Mother knows best.

10 years ago today I moved to Utah. I had the strongest feeling that that is where I needed to be. My mom said, "It's probably your future children calling to you." I rolled my eyes, and laughed it off.

9 years ago today I was having labor induced with Sariah.

Maybe she was right.

Overheard on the playground

We were at the park, Sariah was hanging out on top of the monkey bars with a couple of friends. They were talking about whatever it is that pre-teen girls talk about these days. I overheard one girl say, "Your mom is (something indiscernible.)" Then Sariah replied, "Yeah. I like her." As she said that she looked over at me with her eyes glowing. She looked so happy and so proud to have me as her mom.

~

It was a good day.

She doesn't know I heard her.

Kids corner

Kids: whine, fight, scream

Dad: (car stopping) This car is not moving until you kids stop fighting, make up, love each other, and are best friends.

Sariah: That will NEVER happen! We'll be here forever. That's like as bad as kissing a BOY!

Essi: Kissing a boy isn't as bad! It's more like kissing a tree on the hard brown part.

A huge truckload of... Well... You know...

Hahahaha! I was looking through my pictures and ran across this beauty that was snapped from our front porch in Idaho. I really liked where we lived, we were surrounded by an empty field, the kids could go out and play, without me having to worry about them running into a road or anything else. It was a wonderful, simple, beautiful life.

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It was interrupted.

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From February through April, this truck drove down our little lane, and dumped fertilizer into that field. 4-5 loads a day 4-5 days a week.

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It was lovely.

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In the winter, it wasn't so so bad, my kids wanted to go climb the mountains in the field, I told them no, and everything (minus the scenery) was okay.

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Springtime changed things.

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Have you ever experienced an Idaho Springtime? It starts in February, sort of. We'll get a nice day, that warms things up just enough to make things really really slushy. Just when all the beautiful white snow is covered in grey and or mud, it gets cold and freezes again. Then the springtime cycle of sunshine and snow starts.

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(It continues until June.)

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What this meant for us was, a lovely sunny day where our yard smelled bad. REALLY BAD!! Every time we went out and there was any kind of thaw, you couldn't help thinking the mud you were stepping in HAD to be something else. My kids constantly thought Helam's diaper was bad, and I was convinced that our tires had to be covered in it.

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People told us, "Soon the piles would dry out and the smell will be gone."

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They had not thought it through.

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Because in Idaho, NOTHING dries out until June. So, we'd have a sunny smelly wet day, followed by a freezing snowy day. This would freeze the moisture in the piles, and they would stay frozen until the next sunny day, where the piles were on a gradual defrost.

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For 3 months.

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Then we moved.

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I still kind of miss that place!

1-2-3 Ugly!

This is one of our favorite games! Armed with camera, mom counts 1-2-3 Ugly! Then the kids quickly make an "ugly face" for the picture. It's really fun, and usually has us rolling by the time we're done, and it's fun to catch some of the kids finer faces. So without further adieu...

1-2-3...

Ugly!

(Complete with snot and eye allergy goop!)

1-2-3 MONSTER!

1-2-3 Silly!

1-2-3 You have to go to real school tomorrow!

1-2-3 You smell a Diaper!

(The picture was a bit late and they were starting their after shoot laughing.)

1-2-3 Diva or Princess!

1-2-3 One more crazy and make it good!

Puyallup Fair (a month late)

I just got all my phone photos transferred to computer, so I'm finally writing about this! We went on April 16, the day before one of the kids rides toppled. We had such a great time, and even though I grew up in the heart of Eastern Idaho State Fair territory, I've definitely found a new favorite. The fair grounds were immaculate, all the display areas were really clean too. They had artists performing pottery making, and other forms of art. There was a huge building with free kids activities. The kids got to make spring hats, potato people (you'd expect that in Idaho, but we found it in Washington, go figure!), bookmarks, and shakers. There were other craft booths, but we didn't go there. The coolest area by far was the reptile area. The kids got to see all sorts of wonderfully horrible creatures, and got to pet a few too!

Sariah used her own money and paid to do a bungee jump thing. It was on a trampoline, and she was harnessed to bungee cords. She got to jump so high, and was doing back flips like crazy. She loved it. I wish it would have been light enough when she did that for me to get a picture.