The Magical World of Childhood

     I know I say this all the time, but it is so fun to watch my kids grow up!

     Lately I have loved watching the world through Ellie's eyes. She just turned 5, and everything is so magical. She loves to play with her princesses and her dolls - she's either "princess" or "mommy."

     Right now she is on a coloring/painting kick, and she always puts her pictures on the fridge when she is done. This is what my fridge looks like at this very moment:

     I absolutely love it. It brings me so much joy to see my kids doing "kid" things.

     This morning we went to the park, and the kids made some new friends. They played under the huge pine trees for quite awhile. (Have I mentioned how much I LOVE Rexburg this time of year?) When we got home they told me all about how they were pretending to go to a party with their new friends, what the party would be like, where it would be, etc. I love getting a peek into the magical world inside their little heads.

     Nathan adores Sam and all the manly things he does, like work in the yard, and the other day while Sam and I finished up the run for the chicken coop Nathan asked me to start a screw for him. I did, but I honestly didn't think he would be able to get it screwed in all the way - well, he proved me wrong! He screwed it in all the way, we taught him how to push the button to take the screw out, and he took that screw in and out for about 45 minutes! He felt so big.

     On Saturday we spent a lot of time working in the yard, and one of the kids' jobs was to pick up weeds that Sam and I had pulled out of the flower beds. They thought it was so much fun since they got to ride in the trailer to each pile of weeds, jump out and put the weeds in the trailer, then jump back in and ride to the next pile. 

     (In case you couldn't tell, Jonah loves to play in the dirt...)

     And I can't forget our sweet little Thomas! He will be 5 months old tomorrow, and he is at such a fun age right now! He rolls all over the place, loves to play with his toes, loves to grab anything within arm's reach, (especially Ellie's or my hair...) bounces like nobody's business in the jumperoo - seriously, he jumps higher, crazier and longer than any of my other kids have - and laughs and smiles. He doesn't have a tame little smile either - he has this huge, open-mouth grin. I wish I could get a good picture of it, but this one will have to do:

     Being a mom is my favorite thing in the world, and I am so grateful that I get to be home with my kids every day.