Spring is really here, and it's TRYING to be warm outside. But we could still handle a few degree's warmer.
I wish you chould see his eyes better in this picture, they are a cool color. :)

Me playing with depth of field.

Loving playing on bikes outside!

Spray painting the pink and purple bike camo khaki(by tenderheart's choice)- so it's not too girly for a boy to ride. :)

Studying something.

Just before we took her beloved earrings out. We(she included)decided it just wasn't worth the battles to clean them, and tears to keep them in. She was happy to know she's just as pretty without them. I was proud of her!

* Yep, we're still alive. Just a lot going on, as usual. :) We went to a free workshop and learned how to take pictures in manual mode with our Nikon. Love it! I wish I had more time to play and learn, but I have a feeling that I'll be more into is as we get to play outside in the warm weather more. I love the bottom picture on the left- who knew we really had a 'Dash'(from the Incredibles) of our own living with us.

*I never realized how emotionally taxing/wonderful it would be to live with an elderly person that you love. Grandma has lots of ups and downs. The hardest part is just knowing that sometimes there's nothing we can do to help! (Nothing huge or serious has happend to Grandma... Just day to day stuff.) We're hoping to get our hands on a wheel chair this spring so that she can go on our nightly walks with us. Now if only the weather would REALLY warm up!

* Our youngest has had a big of speech issue the past few weeks. He has a hard time, usually when he says "I"... like "I, I, I want another one," or sometimes he'll just hold the I sound. It's probably just a stage, but it's not one that I'm familiar with from the older two kids. He's able to copy my words without hesitating, but when he's coming up with the words on his own is when he has trouble. Anyway, I guess it's just the Mommy side of me worrying too much (*hopefully).

*I've been working on crocheting an afghan for Josh. He's been asking for one for years, but it has been keeping me busy. I'm excited to see how it turns out, the color scheme is a fun one.

*Josh has been working out several times a week, and it's been fun to see him get excited about it. He's already got more energy. And I'm proud of him for sacrificing sleep to go to the gym.

*I had my wisdom teeth removed last friday. It wasn't has horrible as I had imagined, but I'm really glad to have it over with. I'm really hungry all of the time, and can't wait till I'm comfortable just eating a big juicy hamburger! I was hoping to be done with the pain by now, but it's still a little achy sometimes. I'm sure this will just continue to fade with time.

Hope you each are well, and are enjoying some sunny weather today. :)

Shiny Happy People

Today is a blog worthy day, though nothing terribly significant happened. It is Martin Luther King Day~ so the kids didn't have preschool, and I didn't have to do crossing guard. I'm sad to say I usually go to bed at night feeling completely at a loss at how to parent, and contemplating how I can help my babies be kinder to each other, how I can help my self be less grumpy at them, etc.. (you get the point right?). But this evening is different. Today was such a success. I am not sure how it happened, but the kids got along(for the most part), I didn't get upset with them, they helped me cook and clean, we played games, we visited Josh at work and had lunch without any meltdowns. Our home was a lovely place to be today. Here is hoping for many many more to come. ****And proof to myself that these days actually do happen in our home. :)****

Worth Watching. :)

YAY FOR SCHOOL!!!

*******This entry was written by Josh. :)*******

I received and email yesterday that will soon change our lives forever. I found out that I will be starting the nursing program at SLCC in Aug. 2009. It will have been 2 1/2 years since I've been in school when I start, and the emotions that I have right now are mixed.

I'm excited to be starting the program earlier than expected, but given our current financial situation, I'm scared out of my mind that we won't be able to find a way to pay for it. Pell Grants are an option but I got a letter my last pre-req. semester that said I had almost reached the limit that they would pay for. We'll see how that goes. Luckily we have 8 months to save up for it.

I'm both gitty and terrified that will be going back to school. I greatly miss the constant learning and progression into new knowledge, but I have really enjoyed spending time with my family that I've never had before. This 2 years will undoubtedly be the hardest we have endured yet.
Nursing school (I've heard) is hard enough as it is... throwing on full time work and quality family time will make it a little more challenging.

As I was cradling Babyboy in my arms about to lay him in his bed last night, it occurred to me that he will be 5 yrs old when I am done with the program. He will be the same age as Biggirl is now. About to start kindergarten. Talking in complete sentences with words like "apparently" and "obviously" (as Tenderheart does now). Using logic to determine what is right and what is wrong. He will no longer be a "Baby"boy.

I always wanted to be done with school by the time I started having kids... I find it fascinating that Heavenly Father, in all his wisdom, doesn't really care what we want or when we want it. I have found that He will giveth and taketh away as He desires. The only thing we have much control over is whether or not we understand that it isn't really up to us. He will give it to us when He sees that we are ready.

Hmm... maybe there really is something to this blogging thing. I mean after all, that last paragraph helped me realize that the entire first half of my post was meaningless. In that apparently I have nothing to worry about because my Father knows that our family is ready. Apparently ;-)