Time for School!

 Our first week of school turned out pretty good.  Considering that "Tate the great" is now a first grader, Allie and me are preschoolers (I'm the teacher of course :) and starting next week Alex is a full time college student again.  The only one who I was really worried about adjusting to all the business was Miah, who just kind of gets passed around.  But I am relieved that she seems to be the one accepting the scheduling changes the best.

 This was the first day of school and they both did so well.  I am really enjoying being a preschool teacher and  am trying to do some adjusting myself.  I guess I'm going to have to accept that some days my house just will not get cleaned.  Oh well, it's all been for the best and me working (and our new car, a Nissan Altima) has been a huge stress reliever for Alex and I as he prepares for his bachelors program and then law school.

 I just wanted to add a little update about my adorable little redhead.  Miah is growing up so fast and is so smart. She has already perfected the temper tantrum (at 16 months)  no thanks to a couple other kids I know ;) but she is so happy and sweet despite that.  She loves to give kisses right on the lips and you can't help but melt when she flashes that toothy, dimpled smile.  She's also been talking more and more each day.

I would try to list what she says, but it would take me too long since she says something new everyday, but some of the really cute one's are "wa wa" for water, "Emma"  her cousin, "Mace" Macey her other cousin, "A-yee"  Allie, "Ate" Tate, "poo poo" no explanation needed, "Pee-Pa-Poo"  Peek-a-boo, "Mo" No.  "Na"  snack.

 Just my adorable girls.  Allie is so eclectic with her wardrobe.  I just love it.  And thanks to Allie's love of the camera, Miah is finally starting to get the concept of smiling for pictures instead of after.  Yay! I love that gorgeous smile!

Belated birthday wishes to Allie!

My Allie turned 4 on August 1st!  I can't believe my little girl is getting so big.  She had her first friend birthday  party and we had quite a turn out.  Allie requested a splash pad princess party and that's what she got.  We played in the splash pad, decorated princess crowns, and butterfly wands.
Now Allie is in preschool at the Washington City Community Center and guess who her teacher is...ME!  She is absolutely wonderful in class.  She even told me after our first day of school that she loved her 'teacher'.  I laughed and said, "but I'm your teacher."  She just laughed and said, "I know!  That's why I love my teacher."  She's such a wonderful part of our family and we love her so much!  Happy belated birthday Allie babe!

And so we begin...

It's hard to say exactly how this all started coming together, but it seems that one minute our plans were that I would get my real estate license and Alex and I would work together as a team and the next thing I know Alex is gearing up for law school and I'm a preschool teacher....alright well it wasn't quite that fast.  Let me explain.

Alex has been a Realtor for 8 years now and although he truly loves it, it's not always been easy.  The thing about real estate is that when it's good, it's good and when it's not so good it's bad!  We've tried to be very careful with our money, budgeting, keeping careful records, etc. However, when it's either feast or famine the middle ground is just hard to fabricate out of thin air no matter how good our intentions are. 

We've tried our hand at other businesses, school and part time jobs during the famine times, but never felt that it was something we were supposed to do.  So Alex just kept plugging away at real estate.  It amazes me now how it all came together.  I honestly can't really say when the idea began to develop, but somehow Alex and I both knew.  Alex is signed up to finish his Bachelors degree in political science from SUU (graduate fall 2013), take the LSAT and with heaven's helping hands be accepted to and graduate law school.  

With that challenging and exciting development, I began looking for a part time job to allow Alex availability to do so.  I was very particular about what I wanted and took the matter up in prayer.  I needed a job that would allow me to keep my two youngest with me since Tayden will be in school all day and I did not want to have to leave my children for long hours everyday in daycare or with friends or family. I applied and interviewed for a preschool teacher position at the Washington City Rec Center with high hopes, but no real expectations of  actually getting the job.  I was amazed and relieved when I did.  Since Alex has been working so hard in real estate he has been very successful with clients and a partner that he is obligated to stick with, he will continue selling real estate while my pay check will alleviate all the stress in between closings. 

I am so grateful for such a wonderful husband who has overcome so much and who is courageous enough to tackle such a rigorous and challenging task for the betterment of himself and his families future.  I am most grateful to my Heavenly Father for blessing and inspiring along the way.   

A mid summer's day

These pictures were from a week or two ago when the temps had dropped into the high 70s to low 80s.  Which explains why we're outside in pants.  It was such a beautiful, peaceful day.  I taught the kids to do cartwheels and handstands. (I was a little surprised I could still do it)  then me and Alex watched the kids ride  their bikes. I can't believe we have three children and that they're all getting so big. 

P.S. I say in the video that's it's July but it was actually June.  Oops.

Big gift...small package

A few days ago I found a tiny baby bird in my garage.  TINY!  He was maybe only 2 inches long, no feathers and his eyes weren't even opened yet.  He couldn't have hatched more than a day or two ago.  But there he was, chirping away as loud as his miniature lungs would allow. I gingerly scooped him onto a piece of paper and began looking around for signs of a nest.  We searched high and low.  In the garage and out and couldn't find it.  His little chirps were weakening, so I squished a passing earwig and dropped it into is open mouth.  His strength revived immediately.

So I employed Tate, Allie and a few of the neighbor kids to begin hunting for worms while I did a little research to figure out what to do with this naked baby bird that my heart had completely gone out to. He would need to eat every 20 minutes and kept warm, but my web research also said not to attempt to care for it.  Well I wasn't about to put him back where I found him nor was I going to stop until I found his nest either. Perhaps the mother bird would still accept him since I hadn't touched him.

Unfortunately,  we did find the nest.  I had seen birds flying to an opening in between the tile roof and the rain gutter near the garage opening.  So I grabbed a ladder and investigated.  In a gust of wind the nest must have been blown from its snug hole because I found the remains of my adopted birds siblings. I can't say exactly why this touched me so much, but I fell in love with this little bird. Mostly I think, because he had more resiliency in his tiny body than most people have in theirs.  He had fallen at least 9 feet and then been blown  into my hospitable garage, littered with toys.  Most would have given up and died, but not him.  Instead, with all the strength he had he called out for someone to rescue him.

We did our best.  The kids found lots of rollie-pollies (potato bugs), but since they were a little too crunchy I had to do some hunter-gathering.  Turns out we had a good selection of small slugs hiding in the cool moist dirt.  Our little bird ate greedily every 20-30 minutes although I am no mama bird and even my smallest finger was far to large for him to eat off of.  I resorted to either a baby spoon full of slug, aimed correctly and dropped into his open beak or squished onto a medicine dropper and put in his mouth.  Needless to say feedings wore both of his out.

By the late evening he didn't seem to be doing so well.  I had to resort to a potato bug or two since he'd eaten all of our stock of slugs. I went for one last hunt in the backyard with a flashlight for slugs and then went to bed. I had tried to prepare the kids for him not to make it through the night.  And in the morning I was certain he was gone, until Tate said that he was in fact still breathing.

 He managed to eat one more slug, but it had been hours since he'd pooped and his belly was swollen.  He stopped chirping and a few hours later finally died.  We buried him in the backyard in the moist dirt where there were lots of slugs and lay dandelions over his grave. The kids were more curious about the whole thing than sad.  I, however, have shed a tear in thanks for what this little bird taught me.

We were once tucked safely away with our Heavenly Father and Mother.  Until we fell from our heavenly home and were blown into an inhospitable world.  Do we lay down and accept the inevitable?  Do we spiritually, mentally, or emotionally give up and die? Or do we call out with all the energies of our souls for rescue?  Do we continue to fight, lifting our heads ready to accept whatever blessings the Lord sees fit to nourish us with?  Unlike my clumsy hands and lack of ability, Father in Heaven knows exactly how to care for us spiritual infants. He loves us with more fervent emotions, feels more compassionately, and understands more fully than my frail heart ever could.

The most amazing thing I've learned is that despite the vastness of the world, solar system, galaxy, universe....eternity, He has enough love for even his smallest creations.  I'm sure I only felt a fraction of compassion and love for that little bird as Father does.  And if he loved this tiny bird so much, how much more must he love me and each of us?  How much more does he want to us to call to him when we need rescuing?  And how much faster will he save?

Fairy Princess & 007

Allie decided to be a fairy princess today, but since she couldn't find her plastic princess high heels, she went perusing through my closet and picked out some of mine.

Meanwhile Tate got all decked out in cowboy regalia only to have a sudden change of occupation midmorning when he walked out of his room dressed as a "secret spy".  When I told him he couldn't go outside in his suit coat, sunday shirt and pants he was disappointed since he wanted to be a spy that went outside.  But I told him not to worry, secret spies are 'secret' for a reason.  They need to be incognito so not to draw attention to themselves.  That's the only way they can succeed in their spy missions.  If he dressed like a regular kid then no one would even suspect that he was a secret spy incognito. He liked that and changed into some shorts and a T-shirt.

These two crack me up!

Baseball All-Star!

 Tate's first peewee baseball game was actually last week, but it was pouring freezing rain and the kids ran around in complete bewilderment about where they were supposed to be and what they were supposed to be doing (It couldn't have been because they were drenched and frozen)
This game was a huge improvement.  Tate did so great!  That kid has a quite the arm and can throw the ball further than me.  No joke! Tate played first base (a very big job).  I was so proud of him.  He's got a mean swing too.  On his first time up to bat he struck out. He hit good on the next two times though.  Later when I was talking to him about the game I said it was okay that he'd struck out cause sometimes you just need to work out the nerves.  He casually replied that he hadn't been nervous one bit, that's why he'd hit the ball so good all the other times.  What a mature attitude.  That's my little dude.  Of course, now I guess he's my big dude.

Tate playing first base and ready for the ball!