Louisiana Landscapes

I took these pics on the way to the LDS temple today.  This is such a unique and beautiful place.  I had to document it. 

For the time being C and I are back to taking our kids with us to the city the temple is located (in this case, Baton Rouge) and one of us goes in and one stays out with the kids and then we trade.  This temple is closer than our last one but the traffic makes it take almost as long depending on what time of day we are attending. 

The ladies working there kept talking about what a sacrifice it was for Cabe and I to be there with such young children and to haul them all over the place for it.  I laughed.  I'd link you to the post from when D was four-weeks-old and we camped out in order to attend but it's on my old private blog.  That night was difficult, but still, nothing compared to thousands of people who sacrifice so much more to go.

I'm thankful for our Stake President in Midland who asked us all to commit to attending monthly.  It's been a blessing to us and one I try my hardest to keep.  We haven't missed yet, except the month D was born (and C swears we didn't miss that month either), but this month was a close call.  The temple was closed half the month and then I forgot my temple recommend today, but they worked with me.  I was so grateful!  I really want to stick with my commitment.

And off the topic...this Easter Gift for us and from us arrived today.  Isn't it beautiful?

All-American

When our family has scenes like this, I think, "We live the American Dream!"  I love my life. 

What I love about this picture is Toby's face pulling back the curtains and peeking out.  He had been outside with us but other dogs kept tempting him to run off so I made him go inside.  Poor little big guy.

I was getting ready for the day yesterday and I heard these two making silly sounds.  I couldn't figure out what they were doing.  I found them pretending to sing out of the Children's Song Book. 

 I finally got Mr. M some shorts for school.  Poor kid.  I kept procrastinating it and it's been hot here.  He was so excited!  I love his cute, dimply grin. 

Important Matters

As my kiddos get a little older (I realize they are not very old and I have a long way to go and a lot to learn) I am realizing more and more that so many of the things I thought were important, when my first one or two were tiny, are really not so important.  I think I just had too much time on my hands to think. So many things do not matter.  You know what matters?  That I love them, that they know God loves them, and that I will try my hardest to do right by them.

First Sprinkler Run of the Year

Every couple of weeks since we moved here, I get so exhausted I can hardly move.  I woke up really ornery Sat. morning and just couldn't come out of it.  I felt drugged. Then I napped, and napped, and napped.  I kept dreaming I was up and going but then I'd really wake up and be shocked I was still in bed.
I have no idea why this keeps happening (no, I'm not pregnant).  Two weeks ago I took three long naps in one day.  Each time it happens, it just lasts one day and the next day I'm back to normal. I go, go, go a lot, so maybe that's the reason.  But this week I had an easy week so I'm not sure why it happened.  It's driving me crazy though.  I have things to do, I don't have time to need an entire day of napping!

Anyway, despite my grouchiness, that afternoon I held true to my promise that they could run through the sprinklers and then roast smores.  I couldn't believe how energy consuming it was just to hook up a hose.  But it ended up a lovely end to a rough day.

We all agree that the fire pit we bought is the best 100 dollars we have ever spent.  That thing is fantastic!  And again, the no fire-ban is AMAZING.  And no water restrictions.  Oh, there are some things about this place that are incredible!

Easter Activity

Our ward held an Easter Activity this week with an egg hunt, and spoon races, and nest building.  Mr. M had a blast, Miss L had her usual group activity meltdowns but overall she says she enjoyed it.  

Getting to Know You

Lately we have been taking ideas from the Children's Friend and doing little activities on Sundays.  One was to write to your grandparents and ask them questions about their lives.  The kids loved choosing which questions to ask and they really loved getting this letter back from my Grandma S. I made copies for each of their memory boxes.  Thanks, Grandma!

Now if only the other grandparents would get on the ball. :P

Hub City Cafe

Tuesday nights are Kid's Night at the Hub City Cafe.  We love this place!  Balloon man is there every Tuesday too.  It's such a charming little place with great food.

Miss L with her deer.

Balloon Man suiting up Mr. M with his space gun and holster. 

Mr. D with his doggie and apple. 

I tried to capture of pic of M's excitement but his is the best I got. 

Every time I see this I think, "Chelsey would love this."  It's just so random.  So Chels, I think you still read this blog, tell me, do you love it? 

Lib was cold so she cuddles with Daddy. 

The Little Gym

Right after we moved here I enrolled the kids in gymnastics.  Miss L has issues on and off with partcipating but as long as I let her dress in pretty dance clothes, she's happy.   She does freak out if there is a new teacher and said teacher keeps touching her and talking to her, but otherwise she does great. Mr. M LOVES it and does fantastic. Lil' D stands at the window off and on and whines to go in.  Poor little guy.  There's a pretty little girl his age to draw his attention away though.

Last week they were able to bring a friend.  Miss L brought her friend J.  They had a blast.

  Look she's holding her teacher's hand!  I can hardly believe it.

  I forgot to call M's friend but luckily there was a boy in the class for him to play with.  I didn't ask the mom for permission to post a pic of her kid so I had to cut him out.  When Mr. M saw me taking pics he had to grab the kid's hand.  The kid felt very awkward about it, it was funny.

The gym is not the cheapest place in the world but I love that they have extra practice days, they are non-competitive, they make it fun, and they teach them different values and skills for life too.  It's a fantastic place.  They also let you make up days you miss and refund your money if you decided to quit.  Not a lot of places do that these days.

  

They are loving it and love the other moms I get to visit with.  It's great all around!

We Had the Best Day Today

It was a beautiful day today.  It was around seventy degrees, overcast, and windy.  I loved it.  I love the sound and sight of leaves blowing in the wind.  We spent from 8-11:30 playing outside.  It was awesome.
We started with a preschool lesson on dinosaurs and some whiteboard writing.

Later we played Flips and Airplanes.  I put the little people up on my feet and fly them high in the air and then flip them down.  I always want a pic of their cute faces when we do this, they look so gorgeous with the blue sky behind them, but pics always turn out silhouettes so silhouettes it is. 

I've done this with so many kids over the years.  It's an easy way to keep them out of trouble! 

 And it makes them so happy.

 Miss L really wanted to take pics, so I figured, why not?

 Lil' D loves to cuddle.  He snuggles me all the time.  Miss L caught some of it.

We threw a ball back and forth for a long time and threw the Frisbee for Toby.  Miss L managed to get the best pics of Toby.  I can never get good ones of him.  So here is the other member of our family rarely documented.

He's waiting for me to throw his beloved Frisbee. 

If only we were all so easy to please. 

Miss L loves her baby brother.  It was so fun to watch them play today.  For a little while I was able to sit on the grass and read a book and plan our menu for the week.  They ran and played and entertained one another.   

After lunch I was still hungry so we popped a low-cal treat.  It was D's first time seeing the air-popping but he wasn't nearly as excited as I thought he'd be.

The rest of the day was excellent too but I'll save it for another post.  I love lazy days like this.  We didn't even get dressed until we headed to gymnastics at 4:30.  I'll take a day like this anytime!

Running Races and Other Weekend Fun

Our family participated in the Susan G. Komen 1 mile fun run this last weekend.  We almost missed the start of it and we got in behind a bunch of walkers and never could break out of it.  Mr. M was really upset.  He wanted to win.   

I had to explain to him (again) that it isn't important to win, but that we finish the race and hopefully keep improving on our own time.  He still want to win so then we discussed that even though we practiced running three times it was not enough to beat the people who practice all year long.  Now he wants to practice more and I am happy to oblige.  I can't find anymore races locally that we can attend until after summer so we might shoot for one in Utah this summer.

We were very proud of him. He ran more than he walked and he tried hard.

 Miss L is a really great runner.  She can run fast and long.  But I think the crowds upset her and she refused to run and she suddenly hates running.  She did finish the race though and walked very fast for a 4-year-old.  I am hoping she changes her mind but we'll see.

 Cabe pushed D in the stroller and kept up with Mr. M.  It was a tough deal pushing that stroller through thousands of people.  I was glad he was there to keep track of M and support me!  And he's fast.  He can out-speed me any day but I can run longer so it evens out.

As for my race. I ran the 5k. I have been training hard for this race. I started out in January only being able to run about six minutes before needing to walk. Within two weeks I was up to twenty minutes. Then it took me awhile to get up to running thirty minutes straight which for me was 2.5 miles. I never did make it to three miles. That morning I had high hopes though that I could do it or at least make it 2.5 miles.
Nope. It was HUMID that morning (88 percent). I ran/walked the race with Miss L and Mr. M and I was drenched in sweat before that ended. When I started my race I was already huffing and puffing breathing water for air. I made it one mile before I had to walk. I was so disappointed at first. But then it felt as if it was the longest race ever. I kept thinking, "There is no way this is only 3.1 miles!" I was convinced they had it wrong until I crossed the finish line and actually beat my own time (even with the walking) by a few minutes! I even visited with this awesome elderly lady and walked with her for a few minutes before my need to pee overtook my need to visit and I took off running again so I could get to the bathroom. Then I wasn't so disappointed. My record is 33 minutes and I didn't beat that but my goal is to RUN a 5k in between each kid so now I just have to do another race and hope I am able to run the whole thing.
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Our kids ride their scooters round and round our couches.  I'm not sure how I feel about it.  Part of me worries about the flooring but it seems to be holding up.  And they have so much fun doing it I haven't wanted to stop them.  Miss L spent much of her day yesterday helping Mr. D ride her scooter.  They are all such sweet kids and look at D's face.  She made him so happy!

 Until she wanted to ride it herself, that is.

 But getting to climb all over Daddy made him feel better.

It was a great weekend.  I'm sad it's over.  Now I'm excited for next weekend!