's bathroom.  "Ok Mommy!"  A few minutes later, I hear giggling in my bathroom and find her with mascara all over her eyebrows and forehead.  ARG!  This girl just won't listen.

 Saturday we took all the kids to see a community theatre production of Aladdin.  Our kids love the Disney soundtrack so we knew they would love to see it live on stage.  All the parts were played by youth ages 6-18.  Lily really wants to do a show now.

 It has been really hot here - over 90 degrees for  most of the week.  Our house doesn't have A/C so we get pretty warm.  We've been sleeping downstairs in the basement because it is so much cooler than the upstairs.  Our swimming pool blew away last summer so we've been running through the sprinkler instead.  Even Mommy and Daddy join in the fun to help beat the heat.  Tommy is still too little - but he sits in his sun chair and watches us happily.

 Tommy is sleeping through the night pretty regularly so we've moved him into his crib.  He seems to like it.

And here we are Sunday after church.  It is a good thing they are so cute because each one has been rather difficult at least one day this week.  We're trying to love and teach each child in the way that is most meaningful to them, but it is extremely difficult to know what to do sometimes.  They try our patience and push our buttons but they also make us laugh and give us unconditional love.  Thank goodness for families and the lessons we learn from them!  We are grateful for our three little blessings.

June 23, 2013

It is getting harder to post every week and keep up with three kids.  Maybe I'll have to start doing once a month until Tommy gets a little older.  We've been having a lot of summer fun the past few weeks.  The most exciting thing was Jeremy's trip to Alaska for an accounting conference.  He and some coworkers stayed an extra few days after the conference to fish, see Denali, and just enjoy Alaska.  Here are some of the pictures:

 Viewing the glaciers - "Surprise Glacier"

 Silly tourist shots

 Mt. McKinley

Anchorage Alaska Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Beautiful Seward Alaska.  Jeremy caught two halibut weighing in at about 70 pounds each.  Two of the guys in the group didn't catch anything so they agreed to split the weight of the fish the others caught evenly between everyone.  Jeremy came home with nearly 40 pounds of halibut!

And don't feel sorry for me and the kids.  While Jeremy was off having an adventure in Alaska,we traveled to Washington to see Puna, Papa, and Brady and spent some time in Boise with Grammy and Grampy.  I don't have any pictures because Jeremy had the camera.  But trust me, we had a great time playing with the Wanners and the Halls.

 First strawberry harvests.  Lily checks the garden every morning - risking rain and wind, to check on her precious strawberries.  We've picked so many.  We've made strawberry sauce, strawberry jam, strawberry lemonade, and strawberry milkshakes.

 Annie's favorite way to enjoy strawberries - a milkshake!

 Tommy is growing so fast.  He sleeps through the night and is a very good eater.  We are struggling with a grumpy patch every day from about 5 pm to 9 pm, but usually he is in good spirits and loves the attention his sisters give him.  His hair is still prone to stand straight up, but we do manage to tame it from time to time.

 Here's the girls shucking corn on Father's Day.  I know they don't look happy in the picture but they volunteered for the job and had fun doing it.

 Jeremy took the girls on a "date" to the Shrine Circus.  It was the first time for all of them to see the circus.  They bought a snow cone and loved the tiger and elephants.  Lily and Annie talked about it all week.

 Lily is growing into such a great helper.  One morning I found her sitting on our bed with Tommy, reading him a book while letting him suck on her finger.  I was hurrying to get us out the door and Lily stepped in to comfort her brother so I could get myself and Annie dressed.  It seems like she has grown up so much since Tommy's birth.  What a lovely young lady...inside and out.

 We took advantage of free fishing day last Saturday.  I can't believe at the end of June that we were bundled up under hats, coats, and extra blankets - such is the weather in eastern Idaho.  We fished for two hours with no luck.

 Tommy liked being outside but sometimes the wind got to him and he wanted to escape to the warmth of the van.

 Lily was so tired of the wind, she kept closing her eyes while reeling in her line.

 Finally after we had almost decided to pack it in and go home Lily caught her fish.  She would only touch the tail for the picture.  Three hours was a long time to sit in the cold wind.  Once she made her catch she was ready to go home.

 A few minutes later, Annie hooked her first trout too!  She would not go near it.  She kept her little hands balled up in a fist to keep her fingers away from it.  This is the closest she would get for the picture.  We told her to smile and she shook her head "no".

All in all it was a fun fishing adventure for our little family.  We won some prizes and the kids were so excited to catch a real fish.  At first they just wanted to sit in the van and avoid the wind, but once the sun came out, we had a great time together.

 This is Tommy on a crazy hair day.  He is all smiles for us lately.  Unless the camera flash catches him by surprise. He is trying to hard to mimic sounds.  He has mastered "a", "o", "oo", and "i".  He really loves it when we get on his level and "talk" with him.

 Lily and Annie helping me make a batch of strawberry jam.  Lily told me that she is so glad I let her help because it makes her feel "warm inside" when we spend time together in the kitchen.  Melted my heart!

Lily is fascinated with books lately.  She writes and illustrates almost a book a day.  It is fun to hear the stories she comes up with - usually involving Tinkerbell and fairies.

We start swimming lessons next week and gymnastics are in full swing.  I'll try and get some cute pictures up next week.