Monday, May 23, 2016

God gave us families.

I've been thinking about love lately. Maybe because I have been husbandless for 70 days. Or maybe because of Lindsey's wedding. Or possibly because almost every night I'm staring into the faces of couples in love as I edit. It is such a miracle to find a partner. That there is another human being that you want to spend your entire eternity with. I get to see Brian this weekend. I can't wait. It makes me hurt for my grandma who has been without my grandpa for 12 years now. I crave his touch and his presence. I feel like a wanderer without him.

I'm in NC. It feels like the peace after the storm. Which is ironic since it's been storming since I got here. But there is so much peace here. I brought my computer so I could work but I feel so far away from everything that I just don't feel like it. That's why I'm blogging instead.

I went to have my hair highlighted today. I wanted to look nice for Brian but let me warn you, you cannot go to Supercuts in North Carolina the same way you can in Utah. I learned this in TX, but had to relearn it here again. My hair looks disastrous. Like yellow, leopard-y and terrible. But oh well.

The girls are SO happy here.

Monday, May 16, 2016

April is over.

Liesel on AM chicken duty: compost in exchange for eggs. Not a bad deal we have worked out with those ladies. 

Soccer Practice for Miss Hannah. Which turned out to be an opportunity to whine for snacks cry in my lap for 20 minutes. Hannah told Dad tonight on the phone that, "i didn't like soccer. We just did races and didn't get to kick the ball like Liesel's soccer. I liked Liesel's soccer."

Liesel on her team. 



Cath's visit in February!


Easter Sunday

Felicity moves that sand around like a boss. She loves playing in water and sand, but then again is there a baby out there who doesn't?

My own personal bean-lover. Felicity will down some beans. 

These goofballs. 

Liesel finished all 58 lessons on her reading chart and earned her Lego Friends Jungle rescue set. We haven't done another lesson since. 

Taken in a moment of panic and sent to both Catherine and Brian. Felicity is a climber. She goes up and then base jumps off head first. 

Brian has been gone for an official two months this upcoming Sunday. It feels like forever and fast at the same time. These pookies have me shaking all over with laughter, shaking my head in anger, stressing out from constant needs and dying from fatigue. I seriously think my kids are great. They have so many talents. They are so full of personality. They are beautiful, vibrant and healthy. And each one is so unique.

Felicity has exploded in personality. She is social. She loves being in the group and thrives off attention from her sisters. She does not like it when she can hear that we're all playing and laughing and she's in her crib or high chair! She kicks her feet against her high chair super hard in frustration and grunts or yells. She has a good sense of humor and likes to be silly and make everyone laugh. She does this at dinner if she gets everyones attention. Felicity is a climber. She started walking this weekend!! She took three steps, but to my sister Emily instead of me! Haha! She looked so proud of herself. She took another three steps today to me and stand ups frequently.

I went to Hannah's sunbeam class with her on Sunday since we were visiting a new ward in Manti for Lindsey's wedding. I was honestly laughing the entire 45 minute class. She answered every. single. question. And she was hilarious. At one point the teacher asked about how we should take care of bodies when there are knifes around. hannah said, "One time I was slicing {peeling} a cucumber and I licked my finger because I thought I had jam on it, but it was my blood and I ate it." And then later a boy said that he ate watermelon because it was healthy and Hannah was like, "I like watermelon too, but it will give you diarrhea if you eat too much." And she was doing this the whole class. She is such a funny girl. So spunky. So sweet. So shy. So social. So endearing. So cold. So tender. So harsh.

Liesel is so perceptive of other people's feelings. She is naturally very empathetic and compassionate. This doesn't mean she doesn't inflict pain on Hannah several times a day, but she genuinely feels other people's pain. This weekend she gave aunt Catherine a hug when she was sad and said, "I really hope Aunt Emily makes her feel better." She prays for people who are hurting. She is a great big sister. I listened to her assessment for kindergarten today and she was amazing. I felt so proud of her and she seemed like such a big girl. She frequently says something and I think, "Where did she learn that word? How does she know what that means?!" Not a bad word or anything, just a big word. One that I'm surprised she knows what it means.

We all miss Brian so much. He got sprayed with OC today, but took it like a champ. Our family seems incomplete without him. Now that seeing him in getting closer and it's an actual reality, I feel so excited.