Azure

I don't really recall anything remarkable happening early in the week; just normal stuff. Jeff has been dutifully finishing up on end of semester projects, it was his last full week of classes. I'm really looking forward to him being home. I'm hoping to get some projects done, save money on childcare expenses, and go back to having a more normal work schedule for me.

Friday, the primary school had a spirit day and Felicity and Gabrielle were excited to wear their Hawaiian clothes to school instead of their uniforms. Gabrielle was saying how much she liked being out of dress code and that she wished they didn't have to wear a uniform. I then realized I had become one of those moms that love the dress code. Felicity can dress herself in the morning without ending up looking homeless. She has a more narrow selection, which means she can decide quickly, and pretty much anything she picks will match, so its pretty hard to mess up. I also remember being the kid at school that didn't have the name brand this or that, and dress code helps with that too. Lastly, when adhered to, the kids are appropriately and modestly dressed for learning.

The weather was divine this weekend and we were out in the backyard at 7:00 AM on Saturday. I went to Market on the Move with a couple of friends which was fun. I got several cucumbers, zucchini, corn, and several pounds of green beans and tomatoes. I shredded half the zucchini to make bread with and sliced the other half to use in stir fry and to grill. I blanched the corn and put it in the freezer. The cucumbers were bitter so I don't think they'll end up getting eaten. I'm going to make and can pasta sauce and tomato soup on Monday with the tomatoes and can the green beans. It was a lot of produce for $10 and it was fresh. I was a lot more impressed with it than the Bountiful Baskets, which I've also done in the past.

We played in the pool and got some housework done on Saturday as well. Jeff helped me add some more whimsy to my garden by helping me build a planter and bird bath from terra cotta pots that I've been collecting. I combined a couple different ideas that I saw on Pinterest.com and am really happy with how it turned out. I had birds in the bath this morning.

Arlo has been chatting us up and is beginning to show real interest in his toys. He really likes a giraffe that was Helen's as well as his feet. I've all but given up on trying to keep him from sucking his thumb, he's determined and it makes him happy. I'm just hoping he stops before he's 12 and it doesn't mess up his teeth. Parenting is all about picking your battles!

We were hoping to have Helen home for the summer starting next week, but the preschool said we needed to give two weeks notice, so they'll be billing us for the next two weeks, so I guess she's going! Felicity is looking forward to summer as well. She had some birthday money to spend, so she and I went shopping and she picked out some things to take with us on vacation.

I'm hoping the week will go by smoothly and that Jeff's final exams at the end of the week go well. Summer's all but here and we are loving it!

Lawn Green

We had another great week at Casa de Davidson. On Monday night Jeff and I got to go out to dinner for the evening as I was invited to a going away party for a work colleague. We took Arlo with us and the girls stayed with the Brysons. We had a nice time and enjoyed going out.

On Thursday I took the day off and accompanied Felicity to her kindergarten field trip. We went to the International Wildlife Museum and I was in a group of five kids with five adults. I was pleasantly surprised by how many parents came to enjoy the experience with their little ones. It didn't take very long, however, before I took over the group and led a stellar tour of the museum. I've been to the museum numerous times, it was one of my favorites as a child, and I love sharing my knowledge with other people. I think the adults in the group enjoyed it almost as much as the kiddos as they were asking and answering questions too. The lamest part of the trip was the "movie" they showed the kids in the theater. There was a lot wrong with it and lets just suffice it to say that they would have learned a lot more if we had used the time to continue exploring the museum. By the end my group of 5-6 year olds could tell the difference between male and female birds and butterflies, could use two different methods of determining what an animal eats, could tell the difference between a crocodile and an alligator, and about how "scary" animals like snakes and bats are beneficial and to respect and enjoy them at a distance. One of my favorite movies is Parenthood, and one of my favorite quotes from that movie goes something along the lines of "children have an amazing potential for learning, their minds are like sponges, and yet we insist on treating them like adorable little morons". I love how much my kids are able to learn because I've never used baby talk or expected a diminished capacity for them to absorb things.

It was my off Friday and I worked in the garden and cleaned the house. It was great, I got so much done! I took the kids into Tucson to have portraits made. I finally found matching outfits and had been waiting for the opportunity to come up. They turned out pretty well. Arlo was a little cranky and we've always had a hard time getting Helen to hold still, smile, and look in the right direction. I think in another couple of months I'll take Arlo back to have some more individual pictures taken. Ironically the pictures that turned out the best were the ones taken in their casual outfits, not the ones I bought them especially for the occasion. Oh well, that's life!

Jeff didn't work on Saturday so we had a great day together. We worked in the garden, pulled weeds in the front yard, cleaned the upstairs, and after a BBQ lunch on the porch played in the pool together for an hour or more. We had a great time and got a little sun. The garden continues to flourish and I've started to get my first amaryllis blossoms which are so beautiful. We hope everyone else is enjoying spring with the ones they love.

Tea Rose

I just can't seem to wrap my mind around how quickly time seems to be flying! We had such a nice week that culminated in a really fun weekend.

Arlo is now four months old and is just the cutest little thing ever. He's been really chatty and has developed this new game he plays with the girls where he sticks his tongue out at them when they stick theirs out at him.

Felicity turned six years old on the 14th, and as promised got to have her first real birthday party. We had an Alice in Wonderland themed party that included 13 little girls in dress up at the table for "tea". They played croquet in the backyard and learned proper tea time etiquette, and also ran around the house having a fabulous time. I asked Felicity later if she had a nice birthday and she answered "Mom, I had an awesome birthday"! They all seemed to have a good time and got to take home goodie bags that included some Alice themed items, like little cookies that said "eat me" and little bottles of juice that said "drink me" and they each adopted their very own mome rath. I have to mention the amazing invitations Jan made for me (I traded her for a birthday cake in February). They were a mad hatter's hat with cute bobby pin/button hat pin and the party details were printed inside the size card. If you like these, you should check out some of the other cool stuff she has at her blog for Sam & Hailey Designs! I printed some fun envelopes to go with them. I made a really cute Alice themed birthday cake too. I was pooped by the end and we decided to go out for dinner!


The school semester is winding down shortly for Jeff. Just a couple more weeks of classes and then finals. He'll be taking one summer school class later in the summer, but otherwise he'll be home which I'm excited about. He was able to get his school schedule for the fall squared away and he'll have class on Tuesday and Thursday with one class on Friday. I'm hoping this will help with our childcare expenses, but I worry it'll be stressful for Jeff to have all his classes on only two days. I'm grateful he's willing to take on a crazy schedule to reduce the amount of time the two youngest have to be in childcare. He did meet with his advisor prior to registering for classes and she said even with summer classes, he really should take the full four years to graduate. It was hard to hear since I was really looking forward to him graduating next spring, but he'll probably pick up an internship in his senior year since he won't have a full class load; we'll just have to be patient and see how things pan out.

I was able to register for a work conference as well this week. It coincidentally is the week after our vacation to San Diego this summer. We'll be heading up to Anaheim to do Disneyland, then we'll be meeting my parents in San Diego for a week. We will then drive to Las Vegas for the conference, and the last leg of our trip will be heading up to Logan, UT to visit Jeff's oldest sister before heading home. We'll be gone for 18 days, travel 2,286.31 miles, be in the truck for 36 hours and 13 minutes, and spend about $516.80 in gasoline...and I'm really excited! It will be a pretty epic vacation, the type where you need a recuperative week after.

The weather continues to be lovely and we're spending a lot of time in the garden and the pool. It's great to be alive. I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful little family.


In honor of Felicity's birthday here are some of her firsts for the year:
1. Started her first year of school, Felicity LOVES school and thinks kindergarten is great
2. Lost her first tooth
3. Had her first sleepover
4. Had her first birthday party
5. Began to read on her own
6. Went on Vacation for the first time
7. Rode a roller coaster (splash mountain)
8. Learned to jump rope
9. Saw/went in the ocean
10. Gave her first talk in church all by herself

Eggshell

What a glorious and candy filled week. I have every other Friday off and this week was my off Friday. I spent the day in the garden and cleaning the house. I am ecstatic to say that the house is finally clean again! The garden is coming along nicely, although we lost a few seedlings when Helen decided she was going to water for me, with the "jet" setting on the spray nozzle. I've had to bury my potatoes twice already they are growing so quickly and I have buds on my amaryllis too.

Jeff worked on Saturday and the kids and I played in the pool, had a picnic lunch, and enjoyed the lovely weather. Felicity went to a birthday party and Helen and Arlo napped while I took care of the laundry. I wasn't able to build the chicken coop I was hoping to finish this weekend, but perhaps there will be some time next week. I made several dozen paper lanterns for Felicity's birthday party next weekend. She's having a mad hatter's tea party and it's going to be a blast. We've told the kids they can have a party with their friends every other year and Felicity is very excited that hers is just around the corner.

We had a very nice Easter Sunday. The girls got baskets with sandbox toys, some candy, and jump ropes from us in the morning, which was probably a mistake. They basically ate candy for breakfast and then we forgot their church activity bags so they were a little less than reverent. We went to Nana and Papa's after church and they got more Easter stuff and hunted eggs. Felicity has been obsessed lately with jump rope and is really good at it, she counted 53 jumps this week. We bought her a long rope for us to turn while she jumps and that was a huge hit.

I love spring and I love Easter. Its a time to reflect upon the love and devotion of our Savior and express special gratitude for the atonement and resurrection. This Easter I'm especially grateful for dutiful Primary teachers and leaders. Helen so beautifully and articulately related to us why we celebrate Easter, going as far as telling us that because Jesus was resurrected we too one day will take up our bodies again and be resurrected; that if we make good choices and follow the Savior we can live again in His presence. I'm grateful for that knowledge too, just like little Helen, and I'm grateful for all my Redeemer did for me so that I would never have to be alone. You can check out this video to hear excerpts from Elder Holland's conference talk about the subject Jesus Christ, our Savior. We hope that everyone had a wonderful Easter week and feels as much love as we do in our home.

Sunglow

Spring fever, I have it and its making it nearly impossible to drag myself to my dreary little cubicle in the mundane building where I work. Don't get me wrong, I'm exceptionally grateful for my job, its a great job. I would love, however, to spend every waking hour outside in my garden and enjoying the weather and my family.

The other bug I have is what I'm calling the "homesteading bug". I have, as of recently, had an overwhelming feeling of the need to become even more self sufficient. I have my garden, and that's a wonderful learning experience. We've had a vegetable garden every year since we bought the house (four years this coming week) and we learn a little more each year. We are not quite ready to rely upon it solely for our veggies, we are getting there. The chickens are the next step in our homesteading adventure. When we first began looking for a home to buy we looked in rural areas with homes on property. Instead, we bought our cookie cutter house in a neighborhood with an HOA and a small backyard. Shortly after moving into this house (which we do love) we knew that eventually we would want to build a house on property. Now that we've been in our home for four years and have found financial stability we are ready to set our five year goal of paying off our student loan debt, our truck, and paying down our mortgage. Included in the five year goal is to save money to purchase a piece of property on which to build our little desert homestead. They are some pretty lofty goals, but we have a way of buckeling down and making our dreams reality. We've made some budget cuts and Jeff started working for the estate sale company on Saturday again. I'm so grateful for all that we've been blessed with.

It was a pretty normal week. The children are loving the beautiful weather as well and amaze me almost every day; sometimes for their ability to find new and inventive ways to drive us crazy, more often for how great they are. Felicity received her 3rd quarter report card (can you believe she's almost done with kindergarten, I can't). She had a perfect score in everything and is being given supplemental work. Her reading is amazing to me! Helen has an ever growing fan club and I sometimes wonder if it is influenced by the way communicates. She is so articulate and insightful, it's just very endearing to listen to a three year old express themselves with such a colorful vocabulary. Arlo is simply the most adorable baby ever and his smile and giggle make it so hard to put him down. He started to roll from his tummy to his back and from his back to his tummy this week. He was able to a few weeks ago, but this is deliberate and controlled whereas before it wasn't. One of the things I love about this stage is I finally feel comfortable putting him to sleep on his tummy; my babies have always slept more soundly on their tummies. I feel so incredibly blessed to be their mommy. Nothing I have ever done in my life has brought more happiness and more fulfillment than being a mother.

Jeff worked on Saturday and the girls and I spent time in the garden and pulling weeds in the front. We also got to listen to General Conference which was wonderful. Helen was more interested in the proceedings than Felicity and asked some very insightful and some humorous questions. She wanted to know who would become the President of the Church if President Monson died. She also asked when George Albert Smith (1870-1951) would be speaking. I love that girl, she is always making me laugh. The talks were great and there were a couple that Jeff and I really mulled over and discussed in depth.

It was another great week, we have been so incredibly blessed. Enjoy spring, your families, and life!