First Day of School

 Claire started Pre-school this year! She went in with no fear and is So excited!

Olivia started 1st grade! All day school! She says is is long and a little boring, but she is off to a great start! No tears this year!

A Splash!

Emma Kate 9 month stats

Yes, Emma is now 11 months, but I never posted her last stats! oops!

Weight: 17 lbs (34%)

Height:27'' (23%)

Head: 17'' (48%)

She is now crawling, and getting really excited to walk- she has taken a few steps and was so excited! She is a momma lover, and still breastfeeds probably too much (like 6 times a day). She is a good sleeper for the most part. She likes to eat, and does pretty well with most solids.

Emma and the deer

 Emma admiring the deer

 Emma grazing on clovers with the deer

The deer over at Walowa were quite domesticated. Emma LOVED the deer, In fact, over this trip we learned that Emma really loves animals. She would kick and squeal and reach for any animals in sight. So different from the other 2 girls! We called the deer her "other family" because they really seemed to like each other! At one point 3 deer came up to Em and I and got waaay too close. I kept backing up and they kept trying to get closer to Emma. They were only inches away. I shooed them away, but it was a little scary. I don't think they meant harm, but who knows!
Later one of the male deer was getting a little crazy. He was bucking and kicking the other deer around. So, we decided to leave the are and go back to our yurt. The deer started to follow us. We walked a little faster. The next thing we knew the deer was running at us while bucking its head around wildly. He had big baby fuzzy antlers- so it was totally scary! He was headed straight for Claire. Brett picked up Claire just in time as he stuck out his foot to kick the deer. Luckily the deer stopped in its tracks and we didn't need to kick it. We ran inside and then watched the mad deer go buck and kick the other female deers around. We don't know why he was so upset, but he was out to beat someone or something up! Glad we were okay!

Trip to the top

While in Walowa we took a tram ride up the mountain. It was REALLY pricey,(about $70) but it was vacation... So we did it! We met up with my half sister, Dawn, and her children. We did a small hike, but the highlight was feeding the chipmunks. The kids loved feeding them. They would eat right out of your hands! There were so many I almost stepped on a few. The views were awesome! Oregon is beautiful!

Trip to Oregon

 We made our way to Oregon for a week. The time spent in Oregon was fabulous, but the drive there was less then desirable. We had new binders full or art supplies, new stickers, new coloring books, etc. We also had about 9 new movies to watch. Along with snacks and treats. Emma even had her own bag full of toys and snacks just for her. We were prepared. None the less there was lots and lots of crying. At the very end on our way home every one had lost it. It was 11pm and we were all so tired and crabby. Even Brett was losing it. I was threatening curse words. It was not pretty. But we made it! I'm sure we would do it again, the time spent away from the mundane was soo nice. I loved not thinking about what to cook for lunch or dinner. It was pure bliss to not think about it! Plus the girls were entertained almost all the time and they were never asking me to go or do anything! It was a much needed vacation!
Our itenaerary was this:
To Eugene: 14 hours
From Eugene to Walowa: 9 hours
From Walowa to Highland: 12 hours

Lets be honest

We were so excited for summer. Made a 'Summer bucket list' and everything.
We have been busy crossing things off our list.
 Picking strawberries from the yard and making a strawberry pie, trying out snow cones sold from the side of the road, going to the splash pad, swimming, etc.

Slowly I have found myself going CRAZY though. It feels as if I am yelling and trying to calm myself more then I am enjoying myself.

3 children, all home, all day, all 3 want attention and they fight for it! I miss Olivia in school. I miss a schedule. Emma is getting too big. I miss my newborn baby.And, you have probably missed my blog ;) It is suffering from this madness!

I can't complain too much though. The girls really are good girls. They are sweet and cooperative. It's just been hard adjusting to 3 in the summer.

Growing up with Pa

My Father... what to say? He is great. He is loving, kind, soft spoken and always patient. I owe any "sweetness" that people see in me, to him. He has a sweet, kind heart. I don't believe I have ever heard him speak ill words of someone else. He is ever patient. It was near impossible to push his buttons growing up. You could not make him yell at you if you wanted to!

Some of my favorite memories of Pa are:

*always making the mistake of asking him 'silly' questions- like "what's for dinner?" He would reply things like "food". "what KIND of food!?" "good food". Oh how it would frustrate me!
*he was always working on something around the house. He was and is a hard worker. When I picture him, I picture him with a paint brush in his hands! haha
*He didn't talk to me a whole lot. He was always kind of quiet, but I thought it funny that when I brought around some of my first boyfriends he talked to them like I had never heard before! He just talked and talked and talked. Guess he wanted to make sure I was dating good boys ;)
*Always loving my mom. He set a very good example of how a man should treat his wife. He was always respectful and always gave her a kiss when he came home from work. I would sometimes find 'secret' love notes to my mom from him. They of course made me want to gag, but at the same time it was good to know that he loved her and still does love her with his whole heart. Because of him, I now have a superb husband that also treats me like a queen. I expected nothing less then the best!
I love you Dad. Thank you for being the best Dad ever! Love you so much!!

Weekend

This last weekend we:
1.Attemded Grandpa Petes funeral (Brett) in Arizona. He was gone for 3 full days
2.Bike rides
3.Splash Pad!
4.Ate lots of junk food (Dad was gone after all, you don't expect me to cook do you!?)
5.Missed Daddy.. especially at night when it was dark and scary!
6.planted flowers in the garden
7.went to a birthday party for Liv's friend Anna
Brett- we missed you so, and are so happy to have you home! We love you and are incredibly thankful to have you in our lives!

Emma waving

Em is learning to wave lately. It is so cute! It is so fun to watch them learn new tricks!

Liv graduates Kindergarten

Liv and her teacher Mrs.Lee.

 Olivia had a great year in kindergarten. She learned tons and is ready for 1st grade. Her teacher was amazing. In fact, she is probably one of the best teachers I have ever met. She loves those children with all her heart. She is so kind and sweet, yet she has an air of authority about her. Being a Kindergarten teacher is most definitely her calling in life! Liv loved her so much and will probably never forget what an awesome teacher she was!

I love to see the temple

We had an outing a few weeks ago to get pictures of the girls with the temple. I wanted them to have a picture of themselves in front of the temple in their bedrooms. The temple is a special place, and somewhere I hope my girls will aspire to go to.
On a side note- getting these pictures was very frustrating. The temple was SO bright and white, while we were in shade, and in the dark! It made it difficult to get the brightness adjusted just right, then getting the girls to be in just the perfect spot so the sun could shine on them too!

For Ma

Growing up with "Ma"

 1986

1987

 2009

 2010

2011

My Mother... If you know her, you would know that she is a fabulous, strong woman. She has taught me more then anyone, ever. She has taught me the basics like cooking, cleaning, sewing, etc. But more importantly she has taught me about forgiveness, love, kindness, manners, and a few 'what not to do's' ;) She is strong. Much stronger then I think she knows. She has lived through, and with things that most people could not handle. She loves me so much. She loves my children more then I ever thought possible. She gives and gives. She helps me through my every day struggles with  a listening ear. She is my #1 fan, and I know would do just about anything to help me out and lift me up when I need it. There is no one else in my life like her. I need her, and love her.

Happy Mothers Day mom! Love you!!

It's a Sun Shine Day!

 The sun has finally decided to warm us up, and it has been GREAT! I love the sun! The girls are loving it too!

 Emma finally decided it was time to sit. So she is a sitting girl and eating solids now! And actually liking to eat! Yay!

I wouldn't get the kitty pool out, but I decided the girls could play in the hose. They had a blast. Liv says it was "the best day ever!"

Girl Friends

These are Olivia's best friends at school right now. Londyn and Maddison. They write each other love notes, talk about which boys they  "are in love with",do make-up, have friendship bracelets, etc. When I say write love notes, I am  always finding notes from her friends that say "To:Olivia Love:____ I love you. You rock!" and they always include some sort of picture. They remind me so much of my friends growing up ;) So happy she has great friends!

Growing like a weed

I read in a book awhile back (don't remember which book) the girl was saying "I don't know why anyone would compare their child to a weed" It seems so obvious to me- you pick a weed and you turn around and it's grown huge again. You just don't know how it got so large so fast! That is what my children are doing.. growing so fast that I can't keep up! Every time I turn around I swear they grew an inch!

Meet Fishy Foo Foo

There he is. Our newest member of the family. Mr.Fishy Foo Foo. Claire earned him from potty training. She actually earned a "daughter date" but she kept saying she wanted to go fishing on our date. Since that isn't ideal in February, we got a fish instead. Put him in a trifle bowl and put him on the hutch.

Crazy Hair Day

It was Dr.Suess week at school. They got to have stripes day, crazy hair day, and pajama day. My favorite was of course getting to style Livs hair all crazy! I had so much fun!!We did french braids down the sides and a curly mohawk down the middle. And Liv still looked crazy beautiful, even with crazy cool hair!

Best of Friends

Meet Grace- Claires best friend. She also happens to be her cousin! Grace and Claire LOVE to play together. When they get together their is lots of squeeling and running and laughter. We got to have Grace for the day and Claire was in heaven! They had so much fun together, and for their age, did amazingly well about not fighting about a thing! 

This was "rest" time. I thought they may take a nap... but no, they ate raisins while the watched 'Tinker Bell'. As soon as the raisins ran out, they were up and away. I put them back, but with no success. It was just too much fun to run and play I guess ;)