{Pink Flowers}

Saturday was the day we decided to plant flowers in our pots on the porch. It just happened to be raining on and off. It did the same thing last year when we decided to plant our annual flowers. When we got to our beloved Lowe's (seriously I should have bought stock) Lauryn was demanding that we get pink flowers. As I have mentioned in previous posts, Lauryn loves PINK. In fact the other day she asked me if we could paint our van pink. She just couldn't understand why I didn't think that would be such a great idea. Anyways back to the flowers. We are in the garden center listening to the rain fall on the plastic roof and Lauryn is hollering every time she spies a pink flower. We had tried to convince her that there were no pink flowers, but we were quickly informed that in fact there were pink flowers and lots of them. If had let Lauryn have her way we would have come home with every shade of pink flower Lowe's carried. Lauryn got to pick ONE pink flower (see above) and Ayden and Meysa got to pick out their flowers which thank heavens were not pink. I like pink and all but there has to be moderation in all things right?!! Ryan and I rounded out the colors with purple, red, orange, yellow, light blue and white. We like our pots to have lots of color. It makes me happy!! It also makes me happy that there are blue skies and sunshine today, sure signs that spring is truly here, finally and hopefully to stay!! Spring is here people!!! Oh, did I say that already? My bad, I'm just really excited for the new season to be upon us!!

{Ayden}

I guess I am finally at my first born. Ayden, boy where do I start? He is growing up faster than I think I would like him to. He is almost nine and wants to be so responsible for things. Just this morning when he was up at 5:30 I was wishing we lived on a farm out in the toolies so I could send him out to milk the cows or feed something. He thrives on tasks to be done and is really pretty capable. He loves baseball but also wants to try playing football this fall. He has a love- hate relationship with reading right now. He loves me to read to him at bedtime, but doesn't so much like to read aloud to me in return. He is going to eat me out of house and home if I am not careful. I bought 5 doz eggs not quite two weeks ago and I am down to less than a dozen. He loves to cook himself a fried egg for a snack before AND after dinner. This kid had three hamburger sliders for dinner and was still hungry so he had a bowl of cereal not 20 minutes after dinner. He is really close to earning his wolf badge for scouts. He only has 4-5 things left to do to earn it. He loves Math at school and is a great speller. He loves to build things and draw out his own inventions. Any scrap of wood he wants to save and build something with it. He was in hog heaven when we were doing the remodeling a month ago. He loved holding all the tools and getting in there with the guys, feeling like he was doing something productive. He is 120% boy. He loves guns, and machines, and tools and sports. He is the one that reminds us to have family scriptures in the morning and he will ask me to read them with him at night too. He is a good big brother, most of the time. He does love to tease and torture his sisters. Much to my, and their, dismay. Ayden is the poor kid that we have made most of our parenting mistakes on and he is resilant and looks no worse for the wear, thank goodness!! Hopefully he will be forgiving of his mother, with the mistakes I made because he was my first!! I love my Ayden and don't know where I would be without him.

{Meysa}

Miss Meysa, aka Molasses, Meys, Sister. I find it hard to comprehend how she got this old already. She is almost 6 and a half going on 16. She can be so helpful at times that she makes me think she is truly older. Meysa has an understanding of the gospel at such a young age, it amazes me. She strives to do what is right and glows under praise for the good things she does. The other day in the car she and Ayden were fighting over who was going to get out of the car first. I know such important stuff to be bickering over. I had had enough and told them they were going to decide who was going to be the peacemaker and I was giving them one minute to figure it out. Meysa decided it would be her and of course Ayden was perfectly happy with that. Fast forward to today and Ayden was trying to get out of the car first again and Meysa threw it in his face. "Ayden I was the peacemaker on Friday so it your turn to be it today!!" Ayden didn't have much of a come back for that.

There is such competition between Meysa and Ayden. She definantly isn't going to be told she can't do something because she is a girl. She reminds me of myself with my brothers. Meysa has such a strong opinion and strong personality. She makes friends really easily and tries to be a good friend. She LOVES school and her teacher Mrs. S. She is reading up a storm and loving the freedom that that brings her. Just this morning she was trying to teach Lauryn how to read one of her sight words books. She likes to figure out math problems and is proud of herself when she figures them out herself. She has always been so independent that way. Always capable and wanting to do things by herself. She loves to draw and write stories. She can take her sweet time doing anything. That is why one of her nicknames is molasses. She can move just about as fast molasses does. Which can be so infuriating especially when we are running late for school and she is only half dressed and playing in her room. She loves to have her special one on one time at night. She LOVES her daddy and tells him 20 times that she loves him before she goes to work each day. She doesn't do well with goodbyes and frets over changes in schedules. She acts so independent but there is a vulnerable side to her to that gets embarrassed easily and doesn't like being told she was wrong in doing something. She loves to do chores, especially windows and bathrooms, which is just fine by me!!

Meysa is just a ball of special things. She complicated and simple all at the same time. I love her to death and I am constantly learning how to be a better mother to her. I think she has taught me the most about being a mother!! What would my life be without her? Dull and much less exciting that is for sure!!! I love you Meysa-

{Lauryn}

Oh my little Lauryn!! She is one of a kind, a true individual. She is sweet, sassy, funny, stubborn and adorable all rolled into one. I can't keep shoes on her feet and her hair fixed. Most days her hair is crazy and she looks like an orphan. She can get the best bed head!! She changes her clothes frequently during the day. She will wear anything pink. Let me rephrase that, she has to wear something pink. Pink is her "signature color" (name that movie!!). She loves her letters and can write her name along with Meysa's and Ayden's but could care less about her numbers. She has a wonderful imagination, always creating some story for her dolls to live through. She is a tease and finds it satisfying to hear her little brother scream often during the day. Some of the things that come out of her mouth amaze me. She has such a vocabulary. She has an infectious laugh. The kind that comes from the depths of her little body. Speaking of little body. She is such a petite thing. It might have something to do with the fact that she eats like a bird, but more probably to do with the genes she got from her mother. She will eat most things if she has ketchup to dip it in, a trick I am learning to get her to eat. She loves being in Sunbeams at church. She will be 4 in three weeks. Where has the time gone? She and Wyatt are starting to play really well together and can keep each other occupied so I can get stuff done (like blogging !!). Lauryn continues to be the comedic relief around our place. Her facial expressions, her laugh, her stories, they make her so irreplaceable. I wouldn't trade being her mother for the world. Lauryn makes my day, everyday!! I Love You Lauryn-

{Wy-Man}

Wy-Man is the nickname this little fellow has received from his dear daddy. I felt like it was about time for me to do a few posts just about the kids, individually. It makes me stop and think about each one and what each of them brings to our family. I am starting with the youngest and right now also the loudest of the family (literally he is screaming in my ear because his sister stole his toy). When I think of my little Wy-Man I can't help but feel really blessed. There is not a day that goes by when I look at him that I don't have this overwhelming feeling that confirms Wyatt was suppose to be mine. Heavenly Father really did mean to send him to me, for me to be his Mama. It is a sobering thought to have, it makes me want to be a better Mom to all my kids.

He makes us all laugh and then the next second he makes me want to pull my hair out from making me go crazy. He is chattering up a storm, we understand most of what he is saying and still he has plenty to say that we do not have the slightest clue about. He loves dogs and will pant and bark on command. He likes to throw things, like balls, bowls, and shoes. Frighteningly he has a really good arm. He loves music and asks for a song every night before he goes to bed. "You are my sunshine" is his favorite. He adores his oldest sister because she dotes on him and acts like his other mama. The other day when Lauryn was crying and being whinny, without any prompting Wyatt took her by the shoulders (as if to say get a hold of yourself) and told her in a very commanding voice to "STOP". I about peed my pants from laughing so hard. He sometimes seems beyond his years in comprehension about how this life of ours works.

He LOVES to play outside and feels very left out when his older siblings get to play outside and he doesn't. He loves his Daddy and gets so excited when he comes home. He also loves to wrestle with Daddy. He will finally let me leave him in nursery with out completely losing it. His little personality is coming out more and more each day. With every smirk, funny noise, or teasing of his sisters we come to understand more and more how much trouble we are in with this little man. Our family sure wouldn't be complete without him in it. We love our Wy-Man!!