Happy Mother's Day

Our boys love to look out into the backyard and watch birds and squirrels 

 Last week Nixon helped his mom plant the garden

He also helped me mulch their playground area

 I am not sure how he got so cool... 

 It must be genetic. But it certainly didn't come from me.

It has been a while since the kids made forts

 Nixon used his huge muscles to help Kim carry in the groceries

 Lyza was given the option to pick up toys or learn how to load the dishwasher...this was her choice

 Here is a beetle in our bathroom

 Here is Lyza explaining how the beetle got in our bathroom

The kids have been OBSESSED with the Greatest Showman and all of its songs. Here is Mason (with some help) singing one of the songs

Mason saying Hi to grandma

Nixon's latest build, a huge airplane (or as he says it "A-plane")

 Eating breakfast with his friends

 He loves his green beans ("Iron Man beans") so much

 Mason loves jumping on the trampoline, but usually only by himself

My little sister had a birthday this week (you know who you are, if you even read this thing) and we got the cutest video of Mason singing happy birthday

 Lyza dissected an owl pellet and brought these bones home. I remember doing that in school and loving it

 Here she is picking it all apart with twezers

 Looking at it with the microscope

 Who sleeps like this? Mason...all the time

 The kids love eating their lunch outside

Nixon had a friend come over and play and they were so cute together

There was a mommy daughter night at the church last week and Lyza had lots of fun getting a makeover from one of her friends

Don't they look so much prettier?

I got to play at the park with my monkey boys

Spider Man can be so helpful

Mason has been doing a really good job clearing the table after meals

Kim took the boys to the store during the day to pick out some flowers. Nixon was smelling them all and talking about how beautiful they smelled. Apparently he had all of the old ladies swooning

Kim got a big bubble refill and Nixon would not let go of it he was so excited

These two have been loving bubbles in the back yard. Mason is even getting pretty good at blowing bubbles

Heavy load...

First bonfire of the year

When you can't decide if you want your pants on or off...

Yummy hot dogs

Eating outside at the new picnic table. Not quite as relaxing as we were hoping. Maybe some day

S'mores

That is why his cheeks are so chubby, they are full of marshmallows

Teaching Nixon how to roast the perfect marshmallow

What a cute Batman

I got this picture of the kids after church last week

How is this comfortable?

This is what Mason got to play with after Kim took all of the kitchen knives away...eek

Look at that adorable face

Mason thinks he is so brave climbing

Practicing his magic spells

We have done a lot of mulching in the backyard

We are pleased with the results

This is my favorite spot to read to Mason before bed

"Want a pretzel?"

Kim and Nixon did some preschool on the magnet board

He is pretty proud of himself

The kids rediscovered this fun toy

Just swinging around

Lyza and her friend had a competition to see who could put the most color on their coloring page. They decided it was a tie at the end

While I was mowing the yard the ran into (literally) a little frog. It wasn't too badly damaged so I gave it to Lyza to play with. She had lots of fun with it for a few hours before it finally decided it had enough ;)

Nixon got some play time too

Mowing

Notice the legs don't look symmetrical? That was the weed eater's fault

Here is a little video of my kids doing some of their signature dance moves. This is dedicated to the little frog that made a girl's morning, then broke her heart and allowed her dad to have some good cuddles with her

Happy Mother's Day!

Thank you so much to the mothers in my life

This was Kim's first mother's day as a mother

Things have sure changed

 Kim is such a wonderful and loving mother. I had to leave the house right after church and take care of some church business (I know it is Mother's day). It was such a sweet sight to come home an hour later and see Kim out in the back yard reading to the kids and spending quality time with them on her "day off." She is the best and she is loved!

Of course I have to express my gratitude for my own mother who is simply amazing

I have also been blessed with a wonderful mother-in-law

Mothers are truly amazing and mine are no exception. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland perfectly described the divine calling of mother when he said "no love in mortality comes closer to approximating the pure love of Jesus Christ than the selfless love a devoted mother has for her child."

I have witnessed that selfless love firsthand in my life.  

Thank you so much to the mothers in my life!