Ode to My Boys

I've been trying to figure out a balance in raising my boys. The loudness, the constant movement(running, bouncing, etc.), and then there's the dirt. I've been trying to let go and just let them be boys. Yesterday they were playing outside and I could hear them laughing so I just let them play, not knowing what they were doing. At one point it hailed and they didn't come in, but I thought I would just let them keep playing uninterrupted by my own paranoia. When I was going to make lunch I thought I would check to see what they were doing. When I opened the patio door I saw Roger elbows deep in mud. I didn't get angry(I remember the fun I had with mud as a kid) and now I know that I need to designate a mud area in the backyard so they don't play in my pea bed.

Allen's artwork.

The bathtub during cleanup.

Sometimes I get so exasperated with the never ending busyness of my boys. But boys will be boys and I love them and their energy and exuberance for life that I'm sure will fade all too soon.

Skateboarding

I came across this picture recently and thought I would share. This is a picture from one of Will & I's most expensive dates while we were dating. Why was it expensive? Because it was a skateboard date. Why is a skateboard date expensive? Well, I didn't have one, and so Will bought me one... a longboard. Note that in this picture I am not riding the longboard.

Will & I like to skateboard. The longboard he bought me has seen much use, most of which has not been by me even though I have used it on occasion(other, less expensive skateboard dates). :) I'm not very good, I can go straight and turn and that's about it. Once I ollied, but I ruined a favorite pair of pants in the process.


The kids like to skateboard also. Here they are taking a reading break.


The longboard also works as a dolly. This is a boxsprings he walked over to the church to put in the DI pod.

So I guess in addition to biking, our family likes skateboarding as well. :)

Easter

Origami Easter Basket

Yesterday we had a wonderful Easter. We started off watching General Conference. It was so nice to hear the apostles and Prophet speak on the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter, as well as other great gospel topics. I feel inspired to be a better mom.

Afterward, we had Will's sister's family over for a turkey dinner. I always pick up an extra turkey or two at Thanksgiving time because they are so cheap and they are great for a nice dinner get together. Then the kids took turns hiding empty plastic eggs(I only have 1 dozen, so it seemed silly to fill them when the fun is in the hiding and finding). The boys took turn hiding for the girls, and vice versa. They had a blast! It reminded me of when I was a kid and we did that, only we used real eggs. After the hunt we had a lovely spice "mountain" cake that was super delicious and then the kids each got a little origami Easter basket with candy. I even showed the kids how to use robin eggs as lipstick, passing on a family tradition from my side of the family. It was a great Easter!

Robin Egg lipstick tradition

Unfortunately the pics were taken this morning as my memory card from yesterday is suddenly acting up. Hopefully I can get the pics off of it later.

Free Gum

So a few months ago a friend introduced me to the world of couponing. It's fun and interesting. I love getting a good deal. A couple of my sisters and I now send pictures of our spoils of war to each other also. It has allowed our kids the enjoyment of cereal again. It also gives me a little more room in our grocery budget for other items, like bananas. I haven't been as diligent on scoring as many deals lately since I had the baby, but today I decided to hit the stores. I still feel like such a novice couponer though.

So while I was at Safeway today standing in line, there was a couponer at the front of the line taking her sweet time to give the cashier a lesson in how to properly enter in her bazillion coupons so that she could buy all sorts of random items. I'm waiting there looking at my deals in the cart(waiting for a long time, mind you) thinking that this woman is the reasomn why I had always been turned off by couponers in the past. I'm almost embarrassed to think that I will be handing over my coupons after the customer in between us has her turn with the poor checker. My boys were being amazingly patient during our long wait. My eyes then glance over the gum selections and I think I might have a coupon for some. Sure enough I do! $.75 off gum that is on sale for $1, but this is Safeway and I can get $.50 of it doubled.

So I should be thanking the crazy coupon woman for the opportunity I had to get free gum and earn a quarter while standing in line.

Baby Frank

Awake and alert to a brand new world.

We had our baby! Franklin Arthur Bluemel was born on the 4th after a short but productive 2 hour labor. He was a big boy, just shy of 10lbs. He has been a great baby so far. He sleeps a lot, especially during the day. We are still adjusting to the schedule. It is so great to have a baby in the house again. His brothers love to hold him and help him. Mom and baby are healthy and happy, as is the whole rest of the family.

This may be one of the best pics I have of my boys. Genuine smiles and eyes open. :)

Proud Parents

41 Weeks and... Waiting

Every day I wonder if this is the day we get to have our baby. My patience is wearing thin and sometimes I wonder if I will be pregnant forever. But that's pretty much impossible. All in all, its been a good pregnancy and I've really felt pretty good.

The kids are excited. Roger likes to feel baby moving in my tummy. One day we were cuddling and baby started kicking Roger and we just laughed and laughed. Allen would enjoy it too if he could only hold still long enough to actually see or feel it. One day I was trying to get Allen to feel the baby and he said, "Is he coming out right now?" It was cute. Will insisted on taking a picture of me with my big belly for documentation purposes.


So one of these days we will have our baby. He has been long awaited, and we're so excited.

Digital Scrapbooking

A friend of mine clued me in to digital scrapbooking a long time ago, and I never really pursued it. I'm getting kind of bored waiting for our baby to come, so I thought I'd give it a try. I already had a program (Gimp) that I've used for photo editing in the past, so I just found a quick tutorial video and came up with something. I've never been much of a scrapbooker, too much time and money and mess, but this could be something for me.