Lincoln my Love

I love this little song bird, and his perpetually dirty face. His vocabulary has increased parallel to his ability to sing. In church during a prayer or at the dinner table I'll ask him to be quiet and he will emphatically proclaim, "NO, I'm singing!" Lincoln has a rather independent soul and is very self entertained. Much of that self entertainment lately has involved unauthorized uses of water, but he is too darn cute to be mad at for long. Lincoln also spends his time climbing, attempting head stands, dancing, playing catch, asking me to take his picture, and looking at books. 

Tutus and Twirls

Miss Dancey- Pants here performed in her first recital at the end of May to cap off her first year of dancing. Her tiny-tot class taped to an old Elvis song, "Stuck on You" and Ruth was so cute in her earnest efforts at doing all the motions just right (even if they weren't just at the right time). When it was time to take class bows Ruth pranced out onto the stage a full 30 seconds before the other red sequins and made her bows solo. Way to go tootsie pop! 

Tree Yoga

After I took pictures of Alara, Ruth wanted me to come outside and take pictures of her doing "tree yoga." I was very curious to see what she meant, and this is what she showed me. She invited me into the secret world of little girls and shared with me this nugget. Ruth reminds me a little of myself at that age. She is very flexible and coordinated. I'm not sure if she is athletic yet, but she sure is fun to watch. 

(Happy Mac wanted to get in on the action too but his looked more like monkey poses than yoga.)

 

Alara 7 Months

Alara is 7 months old. I wanted to wait until she could sit up a little bit to take her pictures. She is such a delight to have in our home. All sugar and spice. It is especially fun to get a baby kiss from her where she tries to eat your face just a little bit. She can scoot around but no official crawling yet. She does the swimming motion with her hands and legs because she hasn't quite figured out her knees yet. All babies are wonderful but THIS one especially.

10 Years and counting

I can't believe how time has flown! A decade ago I became a mom for the very first time. It has been a crazy roller coaster but I wouldn't trade it for anything. Gabe is becoming such a wonderful young man, but it is bitter sweet since he is officially not little any more. With 10 years he has broken the 5 foot barrier, studies his scriptures almost daily, earned a dog, reads like his father, climbs higher than I care to watch, and is a great example to all his younger brothers and sisters. I love you Gabe with all of my heart. Thanks for teaching me how to be a Mom. Happy Birthday!

Baby Alara Helping with the Birthday Bite

Clarence

 We have a dog. We are officially Fort Collin-ites now I suppose. I've never had a dog before. After a summer of math study and a trip through the Book of Mormon, Gabe earned a red heeler named Clarence. A 13 week old puppy from an animal adoption agency. Clarence is yet to be fully potty trained and likes to chew on things like my carpet, but he seems like a nice little fellow. When Gabe is home from school he has been very responsible about feeding Clarence and cleaning up his accidents. Gabe is not always home however. I have a lot to learn about dogs, but lucky for me I have time to learn it. I take care of small things for a living, how different can it be? 

This is Lincoln 2 1/2 telling Clarence, "Sit on your bum!" Lincoln totally bossed him. Unlike Mac and David, Lincoln is the alpha dog where Clarence is concerned. It is so funny to watch. Clarence totally loves Lincoln for it. 

Pretty in Pink

 This picture is from Easter. Someone wasn't too happy about having her picture taken but that's OK, she cheered right back up afterwards. It's fun to take a girls-picture every once in a while.