The Dogwood Tree



Through the dark green curtains
The snowbright dogwood floats
As a cloud of butterflies
Above the damp sunlit slope.
Heather Z. Hanna

I love when the dogwoods bloom.
It reminds me of my childhood.  Our whole backyard would light up for a few weeks, once a year, with dogwoods.  Mom would fill vases with them.

So Landon and I went on a walk through the woods right in front of our house.

This is Landon's most favorite place to be.

And we walked and ate our apples.  That would be what is in his mouth. 

And I cut these and made this. 
It made me think of Mom.
And I smiled every time I passed them.

Pedicures

I can't believe I forgot to mention this under the family reunion post.  My sister-in-law Jennifer had the most brilliant idea around 7:30 Saturday night.  She suggested that we all go get pedicures.  She called the place she goes to and they said that if we could be there by 8:00 they would stay open for us.
I am so sad to say that I have never gone to get a pedicure with a group of girls before.
This was so much fun.
I highly recommend you grab some girlfriends and go do it.
Toes belong to Me, Jennifer, Jamie, and Lorria!

Abraham Lincoln

{unrelated picture}
Savannah with "Miss Annie"
She is Savannah's most favorite person!

In the month of March we celebrated President's Day!  We got to vote in the Alabama caucus.  Savannah has this writing journal that she brings home every Friday.  She has written something in the journal, usually pertaining to what they have talked about that week, and then we write back to her on the next page.

Usually I am the one writing to her.  Laurel has written a couple of times.  Well, this particular time she asked her dad if he would write to her.  She had written about Abraham Lincoln and his tall black hat.  Seth had forgotten to write and Savannah reminded him Monday morning as they were walking out the door.  He came back to the table and I thought he would write just a couple of sentences, since they really needed to be leaving right then.  But this is what I love about Seth, he took the time to write this:

"Dear Savannah,
I see that you shared a story about Abraham Lincoln as we celebrate President's Day.  This year we will elect a new President for our country.  When you reach the age of 18 you will be able to vote.  I encourage you to read and study what each candidate stands for as you reach voting age.  I encourage you to read and study the constitution and vote for that candidate who lives by it and who will do the greatest good for the country.
Love, daddy"

 

Family Reunion/Seth's Birthday

From the dirtbike race, we went to granny and papa's where we had a family reunion.  All six of papa's children were home.  He has 15 grandchildren!  All 15, except Jordan were there.  She is serving in the Navy and joined us by skype!

Papa had his backyard set up for entertaining! 

Uncle Galen is always the "human" jungle gym!

Wow, my little man, Landon is getting so big!

Sawyer met Uncle Karsten for the first time!

We celebrated Seth's and Uncle Karsten's birthdays!  Laurel and Savannah and their cousins Andrea and Lucy had so much fun making birthday hats and sneaking around to get everyone to sign a big homemade card they had made.

Daddy with his boys.

The best thing about this family reunion was watching papa's face.  He told me that this is what he had always dreamed of,  having all of his children home.

 

Sawyer Celebrates At A Dirtbike Race

Sawyer turned 5 months old on March 17th.  We all went to Seth's dirtbike race.  The day was absolutely gorgeous.  This was Sawyer's first dirtbike race and this is how the story went.

Landon was in dirtbike heaven!

The start is always exciting.  My heart is always beating fast in hopes that our sweet daddy doesn't get clobbered going into the woods.  Which for the record, he never has!  It just always looks quite scarey to me.  A bunch of dirtbikes fighting for the first spot into the woods.

Sawyer hanging out at the pit area.  Do I sound like a dirtbiker's wife!?  Ha, the "pit area."

Don't you just want to chomp on those cheeks!  I'm so in love with this little guy.  Let's see, he can roll over now.  He laughs all.the.time.  He gives the biggest, wide open smiles.  He fights sleep like I've never seen before.  He will be wailing away and as soon as you pick him up, he stops.  He is constantly kicking and running in place with his sweet, little legs.  He has started grabbing things within reach. 

Like I said, HEAVEN!

Nothing like a field of dirt to run and stomp and play in.

We were waiting to see daddy jump this hill, but he couldn't because....

he had a flat tire!  Yep, it stinks when that happens.  So it wasn't a great finish for poor daddy this time.

As for Sawyer, he was done.  He didn't like the loud noise, not one little bit!

Happy 5 months little guy!

The End.

Spring Is Here!

I love Spring!
It is my favorite season.  I love when everything blooms.  I love when the days get longer.  The weather is just right.  No humidity.

So when the time changed, we went for a walk and a bike ride in our pajamas.  We stayed out past the children's bedtime.

Now, if we could just have all of this without losing that hour of sleep!

playdough/lunch

The cars and animals came out to play.....

and Eat!

Laurel's notes

Laurel is always leaving notes.

She broke the chair that goes with her table in her room.  She quietly took it to the garage with a note.

She left me a note on my pillow the other night.
"Dear Mommy,
I'm sorry if we drive you nuts.  But I gess we are in love with candy.  And Mommy you do not have to beat Landon bum like that.  I know that I need to be a better sister.
Love Laurel"

{for the record, I did not beat Landon!:)}

conversations in the car



{valentine's day 2011}

Some of the best conversations happen in the car.  For the past three weeks, Seth has been driving Laurel and Savannah to school.  You see, they added a lane to interstate 65, which in turn cut down on HWY 280's congestion problem.  Seth is able to get them to school and make it to work on time.  He loves being able to spend extra time with them in the morning and they love it too.

This morning they both had their book fairs at school so I took them.  I had forgotten just how much I miss their conversations.  This is how the conversation went this morning.  At one point I thought, who's raising this girl?!

Savannah:  "mommy, at the stop sign can you turn this way?  I want to show you where I'm going to live when I grow up!"
Laurel: "you know where you are going to live?"
Savannah:  "Yes, it is going to be close to mommy."
Laurel: "Well, you have to live where your husband is."
Savannah: "I'm not going to have a husband."  "Here it is, mommy! That's where I'm going to live."  As she points to an open field.
Laurel:  "Are you going to have children?"
Savannah:  "yes"

Me:  "Then you need a husband if you're going to have children."
Savannah:  "No I don't, mommy.  You have taught me all I need to know."
Laurel: "Savannah, you have to have a husband!"
Savannah: "Laurel, don't judge me.  I can do what I want to in my home."
Laurel:  "Well, you sure will be close to school."
Savannah: "I'm going to homeschool!"
Laurel: "Wow, what else are you going to do when you grow up, Savannah?"

Don't worry, "her mommy has taught her all she needs to know!"
:)


A New Plan of Attack

Landon has brought so much energy to our family.  He is wide open all day long.  I have never experienced anything like him.  Don't get me wrong.  It is a good energy.  It is just a very exhausting energy.  I had two quiet girls who would sit beside me and play with their baby dolls.  I was able to fold clothes and keep a clean house.  They both took about a three hour nap everyday.  They did this until they were four.  Things are a lot trickier now.  Having a boy has opened my eyes to a completely different world. 

He does not want to stop long enough to take a nap.

Getting him to take a nap is like a really, bad nightmare for me.

If he is strapped in his carseat, he will go to sleep.

So I became one of those mothers who would get in carpool a hour before school got out.  Both boys would stay asleep.  I liked sitting there reading a book, or cutting coupons, or cleaning the diaper bag out, or watching Laurel and Savannah play on the play ground. 

But there was always a pile of laundry waiting at home or a dirty bathroom.

One day this past week, Landon started getting fussy around 1:00.  I had about seven loads of laundry piled up!  Seriously, how does this happen!?  I knew if I could get Landon to stay still long enough he would go to sleep. 

I said, "come on Landon, let's go get Laurel and Savannah."  He asked for a "sucka!"  I gave him one.  I buckled him in his carseat.  I said, "I will be right back."  The van was in the garage.  The weather was perfect.  Not too hot, not too cold.  I left the door open from the garage to the house. {I guess I just wrote all of that to make myself feel better.  It kind of sounds cruel that I just left my 2 year old in the car.}  I came back in and started folding clothes.  A few minutes later, I went to check on Landon.  He was sound asleep! 

I spent the next 1 1/2 hours folding clothes.  Sawyer slept the whole time also.

Over a hour later, I put Sawyer in the car.  Landon woke up and said, "go get Laurel and Savannah, mommy?"  I said, "yep, mommy's ready to go."  He said, "where my sucka?"  As he pulled it off his jeans, he said, "here it is mommy, here it is!"  He stuck it in his mouth and went about enjoying the "sucka," never knowing he had just slept the past hour and that he now had clean clothes in his drawers.

You've eaten cat food before, right!? 

Like I said.

A whole new world!