"Normal" Life has started again

Devin started work last week, which means we had a more 'normal' week. It was good to get back into the routine of things.

 I made bread for the first time in a few months. Decided to save some of the dough for scones that night. Hahaha! Don't wrap dough in saran wrap and set it in the fridge....

 Looks disgusting, i know! But had to take a picture because it made me laugh so hard.

 We started working on our letters again. This is the best thing I have found that work for these two so far. It's called Rainbow Writing. This lady puts out a new letter each week. We started with 'a' and now we're doing both 'a' and 'l' since 'l' is in both of their names. We do letters for a bit and then on the back there are poems where we find the letter that they just practiced by playing 'I spy'. Its fun and they are picking up on the letters. So it works for us, and it is very easy to set up for me :)

 This is where Sadie hangs out while we do letters. I'm so glad we have this by the way. She jumps in it all the time and just loves being up where she can watch the other two. Lucy and Cole never used it like she does. Happy we held on to it for her :) 

Sad to say the Roly-Poly onslaught is still happening. They were drown once more since the last post and now the home doesn't have dirt or grass because the kids can't see them with all the stuff in there...so you can imagine how long they last in that container :) 

 Cole and his sticks...this kid has a pile in our backyard. Found two that look like a bow and arrow. Plays with them ALL the time. So happy my kids have good imaginations!

 Sadie taking a bath in the sink because it is easier on our arms if she is there instead of in the bath with the kids. 

 This girl cracks me up. As soon as she hears water running her limbs start pumping and she gets SO excited. And if she doesn't get to get in the shower with mommy she cries and cries....there used to be a day when she would fall asleep in the bouncer while I showered....never again.

 Sister Love

 We pulled out the pool a few times last week! The water is freezing in the morning and usually warmed up pretty nicely after naps so mornings they kids just play around in and then really get wet in the afternoon. I think we spent close to 5 hours in the backyard playing in the water one day last week. SO nice. I loved it.

 Carrying her little bucket to drown the poor Roly-Polys...I should be better about not letting this happen.

 He tried to get that little otter to stand up for almost 5 mins! He would get it to stand, and as soon as he moved the current would knock it down. So he'd say, "silly otter!" and try to stand it back up. Over and over and over again.

 This is our 'pantry'. Haha! I tried to put healthy snacks on the bottoms shelves to encourage good snacking. Which has been fine but I think Cole has eaten two bananas every day since we moved! and the other day I found them raiding the cereals! As long as we keep good food down there I guess its not that big of a deal. 

 Check out these pants!! We ordered Lucy some leggings to wear with her many dresses because she is not good at keeping her dresses down (no 3 year old is). When Lucy put on these pants I told her I wished I had some just like them. I am 100% serious. If anyone finds adult sized pants like this PLEASE let me know. you would be my new best friend :)

 Wrestle time!

 Every night before bed Cole tackles Devin and says, "Time to wrestle!" It is the cutest thing ever and Devin loves that he says that so there is a wrestling match every night. 

 Lucy just wants Daddy to be a horse! Haha

They have the best dad in the world. We are lucky to have him :)

Loving the Park

Sorry it's been five days! Our computer is finicky about uploading pics so I had to charge our camera and it took me a while to remember to do it. So finally pictures again :) I know those are better than just my words anyways.

There is a park across the street, literally across the street. It has been so fun to be able to just walk over whenever we want. Here are some pics we took last week:

It is so nice to go over and not have to worry about shoes, or diaper bag, or anything but ourselves!

 Hitting up the swings first. 

 This one has two of each so we start here.

 If you let him, Cole will take a turn in every swing at the park. Seriously. Doesn't ever work out because Lucy doesn't like to swing for that long. 

 Sadie LOVES swinging.

 Lucy found this balloon around the park and held on to it for a good long time.

 A little farther up the hill is this swing set, with three baby swings. 

 So we always come here second.

 Had to share three pics because that is how many it took to get a smile out of each kid :)

 Found one of these guys at the top of the hill...chased him all the way down!

 He was fast...see his little tail behind the tree and lucy's hand on the left?

 This is about how close she was the ENTIRE time, this girl is fast, but that rabbit was so much faster. And she didn't give up until it crossed the road.

We usually chase birds (on occasion the cotton-tails) after the swings and then we go to the slides and sand.

 Cole his under the slide and yelled at me when I came by to get this picture.

"hiding" because they didn't want to go home.

Saying goodbye and making a new home

I haven't posted about leaving Utah yet because I have really mixed feelings and I think it was so much easier to just be really happy about the whole move. 

And it was. 

I was/AM so very grateful for Devin's job. It was/ IS a blessing. Getting a job out of college is not always guaranteed and he got a really good one to boot. the fact that it is a gazillion miles away from family was a downer but didn't override my excitement to actually have employment. 

Saying goodbye was not easy. 

Devin lived in Utah his whole life (minus the mission) and I have lived there for the past 11 years. Utah is home. We left a lot of family and a lot of really good friends that we will miss greatly. Thanks heavens for SKYPE! It is our new best friend :) 

Today Cole asked to "go to Oma and Opa's ouse"...He cried for a while when I told him we couldn't and I think that was the first time I have cried since we left. I tried to explain that we had to get on a plane to go there and we talked about our plane flight. I think it helped...but I don't know how much he understands about us being far away. I know they miss everyone out there and they are being champs about being in this new place so far from everyone.

I have moved a lot in my life so I know how to make a new place home and adapt pretty well to new surroundings. having the MOST important people in my life right here with me makes it a lot easier for sure. I am so thankful we have moved to a place where it is easy to call it home. It is beautiful, people are nice, we are in a great location as far as doing things child-friendly and fun family activities. And as always the church is true where every you go. I am SO thankful for that.  I know that one thing being constant in the children's lives makes a difference. It amazes me how much it helps. 

We are excited to 'carve our own path' (as Devin puts it) and are trying to keep the few negatives from outweighing the many, many positives of our new home.

Long Summer Days

I tried to take a nap.

 It lasted 15 mins. 

I sang to Lucy came in here and was asleep within a couple of mins, and then Sadie popped her head up 15 mins later. Sheesh, there is no rest for this mamma.

I know it's not technically summer yet. But they days are getting really long. I know it has to do with the fact that I'm up at 5 every morning. And not so good at going to bed early. It gets light here around 4:30 in the morning because there are no mountains to cover the sunrises. And it stays light until about 9 p.m. Sadie has been up at five fort he last week and Cole plods into our bed around 5:45. Lucy comes in at about 6. 

Long days :)

Not that they are bad long, just I-need-to-get-more-sleep long.

Yesterday we went to the La Salle pool, thinking it would be a lot of fun....I was not a fan. While it is big and nice, the music was WAY too loud and there was no spash-free spot in the kids pool area. Lucy still loved it and Cole warmed up to the constant splash of water after a while. Sadie just slept through the whole thing because it was so loud. Since I was rather disappointed after yesterday we pulled our little kiddie pool out again this morning and played in that. We moved our jungle-gym slide thing up to the pool so they could slide into the water. It was actually a lot of fun!

Lucy loved it and went down more times than I could count. The water was freezing so Cole didn't want to do it. Well, he wanted to, but as soon as he sat on the slide he changed his mind. Watching Lucy get soaked in the freezy water was enough to deter him.

Maybe later when the water is warmer he'll give it a try. We were outside for a solid 2 1/2 hours. Then we all took a shower/bath. It was a party.

Cole puts himself down for a nap at 11 unless I can think of a lunch that is worth staying awake for. But he almost never makes it to noon anymore. He fell asleep on our way to church on Sunday...at 9 am! and slept through the whole first hour (sacrament meeting). He is our sleeper. 

Lucy likes to stay up and play lions with me before her nap. It is fun, and good for us to spend that time together. She's a goofball and it is the one time when I will go along with whatever she wants because Cole isn't giving input as well. 

Here's to hoping Sadie will fall back to sleep and I can get a nap before someone wakes up.

Haha...yeah right.

Lucy 'reading' a story to Sadie

Lucy made this story up all by herself :) 

She is so creative and so stinkin funny.