Fall

I love fall. I actually really love all the seasons, there are just some things about some seasons I would change. Like I'd make snow warmer. And allergies. I would not have those at all. Anyway, I love fall, the changing colors, school supplies, baking, sweaters, and FOOTBALL! I like football. A lot. I have been down and out all week after an oral surgery (extraction and bone graft) and Timothy has been doing an excellent job taking care of me, kids, and home. Today, his exertions are starting to show, he is in need of a rest and possibly coming down with our first cold of the season! (something I would change about fall. And winter. And spring. Sometimes summer.) Anyway, what better way to get some much needed, and deserved, R&R than hanging out watching some football! As soon as Eli saw Daddy on the couch watching a game, he grabbed his blankie and scrambled up to join his favorite guy. I love my boys. They are adorable together. And separately.

Summer

This is way overdue. But here it is anyway. After school got out, we headed north to visit Grandma and Grandpa. We went to Waterton National Park and hiked and threw rocks and played. It was a very nice beginning to the summer!

 

All three kids took swimming lessons this year. It was Eli’s first year in swimming and the first day he was pretty nervous getting in the water. But he did great! Everyday I had him go to the bathroom before class but, without fail, 5-10 minutes in, he would have to get out to go again. Ha! Super cute. The girls took off and by the end of the summer, Emma graduated level 3, Kaylee is in level 3 and Eli is in level 2. Pretty good work!

We were able to go to Choteau to visit the Stott’s ranch and see the baby goats. The kids loved that, especially Kaylee who “loves all animals!”

We played outside in the sprinklers lots to beat the heat.

We went back to Choteau for the fourth of July. The kids loved collecting huge bags of candy during the parade. Then we had a BBQ and went swimming at the ranch with the horses. We loved swimming with the horses. I think that was definitely a highlight of our summer!

And, last thing for this post, we went camping with some friends. Our campsite had a little path down to a creek and swimming hole. It was like a little piece of paradise.

Sorry for all of the collages, that’s what happens when there’s this much catch up! It was a really great summer, I miss it already.

Nap time

Eli has not taken a regular nap since last winter. He is growing up. But somedays, he still really needs one. Those days, he usually falls asleep if we go anywhere in the car. Today however, I was busy in the kitchen. He was tired of 'helping' and went to play. Then he asked to watch a movie. This is how I found him when I finished up my chores. He's such a sweet baby. I love having him home. I'm really, really glad we didn't do preschool this year.

Sunday afternoon

Each week we have an evening set apart as our family night. Often we have family night on Sunday. Today Kaylee was in charge of choosing our activity. We went for a lovely walk. I feel so blessed to get to be with these guys all the time.
Timothy made a walking stick at a scout camp, so of course, Eli had to have one too!

Dishes

Kaylee was making an excuse to wash a big bowl. I explained that it was clean, she found some 'crumbs' in it and commenced filling the bowl with soap and water. I said, "Kaylee, you just love washing dishes, don't you?" To which she replied, "I do, it's fun!" I hope she always feels that way!! She loves to help clean and cook. If I am in the kitchen, she is often by my side asking if she can help. Such a big girl!

Eli and Emma

I came into the kitchen from the other room and Eli had his pants down around his ankles. I said, "Eli! Why are your pants down!?". He just laughed. Emma replied, "I was taking care of him. I didn't say I was doing it well...". A minute later we saw the bathroom floor. Again, Emma said, "Like I said, I wasn't doing it well...". Ha! Kids are so great.

Dance Recital

I’m not sure how I missed posting about this, it was back in May! The girls both danced again this last school year, Emma was in jazz and Kaylee did tap. They did a wonderful job at the recital and had lots of fun. The also both looked beautiful. The are supposed to wear some mascara, blush, light eye shadow and lipstick, so their faces can ben seen from the audience, and they love the make up. However, I just about have a heart attack at how grown up they look with it on. We’ll definitely hold off on the make up wearing until they are at least 30! ;)

We did not take video of the girls this year because we got the DVD but we did manage to snag a couple of pictures while they were on stage. They’re not excellent, you know, they were moving around while dancing, but there you have it!

Emma is in the back row, just right of center.

Kaylee is on the left end.

My beautiful girls!

Kindergarten Graduation

Our school makes a big (and cute) deal about their kinder grads. There was a sweet ceremony and party and matching t-shirts. I am so proud of Kaylee for her hard work this year. She has loved school and really done her very best. I can’t believe how big my kids are getting though. In a few short weeks, Emma will be in grade three and Kaylee in grade one. Craziness! They just keep growing and learning. Everyday! It brings so much joy to my heart to watch them master a new skill. It also brings some sadness. Time moves so quickly and I can’t seem to freeze enough moments in my mind…or in pictures. I need to get back at my camera!

Anyway, enough of that. Here’ some pictures of Kaylee’s graduation!

Kaylee is on the back row (of course! She is tall!), with the mischievous grin.

I wish Kaylee wasn’t blurry in this one. She had an awesome teacher this year. We loved her. Kaylee was so excited to give her a great big hug.

Memorial Day Weekend

We went to visit Grandma Allred for the long weekend. We did many of our usual activities (can’t miss the carousel!) and family visits. This weekend though, for the first time, we went out to visit Timothy’s Grandma’s grave site. It was really neat to be able to take the kids out there. We had Mom Allred bring out some pictures of her Mom and tell the kids some stories and a little bit about her. It was a very sweet and sacred experience for us. Timothy’s Grandma passed away when he was 8 so obviously, I have never met her, but Emma is named after her, Emma LaRhea, though Grandma went by LaRhea.

Last Sunday, Emma was the spotlight child in primary and one of the questions asked was, “Who do you look up to?” Emma thought for a brief minute before responding, “My Great Grandma”. Our children are blessed to have met three of their wonderful great grandmas, but this time, she was referring to Great Grandma Mitchell.

Thanks Mom Allred for sharing and teaching us about your Mom. Can’t wait to meet that amazing, funny, loving, wonderful woman!

 

Emma’s Spring Recital

Emma had her spring piano recital at the end of May. She has been loving being able to play the piano and will often sit down to play without being asked. She loves to make up songs. It takes a little more encouragement to get her to play her assigned songs, but maybe someday she’ll be a composer!

Kaylee Turns 6!!!

It is really hard for me to believe how old my kids are. Kaylee is now 6 years, 1 month and 28 days old! Time has just been a blur! I remember bringing her home from the hospital, my sweet little 7 lb baby! She’s gained some weight, and inches, but she is still my baby. My spunky, sweet and somewhat stubborn baby. ;)

If you’ll recall from my last real post, for her birthday, Kaylee got her ears pierced. She also had a small party (numbers enforced by Mom) of ‘school friends’. She was spoiled rotten in gifts and felt much love. She was beaming all day long.

Happy Birthday Kaylee! We love you!

Virus

We got sick. Our computer has been acting odd, we were able to wipe the hard drive and start over (I highly recommend getting yourself an online backup service!). However, getting all of the programs re-installed has taken some time. Also, I have been having a hard time getting pictures off my camera the last few months. I am working out the glitches and think we are almost ready to be running normally again! Hooray! So, sorry for the break, I have lots to write about, bear with me as posts may start coming rapid fire for a few days.

Crash!

Eli has been most of every night this week. He finally slept through last night. While I was making dinner tonight, he was kind of whining. After a few minutes of whining, things got quiet. I looked over and saw this. On the floor. In the middle of the dining room. This is the first time for us to have a child fall asleep like this. He is tired!

Ears

Kaylee turned six on Friday (more on that another time) and in our house six means you can get your ears pierced. At least, that's when we let Emma, so that's when we let Kaylee. She has been talking about it since Emma got her's done two years ago. So, after school we went to the mall to get it done. She was so excited and nervous. We had to wait for someone else to finish up and while waiting she said, "My tummy feels funny". I wonder if that was the first time she's felt nervous butterflies! She did great though, no tears, just a look of shock after they did the first one. But she let the lady do the next one without complaint! And she twists them and lets me clean them like big six year old! She looks too grown up!

Working with Daddy

Eli loves his Daddy something fierce. He loves to do anything with him, especially any sort of 'man work' (my words, not his). Today he and Daddy stacked a large pile of firewood, ripped out some dead bushes, and moved some rock to make room for a vegetable garden. Yesterday they mowed the lawn. Way to teach hard work baby!

My Mother’s Day

I have an amazing husband. He always makes sure that I am pampered and appreciated (daily) but more than I think I deserve on Mother’s Day. This year, he surprised me Saturday night with a date, dinner and some much needed one on one time. In the morning, he made me a delicious breakfast burrito, which was delivered while I was in bed and they sung to me! I ended up eating my breakfast in bed downstairs at the table with the family. Sunday mornings are busy, too busy for a leisurely breakfast in bed. On Mother’s Day we were headed across town to our old ward for a friend’s baby blessing, so we were more rushed than usual. Still, the burrito was fantastic! The girls made several different cards and little gifts that we adorable. When we came downstairs, they had covered the french doors onto the deck in hearts they had colored. It made me feel special and superior to the neighbors, who did not have hearts on their windows. ;)

After a crazy hectic day at Church (you try helping 65 kids make cards for their mothers while maintaining reverence) we came home and hung out. No meetings or home teaching. Just us, here, quite. So wonderful! Timothy made tacos in a bag for dinner, which we packed up and took to one of my favorite parks for a picnic and walk. It was a beautiful day and the park was busy! We usually do our family home evening on Sunday and I was in charge of activity, so a ‘treasure hunt’ at the park was in order. Eli made some tasty mint brownies for our treat and Emma showed a video about mothers for our lesson. We had a really nice time walking around and finding our treasures. Possibly my favorite part of the day was toward the end, as we were leaving the park. The kids started heading to the car and Emma said, “Race you to the car!” They all broke into the fastest run they had, and all three were giggling. It melted my heart and made me so glad to be the mom of these precious babes.

The mother's day card that the kids made in primary had an interview in them. I loved the girl’s answers, nearly crying when I read them. I am going to put them in the girl’s files to keep but wanted to make sure I had a second record.

Kaylee’s card:

My mom’s name: Ashley

My mom is few years old

My mom spends most of her day cleaning

If my mom was a superhero, her name would be: supergirl

The best thing my mom cooks is soup

My favorite thing to do with my mom is cooking

My mom is the best at art

I love my mom because she takes care of me.

Emma’s card:

My mom is the best at baking

If my mom was a superhero, her name would be: super A

The best thing my mom cooks is food

My favorite thing to do with my mom is being with her

My mom is the happiest when she laughs

I know my mom loves me because she is honest

I love my mom because she cares

Eli

Eli made me a little mother's day gift in nursery today. It had some candies with it. By the time I received it, there was no candy. Eli said, super serious, "Mom, I ate the candies because I didn't want you to get sick." What a thoughtful boy!!

Easter

I realize that Easter was a long time ago. I am still trying to figure out the new camera software and for some reason can’t seem to blog the pictures very well. Most of my recent posts have been directly from my phone, which is a really nice feature I learned how to use, but the pictures are not as awesome as what my new camera produces. Anyway, for Easter we went up to Mom and Dad’s and played with cousins, went to the temple, shot some guns, rode a tractor, dug for some buffalo bones, played some Just Dance, and had, of course, an Easter egg hunt. We had a great time!

I apologize for the number of collages. I just took too many pictures and wanted to show a little bit of everyone doing everything. The reason there are more pictures of Emma in front of the temple is because I was thinking about baptism stuff. Anyway, here’s a glimpse!

At the Meadows.

Dance Party!

Shooting, buffalo bone adventure, town Easter egg hunt.

Family Easter egg hunt.

Picnic at the temple.

Happy Mother's Day!!

Mother's are very important people. I have been blessed with not only a wonderful mom but also an amazing mother-in-law. I am so grateful to my mom for raising me and putting up with me as a child. I have begun to realize what that really was like while raising my little 'mini me', and it wasn't pretty! I am so grateful for everything my mom has taught me. I am ever grateful for my mother-in-law and the son she raised. He is fun loving and good natured and considerate. He takes after his mom, thank you for raising such a good man for me! The picture is from my mother's day date with mom last week, I need to find one equally embarrassing of my mother-in-law. When I do, I will add it!

Flat Emma's Travels

Emma's class went on several "class trips" as flat people. Have you read 'Flat Stanely' or 'Mailing May'? They traced their bodies onto a roll of paper and popped themselves in the mail. They went all over. Emma was able to go to Seattle area to see some of her cousins. They treated flat Emma like a queen, showing her around and doing so many fun activities with her. At the end, they sent Emma home with some snacks for her trip and a beautiful scrapbook, as well as some souvenirs. Emma was thrilled! On Thursday, she presented her trip in class. I took the video on my phone so the sound is terrible, but you get the gist. Thanks so much to Uncle I, Aunt J, Misses A and R for ALL you did! Can't wait to show A and R around town!!