Buds of Joy

I love Springtime! I may miss all of my Arizona family and friends, but I love the changing seasons! We have 36 tulips currently budding in our front yard where we planted them last fall. 3 have purple buds and the rest are still just the shoots. eric and I had fun looking at the buds on most of the trees around our block as we went on a walk today. I love it . . it makes me think of the Primary song, "Whenever I hear the song of a bird, or look at the blue, blue sky, whenever I feel the rain on my face (and we had a little downpour--15minutes--in the middle of the sunshine today) or the wind as it rushes by, whenever I touch a velvet rose or walk by a lilac tree, I'm glad that I live in this beautiful world Heavenly Father created for me!"

Spring cleaning?

We had the day off today for District music competitions and I have made the most of it. I got a good workout in this morning after making breakfast for the kids. When I got home, we had lunch, then picked up Amelie's friend for a sleepover. At home, I cleaned out the garage (still lots more to do, but at least it looks better, more organized and the bikes fit in better) while I played with the kids. Tanner and Ethan are quite the frisbee throwers! I took Ethan in the wagon around the block what felt like a million times, though it was probably only 3 or maybe 5. He fell asleep so I put him in his little bed and organized/packed up all boots, gloves, hats, scarves and snowpants until next winter (providing we don't have a freak snowstorm like Calgary is currently experiencing). I have clothes ready for Tiffany to go through in 2 weeks when she gets here--see what will fit her girls of Amelie's old 12 month-2T stuff. Oh, and last night, Amelie and I put together her bookshelf so her room would be a little more organized. Now I just need to go through Ethan and Tanner's clothes and box up the ones that don't fit anymore. Tanner's stay put until Ethan is ready for them and Ethan's go to storage until I decide what to do with them. Ethan is crying and the bacon is thawed, so on to the rest of the day . . .

Highlights

Mary will be playing volleyball at the University of Great Falls. It also has an AMAZING program for physical therapy which excites her even more than the volleyball! We are all just excited that she will be only half the distance away as she has been :)

Billy is in Oregon this weekend with 80 other IB students doing some labs for his IB Biology class. We can't wait to see pictures and hear all about this adventure.

Amelie is loving Brownies and reading and riding her bike and all sports, though she still can't wait until she is old enough to play volleyball like her sister

Eric loves kindergarten, despite his struggles with fine motor skills. We have a whole slew of hand exercises that we4 ought to be doing more often, but he is sharp as a tack otherwise and a real crack up.

Tanner is our swordsman and our linebacker. He's ALL boy and loves to wrestle his brothers and show off how intelligent he is. He loves riding his bike around the block.

Ethan is learning to talk. Although Dad doesn't always recognize his efforts as actual words, Mom swears she hears words like Light, Dog, Go, Stop, and Down. Ethan still has a cute pouty face and walk, though luckily we don't see it as often anymore and it takes only a second or two to change into smiles and laughter.

too long

So it has been far too long since I have posted anything. Lots has happened and some of it really significant and newsworthy. And though I love to write and I know the benefits and the therapy of it, I just haven't devoted the time to it. So, I figured if I did just little posts maybe it wouldn't seem so daunting and I could still make a little family history without feeling too guilty . . . so, don't judge me if I fail, but I am going to try. :)

Sports

Not only are the kids in school, but fall sports are back in swing. Billy is running on the crosscountry team and enjoying that a great deal. He has run all over town and tells me that the team knows where all the best fruit trees are, so they grab a pear of plum as they run by. Fun! Eric started flag football yesterday. Last year, he cracked us all up as he would run the other way or not know at all what was going on. This year, he is getting it a little better. Of course, on his one run with the ball, I was chasing Ethan (he was attacking a little girl the entire time--I think he just wanted to give her hugs, but at his ability, he holds on more for balance and, well, he scared her off, poor kid). I may have one picture of it, but he did a great job running through the crowd, but right after someone grabbed his flag, another opponent, obviously not aware of the rules of FLAG football totally took him down. Coach carried him off the field and called out, probably for my sake, 'He's okay!' Amelie and Eric start cross country themselves in a week or two, then basketball. Finally, Mary is into her 2nd college season of volleyball. They won their tournament this weekend in a 5 set victory against the team they play on Wednesday at home. She played a lot of right back this weekend and I think she single-handedly kept her team in the game with her positive and upbeat attitutde. She is definitely a captain and a leader.

He's walking

Our cute little Ethan is now walking. He actually took his first steps 2 weeks ago, but now he is cruising around everywhere. He takes a few steps, wobbles on one leg for a second or two, and we all hold our breath to see if he can keep himself up. Then he gets that next foot down and keeps going. He'll stumble, fall and get right back up a million times, but he keeps going. It amazes me how determined and resilient he is. He tries so hard to keep his balance and not let his head get too far ahead of his feet. He knows where he wants to go--it just takes a little concentration and will power to get there. Sound familiar? I know that feeling. Thanks, Ethan for reminding me to take my time, to not let my head get ahead of my feet.

Another Kindergartener!

Our sweet, sensitive little Eric has reched the ripe old age of 5. And with that comes the kindergarten experience. I was a little more nervous about his first few days. After all the time I had to spend away from him this summer, he reminded me constantly of how much he missed me when I was gone. I was sure I was going to get a call in the middle of class that he was upset. But, I was thrilled to pick him up at the end of his first day with no tears or sadness. In fact, he made sure to tell me that he didn't miss me at all (gee, thanks :)) Actually, I was relieved that he was enjoying himself so much. In fact, he enjoys school so much that one day this week, he was 25 minutes late to class because he hadn't heard the kindergarten bells (it is rather confusing. All I know is that kindergarteners have to listen for 2 bells and Amelie, who is a big 2nd grader, has to wait for 4 bells.) He has also already lost (and found) his lunchbox and one day afterschool, he followed the bus kids all the way to the bus lane and was waiting in line with them as his teacher, Amelie, Tanner, Ethan and I frantically searched for him. There is never a dull moment with Eric. He is so cute and so kind and fun. I am sure he has said some fun (and probably silly) things already in class. I am so thrilled that he has entered the world of academia. That's my boy!