"Both abundance and lack of abundance exist simultaneously in our lives as parallel realities. It is our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend...when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that's present- love, health, family, friends, work, joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us happiness- the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth."


Mar 6, 2012

A Few More Laughs

Alas, the home computer bit the dust for good a few months back.  So much for catching up.  But I wanted to share a few more comical kid-isms we've had in the past week.
 
Halleisms (if she doesn't know the exact pronunciation, she picks the next closest thing) - ie- the Rifle Tower or Naturella Cheese
 
Katiesm (courtesy of cousin Katie) - "Are we going to the Home Hippo (Depot)?"
 
Dillon - "Mom, can we go on vacation to Jamba Juice someday?"  (I call that excellent advertising)
 
Halle - "Mom, I think my heart attack came back again" spoken with her hand on her forehead.
 
 
And last, but not least . . .
 
Halle - "Mom, is Daddy coming to church with us today?"
Me - "No, he's sick today."
Halle - "Is it because he ate too much candy?"
Me - "No, he has a bug."
Halle - "What's a bug?"
Me - "You know when we tell you to wash your hands really good because there are germs on them?  Well sometimes the germs are still there and they can make us sick."
Halle - "Oh."
 
10 minutes later at church, our neighbor came over to say hi and Dillon says to her, "My daddy swallowed a bug."

Dec 1, 2011

A Few Things to Smile At

Aaahhhh! My old slow computer is back up and running and I can finally work on pictures again. That's enough to make me very happy. I have a whole lot of catching up to do, but for now I wanted to post a few things that made me happy as I was trying to decide where to start.

This video is from Halle's preschool concert last spring. You can see that she was way more into it than her backup singers were.








This is actually a very recent picture. I always forget to take progress pictures of our home improvement projects so I am proud of myself for remembering this time. We are finishing our basement right now and this is the mess we are living with right now. Dillon has been helping the guys with whatever he can help with. He's finally starting to mimic the men in his life a little and apparently this is a huge milestone. That makes me smile more than seeing my basement finished any day.



Oct 20, 2011

A Beautiful Fall Day

Our evening bike rides are fewer and fewer as the sun starts setting a little earlier each night.  We have a nature park very close to our house that we love to ride through and this night was perfect. 

Sep 26, 2011

We're still here

I just wanted to post and let you know we are still alive and playing.  I know I haven't put anything up here for a while - let's see, summer has come and gone and the kids have finished their first month of school by now.  Where did the time go?  Actually, I haven't been very motiviated to pay for my computer to get fixed that has all my picture stuff on it when we have another computer that works perfectly fine.  But it will get done eventually since my camera card is getting pretty full.
 
Anyway, we spent some time at the sand dunes last week as a family.  I'm not a huge fan of sand, but the kids sure are.  I could barely get them to look at me for a picture since they were so busy making "stew" and "growing flowers."  The weather has been so beautiful right now so we've been attempting to capture every last nice day we have before it turns cold and nasty.  It won't be long now.

Jun 10, 2011

Pure Joy

We've been a little busy lately. We just moved into our new house a month ago, and between finishing the basement and new yard and cleaning the old house and unpacking in the new house, we are still blessed with all the fun that summer break brings (as long as it's not raining anyway). We started taking Dillon to therapeutic riding to help him gain better balance, and he is loving it. I do have pictures of him but they are on my camera which needs to be connected to the computer we don't have set up yet. So those pictures are to come.

And since Dillon gets to ride horses, Halle is of course on his heels begging for a turn so we signed her up for riding lessons at the same place. She is in pure heaven when she goes. Thursdays are her day to ride and she is sure to have her "cowgirl" clothes on all day. She does feel a little guilty about leaving her stick horse and constant companion, Stripes, behind to go ride real horses - but only a little.

Anyway, Neal took this picture of her on his phone this week when he took her. Apparently she didn't stop talking with her teacher the whole time and decided she was ready for the "regular" horses next week. This pony's name is Winchester and he is so sweet with the kids. Her feet can barely reach the stirrups but if you could see her face, you would see a look of pure joy.

May 1, 2011

Teddy Bear Clinic

I volunteered at the Teddy Bear clinic at our hospital last week. It is such a great program put on by the local doctors and their wives for all the second graders in the area.

As a "tour guide," we got to proudly wear these coveted hats.

I was able to bring Halle and Dillon in and let them tag along with one of the groups. Here they are learning about the ambulance.


They had x-rays of a teddy bear and his broken arm. It was super cute.
Here, they learned about the ER. This bear was attached to an IV filled with honey to help explain that the IV helps give your body what it needs.
They had a few other exhibits I don't have pictures of where DARE talked about bicycle helmets, they learned about the poison sticker, and also dental health. Then they checked their bears (and all kinds of other stuffed animals) into the hospital.


Froggy and Sally Mercer (yes, Halle's bear has a last name) got weighed and measured.


Then they got their shots and a band-aid.

I knew kids from two of the schools from Primary because our ward straddles school boundaries. It was so great to get hugs from them as they came bounding off the buses and saw me (and my coveted hat).

Calling the Tooth Fairy

So what's the tooth fairy rate running these days? I have no idea, but Dillon just lost his first tooth while eating a hot dog yesterday.

Being an oldest child, I understand the magnitude of taking your parents through all the "firsts" for everything whether they are ready for them or not. For some reason, losing baby teeth now came as a surprise to me even though his friends are already missing several. I am still wrapping my brain around having to jump ahead a year and a half in child development stages.

Dillon's 1st Grade Program

Dillon's 1st grade did a patriotic program last month. He did so great. He knew all the words and actions and sang so good. He also taught Halle who caught on to the words quickly and she figures she's ready for first grade now.



This picture is super zoomed because it was cropped from a big group picture, but he had such a cute smile.
He's always so excited to tell us about his friends in his class. Even though they were supposed to be quiet at the time, he just had to tell us the girls next to him were his friends - They are incidentally the ones he gets in trouble for all the time for teasing.