Thursday, March 24, 2011

My Kinder&Garden

I've dreamt about having my own garden for years. I'd picture myself in pioneer-type dresses with large straw hats out my small patch of dirt with various vegetation planted and cared for by my own hand. This dream carried with it a fear, however. A fear of failure, of not possessing the "green thumb" spoken of, and shadowed by my mother's extensive knowledge of plants. This as well as- how do I know I'm not doing it wrong? How do I know the need for each little plant? Living in Arizona gave me a good excuse from un-attempting my garden dream. But here in Georgia, I knew it was time. At Thanksgiving time, a visit from my Father in Law resulted in my very own above ground garden plot complete with top soil. After the last winter's frost and a trip to the local nursery, I knew it was time to take the plunge- plant those seeds and see what happens. And guess what? It works! You actually take some seeds, plant them in the dirt, water them everyday, and they start to grow!
A similar thing happens with kids. My little garden of children have grown so much this past year. In less than a month, my two 3 year olds will become 4. They can write their own names, completely dress themselves, and wear big kid underwear. In less than a month, my two 2 year olds will earn "and a half" at the end of their age. They can wait their turn, share their fruit snacks, and climb on the playground all by themselves.

Thankfully, there's still lots of time for more growth and changes.


An example of Claire writing her own name all by herself with no prompts. Clay also write his clearly and correctly. They look forward to school...a time when I will have to grow a little bit by letting them out of my nest and into the big world out there- a very scary thought.



Saturday, November 27, 2010

This girl packs a punch

Ah, my Lily. So much personality in this one. I can't express the fun and the joy she brings to our family. But maybe some of the pictures can help.
From her big blue eyes to her golden locks, she's a bundle of girl that walks full of determination and confidence. She's sparked intelligence since early on and demands to be accepted as a person, not a baby.

She's a true beauty that brings laughter and sweetness to our home. What a treasure she is. I'd take 10 more of her.


Halloween and the After Party

One dragon, two fairies, a tiger, and Go Dog Go had a great Halloween weekend. Luke and Lily turned 2, squadron party, the St. John carnival, Wild Adventure amusement park, and the ol' ward Trunk or Treat & carnival. End result; lots of excitment, several buckets of candy, and a sugar coma when it was all said and done. It took about a week to recover.


Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Livin' Down South
















we are finally settlin' here in Georgia and are really enjoying our little town. It had been a long trip to get here with weeks and weeks of hotels and travels, but we finally made it! We're really enjoying our great ward (we seriously doubled the nursery) and look forward to being here for the next 2-3 years.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Halloween!

I took the 'big' kids to a Halloween party to practice their trick or treating. They were adorable and we love being back with all of our friends in Tucson!!

Friday, October 9, 2009

We're So Glad When Daddy Comes Home!



It was a shocking phone call when James told the kids they would be seeing daddy soon. At this point, I yanked the phone away in confusion (how could you be telling them this? I thought. How rude!) and asked him to clarify. Sure enough, James explained he'd been accepted to Weapon School in Las Vegas and, though it doesn't start until January, would need to return back to Tucson to do some preliminary training. Well, Holy Crap! The 6 month deployment just turned into 3 months!

It's so nice to be able to talk to the kids about daddy freely now. The conversation was pretty limited trying to explaine that "daddy is far far away" and always "flying planes in Afghanistan." Now it's all about daddy coming home! If any 2 year olds can have a heart attack, I believe Claire and Clay will, upon seeing their dad! I think they are going to give great big hugs...and probably not let go :). Wife included :D