April 2012

April has come and gone, and I can’t believe a third of this year has passed. We’ve had an eventful month. Easter was a lot of fun. The kids blew out eggs and decorated them. I made the kids each a fabric bag to be “church bags” full of things to do during sacrament meeting. They were simple but making them brought me a disproportionate amount of satisfaction. I can sew! Domestic endeavors always surprise me that way. I made lemon cream stuffed croissant French toast topped with strawberries for Easter breakfast. They were beautiful and indulgent, but the kids weren’t interested because they were new. Ha!

Easy does it, Ty!


As fattening as it looks.


Sunday bags.

The day before Easter we went to the farm and enjoyed an easter egg hunt and dinner. Isaac and Rachael borrowed goats from the neighbors and had baby chicks incubating. The kids were in heaven, as they always are when they are at the farm.

Next General Conference. We’ve been learning about the apostles and looking forward to Conference for a long time. I remember Dad always had a spread of delicious food on General Conference and acted like it was the biggest holiday of the year. I like to try to recreate some of that. We played games to keep the kids interested in what was being said. I hope it felt important to them. What a thrill and a joy it is to hear General Conference and listen to those words of peace and hope.

We also celebrated April birthdays, including Bryce and Teresa’s. I made Teresa a gluten and sugar free cake, and coconut almaretto ice cream that was also sugar free. We had Sunday dinner together at Moms. It was a stunning Texas spring day. I walked into the back yard and it took my breath away. The canopy of trees, green soft grass, children running barefoot with Grandma’s dress ups on, and all the aunts and uncles talking and chatting in the shade. We are lucky to have so much family and to have these opportunities for our children to make memories with them. Mom and Dad Linton are absolutely incredible at creating joyful gatherings.
Happy Birthday, Teresa!


Mom and Dad's beautiful back yard.


Cousin bliss.


Cousin Dovie on the swing.


Good things are simple.


I.am.handsome.

The next week Mom came to town for her spring break. It is always so fun to have Grandma Janet! We spent a lot of time home hanging out. Unfortunately, I was sick that week and we had several showings, so this trip may not have been her most entertaining visit to Texas, but she’s one of those that just appreciates being with you. Thanks mom!

The third weekend in March all of the Linton sisters and sisters-in-law gathered for a sister’s retreat. On Thursday morning we all had breakfast at Mom’s. Mom asked us to all study a chapter in the “Daughters in my Kingdom” Relief Society book. We all shared what we learned. IT was the best part of the weekend. That evening we stayed at a hotel downtown and attended Time Out for Women in Arlington, a conference of LDS speakers for women. Beautiful music, inspiring speakers, and good food! It was sad to say goodbye and have the weekend come to a close.

I taught preschool for a couple weeks this month. I teamed up with 3 other moms to do a co-op preschool twice a week, and we teach for 2 week intervals. They are such a good group of kids. It is so much fun to have them over and have an excuse to plan things to learn and do with them as a class. I’ve been so grateful to have this preschool which has saved us money and allowed Tyler and Anslie to be in homes of people who care about them. I’m so grateful to my cousin-in-law Katie who organized it and got it up and running.

I’m having to readjust my thinking here in Texas. The weather right now is STUNNING. I’m making plans for summer in my head, then realize that in the summer we will have to be inside all the time! NOW is the time to be out! So this week we tried a new park. It felt good to be out, though we all came home with red, swollen eyes. These Texas allergies are serious business!

Anslie at the farm.

This last weekend Freeman surprised me with an AWESOME date. He took me to a fantastic Italian restaurant (which of course, he got a deal on), and then to a concert. We heard “The Priests”, a trio of 3 Scottish Catholic priests who sing together. They sing mostly religious music like “Pie Jesu,” “Ave Maria,” and “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring.” I’ve been wanting to hear them live ever since he and I happened upon one of their televised performances. It was a relaxing, indulgent evening. I even wore heels and curled my hair. How bout that?

Sunday we joined with all the family in the area to celebrate Austin Stolle’s Eagle Scout award and attend his court of honor. I do so much love about the Lintons how they support each member of the family. There were easily 25+ family members at the meeting. I have a tender place in my heart for Austin. He is a boy with so much desire to do good. We are proud of him!

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.

February

Quotes from the peanut gallery:

“Dada!” - Tucker’s first word when Freeman walked in the door one night.

When asked what they’d been doing for the last hour in the toyroom: “Oh, we’ve been playing showing. We clean the toy room and then the people walk through to see if they want to buy it.” – Anslie

“Mom, Brennan’s family doesn’t have much money, right? Cause today I was at his house and his Dad was home at lunchtime.” -Tyler

“Mom, I’m going to mutual right now, I can’t play with you.” -Anslie

“Mom, are you going the speed lemon?” –Tyler (speed limit)

We love love day! Had fun with the preschool kids and strawberry scented playdoh. And made our annual heart shaped sugar cookies. Hope yours was LOVEly.

My Birthday

Happy Birthday to me! My actual birthday was a blur. We had New Beginnings that night, which was an amazing production, thanks to our YW President and Laurels advisor, they are dedicated women. The same women found time somehow to decorate my door for my birthday with streamers, a banner, and lots of candy. Geez.So we celebrated on Saturday. Freeman made me a cake!! He also spoiled me with a tortilla press, which I’ve been coveting, and some other tortilla accessories. Now making homemake whole wheat tortillas will be easier. I loved hearing from lots of friends and family.

Happy New Year!

2012. Let that sink in.

Happy New Years week! Its been a busy one. I’ve been occupied with hurry-and-get-it-in-before-you-have-a-deductible doctor’s appointments, including my first mammogram (which was not as fun as Disneyland, but a lot less awful than everyone made it sound).

On Wednesday my Mom and sister Denise flew into town, there is nothing better in the world than family who you feel totally comfortable with and who love you no matter what. Everyone should have someone like that. We had dinner at Rosa’s Café with our free gift cards. It also happened to be our anniversary. Some anniversaries are romantic. Some are a communal celebration of family. This was the latter.

I did have to get piano lessons and doctor’s appointments finished up the first day they were here and then the fun began. Friday morning we got to go to the temple and enjoy a session together. I was so grateful to Teresa for taking kids and making that possible. It was a spectacular day, clear skies and 74 degrees. That evening I tried out Denise’s Christmas gift to me, an ice cream maker!
We made fresh lemon ice cream and it was DECADENT. I think I crawled into bed around 1:30 am after epic chatting with my favorite sister.

Saturday morning we had our Daddy with us. We woke up, made homemade granola, and had Christmas morning all over again, the kids opened presents from Grandma.

Granola in the making. Then, glorious day, Mom, Denise and I all got massages! It was the fastest hour of my life. We walked out in a happy massage coma and went shopping. We immediately found some fantastic sales. What a girly fun day. I am known for my dislike of shopping and spending money in general, but they made it super fun.

After we came out of the massage, Freeman texted me to tell me not to hurry home. I think posterity deserves to know how sweet this guy is. Here’s the text string:

Me: “Hey, we just finished the massages. Will keep you updated.”

F: “Go enjoy a nice lunch and a fun day of shopping with your mom and sister. We are eating lunch now, then putting the kids down. After that we’re going on a bike ride to the park. I really hope you can have a fun, relaxing day. Please, whatever you do, do not feel guilty about anything. Enjoy!!”

M: “Wow, we’ve been gone long time. Home soon.”

F: “You guys should go to dinner and then to a movie or something before you come home. No guilt!”

M: “Well, I think we are almost done, one more store then heading home. UR sweet!”

F: “That’s only because you’re hungry and thirsty. If you sit down and eat and drink something for a few minutes you would have renewed energy.”

And that after having 3 kids, 5 and under, for 7 hours!

Here they are, for the record.



Our New Year’s Eve party that night was smashing. We tried 5 new foods (pita chips and dip, roasted edamame, corn and bean salsa, pomagranate, breaded green beans). We toasted our sparkling grape juice to the new year, wrote down our predictions for the coming year, and had a dance party. We watched the New Year come in Dubai at 9 pm Texas time and made some noise. We finished the night off with our new movie, Cars 2, yet another gift from Denise.

Christmas

Last year on Christmas Eve morning we visited an assisted living center for patients with Alzheimers. We’d wanted to repeat the visit and make it a tradition, but a friend chose that morning to be baptized. I will admit that getting the whole family up and Sunday ready early Saturday morning made my brain hurt a little, but once we arrived at the baptism we were so glad we made the effort. The woman being baptized is the mother of one of the Beehives I teach, and seeing that family take one more step to being sealed as a family someday was wonderful. After she was baptized the pianist played “When I am baptized” and the audience sat quietly. There was such a sweet spirit in the room, testifying of the importance of following the Savior’s way, as this woman had. One friend said to me, “I guess we did get a white Christmas, after all!” It was the perfect way to start Christmas off.

We all met at Mom and Dad Linton's that evening. We had dinner and then Mom planned a program. The kids did the nativity and were stunningly reverent. Afterwards the kids thought of something nice they could do for Jesus and wrote in on an ornament, then Grandma and Grandpa had a gift for each of them! We gave Mom and Dad their gift, which we were in charge of this year, and we gave them an up-to-date picture of each family with a gift card for frames. Santa visited Grandma’s house while we were there, running in, shouting a greeting and a Merry Christmas, and running out. The kids were mesmerized. Then cousin Emma found an empty Elf on the Shelf box….with a clue! The kids ran around the house (shrieking with delight), following the clues until they found the Elf.

Tyler as Joseph.

Emma reading the note from "Snowflake" the elf.


More nativity.


Christmas was magical. Tyler is 5, Anslie almost 4, Tucker almost one. Our home was glowing with Christmas light. The kids left cookies for Santa, which he found. Church was at 9 am, so we woke to stockings and went to church. I accompanied the choir for part of the program, and Bishop Liddell gave a simple, heart felt Christmas message. Freeman and I agreed that Christmas on Sunday can be lovely. We returned home to open presents, and enjoyed being home together the rest of the day. We played games, played with new toys together, ate good food, called loved ones and napped. Merry Christmas!

Ty and Anslie on Christmas Eve.

Cookies for Santa!

December, weeks 2 & 3

Our December has been brimming with fun!

Anslie and I went to see the Nutcracker. We had been reading the book and dreaming of ballerinas since October. The big day finally arrived. We both wore our prettiest dress and curled our hair. She held our tickets and carried them in her purse. In our fancies, we first we went to a cupcake shop and indulged, then drove to the theater. Anslie was riveted by the dancers gliding across the stage. She was equally riveted by the small bag of popcorn I bought her at the concession stand (a luxury I would normally never permit. That was half of the magic). I hope she felt special.

Anslie with ballerinas at intermission.

Anslie and I before the show.

We are starting to have some fun holiday traditions in Texas. We returned again this year to the free carriage ride at the Shops at Highland Village, splurged on a cup of hot chocolate that we split between the four of us, then afterwards soaked up the lights and the huge Christmas tree in the center of the plaza, took pictures of the kids, and read books to each other at Borders book store.

Carriage ride!

The baby.

Tyler's hat hair!

Merry Christmas!

My three.

Freeman took the kids early in December to Bass Pro to have their picture taken with Santa and enjoy the Christmas festivities.

We enjoyed mingling with our ward at the ward Christmas party. It was simple, which allowed us to focus on talking to people and enjoy their company.

On a random Thursday night I drove my little self to a choir concert at a church in downtown Dallas. I’d read about the choir online and it sounded interesting. I was surprised to learn that one of the choir members is a Mom in our preschool co-op and the director is Mormon! I LOVE beautiful choir music. Sometimes its good to go on a date with yourself and remember what it is you like.

Freeman’s sister Collette came to town December 20th – 23rd. Tyler went roller skating with the big cousins and loved it. I just love Collette’s family. Those boys are so good to their cousins. Collette is a powerhouse, but so humble. She always makes you feel like she is on your level and that what you are saying to her is important. A talent.

I love having my home full of people who are enjoying being together. I didn’t pull off much of that this year, but we did have a small holiday piano recital for my students. I only have 4 students, so the performances lasted a total of about 15 minutes. Afterwards we had cookies and the families lingered for awhile.



Our friends, the Browns, invited us over for their traditional “Bethlehem dinner.” We ate foods that would have been used in Bethlehem: meats, olives, pita bread, and ate on a floor table. Jeremy and Audrey are some of our favorite people. Jeremy offered a simple prayer and explanation of the dinner before we ate, and the kids enjoyed running, playing, frosting cookies and watching a movie after dinner.