Summer's Here?

 

Yesterday we had our first caribou visitors for the summer. I can't believe they're here and graduation is next week, school will be out...it's so cold still! I can remember warm, sunny track seasons in high school! Are our seasons just migrating? Today is our first "sunny" (partly coudy) day and I am dying to get out there, but the thermometer still says it's 46 outside! If I don't get some sun soon, I am going to have to visit the tanning bed. My skin was not meant to look this way! Kristen asked if turning 30 meant no more blogging, so I thought I'd better get in gear! I have been working hard to get my house clean so I can feel good staying out with the kids all day should it ever warm up! We have two exciting weekends coming up -- camping with church friends and Tyonek gang get-together. Hopefully I will have lots of good pictures to share from those experiences! I'm praying for sunshine!

CHOCOHOLIC

Well, first off, let me just say this. Karen, I'm sorry I thought badly of you for giving your child DumDum suckers at two years of age. Please forgive a first time, one child mother. Now that I am on child #3 I want to say to all mothers of only one child, it's okay to keep junk away from your kids because they don't need it and they don't know what they are missing, but please don't feel badly about giving in to #2 and #3 ect. when they clearly see older siblings having it and know it's much better than whatever they've been having. Now, I won't be sharing my dark chocolate truffles, but bring on the dumdums and m&ms! In this family, each successive child has experienced "the good stuff" earlier than the previous. Hallie, a true daughter of mine, has taken a liking to chocolate. Often I will hear her making "monkey noises" in the kitchen and will find her standing at the pantry door reaching up. Within the pantry lies the treasure, a dish full of all kinds of little sweets. She has learned her manners very quickly, please and thankyou (in sign, with her own verbal versions) to get what she wants. She will also dish out the kisses if she is really desperate. Yesterday she discovered the chocolate syrup in a cabinet she had access to.

Baby Legs

This is not a good example picture, but I have discovered an expensive product I love, called Babylegs. ($12/pair) They are little leg warmer type things. Basically they are tights without the top or bottom. They are really nice for diaper changes, warmth, etc. (Only the stripes are babylegs, in the other picture she is wearing pants.) As you can see, her mullet only looks good in pigtails at this point, so most of the pictures you will be seeing will have them! Also, I have an obsession with summer dresses! (For myself and the girls...wish I had more opportunities to wear them myself!) Hallie has a closet full of them, mostly hand me downs and garage sale finds, more than I think she can get through on Sundays! So I may be dressing her up throughout the summer and posting so I feel like someone has seen them! And lastly, the blanket/paci combo. I've done it again! We can go nowhere without this!

Friends

Look how big my kids are! I cannot get over Carson being a kindergartener! Recently I have been looking at toddler pictures of him and marvel at the changes in his appearance. His cute round little baby face has transformed into a big boy face! Michael is Carson's buddy who is actually turning 7 this summer. We've been playing together at least once a week for most of the school year. Michael and Rhonda come over after they drop off older brothers to school at 8 and stay until Michael goes to Kindergarten at 10. We look forward to this day every week! Carson and Michael get along so well! And I get to enjoy coffee and conversation with a good friend. It's also nice to know there is someone out there willing to help if I need someone to watch the kids last minute. I am so thankful for Rhonda in my life! Most visits, the TV is off, but on this particular day, Carson and Michael were having a hard time agreeing on what to play with. In the end what they all agreed on was Tom and Jerry (apparently pretty funny according to this sneak attack shot). I should also mention that it has been a struggle for Montana, who wants to be included but isn't always. I understand both perspectives and I would say the boys do a good job of including her about half of the time. Often I try to involve Montana in coloring or some other "crafty" project so the boys can do their own thing.