Spontaneous Travels

 A few days ago I decided we would take a little trip to the acreage after all of our appointments in the City were done. This morning I tidied the house and secretly packed a bag of clothes for an over night stay at the acreage. Camilla knew something was up the moment she saw the bag which made me smile even more. We took off in the early morning to my Midwife appointment. The children all played well and Joseph stuck by my side until it was time to listen to the baby. I love that my Midwife gives him a special job and that he gets to be a part of this whole process. He loves listening to the baby and feeling my tummy.

 

After my appointment we grabbed a quick bite to eat, rolled the windows down low and headed for the highway. All of the littles fell asleep within fifteen minutes so I got to enjoy some quiet time to myself. I love this drive in the Fall when all of the leaves are bright shades of yellow and red and the smell of the season is in the air. The scenery was breath-taking!

 

We drove passed farms, beautiful fields (some harvested, some not), farm animals and gorgeous ravines.

The littles were vibrating with excitement as we pulled into the subdivision and they have been happily playing ever since. The change of scenery was exactly what we all needed! Grampa deep fried some chicken for dinner and it was scrumptious! 

 

After dinner we hopped in the van and headed to Twin Lakes. We spent the evening exploring and stretching our legs in hopes of tuckering everyone out for bedtime.

We walked the boardwalk out to the floating dock and watched the trout jump out of the water for their evening meal. The kids were super into it! "I just saw a fish's TAIL!" they would say. We had to keep a pretty close eye on Mr. Joseph or else he would jump right in!

We let the littles decide how long or short to stay in one place. They really enjoyed watching the fish jump, so we stayed there quite a while enjoing the view and smells of Fall.

Next we made our way around the lake to the boat launch, picking up all of the flat skipping rocks we spotted along the way. Camilla filled her whole shirt and was quite excited!

Hyrum would wind up for each throw which we all thought was pretty hilarious. Joseph picked rocks by the fist full and threw them all in at once. He could have stayed there all night long. Camilla tried so hard to skip her flat rocks, but didn't have much luck this time. I then showed her that even I wasn't good at skipping rocks and it helped her feel a little better about life.

As we skipped and threw rocks some thunder rumbled in the distance and we figured it was time to make our way back to the van.

Joseph loved his shoulder ride! We made our way home, got everyone jammied and talked with Daddy for a little while. I feel so much more relaxed and happy now. I love getting out of the city every once in a while! Thanks for letting us visit Gramma and Grampa!

Treasures

I've been thinking lately about how great it is to be a parent. I love watching my kids learn and experience life with wonder in their eyes. Joseph for instance has mastered jumping and makes sure to jump off each big rock, bottom step, couch, bed, or chair. It's so funny watching how proud he is when he lands on two feet (after my heart stops racing). Hyrum is really into pretend play and engaged himself in various imaginative games this afternoon while his brother and sister napped. The other day after listening to him and his million pretend voices even Camilla asked, "how does he even DO that?!" It's so great watching him develop his imagination. Camilla is really into drawing and coloring lately. She is constantly bringing me little cards and notes with my name on them which I proudly display on my fridge. When it gets too full, I usually take them up and hide them in a shoe box under my bed. The drawings I get from my children are things I treasure dearly. As my shoe boxes have filled almost to the brim, I realize that I won't be able to keep some of these drawings forever, so I wanted to make a post of some of the most recent artwork around the house. 

 A family picture (including baby)

 Camilla and her pet penguin "Flipper"

 A very colorful painting

 A bear she painted for Mr. H

 Camilla and I out for a walk (I especially love my rosy cheeks)

 She drew this as a thank-you after I took her to buy a new "pet" at the dollar store with her chore money

 Camilla and I again (Loving the way she draws hair now-a-days)

 A picture of her favorite stuffed cat so that I never forget what she looks like.

 Spring Flowers

 Camilla and I

 Camilla being the egg champ last Easter (love her newest obsession with stars)

 Hyrum rarely sits down to draw or color, but when he does he produces some real gems. He gave this one to me tonight and I still crack up when I look at it. It's a picture of him giving me a flower because he loves me so much.

This is also a Hyrum drawing. These are far and few between. Left to right we have Hyrum, Me, Joe, a very tall Daddy, Camilla and her favorite puppy "spots".

DIY Bird Feeders

 In hopes of keeping us all busy and happy this week I planned out an activity for each day. After Joseph went for his afternoon nap the older two and I got busy making bird feeders. I found the idea on pinterest and it turned out to be a lot of fun for everyone.

 Camilla got pretty into it, but didn't like getting messy.

 I love her positive attitude about everything.

 Once they had each finished a couple we went outside to find good places to hang them.

 The kids especially loved climbing the tree in the front yard and hiding the feeders on the branches.

 We've been searching for birdies ever since. 

 Joseph ended up having an extra long nap, so the kids played outside for a bit and we were able to get some school work done. While Camilla was working she grumped, "When am I not going to be a kid anymore?" I told her that when she moved away from home she wouldn't be a kid anymore. She then started to cry, "I want to be a kid forever! I never ever want to leave you!". We then shared a very long, sweet hug and she ended up giggling because the baby kicked her while we were snuggling. I love my little tender girl. 

 

I think this might be a fun craft that we will do again soon!

A Good Day to Fly a Kite

Today we enjoyed the beautiful Fall weather and took the kite out for a spin. It was so great to spend the whole day with Daddy! I'm not even going to caption any of these pictures because they are pretty self explanatory. I will say though that I am in love with them and the way they portray our carefree, fun lovin' afternoon together.

Until next time...

So Happy Together

 We survived until Friday! The littles were pretty darn excited to see Daddy tonight. This morning was a tough one. For the first time in my life I left a store without buying anything because the children were being much less than delightful the whole time I was trying to find what I was looking for. They are kids, so I understand, but that still didn't stop me from crying as I drove us home! While Joseph napped and the other two painted, I deep cleaned all of my bathrooms (and felt a little better about life after that). Then when he woke up I looked around at my well-lived in home and decided to leave the rest for another day. The littles and I spent the afternoon playing in the backyard, and it was the best thing for all of us. 

 I took out my sisters fancy camera (which she is loaning me for a while) and snapped away while we played and laughed together. I was so glad to catch the older two sharing a moment on the monkey swing. Those two are so lucky to have each other!

 I love how handsome and serious Hyrum looks in this one.

 Camilla brought out some blankets and we played on the grass for a while. Our yard is full of lady bugs and Joseph had a lot of fun with them while they tickled his toes. Soon the older two were fully engaged in a game of pretend with their new stuffies, and Joseph was playing on his own.

 I had a lot of fun following him around the yard, watching his mind work as he explored the world around him. He found a few forgotten apples and checked them out for a while.

 It didn't take him long to take a bite out of one. Judging by his face, it was slightly sour, but delicious. 

 While he ate he spied airplanes, hung out on the swing and let the grass tickle his toes.

 You wouldn't know this kid is a total clown. This picture totally cracks me up.

 I'm pretty sure this was his fifth half eaten apple.

 Oh, I just love him!

Daddy surprised us by arriving home just in time for dinner. The children were overjoyed to see him! While we sat and ate I asked Joe if he was happy that Daddy was home. He said, "Happy. I..an...HAPPY!" It was the first time he has ever said that word before, let alone formed a three worded sentence. He then proceeded to shout "I HAPPY!" all night long. It was pretty much the cutest. Daddy played with them downstairs and let me have some time to myself. He tuckered everyone right out and Mr. H fell asleep on the couch shortly after seven. We are sure glad to have him back!

Home on the Range

It's been a long week on the homefront. Mr. Stannix left last weekend for his first week of work in the Calgary office. The first two days were worse than the whole two weeks he was gone in the Summer. But we are truckin' along and counting down the sleeps until Daddy comes home! Though the children sometimes make me crazy, there are moments when my heart just melts from their cuteness. 

Hyrum has recently moved on from his Harry Potter phase. The pencil crayon wand and 3D glasses that accompanied us to the park, grocery store, and church on occasion have vanished. Now he walks around the house shouting "Yee-Haw!" and saying things like, "Yes ma'am" and "After you ma-lady". It's quite cute.

 

I now find myself using phrases like "No Lasooing at the dinner table!" and "For the millionth time, please don't lasoo your brother!" It doesn't take him long to remember that he can only practise his lasooing outdoors.

 

And today I couldn't help but kiss his little cowboy face and snap a million pictures of him.

Too Cute

Sometimes this kid is just too cute for me to handle!

Super Joe

Who's faster than a speeding bullet?

And always go-go-go?

None other than SUPER JOE!