My buddy and me

She just looked too cute in her dogie dress that we had to snap a picture. She won't be able to wear it very soon. Such is the wardrobe of a baby. 

I added this just because I liked it. She is showing off her standing skills.
 No independent steps yet though

Snow Witch

We had a surprise pre-Halloween storm yesterday and wanted to enjoy it. What did we do? Made a snow witch of course. What did the boys do next? Smash it to bits right after the picture and then tromp inside, fling aside their soggy extra layers and plop down for some hot chocolate with marshmallows. It was a good morning. The snow was all melted by that afternoon so I'm glad we went out when we did. 

You Might be a mother if...

You have ever tried to wash your hands one at a time while holding a baby

You have ever muttered or talked out loud at the grocery store, even when you are all alone.

You have laughed at a joke that wasn't funny AT ALL 

You have turned a blind eye to a child since their activity wasn't that bad and if they knew you were watching it would be like condoning. (like sneaking an extra cookie)

You obsessively take pictures and write down small moments in various journals

You have fed so many people you forgot to eat yourself

You've ever had guilt for saying something or Not doing something with a child

You've ever looked up at the clock and seen that it was 11:00 am, you were still in your PJs and you had been up for five (or more) very busy hours

Pretended to be some sort of animal for the enjoyment of a child

You caught yourself right before you were going to hurry them and just decided to enjoy it

You've wanted to turn back or stop the clock for just a little while

The best part of your day has ever been snuggling



(I confess, these all describe me. What's your mother moment?)

Daily Request

My second son, Sweet-David, loves summer. Mostly I believe, because he likes to play in water. Now that the weather is cooling down a bit he is disappointed we can't go to the pool any more or play with the hose. For weeks I've been getting an almost daily request to play in the sprinkler or with the slip and slide. My answer is always the same, "It's too cold David. I know it feels warm, but if you get wet you will be cold." 
    On Thursday he made his predictable request and I finally said, "Okay sweetie, come out to the front yard and I'll spray you down with the hose. If you still want me to set up the slip and slide then I will."  The temperature was about 60- just lovely- only it was not so lovely when once you are spayed with cold hose water. It took about half a second for David to decide that in fact he did not need me to get out the slip and slide but that he would rather just take the hose himself and water the grass, thus minimizing the amount of actual water that got on his body. "Good compromise David, no problem." He and Mac watered the grass for ten minutes then we went inside and changed. End of story. End of requests.   

9 months old

This is  a picture of my mother at nine months of age that she found as she was going through old photos.The color photo is of me at 9 months old cropped out of a larger family picture. The black and white picture at the bottom is my sweet baby girl now at nine months old. Barry was kind enough to scan in these pictures of mom and me both 9 months old so you can see the genetic progression. I'm so glad he sent these. It's nice to glimpse the past of your parents and see what they were like. 

ME (Alana) at nine months. Cropped from an 8x10

Lovely

Who doesn't love this time of year?

The Days

The days are long, but the years are short.

From The Happiness Project

A tale of two conferences

Every six months at conference time I work on our Temple quilt while I am not taking notes. I stitch in pictures of the temples Zach and I have visited together. Zach sketches it out first and together we have done about ten 12x12 squares. There are 64 squares all together on the quilt and I'm afraid the material is going to yellow before I'm even done, but that's okay. It will still be a memory. 

Zach also put up a tent in our living room for the children to watch the prophet speak. This idea was inspired by the story in the Book of Mormon of families pointing their tents toward the temple to listen to King Benjamin speak. (Mosiah 2-4) I'm not sure they even grasped the significance of the tent but it was still fun. I love conference time. 

One Tough Mudder

On Saturday Zach ran a Tough Mudder race about 75 minutes away from where we live in Orem. He did an awesome job and from what we can tell, came in one of the first guys from his heat.  It took him 3:20 to run 12 miles and complete 20 obstacles. Most of  the challenges were either centered around mud or strength,  and a two that involved electricity. The next day he was sore and shuffling but he's on the mend. If you are curious about all the tough/painful details he can forward you the family letter and fill you in. 

Zach always stopped to help others at the obstacle, and usually received help in return if he needed it. 

I think I have more pictures of Tina with my children than I do with ME!

He earned this Head band for sure!

Way To Go Hubbie!I'm so proud of you.

Goblin Valley part II

Yup, that's dirt. Not much else for Ruthie to do but eat dirt when we weren't looking.

Dancing with Grandpa

A precocious climber

A child's faith

But I'm a Little Bit Big

 I appreciate the fleeting nature of childhood. It only took me one child to realize they are small for just a very short time. I'm not going to be one of those moms who asks themselves where the time went. I'm trying to savor it right now like a fine dessert. 

For instance, I haven't actually trained Ruthie to go to sleep by herself yet because usually it only takes five minutes of me holding her close with a pacifier to send her off to dream land and who wouldn't love to do that? I know I do; I cherish it. I don't want her to learn to put herself to sleep yet. I'm enjoying it too much. 

I am also sad Mac is getting older. Next month he is going to turn three and I asked him, "Could you please just stay small for a little longer?" and he responded, "But I'm a little big." "I know Mac, you are  a little big, but I want you to be small." And he repeated, "But I'm a little big." ::Sigh:: I know you are. "Go have fun with your brothers."

 That is why it is important to get all the hugs and kisses and snuggles I can get while I can get them. I often put a price on doing kid business. Many favors I do for them cost one kiss or one hug, like putting on shoes or zipping up a jacket. You might be a little big, but you are also a little small.

Look Who Stopped by

There must just be something about those Connecticut Hutchins that my boys can sense. 'It' is interpreted as an open invitation to climb and jump on their east coast relatives whenever possible. Naomi, Hannah, Rich, and Greg inclusive. The only one they have met and haven't tried tackling is Kelly, they just lapped her up. 

Can you see my favorite Biblicle duet in the background?

Can you tell he's good with babies? He should be after 10 of his own!  Ruthie was eating him and Greg up.