{4.26.21 - 5.2.21}

No one wanted to look at the camera and smile at the same time today! I love having this bike track at our park! 

Brave boys! 

This creative little mind is at it again! He drew "pupcakes". 

And his own version of Batman. 

Lyla had a soccer game this week and it's almost Eli's birthday so my mom and Matthew's parents and Sarah came down to watch soccer and to celebrate Eli. 

He wanted a fire cake for his birthday this year! I love how excited he was about all the things! 

I went to check on the kids before I went to bed tonight and found these two sleeping together in Axel's bed. 

Matthew had to go out to Kanab to pick up a trailer for work so the boys and I decided to go with him. We must have worn them right out! 

It sure is pretty down here! 

I wish the whole video would fit on the blog, but I can only get a clip on here. So please enjoy a portion of Alya's dances at her spring recital! She did such a good job and is super cute, I might add! 

{1.11.21 - 1.17.21}

A couple of dinosaurs! Bullet is such a pain, but he really is such a good dog! He loves my kids, so I guess we will keep him! // I think I will never get bored of snuggling my sleeping kids. 

The girls went to work with Matthew and got to color on his, what I assume, are some kind of drafting paper for his landscaping plans? Anyway, I love this one that Lyla drew for her "Dadey" 

Peek-A-Boo, Eli! Man, he is just too cute. 

If you watch this video, please watch to the end when I tell him to never do this again! It's amazing what these kids learn simply by watching!! I walked past the fireplace and he had put paper and wood in the stove, pulled a stool over to get the matches off the top of the fridge, and come in and was trying to light a match. So naturally, I start to take a video rather than take the matches away. Well, it's safe to say that the matches are officially hidden from my pyro 2 year old!  

{8.17.20 - 8.23.20}

The girls started 1st grade this week. Thanks to Covid, and as much as I don't like it, they have to wear masks to school. I think they are kind of a novelty though and they have been excited to have new accessories! I hope they don't have to wear them all school year, but I don't have high hopes. 

I am not used to having to get kids ready and looking cute and out the door by 8:00 a.m. so we were kind of in a rush to get pictures done! This year they have Mrs. Jarvis. Lyla's favorite book is "That's Not My Mermaid". Her favorite colors are red, pink and purple. Her favorite food is pigs-in-a-blanket and when she grows up she wants to be a "draw-er." 

Alya is also in Mrs. Jarvis's class. Her favorite books are books with tabs that she can flip. Her favorite color is black and her favorite foods are macaroni and cheese with bacon and BLTs. When she grows up she wants to be an inventor. 

It's been a big week at our house! We are officially done with binkies!!! Eli decided he wanted to cut his last binkie and now he wants absolutely nothing to do with them! And look at those lips!!!

Eli brought a stick inside that he has just been playing with. He got quiet for a minute so I went to see what he was doing. He had gone and pulled a marshmallow out of the pantry and piles some toys into his "fire pit" and roasted a mallow! So funny! // He has also been cooking me dinner every night. He goes to our drawer and pulls out all the toy food, puts it in the strainer and sets it very carefully into the oven. Then he waits a few seconds and says "hot" while he waits. After a bit he lets me know it's done, so he pulls it out, puts it back in his bowl and we pretend to eat, then he puts it back in the drawer. Except for the one day when he forgot to pull a couple pieces out and I preheated the oven before checking if anything was in there. Oops!! I caught it before anything caught fire, but it made me nervous. 

The boys have been wearing their jammie shirts up on their heads like this and they pretend to be long eared puppies. It's pretty funny! 

Getting in couple more trips to Palisades before the weather starts to cool off! // He's doing so good on his little bike! 

I love these happy boys! 

Axel became fast friends with another little boy we saw at the lake. I think this was our first time at the lake by ourselves. It's always more fun to have friends, so thank goodness Axel was able to find one! 

How cute is that face!? He's pretty excited about the new truck Nana got him for his birthday! 

{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! 

{5.4.20 - 5.10.20}

Eli turned two this week. It's crazy to me that he is already two! It breaks my heart and makes my heart feel so full at the same time to see my kids growing up! I love who they are and I love watching them grow. I just really do wish it would slow down sometimes, but with every milestone that Eli passes I may or may not feel like celebrating a little! Haha! 

He is pretty excited to have his own bike! 

He was so excited to open every gift and was thrilled with everything he pulled out of the wrapping! // He was just so happy with every little aspect of his birthday! I loved seeing how excited he was about everything! 

The cutest blowing out candles face that I have ever seen! // And he was so proud of himself!! 

We took some pictures of the kids in front of our pretty crab-apple blooms. I really do wish I was better with descriptions of my kids and their personalities, but this pretty much sums up the girls in a photo. (Lyla//Alya)

And the boys...Axel is so crazy and Eli refuses to look at the camera when I want him to. 

He did not like the bees flying around the tree. 

We went on a hike with my cousin and her kids! I love Eli's lip and Alya thought the new way to carry her backpack was pretty cool! 

There was a rope anchored in at the top of this cliff and the kids each tried to climb it! 

Lyla wanted to do it so bad! I love how brave and adventurous she can be! Maybe I need to get her some better hiking shoes! // Alya tried it, but she sure didn't love it. That's okay though! I'm just glad she still tries things even when she's afraid to do it! 

He's cute! // She made it! 

Eli wanted to carry all the sticks that he could find. // There were so many rocky hills for the kids to climb. They were all very steep and they all climbed up and loved it...coming down was different story! Haha! 

We decided we needed to get Bullet some exercise, so we went fishing so he could play in the water. He is such an athletic dog! It's fun to watch him in the water. There is no hesitation, he just goes for it! // I love you, miss Lyla! 

This kid!!!! 

Sometimes I try to make her fix her smile, but other times I love that she is going through this smile stage!! 

Alya can only smile or look at the camera. Both is hard. She is so cute!! 

Here he is, refusing to look at the camera for me. I think in the second picture I only caught his face because he was showing me a rock he was about to throw into the lake! 

We took my Mother's Day picture in our new room this year! Three out of four smiling is a win I would say! It's always an adventure to get this picture! 

Here is one wall in our new room! It still needs some furniture and we need to finish the bottom of the bookcases, but Matthew built those bookcases himself and framed out this wall and did all the mudding and taping and laid the flooring. Basically he has finished this room 100% by himself! It is looking so pretty! 

Eli is a little pyro and I'm a little afraid of this new skill that he has learned!