{8.30.2021-9.5.2021}

Axel started his first day of preschool today! He has been so excited!! 

Axel | First day of Preschool | Age: 5 yrs | Teacher: Ms. Jenn | School: Busy Bees Preschool | Favorite Book: "Big Book of Dinosaurs" | Favorite Color: Every color in the world | Favorite Food: Fish Tacos | When I grow up I want to be: A Paleontologist

Gosh I love these two! // Axel is fighting sleep so hard! We went to Idaho this weekend and Grandma and Grandpa took us up to their camp!

I love this bare foot boy! 

Matthew and I took a four wheeler ride! It was so fun! I really miss doing things like that! 

Dad tried to teach the kids how to start a fire with a magnifying glass. 

Good thing these guys like each other! Haha! 

 

I am the meanest mom!!! But this video makes me laugh every time! We went to Home Depot and they had their Halloween decorations out. We found this skeleton dog and Eli was terrified of it! 

{8.23.2021 - 8.29.2021}

Snow cones are the best! // Axel lost his first tooth this week! 

Eli made himself a smiley face sandwich for lunch today! // The boys woke up to a bunch of balloons in their bedroom to celebrate Axel's birthday...the balloons only lasted about 20 minutes before they had them all popped. Haha! 

Axel requested a Hulk birthday cake this year! I think he turned out pretty good! // I love this picture of him getting ready to blow out his candles. 

He got lots of gifts! New cars, a new dragon, new books, new clothes... 

...and a new bike! 

I went in to check on the girls before I went to bed and found them like this! I'm really glad my kids have each other! // Joni found this picture that Lyla drew for Crystal when she was in the hospital. She is such a sweetheart and I'm sure Crystal loved it!

We didn't get very many beets this year, but the ones that we did get were HUGE! 

Rare moments caught on camera! 

{2.8.21 - 2.14.21}

Playdough creations! Lyla made a snowman // Alya made a penguin, I think! 

"ROAR!" // Making Valentine boxes! 

Lyla's Valentine monster // Alya's heart box

I have found these stickers all over my house as they just fall off his skin and clothes! // This note to Axel from Lyla made me laugh! "Dear Axel, I love you. You are the best brother ever, but sometimes you aren't. Love, Lyla"

The girls had all of us come down into their room and taught us to draw a sloth. It was pretty cute!

Another snuggly buddy picture! I love it so much! 

We took this time lapse of Axel working on his lego dino. I love his "roar" at the end of the video! It's so fun to watch him do this! 

 

{8.24.20 - 8.30.20}

It was this crazy kid's birthday this week! 

He had the best reaction to all of his gifts! He was just so excited to be turning four!!

He asked for a crocodile cake this year. He loved it, but I love that he just loved that there was a "4" on the front! 

He is so excited for his new Spiderman suit! // He got some Lego sets and was very patient working with Sarah to put some of them together. 

Axel's little frog! // Lyla was most excited to make this little sea horse. 

Alya was very excited to make up her own little under the sea creation. // We went to the Grazing Pasture with Matthew to check some cameras for his upcoming elk hunt. The kids, of course, found as many grasshoppers as they possibly could and were very upset with me for not letting them keep them as pets. 

Soccer game side-line selfies! // This little boy is so busy and all boy. Any stick he picks up becomes some kind of weapon.

More soccer game side-line selfies with Alya! // I love that Lyla loves rocks the way that she does. She is very good at seeing the beauty in ordinary things...even if that means there is a small pile of rocks in every room of my house. 

This is one of my favorite views as we come down into the Grazing Pasture. All of a sudden you come into this open space at the top of the hill and as you can see, the view is amazing! It's beautiful in all four seasons! 

Eli has been a rockstar on his strider on this bike track. // Why is this kid so stinkin' cute!! 

My little soccer star! Running is not her favorite, heat is not her favorite, but I'm proud of her for trying something new! // I made these cute little hall passes for my sister-in-law's classroom this year! She is doing llamas for her decor. I think they turned out darling! 

My little cruiser on the bike track! He does such a good job! 

{6.22.20 - 6.28.20}

If I were to tell you that Matthew took three sets of family pictures in one year, would you ever believe me?! Well, it happened! These are the first family pictures (with just my little immediate family) we've had since our wedding day! I am so happy with them! 

These kids are my everything! 

My sweet little Lyla! She is my tender hearted, animal loving, crazy, silly girl! 

Alya, my Munchkin! She is so kind and loving, a great big sister, goofy girl! // My little Eli! My baby boy - who refuses to be a baby! He's all boy! He's my song singing, superhero loving, sword wielding warrior.

Axel Bo Baxel! He is so creative, artistic, talented little man! 

I love this guy and I am so glad we have this crazy, crazy life together! 

How cute is this!? This bond!!! I hope it's never broken!

Alya took a nose dive on her scooter this week! (I'm SO glad it was after we had our pictures taken!) She was cruising and landed right on her face. Not even her hands broke her fall. It was the scariest thing I have ever watched! She has a pretty good shiner but thank goodness she is okay!

Eli is my little helper every morning when I go out to water the bushes and trees! He loves it and I love that he wants to help! // Matthew took us for a drive! We went looking for a spot to take our friends for our annual summer camping trip and ended up where I shot my little buck last year. It's such a pretty spot! 

This was a fun moment to walk up on! The boys were just hanging out on the stairs and Axel was reading Eli a story! I say it all the time, but I absolutely love moments like this! 

I love this happy brown eyed boy! 

And this wild child of mine! 

Her poor face!! 

This picture is Lyla to a T! Her crazy sense of style, all her collectables hooked onto her purse with the crazy hair to top it all off! 

{3.2.20 - 3.8.20}

It was Doctor Seuss day at school this week and these two obviously had to be Thing 1 and Thing 2 // I love when they walk to school holding hands like this! They are so sweet!  

Eli loves snuggles so much! // Eli has been so funny at bedtime lately. He likes to take off his pajama pants and diaper before he falls asleep. I checked on him one night to find him and his sheets soaking wet so he got a few extra snuggles...maybe that was his plan all along!  

He's such a sweet little deer! // It's been so fun to listen to the girls reading scriptures at bedtime lately.  

Tia told Axel that as soon as he started using the toilet he could come meet her new puppies and I think that was just the incentive he needed! And we all enjoyed loving on those tiny babies! // I hate how fast Eli is growing up. He looks so tall in this picture.  

He's a pretty good little helper! He's probably the most patient helper of my kids. 

The kids made their own little firepit in the backyard and have been so excited to have a fire in it.  

I also love their paw print they made out of rocks!

Axel and I get to spend a little time together when we walk to get the girls from school. He is such a funny, creative, adventurous little guy and I love him so dang much! // For months Matthew promised Axel a fishing trip after he decided to use the toilet. If you haven't guessed yet, we tried for a long, long time to convince him that he could do it! He, however wanted nothing to do with it until it was his idea!

But he's a champ and loved his fishing trip.  

I joined a burnt March challenge, and here are a couple of the burns I made. This has been a fun challenge and I'm pretty happy with progress that I've made. I know I have much to improve on, but I like where things are headed.  

Seriously!!!!!  

I found the kids playing Candy Land using dinosaurs and race cars as their pawns.