A Bit About Hunty

Hunter is my sensitive, silly, cute boy.  He is SO good most of the time, and such a stinker about 25% of the time (could be more depending on the day).

Hunty waiting for Tralee to be done with school

For the most part, he listens really well.  If I ask him to do something, he's willing to jump up and help. However, if something doesn't go to his liking, the screams and whines that erupt from his mouth could send a chill down a fat-man-dressed-in-three-sweaters-in-the-middle-of-summer's spine.  I've become the mother that says, "Unless you're bleeding, dying, or someone is trying to steal you, DON'T SCREAM LIKE THAT!!!"  Luckily, it doesn't happen all that often; as long as I keep him well fed (if he'll eat -picky thing!), rested, and busy.  It still happens more frequently than I would like, and when it does it depletes my mommy battery somethin' fierce!  We're working on "using our words" instead of whining/screaming to get our way.  We're also working on sharing and waiting our turn.  These two things are definitely a skill my three-year-old has yet to acquire.  One day and one teaching opportunity at a time -- heaven help me!

Super Hunter

In more pleasant news about my boy, Hunter and I take walks/bike rides together everyday while Big Sis is in school.  There is only happiness on our outings.  Corky joins us for her daily exercise, and I quite enjoy the conversations Hunty and I share on our walks.  Sometimes we stop walking/biking so that Hunter can go pick a leaf, search for a rock, or pick up "the biggest pine cone in the world!"  We don't rush, we just enjoy our time outside together. 

Hunty and Corky on one of our rides.  Corky was getting tired of running next to the bike, so she hitched a ride with Hunty.

Speaking of the great outdoors, there are a lot of trees around here with small red berries.  Hunter has been fascinated with them from the very beginning.  He named the berries doonkles.  I have no idea where the word doonkle came from, but it's stuck.  These types of trees are affectionately referred to as Doonkle Trees in our home.  They will probably go by no other name for the foreseeable future.   

Hunty picking doonkles

Hunter also has some other words for things that we're not sure about their origins.  He'll call us doot every once in a while.  Maybe he heard someone saying, "dude" so doot is his version.

Objects have also become "mitts."  We'll ask Hunter a question about something and his answer is, "mitt."  We hear the word, "mitt" said a lot around here, and it has nothing to do with politics. . . as far as we know!

Another Hunter-ism has more to do with his crazy language.  He rhymes with almost everything.  When we say, "It's time to go put on your pants."  His reply is something like, "You mean, it's pime to go put on my rants!!!"  He thinks this is the most hilarious thing EVER.  I don't get it, but whatever.  I'm sure there will be a lot of things my boy does that I won't understand.

A very comfy bike ride

I already don't understand his desire to run around partially clothed.  I mean, I guess I kind of get it.  Running wild and free has its perks.  But, there's a time and place.  Keeping this kid 100% clothed 100% of the time has been a struggle.  I apologize in advance if you stop by and catch a glimpse of something that should be covered.  We're working on it.

Sometimes while Tralee is in school, Hunty and I sneak away to do some thrift store shopping, and treat-getting.  Our favorite haunt is Great Harvest Bread.  The last time we visited Hunty picked out a cookie, and as we were sitting down outside to enjoy our bread-and-honey, cookie, and waters right next to a doonkle tree I heard him say, "This is awesome." My heart swelled.

Overall, my boy is so very sweet.  He still loves to snuggle his mommy, and still requests, "da moe" - i.e. the mole on my arm he's rubbed for comfort since he was a baby.  It still sooths him.  I joke around with people who know of his affection for da moe, that I'll have to cut off my arm and send it with him to college.  I often wonder when he'll really stop using it for comfort.  I probably won't even notice, it'll probably sneak up on me one day when Hunter is in like, in fourth-grade.  I'll send him off to school, and marvel how fast he's growing up, then I'll remember the days we used to go for walks together while Tralee was in school.  I'll remember the treasures --leaves, doonkles, rocks, and pine cones he brought home to put in his "treasure basket" in the garage.  I'll remember snuggling with him on the couch, reading books while he sat on my lap and brushed his pointer finger over da moe over and over again.  I probably won't remember the day he stopped requesting da moe, but instead I'll remember all the days he DID. . . and I'll miss them. 

 I already do.

Projects -- YAY!

I finished a few projects lately.  All these pics are from my phone, if you follow me on Instagram or are a friend of mine on Facebook, some of these will be repeats.  Sorry about that.  I'm pretty excited about how some of my latest projects have turned out.

I finally printed up and put up the prints I made.  I also hung a butt-load of bats throughout my house for Halloween.  You'll see them through several more pictures.  The bat idea wasn't mine, I got it here.  I didn't use her template though, I made my own and had my Silhouette machine cut them out for me.  It was a major time saver!  

Red shelf is now hanging in the entryway.  This will be the new seasonal shelf.  My goal is to keep it updated and decorated with the seasons/holidays.  That way, at least that part of my house will decorated accordingly, and when people stop by they'll think I totally have my house together.  Wink.

Front door.  I still need to find a doormat.  Imagine this picture with a cute welcome mat of some sort.

I painted my green mirror black.  Can you see the print reflecting in the mirror?  I also made that and had it printed out.

I made a new frame for a piece of artwork I painted earlier this year.  Yes, I ACTUALLY made this frame!  Nail gun shootin' and everything!!

I saved the best project for last.  I saw a similar frame on Pinterest and wanted one for my very own, so I came up with these.  Jim helped cut them, I did the rest.  Actually, Jim helped with some of the chevron stripes, but I got fed up with how long it was taking to measure the grid lines, so I ended up just eyeballing them towards the end.  I actually like the imperfect stripes better than the measured ones.  Since all of these frames were distressed, I liked the funky imperfect look better.  I actually love them all!

Another frame view.  I had glass cut for the frames from a local place around here.   It was totally affordable!  Love it!


That about sums it up.

Sleepyheads

Oh how I love them!

Happenings

We've been busy around here. Thus the lack of blog posts. Jim's been gone a lot, so I've been rockin' the single mom lifestyle as of late. He did manage to fly in for a day and half, and take our favorite girl to Donuts with Dad at her school early Friday morn. She was SO excited to show off her school to her daddy! I was SO grateful he made it home for this!

Before leaving for Donuts with Dad

I've also been channelling my inner Martha Stewart. I not only visited an orchard with my new friend and neighbor (she's super awesome AND we trade babysitting services! Double awesome!), but I also froze, canned, and dehydrated my way through over 60 lbs of produce. I'm totally an official domestic diva now. Move on over Martha, there's a new homemaker in town - Booyah!

My produce

A pic my friend took of me at her place being all domestic-y and stuff

Hey fellow moms, do you ever get so caught up juggling through all your jobs/hobbies that sometimes you neglect your most important (and cutest) responsibilities a bit, and then feel guilty so you put on your I'm-a-fun-mom metaphoric shoes and plan a super fun/messy activity to do with your lil' pretties to appease the guilt of said semi-neglect? Then do you shamelessly post your super fun/messy mommy-and-me craft project on instagram/facebook to convince the world (and maybe yourself) that you are an awesome mom all the time. Me? I NEVER do this, but if I did, my super fun/messy activity of choice might have been painting rocks with the wee ones. And they might have turned out a bit like this:

In other news, Tralee, my social butterfly, is the "it" girl in her class, so I've been told by other moms. There have been boys fighting for her attention, yeah, I KNOW! Crazy! I don't hear I word about it from her either. I get all my info from talking to other moms in the school yard. When I ask Tralee about what I hear she just giggles or blows it off like it's no big deal. Silly girl! Stinks also joined a play group, and loves every second of it. As soon as I drop her off all the girls announce to each other, "Yay!! Tralee is here!  Tralee is here!"  She is such an outgoing, friendly, kind-hearted little girl that she makes friends fast, and always has a grand ol' time wherever there's fun to be had.  I'm so glad!

My kids and my friend's kids watching The Little Mermaid

Hunter and I have been enjoying our one-on-one time together while Tralee is at school. I have to say, it's quite nice to have a little time alone with my favorite lil' boyfriend. He's such a fun, silly, happy, sensitive little boy. Oh, and he sure LOVES his momma! He loves me so, and I feel like the luckiest lady in the world!

I really am a lucky lady! I love our new home and neighborhood. I have a hot hubby who gets me, and still loves me when I act a bit crazy. My kids are adorable, fun, smart little cutie pies! And even though I have my anxieties/stresses/bad-mommy moments on a daily bases I can still find joy in the things that matter most (most of the time).  Life is rad.

Grandma, Wedding, and Bears - Oh My!

My mom A.K.A Grammy Char Char flew in for a visit last week.  We had a cousin's wedding to attend, and Grammy had some grand kids to squeeze.

Reading stories

The wedding was all over Idaho.  We drove to Rexburg to witness the nuptials, had a wedding luncheon in Idaho Falls, and a reception in Burley.

Walking from our hotel to visit Aunts/cousins in another hotel.  It was spooky. 

Tralee and Grammy Char Char wanted a picture in front of a giant waterfall. 

We had several hours to kill before the reception, so we ventured on over to Bear World.  If you're ever in Rexburg with small kids GO HERE!!  You won't be disappointed!

This is Tralee's fancy camera work.  There were bears all over the place here!  They don't call it Bear World world for nothing!

There's a petting zoo and amusement rides at Bear World.  The kids can ride the rides as many times as they want.  The lines weren't long at all, if there even were lines!  You can also drive through the animal viewing loop (think Jurassic park minus the dinosaurs and add bears, wolves, deer, and elk) as many times as you want as well.  SCORE!

This is Tralee's "everything is great mom!" look.

Tell me that isn't a happy lil' face!

These little beauts kept fighting over who got to sit on the pole.  

After Bear World we drove to Burley.  The kiddies slept the WHOLE way there!  We wore them right out at Bear World.

Before the reception we found an awesome park in Burley for the wee ones to play at.  This playground was AWESOME!  My kids had a blast!

 Overall we had a fun weekend with Grammy Char Char and other family members.  As all good things do, our little Idaho vacation ended way too fast. 

I LOVE(!!!!!!!!!!!) this girl!!!!!!

That's all.

Flowers. . . Oh My!

Last Thursday, as I was waiting with the other moms to pick Tralee up from school, a mother turned to me and said, "You're Tralee's mom, right?"

"Yes. . . "

"My son gave her flowers today."

"?!?!?!?!?!"

She went on to explain that her son had been talking about Tralee at home a lot, and how nice she is.  I guess he came home one day and said he HAD to bring her flowers.  He was adamant.  So, his mother took him to a flower shop and he picked out a little bouquet for Tralee, and presented them to her at the start of the day.

"WHAT?!?!  Oh.  My.  Gosh.  That's hilarious!"  Are the words that I said.  My brain still didn't really know how to process this information.

The mom then showed me the pictures she took of the event, and I promptly said, "I'm gonna need some copies of those!"  I was also upset that this was the first day I decided to drop Tralee off, and leave instead of waiting until the bell rang.  I missed the flower-giving.  My goodness!

Look at that face!  It cracks me up!

When Tralee came home I asked her all about the flowers and her new friend.  When I asked if she was surprised that he gave her flowers she said, "No.  He told me he was going to."  Oh, really?!  She also said on the walk home, "Daddy is going to be SO jealous!"  I laughed at that one!  

This whole thing has thrown me for a loop.  I mean, 1.  They're freakin' kindergartners and it was the first week of school!  2.  Tralee never mentioned this boy before.  3. Everyday she came home from school she said, "I only played with the girls today, and not the boys."

Then she recieved flowers and EVERYTHING CHANGED!!!  I'm now finding pieces of paper with his name written on it surrounded by hearts.  I'm officially worried!  

The night after Tralee received her first flowers from a non-family member, she was ADAMANT that she had to give her lil' Casanova a thank you card and a car.  We took her to the store, where she searched for the perfect car in a selection of Hot Wheels.  She found a black race car and deemed it worthy.  I also helped her pick out a thank you card, and write a nice little note inside.  We wrapped the car together, and afterwards Tralee said, "Mom, it needs a bow!"  I put on a blue bow and asked if it looked okay.  She said, "Actually, I thought red would be better, but I guess that's fine."  Oh goodness.

This whole thing as been so funny to me.  Funny, cute, and a little worrisome.  We've now had talks with Tralee about how we just love/like everyone at school as friends.  When she says things like, "I'm going to marry him" we tell her she has a LOOOOONG way to go before she needs to think of things like that, and for now, let's just all be friends!

Honestly, this will probably all blow over as quickly as it began.  Then again. . . my first crush started in kindergarten as well and lasted until sixth grade.  YIKES! 

We're just taking this situation one day at a time.  And I do have to say, I am glad that Tralee is making friends.  Friends. . . and nothing more!!