Dirt Cheap

"Dirt Cheap". That is the cleaver name of the company that delivered 15 cubit yards of mulch to my our driveway last Monday. It is in preparation for selling my mother's house some time after we leave. The boys "helped" us spread it in all the natural areas and I think it turned out quite nicely. Hard work is good for the soul.

And for our next project....

Packing

Who Sews Sue's Clothes?

"Who sews Sues clothes? Sue sews Sue's clothes." (Try and say that 10 times fast)

And who sew's Alana's clothes- I do. (Well most of the time I don't but this is a special exception.) Thanks to Loanne and Annie's sewing night and a cute reto apron pattern they let me use- Voila! Cooking in style.

Dads

(This is an old picture of Zach and Gabe, not Mac. He's not quite this big yet)


On Friday morning Zach got up at 3:30 AM to catch an early flight home. To his chagrin, his flight was repeatedly delayed and then finally canceled. He had the pleasure, or perhaps displeasure, of hanging out at the airport all day after a long week of grading. His compensation- a quizno's sub. We finally got to pick him up at 7:00 pm that night. The boys were especially excited to see him. Gabe wanted to be sure to give him a "low five" that he read about recently in a book and David must have told dad five or six times, "I missed you dad." Mac just gave him a big smile when Zach picked him up- sort of a "I think I know you from some where" grin. We're glad Zach is home to celebrate this special day. I'm grateful he is such a good father to our boys. For father's day I made him a special "Dad and the Boys" photo book.

(Gabe and Grandpa- 2006)

The Primary song the kids attempted today in sacrament is called "Fathers" (p209.) Its got 3 verses so the children have a hard time remembering all the words but they came in nice and loud on the chorus. The words were held up for the children that could read. The first verse talks about earthy fathers, the second speaks of the ward father or Bishop, and the last verse is about our Heavenly Father. All very special fathers. I'm grateful for all these fathers in my life. I have a great dad who we lived with for two years while Zach was doing his schooling. He comes to dinner on a regular basis and always helps clean up the kitchen or watch the boys while I'm doing that. For father's day I ordered him something on Tuesday that did not make it here by Father's day- opps, sorry! It will probably get here tomorrow. I'm even lucky enough to have a great second father- Zach's dad. Not too many people can say that. We're excited to see him and the rest of the family next month when we go up north. Here's to Fathers everywhere!

(Sorry I don't have any pictures of Zach's dad on the laptop.
Most of our pictures are on the computer in the baby's room.)

Top 10

Top 10 things I'm going to miss about North Carolina when we move- (In no particular order)

1.TREES!


2.Sister day with Amber once a week


3.Dinner dates with Dad


4.Grandma playing with the boys


5. Book club


6. Ms. Jan's preschool


7. My garden


8. Teaching piano lessons


9. My ward Family/ the church culture in Raleigh


10.Living on the East coast





Some things I will NOT miss- cocroaches, streets that change name without warning, and humidity

Top 10 things I'm looking forward to in Utah



1. A house to call my own


2. A job/paycheck!


3.Being close to BYU campus for cultural events and classes


4. Living near Ben's family (Zach's brother) and his sisters Tina and Jeanette


5. Cafe Rio Pork salad -yummm


6. The mountains


7. Snow


8. The ease of getting around


9. A temple within five minutes driving


10.Being able to walk to church

There are also some things that I'm sure we'll have to adjust to, but overall I'm excited. Excited and sad all at the same time. Ready or not, here we come!

onions make me sad mommy

David is entering the funny sayings phase. Enough words to make sense, but not enough to carry on a full conversation. Yesterday as he was pushing his chair up to "help" me make dinner he saw that I was cutting onions. He told me "Onions make me sad". I had to smile. At dinner that evening as he was playing with his food told me he wanted some "circles" (summer squash) with his beans and rice which he was going to put into his "door" (mouth). Its fun to listen to him talk. He always likes to give comands too- "Mommy, don'(t) touch it" "Don'(t) go upstairs", "Come outside with me". He fancies himself the boss. Most of the time he's probably right.

The other day Gabe told me a cute story. He goes exploring in the "woods" which is the forested area that extends about 100 yard beyond my mother's grass line. He wacks at weeds, looks for blackberries, gets bug bites- you know, all the regular little boy exploring stuff. I don't remember what we were talking about but he said he got lost in the woods, which can happen when you are only 3 1/2 feet tall and can't see the house. He told me "I prayed to Heavenly Father to help me not be lost and I found the house again." What faith.

Yesterday grandma asked Gabe what his middle name was and he replied "Al". " No its not, its Ogarek." "No grandma Gabrie-AL Hutchins". I thought for sure he knew his middle name, guess I was wrong. This was better.

Mac of course cannot talk yet, being as how he is only 7 months old. He is very vociferous though so whenever he does start talking I'm sure he is going to have a lot to say. He coos and squeals and laughs and lets himself be known in general. My favorite part of the day is when he is not making any noise whatsoever. Its actually when he wakes up in the middle of the night, eats and falls back asleep on my shoulder. I love his soft baby skin, his smooth hair, his chubby cheek, his little baby smell. I just drink it in. Its worth getting up at night for 20 minutes for that.

Happy mom (tired but happy). one more day till Zach gets home.

ambrosia

Last week we got our first raspberries of the season off our bushes. It is probably the most successful thing in our garden right now- which is not saying too much. Mercifully there were 4 raspberries which meant all that had teeth were able to sample the first fruits of the summer. The boys love to help pick them and are getting pretty good at not picking the ones that are still white. Compared to the first day of 4, they are going gang busters now. I probably got 1 1/2 cups off the bushes today. They are 3 year old plants that were started from a friend's raspberry patch, and I've been told they fruit only the second year- then they multiply by rhizers under the ground. They are basically a weed with fruit, that's why I can grow them. :o)

Sianara to my Bug Slayer

(I had to make the picture smaller, it was grossing me out)

I keep Zach around for a lot of reasons- not least of which is that we are happily married and sealed for time and all eternity. That being said, he is also the chief exterminator in the family as well. It is his responsibility to rid our house, yard, etc of any unsavory vermin that may be lurking in the shadows; waiting to prey upon my unsuspecting family.
Well this week he'll be absentee while he is grading AP tests at an undisclosed location. Actually its in Kentucky, but he'll basically be grading all day for 7 days straight and sleeping in a hotel until he returns home next Friday. 7 days and 8 nights is a long time to be without the other half of your team when you have 3 small boys to tend to. Luckily my parents are here to help, but its not quite the same. I'll just have to learn to kill my own bugs. I had some practice during his last trip out to BYU for the campus visit.

The night before Zach's return I was chatting with him on the telephone. In mid sentence a dark and sinister creature flew through the door of my bedroom and straight at my face- I kid you not. I screamed in the receiver, hung up the phone, and proceeded to duel with the flying cockroach. Gross. With the aid of my trusty Reef sandal as my chosen weapon I thankfully prevailed, but just barely. I'm sure Zach thought I'd been attacked, and in a way I had. Now I know I can face anything while he is away. Well anything that crawls around and feasts on trash. Thanks for bringing home the bacon hun, I'll be anxiously awaiting for your return.

(This entry was inspired by Zach's sister Jenny, her buggy post reminded me of this story.)

(A picture showing his muscles-summer 2009)

P.S. In other minor news- we're moving next month to Utah so Zach can start a job teaching English at BYU in the fall. We are VERY grateful to finally be making plans for our future. It seemed so up in the air for a long time. Congratulations Zach- Go Cougs!

Family Photos aka unbiased cuteness

Cheeks- looking very "Cheeky"




Gabey Baby

DH hiding in the grasses

Looking at daddy


A family friend (Andra) took some cute photos of us a few weeks ago. Now, I share them with you. Thanks Andra! Sometimes its fun to be the only one wearing a skirt.

10 Drops of Tinkle

David Hyrum has decided that he would like to use the potty. Strictly on a casual basis however. Zach and I celebrate his efforts anyway. We have not even made the commitment of buying him his own underwear, much less putting him in it every day. As parents with a potentially busy summer ahead we haven't given potty training the 100% effort that it deserves. (Children aren't the only ones being trained in this process.)

Its so funny to watch him use the restroom though. He knows there is a reward for going so he will squeeze out maybe 10 drops of tinkle even if he's just recently gone. He then peers into the toilet, almost sticking his head inside, to take a closer look at his accomplishment. Tinkle means that he gets the opportunity to flush even if the water appears crystal clear- what joy! AND a dextrose delight. If by chance he is able to #2 in the potty (which would be a small miracle) he gets to watch a construction video. Video + candy = 2 year old happiness.

(we need a better method than "cheese" for this kid)

He's a cutie pie. He likes to be a big boy like his brother and Gabe likes it too since he gets to share in the sugary reward. We decided we don't want resentment since Gabe is too old to be getting his own treats for going to the little boys room. This way Gabe is all encouragement for David to use the potty. Hooray for David! Keep up the good work.

(Please excuse me if this post seems a little crass, but I have 3 small boys. We deal with a lot of bodily functions in this household.)