Catch up

Alright. It has been too long and the list of things I want to post about keeps growing and therefore, I keep putting it off.

So here goes, the list...
1. Ayla took her first 7 steps on Tuesday May 15th, finally. Every time she walks now( which isn't much farther than the first time) the kids get very excited for her and she grins. She still would rather crawl but free stands much more frequently.

2. "Just give it to me, I'll do it!" -Sienna to Hunter in a very disgusted voice at the mall Chick-Fil-A when Hunter whined about wanting more lemonade but was too shy to go ask the lady for some. And then before she walked away with his cup, "Nobody eat my chicken nuggets, NO ONE!" She has such an attitude, that girl.

3. "Does that mean they are nocturnal?" -Hunter wondering about the midnight shift Walmart workers a few days after I had mentioned that Walmart is always open.





4. Hunter graduated from Kindergarten. I am not sure who was most excited for him to be home for the summer, me, Hunter or Sienna. It has been wonderful. Yesterday we went to Michelle's, the YMCA and while there saw the Thunderbirds flying for the Academy's graduation which fascinated Hunter (I was answering questions about it all day), and then to the library. We happened to get to the library right as story time started so the kids got to enjoy that and then sign up for the summer reading program and pick out some books. Sienna did not pick any but Hunter got 2 dinosaur books and 3 about eagles. He came home and read Frog and Toad for his second time and by today he has read the 2 hours required to earn the first prize. He has so far asked me 4 times when we are going to the library so that he can show them and get his prize. We also have been having learning time, together time, room time and nap time for Sienna and Hunt has been so into it. He asks me constantly what time it is and if it is learning time yet. We have only been doing it for 3 days so far so who know how long it will last but for now he loves it. We have been practicing the 1st grade word list his teacher sent home and he had already had most of the 180 words passed off but there were about 30 or so that we made cards for and yesterday he passed those off as well. I love to see him so excited about learning and reading and I hope it doesn't wear off.

Sienna also has been doing learning time from a preschool workbook and her attitude is so different than Hunter's. We were talking about colors which is a no brainer for her but she would purposely color the wrong thing. She loves to irk me.



5. We have been extremely busy working outside since the weather has been wonderful. We tore out the bushes in the front two beds and got a bunch of bark and compost to fill them. Brent took the island flower bed and made it kind of a clover shape instead of the kidney bean and it is about 3 times as big. it looks pretty badly since we still need more soil to fill it in and then to plant a tree and flowers but it will look so much better than the ugly green prickle bushes and pavers that were there. We also have been slowy using the sod he cut out to remove and replace the stepping stones that are all around the house and along the driveway. What a boring project but the finished product will be well worth it. The kids have loved helping by picking up stray rocks and filling in cracks with dirt around the new sod. Brent has also been building a fence which is about half done and is very impressive. I am so glad that he is so handy. He also is making a level spot for the trampoline with a rock wall and then we will fill it with bark. It is coming along nicely but is also a lot of work. It is great to have a yard to work in and to be outside. That is about all we did for Memorial Weekend was work in the yard since Brent was on call. We did have some friends from the ward over for a BBQ on Monday night. I had mentioned that I wished that we had corn hole to play at the BBQ. So Monday morning Brent woke up and in addition to all the other things he need to do to get the yard ready for that night, he went to home depot and got the stuff and came home and made an excellent set of corn hole targets. I am so grateful (again) that he is so handy and talented.

6. Anyone want a dog. This month has been my last straw with Buoy. He is a great dog. But he is still yet a dog. He sheds, poops, burns the grass each time he pees, digs holes in the yard, flattens the grass where he paces and barks or whines whenever the kids are outside. He also does this...













and this is his accompliss...














Ayla takes things to him and puts them in his mouth. I wasn't sure who to be mad at when I discovered my glasses were ruined. It doesn't matter if it is a picture, toy or something more valuable, if Ayla finds it, in Buoys mouth it goes. Hunter and Brent say that if I don't want the dog then I am the lone man out so I should go somewhere else. Brent keeps reminding me that he is still a puppy and that the problems we have had with him are no where near they could be with another puppy. He says that Buoy is exceptionally well behaved which I think is probably true but don't older dogs still shed and pee and poop and bark? We did take him to the groomer and had the top of him shaved and so he does shed 90% less which has helped but oh the paw marks on the floor and... I could go on all day so the debate continues and 7 and half months later we still have a dog and we keep getting more and more attached.


7. Ayla's most commonly used words are sit, come and Buoy (pronounced Bu-eye). She calls everyone else in our family Daddy. She signs milk, please and more (all referring to food). She also does this funny face that I have yet to capture on "film" but she squinches up her nose and closes her eyes with a huge grin on her face as she lifts her face toward whomever she is smirking at. It is so adoreable and we all laugh without fail every time she does it. I also love it when she does it because it showcases her beautiful long eyelashes. She also loves to climb up as high as she can on whatever she can and then sit there as if on her thrown. She is constantly crawling over to me and climbing into my lap. she can't just be in front or next to me. She has to be on top of me and I don't mind it because she is the softest baby ever. She has grown just as attached to her "baba" as Sienna is hers. She loves to hand me things saying, "here" each time and then she takes it back. Okay one last thing. She gives kisses frequently and then chuckles her very silly laugh and laughs even harder when she pretends to give a kiss and then pulls away, Psych. I wish you all could see how funny she can be.
















8. Sienna is no longer taking dance because she hates it. She started out not wanting to go in but the last few times she full on resisted and the last time we were there I had to carry her out screaming. We haven't gone back and I am bummed because her recital is in 2 weeks and I already paid for the fee and the costume 3 weeks worth of lessons that she hasn't gone to. I was trying to make it through to the recital but it just isn't worth fighting her anymore. Today she showed Hunter and I a Plia? in first and second and third positions as if she is this wonderful ballerina... that claims she hates ballet. I don't know what to do with that girl. I haven't had the guts to call the studio and ask for a refund and I haven't viewed the pictures she got taken in her costume either. Should I order pictures of her in it when she hasn't performed in it?



9. I am finally posting a picture of this mirror that I made with my Ohio friends at our last night out together. I was the last one to leave Jeana's house and that was with it still unfinished, it took me all night to finish it. I was disappointed in it because my etching stuff bled through where I had to add an extra piece of contact paper. After almost six months of putting off mounting it to a canvas so I could hang it in Sienna's room, I finally did during OSU's final big game. Brent had some friends over to watch the game and so I, being me and always having to be where the crowd is, took my mirror and glue and canvas into the room and started to work sitting on the carpet. After applying the glue to the canvas I placed it down on the back side of the mirror and then getting the bright idea of adding my whole weight to it, I stood on it evenly applying pressure to the edges with my feet. After being on it for a whole minute, Brent said, "You are going to break it." To which I replied, "No, I'm not." and then we heard the snap. Ever since then I get a sinking feeling every time I look at it. I could not bear to throw it away since it was a reminder of my friends and the many projects we did together and this would have been the first that I actually finished(usually we scrap booked and I always did more talking than anything else). Now that it is approaching the anniversary of us all saying goodbye to one another I feel it is time for me to say good bye to the mirror.




10. I hope all the mothers out there had a wonderful mother's day. I did. My kids gave me wonderful cards that Hunter made. Sienna's lookes exactly like this one except Hunter had written her name at the bottom and her initial in the small heart. I feel so blessed to have 3 wonderful "Mothers" in my life and 3 wonderful children.