King of the Mountain

I went into the kitchen to put away some wash rags and came back to the living room to see this:

Aaaaaah!  I ran to Luke and reached him right as he took a step off.  Glad that he didn't get fall and lucky he didn't get hurt.  I let him do it a couple more times while I was standing next to him.  I wanted to see how he did it.  Here's how:

Needless to say, the laundry basket has been placed in my room and my door shut, but I'm scared to see what he tries to climb next!

Our Adorable Son

Thank you to Nora for snapping some great pictures of Luke!

My First Farm Fresh Trip

I've never shopped at Farm Fresh before, but I recently learned via a Relief Society enrichment on "couponing" that Farm Fresh doubles $1.00 off coupons every Wednesday.  

Yesterday was Wednesday, and Jared and I tried a V8 soup for dinner which was delicious, and I had 2 $1.00 off coupons for some more, so I thought, "Hey. Why not go to Farm Fresh and get some soup?"  I went through the coupons I have and pulled out a couple.

I didn't get a lot of things, and I should have looked at the ad before I went, because I would have got some REALLY sweet deals if I had done my research first, but all the same, I was happy.  I got all this for $9.00.  And it originally rang up for $20.00!  The trash bags alone are 6 dollars at full price.  So I felt like I had made a small victory.

Just a Little Bit Taller...

What is one of the greatest accomplishments of Luke's life?  Growing tall enough to get inside the third drawer.  He pulls it open and then stands on tiptoes to look inside.  He usually goes for the whisk first, but this time he went for what was easiest.

Scoping it out

The 1st selection

The 2nd selection

Tasting the merchandise

Playing with Friends

Luke loves it when friends come to play.  He's more of a follower than a leader most of the time, but he has a blast following other kids.  He likes to scream at them though-- not a mean "I'm going to get you" kind of scream, but a super excited "I'm having the time of my life!" kind of scream.

Samuel likes Luke's screams and screams back.  They have whole conversations that our downstairs neighbors probably hear.

Luke and Samuel playing in Luke's room.

Emiline doesn't like Luke's screams.  I think they scare her, but she's pretty good about putting up with it.  Luke is really good with kids a little bit younger than he is.  I'm glad that he's gentle with and overall aware of his little friends.  I just love watching them together, and entertainment for Luke means less work for me.

Home Again... And with Good News

Jared got home yesterday (later than planned) because he ended up having an internship interview in Houston.  It went really well!  We'll be in Houston this summer!  Jared just has to arrange the final details of when and how long and all of that.  I can't wait to find out the details, and I am so excited to know that we'll get to stay together as a family this summer.  There's plenty of room in my parent's house and it will be great for Luke to have so much time with Mima and Papa.

Home Alone

Jared's brother is getting married this weekend, so Jared is going out of town.  Rod lives in Oregon, but the general meeting place is Utah.  So Jared is flying to Salt Lake, meeting up with his family, and then all of them are driving to Oregon together.  I have been in the car on the Wilkerson road trips.  I expect Jared will get a good dose of debate and laughter.  Luke and I will miss him while he's gone.  

Shakespeare's Sonnet 2

Last week my wonderful visiting teachers, Elizabeth and Catie, came over. We all got to talking about the toll pregnancy and childbirth take on your body. Elizabeth told me about Shakespeare's Sonnet number 2 that talks about how our beauty (that fades with us) lives on in our children. We don't waste our youth and beauty, we just share it with our kids. I think Luke was worth it. Don't you?

When forty winters shall beseige they brow,

And dig deep trenches in thy beauty's field,

Thy youth's proud livery, so gazed on now,

Will be a tatter'd weed, of small worth held:

Then being ask'd where all thy beauty lies,

Where all the treasure of thy lusty days,

To say, within thine own deep-sunken eyes,

Were an all-eating shame and thriftless praise.

How much more praise deserved thy beauty's use,

If thou couldst answer 'This fair child of mine

Shall sum my count and make my old excuse,'

Proving his beauty by succession thine!

This were to be new made when thou art old,

And see thy blood warm when thou feel'st it cold.

Snow in Williamsburg

Last night the Gradys knocked on our door to tell us it was snowing outside!  We went out for a little while to nab some pictures, but the camera battery died after only one shot.  It kept snowing during the night (a little), and school was cancelled today due to the weather.  

Late this morning (around 10ish) it started snowing again, so after Luke's nap, he got to explore the snow.  He wanted to stay out for longer, but since he doesn't have any snow clothes, we only let him play for a few minutes. 

Luke liked the snow stuck on license plates.

A little harder to walk

Chasing Luke down

Checking it out

Getting cleaned up

*Not about snow, but...

Last night Jared and I made aebleskievers and crepes.  They turned out really good (after we'd figured out the system).  The Beans and Gradys joined us for an entirely inappropriate diet meal that was delicious.  I had planned to take pictures, but I only remembered after the bowl was empty.  Oops.  Next time.

Nertz!!!

Friday night we had some friends over so we could play Nertz.  Justin and Nancy made a delicious pasta dinner.  Kyle and Kathleen brought some yummy fizzies.  So we ate and then got down to business.  The worst part about Nertz is explaining the rules and how to play.  I did my best, but then we just started.  I think that's the easiest way: to just do it. We had a lot of fun.  And with all of us being pretty competitive (especially Kathleen!) it was pretty energetic as well.

Sorting out the decks

Kyle and Kathleen were the "Summer" team because they were both wearing blue which is the color of the ocean.  And as Jared so sarcastically noted, "The ocean only exists in the summer."

Justin and Nancy were the winter team because they were both wearing white.

Here are the winners!  (Not that we had an advantage or anything.) Jared and I were the fall team.

Overall the girls liked to be the 1-2-3 person and made the boys be in charge of the Nertz pile.  Good thing the boys were okay with having to watch 4 cards plus all of the piles.