Memorial day

For memorial day we went to rock creek park in the morning. Casey did the Frisbee golf course while the kids and I took turns throwing another Frisbee / carrying half a dozen rolly poly bugs in the Frisbee, and enjoying the nature along the way.
 We meet a very nice man along the path and he pointed out a nest and snake for us to look at. Further down the path he pointed out three baby owls in a tree. The gentleman was a bit hard to follow in a conversation. After a bit he pulled out a card explaining to us he has aphasia (He can think inelegantly but he has difficulty speaking, writing, and reading.) He tried to tell us a bit of his life's story and it was humbling to hear. He motioned to a small camcorder he had and the owls telling us he finds joy in tracking the birds and watching them grow. Meeting this man was a humbling experience; I feel so bad for his situation in life. It made me step back and think how my trials are small in comparison to many others.

After our park fun we picked up lunch and headed to the cemetery in twin falls. Casey's mom meet us there as we finished or picnic. For a while now Casey had been interested in our ancestry, knowing where our ancestors came from, and finding our where the more recent generations have been buried. He knew there were some in Twin Falls so we took the holiday opportunity to find them. Cheryl knew where a few were and we looked up the others in a directory. The kids had fun following us around and putting flowers on a few of the headstones. Peter liked finding the pinwheels to spin. Kendal commented how it was the prettiest cemetery ever. (Probably because she was surrounded by flowers.) We came home after and Cheryl treated us to yummy doughnuts and played a game with Kendal while we chatted.

We got talking about how we grew up celebrating Memorial day. Both Cheryl and my families would visit graves and spend time with family for the holiday (Usually the first BBQ of the summer season!). It's always a special day to reflect on family who have passed on, and being grateful we live in a free country because of all of the brave men and women who fought to make it so.


Tuesday we got to have Aria and Rhett's sweet little trio of girls over to play for the afternoon. We hit up the park, played play dough, and got a mickey cartoon in at the end. It's great having these guys closer. We're excited for more adventures this summer!

it is what it is

A while back I was asked. "So, are you going to have another kid?" My outward response was "we're happy with the two we have; we'll see." My inward response was "if only you knew we are trying to have another; it's not easy for me to get pregnant."
I have reached a year of trying to get pregnant. It is the third time I've gone through this. I get to be on a roller coaster of emotions, waiting, hoping, and wondering.
I'm currently in the defeated, this is where I am, I'm in God's hands mode. With Kendal after a year of trying we turned to a determined mode of dumping money into doctors appointments, and fertility drugs. Almost another year later we were on the verge of being financially spent (student life), emotionally exhausted, and ready to put a pause on trying when the call came that I was pregnant. With Peter we were still in the student lifestyle so we choose to just try in our own. It only took us half a year to get pregnant then.
So; to answer a few questions that have come up and I am assuming are on some minds.
Q: Will I seek fertility treatment or a doctors help like I did the first time?
A: I've thought and prayed about this a lot and I don't feel it's what I want to go through again.
Q: How long are going to try?
A: While I'm not ready to throw in the towel yet, I don't wish to do this indefinitely. So we'll see what happens in the next year or so.
Q: Is it hard to talk about pregnancy / babies, or see others pregnant?
A: Not anymore. I've honestly come to an acceptance of it all.
Casey and I are apart of a fairly young ward. So we have constant pregnant ladies and births every month. I've also been blessed to have three nephews come along in the past six months. I'm genuinely thrilled for all the new babies. I'm more than happy to snuggle and hold a little one. It's all helped me come to an acceptance of where I am.
I know many who suffered far longer and physically went through more than I've had to before they were able to have kids. I know some who are still waiting for the opportunity to have kids. I count myself lucky to have the two wonderful kids I do and will be fine if they're all I have.
I'm not writing this post to gain sympathy (Seriously I don't want to hear sympathetic responses.) or because we're seeking extra prayers on our behalf. I just want where I'm at documented and to put a bit of myself on this blog since I don't often do that.

Rain rain, play play

We've had a lot of rain the past two weeks. This week any time it was sunny enough to go out I made sure we were out getting our wiggles and energy out. We rode bikes when we could and made mud pies too. On Thursday we meet up with Sarah, Vanessa, and their kids to eat lunch at arctic circle and let the kids go wild in the play area (we stayed for about three hours.)
The pictures from above are from an awesome new park in the area that we went to on Friday with my visiting teachers and their kids. It was rainy in the morning so when we went we had the park to ourselves for a while which was great, because it got pretty busy a while later. The kids had a blast on the playground and we ate a picnic lunch there.
Kendal was able to go to both swim lessons this week. She's doing really well and can go a small distance swimming. She's getting comfortable being under water and has really enjoyed the lessons. She's got her two make up lessons at the end of this week then she'll be done and we can practice her new skills throughout the summer.
Saturday morning we went and ran errands. We got the mattress for Peters bed so when we got home and the sky's were looking sunny Casey painted Peters new bed. Kendal helped for a bit and Peter got in a few strokes before we had to remove the brush because he was being a bit too helpful. We let Peter pick out the color for his bed from the paint section at the local restore place. He was pretty adamant that he wanted blue. We went around the neighborhood with the kids on their bike and scooter so they'd let daddy paint in peace. I also drew a hop scotch to play on.

No major plans for memorial day. We'll see what the weather brings and what we can find to do.

5 1/2 on 5.15.15

Kendal is five and a half today!
Kendal always seems to be bursting with questions.
I've heard that an average five year old asks 400 plus questions a day and I can honestly believe it. I know it means she wants to learn and know all she can. ; )
Kendal is obsessed with all things kindergarten lately. She is just itching to be at school and wishes the end of August was tomorrow instead of in three months. We're working with Kendal on many things to get ready for school. She's reading well, her math skills are decent, and her handwriting is coming along.
Kendal loves to play games. When Peter goes down for a nap the first thing Kendal does is go to our closet and asks to play a game. She has a slew of games she loves to play, but her favorite right now is rat a tat cat(#'s game). Kendal has many toy likes right now; legos, barbies, cars/dolls (most common Pete/Kendal play), puzzles, and pretend play. Kendal enjoys her computer/tablet time. Once in a while she does some chores or is helpful to earn extra minutes.
Kendal is all about goals this year. Our first one was ride her bike without training wheels; with a lot of practice and confidence boosters she's doing well. She has wanted lace up shoes so we made a goal to learn to tie shoes and then she could have some. She finished that goal and is quite proud of her lace up shoes. Kendal's current goals are reading to finish her latest reading chart, and to give 100% in swim lessons. Kendal's started swim lessons this spring. She was a bit cautious in her first couple of lessons, but thanks to some encouragement, and the example of fearless swim buddies in her class she's doing great. She's trying her best and being so brave in the water.
Kendal is generally our easy child (kinda always has been). She can be emotional at times; but I don't know a little girl or toddler who's not. (When I say emotional I mean she cares deeply about things / people and can become upset or passionate about them.) Kendal loves to play with Peter and while they're getting along better there are still days of time outs because she's trying to control the play and Peter is not having it, or he has a beloved toy and she fights to get it back.
It's hard to believe my baby girl and sweet toddler are long gone; cheers to Kendal and her little lady years!

Last Preschool

For mothers day this year Kendal gave me her cold as a gift. So I said some prayers and made it through my primary lesson with aches and a scratchy voice. I spent the rest of the day achy and my evening curled up surrounded by heating pads and full of medicine. Other than my cold it was a good mothers day. Casey spoiled us by cooking and cleaning up meals throughout the day and the kids gave me extra love (which is probably why Peter now has my cold; sorry buddy).
The first two pictures are my sad attempts at getting the kids to give me mother's day smiles before church. But we caught a decent family picture with the timer. The last picture is Peter passed out right before dinner Sunday evening (late church = no naps, makes for interesting Sunday afternoons). 

Casey thought I was crazy but I pulled through and ended up doing preschool Monday morning. (It's my last time teaching this year, and I didn't want to flake out.) I made sure Monday was low key in activities. We started out preschool with a bean bag toss. Kendal and Peter were the only ones who took it seriously the two little boys in our group got in a throwing fight with each other and the little girl just wanted to hoard the bean bags and sit with them so no one could touch them. After bean bag tossing we made name bracelet's. The kids had to find beads with the letters in their names and string them onto pipe cleaners. We next had snack where I made apple rings for the kids to put toppings on. After snack we read books. Our vowel this week was O so I emphasized words with O's. I had to cut story time a bit shorter than I usually like to go but the my voice was giving out. After books we did an O worksheet where the kids filled in the o's in words with circle stickers and we went through the list of words and talked about how an o can sound different in each word. Monday was a nice day so we ended by going outside to play. The kids launched parachutes off of my balcony and played on the swings.
Kendal had swim lessons on Tuesday. Casey said she's doing very well! She's loving lessons and was sad when they were cancelled Thursday due to stormy weather. We had an extra long bath time that night to make up for it. Peter and Kendal wore their goggles and blew bubbles for a long time in the tub.
Wednesday our theme was zoo animals. I took my extensive collection of beanie babies out and made a pretend zoo in the living room. The kids came in and made their own binoculars and then played with the zoo for a while. We had a snack of animal crackers and talked about what kinds of animals we see in zoo's. Next we read the mixed up chameleon, and Curios George visits the zoo. After the stories the kids used their binoculars to go on an animal hunt around the house. I had pictures of zoo animals hidden for the kids to find. We ended up playing this game a few times because the kids loved finding the animals. We did some work book time and then headed outside for the last bit of preschool.
I've loved having the opportunity to do preschool for Kendal these past two years. I'm grateful we saved money doing the home school rout and I've loved using know how from my collage major, and creative mind to create some fun times. Kendal will enter Kindergarten this fall and Peter will only be three so I'm not actively seeking to do another Mommy group (unless it's one day a week and is fairly casual). I've often thought of starting my own preschool but there are many factors putting that off, so we'll see what future years bring.

"Namaste"

I do video exercises for at least one of my workouts each week. We stumbled upon kids yoga a while back and every so often I do it with the kids. This past week I pulled up the video and turned to find the kids ready to get their yoga on with me.

Thank You

Dear Kendal and Peter,
Thank you for making me a Mother.
You were both dreamed of,  prayed for, hoped for, and waited for. It is an honor to be your Mom. I thank our Heavenly Father everyday for blessing me with two amazing souls that call me Mom.
Kendal; you are my firstborn, my precious daughter, my little girl. You amaze me everyday with your love for others, your knowledge, and your spirit.
Peter; you are my wonderful son, my strong little boy, and our best buddy. You are inventive, you are funny, and you are curious about life.
You both teach me to have courage, to harbor patience, to explore, and to appreciate the simple things in life. I hope you both know how much you're loved. I pray to always be a good example for you, to appreciate the ages and stages your in, to share my love of the gospel with you, to care for you the best way I can, and to shower you with love everyday.
-Mommy

Dear Casey,
Thank you for making me a mother.
 I am grateful to have you by my side as we charter our way through parenthood. Thank you for the support, care, and love you give to me through my ups and downs of mommyhood. Thank you for being my solid place, my partner, and my best friend. You are a wonderful Daddy, and I'm so proud of the two amazing kids we have together. I love you so very much!
- Marianne

Happy Mother's day to my Mommy, and Mom in law, and Grandma whose examples have shaped me, taught me, and helped me be the mother I am today, and hope to be in the future. I love you all!

Aggies all the way, hey!

This past Saturday we got to see Cody graduate collage from USU. He majored in biology and will be working towards becoming a doctor in the future. Stew Morrell was the commencement speaker. While his speech wasn't the most profound thing I've ever heard, he was very funny. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard at a graduation. The rest of commencement was a bit boring in comparison so Cody and Casey spent the rest of the time playing eye spy via texting around the spectrum. Commencement ended with the school spirit song and we even got Mom D to join in with us. We then headed over to the tsc ballroom to watch Cody walk with his fellow "geeks" (as the department Head described them). It was nice to once again walk around on campus and see the changes. Casey and I both want to bring the kids back sometime this summer and show then around.

Mom D posted on Facebook that all of her kids and their spouses have earned college degrees, and two have their masters. We're lucky to have such amazing family and are proud of all of our wonderful families accomplishments.

My parents, Andy, and Katherine were kind enough to have the kids with them while we attended graduation. They took the kids to Home Depot to "build", chick fill a for lunch, and to watch the Disney monkey documentary. The kids are definitely spoiled by our amazing families every time we visit.
Saturday evening we celebrated my brother David's upcoming birthday. We ordered a Monster pizza from fire house. (There pizza was seriously one third of the picnic table outside.) I gorged on delicious focaccia bread while getting in some good snuggle time with baby Elliot.

End of April

Last week the kids and I did a few earth day projects. We made a car city out of recycled materials and we made our own paper. The kids loved it and Kendal has been more conscience of what we throw away since our earth day discussion. The flowers the kids planted a few weeks ago are growing well. Kendal wants to see them and water them every day.

On Saturday we went to the local YMCA for a kids event. The kids got to go around and do a bunch of activities. They did some karate, yoga, limbo, a train ride, and played in some bounce houses. They enjoyed some snacks too. (chobani yogurt, jamba juice, kiwi loco) The kids had fun doing all of the activities and playing  the games they had there.
(I'll have to add pictures from Casey's phone later)
On Monday we went and registered Kendal for kindergarten. Casey and I both feel it's crazy that Kendal is old enough to go to school. She is more than ready and excited to go. It'll be a long summer for her (she asks weekly when school starts). After we finished registering the kids enjoyed playing on the school playground. Kendal was loving playing with all of the other kids who had been there registering as well.
We decided to do swim lessons in the spring this year so we could work on Kendal's skills throughout the summer. Kendal has loved her first week. She's a bit cautious with water, floating, and putting her head under water; but she was fairly brave and did well during her first two lessons. After her first lesson she was trying to teach Peter some of the moves she does to propel herself through the water. So she would do poses for monkey, airplane, and soldier then Pete would try and copy her. It was pretty funny to watch. Peter doesn't go willingly into pools yet and he's still a bit young to retain what's being taught so we'll hold off another year before we put him in lessons. Till then we'll try and get him to like more than just the bath tub.