for the love....

Anna's new do for Summer...doesn't hurt to donate some gorgeous hair in the process

may

 May was such a wonderful month. It was Aaron's first full month after busy season and we are loving how much he is home.  He was home every night for dinner by 5:15, and off by noon every Friday. Heaven!  The weather has been slowly... very slowly warming up.  It is funny when 60 degrees feels so warm.  We've been able to spend more and more time outside which has been great.  Aaron build the dog a great dog house for outside and I found this gem, written by Anna, near it.  The ironic thing is that she really is a stinker of a dog.  

I'm trying to like her. (The dog that is)

 With the arrival of warmer weather came the much anticipated garden.  I have been so anxious to get started as I love to garden and be outdoors, and we've never lived in a place where we had the space.  Aaron thought the garden was a little big but... bring it! We planted potatoes, corn, beans, peas, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, chives, basil, cilantro and the most highly anticipated .... RASPBERRIES!  I can't begin to tell you how excited I am to be able to go out to my backyard and pick fresh raspberries.  We also planted about 45 lilac bushed along our back fence. They are going to look and smell beautiful!

 Mom came down to help out

 Brooklyn had a field trip to the local zoo for Preschool and Carter and I decided to tag along.  The zoo was tiny compared to the Columbus and Portland zoo we are used to, but what can you expect in a smaller town. We still had a great time and enjoyed the Sunshine.

 Carter and Clark; of coarse Clark had to come along. Brooklyn said he liked the Monkey exhibit the best..... naturally

 Brooklyn and her pal Ava

 May also brought Brooklyn's preschool graduation and end of the year play. She was a narrator in the "Little Red Hen," and did great. She insisted on having her hair curled and was just adorable.  One of the best parts was that even though it was in the morning, dad was able to come. Another perk of the job here!

 Brooklyn and Mrs. D

On Monday we decided to take a pre-family night walk because it was such a gorgeous night. 

 Our neighbors have these adorable miniature ponies named Spirit and Buster.  Their owners said we could come over any time and feed them Carrots so that's what we do!  The girls were a bit apprehensive at first about feeding them but caught on quickly.

 Look at those teeth.

The owners of the ponies have this amazing barn they restored. I wish I could say that it was ours.  I love where we live. There are things about a big city I'll always miss but I love living in a place where people still wave when you drive by, and the kids can run in the open space and see moose and wild turkey when you are driving to church.  Did I mention we have a guest room?

oompa loompa

Boy does spaghetti stain.... I think he ate more than I did though

happy mother's day

 the kiddos... my greatest challenge and my greatest joy

 with mama

Brooklyn loves flowers, plants, bugs etc.  It is a well known fact that she wants to have a farm when she gets older. She informed me that I can be her assistant and that she would like to still live at home.  Spring is slowly arriving here, and as a result little dandy lions are popping up in the grass. She came in the other day, holding a fist full of dandy lions and said,

"Mom, do you think we could plant some of these?"

I smiled and informed her that those pretty yellow flowers were from weeds that would grow all by themselves. She smiled big and brought me a  whole bouquet.  

I had a wonderful day full of homemade cards and pictures. At school Anna wrote me a recipe for Octopus Soup.  This is how it went

Recipe for: Oktpos Soup
by: Anna Kay Tonks

Ingredients: you need 1 oktpos and you need 2 cups of brown srgr (sugar) and 1 bag of wodr (water) and por (pour) it in a bathtub and put the oktpos in the bathtub.

I feel so blessed to be a mom. The past few weeks I've had a lot on my mind about motherhood.  Maybe if I have time and/or energy I'll try to articulate it here on my blog so that someday my girls can read it. 

mr. independent

 

Carter has become quite independent lately, refusing to let me feed him.  He watches us very closely at the dinner table, everything we put in our mouths. anxiously awaiting his turn to try it out.  He has been very receptive to almost everything he has tried. His favorite is toast cut up, then dipped in rice cereal.  It can be quite messy but he is very proud of himself and gets the job done.

Carter you are such a sweet boy.  You are content and happy and easy going. You will smile at just about anyone we meet, which I know makes there day because you are such a doll.  You take two, sometimes three naps a day and sleep pretty good at night. You're usually up around 1:30 like clock work for a binky reinsertion, and then I feed you about 5:30 am.  Someday I am really ready to be done nursing but I think that I'll probably try to just make it a year like I did with your sisters.  You still have no teeth which surprises me but the doctor doesn't seem concerned.  You have redish/blond hair and it is very thick .Aunt Michelle is always teasing me that it looks like a toupee.  I can't wait to see what kind of little boy you'll be.  If it is anything like the last 9 1/2 months I can't wait!