Here are a few random pictures of some happenings around here. . .
Tralee lost another tooth. She actually let me pull this one out! Here is here letter to the tooth fairy.
Playing at the park
One morning Hunter was missing Daddy, so we gave him a call. While on the phone Jim said, "If you miss me, just come and see me!" Next thing I knew, Hunter was opening the garage door, climbing on his four-wheeler, and cruising down the road on his way to visit Daddy. . . all in his undies!
The kids new obsession has been rock hunter for the perfect rocks to make pet kitties out of.
When Jim's out-of-town I let my babies sleep with me. I love it! They're so squishy and cuddly. One morning I woke up and snapped this picture.
Hunter helping me vacuum. Tralee was giving him so vacuuming advice and his reply was, "I'm a super hero you know. I can handle it!"
We had preschool at our house the other day. The topic was Water: Sink or Float. So, we set up some water experiments for all the kids to do. We were going to do it outside, but the weather was chilly and rainy. Oh well.
So. . . there you go. Some recent random happenings around this joint. I'm sure there will be many more to come. . .
Jim and I celebrated our eleventh wedding anniversary by booking a couples package at a local spa. We spent an hour in a private room with a jacuzzi, steam room, shower, and "cool down" area. Then we had a one-hour couples massage. I can definitely say we rang in eleven years right!
We had been asking Hunter for about a month prior, what he wanted to do for his 4th birthday. Every time he told us he wanted to go to a hotel and go swimming for his birthday. So, that's what we did. Before we checked in, we had a few other things to do that day.
Hunter remembered the decorations for Tralee's birthday, and expected the same treatment. He woke up one morning before his birthday, and mistakenly thought that it was his day. He grabbed my hand, ran me out to the kitchen and his bedroom door, which had no decorations on it, and said with a melancholy look on his face, "If today is my birthday, then look!!!" I explained that it wasn't his birthday yet, and he will for sure get decorations on his day. He was quite happy after that, and the morning of his birthday he grabbed my hand, proudly led me out to the decorations and said, "See! My door has birthday stripes!" I swear, it's the little things that matter most to these little chickies.
Hunter went to pre-school, and we had a little celebration for him the last 15 min of class. He felt special, and all the kids enjoyed the birthday cake he picked out to share!
After we picked Tralee up from school, we met Jim for dinner, and then made our way to the hotel where Jim booked us a two-bedroom suite! The kids loved it! Some of Hunter's presents were pool toys, so we tested them out at the hotel's pool. Also, since Hunter's birthday was on a weekday, we pretty much had the whole pool to ourselves! It was GREAT!
Hunty's presents
Hunty testing out the bouncy-ness of the hotel's mattress
Hunter let me have this angry bird toy because it matched my glasses
Birthday kisses
After swimming and gift opening, we ended the night we some more of Hunter's birthday cake.
He loved it!
For his birthday this year Hunter asked for the following gifts:
My baby had his birthday a few weeks ago. Can four years really have passed since he was born? Yes. Yes, four years ago I was staring down at his tiny face, trying to figure out who he looked like. Four years later I'm amazed at how fast he's grown. He's my mini me, and not in looks alone. We're alike in so many ways, which is why we probably spend so much time laughing at the same corny jokes as well as butting our stubborn heads together.
For his forth birthday I wanted to sum Hunter's little personality up. . . so here we go. . .
Four-year-old Hunter is a bit obsessed with ducks, birds, and eggs lately He wants to watch Youtube videos of eggs hatching. He finds balls, rocks, and any small roundish object to build nests for and sit on. The other day he went outside with one of his "eggs" and sat on it for close to an hour. When we checked on him, and asked if he wanted to play a more active game, he promptly explained that all he wanted to do was sit on his egg. That being said, when he's playing his bird games we're not to call him "Hunter." If we do, he promptly corrects us by saying, "Renember, I'm the DADDY BIRD (sometimes he's even the Mommy Bird). We have to say, "Oh Daddy Bird, would you like to come inside for a snack?" Daddy Bird usually refuses, and keeps egg-sitting, unless the snack is profoundly delicious.
Hunter's eggs also come along for car rides. On more than one occasion, before he sits in the car seat, he places his "egg" (one time it was a golf ball, another time it was a plastic container thing) down on his car seat and sits on it the entire journey.
I've also noticed Hunter--who when at home mostly only wears his undies--walking around with something inside his pants. When I asked what was in there, he reached in and grabbed two filled water balloons and said all matter-of-fact like, "I'm keeping my eggs warm."
One of our neighborhood friends plays with Hunter all the time. He even has her involved in his egg games. Together they've collected a good number of egg shaped rocks, and take turns sitting on their "nest." In this game Hunter is the Daddy Bird and Zoe, his friend, is the Mommy Bird. They've stopped calling each other Hunter and Zoe, but instead refer to each other as, "Daddy Bird" and "Mommy Bird" It's quite funny to see them playing together - protecting their little brood of rock-eggs.
Hunter also likes to include us in his animal games. One day he told me, "Let's pretend you're a pig, I'm a bird, Tralee's a cat, and daddy's also a bird." The entire day he would say, "Hey Pig!" if he wanted my attention. We got a few odd looks at the grocery store when my four-year-old kept calling his mom a pig. I didn't mind. I just responded with a, "Yeah Bird."
Hunter has also become a very proficient whistler -- much to the chagrin of his older sister who still hasn't figured it out. Hunter's so good a whistling, sometimes I don't even think he knows he's doing it (and sometimes I don't notice either). For instance, at my grandpa's funeral a few month ago he was whistling away unnoticed. When we were listening to the recording a few days later, someone asked me, "Is someone whistling?" I realized it must have been Hunter. I didn't even notice during the funeral. . . and hopefully nobody thought me rude for not stopping my lil' bird's song.
When Hunter's not acting like a bird, he likes to pretend he's a superhero. He and his sister will play outside "rescuing" people and animals for hours at a time. The other day as he was helping me vacuum, Tralee told him, "Make sure you lift up the cord so you don't run over it." Hunter looked at her and exclaimed, "I'm a superhero you know! I can handle it!" I laughed.
Hunter has a few other things he says that always bring a smile to our faces. Here are the ones I can remember right now:
Renember for Remember
Glubs for Gloves (he and Tralee both say this)
Stwah-beh-wees -- Strawberries
"I can do it by myself!" is often said when Jim or myself step in to help Hunter, when he clearly doesn't need our assistance.
Hunter also says, "I'm sure!" all the time! Whenever we ask him a question like, "Hunter, do you have to go potty!" He says, "No. I'm sure!"
A few weeks ago Hunter was asked to say the Fifth Article of Faith during Sharing Time in Primary and he did a GREAT job! Here's the video:
Hunter also still has a temper, although it's taking more and more to set it off. I'm hoping pretty soon he will know how to calm himself before reaching the point-of-no-return; where he starts hitting whoever ticked him off. We're always reminding him to walk away and take deep breaths when he starts to feel mad, but unless we're right there to re-direct him when his temperature rises, he starts a-swingin'! It's almost like he's blacking out he gets so mad (i.e. The Hulk) and when he calms back down he becomes his sweet self again. He's given two kids bloody lips, and we saw his hand print on another little girl's face after he hit her. In ALL of these occasions Hunter was instigated, but that's no excuse for getting physical. If anyone has dealt with this before, and has some GRAND advice, please share! Because, like I said, I can't always be there when his blood starts to boil to help him calm down and redirect, and I'm afraid if he can't get his temper under control when kids are teasing him, or being mean, or not sharing, then he might have a rough road ahead. This doesn't happen all that often, but happening even once seems like too much for me, so ANY advice would be appreciated!!
Hunter still rubs the mole on my arm for comfort and when we're snuggling. It's a lot less frequent than it used to be, but the other day he fell down, scraped his leg, and the minute I picked him up, he pushed his hand under my sleeve and rubbed the mole. He calmed right down, and it made me smile. I wonder when he'll grow out of "da mo" phase.
Rubbin' da mo while watchin' a show!
My little "snapshot" of Hunter turned out to be more of a short-story, but I don't want to forget my four-year-old Hunter. Four is such a fun age! He's all boy, and jumps off of things, into things, and is constantly doing "cool skateboard moves" even without a skateboard. His favorite toys are balls (any kind. . . although instead of kicking them around now, he sits on them as his eggs). Overall, I love this kid! He's my little buddy while Tralee's at school, and is SO active and funny!
I want to wish all the wonderful women who have inspired, blessed, and served our little family over the years a very happy Mother's Day. We love you all and send our love!!
May all the wonderful, caring, selfless mothers of the world who have served their children first while their meal got cold, spent all night pacing the floor with a sick baby, cleaned bodily fluids off their shirts, couches, floors, bedding, and cars too many times to count; to all the mothers who have sung nursery rhymes more times than The Wiggles, spent countless hours wanting to bang their head against the table while helping their child with homework, gone through 6,103+ paper towels wiping exploding juice boxes and/or spilled milk off the kitchen floor; to all the mothers who have listened to thousands of knock-knock jokes, stories that made no sense, and other silly quandaries so many times they actually become hilarious to you as well; and to all the moms who have answered "why?" more times than the sun has set, and who have realized in the simple smile, hug, squeeze, or butterfly kiss of their child/children that doing the above mentioned was completely worth every sacrifice; to all those mothers I hope you have a VERY WONDERFUL AND BLESSED MOTHER'S DAY!!!!
We've been busy lately. We've had field trips, preschool, dentist visits, doctor visits, playgroups, birthdays parties, and all the regular shenanigans to keep us busy this month. Thus, there have been very few blog posts as I haven't sat down at the computer all that much latley! Since I want to document all of our comings and goings, I decided to plop all the recent pictures from my phone onto this here blog post to make sure most of the above mentioned events were shared in the blogosphere.
So here are about forty-thousand pictures to keep you occupied if you're looking for something to mindlessly browse. . .
Lots of horsey rides happen on a regular bases
I found this bird sitting on its "nest" in Hunter's room. I lifted up the bird and found three eggs in its nest.
Bath time. . . he loves his baths
When Jim was out-of-town a few weekends ago, the kids and I decided to busy ourselves with watching The Croods in 3D together. Fun stuff.
After the movie we came home and took Corky for a walk.
Below are some more regular everyday pictures:
Hunter rubbing "da mo." I've mentioned before that I have a mole on my arm that Hunty rubs for comfort. Here he is watching tv with da mo.
This girl swings on the monkey bars non stop. Her hands will blister over and over again, but she won't stop. This is pretty much all she does as recess.
Times are always better when Daddy's home!
I put pictures of our little trip up to McCall up already. Here's a picture from the night before. We had been swimming all night with the kids in the hotel, and they were plumb tuckered out!
Some more random photos:
Nice lips
We were trying on hats at the store. He rocks a good hat!
Hunty getting a haircut
On our way to Muffins with Mom
Playin' in the rain
Hunter took these pictures of me at Muffins with Mom, and was so proud of them. I look fab, I know!
A few weekends ago Jim drove us all up to Leslie Gulch. I spelled it Leslie Gultch on Facebook and Instagram and Jim made fun of me for DAYS! I swear I thought Gulch had a "t" in it. Oh well. Here are some pictures we took during our visit there. We hiked up a little trail, and found a perfect grassy spot to picnic (and do a little smoochin') on.
One of our many attempts at a family shot
I posted this one on instagram with the caption: Which couple laying in a field is your favorite? #mydoglovesmyhusabdmorethanme I think Corky and Jim won.
Below are some more (you'll never guess) PICTURES!!
I am SOOO excited that Tralee is becoming such a good reader! She wanted to take a book along when we were running errands. It made my heart so happy to look in the back seat and see her reading!
Hunter's little pre-school group took a field trip to the zoo. We had a great day there!
Come and get it goats!
My little chicken in his egg
A picture a sent to Jim whilst he was on the road. I just did my hair and make-up and wanted to proof that I'm not always lookin' scrubtastic.
The new park by our house finally opened. Hunter was pretty pumped up about it!
I sent Tralee to school with some book fair money. She came home with this little beauty, as well as a book. She loves this poster and hung it oh-so-proudly in her room right away. She spent several minutes just staring at it as if it was modern-day Picasso or something.
I've been running lately Usually I just have Hunter in the jogger, but this day I had to take both kids due to Tralee's flat bike tire, and some bad planning on my end. It was not easy to push 90 lbs of children on this jog. Also, I wonder what it would be like to go running without pushing a jogger? I should try it sometime.
Playgroup at our house. They're making necklaces. Hunter has a hard time being the only boy sometimes.
Right after Tralee lost her other front tooth. She looks adorable with that big empty space! Jim thinks she looks like Mad Madam Mim in this picture. Haha!
Thank goodness for modern day technology. Stinks could show Jim her lost tooth just minutes after she lost it, even though he was thousands of miles away!!
So there you have it! A plethora of our latest events. Hopefully these pictures will keep my most loyal blog viewers (Hi Nana! Hi Mom! Love you both!) satisfied for a while.
