Single

Seth has left us for only the second time in our marriage. He had to go out of town for a family funeral. He left last night and won't be back until Sunday night. I know it's really not that long, but as one who LOVES having her husband around it is hard to think about.
Even though his sweet dad loaded me up with my favorite treats, Seth cleaned and did all he could before he left, I will still miss him.....I'm almost positive he will miss us too as he has a free and unscheduled time of sleeping in and doing whatever he wants whenever he wants! :)
As he was packing to leave we found a little stow away in his bag! :)

Making Lemons out of Lemonade

We had a back patio put in when we moved into our house. We just loved it...until our yard settled and left it uneven. Now every time it rains we end up with a huge puddle. It is so annoying.
But the boys have a different view on things. They think this is the best thing ever. Whenever I let them play in it it is like having chocolate cake for all 3 meals of the day.
I am thankful for kids and their ability to see the up side of everyting!

I just want to go to sleep!

Yesterday I was having such a nice morning with the boys. Playing outside, doing little projects, cleaning up...and then it hit me. I had a doctor's appointment! I can't believe I forgot! Most people can't wait for this appointment because they get to find out the gender of their little one growing inside of them, but since I decided not to find out it wasn't really on my mind.
So we raced to get ready, I had to drink all my water in time for my ultrasound, call Grandma M and make sure she could watch the kids....
I didn't want James to go to bed before we left so I kept ignoring him while we were getting everything ready.
When I was finally ready and looking for the boys to get them ready I couldn't find James. I asked Sam if he had seen him and he said he was upstairs, where I just was! I didn't believe him, but went up to look anyways.
Cute James was fast asleep in his bed with this blankie, wheezy, and panda. I guess he just figured if I wouldn't help him get to bed he would just do it himself! :)
Sweet kids. They are always teaching me something!

Pampered Chefs

Spring has sprung and so have our activities. It seems like we all start waking up from our long winter "sleep" and the fun times roll.
My boys and I have refound our love for baking. It has been fun, especially since I can justify it so easily with being pregnant and all!:)
Sam and James has learned the fine art of preparing, licking to their hearts content, eating warm goodies, and using as much frosting as possible! A mother couldn't be prouder!

(So I know these photos are almost exactly the same, but I love to notice the small differences between Sam and James. They are very telling of their personalities. As Sam takes a bite, gets excited, and runs around, James just admires, takes a bite, licks everything he can off his fingers, and then repeats!)

There is Beauty All Around...(at least a bit more now)

We got 2 trees for our backyard! and I love them. I am so excited about them. They make our backyard look so beautiful!
We had my sister and her kids dig the holes for us.

It was really hard to dig in our yard. It is about 95% rock and 5% clay! Water breaks were much needed.

Sam loves his Megan. They chased and played for hours. They loved running around the "obsticle course" the trees made.

While everyone was outside, Ethan enjoyed the quiet to really focus on his Army he was buliding.

It was fun to have them for the night. After the trees were in my sister, Joy and her husband Ben went home for a quiet night without kids.
Joy's kids are so great. We love having them. We played hard and worked hard. Sam and James just love their cousins. They were so excited when they woke up and they were still there.
Megan, Mitch, and Josh all took turns racing up and down our alley with the little ones in the wagon. They loved it. The "magic word" to get them started was always, "blastoff!"

Thanks Hutchins for all you do for us! :)

We also just had our front lawn redone after the failed experiment we took part in about a year and a half ago. We are back to regular sprinklers. I am glad, at least now I will know what to do if something goes wrong....hey, nothing lost and a lot gained. This is our third time on lawn now. We got more of the good stuff and it looks great!

YEAH ME!!!

I had a wonderful Mother's Day. It was a fun and memorable one.
Saturday night I was feeling a little sad because Seth hadn't really talked about it so I just figured nothing special was up. Our neighbor was going to hide a bike he bought for his wife at our house, and that kind of made me sad. I thought, wow, all over men are doing things for their wives, but not at my house.
Then when we went out that night Seth said, "Do you generally like to know when I've got you something, or do you generally like to be surprised?" I was stunned. I told him it's nice to know that he's done something for me....and I felt like a pouty little girl! I can't believe I was so dumb to be sad inside and not think that my sweet husband wouldn't do something for me.
So Sunday morning he got up with the boys, like he usually does, and let me sleep in a bit. Well, as most of you who know me well, I did not sleep in long, knowing there was a surprise for me! :) I went downstairs to the cutest, "Happy Mother's Day" from Sam. It's the first time I've had my child say it to me. It really was precious. I will remember that little voice forever.
On the kitchen counter was an animated, talking Mr. Potato Head from Toy Story for me. He was very cute. I was excited. I love my Mr. Potato Heads and loved him. Sweet Seth had found him and of course thought of me.
I thought, wow, that was sweet. So, the morning continued and I took it slow. Then Seth said, "I wish we could read our scriptures together." I thought, wow, I just got up, give me a minute, at least let me eat....
So I started eating, James of course took my breakfast over, then Sam wanted to eat something different and then Seth placed his order...it was getting a little crazy and I was still hungry. Then as I am making Seth breakfast he again says, "Let's read scriptures." I'll admit I started to be really annoyed, and I let him know it. He then said, "you know, Karen, sometimes I say things, but it's not what I really mean."
It took me a second, but I got it. I said a big, "oh, do you mean there's something in there?" (we read our scriptures in our front room) I ran in there and saw the most amazing thing....new Mr. Potato Heads! :) They just came out with a new Buzz Lightyear and Woody for the new Toy Story 3 movie coming out. And he found a new princess I didn't have all the pieces too. I was so excited. It was fun to run around the front room and the dining room finding them and having Sam and James right with me loving that I got new toys. Sam said, "wow, it's so cool!"
Yes, son, your mother is so cool! :)


We then had a great day at church and then a fun dinner with Seth's parents.
It was a wonderful mother's day. I am glad I get to celebrate it now. My children are really the best part of me and I am so grateful for them!