If you want the truth...

...ask a child.
Our beautiful spring weather has regressed back to winter. It has been snowing on and off, so we've been inside for the majority of the day. Even though it doesn't feel like spring anymore, I though it would be a good time to do some spring cleaning. I decided to do a clean out of our "paper mess" the financial file, my files, the kids papers, etc... As I was cleaning out all the junk, my mom called. Emma picked up the phone, and Gram asked what we were doing. Emma answered mater of factly, "We're cleaning because we live in squalor... Do you live in squalor?" As I was listening I couldn't help but laugh. Either I throw around some vocabulary too liberally or the cleaning was way over do. Maybe it was a little of both.

First Spring Walk of the Year

It was such a gorgeous day today! For those not living in a high elevation, mountain climate, this may not seem like such a big thing. But for those living with snow still on the ground, to have a day warm enough to venture out without even a jacket was amazing. As dinner was cooking tonight, we took the family on a little walk down the road. The goal was to stay out of the mud, and I think that Tom was the only one to have failed at that. He was helping Emma at the time, so I had to forgive him. Bentley managed to stay out of the mud but found a pile of dog poop to stand in instead, ick! Emma informed me that she could get in the mud because she had her boots on but still managed to comply to the rule. We carried Ali, so she was easy. It was so nice, and even though there's a good chance that we'll see more snow before the winter finally gives way to spring and summer, it was enough to help us not loose hope for the warm weather to come. Spring, we're ready for you!

St. Patrick's Day

The kids have been looking forward to 'eating green food' for the last couple weeks, so we did our best. Breakfast was fun with waffles, pudding, juice, milk, and eggs all in green. Still, the kids made the comment... "Mom, the sausage isn't green!" Oh well, Mom can only do so much;)





















Bentley had fun making a leprechaun trap for school,















and the girls enjoyed sporting their green garb.















Lunch and dinner were a rush, but we did the best we could. It was a busy but fun day.

This and that

Random, I know, but I thought I'd post just a few of the recent activities we've participated in. I've claimed that while living at the "cabin" life has taken on a slower pace. Lately, however this has NOT been the case. I feel like I'm getting back into the mode where we just run, run, run. I look at the schedule and honestly its not that full, but being as it takes at least 15 minutes to get anywhere, just a couple activities in a day fills it up. Still, its fun to have things to do. Here's a sample for the record...

We went to a Literacy Night at the Elementary School. We got to hear from Ronald McDonald himself. The kids seemed to enjoy him except for Emma. She was terrified, however, after the fact she now says that she liked him and is the only one who still talks about him. Whether she does like him or not, he must have made an impression.



















While the boys are away... the girls do play. It has been fun having two cute girls to play with during the day. They both love having their nails done, so of course I have to do mine to match:)











Bentley is loving his basketball league. Its called Itty Bitty Jr. Kitty Basketball. No joke. One night when I was talking about it. (I'm his coach.) It was Itty Bitty Jr. Kitty this and Itty Bitty Jr. Kitty that. He turned to me and said, "Why can't they just call it Jr. Wildcat Basketball or something?" Well put Bentley, well put.

Whatever it is called, he looks forward to it every week.












The girls and Grandma during our visit last week.















We're heading out again tonight, so here is what we were actually doing this morning when I should have been packing... but the girls wanted to paint, and who can say no to those cute faces... and undersides;)

Heard a heartbeat

I had my first OB appointment yesterday. It was a nice, uneventful doctor's visit which is what I like. It was fun to hear the heartbeat for the first time because there's something about being able to hear the baby that is reassuring that everything is OK, there really is a baby in there, and I'm not just getting fat for no reason. I don't know why I'd even think that as I struggle with morning sickness and fatigue... the usually joys of pregnancy, but still, it's nice to hear.
I sometimes can't believe all the little changes that occur when you're expecting. Especially when I'm not pregnant I find myself thinking, ...emotional, tired, naw... I'm just fine when I'm pregnant. Tonight, however was a classic prego moment. The kids and I were watching high school musical III, and it actually made me tear up in a couple a places... Laugh if you will, but I honestly couldn't help it.

How to get up the hill

There are some things that are not so pleasant about where we are living right now. One of those would have to be the hill we have to navigate. Its not bad most of the time, but there are conditions in which its pretty difficult without four wheel drive. The times of struggle consist of when it hasn't snowed for a while, there is a slight thaw and then a freeze and we're climbing a sheet of ice. The other condition we've struggled with is when things start to melt and we're driving in slush and mud. Such was the case on today. After two attempts to get home after dance, we didn't make it, and Emma had to go potty so we stopped at a neighbor's house and then just waited for the bus to drop Bentley off. With Bentley safe with us we decided to try it again, but again we didn't make it. I was about to give up when Bentley suggested we say a prayer. He offered a very sweet, heartfelt prayer, and with me also continuing to pray that this would be a positive prayer experience we gave it another go... and We made it! It was none other than an answer to his prayer. As I drove it was almost as if it was more clear where I should drive. The thought came, stick to the mud, and it worked. Emma offered a prayer of thanks, and now whenever we go anywhere she says she's going to 'pray that we can make it up every time'.

Dance Breakthrough

Most Monday afternoons have consisted of Ali and I watching Emma dance. She was very hesitant at the beginning but has really enjoyed dancing after the adjustment of the first couple weeks. Each week she would continue to request that I come in with her and watch. Although, I'm the only Mom who stays to watch I really don't mind because it is fun to see what they're doing, Ali loves to watch and learns the dances almost as well as the girls in the class, and hey, I just don't mind. However, this week, Ali is still fighting the stomach bug, so I figured I'd better not take her in. The plan was that we'd just wait outside in the car for Emma. She was only so-so about the plan and almost burst into tears when she walked up to the door by herself and couldn't open it. I don't know if it was locked, but as soon as I got out to help, her teacher came and opened it and in she went. It was actually a really nice time in the car. Ali took a nap, and I got to read (without promptly falling asleep like I do at night) for a whole hour. Its not often I get an hour to myself. It was nice and all, but the funny part came when Emma got back. She was so proud that she had gone to dance by herself and even made the comment that she wanted me to not come in to dance anymore so that she could have some of her 'own time'. I was taken back a little; all I could say was... OK.

RS Basketball

OK, so it probably isn't termed Relief Society Basketball, but there was a church women's basketball tournament on Friday and Saturday. I was able to go play on Friday without any problems being as Tom was home to watch the kids, however, when we won and I found out that it was a tournament and the next game would be the next morning at 10:30 am I got a little nervous about how it would all work out. It should have been simple enough, however, the following day was a ski day that Tom had been planning for a long time, and the girls had been throwing up and all the rest of the fun stuff that goes with the stomach bug for the past few days. However, they had a pretty good night with no throwing up, so I decided to chance it. It turned out to be really fun day for me. I mean how often do I get to play five on five full court... hmm... its been a while. So then, aside from fussy kids on the sidelines and Ali throwing up right before the championship game, oops, I thought the day was a success. We ended up winning the championship and now get to play again in a few weeks. I have to admit I'm excited.

Grrr...

Do you ever had a day were the little things just drive you crazy? There were about a zillion "little things" today. Just one however would have to be my trip to the store. Not only were the girls tired and so ready to go home, but then as we were leaving, I was positively amazed at the bagging job! Did someone really put my apples, lettuce, bread, etc. under those big heavy gallons of milk and juice? Sometimes I feel like I can either grumble, grumble, grumble or ... take a picture. Today I chose to do both. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

Can't stay away

We decided to take a quick trip to Price last weekend. We drove down Sunday after church and had to come back Monday. Although it was short, it was so fun to see the fam and so worth the drive. Monday we went to the Dinosaur Museum. We've found that the key to a successful museum visit is to spend most of the time in the kid's area and not worry about seeing every single exhibit. This method made for a much more pleasant experience than some that we've had in the past. The kids had fun digging for fossils, playing with the puppets, seeing the crocodile, and playing in the teepee.