Mowing Lawns, Cute Kids, a Hoedown, and other Randomness

Jeff has been dreaming of getting a riding lawn mower ever since we moved here because he literally has to mow at least 10-12 times as much lawn as he used to. What used to take him about 15 minutes from start to finish now takes a good hour, if not more. But isn't this backyard beautiful? If we could figure out how to resist the massive amounts of mosquitoes and fire ants, we'd be out there a lot more often.

I even took a turn mowing (a first for me, I believe).

Jeff and our little rice-burner of a mower.

Typical Cade...love it!

Cole got a hold of the camera - he LOVES to take pictures!

Our ward had a hoedown a few weeks back and our entire family actually dressed up a bit for the occasion. I do believe it is the first time Jeff has ever costumed-up for anything. Wait, the 2nd time...he did put on a flowered shirt and a lei for a luau we went to when we were dating. But isn't he the most handsome cowboy you've ever seen? I really think he is diggin' the whole Texas thing...it's especially cute when he asks the kids, "Do y'all want to...?"

And aren't these the cutest little hillbillies you're ever seen? Cole was sporting his camouflage pants (which he wears often) and Cade was wearing cut-off denim jeans...classic. The sad thing is that we didn't look much different than usual:) I guess we're hillbillies/rednecks (whatever you want to call it) at heart.

Things are good here. Madlyn is thriving at school and is doing very well with her reading, writing, math, etc. She was so excited because a couple of weeks ago they did a unit on apples, her favorite fruit. She even got to taste all different kinds of apples and apparently she was the only one who liked the dehydrated ones. So we bought a bunch of apples and dehydrated them, she liked that. She got invited to her first birthday party here and so we all went down to Peter Piper Pizza (ya know, one of my favorite places) and had a good time there. I did notice she played mostly with a little boy named Jeffrey and not too much with the girls. She must feel most comfortable with boys, I guess. Sounds familiar. We took her to the optometrist the other day because her pediatrician in AZ said that she needed to see one (after doing a quick check there). I was worried she'd need glasses but she still has 20/20 vision. I felt kind of dumb taking her in since she's totally fine but am grateful that we have insurance so all I had to pay was the $10 copay.

Cole is loving preschool. He has been learning his alphabet sounds, practicing writing, cutting, and learning about dinosaurs, animals, the environment, etc. He LOVES it! They are also being exposed to art & music, which I love. The other day he came home and said that they (the teachers) had shown him "Starry Night" and that it was by Van Gogh. I asked him what it looked like and he did an excellent job of recounting details of the picture. I was impressed. He is absolutely obsessed with animals of any kind and soaks up everything he learns on PBS (Dinosaur Train) and NickJr. (Diego) like a sponge. Much of my day is spent listening to him recount animal facts to me - I love it! He still says "I love you" abou 25 times a day and it is hilarious. He'll come bouncing/dancing in to me and urgently say, "Mom!" Yes, Cole? "I love you. and I need to go potty." All righty then. He can't hardly say anything to me or Jeff without prefacing it with "I love you." I am so glad because it keeps me saying it to all of them often.

Cade is a fireball as usual. He has become so curious about the world and has such a scientific/mathematical mind. He counts EVERYTHING (he can almost count to 20 accurately - and connect it to objects) and tries really hard to tell me the colors of things. He still hasn't figured colors out though so everything is green these days (A couple of weeks ago it was all blue & black). He likes to color and practice cutting. He is definitely the opposite of Cole in that way (OK, in almost every way). Cade is getting better at not pushing/jumping on/hitting his little brother Lane and will often say, "Lane's just a little baby." Oh, this is a snippet of a conversation that I heard this morning: Cole, "Cade..I don't want to play right now." Cade, "But Cole, you're my brother." He really is such a cutie and is so much fun to have around!

Lane is just a little doll-baby. He has been sleeping quite well lately and I am loving that! He does like to pull everything out of cupboards and drag them all over the house so that's not quite so fun but at least he's happy. He likes to play with his siblings and his dad when they all get rowdy and wrestle in the evenings. He is walking all over the place (since about the 24th of August) and tries to talk a lot. He thinks he's having real conversations but no one can understand any of it. In fact, I still have not recognized "Mom" or "Dad" out of any of his babblings. That's OK. He's my baby and I don't mind if he stays that way for a while. Lane turns 1 on the 17th - I really can't hardly believe he has been in our family for almost a year.

So anyways, we are well and happy. We did get a little homesick over Conference weekend missing our regular traditions but we did all right. It was weird having Conference start at 11 in the morning instead of 9 and it was very strange for Jeff to go to Priesthood at 7pm instead of 5. I missed my normal Girls' Night with my MIL during the Priesthood Session and Jeff missed being with his dad and the Snows but like I said, we survived. Jeff stopped off at a little Mexican restaurant on his way home and got some chips & salsa so at least he got that:) I, on the other hand, put the kids to bed early and watched a girly movie.

Thanks for checking in - have a great day!