It's only natural.

Since the birth of spring, we have had some fun experiences with the nature around us.

Frogs and toads. I think we've only seen toads so far. They are so cute and quite small. Thus far they are only exciting and not pests. I did have to repeatedly watch for one while I was cutting the grass. (This is where I hear they become pests.)

Caterpillars of all kinds. We managed to fry two in a jar...someone forgot their mother's warning. But they are lots of fun.

Mini crawfish? We have some standing water (I know, great for mosquitoes) at the edge of the driveway by the road. Andrew caught some weird little crawfish things swimming around in there. They were the size of my ring fingernail and were a strange very light tan translucent color. We kept three in a jar for a few days and they ended up shedding their "skins". Someday I will have to find out what they were.

Of course we have seen of bunnies and squirrels. I love the Midwest and the rabbits around--so far I haven't had a garden out for them to ruin. (In Iowa ours was fenced in.) So we're still friends.

Birds! We've found two nests that are eye level or lower. How lucky! One has a single egg in it, but my fear is it won't hatch. It's been there a while. BUT, we have another nest that is on the ground among some flowers and it had five eggs. Now it has five baby birds. They are precious! So tiny and wow, can they open those beaks wide looking for a morsel from Mom. We frequently see her hopping through the flower bed to feed the babies.

The perennials coming up have been wonderful! I love having such a variety of plants and flowers! We pick them frequently and enjoy them inside. Of course the girls love this. I do, however, need an education on how to take care of all of them. And the trees too.

Speaking of trees, we have two evil ones. They literally have 2 inch spikes covering every branch. They all point somewhat downward--aiming directly at us. They are freaky and Daniel thinks they would be great in some scary fairytale. He's right.

Next time I get around to the camera I will try to get some related pictures up. But this is all I have energy for tonight!

Abby turns seven!

This year for our birthday parties, the kids get to pick a family outing and invite a friend or two. Abby chose Build-A-Bear Workshop. We were all excited since none of us have built a bear before! Abby loves to plan. I got in trouble a few times for planning her party. So, this is good for me to remember! For her, planning is at least half the fun of it! Here is the front of her invitation to her friend, Abby L. So cute. (I'm not going to say "beary cute.")
Birthday morning--she got a Pillow Pet and some clothes for her future bear. The pillow pet was a huge pleaser. And this girl loves to snuggle--she has so many fluffy snuggly things she keeps on her bed. (And any other corner around the house that she can take over and create into another "room.")
For her party she planned a brunch--big pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream! YUM! Here they are: Abby and Abby.
We are headed to build-a-bear...
Skipping with excitement!
This store is so clever. And wow, better keep a budget or you could spend $50 or more on a bear and its accessories. Easy! The kids had fun at all the little building stations. Here is Abby fluffing and washing her bear...which is a dog.
And Andrew showers off his bear...which is a bear.
Out in front, all packed up.
Fluffy, Jessie, Sparkle, and Chief. Abby was more than thrilled to find a "happy birthday" shirt there for Jessie. Andrew likes the natural look. And the camo helmet.
We were saving cake for after dinner so we did candles in ice cream instead! Sort of frightening!
I think this is my favorite gift idea ever. I have never seen the same amount of squealing from a birthday party gift. Abby pulled this outfit out of the gift bag...and as you can see...
They matched! It was too cute for words. The dancing the laughing the screaming. Priceless. Here they are all dressed. (We worked out the laundry schedules and they both wore them to school today.)

And here is the Daniel...barely surviving the swipe from a Jedi Knight.
So, the birthday evening. Daniel was asked to be the auctioneer for the Scout Auction again this year. With Abby's blessing, he accepted. So the plan was to have a little fun at the dinner and bring some cake to share! Daniel auctioned this cake off first, with a wink, and a friend and I bid into the thousands for it. We were standing and hollering and it was fun--our friend, Jill, beat me out (because Abby loves how Jill is crazy at the auction every year) with a $4, 312 bid...Or something like that.

As far as the cake goes, Abby designed it and I put it onto the cake! Cute little bear like the one on the card. It's snuggling on a pillow...which is so Abby.
We all had such a fun day! Happy Birthday Abigail!!

Spring Things

John (Daniel's Dad) came to visit and help out with many and varied house projects! It was a spur of the moment visit and we all just LOVED it. He worked hard and played hard with us. And my kids haven't laughed that hard in a long time! We missed him the moment he left.

We've begun baseball season! The first season of kid-pitch has been interesting! Makes for some loooong moments, but the kids are all getting into the "swing" of things. (Who rolled their eyes!? I saw that!) It was about to rain here, so I had the girls run for cover. I'm sure I will have pictures of our baseball player soon (guilty smile).

Mother's Day is always nice--this year was full of such sweet heartfelt gifts and cards. We played monopoly, watched a movie, and played outside! I loved it!

The afternoon of Mother's day was so fun--we enjoyed the yard and the beautiful day! (You'll notice our coats...beautiful is all relative.)

We are really really enjoying the gorgeous flowers coming up in the yard. (And wow! The weeds! Not so much enjoying those!) These are my Mother's Day flowers (top right) and the rest are beauties from the yard!
Daniel is teaching his Dad how to use our mower here. I got to learn too. I don't know if I dare say how many hours John spent on our lawn--he did it ALL. We owe him big time!

The kids now take the card table we've put in the dining room and drag it to the couches. This is the place for homework, drawing, and chatting. It's so cute. Just when we think they can finally spread out to have a quiet place to work they get closer than ever.
Out with the old.
In with the new.
Thank goodness! I was prepared to use our Lady Kenmore for a while despite it's old color and appearance. However, when I experienced its unpredictable over-heating in the oven and the frustratingly slow stove I began the search on craigslist. After missing out on a couple great deals, I finally nabbed this one. A Bosch range for...not very much. Whoooo baby! The seller (an appliance repair guy) had done a repair on it and the owner of it (wealthy 85 year old lady) didn't want it back! It has some funky features she just didn't like. So, we are the proud new owners. The funky feature is this mtwist thing. It's one magnetic knob that controls the entire stove top. The range has a lot of digital features that you have to get to know, but it's great. And the best part is it's convection!! I'm so spoiled! I can bake three trays of cookies at once! And believe me, I have.

best behavior

We picked Grandpa Stewart up at the airport a couple hours ago. It has been giggles and laughter ever since. While we were on the drive to get him the kids were having such fun conversation with each other. Then Abby says, "It's so weird, when Grandpa is here we're so good! And when he's gone we go back to saying 'stupid' and stuff!"

An astute observation!

You know you'll just have to use your timer when...

the Nyanksons visit!

The Nyanksons used to live in our apartment complex but moved to Georgia last year. We were soooo excited when we found out they were coming to town! Abby could hardly stand it that her "best friend in the whole world" was coming to her house!

Here they are--Adwoa, Kobe, and Rachael.

Easter

Here's some of the Easter love. Dying eggs...which we barely squeezed in Easter morning.

In the afternoon, our friends the Taylors came for lunch, a session of general conference, a jelly bean hunt and a little Easter lesson. We all had fun, here's the traditional Hovik jelly bean hunt.

I must admit it was really fun to "hide" jelly beans in the house--we had so much room and could go in so many places! The stone fire place ledges were especially fun.

We even counted them up.
And three cheers for having an extra fridge/freezer. We had guests and had plenty of room to stash casserole dishes, ham, and gallons of milk!