catch up

k, since I haven't posted anything substantial for the past 6 years or so, I thought I'd try to share something that somebody out there might care about a little bit. So, since words are not what I think people will care about, here are some pics. Hope you enjoy these more than my self-conflict of the last post! Oh, and by the way, MAHRI IS CRAWLING!!! Last night she was in the living room and I was vacuuming in Lucy's room. She knew where I was, and she crawled across the living room, through the kitchen, and down the hall to find me!!!!
Momma and the 2 big kids
Daddy and the 2 big kids
The boys!
Mahri's first sledding trip!!
Josiah after a long day at the slopes!
So cute! They sure are great friends!


And silly faces, of course. You can't be a Robins without making silly faces at the camera!

Ok...

I know that I haven't blogged in like 40 years, and now especially I should be posting tons of pictures and blogging about Christmas (it was so fun and wonderful!) but I've got something on my mind that won't leave, and honestly I need so help! Comments please!
I am going green and can't stand it!!! I am a big believer in being a good steward over the earth. I always have been. But I hate the popularity of going green. I do not believe in global warming and think that Al Gore is one of the biggest idiots of our time. But, for some reason I have this uncontrollable urge to search things out, learn new methods, do my part. What can I do?? Jordan says, "Just don't do it." Well, that's not really happening. I even went so far tonight as to check out cloth diapers!! WHAT??
I do want to say that I do more than most. I recycle, I have reusable grocery bags. I have a water bottle (thanks Brie!) that I use instead of bottled water. Not really leading the pack in 'doing my part' to save the earth, but I do try to be resosponsible.
I think it all started with my interest in natural medicine (or remedies, or whatever it's called). That took me into the world of 'natural', and from there I got completely lost in it all! And the worst part is that I am enjoying it and completely interested. I'm feeling conflicted. I want to do whats best for my family and the earth. I do not want to be some psycho that only uses hemp, organic cotton, no plastics or synthetics or man made anything (and even as I'm typing this, being that psycho is very appealing to me!)
What do I do?????

Lucy has a boyfriend!

So last week after picking up Lucy I was asking how her day at school went. She looked me straight in the eyes and said, "Mom, there is this boy in my class and he is so handsome!" She said it all dreamy-like. It was the cutest thing. So I asked if he was in her class. Yes. Do they play together at recess? Yes. Does she sit next to him in class? Sometimes. What is his name? Oh, I can't remember. (Super disappointed voice) So the next few days followed of her actually talking about him. It is so cute and a little disturbing. Is this REALLY starting already? She has since remembered that his name is Keegan. On Friday when I dropped her off at school I told her I wanted to see who this boy is. So when I picked her up that day she climbed into the car and whispered, "I was sitting next to him!" (the kids sit on the grass to wait to be picked up) She was right, he is a cutie! Today when we got home from school Lucy informed me that he is now her boyfriend. I asked how that came to be. She said because he wanted her to be his girlfriend and she wanted him to be her boyfriend. Yep. I guess that's how those things work. So we had a good, fun boyfriend talk where I actually had to bring up the no kissing rule. Why am I having the no kissing talk with my 5 year old???? Anyway, she is one smitten little girl. Jordan is going to have to meet with this kid to see what his intentions with our daughter are. The way she tells it, his intention is to marry her. Adorable. Here is a picture of the two lovebirds.

My dreams have been realized!

For the past few years, since we got our own house, I guess, I've been asking for chickens. I don't know what my obsession is...maybe the country girl coming out in me. But I have never gotten them. Until now! Hooray! On Saturday we were visiting some friends. They just happen to have chickens. And they recently got some chicks from his brother, so Jordan said, "Why don't we get some?" Hooray! That's all it took. Now, we have 5 little chicks of our very own. Their names are: Princess Ella, Spiderman, Spitty-up, La-a (pronounced Ladasha), and EggHead. I'll let you guess who belongs to who.

So thoughtful

For the last month or so Lucy has been wanting to make her grandma some soup. No particular reason...I think maybe since we go there every Sunday for dinner she wanted to do something nice for her. So, finally yesterday we got around to it. Lucy wanted to make it all by herself, so I helped very minimally.
The "soup" consisted of: twizzlers, jellybeans, 7 cups of water (she wanted 70 cups, but I talked her down), brown sugar, craisins, and marshmallows. Grandma was a great sport. She and Papa both took a taste.
Now why don't I think to take a picture of this kind of stuff until after I throw it down the sink????

Lucy's First day of Kindergarten!

Ok, on Monday there was an 'orientation' that Jordan, Lucy and I went to. It was one on one with Lucy's new teacher, Ms. Gentry. That was about 15 minutes, but totally worth getting all ready and cute!

Eating her first day of school breakfast.

Then, today was her official first day of class. She was SO excited! And when I picked her up, she was all smiles! She told me all about it, and loved every minute of it. The best part was dropping her off...were there tears or no tears? Well, when we walked inside, she put her backpack and sweater on her hook, then turned around and saw her friend, Ashlyn. They looked at each other and then ran to each other to embrace in a huge hug! It was the cutest thing ever! Where is my camera at a time like that? Oh, right, in the car. We even made it on time! I know! Amazing that we were there by 8:25AM!!! Lucy is looking forward to Kindergarten tomorrow, so I think we are a success.

First day of Kindergarten!
Josiah on Lucy's first day of Kindergarten!

And Mahri on Lucy's first day of Kindergarten!

On Saturday we went to an EQ activity and had a blast! It was at Lake Walcott way out in Acequia. There was a bbq, boats, tubing, waterskiing, and kayaking.

The boat that we were on ended up dying. Literally. It would not start for anything. It was kind of funny, actually. So, a girl and I decided to go for a swim while we sat and tried to think of what to do next. Then we thought we might as well be doing something useful, so they (on the boat) threw us a rope and we started pulling the boat towards shore. As crazy as that sounds...it was a ton of fun! We probably made it about a quarter mile before another boat came to save us. They pulled us the rest of the way, but if they would've given us another 3 hours we would've made it!

After hours of that kind of fun, we came home to this...

That must have been some wind storm! I'm glad that we were out having fun while Mother Nature was out having her own kind of fun!

Like Riding A Bike

Lucy got a new bike (with no training wheels!!) for her birthday, so Jordan has been working on teaching her how to ride it. She is doing pretty good...

Jordan showing Lucy how it's done.

"Cowboy Joe"!

Happy girl Mahri!

Photo Shoot

This was actually a little while ago...maybe a month or so. I made the girls some fairy tutus and some 'Peter Pan Pants' for Josiah for a woodsy/fantasy shoot. Thank you Celeste! The pictures turned out great!

How could I forget??

Lucy turned 5 at the end of July. It was a fun time. She likes to draw out her birthday celebration as long as possible, so we had a few days of cake, balloons, and fun.

The 'Princess Castle Cake' I attempted. It was 3 am...give me a break!

Lucy's new bike! She was so excited to get this bike - with no training wheels. Now we just need some practice...Lucy and her cake. Ok, the moment that I brought out the cake was probably in the top 5 best moments of my entire life. Lucy and I had been looking at cakes online for the entire month leading up to her birthday. No cake was good enough. She seriously wanted a $3000 wedding style cake for her birthday party. I don't think so. We never agreed on a cake, and I was a little worried that she'd be really disappointed. Not that I have to give my kids everything they want so I don't upset them...they are not spoiled like that...but I did want to make her something that she liked. After all, it is her birthday. So, I made this one (without her knowledge) and when I walked outside with it, Lucy literally squealed in delight and said it was 'the most perfect thing ever'. I DID IT! I actually pleased the most picky girl this world has ever seen!The girls hanging out, drying off, and playing with new toys. What fun!

Happy 5th Birthday, Lucy! We love you, Princess!

TOOOOOO Long!!

Ok, I don't even know when the last time I posted was. And honestly so much has been going on!! Maybe one of these days I'll update on the past (probably not!) but for now I'm moving forward. The latest thing is we went on vacation. I mean a real, honest vacation. Which, horrifyingly, we've never actually done before. I mean, we've gone to CA to visit my family a bunch, which is super fun and wonderful, but we've never actually gove somewhere with just us, with no one else, no time scchedule, no stress. It was wonderful!! We went to Oregon. First we went to Roaring Springs in Boise with our friends Rachel & her kiddos. That was a blast! And totally worth the $35 each to play in the kiddie area. But, it's the priceless smiles on all the kids faces that make it worth it, right?! Then, we went to a hotel...the kids first time ever! They were so excited they wanted to document every moment. Here we are at the hotel brushing our teeth...I know...very exciting!

Then we headed to Detroit Lake in Oregon. That was BEAUTIFUL! We walked down to the lake from our campsite, where the kids threw rocks at the ducks and went swimming...fully clothed.

We have never actually camped before, so this was a trip full of firsts. (We have tried in the back yard multiple times, but have never made it all the way through the night...the nice warm house is just too much of a temptation!)
So, at the site we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire, then told ghost stories.

The next day we were off to the Oregon Coast. Oh, how I love the beach! Even though the water was quite frigid, Jordan, Lucy and Josiah got their swimsuits on and went for it! I was in up to my knees, while Mahri slept peacefully through the excitement.

That night we camped near the beach. Another fun night of roasting over the campfire. Lucy and Josiah met a couple kids a few campsites down and they had fun playing ladderball with us. The next day was a LONG drive. We were detoured by a few hours because of an accident so we ended up staying in a hotel. That was great because they had a pool, and the kids (ok, and me!) were all about that. On Friday morning we hit the road and made it home late that afternoon. The kids did wonderfully in the car. They were fantastic at the campsites and hotels. We had a great, fun, and relaxing time! I think we are all ready to do it again! Where to next time???