Dr. Laura

My mom bought me Dr. Laura's new book 'In Praise of Stay at Home Mom's'. I understand there are moms that work, so please don't get huffy and puffy about this post. I just wanted to share my thoughts on it. I thought it was a really great book. She puts a lot of things in perspective and talks about how for most people if you make a goal to stay at home and figure out how to do it, you can do it. She talked about being there for all of your child's day and how incredible it is to be there to share in every happiness and every sorrow and disappointment. I thank God that I get to stay home with my kids. It is so nice to just be present. To be there to take a nap with them and afterward have an otter pop and walk around the neighborhood. It means so much! I really think it gives my kids a great measure of security to know that I will be there whenever they turn around. If you are looking for a good read this book is great!

Cousins

I had to share these pictures I took of G, A, Tyler and Mason. So cute! Ty buddy picked a lilac for his mom. He is so handsome.

Look at these two. Polar opposites, but both so sweet! I wish I knew how to photoshop out Ava's forehead.

I thought this one was funny. Gracie with her Nilla wafer and the boys in the background.

Look at those two laughing.

Mother's Day

I have yet to post about Mother's Day. It was pretty uneventful really. We picked up Trev and went to the temple after church. From what I could gather it was Missionary Awareness Day or something because there were literally hundreds of missionaries milling around. Some acting respectable, some acting like they were still in high school. I had to put my favorite picture up first. Ava and Breck walking ahead of us by the front doors.

I love this care free picture of Ava.

Did I mention an old man came up and told the kids they couldn't hang their feet in the fountain? Ba hum bug.

My favorite flower....tulips.

Trev and Grace.

Of course it goes without saying that I was incredibly grateful this Mother's Day for the opportunity I have to be a mother.

Zuka's Temporary Home

My mom and step-dad have been kind enough to house Zuka for us while we are in, what should I say, "house transition." We went out to visit him the other day and I remembered how much I really miss my 4th child! :-( We took him to the lake to do a little swimming. He's a natural.

And photogenic too, I must say!

I had to get some landscape pictures of the beautiful area where they live. I won't tell you where, or you'd all move there and then it wouldn't be beautiful anymore.

Can anyone say Joseph and Mary? ha ha. We were trying to coerce the kids onto Homer again this year. A few years ago Homer decided to buck Ryan off twice and I was really hoping for a replay, but he decided to behave this time. I love the pic below. This was the girls reaction to Daddy trying to talk them into riding Homer!

Needless to say, they opted for the 4-wheeler instead. Such beautiful views. I sure wish my driveway was so green and secluded. I jumped on the back after taking this pic and the four of us went for a ride. Breck was snoozing in Mom's room the whole trip!

Thank you a million for caring for my canine son!

Kangaroo Zoo

My brother Spencer and I took G, A and, his son Mason to Kangaroo Zoo the other day. If you haven't been there it is worth going at least once. It is 7 bucks a kid (2 and under $5), so if you like it you should purchase the "frequent flopper" pass which is 10 times for 50 bucks. Anyway, it was fun! They have a ton of bounce houses and bounce slides.

Of course the first picture says it all. I have named it "The Doting Dad" because that is Spencer in a nut shell. I guess a not-so-kind way of saying it would be "The Paranoid Dad." By the time we were done, Mason was climbing up a slide that was GINORMOUSLY HUGE! I couldn't even guess on it's size. Spencer is afraid of heights (aren't we all?) and so it was just comical to have little Mason climbing up that high.

Ava spent a fair amount of her time at the batting cage with a bunch of little boys. She leaned over to the boy in front of her in line, grabbed him around the waist, and picked him up off the ground.....that's my Ava!

Gracie must strike a pose at all times, this time as she is headed up the ginormous slide!

Of course, as always, I had to pick one pic for B&W, besides it did wonders at getting rid of his red-eye. Who wouldn't love a face like that!?!?!