EAT!!!!!!

Fern came walking down the hall this morning after waking up, I picked her up and snuggled her, then she pointed to the kitchen and as plain as anything said, "eat". She says some things, but mostly only mama can understand. (Although everyone can understand her yes and no because she does the head movements so emphatically while saying it!) I just can't believe she is getting so big! Too fast!
So I of course got her some breakfast and then ran for my camera! So the first is a cute little giggle, and the second is where her spoon goes! :) If you ask her where her spoon goes she puts it on her nose!! Silly girl! :) That is all for this morning!

Found Out!

Ok I did my homework! Remember the plant in the soggy spring area of our yard that I described as looking like lettus? IT IS NOT LETTUS!!!!! I found it today in our Audubon Field Guide to New England. It is called Skunk Cabbage, in my book it describes it as; smells like decaying meat!!!!!!!! EEWWW!!! I am not sure it is even worth trying to pull it up, there is not too much in our yard, but there is TONS in our neighbor's, plus it may just come back. Besides can you imagine having to work around that!!!! It does say that it attacks pollinating insects. So maybe it will have an indirect good effect on our yard. Just thought I'd share my gross moment for the morning!

All you could ever want to know about skunk cabbage!
"A fully-grown skunk cabbage has a massive root system. It's virtually impossible to dig a plant out of the ground." I guess that answers my question. Breath easy Dan your off the hook! :)

Short description.

And good ole Wikipedia!

Our Saturday!

What little boy does not dream of the day when he owns his own lawn mower!!?? And then after mowing the whole yard looks back in fondness of when he did not own one. And then turns to looking forward to when his son is old enough to mow the lawn! :) Dan and the boys went out and bought a lawn mower and a weed whacker, you should have seen the 3 happy boys I had! Dan is so excited to have gas cans! I think I shall never understand boys! :)
MY girl!!! Do you see what she stole out of our farm box today!!?? Yes she is munching on a big radish! As I was making our salad for dinner she kept reaching in and stealing the tomatoes and radishes. Then after dinner she was left to her own devises for a minute and she found the goods!! Cute hu!

Well Dan leaves tomorrow for Calif. :( sniff sniff. I WANA GOOOO! He is giving the kids a bath right now, and I am hearing alot of crying, even Dad I think! I guess I better go! Love ya all!!

Random!!

Here is Fern and I the other day, Riley wanted to take a picture of us, Riley has decided I look like a "better mom" when I wear my glasses. Silly guy!! :)
Here is Fern last Saturday night, we had a dinner at church, it was the "scoop dinner" it is a way for the youth to make money for camp this summer. You buy tickets for each scoop of food, and they auction off baked goods and services. Dan baked a loaf of bread and it went for $30! I donated a dinner to be made, and it went for $40 I think, there were a couple families trying to out bid each other on it! It was a fun night, the boys got to run-a-muck with all the other little ones there, and Fern was cute and so happy to get a cookie from Sister Spencer (the bishop's wife, they won enough goodies to share with everyone many times over, too bad most had milk in them)! It was alot of fun!

Ok Mary your turn to update!! :) XOXO

Just Today!

Well since our dryer has been broken it has been raining, but thankfully today (as we were running out of clean clothes) it turned sunny! I put this load out this morning when it was still looking threatening, even the barometer was not promising. But thankfully my good faith was well rewarded with warm, drying sun!!!
Our neighbor across the street gave us some of his raspberry bush! He said once it gets established it will go crazy spreading! We also bought a blueberry and blackberry starts! Dan is just about ready for me to plant in the veggie garden!! Yea!!
Look at these weird plants growing in the spring area of our yard! I do not know what they are, they look like lettus to me!
My beautiful girl who is growing too quickly! She picked out her yellow socks to wear this morning and then found her yellow jumper to match, how cute is she!! I love how the wind is blowing her hair!

We are still enjoying Dan this week, although he leaves on Sunday to go to Long Beach! And he will have dinner with Daddy! Completely unfair! Next he'll decide to go hold my new niece and then I may not let him back in! There is nothing right now that my heart yearns more for than to hold Novella! See for yourselves how cute she is!! :)

Ta ta for now!!

Outing!

Today was a great day to go somewhere indoors, it was quite rainy and chilly! So we went to West Hartford to the Noah Webster House!
Here is the house, if you look towards the back you can see the add on, that was for the "modern kitchen", with a pull out arm over the fire place for pots and everything!! :) People lived in this house until the 1960's, crazy!
Jake learned how to card wool, (I remember learning that at 5th grade camp!)he was thankful there was something he could touch! :)
Riley really enjoyed getting to try out the little loom, he loved the big one, and thought it was great to try the little one. Our tour guide was surprised at how many answers Riley had for all her, "Do you know what this is?" questions! :)

Fern thought it horrible that we did not let her run free! And since my tumble down the stairs on Sunday I have not been able to carry her as much as she would like. So she had to put up with Dad!! :) But here is the ONE picture of me, with a little more contented Fern! :)
As always here is Dan with his eyes closed!! Oh well other than that it is a good picture. This is the modern kitchen! It was a good outing, and we enjoyed the fun!

And for our new dryer, the repair man opened the top and said, "WOW", not exactly what you want to hear the repair guy say! Well the drum is broken, big ole crack, and the rollers got damaged because of it. So on Monday or Tuesday a new drum should show up! Crazy!! And for the rest of my day, I got completely fed up with the mess the boys never clean up, (stop laughing mom!) so I took all the toys in their room and locked my self in, in the end I have 3 bags of trash and they each have 1 small box to keep treasures in, everything else went into labeled bins that can be brought out one at a time, and only after asking. Yea mom is mean, but hey there is floor in their room and down stairs now!! I'll post pictures of the pretty bins when Dan gets the shelf up for them, (tomorrow hopefully)!!!

No Pictures!!

Be thankful! You DO NOT want any pictures from our last 2 days!!! Poor Fern has had the yuckies coming out both ends! I know if you are not a parent I have just totally grossed you out and you are now leaving my blog, but for the rest of you all! I have been up and down with Fern, at first I was afraid she got some of the ice melt Jake spilt, then worried that she got some of the eggs I finally let in the house because of begging boys, and now have just settled that maybe it is just a bug. But it seems she is on the mends, THANKFULLY!!! So no pictures, mom is tired and thankful for this little smidgen of time with out a clingy crying babe! So hopefully we will go on our day trip tomorrow (after the dryer repair guy comes) and there will be fun pictures!! Dan has been busy outside, so I'll get some pictures of that too! Love ya all!!

Shopping!!

I really enjoy getting to shop at the 2 local (13 miles away) health food stores, but it is nice to make "THE TRIP" occasionally and go to Wild Oats. I walk in there and feel like a kid in a candy store! There is just so much!! So today, being Dan's first home, he worked all morning outside getting my garden ready (YEA!!!) and then this afternoon we went for an excursion to West Hartford! Here is some of our booty!! :) Sorry the boys are into playing pirates! With a chunk of our tax return we are adding to our food storage, so that is why there is so much, plus I stock up on things I can not get at the local stores!!
On our way there we saw this, I think will be an upcoming day trip, The Noah Webster House. Ya no "Webster's Dictionary"! First dictionary came from Connecticut, it looks VERY cool!
Then we passed this beautiful building, it is The American School for the Deaf. This is the only picture I could find online, it does not do it justice!!

So that is our day, I am hoping to have beautiful pictures of my garden for you soon!! It was 85 here today, everything is budding, it is SOOOO nice to see color! I can't wait to see what our yard will look like with leaves!!

So Where Do You Store Your Legos?

Last night after putting the boys to bed Fern and I came down stairs, I was watching a show and Fern was playing with the legos. Then I turned around and found her with her jammies half unzipped stuffing legos in! I of course RAN for the camera, she tried to hide from me by turning her back, she also tried to get them out fast, but they were all down in the leg, and she could not get them. It was so funny and too cute!!
This is when she gave me the "eyebrows", and I of course kept taking pictures and telling her to "SMILE"!! :) Good thing the background is pretty dark, you can't see how messy downstairs is!! :)

Spring is in the Air!!!

Well I was inspired by Cherish's spring time post on her blog, and thankfully just yesterday it got a bit warmer here!! Yea!!! Here is my first daffodil blooming! I planted a few bulbs late in the fall, the ground was already a bit frozen and I did not know if it would take! Lucky for me I have daffodils!!!!
There are a couple plants starting to show the signs of spring around our yard!
The kids and I were able to play outside yesterday and today!!

Tomorrow is Earth Day, are you doing anything fun? It is a bit hard for me to get out and supervise 3 kids running in opposite directions, but we are going to attempt an outing to an Earth Day fair at the local Natural Food Store. They have a bunch of fun (FREE) activities and tasty things to try! So we will see if mom survives and comes home with all 3 munchkins, and her sanity! :)

Crazy Fun While Dad is Gone!

Here are a few videos to start you out! First Riley yesterday hamming it up! Then Jake the daredevil, would you go head first? And finally Fern who graciously let me take this before she said no, and was done! :)Here is my fashonista yesterday, she has decided she likes to pick out her clothes, gosh the boys have never been so opinionated, vocal, and so young in their clothing opinions! She loves to hang like this on the banister, I have finally convinced her not to go further out at least!!
Splish, splash is an understatement for this trio!! Everything is soaked after Jake is though, add Fern and watch out. Riley spends the entire time yelling, "stop splashing me!!!". Riley is a funny guy!! :) Fern starts peeling off her clothes the second she ether hears the word bath, or she hears the tub faucet turned on!!

Dan is still enjoying the sun, and tried his hand at snorkeling yesterday in the Caribbean. His trip to Bora Bora got changed to the Truks & Cacaos Islands, ruff hu! :)

These are the pictures I was going to put up yesterday, but blogger wouldn't let me, I guess I should get up early (before all the west coast wakes up) and get my blogging done!! :)

Intresting Read!

I know no picture, I'll post one later, but I just read this and thought I would let you all read it. It is a link in the musings for today's comic from "Hathor The Cow-Goddess" . Interesting, and thought provoking hu! :)

A Giggle for you!!

I thought you all could use a good giggle, this picture just makes me giggle! Jake's cheesy grin, Dan falling asleep, and Riley, well it is just great! The boys were showing off their new haircuts! :)

I am in the middle of a new book, so we'll see if much gets done until I finish. What a slacker mom! :)

Oh I almost forgot!

To post these pictures!! Two weeks ago we all got to go for a ride in "Dan's airplane", they had to reposition it to New Haven the day before a flight, so we rode along then drove back home!Jake was very helpful during Dan's checklist time!
This was Fern's favorite seat in all the airplane! I just loved her little feet sticking out!
Time to take off, Riley got to ride in the "jump seat" right up front and watch Dan and Tory fly! You have never seen a smile so big!! I promise!
Jake was comfy on the couch in the back, he got to watch the TV screen, it was showing us the view from the "nose wheel camera". It was a bit trippy watching the take off and landing from the nose!!

Fern was much less happy with her set in the back, she kept trying to run up to Daddy!! :)

But we made it safely to New Haven, mama and Fern were a little queasy, it was a REALLY windy day. They seem to have alot of those here! And now we can all say Dan has flown us in "his" jet!

Just Like Mama!

Proof positive that actions speak louder than words! I will admit that I have a small addiction to the computer, I use it for many things. And I am always trying to get the kids to find sources of entertainment out side electronic media. So maybe mama should take a little of her own advice!
Fern jumps into my seat when ever I get up and forget to close the computer cabinet doors. We have a baby lock on the outside (that Riley has figured out), maybe I should get a mama lock, maybe one that is timed and only opens at certain times of the day. :) We'll see.

Today's Adventure!

We decided that since it was a nice day out that we would finally get out to explore the area! So we went to Hop Brook Lake. We actually never got to the lake, we found a great trail in the wetlands of the park and took a good 2 hour hike. Dan has decided that Jake will be my fellow tree hugger, and that maybe a career in the Forest Service would be a great fit, and I have to agree. Jake did not want to leave!
Fern enjoyed exploring this squirrel dinner table. There were tons of broken acorn and other nuts shells. Fern thought this was great.

Fern fell asleep before we left the park, and Jake was quickly asleep as we drove home, so we now have a pretty quiet house as Riley is unloading the dishwasher, and soon will be doing some school work.

I hope your day is as lovely!

Fern Got a Package!

Fern and Dad are opening it, the suspense has pulled Fern in!!
OOO, pretty!! Fern's baby quilt from Grandma Hook!
Fern admires it!

What's next? Time to try it out! Lets get cozy!!
AAH, Fern is chilling in style!

And as all good gifts come in a box, the box wins in the end!!!

Thanks Grandma Hook!!

Ok, so blogger really did not want you all to see these pictures! I have been trying to load them since 5 pm yesterday, during which I shut down my computer twice in hopes it would shake the bug! But thankfully it has worked this morning, other wise you may not have heard from me for a long time as I would have thrown it out the window! The computer that is!! :)

We will see if you get any more post today, Fern has been complaining about her ear, she is quite clingy and grumpy, we'll see if I even get though the laundry today!! :)

BURRRR!!!!!

The theme for our egg hunt was "hurry, hurry find the eggs and run back inside!!!" During church I looked out the window and saw a few flurries flurrying about! I told Dan that I am pretty sure Easter is suppose to be more "spring like"!!

Here is Fern finding her plastic Easter eggs filled with bunny graham crackers and a couple jelly beans!
Riley found one in his "hiking spot"! Jake found a few real eggs and a few "ball" eggs filled with yummy things!!We did a dozen real eggs, we like to dye them with plants. This year to keep it simple we only did 3 colors, blue = red cabbage, green = spinach, yellow = ground turmeric. We then did a couple using a technique Dan learned in Germany, we got a couple knee high stockings which then hold flowers and such in place while we put the eggs in the dye. Then they come out with pretty designs. See the second one from the left on the top row was done with a piece of fern! :)

I hope your Easter was a bit warmer than ours!!!!

A Smatering of Our Trip!

Fern loves to sit with Grandpa on his chair, notice not on his lap but beside him! :) When ever Grandpa gets the nuts out there seems a few grand kids appear!
Well the "river" got filled in this trip, so Grandpa and the boys took a trip to Home Depot and planted a garden! They planted tomatoes, green bell peppers, red bell peppers, some pretty flowers, and it seems like something else. Oh well! :) It was also St. Patric's Day, that is why they all blend in so well with the grass! :)
Tired Riley, cute Fern, ready to pop Aunt Mary, melancholy Jake, and happy Ryan, the night we celebrated Mary's birthday! MMMMM Native Foods and lemon cake!!!!!!
And the end, Fern and Jake found the chairs at the Long Beach airport quite amusing! They kept themselves busy close to 20 min. which made my job much easier!! Fern was full of cheesy grins for me too!! :)

We also got to meet up for a fun evening with some friends, the Khoury's!! It was the first of many get togethers! I didn't get a picture taken but no worries Rima did!! Happy first day officially home with your girls Rima!!!! I am so excited for you!!

We are all just trying to get back into the swing of daily life, laundry, school, ya know stuff! :) We are enjoying Dan being home too, he has had one day trip and now nothing for a couple weeks, but don't feel sorry that he is not flying, his next trip will log close to 35 hours into his log book! I am not sure I should mention where he is going, you all may end up hating my hubby! :)

We were able to watch General Conference this weekend over the internet. Saturday was good, but I think too many people were trying to watch Sunday, BYU tv kept stalling!!! I really enjoyed a few of the talks Saturday morning, they were uplifting to me, Saturday afternoon was a treat as we got to hear about the Tabernacle and then President Hinckley rededicated it! Sunday Dan was excited to get to hear Elder Dieter Uchtdorf speak, he was the area authority during Dan's mission in Germany, and he was a pilot for Lufthansa airlines. Dan saw him on an airplane recently and said hi, or rather Gootentag! :) Dan and I miss going to Utah for conference weekend and spending time with Uncle Jim and Aunt Sandy and Aunt Jo and Uncle John and everyone, but we continue to enjoy the treat of Oreos just like at Aunt Jo & Uncle John's! Luckily I have found some good non dairy ones! It really is a treat, I rarely buy them, Dan thinks that the fact that Aunt Jo's cookie jar is always stocked and that there is always back up in the pantry, heavenly!!