Provo Time

We spent three busy days in Provo this week. Celebrating graduation for Nathan, Kelly and Josh, cleaning/painting/weeding/repairing at our Provo house and showing the house to potential renters, spending time visiting with family and neighbors,  eating at our favorite places again... It was the longest stretch of time we'd spent there since we moved, and we stayed at our Provo house so it felt like we were just slipping back into our old lives for a few short days.  We got our offer from the Church on the house, so now we're into the negotiating stage - and still hoping  that we can come up with something doable. And, we unpacked yesterday right when we got home (a first for us!) It's good to be home. :)

Easter Kiddos

I love these three!

Backyard Picnic

A Sunday afternoon lunchtime picnic,

complete with a centerpiece of dandelions arranged by Landon.

For Rent

We're renting out our Provo house and condo for the next few months - if you know of anyone interested in a short lease (6 months for our house and a summer lease for the condo) - let me know! :)

[ More info here (house) and here (condo) ]

Pretending/Hair

Ellie's latest round of pretending is very dependent on her hair style for the day. Pigtails? She's 'baby Jenny' - a toddler from church who must have had pigtails on Sunday. One long braid down the side? Adalyn - a friend of Landon's from Livermore (with a french braid on the side) who Ellie quietly admired. A short braid across the front? She'll have to be Ellie, since she hasn't seen that style on any other friends recently :)

Rainy Day

We had a rainy/slushy/snowy day yesterday so I emptied out our under-the-stairs space full of cardboard boxes that I'd been saving for just such a day. But, it turned out to be a bit of a tired/worn out day for the kids so they mostly left the boxes alone and came to sit and cuddle and read and sing songs with Mom. (As long as I remember to stop my own plans and focus on these moments, I love days like these -- "So quiet down cobwebs and dust go to sleep
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep" )

Kites

kite block image here, kite pics from our neighbors' trees :)

A few nights ago at dinner, Landon was watching out the front windows and said something like "that kite is flying all by itself!" Since then, the tall trees across the street have been collecting even more kites. A funny sign of Springtime!

I'm loving Spring Flowers

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"Forsythia is pure joy. There is not an ounce, not a glimmer of sadness or even knowledge in forsythia. Pure, undiluted, untouched joy."

I read this a few days ago (from Bring me a Unicorn) and liked it so much that I had to look up what fosythia was. As soon as I saw the pictures, I thought of course that's what it is! That plant with the bursting happiness I've been seeing all around our neighborhood in the past few weeks- of course! I'm loving this beautiful Springtime - even with its occasional snow storms! :)

Provo

We are waiting to see what is going to happen with our Provo house, but with our renters moving out we took a quick trip down there to check on/work on the house (and enjoy the Springtime blossoms!)

beautiful day!

a bit tiring day :)

and sillyness - Ellie meets Alice in Wonderland?

playing in the familiar backyard

Matching Buddies

Landon has been thrilled in the past little bit with a few days of being 'matching buddies' with Dad. Such fun :)

A Year of Owen

We sure love this happy little Owen guy. He is full of smiles and excitement and wonder and loves. He gives the best hugs of all time. And he's just learned to walk this week (!) which he thinks is the most fun thing ever :) Happy Birthday Owen!

All these smiles - a year full of smiles! How we love you little guy!

Party Preparations/Happy Birthday Owen

Happy Birthday Owen guy!

Right now, Landon is decorating the stairs with streamers and singing "Isn't this exciting?! Isn't this exciting?!" with Ellie as a back up singer "Yes! Yes! Yes!" They woke him up this morning with many encores of Happy Birthday... I love how thrilled they are to celebrate Owen turning one! :)

Landon and Ellie decorating Owen's banana cake

The one-year-old birthday boy!

Easter dress

Just for fun - Jenny and Debbie, Easter 1985

I've been working on an Easter dress for Ellie. I found a darling skirt at DI a few weeks ago that I thought I could turn into a beautiful little dress. I used the same pattern that I'd made her flower girl dress for Drew's wedding in the Fall. Not having much experience sewing with patterns...I thought since her flower girl dress was getting a little small, I'd make this one two sizes bigger. Unfortunately, now she has a darling Easter dress for when she is maybe five or six years old! Time to rethink my plan I guess. :)

Landon has been asking daily to put up more decorations for Easter. I saw these cute eggs today via Design Mom - we're going to have a watercoloring party when the snow comes back on Friday. For now, we are enjoying spending time outside in the beautiful Springtime and watching our world turn green!

I Don't Want to Live on the Moon

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One of my favorite lullabies to sing to the kids is Sesame Street's I Don't Want to Live on the Moon. I checked out a music book at the library with this song in it and sat down to play it on the piano a few days ago. Ellie came and sat beside me on the piano bench as I played. "Mom?", she said with real concern, "If you lived on the moon, I would miss you so much!" Yesterday, her lunchtime prayer included this "Thank thee that we can have our family stay here and not live on the moon."

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From Ellie -- "Thank thee that we can have our family stay here and not live on the moon. I'm glad that mommy will pretend with me for a little bit. I'm grateful to live with my family. I'm glad that I can eat food when I'm hungry."

sweet

Owen is just getting into reading books (especially touch and feel ones) and it is such fun to hold him and read to him. With this and his amazing little hugs, he is just filling us up with Owen love!