Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Last night we went to the DustDevils game. Hayden was a little disappointed that they were not playing the Mariners, but managed to have a good time anyhow. It was sort of windy, but the temperature was about 75 or so; I figured we would be ok without jackets, I was wrong. It was a little chilly, but the kids had snow cones anyhow. Sage had pink, and Hayden had sour apple/banana (yes, gross as it sounds). Heath and I shared some tasty kettle corn.

Marlee really seemed to enjoy it. She was the only one with long sleeves and she also was smart enough to throw in a nice cozy blanket. She loves being outside so she just stared at everything. Heath kept her bundled and tried to keep the wind out of her face,, and she sort of enjoyed peeking out of the blanket. Hayden took his mitt, but thankfully no balls came our way. It was a lot of fun.

5 nights

5 Nights-whats so great about the last 5 nights? let me tell you... a full nights sleep for 5 nights. Yes, my sweet Marlee has taken pity on us and slept through the night for 5 nights in a row!

We have been flirting with the whole sleep through the night thing for a few weeks now, but it has been 5 in a row. Let's just say that I could get used to this, probably shouldn't, probably won't, but I could! She is still in the cradle, but we are visiting the crib; the mobile and fishy toy are sorta entertaining. See the smile? I think she likes it!

(yes, I do know about the risk of SIDS and the association with bedding and stuff in the crib, but this was just a social visit, wanted to make her comfy so that she will go back often. )

We are Girls

Sage's new favorite phrase is "We are girls!" Usually it is said as a response to something great, like going to the park or getting to color with markers.

Today, its not so great to be a girl because the boys are taking the boat out. She is not invited, and try as I might to convince her that our girl time will be fun, but she just wants to go boating.

When Sage was tiny, I let Hayden load her up in a toy dump truck. Well, it only seemed right that she gets to load up her little sister into her toy stroller. Sage was a better sport with Hayden than Marlee was for Sage. Oh well, Sage thought it was great; and yes, she told me "We are girls!"

Scootin

We are all about the scooter this summer. Hayden just got a new two wheeled Razor that he is quite pleased with. That means his old scooter with training wheels is free for Sage to use now. She has been promised her very own pink Dora or Princess (pretty much anything she wants) scooter but first she has to use the potty. So far, the bribe has not been successful. Can't seem to convince her that diapers are not the way to go. Anyhow, we scoot all over, its quite entertaining.

Heath tried out the wheelie bar on Hayden's scooter, but I hope Hayden waits a bit before giving it a try. The hill that we live on gives me all kinds of anxiety when the kids are riding around. Sage finally has learned to bail off, but at first she was quite content to ride the thing down to the bottom of the hill at about 30 miles/hr. YIKES! She has a little bike too, but it has no brakes, so it is only for walks when we are on flat paths. Not sure how long the facination will last, but for now we will ride it out!

Fathers Day

We love our daddy!

Swingin

We were so excited, Marlee swang for over an hour. She gets really fussy some afternoons and pretty much very active bouncing and dancing on my part is all that keeps her from screaming. Its really fun. Anyhow, we assembled the swing for the third time and set it prominantly on display in the kitchen. Neither Hayden or Sage spent more than about 10 minutes total in the thing so it's pretty much brand new. Of note, cousin Avery borrowed it too, however Auntie Jamie (responsible for the new look of our blog, thanks Jam!) tells me that Avery didn't really log the hours either. Anyhow, in a moment of desperation, I thought why not try the thing, I've tried everything else. Turns out she quite liked it. She has swung a few times now. Not sure if it was a one-time thing or if its a new trend. I'm hoping for the latter.

Notice the tiny swing next to Marlee's swing? Thats the doll swing, and it is getting used. Hayden and Sage have been busy swinging all the dolls and stuffed animals they can get ahold of. They practically have a waiting list to get on. Sage has a doll stroller too, its logging the miles as well. They are having a blast playing with these smaller versions of their sisters toys.

Life is a bowl of cherries

Its finally cherry time. Yes, we had beautiful spring, perfect cherry weather until the week before harvest. Then the rains came and split most of our little red delicacies. We can't seem to find the funds to get a helicoptor out and shake off the moisture like the orchards surrounding us, but you might think that since we have to deal with the long nights of listening to them hovering about, they would just take care of our two little trees out of courtesy. No, no our poor cherries get no love, and so our crop is partially spoiled. Fear not, we still have enough of the rainier for a few lunches. As for the sweet cherries, probably enough for a few pies. They are too sour to eat plain. We only have that tree to pollinate the Raineir.

As we picked them, Hayden commented to me, "Mom, we are farmers. We are picking the cherries off our farm. "

Farmers?

huh, I thought we were just Gardners.

Truth

Auntie Jamie got Marlee this onesie for Christmas-she had to have some help opening it. She is too!

Yesterday when Marlee woke up from her one and only nap, I was talking to her and she gave me a gorgeous grin and started to coo at me, melt my heart! She has been a smiler from the start, but this was something extra special, just for mom. (yes, her first word will for sure be daddy now)

She is the most unpredictable child. I thought we were starting to establish some patterns and schedule-WRONG! About the only constants are that she will eat at least every 3 hours and be fussy after 7:00. That may mean fussy before 7, but definately after. She slept through the night once, but nothing more than 3 hour stretches since. Someday we will figure it all out, but for now we will play by her rules.

Here is a funny picture of big brother and sister. I seem to be slightly lacking in the Hayden and Sage posts lately.

Smile

Our Little Blessing

Sunday was a special day, it was Marlee’s blessing day. She looked like such an angel in her pretty white dress as her daddy gave her a blessing at church. We had our Idaho family here to be part of this beautiful event. Grandma had got the dress for Sage, who looked just as angelic on her blessing day. The white blanket was made for Hayden by his great-grandma for his blessing day. It was a great day to reflect and realize just how blessed our family is.

It was a memorable day for other reasons as well. It was over 100 degrees here! HOT! With the five kids coming in and out of the house, it seems at least one door was wide open at all times. Our poor air conditioner couldn’t keep up, and by late afternoon, our house was over 80 degrees and the air had stopped. Turns out the whole thing had turned into a big block of ice and no air could get through. It was a very hot night in our house as the temperature just kept rising. Despite it being hot and sticky, Marlee decided to take the opportunity to sleep all night. I would have celebrated, but I was too hot and miserable to sleep myself, so it really didn’t do me any good. Turns out we just needed a new air filter, but the weather has cooled to mid 70’s, so who even needs air conditioning now that it’s fixed?

Pigtails

What a sweetheart, Sage is at such a fun age right now. I love this picture, it shows her soft side, however if you look close, the bruised up legs suggest she has a rough side as well. The other night we were snuggling on the couch and Heath walked in to tell us he was going to run an errand. He kissed us both and turned to leave. Sage, with her bright blue eyes looked up at me and said, "I love him." Heath paused, turned and gave me a huge proud grin. Then as he turned to leave again, Sage said to me with a most quizzical look, "what his name again?"