Friends and Fun

Watermelon fingernails!

Fun at the park before baby Claire arrived

Daddy Time

Daddy time is something everyone in this house fights over. The kids all want to spend alone time with Brad, I want to spend alone time with Brad, the dog wants alone time with Brad. Oh, and Brad would like personal time too! So here is a post for and about the most loved family member in our house.

Brad's favorite picture of Claire

My favorite picture off of Brad's phone

The man himself with the buddy

The airshow was this weekend so both of the kids got a turn going out by themselves with daddy. 

Will's turn:

Ruth's turn: sitting in a helicopter

Blessings

We are so blessed. I realized today that I spend way too much time stressing out about stuff and not focusing on how blessed we are. Especially since the stuff I stress out about always ends up being fine, and was totally not stress-worthy material. Brad has an amazing job that makes it so we can be SO comfortable/debt free/large savings. We are all HEALTHY! We have a comfortable, clean home that has tons of space to run around and play inside and out. We have the gospel of Jesus Christ to help us feel comfort now and peace later. Baby sleeps 7 hours nearly every night! My kids have at least1 hour of quiet time everyday, which means I do too! We have two vehicles so I can take the kids where I want when I want without having to plan ahead. We live 4 blocks from Smith's, so when I forget stuff for dinner I can quickly and easily get what I need. Our dog doesn't have accidents in the house any more. Claire hardly spits up anymore now that I don't eat dairy. We have ceiling fans AND air conditioning. We live 5 miles from an awesome lake that the kids love to visit. Netflix has workout videos on instant watch. I have a new laptop that's all my own. Ruth and Will play amazingly well together practically all day long. Ruth has become an AWESOME helper, especially when it comes to cleaning up toys/her room.

Stuff that has been bugging me that I'm trying to relax about:
Our grass in the front is dying and watering doesn't make it look better
I have to make 2 payments to the hospital for Claire instead of paying it all upfront
I don't weigh 160 pounds yet and I'm struggling to figure out when I can workout everyday since Claire doesn't have a set nap schedule during the day yet. I'd do it in the evenings, except she always gets super fussy until 10 or 11 when she finally falls asleep for the night.

Looking at these things, I kind of laugh about how not important they are, especially in comparison to all the amazing blessings in our lives. My life is easy and comfortable and I need to learn to relax and appreciate what I have.

Pioneer Day

The primary was in charge of a Pioneer Day Activity, luckily because I was pregnant and now have a newborn I did nearly zero planning and was only assigned to take pictures during the event! 

We found Ruth's dress at DI for $2! Thank you Meninite community for donating your old clothes to DI!

Looking into the creek. I considered washing them off in there after dinner, very pioneer of us.

Ruth and I had fun learning the primary pioneer songs and learning about Brigham Young and the pioneers during school this week. We are grateful for our ancestors who traveled west and made it possible to have the Gospel in our lives today. Thank you for all you sacrificed.

Homeschooling Has Begun!

We are going to homeschool our kids, at least through elementary school.The idea is to let our kids be kids and not have them sit around a classroom all day AND utilize my education from BYU, I'm confident I can do a good job. Ruth is learning to write all her letters and numbers at the moment. I'm really excited to teach our kids. Will has started to sit with us during school time which is good practice for when he can participate more fully.

 I have so many fun ideas and am so happy I get to use all the cool stuff I learned in college. 

Also, Will is FINALLY binky free. I got fed up with his binkies on Sunday and snipped all the rubber parts off. When he asked for his binky at bedtime I gave it to him and told him it was broken. It hasn't been very traumatic, but he seems a lot more clingy to his blue blankie now.

Playing

 Playing outside with trains, it was raining so it was extra fun

Getting buried by friends at the lake

 "Story time"

Glamour shot!

Playing in the rain and dirt!

Newest trick

4th of July

Our stake had a huge breakfast and games day at Harmon Park, so we went and had a blast. We had a bratwurst lunch under our umbrella on the patio and enjoyed a lazy day all together. Kids are very anxious to stay up late and watch the fireworks.

 Cutest 1 month old!

 Ruth said these snakes looked like poop growing out of the side walk

The rooster is from Applebees several weeks ago

What we've been doing

Claire has been sleeping a lot and growing a ton. She is in the 11 pound range. She also gets an upset tummy when I eat milk, ice cream and cheese cake...sad.

 Uncle Matt visited, didn't get a picture of him, but the kids loved wearing his glasses.

Naked bum!

What the "big" kids do while I am feeding Claire

Ruth and Will were hounding me to go somewhere after all our guests left. I wasn't feeling up to going out with all three kiddos by myself so we had friends over instead! Hooray for summertime and slip and slides!

We've been doing a lot of bike riding, and by "we" I mean Ruth and Will

 Speed bumps are a huge hit

For all you folks harassing me about an "eyes open" picture of Claire

This was Will's first craft-time, he didn't really participate (I did all the cutting, stapling, and coloring), but he was really glad to be included in the activity.