.crazy dog days of summer.

it's hard to believe that we are already half way through our summer.  where has the time gone? with scout camps, trying to finish a large order of signs on top of the celebrating Independence Day and Pioneer day it has left little time for anything else.  But for the sake of the kids we have tried to get out and enjoy as much as we can.

for summer solstice we splashed at a splash pad,

 squeezed into tiny bathing suits,

 indulged in ice cold snow cones (take note of Finn's brain freeze agony),

 swung on tire swings,

  enjoyed a summer picnic for dinner,

  and stayed up until dark to light sparklers and basically run around crazy because we could.

 We wanted to spend as much time together before Roy left for his week long scout trip so we took the train down town the weekend before and just did whatever we felt like.  The church history museum had a fun children's exhibit that the kids spent lots of time playing in.

 we ended the trip with dinner in city creek, playing in the water fountains, and eating caramel apples.  It was one of those times that I just kept thinking how perfect the day was...everyone happy and together.

Roy's campsite was closer then usual this year, so he invited us up to have dinner one night.  It started raining when we got there, but the kids were not thwarted by it and happily ate their watermelon and hotdogs.

The 4th of July was as exciting as ever.  We have discovered a sweet spot for the Riverton parade that is  right at the beginning, and in the shade...it's well worth showing up an hour before hand just to see the littles in total rapture of it all.  E was particularly stoked this year!

 Among other delights of our summer was the sandpit episode where Meg and E both ended up with copious amounts of mud dumped on them.  I'm sure it all started out as fun, but ended up with sad soiled girls.

Meg has been doing tumbling this summer, and if you know her at all, you know she is in total bliss. She often asks if she can get her "tard" (leotard)  on and go to tumbling.

 Finn welcomed our first case of strep...of course at the most inopportune time.  thank the heavens he is an easy sick kid.

 most of the last two weeks have been spent cranking out signs, 18 to be exact.  Between friends and family we have managed to pull it off with the kids not being too neglected.  It's definitely not a pace I can keep up all the time, but glad I had the chance to hone my skills.

being so busy, everything else has taken a back seat, including my yard and garden.  The weeds are growing aplenty, and when I finally spent 5 minutes and walked through it, I found three GIANT zucchinis nestled under the giant leaves of the squash plant and two decent sized cukes.  E gladly took one from me and ate it straight up.  Sadly this past week we were told by city officials not to eat our garden produce because our secondary water has been contaminated by a toxic algae bloom...yeah... we totally missed the boat on that one.

.sunshine and rain.

Lately...really for awhile, I have felt overwhelmed with life and all that needs to get done, all that gets in the way, and all the falling down and getting back up that inevitably happens.  I know I would be an awesome mother, wife, neighbor, friend, ect. if I didn't have to worry about just trying to survive.  The longer I live the heavier the burden seems to get, and the more I realize I can't do it alone...and I guess that's the secret behind it all is that we weren't supposed to.  It's a lesson I have to keep relearning apparently.  Not to get all down in the dirt, but it's just how I've been feeling lately.

But life goes on and it's a beautiful messy thing.

Finn's Mother's day gift for me was weeding out my dandelions.

E opted for no fork for Mother's day pie

These three sure are something.  I sure love them something fierce!


We spent an evening at Wheeler Farm with some friends and the kids haven't stopped talking about it since.  Being outside and chasing ducks and geese is hard to beat.

We are all so happy for the warmer weather, but I think E is the happiest of us all.  She would spend all day outside if I let her.  She especially loves to swing!

Roy and Finn went for an overnight campout so the girls and I had out own fun.  Painting toes, watching princess shows, and pizza...no complaints here.

We have had some fantastic spring storms that have kept everything green and happy.  It also makes for some great running.

E finally had her speech evaluation and qualified for early speech intervention.  Her receptive language was 75%, but her verbal was only 1%, which explains why she throws some epic tantrums.  It must be very frustrating to understand everything, but not be able to express very much.  We are all looking forward to helping her develop her voice.

Mr. Finn graduated from preschool, and has really grown in the last year.  He has started reading and is a ball of boy energy.  He preformed enthusiastically, and even gave us all a little surprise solo at the end.

Lucky for us miss M gets these two awesome teachers next year.

Finn and his cousin Abner...

.spring things.

It seems the farther behind I get on this the less time I want to put into it, but I want to keep up with just a few of the things if just for a memory.  Spring is in full force here and we are enjoying all the sunshine and vitamin D we can handle.    E is mustering up more courage to hit the slides and enjoying the thrill of it all.

 We had a picnic in the park one night with some friends and E ate her weight in ranch...her condiment of choice.

 Finn and Meg continue to pick at each other.  There are rare moments when the planets align and they get along, but usually it looks somethings like this...Meg with a dollop of yogurt on her face.  It's very exhausting!

 St. Patrick's day we played it up as much as we could missing mom and dad, and Kay's family.  We wore our green, had a grand scavenger hunt, and had an all out good time.  We snagged a picture of Great G-ma Tiede and most of her great Grandkids.

 Roy has continued to stay busy with work as always, and has started helping my sister with their renovation projects at their house.  His main assistant in the projects ahead is my nephew Noble, who is a lot of help! We have started calling it Reno with Roy.

 While daddy & Noble are busy working...Finn can be found inside lounging.

 We purchased our first pet mainly for the kids.  Darby the cat is adjusting to life in a busy house of three little humans, and seems to be pretty happy.  I'm more of a dog person, but cat's are just easier to take care of at this point in our family.

 We are getting closer to the end of Finn's preschool days, and it's making me a bit sad.  I went and helped out at their Easter party and had a wonderful time watching him play and see how much he has learned these past 2 years.  I don't know how I'll be when he starts Kindergarten this fall.

Easter was totally great with the littles this year.  E had know idea there were treats in the eggs, but had a handle on the whole getting eggs in the basket thing.  Once it was revealed to her that there was candy IN the eggs well, she made quick work of that too.

 Finn spent the afternoon flying his kite with daddy and was content as could be!

 We had a wonderful Easter Sunday with family and remembering the resurrection of Savior Jesus Christ.  Because He lives, we can live with our families forever...that is the greatest blessing their is!

.pool or germs.

We made it though most of the winter without much sickies...a blessed relief from last year.  But this past week we finally got knocked down by all kinds of good germs.  Finn started it out with a cold, Meg followed suite with the flu (influenza-the real deal), and after a few days, E brought it all home with a wicked case of hand, foot, & mouth.  E being the youngest, and the one that seems to get the worst of the germs, has been miserable for three days straight.  Only drinking (when forced), and not eating a single bite.  She is constantly dripping drool, and looking the hot mess that she is.  We've had bad nights sleeping as well and consequently, I'm running on low.  This to shall pass, but for the time being we are just getting by.

.finn turns 5.

Sometimes it's hard for me to imagine that I have a child that is half a decade old because there are things I remember about my life before kids.  And then I look at his baby pictures and I remember how that little man completely changed my life the day I found out I was pregnant.   I love that he is all boy and is creative mind who likes to build and knows everything about tractors.  He is usually a big help around the house, but LOVES to tease his sisters...typical big brother right?!?!  He is curious and is starting to ask very thoughtful questions about the world around him, including what do radio towers do and how do bones move.  He has an amazing memory and can recall things that I have even forgotten.  He has started reading, and knows all of the letters and sounds.  He is also very sensitive and doesn't like new invornments with a lot of new people, but once he gets used to it, he adapts very well.
WE love that Little mr!

 Birthday breakfast

 He insisted on a friend party with a construction theme...easy enough

 playing with his buddies and building...two of his favorite things

 It feels good to be 5! (and yes I realize there are 6 candles)

.closing.

December was another busy, but beautiful month filled with only the things that December brings.  Which namely for us is birthdays and holidays.  The kids were excited about all things Christmas and we made sure to do a lot of activities just for them.
We started with Christmas cookies.  We have never really decorated cookies, but Finn insisted that we do it this year.  There was mostly frosting and candy by the end, but they loved it!

Our friend invited us up to the zoo lights this year, and of course the night we went it ended up raining on us.  Finn's spirit couldn't be dampened, as you can see in this picture.  He kept running around screaming "look at these lights!"  Meg, as you can clearly see, was less then impressed and was soaked cold.  Poor girl was miserable and crying by the end.  I think she was sorely disappointed that she didn't get to see any actual animals.

December brought my 34th.  I was spoiled with presents from friends, lunch with family, and a slice of cake from the Chocolate with my little family!  All in all a most pleasant birthday.

the littles running amok at the Chocolate while we waited for our sugar.

By the middle of December we had received our first really good snow storm that dumped 6" of wet heavy snow.  The kids sat mesmerized watching it fall outside all morning.  I of course spent a good few hours shoveling the drive, which I concluded was an excellent workout.

E is getting a lot of personality lately.  She still doesn't say much of anything, but she certainly communicates her will.  I found her under the table one day enjoying her advent calendar treat.  I suppose she was hiding from intrusive siblings who like to take advantage of her.

We didn't have a chance to make it down to Temple Square this year, but we made it out to the tree of life in Draper on a frigid cold night.  Again Finn was ecstatic to see all the lights!  Meg was sure to remind us often that she was quite miserable and didn't want to be out in the cold tromping through snow (she's the life of the party...just not when she's cold.)

We had a ward Christmas breakfast where the kids were able to tell Santa their hearts desire.  Meg froze and merely muttered out she wanted candy.  Finn laid out his toy wish like a well oiled machine.  And E,...well you can clearly see she wanted nothing to do with him.

A few days before Christmas, Finn and I spent a good hour outside constructing snowmen in the remnants of the snow.  The snow was so wet that it made for easy rolling, but not so easy lifting.  Finn enjoyed it so much that he made 3 additional ones by himself.  I sure love that kid!

We started Christmas Eve off with a little wrestling match on the bed in the morning.  These kiddos love playing with their daddy!

That night, we had traditional family nativity, but this year our numbers had grown so much, that we had to make a last minute move to a near by church.  It actually turned out pretty great with enough room for us all, a stage, good food, and warmth to boot.

E was a sweet little angel

the girls were eager to help uncle Bruce sweep up

Christmas with magical!  We were all healthy this year, and the kids are the perfect age where everything is exciting.  With Meg as our alarm clock, we were up at 5:30 and I had to hold in off in our room while I roused the other two.  It was pure joy watching their faces light up with every gift they received!  Of course the best gift for me was being warm and safe inside my cozy house watching the snow drift outside.  What Bliss!

We took advantage of all the fresh snow and took the kids sledding for the first time.  After spending about 45 min getting everyone suited up, we were both a little worried that it would be a bust (especially with Meg's history of whine).  But it was an absolute success.  Finn couldn't get enough per usual and was such a trooper hauling his sled up the hill over and over again.

Daddy and mommy had the arduous task of hauling the girls up after every run, but it was so much fun!

Even in the bitter wind at the top of the hill these girls were smiling!

Miss M's birthday fall's a mere 2 days after Christmas, so we are in constant celebration mode.  We took Meg out for a birthday lunch with just Mom and Dad, and then took her shopping.  She picked out a sparkly purple crown and wore it proudly.  She is very much a pleasure and joy in our family!

getting comfy cozy in her mermaid tail blanket

Lucky for me, Christmas brings people home so I get to see old friends.  This two sisters will always be some of my dearest friends!  As a bonus, I got to snuggle on both of their babies!

New Years we spent the evening with the Bachands eating Chinese, watching Star Wars, and throwing poppers.  We were of course all in bed by 10, but that's just how we roll.

New year day, Roy and I had our first overnight away from the kids since before we had kids.  5 years folks...oh my.  It was perfect way to start our New Year!

Like most years, 2015 had it up and downs.  Through our struggles though, we learned to lean on our Heavenly Father even more.  He has continued to teach me who is really in charge and where to put my trust and faith.  We are truly blessed, and look forward to what the next year will bring for us!