Finger Toes and Firewood

Luke has been full of information lately. Last night he informed my that are toes are called finger-toes and they go thumb finger finger finger pinkie. I tried to convince him otherwise but he wouldn't go for it. We have crocodiles in Montana and now every lake is called turtle lake because there might be turtles in them.
We got another load of firewood. Anna works so hard everytime, I wish the boys would pull their weight.
And on a side note, Beau is signing up for football camp. Who knew?
All in one Tuesday.

One last note

On Sunday, Mother's Day we transplanted six plants from a friend's yard. It was fantastic. We finally have plants in our yard. It makes a nice small barrier between our property and the lot next to us. Hopefully by the end of the summer we will have a few more plants and the other side of the property will have a line of bushes, plants, trees, anything.
However, Monday morning we woke up to this...


See my poor plants languishing helplessly in the cold soil covered in snow. It is disheartening, but maybe they will live.

Then last night as I was sitting on the couch catching the season finale of Grey's Anatomy (pretty good I thought, Ben thought it was cheesy, what he watched anyway) I looked out the sliding door to see this. I couldn't stop myself from grabbing the camera, and I love what I captured.


I have a new project for myself soon and you can bet these will be used in it. It involves an old door my great friend has waiting for me.

Got Snow...

Make a snowman. That is what Beau and Anna did after it snowed in May. I got stuck twice in the driveway from the stupid snow, but the kids enjoyed themselves after their initial grumpiness. We had to dig back out the winter coats and boots. Next year I won't put them away until June.

Hair cuts and Doing it himself

I finally caved and gave the boys haircuts. They were in severe need of them, but I always put it off. One because Beau doesn't sit still and it is always a fight and two because I really like little boys with hair you can comb. However, I think I have finally realized that the cows have licked my sons' heads one too many times and we will never be able to comb it.

Luke has entered the realm of doing it himself. He loves to make his own sandwiches with the white stuff. On this occasion, I caught him enjoying the miracle whip a little more than I wanted him too. His grin shows just how guilty he was.

Not the Mom of the Year...

...or wife of the year, or daughter of the year, or sister of the year, or friend of the year. I am just me forever flawed. Take it or leave it, thankfully most people accept it and I move on to accepting myself flawed and impossibly imperfect. It has been far too long since I updated with pictures and stories so today while Grandma Rita's bread is in its sponge state, I will update.
So stay tuned for pictures and info from the far north.

LIFE

Some days are so simple, wake up, pack lunches, put kids on the bus, clean house or whatever, pick kids up, come home, get dinner ready, read to kids, put kids to bed, clean kitchen or whatever, then go to bed. Simple right, oh but wait, "mom, mom, mom, mom" interrupts those things so many times, and I don't mind but nothing seems to be simple then. Not to mention bizarre things, like getting a splinter that gives you an infection so that means a doctor trip, child care, pain, and then follow up doctors appointments, where Luke hangs on you while they are slicing your thumb open with a #11 scalpel. Random things like that really throw a wrench in plans.
Then there are moments like today when Anna is in the I'm an overtired girl in an emotional meltdown crisis. Everything makes her cry. She pushed Luke so I told her to sit in the chair until she said sorry 25 minutes later I was tired of looking at her so I told her she had to go to bed now if she didn't say sorry by the count of ten, she said it but she didn't mean it. Does that still count? She is now in another meltdown mode that will only be resolved when I give into her cries and go sit with her for the next 20 or so minutes. I don't understand girls. Thankfully these days are rare and far between and I will go sit with her until she is calm, and she is still going to bed early. She needs some sleep.
Only a few more weeks of school, which means only a few more weeks of the routine mentioned above. Then we start a whole new routine. I am looking forward to summer and the new routine, but on days like this I wonder why.
Luke is standing behind me playing with my hair, a normal daily activity for him. Someday my hair will be cleaner because his dirty hands won't be in it all day.
I dropped my laptop in a puddle a few days ago and I think our DVD player is on the fritz, I think we should just get rid of electronics and simplify. NO WAY!!! I can't live without my computer, but I will be getting a new bag that the computer doesn't simply fall out of. Life is crazy, unpredictable, and challenging, but I wouldn't want it any other way.
God bless,

A Birthday Message

Today is our Goddaughter's birthday. She is 10. Ten years ago in a country submerged in poverty this light of God's was born. Through God's grace and the determination of a wonderful family whom I have the privilege of knowing and loving, our Goddaughter was brought home to the United States when she was about nine months old. Her first few months were rough and were spent in the hospital, but since then she has thrived physically, emotionally and most important spiritually. She is a little flower in God's garden that has blossomed so that so many can see her inner beauty and that is a credit to her parents. Unfortunately our life of moving and moving some more has not allowed us to get to personally visit very often and our lives our lived out through letters and prayers. But I pray for her often and I am so privileged to be her Godmother. God has allowed me to have an inner connection in the heart toward her that I can't imagine my life without. When she was being brought home, I lived in Alaska, I'd seen one picture and I followed their e-mails daily, but I didn't know her. But I did know her, I had vivid dreams of her, I felt her in my heart more intensely than any relationship I'd ever had before. God gave me a gift and showed me the power of prayer through our Goddaughter and I am incredible grateful for that. So today I wish her a very happy birthday, her card will be late because that is how I am, but I do want her to know we are thinking of her today and praying for her always.
God Bless,