The Day to Day...

I am so thankful I get to stay home with Daisy and Rockwell. There are so many blog posts about motherhood and its highs and lows. Each one that I have read I can usually relate to. Being a mother is one of the most amazing, if not the most, wonderful thing I have ever done. I have felt more annoyance, swallowed more anger, and had to practice the most strict patience as a mother. The emotions that motherhood bring take life to another level. I understand why its part of the plan. It is also one of the most bizarre experiences. I can look at one of these kiddos and feel the most strong surge of pure love and pure annoyance all at the same time. And all I hope for them is that they can feel it someday too! These two make my heart full and I am so grateful for what they have brought into my life. And if you (my children) are ever reading this as teenagers, don't get offended, you'll understand what it is like to live and care for small children someday.

There is just something adorable about a kid in sunglasses.

Diaper wedgie.

My little bean.

They both like me to wrap them up in a towel and carry them downstairs. Little things like that make up my day.

Daisy made a Christmas Tree.

Sometimes when Dad isn't home, we eat popcorn for dinner and watch a movie.

Daisy does morning and evening chores (when we are on top of our game). This particular day she was very pleased with how she made her bed. A picture was requested.

All she wants to do is dance.

Twice a week Daisy goes to preschool, which leaves me a few hours with just Rockwell. I wish I could say I make these hours special for him, but he is usually just my shopping buddy or my cleaning buddy during these hours.

This was just a beautiful day. I love the clouds that fill the sky in the late summer of the desert.

Sometimes I am nice and we go to the park.

Or the furniture store and try out the comfy chairs.

We play games.

And make funny faces.

And most mornings we have cereal or eggs.

We get carried away with markers.

Good thing they aren't permanent. 

We take lots of pictures.

And pick our noses.

We make more faces.

And tell stories.

Sometimes kids go on covert missions to the pantry for fruit snacks. He is not as sneaky as he thinks he is.

We make forts and comfy beds.

We get sick sometimes too.

And annoyed when the TV won't work.

We color snowmen.

And hang on Mom all day.

We pull curtains off the wall and give hugs.

We play dress up... with sister's clothes.

We fly kites.

And put the dishes away...

We play with balloons that smear markers all over the house.

And we play. Or squish our little brother.

My days may not seem important to the world, but they are so important to us.

In summer!​

We had a very busy summer and a very lazy summer all at the same time. Since, I wasn't feeling my best we didn't get out much compared to past summers where we would spend hours at splash pads and playing in the back yard. Some things did happen though.

We got rid of the weird random architectural feature or in other words the hole in our wall.  

Someday I will post the finished picture. Its all painted now, but now we get to save up for a new entertainment center or built-in. But that is for a later day.

We did get to spend a few weeks up in Pinetop at the cabin. We have been lucky that Steve and Rena bought Grandpa's cabin in Ski Hi and that they have so generously let us stay there. It was fun to be up in the mountains and see Grandma and Grandpa but not take over their house. It's kind of like we lived in Pinetop.

We spent a few afternoons just enjoying the weather and Grandma and Grandpa.

These kids spent a lot of time together. They do seem to like each other though. :)

Rocky is the closest boy cousin that lives near Bode. Sometimes Bode makes the best of it and is a great big boy cousin to Rocky, and Rocky loves it.

In high school me and Ashley would always go and get a strawberry smoothie from Cup-o-Joe. I stopped and got one for her. It was quite as good as I remember. 

The best part of going up to the cabin was letting kids play outside. We had been trapped indoors by the horrible heat that is the summer in the valley. These kids soaked up the cool, just like we did.

Since Rockwell is the little brother and happens to have two older girl cousins, he tends to play girly things a lot.

He was getting his make-up done here...

However, he is all boy. He is lucky that his older boy cousins like him enough to let him rough house.

We did end up staying at Grandma Boo's house for a few days toward the end of our trip. She had just hosed them down in this picture.

And of course the summer would not have been complete with out a yard sale with Grandma.

4th of July 2015

This year we went up to Pinetop for the Fourth of July. I feel like Independence Day means more in a small town. Or maybe it's because I feel more like I am in the America I grew up in, but the Fourth of July is always great in the White Mountains, especially when we get to spend it with cousins.

We fed the ducks.

We were missing the Papa cousins.

 Grandma is always very ambitious when all of her grandkids are up for a visit. This time she made each kid their very own candy bag for the parade. Lot of little anxious hands were waiting to decorate their bags in this picture.

At the parade.

He makes this face a lot. This time it was for the firetrucks. 

After the parade and into the lull of the afternoon, everyone went over to park before the fireworks. I stayed at the house and while I was on the front porch a car drove up...full of Papas all the way from Missouri. I may have cried. I love to be with my family, but there is always a hole when the Papas are missing. So when they surprised everyone, it made for the best day.

We had to get a picture of all of the grand-kids. This was the effort to get the photo. Makes me laugh.

I think Piper may be missing from the photo now. She was unfortunately stung by a bee. I love these kids. 

Daisy Girl

I'm currently snuggled into my bed and like every night, I let my thoughts run around until they're tired and I fall asleep, but tonight I thought I should write down what I'm thinking. And I'm thinking about how much I love Daisy.

Today we clashed a few times. I didn't let her stay in the shower or let her use her favorite red towel (she needed to use the one she already had). I wouldn't run downstairs to wipe her buns. She really likes a thorough wiping and doesn't yet fully trust herself. I on the other hand think it's time she become highly skilled in this area. In other words I don't want to wipe poopy buns. It was kind of a longer day. But as I lay here I can't help but feel so happy that she is my daughter. 

She is obsessed with dancing right now. Everyday she dresses in her leotard and dances to the Disney station. It's so fulfilling to watch her strong healthy little body leap and twirl. I know she thinks she looks like a prima ballerina too, so the looks on her face as she dances crack me up. Dance is serious business, fun, but must be done as a true ballerina would do it. I also love they way her long legs look in tights ❤️.

She made them name tags ❤️. She knows how to write all our names.

She loves Rockwell. Yes they fight, and I am coming to understand how truly annoying tattle taking is, but she is such a good big sister. When he is sad she comforts him, she's even gotten him dressed for bed a few times. Since I have stopped watching Allie she had turned to Rockwell to be her playmate. I'm so glad for this, that's what siblings are for. They play all day and Rockwell mimicks her every move. 

She has also really caught on to coloring and drawing. It's the best. She will color for long stretches and is so pleased with herself. Our house has been recently decorated with family portraits all done by Daisy. I have saved about 90 percent of them because I love them all. It's such a good feeling to watch your child learn something new and enjoy doing it.

And before I forget to write it down, when she sings I'm a Child of God, she always says "parents kind of dear" instead of "kind and dear". 

She also calls McDonald's "uncle Donald's" and asks why we never go there. These made me laugh and I don't want to forget them!

She is acting older every day, my almost 5 year old. She thinks she hot stuff, and I wouldn't want it any other way.