Golden Hour

It's been a fabulous Sunday. The children were all ready for church nice and early and sat so well through the meetings. I've said it before, but I feel like we are in a really good place right now. Church is enjoyable and we love that the littles get along so well these days. We didn't have to take anyone out of sacrament for a diaper change, potty break, or time-out, we just sat and enjoyed the spirit.

When we got home I pulled Mr. Stannix aside and snapped a few pictures. I've missed that guy so much!

 After dinner, we said good-bye to Daddy and waved as he drove down the lane. When the littles started driving me banana's we set out for an evening walk at the golden hour. The weather was lovely!

We took a different way home, and the littles enjoyed exploring.

It was nice to just let loose and forget about what time it was for once.

I had my mamma snap a quick shot of my growing bump just as the sun was dissappearing behind the trees. I then took Joe in for a nice warm bath while the other two finished out the evening in the sandbox playing beneath the golden rays. Life is good.

Taking it Easy

 When I left home on Thursday I had only packed for an overnight stay. Daddy thought it might be nice to meet up at the acreage to relax for the weekend. We've done a few loads of laundry and threw together a few church outfits for tomorrow. Today we spent the whole day hanging out with Daddy. The kids sure missed that guy this week!

 

We went for a nice long walk, talked and enjoyed the Fall leaves. While Grampa Mowed the lawn Mr. Stannix and I hung out on the grass catching up.

 



Hyrum snapped a picture of us!

The boys both got rides while Grampa mowed the front lawn. They were pretty tickled about it!

The evening brought a date at DQ for Mr. Stannix and I and a few rounds of cards with the family. It's so nice to be together.

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...