making room for corn

 3 spiders with white sacks on their bums

nests of wolf spiders running under the fence
black widow in a hole

daddy long legs a'plenty

{did you know they are not spiders?}

{no venom and no silk=not a spider}

one garden snake

5 bags of weeds

and a partridge and a pear tree

{actually a pulled tree, or bush, whichever}

=

room for my corn

and two more pumpkin plants.

happy summer:)

and happy baby rototiller we borrowed from my 83 year old neighbor.

i'm an arachnophobe.

this picture might keep me from sleeping tonight.

really,

it's silly,

i know,

but i get goose bumps when i talk about spiders,

and my body turns to jelly when i see them.

it's a real fear.

don't judge.

...

also,

it appears we only had to suffer 3 days, not 10-12.

thank heavens.

{although neither sean nor i are too trusting that it's really gone for sure.

we are on 24 hours of all sickness FREE and counting.}

10-12 days {day 3}

i'm cleaning up puke for the third day in a row.

the prior offenses were contained to the crib.

today we have entered the realm of carpet.

it's not pretty.

it's ugly.

but last night i discovered she'll eat pink shave ice.

and i'm always looking for an excuse to go to Lani's for shave ice.

so i guess we'll be going again tonight.

b/c she doesn't seem to puke up shave ice.

pediatrician's nurse line said 10-12 days of this is "what's going around."

what on earth lasts 10-12 days?!

nothing that does that should last 10-12 days.

it's just cruel.

and it's not just puke.

just sayin.

in happy news,

my pumpkins and watermelons are popping up.

i love watching them push through the dirt.

folded feathers of green leaves lifting up toward the sun.

along with some sunflower sprouts,

which look like weeds to the untrained eye.

and i like to pretend that i have a trained eye in the garden,

but we all know i'm a complete novice.

with sprinklers in my garden patch and direct sun for the majority of the day.

and a cousin who really knows what she's doing.

which equals growing luck.

really good growing luck.

LOTS

of good growing luck.

in june!

happy friday indeed:)

locked out {raising brennan}

i may never master the art of raising brennan.

but i have learned that sometimes he just has to be locked out.

until i can stand at that windowed back door and laugh at whatever he is doing out there.

b/c until i can laugh at his ranting naughtiness,

i just feel like yelling,

and yelling is not pretty.

but laughing is.

and much better for the soul.

have mercy,

laughing is the only way i get through my days.

.......

baby gyms are never really for the baby after the first.

just for the rest of them.

man, they love baby chase.

me too:)

BFF's

brennan says that all of his friends are his best friends.
he even lists them all in his prayers every night.
{blake, cade, justin, wilder, and brad--except brad is 40, not 4}
one time in his prayers a few months ago he said,
"thank you for cade...{pause}, thank you for awesome cade."
{brad is a dad in our neighborhood who lives across the street from us,
and brennan asks to play with him all day too.
brad gets mentioned in the dinner food prayers,
and in the group prayer in primary/sunday school at church,
so i've heard.
he is a brad stalker,
watches his house for any activity,
and will go sit on the corner and wait to be invited over "to play with brad."
thank goodness for awesome neighbors}.
but cade is the one right now that he asks to play with about 50 billion times a day.
when he wakes up in the morning,
before breakfast,
after breakfast,
before lunch,
after lunch,
again after lunch,
again and again after lunch,
it's pretty much like that all day,
every day.
{and his mom tells me cade does the same thing at home too},
and they are hilarious together.
b/c all 4 year old boys are hilarious.
they are sensitive men,
who get their feelings hurt,
and say they won't be friends anymore,
then one cries,
folds their arms,
whimpers,
sometimes they come to me,
i send them back to each other,
and they get over it.
and so forth.
max just looks at them like they are crazy,
and they are.
three doors down, and across the street.
i swear he's going to start asking to play with him in his sleep.
adorable.
BFF's.

snorkeling in an over sized mask

reasons why i love this picture of brennan:

1. bright orange floaties around his chubby arms

2. his serious "it's time to swim" face

3. the snorkel in his mouth, duh!

4. the dimples on his hands

{my cabbage patch kid}

5. the over sized mask

.......

last night we bbq'd cheeseburgers,

sliced a pineapple

{ok, it was already pre-cut from costco},

ate uncle dave's crispy cookies with chocolate chunks,

and spent the evening swimming with the fam.

i drank strawberry lemonade in a lawn chair with chase.

sean went between the hot tub and the pool with max.

she loves to jump off the side and belly flop every time.

brennan is terrified of being thrown in the air.

and learned the art of snorkeling.

we may never get him out of the water for the rest of the summer.

breathing under water=magic.

i still love it myself for the same reason.

no need for fish.

the act of breathing with a face fully submerged is entertainment enough.

although, when i finally did snorkel with real fish it was pretty great too.

but man, there's just something wonderful about a snorkel in a swimming pool.

i don't make the rules,

i just know they're true.

snorkels people,

we're talking about snorkels!

chase loves audrey.

i've titled her

"the baby whisperer."

really,

she is.

happy family night.

:):):)

worker bee

my rose bushes are really blooming now.

i can't wait to fill up our house with them this summer.

love my little worker bee:)

who told me on wednesday that if you pet a bee's back it will sting you.

he was speaking from personal experience

from when he escaped out the garage side door

while i was getting dressed early in the morning upstairs.

he's our earliest waker-upper,

so he gets cartoons with a milk and banana by himself downstairs,

until the rest of us rally ourselves.

sean had left early.

chase was already napping.

max was still in her beauty sleep.

might be time to put the top door locks up.

pesky little four year olds!

thinking they can come and go as they like.

{and HE KNOWS he can't}

i've gotta say,

i was just a little bit glad he got stung while he was out there.

you know?

{b/c when you do naughty things, bad things can happen}.

glad it was just a bee sting.

letters to Beth {peeing, Church, and preschool}

Dear Beth,

        I cannot believe what happened to Bryce. It is just too crazy that it happened. I couldn't believe it the first time I read it, and had to go back and make sure I wasn't skimming and misreading, as that is one of my many bad habits. I need to hear more about the surgery and how he is recovering. How are you doing? Did anyone watch your kids for you? I think his mom is visiting now. Did I see a picture of you with her on Facebook this week? Please give him a squeeze from the Gibson's, unless of course squeezing hurts. How does your health insurance work over there? Were you just on with the school or did you have some kind of traveling insurance? I hope you are all being well taken care of in his recovery.

        We all finally made it to church today for the first time since having Chase. We were even on time. Only because Chase got us up at 7am on the dot to eat. I had no intentions of being on time, but bless his little heart, he got us up and going. I had planned on not coming back for a few more weeks, because I just love being at home with him alone on Sundays, but Brennan said he didn't like church anymore and "could he just stay home with me in jammies from now on?" So, I decided it was time we all went, and Sean didn't have any meetings this morning because the bishop is out of town, so I could have his help getting the kids ready. The kids were great the entire time, and Chase didn't make a peep {annoying perfect, I know}. I just can't imagine church ever going that well again, so it's a good thing we had a good start because that always makes going next time much easier. I have missed church so much. It was lovely, lovely, lovely to be back. I loved seeing all of my friends and having everyone fuss over how darling our little Chase is. I nursed him during Sunday school, and visited with a friend after, and then got to sit in blessed Relief Society for the first time in four years. I'm still the nursery leader, but I'm taking a few extra weeks off of nursery until we bless Chase in July before I go and get back to it. I'm going to enjoy every minute of being able to sit in there and be spiritually fed. Amazing! I came home uplifted and recharged for the week. I haven't felt like that after church in a long, long time. Such a little gift right now. I do miss those darling little nursery children {including watching my very own little miss max}, but I'm taking my time for once. What is your calling in Germany? Are there many other Americans there? I think you mentioned church being in German, but I was wondering if anyone spoke any English with you while you were there.

        You are the bravest lady I know. I can't imagine living out of the country. Really, you inspire me in your ambitions. I also am so impressed with your excitement for cooking around allergies. I would just be whining all of the time about how I couldn't have my peanut butter frozen yogurt. I will take your challenge to try to find some kind of chocolate that doesn't have soy lecithin in it. It will encourage good reading habits for me, as I have found very little time to read since having Chase. {haha} I did read Stephanie Nielson's book right after I had him, so I guess I did find time then. It was such a great book. You MUST read it. I can mail my copy to you if you'd like? I wonder if Amazon would let me ship a copy to you in Germany...???

        Brennan's last day of preschool was Thursday. I am sad that he has the summer off because he loved getting out and going in the afternoons, and I sure loved having a few hours to myself while the other babes napped. Does Smith get excited when you take him to his preschool? Can you see him developing in certain areas yet from going?

        Chase is waking up to eat,

        Love,

                   Em

p.s.

Brennan peed in my friend's front lawn the other day. Just dropped his drawers and peed right on her grass, and I realized that I'd better start teaching him he can't just be peeing anywhere he likes anymore. Just in our backyard...or any other place I decide is ok if it's convenient for me at the time. Have mercy, I can't wait for the phone calls from Kindergarten when his teacher has to tell me that he peed in the middle of a kick ball game out at recess:) Oh how I love my Brennan!