Adventure on a whim!

This summer I haven't made too many plans except to have as much fun as possible! As a kid summer was all about bike riding ALL day, gardening, mowing the lawn (yes, that was one of my favorite things...now with allergies, not so much) and bug collecting. A few days ago I woke up and had no plans, but I just had to get the kids out of the house and away from ALL of the electronics. I didn't feel like hauling everyone to the swimming pool and wanted to do something different. So, I decided to take the kids hiking up to Dripping Springs. I have been wanting to do stuff like this all summer, but just haven't had the chance or the will to do it. :) Last year when Jesse and I tried to do it we just couldn't make it up to the top, but I was determined to make it. I loaded up the double jogging stroller, some WATER and snacks and away we went. We also wanted to collect some bugs while there as well and boy did we find the jackpot of Butterflies. The hike was about a 1.5 mile hike on a constant up hill slope on loose rocks. It was pretty tough at times. My legs and back were on fire! After about 1 1/2 hours of walking we made it up the trail to the springs. There wasn't that much water, but we didn't care. I was just glad to have set a goal and reach it. I think the kids learned that lesson also because both Cameron and Bryce remarked about how they wanted to turn back lots of times, but if we would've done that, we would not have found our butterfly "Goldie." Cameron kept telling me how proud he was of me for catching the butterfly. He's so cute.

Going down the trail was much easier. It only took us 30 min. Here's a snapshot of that.

It was a great outdoor adventure.A huge lizard we found on the trail. Bryce wanted to take it home, but there was no way we could catch it. It took off running on its hind legs. Not that I would want to take it home anyways. :)

It's getting hot! Time to wet the kids down a bit. I guess this is one of the old cowboy "resort" buildings. One tired group. Finally we made it! Bella's asleep in the stroller. Dripping Springs. Not much "dripping" going on, but it's still beautiful. This is the start of our 2009 bug collection. We're still gathering bugs from home and will add to them at the reunion. We actually had a few more, but their bodies weren't intact enough for display. :)

A new milestone witnessed

So Bella has been threatening to walk for a few weeks now and the other day she did it! She turns 11 months on the 23rd and she is just loving her new mobility. It's like a game to her. If she falls she immediately picks herself right back up to try again. She'll say ah-O and I think she's trying to say ball. But, the only downfall is that Bella in all of this has also found her voice! That girl can really pipe out the yelling when she wants to. Half the time she does it just to fit in with the rest of us or if she's defending a toy. Anyways, just wanted to give an update. It's always amazing to see a milestone. It's like witnessing a miracle.

The father he is...

Has just been named King Daddy and loving it! Admit it Jesse! :)

Don't say I never got you a tie! HA!

The Kings loyal subjects bowing down! Byson later asks in a concerned tone, "Do you think Heavenly Father will mind if we worship dad?" He's so sweet.

The other day I was trying to get dinner on the table and the house picked up all while juggling kids who kept trying to ask for snacks and/or fighting with one another. I was just about to lock myself in my bedroom when to our rescue DADDY CAME HOME! That is one of my favorite parts of the day! The kids' face lights up and suddenly they become angels and all is well. Most every time the kids go and hide and Jesse will say, "Where are those kids!" Claire always pops out with "HERE I AM!!" (Doesn't quite get the "Hiding" part) and then of course he'll find the boys, tickle them all or wrestle and then we'll all sit to a nice dinner together. That's just a little example of his fatherhood abilities. I knew when we were dating that Jesse would be a great father. This year we're starting a new tradition for Father's Day. It all started with Claire referring to Jesse as "King Daddy" from the Standing Tall audio book series, Happiness. So, I thought it would be funny to make Jesse King for the day and so I made him a King's Cloak with a dressed up Burger King Crown and a golden staff. The kids got a kick out of obeying so easily and Cameron would ask Jesse if he wanted his back scratched or anything else. So sweet. Well, Jesse was a good sport like he always is with my costumes I make him wear. We love you sweetheart! I'm sure thankful for you!

Reunited with my boys!

10 days has been the longest amount of time that I've been away from my boys. I started out feeling a little weird and like I was forgetting something. Then, I submersed myself into my little 3 and 10 month old girls' world and had a good time with them. At the end of the week I think we were all feeling a little anxious and ready for the boys to come home. Thank goodness for daily blog updates from Connie and nightly phone calls. Claire's sleeping rhythm surprisingly went down the deep end. I don't know how many times she'd wake up in the middle of the night or wake up asking for her brothers. It was sweet, but sad for her. I met Connie in Albuq. after a nice visit with my mom and we stayed at a Hotel for a few days to enjoy one last who-rah together. When I saw the boys they came running towards me yelling "HEY MOM!" like a kid who's just had the best time ever and wants to tell his parents all about it. I couldn't help but get a little choked up when I saw them.

We swam all day Friday and then stayed at the park until it was dark. Then Saturday we took the kids to the awesome Explora museum. With 9 kids in toe we did get a lot of "are these all your kids?" and stares. For the most part they were all well behaved and not too much of a handful. ha! :) What am I saying!

So, thanks Connie & Ben (and Abe for driving them in the first place)for an exciting & fun "Sowards Cousin Camp." Let's do it again sometime! Ha ha. For anyone interested check out Ben & Connie's blog for a well told description of Sowards Cousin Camp; there's some funny stories there.

April showers brings May flowers

Having multiple children makes time fly. Especially in the summertime. I was sitting here thinking "man, I need to catch up on my blog while I'm two kids short this week" and it took me awhile to put all of my thoughts together. Too much to tell, but don't want to bore you with the details. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking.

So, yeah if you look at Ben & Connie's blog you'll see the updates she's so graciously providing to Jesse & I. It's nice to be filled in on the latest happenings while our two boys Bryson & Cameron hang out in Utah with their cousins. So far so good, but man does Connie have her hands full. I trust that she's getting help. :)

As much as I miss the boys I'm very much enjoying my special time with the girls. I'm able to read more to Claire and some to Bella. We've tried to make some felt beaded necklaces and then we went swimming, but Bella was not in the mood to swim in the ice cold water unlike Claire so we watched poolside. Other things like baking cookies and just sitting and watching the girls play and frolic around reminded me of my days with just Bryson & Cameron when we lived in Oregon and a life that was simpler. It seemed like my focus was more on them and not everywhere at once. It's hard to remember the last time I just sat with the kids without having something in the back of my mind tugging on me to get up and do or to be somewhere else. So, this change of pace has made me realize what makes me truely happy and that it's ok to just sit and hold your children. I already knew that, but had lost that perspective.

The kids have really been neglected the past 2 1/2 weeks. I was making a special movie/documentary of my mother for her 60th b-day and there was A LOT of material to go through. I spent every free moment of my time working on it plus I stayed up til 2:30 am every night and then got up to get Bryce off to school. I didn't want a nap because that would be time I could be working on the video. So, needless to say I wasn't a fun person to be around. Then to top it all off the day I was going to leave to head to Artesia the video wouldn't publish! I missed my nephews graduation trying to figure out how to get it done, but there were some corrupt files,etc and so I showed up empty handed and heartbroken. So, I'm still trying to get it done, but am working on it from time to time on a different program. Such is life right. It'll get done mom I promise.

Like I said earlier, this month has been full of "go here, go there." The boys are both in baseball, but on separate teams this year and so Monday thru Thursday we're at the baseball fields. It makes it difficult to feed a family dinner. I do enjoy watching them though. Cameron is so cute in his over sized uniform, out diving for the ball. I think if his pants don't have grass marks on them he's disappointed. Summer is going to fast, looking forward to slowing it down a bit.

Claire turns 3

Claire talks numbers with Cameron all the time! So, when she turned 3 it wasn't an adjustment because she's been saying that she's 3 for like 6 months now. Anyway, she's a big girl now (completely potty trained for the last few months) with a sweet and spicy attitude all at the same time. From time to time if she's in the other room I'll ask, "What are you doing Claire?" She always replies "Anything." That's about right. When someone does something wrong towards her we'll say sorry and she quickly replies in her dramatic way, "it's too late!" So, we've really been trying to teach her about forgiveness. :) She still walks around the house with her shirt off before or after bath time and has her head tilted back so that her hair seems really long. "Look at me's hair mommy! It's LOOONNNGG! and beeuuful." Last but not least, you can always tell if she feels sorry for doing something because she'll immediately say, "I nove new." She'll also say it out of the blue when you don't expect it which makes it special to hear. Claire...love that girl!