what we've been doing....

*

Getting ready to submit Dave's med school applications for the 2010 entering class. We have a book of all the med schools in the US and we've been looking at all of them.

Among the possible locations:
St. Louis
Omaha
Philidelphia
Des Moines
Seattle
DC

and more...

Wish us luck!

*this comic strip was found here

to the park

A few days this week we've walked across the street to a neighborhood park. The first day we went, Ana wanted to ride in the stroller, but I convinced her to ride her bike instead so I could push Jack. She loved it. We sit in the shade and she runs around in the grass. Today we took a picnic lunch and met her cousins there. I love summer!

on bunnies and battle wounds

for a few days last week we had a bunny adopt us. her family found her yesterday and she's back home now, but it was fun to see this little guy hopping around. Ana loved to try to pet it.



On Saturday Dave and I went mountain biking. It was so fun! It was my first time, and it was really fun. I am so out of shape, which I hate, and I walked my bike up a lot of the mountain. I crashed on the way down, and got a few battle wounds. I can't wait to go again! It a really fun date.

fishing

Dave brought Ana home a surprise a few days ago. Her very own fishing pole. She was so excited. She was jumping up and down and spinning the reel and talking about it for the rest of the day. With a big hug she said to Dave, "Thank you for... Thank you for my... Thanks for... Thank you, Daddy."

When Dave got home from work that night they went out to practice casting. So cute.

why i love being a mother

My kids are busy kids. High maintainence. Intense. Sometimes out of control. Most days by the end of the day I'm exhausted and drained emotionally. I suppose they get some of their intensity for me. I've never been accused of being overly calm and collected. Emotional, yes. Irrational, yes. Calm and laid back, not so much. Most days I feel like I am not great at my job.

Ever since I was little, I wanted to be a mom. I played house until it was too embarrassing to admit. And even after that. I am so grateful that I am a mother. What a blessing these two little spirits have been to me.



What makes it worth it:

Ana saying, "Happy Mother's Day, mommy. Its your day."
"I love you"s, hugs and kisses.
Jack giving me big smiles and reaching his hands up to me.
Snuggling with Ana on a chair to read stories.
Hearing people say how cute my kids are.
Knowing that nobody takes as good of care of my kids as me.

Happy Mother's Day!

note to self

Next time you can't find Ana's blanky right at bedtime, don't offer different blankets. This will result in a 30 minute temper tantrum. Instead, offer a doll, and she'll be asleep in minutes.





p.s. the second picture is from a few nights ago when she fell asleep on her own. Incidentally, I did find her blanky in about 5 minutes after she fell asleep - in an recently emptied cupboard in the entertainment center.

new stuff

Actually, just one new thing. But, it's the biggest thing we have purchased since being married. We just went outside where it was parked and took a few quick pics before the sun went down.


It is a 1996 Mazda B2300 with about 97000 miles. A gutless 4 cylinder with a manual transmission. Just what we wanted. We weren't specifically looking for a Mazda but that is what was available - and we like it. It was fun driving down to Utah with all the cash we needed to buy it. I am glad to know that even though we have two cars now, we still have zero car payments.

It rides really well for a little truck, has almost brand new tires on it, gets good mileage, and is pretty quiet on the road. Best of all - Erin has the Buick all to herself and can go wherever she wants, whenever she wants. She is pretty excited and I feel all extra manly with my gutless truck - I can carry... stuff now.

Here is one last picture of us all tired out after the photo shoot.


Also, as a side note - This is awesome...

This truck has the factory tape deck stereo. And, if you can't tell, that is my handy dandy Tape-->CD converter that I have had for like a million years. You know, the one that plugged into the headphones of the CD player and had a fake tape-type thing that tricked your stereo into thinking it was playing a tape? Yeah, I have kept that thing with my portable CD player for a long time and have contemplated chucking it many times. I am glad I didn't. Now I can listen to the ipod in the truck and I didn't have to buy anything new to do it.

four down infinity to go...

a few things that ROCK about my husband of {4} years:

1. his daddy skills
2. he is SUPER smart
3. he downloads awesome CDs for a surprise for me
4. he is all about serving other people

there are so many more things, but i'll stop there.

Happy Anniversary, Dave. I love you!!!