Water

"It is easy to believe in such moments that water was made primarily for blessing, and only secondarily for growing vegetables or doing the wash.I wish I had paid more attention to it... This is an interesting planet. It deserves all the attention you can give it."


Gilead by Marilynne Robison

Bob the builder

David is quite the builder with a variety of materials. Legos, blocks, plastic cups, trains etc.
You name it, he likes to build with it.  

A very wise mother once told me that boys like to manipulate their environment and girls like to have a relationship with it. So far, this has certainly proved to be true. I'm still waiting to see about the girl part, but I have a hunch she is right about that too. 

Every superhero has their own set of bad guys to fight and destroy. An arch enemy, a nemesis.  Super-Mom does battle with Master Mess, Insidious Ignorance, Contemptible Contention, and Loathsome Laziness. If you're lucky she'll be flying to a home near you to save the day! 

(Thanks for the note hun) 

Last Day of school

      I think I was a little bit more sad to see kindergarten end than I was to see it begin. Gabe said he was happy for summer but sad to not see his teacher any more. Kindergarten in Utah is only a half day so it feels like an extension of preschool. Next year Gabe will really be a school aged child, going all day long. Toting his lunch box for the first time. I wanted to compare the first and last day photos to see how much he's changed. He looks older.  : o /  Although I'm very pleased with the boy he's becoming, I'm sad to see his little kid stage come to an end. Just this year he has learned to read proficiently, write, swim, cross the street by himself, zip up his coat, tie his shoes and probably a hundred other things. He's a good brother and friend but I'm definitely having mixed mother feelings about him growing up so quickly. 

 

My sweet David

This is David at his preschool graduation performance. Doesn't look too happy does he? Well he isn't. The graduation was at 4:00 which is prime zonk out time if you are 4 years old and driving in the car. We woke him up after a five minute nap to take the stage for his songs. He was none too thrilled with that. I had to sit with him for a while just to get him to go up. If you catch Daivd at the wrong time, especially if he is over tired, he gets anxious and in this case stage fright. He knew all the songs and would sing them in class but put him on stage and he clammed right up. He stayed that way till about half way through when Zach took him out and had a little chat with him. After that he gave a meek performance. The picture next to him is his AMAZING preschool teacher, Ms. Megan. If she had been teaching a four year old class next year we would have followed her but she is staying with 3 year olds. A teacher full of smiles, patience and fun activities and songs for the kids. The perfect recipe for a preschool teacher if you ask me. I think preschool teachers are saints honestly. Right up there with Mother Teresa caring for the poor. Notice how David is not actually in this picture with his teacher? He had another panic moment and hid behind the door post. Maybe its a four year old thing. I'm hoping he grows out of it, but if he does I think I'll always remember timid David. 

Yup, the monkey with his head and hands straight down. 

Here's to Grandpa

This is my photo tribute to my dad and Zach's dad. Two wonderful fathers. Your genes made these pictures so cute. Happy father's day.

Morning Glory

This is my little morning glory. She is so excited when you come get her in the morning, which is currently around 6:00 AM most days. (she usually sleeps for about 10 hours waking up once. Not bad compared to my other children) She even looks like this many nights when I come to get her at 1:00AM. She doesn't cry really, just talks to herself and waits politely. She looks like she is ready to play but after I feed her she falls back asleep. Even when she is upset about something it is more like a disgruntled cough than an actual cry. How did I get so lucky? I think me and she are going to be best-ies. Best of friends.

Three squares

Last night as I was in the restroom my two year old decided to join me for some not-so-private time. Good thing too, since I notice that I have run out of toilet paper. "Mac, go get mommy some toilet paper from your bathroom." In his youthful zeal he zooms out of my bathroom and down the hall. About a fifteen seconds later he returns with his fist clenched, proudly holding out one square of TP. "Here mommy." I look at the meager offering and tell him, "Thank you sweetie, but I need this much" (making a gesture with my hands for a foot and a half) "ok Mommy". He zooms right back out of the bathroom on his second mission to capture the flag. A minute later he's back with exactly two more squares for a grand total of three squares of toilet paper. At I can see we are not making much progress.In all fairness it did fill up his little fist so it probably seemed like a lot. I laugh and tell him "Thank you very much Mac, that is just perfect". He is so pleased to be of help. I am so pleased with my three squares.

All systems "Go"

Little Potty- Check

Reward candy- Check

Toy story Underwear- Check

Encouraging brothers who also get candy whenever Mac uses the potty- Check, Check

Adorable two year old- Check

Possibly throw in a potty chart and we are ready to "Go"! He's been practicing this week but its business on Thursday. No more diaper. Wish us luck.

Dinosaur Stomp

 Every year at Gabe's elementary school they have a dance festival. Each grade learns a dance and performs it for the whole school and all the parents who come to see their children move and groove. This year the kindergartners did the Dinosaur stomp. This little caveman did a pretty good job too.

Gabe sporting the animal print shirt I made him with the neck too big. Opps!

(My budding 4 year old photographer took this)  

Gabe's FANTASTIC teacher, Mrs. Young. I'll probably miss her more than Gabe

Shake it sister!

Me and She

I'm usually the one behind the camera so I am not in most of the shots but Zach was obliging and took a few pictures of me and Ruthie Anne when we were at the playground. She doesn't really look like me at all, she is a Hutchins through and through, but I claim her sweet disposition. 

Vineyard

We spent our Memorial Day morning at Vineyard. No, not Martha's Vineyard. (Wouldn't that would be nice.) It's a local business that sells plants and flowers as well as some exotic farm animals. It also has a playground for the kidos. 

One of their fancy roosters

In case you are a 'whim' spender. 

His less ornate companion

I even let Gabe and David take a few pictures. Of course they had the strap around their neck and I was following about 12 inches behind, but they did a pretty good job. My camera came back to me in one piece.
 This is one of the shots Gabe took, conveniently right at eye level.

Technically you don't even have to buy anything to walk around and use the playground equipment but we ended up buying a 3 dollar window flower anyway. Well worth it.