Lonely room

I've gotta say, I'm super sad that my little girls aren't sleeping near me anymore.  

Not to have Liesl wake me up with her fears.

Her quiet whisper, "Mommy, can you fix my blankets?"  Her love of snuggling.

I already miss having Penelope's soft breathing and little baby smell near me...the way she would burrow her soft hair into my face as she stirred in her sleep, seeking comfort.

We had been talking about gradually doing this for a while. I think Quinn was ready!  The impetus was that we were going to use the benches that propped Penelope's bed up in our play... but now we aren't really using them.  So....maybe I'll be bringing her back into the room?

It's funny.  We never really had our children sleep in our room until now.  I just like all the warm bodies jumbled all over me...althougb sometimes it does make for less sleep.

They're sweet.

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Side note on the little girls: they've found some great friends in the Wilson family's youngest two daughters!

Here are some sweet pictures of Sweet Pea's first playdate.  When my friend asked if she wanted to go home, she said, "No."  When my friend asked her if she wanted to see Mommy, she was amenable, lol.

We had our first dress rehearsal today and it was such a blessing to have Penelope so happy! My friends also helped us transport much of the materials over,...what a blessing!

From Babies to Youth and Game Night Fun!

Zsa-man is a treasure!  One of his recent fun things we do with him (or rather he does with us) is to turn us. He will put his hand on one side of a person's arm and apply pressure until that person turns.  Then, when the person stops, he will do it again.  Small, perhaps, but Zsa-man loves to see his big, muscle-y brothers turn with his tiny pushes.  He giggles and chortles while doing it.  Tots-adorb.

This morning I had both the baby boys on my lap and it was making Spooner nervous. They have a somewhat rocky relationship as it is, seeing as Spooner cannot understand why it is okay for him to allow the baby to claw his face or climb on him to get up...or crawl over him...or whack him...or all those other little baby things Baby Zsa does.

So they were sitting on my lap, Zsa just bursting with desire to maul Spooner and Spooner chuckling nervously and saying, "Nice baby.  Nice baby."  It will be fun to see them really wrestling as youth!

Game night fun!!  We have some great youth in our area and recently had a fun night together:

Great group of youth!!

Visiting the Moore's farm

We had a great visit to the Moores, down south-east of us here in New York on their own, beautiful 125-ish acre farm.

It was a very comfortable situation, if you ever are in the vicinity and need a fantastically peaceful bed and breakfast :)!  Spooner, Baby Zsa and Papaya thought so, anyway, as you can see in the following pictures:

Hava the photographer at work:

Hava captured an awesome moment :)

Here are some more Hava shots...

Liliputian and Duke

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, right?  Hava likes weeds :).

Pipalicious after one of our New York downpour soakings.

I like the shadows on this one!

Little Spooner was apparently caught unawares

Hava is apparently also wondering who is taking pictures now :)

Here is Brother Moore allowing the kids to hold his brand new chicks... so adorable!

Papaya poser :). "Here, mommy!  Take a picture of me."

Hava's turn

 

 

 

It was really so wonderful waking up to absolute quiet and peace aside from the gentle noises of nature.  Watching the rainstorms sweep up and over their hill and the spectacular sunsets just added to the beauty.

The kids had a great time with Zach, who drove them around in "the Gator," their old ground "get-around" mobile.  He would take them around the property and to the "haunted forest," a huge stand of tall dead pines that remind me of the scene from "Anne of Green Gables" where they are wandering through the forest.

Angie made some delicious meals and Jeff was great at keeping the kids out of trouble between electric fences and adventurous youngsters wandering to visit animals.  I was able to weed (loved it!) and just take a deep breath in life. 

Kane Gulch trip

VIDEO:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GXJofowNTY&list=PLLLNlSGV_8M3k4TbpLvaRdQXgAxuoT7_6
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FH-88yNHVQ&index=3&list=PLLLNlSGV_8M3k4TbpLvaRdQXgAxuoT7_6
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrSQD6YfEWU&index=2&list=PLLLNlSGV_8M3k4TbpLvaRdQXgAxuoT7_6
We just went backpacking this last week: "we" meaning Q-dawg, Lek, Avot, the Goob and I and some awesome friends:

Hail, hail!  The gang's all here...

Lek and his mighty pack...and his mighty muscles :)

The Goob at Jailhouse Ruins

I sat there for a very long time.

He didn't look so calm when we mentioned bats and spiders in the cave, but he covered his concern well for this picture.

Now this is up really high.  You can see Adam sitting down below, and in the next picture, see where below is...

Q-dawg was climbing through that dark area up on the left of this picture.

We were relaxing below

Ginger and Lek

It was cool to think of human beings placing their hands here hundreds of years ago and leaving their mark

Here is the opposite view of that crack above

It is steeper than it looks. I still cannot believe I scampered up it...and then got back down afterward!

Our manly men!

Don't ask me what Avot and I were thinking...

Q-dawg climbed up this while the rest of us were resting or exploring.  He asked later: "Doesn't it make you nervous to see me up so high?" "No," I explained, "I had to turn off that fear years ago just to cope with where you climb so I could stay sane :)."

But his view was amazing!

My kids have been inspired by the "Gravity Glue Guy" (you should check out his art!)

http://www.lifebuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/cover-13.jpg

http://www.lifebuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/cover-10.jpg

http://www.lifebuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/cover-6.jpg

We loved Avot's "movie star" sunglasses...they went with her hair that she bleached for her play this week :).

Don't breathe, Lek!

It was amazing how green it was here in this pocket of southern Utah!  (Watch out for desert bears...apparently they are out!)

Great trip!

If I remember correctly, these last couple of pictures were where the Goob left a trace! He left an offering of himself: he threw up his previous night's dinner all over!  Poor guy.  Apparently, we left some sickness at home as well...an unpleasant surprise for our babysitters and for us to come home to :S.  Socialization definitely has its draw-backs!

I will try and link in some of Q-dawg's videos here later.