Why I Love Summer

*I love longer days. I get so much more done in the summer.
*Summer thunderstorms. They make the air smell so fresh and I love the sound of the rain falling.
*The sun-kissed faces of my children. They look so cute with their rosey cheeks.
*Going for long walks after dinner.
*Watching the sun go down and the way the rays of light branch out as they touch the mountains to the west.
*Bird watching. Yeah, I know it makes me sound like an eighty year old, but I love to watch all the different song birds that come to feast at our bird house. We actually have a gang of yellow-headed black birds that come and fight one another for food.
*Sprinklers. I love to run through sprinklers with my kids and making butt prints on the cement still makes me laugh.
*Fruit. Watermelon, cherries, grapes, peaches, nectarines. I love them all.
*Corn on the cob. With butter and salt. Fresh garden tomatoes.
*Summer movies. I miss summer movies. I refuse to be one of those people who take their screaming baby to the movies, and so, I have not been to the theatre since Tuck was born. I will however make an effort to get my kids to Toy Story 3 and I would really like to go see Eclipse.
*Camp Fire dinner nights. Roasting a hot dog and making a s'more for dinner is all one needs to really enjoy a summer evening. Fires are just cool. Burning stuff is fun. I guess it's good that I have boys because we're all into burning stuff around here.

Well....I better be off to bed. Tomorrow will be spent getting ready to go out of town for one of my favorite summer holidays. Happy July 4th Everyone!

Hiking!

Days that I go hiking with my boys and other special people are truly perfect days. It is one of the moments in life where I feel spiritually connected with my hiking mates and with our beautiful surroundings. It's like I get to literally escape the everyday norm and I get to jump into a place where I can relax, explore, and share my inner thoughts with others....I hope they don't mind listening. Luckily for me, I had the opportunity to hike one of our favorite trails twice in one week. The first time was with my mom, my sisters, and all our kids, and the second time was with my sister Wendi and her boys...otherwise known as the "Adventure Club"! Here are some great pictures of our explorations:

Happy Birthday Carly!

My little sister Carly's Birthday is today! We celebrated yesterday with most of our family at Lagoon! Thanks Dad! We had such a great time! It was the first time that Jesse has been there since he was two and it was great to watch his excitement on every ride. James has graduated to "big kid" status, and hung out with Kait, Carly, Easton, and Collette without parental supervision. He thought that was awesome. And of course it was Tuck's first amusement park outing, and he did very well....except when he was hungry on the train and he screamed through the whole thing. But, if you feed the kid and make sure his diaper is dry, he is content to ride in his stroller or be held by Grandpa! What a cutie! Here are some pictures of our fun day!

Our Blondie Turns "5"!

Jesse and his "Lego Power Miner" cake!

As a parent, the question, "When did you get sooo BIG?" crosses your mind just about everyday. I look at Jesse and I wonder to myself, "When did his legs get that long?" "When did he stop calling me Mama?"

Time never stops, and I guess the growth of all things human continues as well. Which obviously is common knowledge, it's just shocking when you see it happening to your own kids.

Jesse turned 5 on May 11th and we had a very fun party for him at Bouncin' Off the Walls. Here are some of the cute pictures of his special night!

Catching Up!

I celebrated my 33rd Birthday with my family on April 16th! Dan went to Olive Garden and bought one of my favorite desserts...Lemon Cream cake! It was very yummy!

Danny and I celebrated our 13th anniversary with our boys on April 19th! We made a three coarse meal....this was the first....artichokes! The boys had never tried them before and I think they liked them because of the whole process of eating them and the "surprise" in the middle.

James participated in his 2nd grade poem play. He recited a poem about flying called "High Flight" written by a WWII pilot, which was very fitting since his Great Grandpa Evans was a WWII pilot! Our parents and my sisters came to watch, and it was really incredible how much information these young kids memorized. Most of them had memorized four or five poems including the Gettysburg Address! I was very impressed.

Jesse came in my room the other day, and I snapped this pic of him and Tuck! I thought it was quite precious.

Jesse took this picture of me with Tuck. Jesse loves my camera, and if I leave it where he can reach it, he is sure to sneak off with it and take pictures of very random things, like the T.V. or his foot. It's actually quite funny to look at the pictures he takes. He has a very interesting perspective on things!

Keep Moving Forward...

Hello, again. I am slowly returning to feeling almost normal. I'm functioning on a little more sleep and I feel a schedule slowly starting to emerge in our new life. I've got the feedings down, I can recognize the signs of all the different cries, and I'm feeling a bit more motivated to get out into the world and socialize a bit. Tucker is a really good baby. And I promise I'm not just saying that to sugar coat my blog. He really is. I think the hardest part of becoming a parent for the third time, is dealing with the feelings and emotions of number one and two. Of course they love their new brother, but they can't help but feel that mom and dad are completely preoccupied. Jesse has reverted to throwing himself on the floor and throwing two year old tantrums, and James had disappeared behind his Ipod and his DS. I keep telling Dan that this too shall pass, and that if we make a special time for each one of them everyday, that we will discover a new norm. It's just finding the time that is hard. I feel like I am always feeding or changing Tucker, and when he is asleep, I am trying to get neglected chores completed. So, I am feeling a little tattered. It's hard to feel like you're being pulled in four different directions, by so many people who have real needs, but you just don't know who's needs are more important. So, I'm asking all of you wise mothers out there, do you have any words of advice on how you find the time (and energy) to spend quality time with each child or anything that we can do to make this transition time a little easier on us all?

A Short Update...

Things around here have been so busy that I haven't had time to post anything....or get dressed before noon....or leave my house....Wow! We forgot how time consuming a newborn baby is!

And how much laundry one tiny person can make!

But, here are some updated pics of our little cutie...more to come when I figure out our new schedule!