The Tooth Fairy was here!

Abby was so thrilled the moment she realized that she had a loose tooth! For weeks she wiggled and jiggled it until finally it fell out. She came running into the house to tell us, and the first thing we asked her was where her tooth was. She stopped and thought for a minute and then said with a shrug, "It just fell out into the grass." I couldn't believe the sense of loss I felt as I searched through our grass trying to find her first baby tooth. Drew explained to Abby (and partly to me) that it wasn't a big deal, because the tooth fairy was very good at finding teeth and if we left her a note telling her where to look it wouldn't be a problem. After Drew and Abby walked away and I kept looking I wondered why I was so sad for this little piece of Abby to be gone. I realized how fast life was passing by and how these little milestones could go so easily unnoticed and without celebration if we let them. I know that I only have a short time with my little ones and I have to remind myself that there are more important things than clean dishes and beds that are perfectly made. I also realized that each milestone is a stepping stone that leads us to other new experiences. If we don't take that step, we miss out. Loosing a tooth gave us the chance to let the tooth fairy come to our house - and that was a great celebration!

Bear River Here We Come!

Abby and her cousins inside their fort!

The outside of the fort, Abby keeping watch.

Every year we spend a weekend with Drew's family at the Bear River Lodge. It has become one of our familys favorite places to be. Every day is a new adventure when you have an endless amount of time to fish, explore, four wheel, and EAT! It is such a fun weekend because all of the cousins in the family play so well together that the adults hardly have to do any entertaining. The last couple of years the kids have spent the majority of their time in a fort that somebody (bless their heart) built and left behind. From the time Abby woke up in the morning until we drug her back in at night she would play in the fort - decorating it, moving rooms around and hunting deer (Logan with his hands or sticks on his head for antlers). I never get tired of watching her use her imagination and am always impressed with the ideas she comes up with.

This year at the cabin I was able to conquer (or at least face) one of my fears. Those of you who know me well know that I have a small fear of any fish or water creature that is bigger than one inch. You can imagine the inner struggle I faced when the kids decided they wanted to catch a baby fish from one of the fishing ponds at the cabin. We hiked down to the pond, each child with a cup in hand, and as we walked I realized that if I didn't get in one of the kids would fall in. So I grabbed a fishing net from Curtis and slowly made my way into the stinky, fish infested pond. I did end up catching a little guppy which the kids loved so much that the poor thing was dead by the next morning, and I did face my fear of fish! That is not to say that fear is gone - AT ALL!

For some reason, my children always fall asleep on the long four wheeler rides. This is how her grandpa Wight brought her back!

Fantastic Fourth!

The fourth of July is a jam-packed, tradition filled, b-b-q eating, firework watching day for us! We always begin with the Centerville parade. This year Drew prepared our children by teaching them a mantra - "I am a heat seeking missile for CANDY!" They must have repeated it about 50 times on the way to the parade. Abby and Cole totally caught the vision. They were out there fending off the crowds and filling their candy bags with the best of them. Easton, on the other hand, filled his bag with pity candy given to him by cousins or thrown directly to him by relatives. Somehow his bag was just as full in the end.

After the parade we head to the Wights for breakfast and a little pool party for the kids. Usually the adults end up in some kind of water fight - somehow this year we avoided it. (thankfully)

A little downtime is spent at home and then we head to Grandma Glenda's for a B-B-Q and to enjoy the best seats in the house to view Lagoon's fireworks. Somewhere in there we work in our own little show and the favorite part of that is the firework strobe dance done by the very talented and very coordinated Karen Rigby. It is always a crowd pleaser.

The last three years we have snuck Easton's birthday party in with all the festivities, which just adds to the chaos and confusion and apparently ruins Amy's fourth of July (he, he). I think we may celebrate that on his very day (the 5th) for now on so that it is not such an after thought. But who knows what next year will bring! For the time being we had a great holiday and even though it was crazy we loved every minute of it because we were surrounded by all of our family.

Of course, summer wouldn't be summer if Abby didn't get eaten by a mosquito and had her eye swell shut.

Sweet Summertime

My favorite season will always be fall. I love everything about it - the chill in the air, the smell of spices and baking, the gathering of the harvest, the burst of color in the trees against bright blue skies . . . . . there is no doubt I love it the best. But every season brings with it memories being made and traditions being kept and I can't help but love the moments that come with summertime. I have gained a whole new appreciation for it now that Abby has finished her first year of school. I love having her at home and not worrying so much about schedules. I love the sound of the neighborhood coming alive during the day when pools get filled and sprinklers start running and I love when it comes alive again at night when the sun goes down and it is finally cool enough to leave your house!

If you can't beat em. . . . .

Here we finally are, a little slow in joining the rest of the digitally saavy world! After seeing everybody's incredibly cute blogs I couldn't help but want to start one on my own - I just hope I have something interesting to write about!

Let's just start with the basics - our very basic and very unconventional family! I know without a doubt we are the happiest when we are all together . . . . . .