Sweet Summer Days

Here's an picture from May I received- this is from my trip back west for Women's Conference at BYU. Megan (where did we put Addie for this pic? she's darling!) and my Aunt Diane with her beautiful and sweet daughters, and to the left of Diane is Chantal, my awesome cousin who I hadn't seen since she did my hair on my wedding morning! You can imagine how fun that trip was :-)The other morning eating breakfast we saw a deer!Just walking around our backyard. I LOVE North Carolina for things like this that nobody thinks twice about. I just love having animals and nature as a part of life. Not that Arizona's rock gardens don't have their own beauty...somehow... :-)My kids LOVE swim lessons. Michael is finally comfortable in the water (he was petrified of moving a muscle before when we would have him stand in the 2ft!) He kicks, jumps, goes under to pick up toys, and loves making multiple trips to the bathroom now that he is potty trained. Very fun.Jacob and Michael excited to be at the pool!Nicole wanted to do a jumping shot too after Michael. She is doing a great back float and can kick really well. She loves twisting and turning in the water, diving for toys, and sitting on the floor of the pool while holding her breath. She is so tall she has to go to the deep end for lessons.

Here's some video, so to delbifamily.blogspot.com for the live swimming action and our deer running from Nicole and Michael :-)

The Weekend Through Nicole's Eyes

Nicole borrowed my camera somehow and was taking pictures all weekend. So all of these pics are what she sees. I did delete the blurry/thumb blocking the picture/duplicate-type pics. Enjoy!Daddy doing dishes...Michael making a mess at dinnertime...Michael showing us his dinner...Nicole's BFF Weston and his family visited over the weekend. We had a wonderful time with them and the kids reconnected right away even though it had been a year since they'd played together. Weston waiting at the restaurant.Nicole the giant. (okay so I did take one picture) This is how her preschool class was too. She is just really tall! And she's bursting out of size 12 shoes at age four. Crazy!All sorts of pictures from Nicole...Apparently people hide/run from her a lot? :-)Following Michael to the seat at the restaurant (I didn't promise her pictures would be interesting...)Weston coloring...Weston's page. It's like she was documenting his life story at this point.On the way home?Looking at her shoes...Bored in the back seat...Going to church with Weston... (apparently they held hands all through class)

We LOVED having Robin, Mike, Weston and Dallin to visit! So....when are YOU coming?

Swim, sleep, create, lilies, mess, jake-jake

Nicole and Michael have begun taking swim lessons and they LOVE it! Their instructor is a young woman whose whole family is awesome (ASU roots and all!) and she is perfect for them. They obey her so well and have come so far, especially since Nicole hasn't been in a pool for over a year. And for Michael, well, he's basically starting from scratch. He's still not sure about trusting the water, which is fine by me if he's not jumping in headlong yet.The instructor "Miss Sarah" has Cars toys and other toys that she uses to help them learn. It's the biggest treat of the day to go "play" with her. Nicole holds her breath very well and shows us how she can swim- all four limbs and head thrashing in the water. Very entertaining and sweet.Staying home from church this last Sunday when Nicole got sick, the kids watched the entire Old Testament movie put out by the church (it's basically a slideshow of the pictures from the kids version of the OT, but with narration). Only in the last few chapters did they both cave to sleepdeprivation from the previous night. Of course, Michael wouldn't be found anywhere without a toy nearby. I swear he kept reaching for it in his sleep!Nicole is in a Wee Fun art camp this week and made this cute mouse! His eye later fell off and we used tape to patch it on. Arrrrr matey!

Now that summer is upon us, the fish are hungry! Jim's been bit by the fishing bug and prettymuch explores the ponds and lakes in the area with his kayak and poles. He brought me these beautiful pink and white lilies from his favorite pond (which also has a territorial beaver-another story for another day) and I think it's sweet that he still thinks of me even while he's in the grip of fishing fever :-) They close and night and open in the morning, so awesome!So my grand idea for a "parent cave" has caved. Jim and I spent around 5 hours working on this puzzle while watching movies for date nights. All it took was Nicole breaking the lock off of the door once and Michael was experiementing with a ladle (don't ask me where he got that from!) in the middle of the puzzle. I think finishing this puzzle will represent what my life feels like a lot of the time. If I finish it hehehe :-) But I won't give up on the parent cave. It has such a great feel to it as being OUR space!Sweet little Jacob had three shots today and bore it all with just a single little shriek. Nicole had her ears covered for the meltdown and told me Jacob was very brave when it didn't happen. So this cute sweetheart had his 15 month checkup today. He weighs 18 pounds (<3%), is 30.25 inches long (25%) and his head is 17.75in (5%). Although he is so tiny, he is still progressing along his own growth curve. The doctor asked if there were any stories in the family about children catching their growth spurt later and I realized I've never asked... is there? With Nicole being so tall (size 11 shoes) and Michael being so buff(his abs are rock and his arms are defined. he's two!) I think Jake-Jake's niche is going to be that he is easy going and so loving.

He is taking part in an intervention study being done by UNC to work on his language. He is doing awesome in everything but that, so I thought it wouldn't hurt to give him this opportunity. So far, it has been wonderful to have a therapist come twice a week and spend time playing and teaching Jacob while coaching me on ways to help Jacob during our everyday interactions. He has had a huge spike in his language development and I love the added joy that brings to him and us.

Okay enough rambling, but I had to share a story. We were at a restaurant the other evening and when it was Nicole's turn to order, she asked clearly and in her most polite voice "could I please have a cheese booger?" I am proud to say I managed not to burst out laughing, but gently corrected her. And, after all was said and done, I think it was Jacob-who had ordered mac and cheese and distributed it evenly across his face, hair and lap- who actually got that first order :-) Ah kids.

New House

I had to start off with an amphibian, it just doesn't feel right otherwise :-) This was the last catch at our old house, the kids will miss foraging in the backyard woods. I will miss that and the fence that made it worry-free.

We moved a little over a week ago. The packing, moving, unpacking, redecorating were exhausting and not fun but the kids were very good. Friends watched the kids while we moved the fragile kitchen stuff and pictures over the night before and they also watched them the next morning for the move. We really have an amazing ward- they moved us completely out and in within two hours. Now that we're mostly settled, I thought I'd give the long-awaited tour. Walking in the front door, there is our piano room to one side (we'll get furniture someday) And the yet-to-be-finished library. Ignore the boxes of books.

We haven't used those drapes since we lived by ASU and used one of them to cover a door. That first place was 600 sq feet and we feel so blessed to have more space now for our family. So here's the view from the front door up the stairs.

The family room, eating area, and kitchen are one big tall room. I really like the open layout.

One word: island! This kitchen was made for cooking! :-)

Family room (that actually fits both of our green couches! We rescued the second green couch from it's year long confinement in the server cave at Jim's office) This third bedroom is going to be the "parent cave" (and Jacob's nap room). We will have all the fun stuff like my sewing machine, our paints, and guitars here where the kids can't get them but we can still enjoy them.

Walking from the parent cave to the other two bedrooms upstairs (master is downstairs)

Nicole and Michael's room is painted dark blue and has glow in the dark stars all around the ceiling as well as the planets hanging down. The previous renters left them there and we love it! Toy room! I was going to clean it, but I thought a little reality doesn't hurt anyone. Yes, this is what it usually looks like. I've decided to clean it with the kids once a week and close the door the rest of the time. Their rooms I ask to be clean each morning...but the playroom I let slide. What's it for if not for all the fun kid messes!

Backyard. Still getting used to this and figuring out how to make this work without a fence. Fortunately it has been so hot nobody really wants to go outside anways :-) That's okay, they still love exploring the house and running in circles (this is the first place we've lived that has that loop of rooms they can run in a circle through). We love the home and the extra space. It's three minutes from Jim's work, we couldn't live much closer so that's another perk. Still really close to the temple and now even closer to the main roads and shopping center. The community has a pool, a lake with a paved walking trail, and a great playground. Sorry no pictures of us, we've been so busy. Hope you like the home...you're welcome to come visit!! :-)