March 26

I loved this day. Mondays are nice because we don’t have to go anywhere. The kids came down at 4:30 and I couldn’t get back to sleep, so I got up and went running. It was a perfect 55 degrees, and the stars were out. It had been a long weekend of emotions, and I was knotted up about some things. But as I ran I thought them through and by the time I got home I felt like I had it figured out. I had time to read scriptures and shower before anyone woke up!

The day was spectacular. The sky was a throbbing brilliant blue and the sun piercing, but temps only got to 80 degrees. After breakfast the kids hauled the bucket out to the front yard to hand water our newly planted petunias. We finished up chores and then did reading on the front patio. Tyler wandered in and worked on Legos for awhile, Anslie and I made a fruit smoothie and sat outside and soaked it all up.

Even Tucker found a chair and a book that suited him!
Sweet Anslie enjoying a smoothie.


She helped me make bread, which I have perfected, if I do say so myself! So soft and satisfying! We kept finding ourselves drawn to outside. We filled little planter cups left over from the flowers with soil and then planted seeds I bought at the dollar store. They were so cheap they probably won’t grow, ha! But we had fun planting them. The kids worked hard!

In the afternoon everyone crashed and took a 2 hour nap. Glorious. I am reading Tyler the Little House on the Prarie. We read a chapter about Almanzo breaking his two calves. He loved it. As we were reading, it took us a few minutes notice that Tucker was holding on to Ty’s bed, then walking across to Anslie’s bed, and back again. Little Tuck walking!!

We had a strawberry, mango and chicken salad with homemade bread for dinner. For FHE we took a loaf of bread to our neighbors who we’ve wanted to get to know but never taken the time to visit.

After the visit Tucker was smelling of stinkies, so we stripped him down and put him in the tub. He is TERRIFIED of water and cried and cried. Before I knew what had happened, everyone had stripped down and joined him. This seemed to calm him to have friends in the water and by the end he was smiling.

For FHE Anslie conducted and Tyler gave the lesson. He told us stories about the apostles lives that he remembered from conference time 6 months ago. Stories I didn’t even remember. A happy parent moment....maybe they do retain some of the things that seem to fly right past them at the time??

At bedtime they were still wound pretty tight so I practiced my choir piece and Ty and Anslie danced and twirled around each other to the music, giggling with sheer delight while I played. I tucked them in and told them stories about Grandpa Hatch while they started to doze.

Life with children is so sweet.

A day at the Farm

Grandma and Grandpa Linton bought a farm an hour from us, and Isaac and Rachael live on it and keep things rolling. It is our favorite escape.

Yesterday the kids and I drove up to the farm. It is a beautiful drive, lots of green fields this time of year and endless blue sky. When we drove up, Rachael came out of the house in her apron, and Isaac drove up on a tractor. Ava was missing, we spotted her down in the field, crouched and inspecting an insect, with a chicken under her arm. They are living the life!!

They’d hung a little swing from the big oak in their yard. And under the tree was a carpet of velvety, thick, green grass. I didn’t know such a thing was possible in Texas!

It was a tension-free afternoon. The kids wandered the place. When I glanced out the window at any given moment, they were running at full speed from barn to field and back again. Tyler followed Isaac and helped him with man work. The girls dressed up in princess gowns and tromped around the dirt in high heels.

Tucker loves live furry things more than ANYTHING else. When he saw Jasper, the family dog, he shrieked and begged until I put him down and let him bury his little fingers in Jasper’s fur. Jasper wound around him, flicking Tucker’s arms up with his neck and licking his face. Tucker screamed with delight. Needless to say, we repeated this routine several times before the afternoon was over.

Tucker also saw his first cow. We practice animal sounds during breakfast to keep him distracted from the food being shoveled in his mouth. He knows a cow says mooo, but until today didn’t know what a cow was. I pointed at the large animal across the field and told him, “That is a cow.” A slow smile spread over his face in contemplation, and then with triumph he let out a loud, “Mooooooooooooo!!!” He was understandably upset that I refused to put him down next to the cow so that he could wrestle it, as he had Jasper.

Rachael and I talked about home schooling, healthy eating, sugar highs, the pace of city life and country life, and anything else that came to mind. We were there for hours and hours.

Tucker and the Moo Cow.

Tyler, Anslie, Tucker and cousins Ava and Dovie.