Look what we caught on video..

Garden time.

Weeded and turned the rest of the garden dirt over. Ready to be raked, staked and planted. Let the growing begin-tomorrow.! 

As for the kiddies- they've collected and fed the chickens a large lunch of worms. Yum. 

Sent from Iphone.

Animal adventures with the cousinsz

Its barely noon-thirty and we've caught a snake and chased 3 buck deer out of our yard that were trying to eat our strawberry patch for lunch. Where are we!? Beck was thrilled to finally catch a snake friend and somehow he's escaped. Great! We'll catch another or two before this memorial day is over. One by one the Garters and Carter's won't share a home;)

Good times roll on.

We've definitely been having some great fun. Playing and working in the yard and garden has become our new hobby! Lots of time mowing, trimming, prepping the garden, hunting for garter snakes, chasing chickens, watching the honeybees and all kinds of play. Our first spring here has been so fun to watch all the plants and flowers pop up that we never knew we had. The climbing clematis, peonies and giant lilac bush are next to surprise. We've never had a garden either so I'm anxious, and excited for that challenge. Hoping to get it planted next week. Here's a little kid update, more for my own good. These kids are growing up too fast. We recently had pictures taken so I wanted to update and add some of those as well. Our friend Dave took them on the Provo river, near midway. He did a great job.

Harper Lee turned ONE on the 9th! Such a little spit fire. Climbs everything she can, wants to gab and point all day. She says, doggie, baby, dadda, and bye bye. She signs, bath, milk, drink, more, and all done. She loves baby dolls. Rocks, kisses, hugs, feeds and pushes them in the stroller. She's not quite walking yet...Roma holds her hands and walks with her everywhere. Her favorite place to be is outside in the grass, dirt, cement..anywhere the kids are. We LOVE our little Harps!

Roma is almost 4, this July, and can't wait for pre school with Miss Katie. Some of Roma's favorite things to do are, sing, take naps, do her own hair, pick her own cute outfits, snuggle and ride a pedal bike. The other night during family night she wanted to sing a certain song that only she knew. She ended up making up a song and singing a serious solo to all of us. It was LOOOOONG and serious the whole time. Dave and I made eye contact and I couldn't help but giggle. She was so proud. We all were.

Beckham graduates from Miss Katie's preschool tonight! He is so excited that he's been shouting and dancing about it all morning. He has loved everyday of school and is excited to move on to kindergarten this fall. He likes to learn and is suggesting we have "learning time" over the summer. Which I used to do with the kids a lot more in our old house. Beckham is silly and a good friend to everyone, including Roma. Some of his favorite things are snakes, chickens, riding bikes, helping me clean, decorate for holidays, and do yard stuff. He will hurry and clean, organize and spay air freshener around the house when he knows that we have company and can see me doing my "chores". Hope that interest sticks around. Also played his first season of soccer and was a natural. He's a fast kid, and threw his arms up, jumping whenever he scored.

Being a mom is the hardest, Best job in the world. I'm ever thankful for a radical, hard working, husband that makes my job much easier and FUN!

Happy Friday the 13th!

Beckham and I were watching cartoons together this afternoon and creepy, spooky ones kept playing..I finally realized that it was Friday the 13th. So, I explained to Beckham some of the silly superstitions and how it can be a "day of bad luck." He immediately wanted to spook some friends of ours by dressing as a mummy. So, why not.?
I wrapped him and Roma up and we decided they would walk around our friends backyard till they hopefully spotted us. I was pretty entertained. The kids got a kick out of it.

And she's up!

Beckham's friend left his smaller pedal bike at our house and Roma jumped right on and Took off. I tell ya, i believe in those "balance" bikes. Both her and Beck got one around age 2, and a year or so later had confidence to just skip the training wheels and start pedaling.
Its so fun to see kids "get" something.

Preschool studs.

Welcoming the D rays-ALL day!

Guess I forgot to mention sssnakes.

Within the week of my last post, the weather continued to be warm and beautiful. I had mentioned the occasional fly, bee and spider making it's spring appearance--BUT the snakes, I did not know about. Well kind of.

Let me rewind for a minute, to last September, when we moved into this amazing home. It includes an amazing yard and garden. 3/4ths of which are white picket fenced. Love. The other 1/4 is out near the road and includes a retention "pond" that we've rarely seen collect any water run off. So, last fall, we did see one or two garter snakes around the side yard. Not the biggest deal.
Back to this spring. Kids are running around the yard playing and I look out the window to see them gathered around a garden bed bordering our house. I go out, and sure enough, they are looking at 2 good sized garter snakes just chilling in the left over winter leaves. They loved it. I of course did not when I saw these two snakes get spooked and slither down into my FOUNDATION. aaaah SNAP. I was flipped.
How many more are there? Is there a whole nest of babies under my house? Did they seriously hibernate there? etc. etc.
Snakes can venture in my yard occasionally but NOT LIVE and LOVE my house. I won't share.
Anyways, I took a deep breath and tried to move on. Dave will kill them later, I thought. No big deal.
A few hours later, my friend and I were talking on the walkway connected to my concrete porch and I KID YOU NOT a snake came peaking out of a little crack, hole in my porch! I tightened up a bit, gently grabbed her arm, and the war began.

My dad was in town the next sunny morning and killed 3 in about 20 minutes. He's killed his fair share of much bigger snakes from the backyard of my house growing up. Beckham was in heaven. "I love gross things!" "This is awesome!" "Snakes are my new favorite!" Him and Roma watched and I was hesitant about it. Felt kinda bad for the snakes but not enough to stop the war. It was for the better.
Dad left and put the shovels by the garden bed. They were for me, he said.
Dave misses out on the warm part of the day and excitement or perils of our new war. Not cool.
I so hoped I wouldn't see another snake and be faced with the choice of using those shovels.
Unfortunately, I was tested, made up my mind...and killed my FIRST SNAKE EVER. It wasn't as easy as I had hoped.

Carter's 4 Snakes 0

The weather changed, we had snow. Warmed back up a bit, I raked the leaves of the beds, and left the shovels in place. Yesterday and today have been amazing weather. We've had no slithery visitors...

Sometimes, it's not a big deal. Big yard, 4 garter snakes, oh well, not worried. OTHER times, google stories about the "idaho house", have dreams and totally creeped.
I know the war has only begun.

Feeling the FEVER...

...The Spring FEVER baby!
I love when you can feel the change of seasons. The smells of wet grass and pavement, the sun beating on your pasty face, birds happy to make babies and even the random fly, bee or spider coming out to welcome some spring warmth.
This morning Beckham and his Dr. Seuss friend rode their bikes to preschool while I pushed the girls in the stroller. I thought about how psyched I am to start my 1st "real" garden this year. Will it work? What do we want to grow? Will bugs, snakes and caterpillars take it over? I've got to get reading my gardening book that I asked for last Christmas.! And, YES. I kind of do want a little random gnome hanging out and keeping the veggies in check.

Dave just brought little Harps into the room. "Fresh out of the oven," he says as he hands her to me. She just took a long nap and is all warm and wrinkly. CUTE!

Early March Madness:
I did have a FABULOUS Big 3-0 of a Bday last week, in case you wondered. Dave and I went out to eat at The Full House in Park City. It's a japanese cuisine, I guess you would call it.? I went 3 times to this restaurant in the last 3 weeks because I LOVE it. Different sushi each time. Only once did I get the heebies while eating my roll that had the full eel slices laying on the top. eek. I swear I saw an eyeball?. None the less. So worth going. mmm.
Then my bday continued on with an extended, my side of the fam, party; a Heber friends "girls night", dinner with a couple other radical friends, phone calls, messages and cards in the mail! Spoiled, I tell ya! All of them sending me on to the THIRTIES! I LOVED every bit of it and I feel lucky to have such great company to share it with!

Also- Major March news. . After much thought and process. I decided to end my soccer coaching job at South Summit High, and pursue a soccer coaching position at Wasatch High. It has been pretty built up for me, as I have LOVED every minute of the 5 years I spent coaching the SS girls. I wanted to stay involved in soccer but the drive/growing family and the time away it would be was more than Dave and I thought would work for us.
So, I interviewed with Wasatch , which is only a few minutes from my house, and I'm thrilled to say, that I was offered the job! I am now the Assistant girls soccer coach working with Jv and Varsity. Good times ahead.
I will miss my Kamas girls and I'm sure it will be strange this first year with such a change.
I'm actually being introduced to the "new" team tomorrow during a short summer workout meeting. First impressions always make me laugh, specially when its all up to me. hmmm? Mean coach, Nice coach, Goofy clown coach, Hard core drill sarg coach. ??? What to do?. :)

Last years Birthday was spent totally Preggers!. Don't miss that Belly


Posers for the candle blow. When it really happened, Beckham blew spit all over my face.

Preschool rocks!

Happy bday Dr. Seuss!

New fashion ideas for my THIRTIES!?

I just went OUT like this..leggings, warmers, toms... I'm laughing with hope that it works.??

Secret is out. I REALLY want leg warmers to work into my wardrobe. 

And I'm determined.. Some say lose the Toms, add some boots? Others say Rock it? Just something fun for me to get a little proud laugh at myself for.?! 

Carry on.

Sent from Iphone.

Hey Mr.?

First of all. Did January even exist? Seems to have come and gone with a blink. Hello February, the month with an extra "r" and extra love. Also my last month in my TWENTIES. OWE, owe!! I'm fine with it..Just saying.

Since this is my 1st post of this "LOVE" month- I may as well give some random facts and happenings about my One and Only Love Mr. Dave. Right? Right.
And, ready, GO!

*Mr. Dave is now an official Weblo scout master.
Pretty sure he's enjoying himself. He says he was never "into it" as a kid so he's learning about all the book requirements and what not right along with the boys. Also, Mr. Mike, his co-teacher-master has become one of his really good friends.
Here are the boys gathered around the Ipad for an educational vid.

*Mr. Dave is a home owner which equals handy man in the making!
This picture cracks me up every time I see it. Good man.!
He had or should I say chose to fix a leak in our front hydrant pipes, that runs on house water, and, well, it was "one of the worst/hardest things" that he's ever had to do. (Is how he described it.) Frozen ground, muddy everything, corroded, brittle pipes and working against daylight. I left to my grandma's for the day so him and Mike (proof of a good friend) could ice pick at the ground. I hadn't heard from him all day and everyone was wondering how things were going. Right when we were talking about it, Dave sent me this picture. I started half laughing and making crazy exclamations, gramma made a gasp and Beckham was begging to see. I leaned down to show Beckham and with all seriousness he asks everyone ---"HE'S DEAD?"

These next vids may or may not work.? Sorry if not.
*Mr. Dave is AKA #1 dad! duh.
He absolutely loves being around the kids. Fish braids Roma's hair. (That he learned from YouTube..haha) Wrestles with them even when he's beat tired from working two jobs. Carries Harper around the house and wakes up at night with her.
The other night while waiting for Dave to get home, Beckham said that he "missed dad so much that his head hurt and his eyes were watering because of it." It was sweet.
Dave researched and found this little 1/10th violin for Beck and Roma for xmas. He has his own violin that he messes around on. Hopefully the kids will get the music/singing talent from him. Apparently Roma can already play Book of Mormon Stories...haha. As seen or not seen on vid.



*Mr. Dave is also teaming up with Beckham to get the total P90X body.
It's pretty intense. Beckham will do an entire workout with Dave or on his own. It's classic!

And, last but not least..
**Mr. Dave is still NO doubt, down right, perfect for me! I am SO much better with him than I've ever been without. Oh jeez, Cheese. I know. But it can't be denied. Happy FebRuary. Go do something special for someone special. Xo

The End.

Just talked to Dr. Tayler. We get to go home!!! Soon. So glad. She's doing better.

Sent from Iphone.

Finally a night of rest.

She made it through the night WITHOUT a treatment.
Yes!
So far soo good. Her last Epi. treatment was last night at 930p. They also gave her another steroid shot and some Tylenol.
It's 545 am and she just had a 6oz bottle and fell back to sleep-breathing fine.
Going on NINE hours now.

The light at the end of this little hospital visit is in sight. We'll see how she does once awake and moving around for the day...

Sent from Iphone.

Harper Lee Update

Through breathing treatments, a steroid shot, chest x-rays and careful evaluation, it was determined that Harper has a pretty severe case of Croup. It started early Monday morning, ER visit on Tuesday afternoon, ending with them admitting us Tuesday night. It's been a rough go for our sweet baby. . And really all of us, to watch her struggling for air.
She is a strong trooper and in good hands. If you're not familiar, Croup affects the upper airway/trachea. It causes swelling and can constrict the airway in some patients, like Harper. She responds immediately to the epinephrine breathing treatment that they give her and becomes calm and has easy breathing. There are times between treatments that she's even been upbeat, smiling, crawling on the bed, drinking and eating her baby food. All great and a sense of comfort..but they are short lived. For the most part she has gone about two hours and then the meds wear off and very quickly she goes back into a struggle for air. Her chest and neck concave with every breath, she breaks into a sweat and . . Well, Dave and I, begin to give her reassuring words, which I'm not sure if she needs more or us?.
What a horrible thing to watch your baby suffer. So much goes through your mind and you wish you could do anything to take that pain away. I am indeed thankful for her over all health and my other two children's health. We really are blessed and I know she will fight through this yucky virus. For now it's just been a lot of restless hours in the hospital.
The Doctors want to keep her another night because she is still unable to maintain comfortable breathing on her own. They want her to go at least six hours after an Epi treatment without needing another. All yesterday and last night she would make it about 2 hrs. Since this morning she has gone about 4 hours. We will see how tonight goes..As nights tend to be rough for most sicknesses.
Friends and family are super supportive and great in helping out with Beckham and Roma, food, phone calls, texts, ..etc.
I'll give the updates here on the blog for those that have been asking. Lets hope and pray we're out of that claustrophobic room and back at home by tomorrow!
Here are some pics that my pops and Shell took today while up here spending the night and visiting our sweet little Harper Lee.

"Simple" ideas..?

Good. I finally fixed my blog so that I can once again update via phone. These days I am RARELY at my actual desktop or laptop. Run, Running, around my house and playing with kids. It gets hectic.
I'm coming up with some different ways to help make my life easier and more productive.
Yesterday I called Dave at work to sarcastically, yet with all seriousness, tell him my couple ideas and then to see if he had any to add.
He laughed and said he'd be thinking.
Here are some of mine. Easy, complicated and those that will take some trial and error.
-An accordion file for all my bill stuff. I save the stubs for power, gas, mortgage, hospital bills, etc and I'm not 100% sure why I save them all but I think it's a good idea. So, having them in some sort of order makes me feel less clutter brained and better.
-Sell our Honda civic and get rid of our 295$ car payment. !! Lately I think car payments are such a waste. I'm ready to get a bigger yet "crappier" car that we can save a bit monthly.
-Turn down the water heater
-Plan out a 2 week dinner schedule and shopping list. ---THIS is the tough new one for me. I am excited to see how I do and if I like this idea. I'm using the Food Nanny cookbook and website. This website lets you pick your recipes then it creates a shopping list for you. It's been a couple days is all and I love that I KNOW what's for dinner. Not something that I already did or cared about.
-Buy a gym pass. Not just for me to use but me and the kids LOVE going to burn off energy and practice our sports skills. This rec center even has a golf putting green, drive range area, and batting cages along with the other basic goods. "Getting out" is key to a good day-especially if it's physical. That's my book though:)
SO far that's what I'm working with.

P.S. Harper Lee is crawling full on and eating all and everything. She is a hand full of lovin.

Was anyone else in Razz Ma Tazz ..

..when they were little??
Roma loves dressing up and watching my old vids! Her hair is definitely so long like mine was, just a couple shades darker. That's me with the platinum fluff in the background.