Enjoying the Little Moments

Raising kids is no easy job. Sometimes during the daily chores, tantrums, fights, dirty diapers, and pure exhaustion it's hard to remember why we started all of this in the first place. But throughout all of that there are precious moments where I look at my kids and see them smile or act so grown up that I realize they won't be around the house forever and soon I'll probably be missing them. So here are a few of those moments from the past few months.

Here is Quinton at the dentist getting some cavities filled. I don't think he flinched once. In fact, he and Clara beg me all the time to go to the dentist. Crazy kids.

Nothing beats an ice cream cone face.

Warren enjoying some spaghetti...

... and the cleanup afterward.

We went on a date to Fatty'z pizza one night and Warren was with us. The slices were as big as his head!

Warren loves the sandbox and he has plenty of sand-filled diapers to prove it!

He loves the playhouse too!

Quinton and Clara loving the outdoors on a fishing trip with Dad.

Whenever we mention fishing, Quinton's face just starts glowing. It's his favorite thing to do.

Now that Warren knows wearing shoes leads to playing outside, he finds any shoes he can and puts them on his hands. He especially likes my new running shoes.

At first glance it doesn't look like he has much hair, but he can totally rock a mohawk if given a chance.

Quinton and Clara have been listening to these books on tape that I had when I was a kid. I'm sure very few kids even know what a Walkman even is anymore. One day Warren got a hold of a cassette tape and pulled out the tape. It took me quite a while to get it fixed so Quinton and Clara could listen to it again. I kept thinking, "This must be what parents in the 90's had to deal with!"

Clara earned an ice cream date with me one night. We went to the frozen yogurt place where you get to choose whatever you want for toppings. I think she had ten different kinds of candy in there. She was in heaven.

Independence Day & Camping at Big Trinity Lake

For the 4th of July we stayed in Mountain Home. They had a car show at the park with a free bouncy house and cotton candy that was 3 for $1 - can't beat that!

We had a few friends over for a barbecue and then went to the golf course to watch the fireworks. It was a perfect day.

The next day we headed up to the Trinity Mountains to go camping. This is the first time we turned Warren around in the car. He was pretty excited.

After the excitement wore off, the exhaustion from staying up the night before for fireworks kicked in and they all fell asleep. It was a nice, peaceful drive.

Our campsite was beautiful. It was right by the lake so there were a lot of mosquitoes, but we used enough bug spray to keep most of them away.

Quinton enjoyed catching dragon flies. 

He loved catching fish even more!

Here's Clara doing a leaf rubbing.

Warren cried ALL NIGHT LONG, but we forgave him the next morning when the sun came up and we saw his cute face again.

There were lots of fun rocks to climb. That was Clara's favorite part. 

Barry had a hard time getting them out of this little cave. They thought it was pretty cool.

It took even less time for them to fall asleep on the way home. The best sound ever is three snoring kids in the backseat. 

Rigby Trip

We spent a few days in Rigby with Grandma Packer and the rest of the crew in June. Quinton and Clara always look forward to spending time with all of their cousins. I hardly saw them when we were there they were so busy playing. Warren found the tractor Grandpa bought and was tempted to take it for a spin.

He is really loving bikes right now. Connor was very nice to donate this one to him.

Clara apparently has a wild side to her. When she started driving Grandpa's little tractor she just took off and drove like crazy all over the yard. She would stick her tongue out and had an extremely determined look on her face as she went full speed around all of the obstacles. I think we'll be putting driver's ed off for as long as possible!

At the end of the week Barry drove over and he and I ran the To Bone and Back relay with his Uncle Bob and his family. It was a lot of fun! We each ran five miles and there were eight people on the team.

Memorial Day Weekend

We went to Oakley for a couple days on Memorial Day weekend this year. It's so peaceful and relaxing there and the kids love it. We had a cook out one night. Here is Clara eating a Marshmallow, or maybe it's eating her. I can't really be sure.

Warren loved the s'mores.

And the watermelon! He was very determined to get some more.

It took him a little while to get used to it, but he ended up loving the trampoline.

He discovered a stool at Grandma's and kept moving it around and just perching on it. He was very proud of himself.

That week Barry's nephews Ammon and Nolan came and stayed with us for a few days. It was quite the adventure! Here are all of the kids at the park. 

Quinton Finishes Preschool

Quinton finished preschool at Little Sunbeams Academy in May. He learned so much the past year. It was a lot of fun to see him at his end of the year party singing the songs he learned. It's hard to believe he'll be starting Kindergarten so soon!

Here he is with his teacher Saskia Baxter - aka "Miss Sas." Quinton sure loved having her as her teacher and luckily still gets to see her on Sundays since she's his primary teacher too. And next year it's Clara's turn to come here. She's very excited!

Suprise!

Barry turned 30 this year and I decided to throw him a party. I think he was pretty surprised!

Here he is after the big reveal. We invited our friends and Barry's parents and his brother Joe were even there. We had "gourmet" hot dogs and some yummy cake. It was at Legacy Park near the duck pond and the kids had fun running around while the adults talked.

It was a lot of fun having so many people there who care about him.

We went back the next day (Barry's actual birthday) with Joe and did a little fishing at the pond.

Warren showing his dissatisfaction at being stuck in the stroller.

Clara has a fascination with climbing rocks lately. I think she just likes to make her mother nervous.

Metamorphosis

Barry went on a hike one day in May near Mountain Home and found hundreds of little caterpillars. The kids were really excited when he took them to go find some to bring back home. The kids couldn't catch the caterpillars because they were on stinging nettle, but they still thought it was pretty cool. They each had quite a few in their jars.

This is a picture of Quinton throwing a tantrum when it was time to leave. I had the camera handy and just couldn't resist. 

A few days later, the caterpillars made their cocoons all over the jar.

Here they are as butterflies!