Hmm, I guess there are some things wind is good for...

"Let's go fly a kite,

Up to the highest heights,

Let's go fly a kite and send it soaring.

Up through the atmosphere,

Up where the air is clear,

Oh let's go...fly a kite."

* Anyone ever heard that song before?

Honestly...here in Rexburg...I don't know how we came upon such a WINDY day to watch a kite do such tricks...amazing! If you ever lived here, well, you'll know what I mean!!!

*Besides my watching my adorable daughter smile...and listening to her contagious laughs...as she ran up and down the grass a hundred times flying her kite through the ever-present wind...I'd say that the wind is not good for much else...

*Hmm, and now I am wondering why Rexburg hasn't invested in "wind-power" yet??? There is MUCH for a stay-at-home mom to ponder about, you know?

Like why two year olds don't stay in their beds at nap time anymore, How in the world I can vacuum up so much "dirt" in one week...and Where in the world does it all come from??? Why is it that stress makes me crave sweet and unhealthy junk food, how do you keep the armpits of white shirts white, does your belly ever get flat again after child number 2...and is there even any hope at all after #3, 4, and so on???

Why does Jamba Juice have to be so expensive, why do I despise cooking dinner in the summer-time, and why do men get so cranky when they haven't had MEAT to eat for a month??? (ha, ha) And is it really THAT mean to convince your little brother that a girl named "Gloria" lives in the shed at the back of the parking lot and to be very wary??? Why is it that 9-yr olds are so gullible? And why do we, as adults, use it to our advantage??? And then laugh hysterically when they finally realize that the shed holds nothing but tools and machines inside? Is there really such think as a "mean streak"? Why do kids always want a pet, and why do dads always say "No!"?? And then how does the child end up getting a pet anyways?

Will you ever be able to let your child make her own bed...and then NOT have to go back later and fix it...because you're so OCD that the blankets just have to be straight and smooth??? Why do people become so obsessed with certain things anyway? Like randomly scrubbing all the walls from the waist down, or re-organizing every cupboard in the house? Do you think that Rexburg has the highest ratio of pregnant women per capita in Idaho? Is there really something in the water...cuz that just sounds like an excuse to me! How in the heck do you potty-train a boy? And why does it seem like it only happens in the books where your child can be potty-trained in a day?

And WHY is it that a majority of you moms who read this post have wondered some of the SAME things???

Got any answers???

Feels like HOME.

What we did on the Fourth of July...

Drank lots of yummy drinks....my greatest accomplishment so far...Carter drinking from a cup....and he is not yet two!!! Woo hoo! It can be done! (For all of you who don't know...it took Anna way too long to learn to drink from a cup...mostly because I never gave her the opportunity. She was in nursery one day, and I realized that all the much newer and younger children could drink from their Dixie cups much better than she could! I realized then, that young children can do LOTS of things, if you just teach them!)

Playing in the new playhouse at grandma's house.

Our cute little man...

Trying to get a picture of "Miss Grump"....though, her pictures are quite cute even if she isn't smiling!

I told Carter to say, "Cheese!"

And there's that cute little smile...just hiding behind a rain cloud for awhile...

Ben and Mason hanging out downstairs enjoying the nice big screen t.v.

The girls: Olivia, Emily, and Anna.

All the cousins: Carter (23 months), Mason (almost 5), Olivia (almost 11), Emily (just over 2), Anna (almost 4), Ben (almost 10), and of course the BEST Aunt in the World...Chels!!!

Trying to get a picture with my "babies" but you can see that Anna makes it quite difficult!

We had tin-foil dinners....which were delicious!

Hmmm, I think that Anna gets her "attitude" from a certain set of genes coming from the Meredith family...he he...I LOVE Chels and think she is amazingly beautiful...attitude and all!

My two MOST FAVORITE guys...Grandpa and Russ....in some moments I think they are the same person!

I just happened to hit the button at just the right moment...this is Chels....so cool, huh??

Anna was being so funny playing with Emily saying things like, "Otay Emme, dis is how you wash you hands...No do it yike dis Em....Yup dood job Emme!" and "Otay Emme, pwetend dat you was in da house, an I walked out da door, and you not see me, an you was yike, "Hey, where you go, Anna?" Emily just looked at Anna like, "What are you talking about?"

Mason....he gives the best smiles.

We had a BUSY weekend....and there were lots of us that realized we aren't so "young" anymore and were just plum tuckered out by Sunday!!! I guess grandpa has been "old" for awhile...cuz he's been falling asleep, mid-day, mid-sentence, for as long as I have known the Meredith family...Almost 8 years now!!! We love you grandpa!!!

Anna all ready for church. Aunt Chels had a ribbon in her hair...and so Anna insisted that she have one just like her! That day, Russ and I were wondering how Anna would do in Primary, where she has never been there before. I was just planning on expecting the worst!

Russ and I walked Anna down the hall to the primary room, when we saw Shanna Baumgartner, Russ's long-time neighbor and family friend. She asked Russ how old Anna was, and we found out she would be Anna's teacher! She grabbed Anna's hand, told us she would take good care of Anna, and then started down the hall with her saying, "Anna! We are soo glad you get to come to primary with us!" And the rest is history! Anna had a blast in Primary, and she even went up to the front so they could sing to all the visitors! If you know Anna, you would be very surprised! She is getting to be such a big girl!

Grandpa and Ben played chess all that day...Ben had never played before, so grandpa patiently explained the game to him, and they played until grandpa won!!! Grandpa is the best ever because he spends so much quality time with his grandchildren...and they all truly LOVE him because of it.

We had a blast that weekend in Pocatello, where we also went swimming too, did a little shopping, and mostly just enjoyed being with family. Going to grandma and grandpa's truly does feel like going home.

We miss it.

Twice-Baked.....Popcorn????

I LOVE caramel popcorn...

BUT...

When it gets baked twice...and in the oven...

Well, I am not sure it tastes so great anymore...

*SOB*....mostly for the best Tupperware bowl we will ever have...and for the huge waste of the yummy goodness that Tupperware bowl could hold...we will miss you my plastic and non-oven friendly friend.

**I am now FOREVER banned from putting ANYTHING in the oven...

***And Russ is FOREVER banned from EVER turning on the oven again...

****Come on, everyone knows you ALWAYS check the oven FIRST, before you turn the oven up to 425 degrees...right??? Especially when your wife is just a little OCD about messes on the counter, but too tired at night to clean up the big ones, and so "smartly" resorts to hiding certain messes (so she doesn't have to look at them anymore) in the oven!!!

***This has happened more than once...

**Will I ever learn my lesson???

*Hmmmm...what do you think?

At my husband's request...I am posting pictures! (in no apparent order)

He really is a "picture-book" kinda guy....just kidding babe!!! You are smart, and smart, and....almost as smart as your wife....enjoy these pictures you smart guy, you!!! And maybe the rest of you will enjoy them too!


Cousins...Anna, Emily, and Carter at Ross Park.

LOVE the look on Anna's face here! It tells such a story! I laugh to myself everytime I see it!

Ben....such a little cheese-ball.....it's like I am living with an annoying little brother at times....oh, right, I AM living with my annoying little brother!!! But he can be pretty cute, too...

You have no idea of the amount of havoc this position did to my body over the next few days...

I literally made it here, oh about five feet from the ground, and already needed more chalk on my hands from the amount of sweat it took just to get started....

Gotta love those butt shots...looks like a cute little heart shining down on my hubby who was belaying me....I am a really great gift-giver....just showing him how much I LOVE him!!!

Father-in-law....he LOVES me too....gotta love those IN-LAWS!!! Mine are the best!

Yeah....he's a beast! Secretly...Russ just hoped I would post all the pictures of him in all his awesomeness....what a show-off!! He looks like Spiderman when he rock climbs....

Little brothers....Ben and Caleb....I know, they don't look anything alike, but they are only half brothers and Caleb is part Indian, so there ya go! Oh...the confusion our ancestors will feel when they do our geneology....Both Ben and Caleb's last names are Wayment, but they have no blood relation to the Wayment side of the family at all...yeah, see what I mean....con.fus.ion!

Anna holding her newest cousin, Aedon Durtschi, my older sister Alisha's little guy. Anna was sooo stinkin happy to hold him....Aedon was soooo happy to be held! Not too long ago, Russ asked Anna to say the blessing for dinner and in the midst of her prayer she said, "Pwease bwess dat we tan have a new baby," and at the same moment Russ and I opened our eyes and looked at each other with looks like, "Where the heck did THAT come from?" Someday, little girl, someday...

This is my favorite....son in awe of his daddy...

He amazes me too!!!

My best little three-year-old friend in the whole wide world!

Best friends too??? Hope so!

Okay, so at Anna's pre-school, they pick a child each Monday and Wednesday to take home Curious George. He comes with a bag filled with books and a journal, in which the child gets to fill in one page and write about what they got to do with George. Anna waited patiently every day to be picked! When she finally was, she was so excited! We had lots of fun with that curious little monkey!

Waving "Good-Bye" to all the airplanes at the Rexburg Air Show. Carter started to wave, and then Anna followed, and then Ben....it was cute! Carter is only almost two...but he sure is becoming quite the little leader of our family!!!

Bath-time....oh what fun! (said with little sarcasm) Anna and Carter's new thing is to lay down in the water and pretty much almost practically drown themselves or each other (as well as soak everything in and out of the bathtub)....though Carter is the one with few inhibitions...and I fear what this little man will do in the future!!!

I wake up each morning and give my life to all of these beautiful little rascals...and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I love my babies...plus a little brother too.