Idaho

What in the world do you do in a state full of farming? You probably just sit around twiddling thumbs, right?

...or...

You go on tractor rides...

Sit in mud puddles...

Smile lots and chase the, "A Doh-Doh," (also named Missy, the pup)...

Make believe under the Ash tree...

Swing...


Climb trees...


Make new friends out of extended family...

While playing in the irrigation ditch...

And reminisce a lot.

Thank you, Uncle Warren & Aunt Joanne, for your wonderful hospitality and allowing my kids to truly enjoy the simple pleasures.

We loved visiting my Mom's siblings (who incidently all make me & the kids feel so at home) and touring the land where the Farwell/Graham legacy took root. What a wonderful trip.

Soccer Practice

Aubrey had her first soccer practice yesterday. John & I thought this would be a fun activity for Aubs to do to learn team-playing skills and listening skills. :) Dan & Shana were here and Dan played soccer with Aubrey for a while. He came in and said, "She could be pretty good at soccer...if she can stop talking quite as much." Ha. We know. Ere-go, soccer practice.

Can I preface this by saying that I LOVE how frilly, girly, and feminine Aubrey is? Love it. Absolutely know that God designed her in this fashion for a unique and wonderful purpose. And she teaches me a lot of things. Because I was not that kind of girl. Seriously? I would have preferred to climb trees, roll in the grass, dig in the dirt, etc. My sweet daughter will tell me on occasion, "Ew, Mom, you really should paint your fingers." Thank you, 4 year old daughter of mine.

So getting ready for soccer was a big deal. First we had the conversation about, "No, we can't wear your pretty necklace...or bracelets to soccer practice. We can't wear jewelry in sports." Then as we were getting her shorts on she said, "And, Mom, I would like to wear my pink shirt with the puff sleeves." We veered away from that option and went with the plain white long sleeve shirt with a ruffly flower on it. And then, "Now where are my princess sparkly tennis shoes?" The girl loves sparkles.

We arrived at soccer practice and she was very excited about meeting her team. And her coach. I am glad I said, "Now your coach may be a boy, okay?" To which she replied, "I'll be thankful no matter what my coach is." Great. Her coach is Mr. John. Super nice guy. With tattoos covering his arms and ear plugs. That was a fun conversation to have prior to starting soccer practice.

Mr. John explained that an important first step to playing soccer is to warm up and stretch. Aubrey didn't sign up to warm up and stretch so we got to sit and have a chat about listening to the coach and doing what he said. Another nice mom convinced Aubs to walk with her over to where her daughter was and the two became friends. So Aubrey dealt with the warm up.

Once they started playing she had a good time and overall Aubrey did a great job. As we drove away she said, "I hope next week my coach is a girl!" So we'll probably have to start from scratch next week. All in the learning process.

I love you, Aubrey. You are athletic, whether or not that is a path you decide you want to pursue. But I love seeing how your femininity comes out in avenues such as soccer. I'm crazy about my girly girl.

Marriage Vows

Compare this:


To this:



Lord, I pray that I never see marriage as a means to please myself. But that I see marriage as an avenue to honor and glorify You. And that I will never forsake the vows I've made to You and to my husband. No matter what.

This, That, and Broccoli

We just got back from a trip to the soccer field by our house. Silly me, I thought we were going there to kick a soccer ball around. But pretty much as soon as we got there "Allie Inny" (played by Aubrey Grace) and "Papa George" (played by Bryant) were off and running, rounding up their pigs to put back in the pig pen. So Stuart and I sat (we were Fred & Lucille, respectively) and helped feed and spot the pigs as they would escape the pen. No soccer.

We've been up to quite a bit lately:
The happiest place on earth...attached to Daddy while he works.

A certain cub of ours loves his Daddy.

A lot.

Really really a lot.

We made a quick trip to Urgent Care. Trying to get rid of the green attachment is harder than it seems. And in the process of distracting (tickling, wrestling) the mister from his longing for said attachment, Mommy dislocated his elbow. Nomination for Mother of the Year? No? Okay.

Princess Aubrey had a long line of kids wanting to take their picture with her this particular day. Stuart was lucky to have been one of those kids.

I've gotten rid of most of our little baby toys because Stuart prefers his brothers' tools anyway, like this drill.

Especially if the drill actually rotates so he can use it as a teether.

I have a hard time getting my kids to eat hot dogs. Seriously. But Uncle Geoff and Aunt Michelle had just been crabbing so the kids were thankful that they had something to eat. No hot dogs, thank you very much. Just crab. Also, I'm pretty sure this is the part of the conversation where Aubrey was asking Geoff why we don't eat the crab's face. She is not my child.

Stu-boy has been practicing this a lot, too. He stands on his own all the time; I'm waiting for him to figure out that he can take a step.


He is so fun. And cute.

"Mary Mary, quite contrary. How does your garden grow?"

"How you doin?"



I made a couple of lasagnas for Bible study on Wednesday. And I excitedly told Aubrey that I would make them mac n cheese for dinner. She said, "But is that dasagna (with a "D")? Yep, I'll have some of that."

We had leftovers last night and I made broccoli to go with it. Aubrey and Bryant came into the kitchen and said, "We get to have BROCCOLI?! HOORAY!! HOORAY!!" And they ate it. So not normal.