{4.20.20 - 4.26.20}

 

Grandpa took us on a little hike this weekend while we were at their house! Alya was so glad that she wore her rain boots so that she could walk through the puddles. // I loved watching Axel on our hike. He just can be so quiet and I just really want to know what is going on in his head sometimes. He's just so great! 

Eli loved all the piggy backs and shoulder rides he got and I just canNOT get over is chubby little fingers! // Lyla seems to thoroughly enjoy being outside and exploring. She loves all animals and wants to save them all and keep them all. She's such a sweet little girl! 

This was the best we could do in our attempt to get a picture of the kids. // We got to cross this pipe to see a beautiful little waterfall and, of course, Eli loved watching the river flow under the pipe. 

Family time is pretty darn great! I love when we get out and do things like this with each other! // Axel is a pretty good fake sleeper!!

My little snuggle bug hangin' out with Daddy! // I love this armless Axel llama!

These over-alls are way too short for him and he pretty much has a constant wedgie but he LOVES them so much! He's so stinking funny!!!!

Axel loves to play games with me, and I love to play games with him! Today's game was Go Fish. He also loves Yahtzee! // Eli found Matthew's chalk dust in the garage and it was everywhere!! I worried for a minute that his shoes would be permanently red! Haha! I hope chalk dusted jerky doesn't taste too bad! 

I love this face so darn much! // I love that Eli likes to snuggle with Alya! He's such a lovey little boy! 

He's trying so hard to be mad at me!! 

Axel loves this Spiderman costume (and it's my favorite when he wears it with his dinosaur cape!) // I don't know what Eli was so upset about but this sad Spiderman is still pretty cute! 

{4.13.20 - 4.19.20}

 

{4.6.20 - 4.12.20}

Happy Easter! We had a fun day making cookies and dying Easter eggs! I love Eli's little hand cutting out his cookie! // Alya loved dying her eggs! And I love her eyes.  

Eli LOVED dying eggs and man was he cute! // Axel also loved dying eggs and 18 split between the four of them was just not enough for him. 

Lyla, of course, wanted mostly pink eggs! // Her delicate little smile is starting to grow on me. I love that it's just her. I wish I was better at figuring out personalities, and identifying what certain characteristics say about a person (if that makes sense) because I'd love to be able to fully understand what is going on behind this little smile of hers.  

Man, he was just so fun to dye eggs with! // We tried a new method this year...just water, vinegar and food dye and I think these are some of the best and brightest eggs we have ever had!  

I love this ferocious little T-rex and his skinny little chicken legs! // He wanted to try the egg dye...he didn't love it! Haha!  

I just love this boy! I love those little hands on that giant camera! // And man he just knows he is cute!  

Axel is just so stinking funny (which is something I say every weak I think). He thought it was so funny to clip the chip clip onto his nose. He also likes to use chip clips or magnets as earrings. So funny! // Two binkies...we all go through this phase at some point, right!? 

We went turkey hunting with Matthew one night. We found the cutest little spot with the water running near it and the kids loved it! 

I love these babies of mine! They are the best!  

Pretty little spot! // Lyla thought she was so funny when she refused to smile! I love it, though!  

Love this happy boy! // I tried so hard to get a good picture of these kids...I guess all the pictures are good...they just don't always cooperate quite like I want them to! 

See...still great...just not what a had planned when I wanted a cute picture of them! 

{3.30.20 - 4.5.20}

This squishy faced boy is so fun! He is such a happy boy and he is pretty good at taking all the things that his siblings (and sometimes his mom) can dish out. // Axel loves his zombie face! He gets really freaked out when I pretend to be zombie. It scares him so bad but he also thinks it's so funny!  

Matthew is getting the bookcases put together. They are so beautiful. 

Doing school at home has been interesting, but Axel loves that he gets to be involved. 

I love the brotherly bond between these boys. They love to be playing near and with each other and laughing together. I feel so lucky that I get to have a backseat view of these boys growing up together! 

{3.23.20 - 3.29.20}

Kaci and Turner came down to visit this week! It was so great to have them here for a little while! // Lyla wrote a book about mermaids!  

This is possibly one of my favorite pieces I've made! 

Now that I have the cute sign for the kids bathroom I guess I need to get to work painting and fixing it up a little bit so I can hang it!  

These boys are just plain silly!  

I love all these drawings from my talented kids! // Alya has been practicing her cursive and she writes notes to me all the time spelling out my name in cursive. It's so funny to me! ("Alli I love you I am sorry that there's a crazy thing Axel did it") I have no idea what Axel did, but this note sure made me laugh! 

{3.16.20 - 3.22.20}

I have no idea why he is so upset but this picture is so great! // He loves anything that has a button or a mechanism that makes it do something he doesn't quite expect.  

We have a white cheddar powder that we sprinkle on our popcorn, but Eli likes to forego the popcorn. // He has been loving socks on his feet lately and it's so funny! He's so proud of himself that he can put them on his hands by himself. 

I have been finding a lot of pictures like this on my phone lately.  

These kids are quite the handful and I know for a fact that I have a lot to work on as a mother, but I can't put into words how much I love them! 

We played barber shop this week! Alya wanted to keep her hair long... 

but Lyla was ready to go short. I think it looks so cute! It has also made a HUGE difference when it comes to brushing it out. Eli looks so grown up!!  

I wish this picture wasn't quite so blurry, but Axel loves this story and he has memorized it. I love that he can help me read it. // This maneuver looks painful to me!  

Last weekend Utah schools were cancelled in an attempt to slow down the spread of the coronavirus. It's been so crazy! We had to pick up packets from the girls teacher and just do homework at home with the occasional virtual meeting. I'm glad my girls are just in Kindergarten...I can barely understand their homework now, imagine a third grader, or a sixth graders homework! It's been kind of fun though, because we have had the opportunity to participate in some virtual activities like a safari tours from the Cincinnati Zoo and drawing with Mo Willems.  

Lyla drew this cheetah just from looking at a picture of a cheetah!  

And I love Axel's little people drawings! This stage of drawing is so fun for me! 

 As I mentioned, Mo Willems has done a fun virtual "doodles with Mo Willems" during the quarantine we are under. Lyla made her first animation while watching one of his recordings! 

{3.9.20 - 3.15.20}

We took a little outing to look for elk one night. It's one of my favorite things to be in the mountains with my family, even if we were a little cold.  

#howLylasleeps // I love this dirty face boy!  

Salt Lake City skyline - 3/20 

I asked my sisters for help with the prompts we were given for the burnt March challenge. This one was soft, and Joni said when she thought soft she thought of a mother. This one was especially close to my heart and it's not something I like a lot of people to know, but if you read my blog/posts, you probably know this about me anyway! In September of 2015 I would have been 14 weeks along with the girls little brother or sister, but I learned that the baby's heart never developed and I had to have a D&C. That baby's due date was March 10 and this prompt was set for the week of March 10. I am so grateful to be a mother and my knowledge of the gospel and the plan of salvation and I am grateful to know that one day I will get to meet that little baby!  

This one was fun! I had the kids write notes to their dad and I copied onto the wood. I absolutely love it!! 

Axel's favorite music right now is the soundtrack for The Greatest Showman and his favorite song is the one at the end with "the girl in white" and I love how he mimics the dance a little bit in this video. He's just so great!