Mel's Fantastical Insights

Now that it is officially July I guess I should finally post something. I am not sure why I have such a hard time updating my blog as of lately but something tells me it is the small children constantly screaming in my house that make it hard. June went by quick. We had some fun garden adventures like watching the sunflower seeds come up, and then watching Alice crush them all with her tiny size 3 shoes. We went to Hawaii which in a nut shell was fun but one always is left wondering is it worth the travel. Daniel claims yes, Jason and I claim no. If I recall that is what we also claimed last time yet we ended up there again anyway. Alice loved the beach and enjoyed dumping sand on all things. I found a sand dollar which was awesome and we saw turtles and seals so Daniel loved it. He now officially loves his aunts and calls them that as if they are just a group, no individuals. Alice is a pain, loud, messy and stuck to her routine like glue. Here is a classic meal time with Ali...

Mom sent me this dress for Alice. It is beautiful, the picture is bad but hopefully you can get the idea.   Daniel loves Alice. He kept telling me that he looked handsome and he tells Alice she is so pretty. It is really precious.   Mom also gave her these cute pjs which she loves. My mother in law gave her some pjs with Disney princesses on it which she also loves but there are no pics of those yet.   Anyone else love that snow today? Anyone else loose a garden? Daniel just sloshed through the snow and had a blast. He kept hoping that the snow would be so bad that he would have to help Dad shovel the drive way. I am kind of glad that it never happened.

My kids love the dirt. They love being outside while I try to plant and do everything in the dirt. Alice rolls in, runs in, and eats the dirt. The grossest thing I have found lately is her with her mouth full of mud and a pebble in her hand and big smiles on her face. To beat that I have found her now three times with dirt in the mouth. Yuck! Today it rained. This has got to be the fifteenth day this month that it rained and my kids could not stand it. So eventually I told the kids to get their shoes (which makes Alice run to the door) and that we were going to IKEA. IKEA is a great way to spend the day. Daniel and Alice played in the kids rooms that were set up and ran through that little hole in the wall they have between two of the rooms. They loved it. One of the rooms had a slide in it which Alice discovered that she loved. Down the slide she went, over and over and over again. Then we came home and the crying and tantrums started up right away again. But for those two...

April was full of fun. First my sister Stephanie and her daughter Abby came to visit. Abby and Daniel love each other so much so they just played and played. Alice can keep up now since she is walking. It was really fun to have them in our home for a few hours.   Then all my sisters with children went to the farm (sorry Britt, you were excluded by distance not by children) and it was a blast. The cow that tried to eat Alice's stroller put Abby's whole hand and wrist into its mouth. It was kind of gross and Daniel screamed but Abby just stood there and wasn't scared at all.   Some of the kids got to pet the sheep that they were showing to a field trip group. Kids are so funny.   This is random but apparently Alice wants to be wearing shorts and thus, walks around the house doing this to all of her pants. I was lucky to get such a good view. Last but not least we had a fantastic mother's day weekend of laying sod. Yes it is worth the money to have someone else do...

Okay so I got a new calling. Yep, primary chorister. Funny story to go with it. I stressed so much about it this week that I actually went to church without my primary song book. Who does that? I had like four songs picked out to sing when I needed 50. The presidency member who did sharing time left me 35 minutes for singing time so I spent over an hour on my feet singing. It is much more exhausted than it sounds. Alice survived a day without primary but seriously missed her sunbeam friends and Jason followed her around the church as she tried to make new friends. We have started our garden and are keeping track of it at a new site. Dirt to Delicious . Can't wait to see our results. Anyone else enjoying the sunshine? My kids scream when we come in. If anyone really wants to lay sod and plant some bushes...come a knocking on May 8th. We will have a front yard finally. I will post some pictures eventually.

Alice turned one! Yes, it was awesome. I don't even think she noticed. The funniest thing that happened that day was I made bug cakes (I have a cake pan that makes bug cupcakes basically) and Jason was showing the butterfly to Alice. She leaned forward and just took a huge bite out of it. Hilarious. We went to the Thanksgiving Point Gardens for her bday. Lots of family and a few friends came. It was awesome and the tulips are beautiful. I walked the Gardens with Alice in the stroller for about four hours while Jason carted people around in the golf cart. But it was all worth while and the kids loved it. Looking back on this last year was hard. We have had a lot of changes, all for the good. I can't believe Alice has turned one. But here are some funny things that she does. She loves going outside and will bring me her shoes and sit down with them and then stick her foot in the air stating the obvious "mom come on, let's go outside." She is a total girl...

Well I love when Easter and Conference coincide. It makes for a wonderful weekend. Even if the kids didn't love conference as much as I did. Although while Julie Beck talked about personal revelation and paying attention to the spirit I was cleaning our bath room. But hey it is finally clean right? Friday we went to the Farm at Thanksgiving Point for an Easter "class" where the kids did a few fun activities including getting to pet some animals. Alice loved this baby sheep.   Then over to my sister's for an Easter egg hunt. The older boys loved it and ran around the yard like crazy. The babies, Alice and Dax, hung out on the quilt. Dax accidentally opened one of the eggs for them and discovered goldfish which were a huge hit. Alice just complained about it being cold.     This is our sweet little girl enjoying her fish in the corner where no one could get them. I cannot believe how much she has grown.