Brrrr...

Our thermostat is set to 63. Apparently this is a little on the cool side for the over 60 crowd. Dad was so cold Zach offered him a head warmer.  The lack of climate control was too much for mom and dad so they left after only three days saying they'd be back when we turned it up. It's a deal. 

I Want

I bought a watermelon at the store today and my children have been bugging me to cut it up. Ruthie came downstairs and said, "oooh a watermelon. I want a watermelon!" to which I responded, "And I want a clean house." (Except when she says it, it sounds more like 'wallermelon')

She left the kitchen for about 5 minutes and then came back down stating, "I cleaned the doll house. I want watermelon." 

Okay, you win Ruthie. I'll cut up the watermelon. 

Happy 10th to Us!

My well beloved and I have been married for ten wonderful years. To celebrate we went on a date to the local nursery to pick up some yard decorations which happen to double as fruit baring trees- bonus! Two apples and a peach plus some honeyberry bushes. (You are thinking 'what are honeyberries?' I didn't know what they were either but apparently they are a substitute for blueberries since the soil here is too basic and won't support blueberries.)  Stud that he is, Zach dug the holes, mixed in some manure and had them all planted by the next day. Spring is such a lovely time of year and a lovely time to celebrate being married to this wonderful man.

Two Peas

I feel as though I was a lot like Ruth as a child. Mom, Dad, can you verify? We are two peas in a pod her and I. 95% sweet, 5% sassy. Always singing parts of songs and forgetting the rest. Dancing around the house when the beat moves us. Terrible 'cheese' smiles but cute natural facial expressions. I'm so glad I have a little girl. She has only recently learned the difference between a girl and a boy in the last few months and as with many other two year olds, she constantly narrates her world - 

"Mommy, you're a girl." 

"Yes dear"

"I'm a girl. "

"Yes dear"

"Daddy's a boy. Gabey's a boy. Doggy is a boy. "

"Yes Ruthie"

"And I'm a girl." 

"Yes. I'm a girl and you are a girl. "

Thanks for coming to our family Ruthie!

Children's Museum

My sister and I were foolish brave enough to take our 9 children to the museum of Life and Science in Durham, NC. I did in fact offer up at least one prayer that none of the kids would run off and get lost which thankfully didn't happen. There was lots of running, giggling, snacking, and discovering with a little bit of whining thrown in at the end. Over all though it was a great museum experience with cousins and my sister.

Ruthie's helper and cousin Riley

A walk through the butterfly garden 

Don't look too happy there David

Temple Day

 There's nothing better than a lovely morning at the temple. Thanks to Zach for watching all the children (7 total) while I went with my sister, mother and Barry. I look forward to the time that Fort Collins has it's own temple. We've driven by the construction site here in town but they still have a long way to go- approximately 1.5-2 years. 

Just Monkey-ing around

I really need to get one of these for our backyard. With 4 little monkeys and one soon-to-be monkey (Lincoln) I think it would get a lot of mileage. 

Cloud watching

Just cloud watching with the kidies. Strictly speaking, I suppose the children didn't need cloud glasses to do that, but they were fun to make nonetheless. 

4 Months

My absolute favorite thing about having this sweet little one is having his chubby cheek rest on my shoulder as he drifts off to sleep. I love sharing the same air as him, I love placing my lips on his baby smooth skin, I love holding his warm little body, and I love hearing his little sleepy hum as he exhales. Did I mention he will often look up and smile just before he falls asleep too? When Lincoln is awake he is very social and loves to laugh. He also makes cooing noises and just generally basks in any attention you send his way. You bring peace to our home Lincoln. 

Sweet little Lincoln is 4 months old and here are his stats:

Weight: 15 lb 11 oz 50-70%

Height: 24 inches 25%

Head: 16.75 inches 50-75%

As a funny side note, Lincoln burps like a man. He swallows a lot of air when he feeds then lets it all out like a champ. Very funny. 

Two-thie

David lost his first tooth! Yeah David. That is definitely a rite of passage from little boy to bigger boy. Right around the same time Gabe lost 2 teeth in one day! The tooth fairy got to visit both boys on the same night which I'm sure won't happen very often. Gabe's lost so many that his smile is looking pretty gappy these days in an adorable 7-year-old sort of way. 

One Word

If I had to pick just one word to describe each member of my family I think it would go as follows:

Lincoln-Content
           Ruth- Bubbly
                     Kenny- Happy
                                 David- Persistent 
                                            Gabe- Excited
                                                      Zach-  Intentional

As for myself, now that's a hard one. Probably just Lucky.