Spring Hustle

Well spring is here... for now. Time to get the garden in. I already planted the potatoes, radishes, spinach, lettuces, and broccoli. Now I have all the rest to do. It's still a little early for most things, in Montana. I caught the garden bug early this year- in February, so I have a ton of plants that I started from seed back then. I am so excited at how well they are all doing. Tomatoes, peppers, herbs, watermelon and cantaloupe, oh and new this year, sweet potatoes. We'll see how well they like our climate. Ethan loves the outdoors! Give him a spoon and a bucket and he'll dig for hours. Most of the dirt ends up down his clothes, diaper, shoes, etc., but if he doesn't mind, I can handle it. Besides, it enables me to get some yard work done. I am so excited for the summer fun!!!! Hope he likes the lake. Azure is getting so grown up. She bought a bigger bike with the money she earned from doing extra jobs around the house.(She gets excited about cleaning the bathroom and does just as well as me-YAY!!!) Now her hope(and ours) is that she will quickly learn to ride w/o training wheels. She plays so well with her brother. My favorite sound in the world is when they laugh together. What an exciting summer we have ahead!

A little help please

Oh how I wish someone would come decorate my house for me. I am so slow! I have a wooden plank hung on the wall that has been taunting me for 3 months. It has been painted, but I am waiting for just the right phrase to put into vinyl and apply to it. Three months, doesn't that seem like a ridiculously long time? Yesterday I decided to use the YW/YM theme for the year---it is awesome! But now I have to decide on font. So at the rate I am going I should have my house decorated just how I like, in about 10 years. So who's gonna help me, anyone? PLEASE!

Holy Cow!!!!

Is time traveling at the speed of light now or what? So we are panicking that our Azure-girl will be starting kindergarten in 7 months. Kenyon's concern was that we can't spontaneously go on vacation whenever we want. I am more concerned with her being out of my sight and care for 4 hours, 5 days a week. Most of the schools here have gone to all day kindergarten, but our sensible little country school has remained half-day. I am pretty sure that if her school was not sensible, I would be doing home school. Let's talk about the good things that will come out of this. PLEASE write and tell me what these are so that I may add them.

summer & 2 kids= 2 x's the fun

Summer has come and before I blink I am sure it will be over. We've been having lots of fun with our garden. Hopefully we'll get a good harvest... if the deer can continue to resist our oh-so beautiful and tasty veggies. Last year I tried to keep them out with a wall of thistles-- didn't work, so this year we are trying a fence. So far so good! Azure and Ethan are getting bigger and smarter too. Azure turned 4 in May and told me that she knows everything...Can't believe that has started already...thought it was a teenage thing. Fun times ahead!! Ethan doesn't really move around yet. He's probably figured out that sister is more than willing to tote him around. I left the room for a minute and when I returned Ethan had been moved from his bouncer chair to the floor. No big deal right? WRONG! This took place in the living room where we have a slate floor. I about had a heart attack, but learned parental supervision is a MUST for the kids to survive. Don't forget to look at the pics of my 2 cuties. And please remember that Azure likes to pick her own outfits, as well as fix her own hair.

freedom of expression

Azure has been going through this "it's my choice" phase. So for about a week her "choice" was to wear underwear for a hat. Don't worry we didn't leave the house and they were clean. She is definitely her own person and we love her for it.

New Baby

Wow I am so behind! Ethan was born January 18th @ 11:25 p.m. He was a little guy @ 6# 15oz. He is much bigger now. We love having him in our family. So far we have been blessed with very mellow babies. Azure has become quite the drama-queen, however. Maybe Ethan will remain calm throughout life, cuz really, Azure creates about all of the drama we can handle. More updates to come.

Christmas was awesome! For some reason the stress of the season never came. Possibly due to keeping it simple. Azure loved everything about Christmas. We don't really do the "Santa Claus" thing, but she doesn't seem to be missing out. Her cousins talk about him... we try to keep it more focused on our Savior. Anyway, I marvel that her favorite gift each year is the least expensive and most simple of them all. Kids are fabulous!!! Now our focus is completely on Baby Noodle's arrival, hope it's soon. Hope all is well with y'all. THANKS GIGI for your comments. I am unsure of how to respond to them...kind of a computer dummy- I am.

First Halloween

Azure was so excited to be a scarecrow for halloween. I think she would have worn her costume for the next month, had I let her. This was her first halloween that she knows of. We still didn't do the trick or treat thing. Our ward was involved with a tri-ward carnival put on by all the YM & YW. So, she ended up with about 8 pieces of candy. And she was completely content with that. We are so glad that we did NO SUGAR until 2 yrs old... she will actually choose broccoli over cookies. That is all.

A.J. the Co-pilot

So Azure went for her first plane ride a few weeks back. Ever since she has been able to speak she has asked "when it is my turn to fly plane". Kenyon decided that would be a great daddy/daughter date. And I had no fears, since I wouldn't be required to be on that very small airplane. She loved all 30 minutes of her flight. The pilot was even kind enough to let her fly the plane for about half the time. She did a dive and stalled out, but righted it without any problems-the pilot told her what to do. She is such a smart girl. I continue to be amazed by just how much small children pick up on. So upon exiting the airplane, she asked Kenyon if she could have a turn flying the helicopter,located just down the runway. But she does seem to be satisfied with her one flight, for now.

Baby "Noodle"

We are having a boy! The due date is January 28th. We are so excited, especially Azure, she keeps asking when baby "Noodle" can come out. She named him about a month ago and refuses to hear about calling him anything else...we'll keep working on that. I can just picture her getting all kinds of upset during his baby blessing when his REAL name is used. If it's anything like how she reacted to me sitting on the stand with my primary class during the Primary Presentation then it would make for the most interesting babies blessing ever! (She told Kenyon those kids can sit up there all by themselves and I need to sit by her, then she cried during the entire meeting-out in the hall, cuz she couldn't get over it. Then she was still so upset that she had to be brought out of nursery. She then told me that she didn't want to stay at church and wanted to go home "RIGHT NOW". This is the same girl that wants every day to be Sunday so she can go to church.) All is well.

mosquitos

So I learned that some kids have an allergy to mosquitos... Azure is one of them. She gets so puffy, everyone always asks what happened to her, as though she's been beaten severely. I can't say that I blame them. Take a gander at the picture of proof. Unfortunately, we harbor half the nations mosquito population in our new yard. Hmmm, how do you get past that?

Finally!

Well we finally made it in to our new home! What a difference it makes to have our own space. Azure was certainly affected the most. She was such a terror for the past few weeks and within a day of moving into the house she returned to her angelic self. Kenyon left to go backpacking for 9 days the morning after we moved. For some crazy reason he thinks hiking 15 miles a day is a vacation. CRAZY Montanan! I am ready for him to be back and we still have 7 days to go until his return. The pregnancy is going well. My due date is February 15. So hopefully I get chocolates and flowers -compliments of the hospital. It's the least they could do---after all I do all the real work and then pay them. Azure has been so precious, hugging, kissing and tickling the baby. She has finally accepted the fact that the baby might not be a girl. I will post pics of the house in the next few days. Other than that- I love family, the gospel and friends.

The most HECTIC summer ever

This summer has been completely crazy, as stated in the title. Kenyon and I sold our condo on Big Mountain. So I have recently discovered that being a stay @ home mom has a disadvantage...that being that I got to pack the entire house myself-Yipee! Our house was not complete at the time of the move, but we had buyers who sought us out, despite not having our condo listed. So we moved in with his sister's family. I don't care who you are- living with people (especially when you have your own family) is never easy. It has been a pleasant experience so far...nobody hates anybody, yet. Luckily she's one of my favorites of his siblings-which they are all great. Anyway, we just got back from a week-long Mathison family vacation in Big Sky, Montana. I recommend vacationing there to one and all. It is so beautiful and such a cute town. We all stayed in a ginormous house, which went well. On top of everything else we found out that I'm pregnant. AWESOME!!!!, and a little overwhelming. Overall this has been an okay summer, largely due to getting to fish quite a bit. Fishing is so relaxing, especially when I catch a lot of fish. Thank goodness Kenyon is willing to remove all my fish from the hook. I still haven't gotten over the sliminess of those things. I'm such a girl.

Portland

Azure and I went to Portland to visit my sister, Kayla. We were there for 3 days. It broke my heart to hear Azure say,"Daddy lost... I have to find my daddy." I discovered that AJ loves giraffes and elephants, when we went to the zoo. My parents came with us, actually it was their trip, and we just crashed it. They loved AJ! Which is not a surprise. She has the most adorable personality--sweet with a streak of fire. It was awesome to spend time with my parents, sister and her man(Tracy) and my niece -Taelee.  

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May days

Yesterday we were playing a game of softball with Kenyon's family. We were quite shocked to see Azure with her pants pulled down, squatting in the grass. I guess she really had to pee. Don't worry...I ran her to grandmas house where she utilized the toilet and all was good.

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