The Circus Came to Town

The Circus was in town so of course we took Little A. We weren't sure if she'd like it or hate it, but we thought we'd try. We were there for about 5 minutes. We took this picture with the clown.

Then the show began and people started clapping and cheering. Little A literally ran out the door screaming and crying! We watched most of the rest of the show from the entrance way. She could handle the clapping and cheering as long as she was away from it, but every time the clown came out she would burst into tears! They did an act with dogs and that actually got her inside and sitting down, but as soon as it was over the clown came out, and she ran out screaming again.

Poor girl. She loved hearing the lion roar though. Allan and I enjoyed what we saw of it. There was a high wire act that was really good, and the wheel of death was really neat too. It was both Allan and A's first circus.

I introduced little A to painting, and she is in love! We have had so much fun! She loves to get it all over her hands and then slam her hands down on the paper. We always have a bubble bath afterward. The first time I gave her a bubble bath she didn't know what to make of it and didn't want to get in. She loves it now though.

One of our friends moved into our neighborhood, and we go on walks nearly every day. Her little girl is a year younger than little A. They have so much fun together pushing the strollers, collecting rocks and pine cones, and splashing in puddles. I have loved having them close!

We finally got to celebrate our anniversary. It got pushed back because of my surgery. We went to Anniversary Inn and did some shopping. It was so wonderful to have some uninterrupted time together. We both really needed it.

Independence Day is a HUGE event where we live. It starts on the 3rd with foam in the park. The fire department sprays foam on the grass, and the kids play in it. It looks like a blast, but little A decided she'd rather swing. They also have their pre-book sale that night. We filled up two bags of books for $10! Yay!

The 4th starts with Lions Club Breakfast. Then there is a craft fair and the book sale (we got another bag of books). Then the parade. Followed by a carnival, and of course fireworks. We went to the parade, but as soon as people started clapping and cheering little A freaked out.

At first she would get up some courage and run out to get candy, but as soon as she grabbed the candy she'd run away screaming. We were by some really nice people who kept gathering candy for her. After the fire engines (they were the first thing), the motorcycles, the water balloon thrown by a cheerleader, and the backfiring truck she had had enough and literally ran away down the hill screaming and crying. Unfortunately the parade turned the corner and she ended up just running to it. The look on her face was so sad. She was so distraught. We packed up and went to check out the craft fair.

As soon as we were done with that she bee-lined it to the swings, and we stayed there for the rest of the time. She was very content (and relieved) to just sit and watch the people.

We made it to the Temple, which was so nice. We brought little A with us that time. We like to bring her every now and then. She had a blast going up and down all the steps and saying "Hi" to all the people.
Allan was amazing this weekend (well, he's always amazing) and fixed the kitchen sink (Little A helped too),

the sprinklers, hung a mirror and hooks for me, removed two metal poles from the middle of our yard, changed some filters, helped me clean the blinds and then hang them back up, set up a bed in the guest room, took us on a family outing to an ice cave, and took me on a date!

Little A also helped me clean the bathrooms. She especially liked cleaning the mirrors.

We'll have to go back another time to the ice caves. We didn't bring big enough flash lights so we didn't go in very far. Afterward we went and played at the park. A had a blast! There were some different teeter totters at this park that she was able to ride by herself, and she was thrilled! She also got really brave and roamed the park by herself while Allan and I were still eating lunch. It made Allan and I kind of nervous, but proud of her at the same time (we were the only people at the park, lol).

Little A is officially potty training again! Yay! She is doing really well.

Little A and I went out to visit my sisters who are taking care of my Mom's shop. Her shop is super cute, and I wish I could buy pretty much everything in it. It had rained so on our walk to get lunch A and I splashed in all the puddles we could find. There were some that were so deep they went up past her galoshes! We got crepes. I got a ham, egg, and cheese one for A and a turkey pesto for me. She ate most of mine, ha! Who knew she'd like pesto.

She also stole my ice cream cone. Good thing I love her so much!

A Full House

The last couple of weeks have been quite the adventure! Our 4 nieces and our nephew came to stay with us for ten days while their parents celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary by going on a cruise. We loved having them! G is the oldest at 8 years old, followed by M who turned 7 recently. Then E who is 5, H who is 3, and B who is 1. With our little A we had six kids under 8. (Which is exactly like my family growing up)

They arrived late Saturday night. We got them all settled and went to bed. Allan and I got up extra early Sunday morning to get ready for church. We had to leave at 7:00am to go to my sister's ward. She and her husband were blessing their baby that day and they live over an hour away. Everyone did great that morning. We hustled along and were miraculously in the car ready to go at 7:00!  Their parents had provided breakfast to eat in the car on the way their which was extremely helpful! That day went so well. The kids made friends with my sister's neighbors after church and played with all of the dogs.

Monday we walked to the park to play. By the time we got home everyone was exhausted and either took naps or read books. We had a fun family night, had home made ice cream sandwiches and played outside.

We put B in little A's room since they are on a more similar schedule. It made nap times easier. Little A was SO excited to share her room with B. We could often hear them in there giggling and squealing at each other before they fell asleep.

Tuesday we stayed home, and they played in the kiddie pool and sprinkler. We made fairy crowns and read all about flower fairies. The girls were especially excited to see if they could find any fairy rings in their yard at home.

Wednesday we went to story time. They had a firetruck there to look at. I thought H would be really excited about it, but he just stood back and looked at it in awe. He wouldn't go near it. The other kids had a blast though.

The also got some airplanes and treats to take home. There is a small war memorial at the park as well with this gun. They allow the kids to climb on it, so they enjoyed climbing on that as well. H wouldn't go near this either, just stood back and looked at it in awe.

We ate lunch at the park and then each picked out some books to take home. On the way home we stopped at Arctic Circle for ice cream. The kids loved that!

We did some painting on Thursday. They painted rocks and logs, and they painted with sidewalk chalk paint. They had a lot of fun. Little A and B covered themselves in paint. I wish that I had gotten more paint though, it ran out pretty quickly.

Home made popsicles, yum!

On Friday Allan took the older kids to the mine to see the big trucks while the babies took a nap. The girls really enjoyed seeing the big machines, H was terrified (he liked the picture of the machines in Allan's office, lol!), but Allan said the highlight of the trip was seeing all of the cows in the field nearby. They mooed at the cows until all the cows moved further away. Ha!

Aren't they darling!

Climbing up onto one of the trucks.

We got kids meals for everyone and had dinner at the park that night. The kids loved that! Little A and B pretty much just drank the fry sauce. They were both covered in it.

We took them all out for ice cream again on the way home.

We had a movie night that night as well. They watched Spirit and had popcorn.

We took them all swimming on Saturday. The kids had a blast, but I was stressed out of my mind worrying that one of them would drown. We had originally planned on staying in the kids area, but it was really crowded, so we bought some floaties and headed to the bigger pool. M wasn't quite tall enough so someone loaned us another floatie for her. We were so grateful! The bigger pool was a hit. They had a blast floating around in it, splashing, and doing tricks. They were much easier to keep track of too!

Sunday the kids were done. Everyone was exhausted and wanted their parents. We made a welcome home poster for their mom and dad that day and played in the basement.

H had a ball sliding down the stairs in this box. It was also a tunnel for cars among other things.

Monday little A woke up with a fever. She wouldn't really let me put her down with out breaking into hyperventilating cries, so we watched some Daniel Tiger and Odd Squad. The older kids and I had a lot of fun playing puppies while the babies napped. And then we watched some more movies. Kind of a lame end to the trip, but that's okay. We were planning on having a dance party that night and doing water balloons the next day, but it rained, A was sick, and both babies cried most of the day, so movies it was.

Everyday during the babies' nap we would get out stickers, felt, coloring, stamps, and sewing things, and the girls and H would sit around the table and do some crafts. They made some cute things for their parents.

G made an apron for her bunny.

E made tags and collars for her dogs.

M made a tag for her dog and a witch costume for her doll.

We really loved having the kids here and were so sad to see them go. Little A cried and cried. Partly because she didn't feel good, and partly because they left - she was so confused as to why she wasn't going with them. We said our "I love you's" every night, and every night H said he loved little A, and little A said she loved B.

A and B were something else though. They would either play really good together, or push each other down and occasionally smack each other. H pretty much did his own thing and stayed away from all the girly drama, ha! The older three girls reminded me of my sisters and I. They fight with each other constantly, but love each other fiercely and will do anything to protect and help each other.

Allan and I have wondered if we could take on a large sibling group. It gave us a chance to see what it might be like. Of course there would be some HUGE differences, but it gave us a chance to see how we might respond to that many kids at once. We learned a lot about some things we need to improve upon, but we also learned that we could get through. We really loved having the kids here and have missed them a lot!

Puddle Jumping

Little A discovered the camera on our new smart phone. She is so delighted that she can see herself while we take pictures. She laughs and laughs, it is so darling! She took some of her first selfies. This one is my favorite!

I'm getting better at braiding! My first successful attempt at two french braids! Yay! Little A didn't mind because I let her watch Daniel Tiger while I did it. Speaking of Daniel Tiger, it has been pretty much banned in our house (along with all shows, movies, etc) because after watching it she is ornery and throws tantrums the rest of the day. I've been getting up at 5 so I can exercise before she gets up, and then she doesn't watch anything during the day. The days have been so much better.

We took a quick trip to visit Allan's family for the blessing of P and R's new baby. She is so cute! She's got the chubbiest little cheeks! Little A and her cousin J had a fun time playing the keyboard. A loves pianos. I sure hope that love lasts.

We have had a lot of rain recently. I ordered galoshes and a rain coat for Little A, and we have had a blast jumping in the puddles and playing in the rain. All of our neighbors have had a blast watching us splash. Some have come out to tell us, lol! We've been spending all morning outside lately. The weather is so nice, and it makes little A tired so she'll take a nice long nap. :)

We had a family home evening on being happy. We sang the happy face, frowny face song. I asked little A to show me her frown face, and this is what she did. Ha! Allan and I were laughing so hard! I still laugh every time I think about it.

Little A has recently started wanting to dress up a bit. She is interested in admiring herself in the mirror, trying on jewelry, etc. The other morning she wanted to play with her bows and have me take pictures of her. She's a cutie.

This is how I do dishes, make meals, and anything else that involves me standing in one spot for a while. A likes to lay with her head between my legs and look up at me. She has been in a really bad mommy phase lately where it is traumatic for her to be more than a foot away from me (Daddy was trying to play with her, but she chose to lay between my legs instead).

I judged the dance tryouts for K6's dance team. It's nice to be able to be involved in dance every now and then. It's always so hard to judge though. We also went to the dance recital for my cousin's dance studio.  All of the girls did so good! I didn't have little A dance with her class because she hasn't been dancing in her class, I've had to hold her the whole time. She danced on the bleachers during the whole recital though.

Today we had a "picnic" with Ritz and Nutella and A's picnic basket. She was delighted with the Nutella.

We also went on a family walk and discovered a really pretty river not far from our house. We'd never really gone up that particular road because it looks like a dead end, but we were letting little A choose where to take us, and that is where she wanted to go. We got to see the ducks and a lot of birds. A was mostly excited about the dandelions. 

This is the river.

Mother's Day and Other Happenings

We went to visit AG the week before Birth Mother's Day and Mother's Day. It was fun to visit with her and her mom and sister again. We played for a while and then went out to eat and did a little shopping. I tried to get a picture of AG and little A together, but little A had thrown the camera and I couldn't get it to work. :( Next time. We always have so much fun with them; it was a lot of fun to just have the girls together. Little A is going through a shy phase so she took awhile to warm up, but warmed up just in time to be rowdy at the restaurant. She loved to see all the other peoples food. She ate almost her entire meal, which was her favorite - mac-n-cheese.

For those who don't know Birth Mother's Day is the day before Mother's Day. I love that there is a day to honor these women who give so much!

We also celebrated our 7th year of marriage! Ya! We went to the Temple together and out to eat. Grandma was so nice to watch little A for us. They had a good time.

We are going to have our nieces and nephew for a week this summer. I have been preparing some things to do for when they come. It's been a lot of fun. I've made stamps, started on some story stones, got a bunch of paint projects, and a few other things.

Allan has been putting our deck back together so that they can play outside without the danger of falling off of the deck. Little A and I have been picking the dandelions out of the yard in an attempt to slow them from spreading. Allan has sprayed a couple of times, but we've had so much rain it hasn't seemed to help.

For Mother's Day Allan and little A got me some hanging baskets for our front porch! They are so pretty. Little A had a lot of fun picking them out. She did get in trouble for touching all of the plants though. She is getting more independent, especially when she's with Daddy, and that can lead to trouble sometimes.

She's such a little sweet pea though! At church the Nursery gave her a pot filled with chocolate kisses to give to me for Mother's day. Allan picked her up from nursery, and little A went around the entire church clutching that pot and yelling "Mama!" Grandma and I were on the other side of the church, and they looked and looked for us. When she finally saw me she smiled so big that you could see all of her dimples, and then yelled "Mama!!" and ran into my arms. It was the best moment ever! Totally made my whole month! I really wish I had a video of it.

Little A loves shoes! She recently started trying on my shoes and walking around the house in them. It is SO darling! I love it!

I got some shelves for the living room for my birthday. Allan hung them up for me this week. Little A had a lot of fun climbing up and down the step ladder and "helping" Daddy hang the shelves. :)  I'm so happy to have them up. I had a lot of fun decorating them too!

We went to an adoption class (well I did, Allan and little A went grocery shopping). When they dropped me off there were a few little boys there. She ran right over to them yelling "Hi! Hi!" They said hi, and then she proudly showed them her shoes. Then the youngest one walked over to the stairs, picked up a loose piece of carpet, and said "Look! Carpet." Gotta love kids, ha!

The class was really good. They showed a presentation comparing most of the adoption agencies in Utah, some of which are also certified in Idaho. It helped me to get a better idea of what agencies were out there and what they offered.

We got a phone call about a baby available for adoption. We were the second couple in line for the baby, but the first couple decided to adopt it. We are really happy for them but sad for us. Hopefully something will work out for us soon. I'm really grateful to my cousin for calling us about the baby.

We went to the children's museum again and little A had a blast! M1 and H and their son came too. We didn't get to see much of them since the kids were interested in different things at different times, but they all had fun, and the kids were both exhausted when we left.

It was a rainy day and we thought for sure that it would be full, but it was actually the slowest day we've seen. Little A loves this place. At one point she got really excited about something and ran away from us. About half way to her destination she turned around to see where we were, smiled and waved bye to us, and then giggled and ran off, lol.

We showed her the mouse house, and she was delighted with it. She also really liked sitting in the chairs that were just her size.

We had a good trip visiting family that weekend. Allan also got to talk to his brothers that are serving missions. They actually got to Skype, so we could all see them. Gotta love modern technology. It was good to see their smiling faces and hear their voices. Little A had a lot of fun on the trip and was completely exhausted on the way home, lol!

K3 and C welcomed their little girl into the world. She is a doll! She is SO tiny! And she looks just like K3. We had a fun time visiting with them and snuggling the new baby. Little A did a good job being soft to the baby.

The picture above is of K4, little A, and the new baby. A was ready for a nap. She played and played all day and was covered in yellow dandelion dust!

We played at K6's house that day as well. She chased the dogs around the yard squealing with delight! They weren't as excited about her as she was about them. They were very patient though.

We went up for a visit the following weekend so Allan could meet the new baby. We made dinner for K3 and C, and Grandad and Gram (who came to see the new baby too). It was really nice to see everyone.

When we were at Grandma and Grandpa's Grandma made some strawberry rhubarb jam. It was so good that it enticed little A to eat bread! Grandma let me make some to take home. We've been thoroughly enjoying it, and it has continued to prove irresistible to little A!

Little A's birth Aunt and Uncle welcomed their little boy into the world. We've only seen pictures so far, but he sure is cute!

K6 and I tried to do a little photo shoot with our girls. Nana wanted some tutu pictures. They weren't very cooperative though. She sure did look cute in that darling tutu! When they finally did do what we wanted them to do K6 had already put away the camera lol! It's like they do it on purpose!

I recorded a radio spot on adoption for our radio station here. It was a lot of fun and it turned out really good! Little A wasn't sure what to think of my voice on the radio.