Summer is a-comin'! I don't know who is more excited, me or the kids. It's so funny because nothing technically will change much for us. Lydia does a little preschool co-op that ends next week, and I've been doing some babysitting that will probably trickle off into the summer. But as far as everything else goes - it will all be the same stuff.
Except sun! And swimming. And popsicles outside on the grass. And shorts, and sandals, and eating dinner outside!
Yes. I'm really really really excited.
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I have so many things to blog about, but then I sit down and can't think of a single flowing thought. So here's a list of things I'm thinking about today:
-Babysitters. We're so blessed to be surrounded by so many willing babysitters (friends and family). It seems like this is such a busy time of year for everyone. But literally, just this week, we need a babysitter almost every night. Tonight my sister Jenna is letting us drop our kids off at her house while David and I go to dinner with one of the partners from David's firm. Tomorrow, my brother Matthew is watching the kids because I have a meeting that evening and David has a work event that goes until late at night. Friday our good friends, the Shields, are watching them while we go to the temple for our babysitting swap night. Saturday we have tickets to Jane Eyre at Hale Center Theater and my sister Melissa is coming to watch Lydia and Austin at our house. (It's going to be a busy rest of the week!) Then next week is our anniversary and David's sister Wendy said she would babysit, and just the past couple weeks his sister Amy watched the kids for hours and hours while we went van shopping. Whew! I'm so incredible grateful for these wonderful people who are willing to play with Lydia and Austin and take such good care of them for us.
-Window Seat. When we built our home, we bumped out the window/wall in our stairway so that we could build a window seat. After 3 years of living here - we are finally making it happen! Here's hoping that in the next month it will be done. I can't wait!
-I still haven't blogged about Lydia's birthday or her turning four. (You better bet that when I post them, I'm going to back post them for when they belong - but this is my honesty post.) I really should be working on that instead of this random post. But, really, how did my little girl turn four? She tells everyone that she is four - almost five. She's embraced it, that's for certain.
Happy Wednesday!
Wednesday, May 18, 2016
Sunday, May 8, 2016
Branding 2016
Each Spring whoever can get together of the extended Walker family comes to the Ranch to help with branding the new baby calves. This year with the recent passing of my Grandma Walker (and her birthday being a few days before on May 3rd), pretty much everyone who was able to come - did. There were way more people there than really needed to be there, but I think that we all wanted to be at the Ranch to support my Grandpa and remember my Grandma.
We fed baby cows and did more watching than helping (although my Grandma used to always say that "watching is helping"). But it was a lovely day and I love seeing my kids dressed up like a little cowgirl and cowboy and getting these life-experiences. Plus I love spending any time I can with my dad (and my grandpa).
(Matthew, Brooklyn, and Melissa)
One of the highlights of the day was when a calf escaped and my cousins chased it down, wrestled it in the mud and branded it the old-fashioned way with rope and brute strength. It was pretty intense and kind of funny (about the mud wrestling and such). I'm glad to have this as a part of our lives.
Saturday, May 7, 2016
Lydia's Birthday Celebrations
Four years old. This girl is growing into such a thoughtful, kind, stubborn, loving girl. We loved celebrating her the whole week of her birthday. She has so much energy and we tried to do all the things that she wanted to do - in hopes that she would feel just an extra portion of how special she is and that she would know how happy we are that she was born into our family!
We held Lydia's family birthday party on the Saturday before her birthday week. We talked about a lot of things that she might want for her birthday cake and after letting her scroll through Pinterest with me - she decided that she wanted a "gummy bear birthday cake". (Her inspiration being a cake covered completely with gummy bears.) She also found several other things on Pinterest that she kept saying "And we could do/have that for my birthday party." Like gummy bear cupcakes, gummy bear popsicles, and many other pinterest items. We tried to keep it simple and I think that it turned out perfectly. The colors were bright and cheerful, Lydia was surrounded by people that love her, and we were able to celebrate her big 4-years!
(I had to include this - Austin kept begging gummy bears off of people, and finally realized there was a whole plateful in the garbage can. Don't worry - immediately after this I made him stop.)
On Lydia's birthday, we woke up and ate some special cereal that Lydia got for her birthday. A few hours later, we invited a bunch of Lydia's friends to come and have a little party with her! They got to frost graham crackers, eat jello, and play outside. It was kind of a last minute thing and I hadn't planned for it to be such a big party - but SO many of Lydia's neighborhood friends showed up and it was awesome. After the "party" (which was really just a large-scale playdate with frosting and jello), Lydia got to pick whether she wanted to go to the Aquarium or to Kangaroo Zoo. It was a tough choice for her - but the bounce houses won! Last minute we convinced the Middleton's to come with us and they made it even more of a great time. Lydia and Henry loved playing together on the bounce houses. It was the perfect birthday day for this girl.
Oh my Lydia-girl. Happy Birthday. You're such a bright star in our family. We love you!
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