catching up

Wow. I feel like I have so much to write about... or maybe it just seems like I've been really busy for the past few months, which makes me feel like I have so much to write about. So, in no particular order:

1. We have chickens! Lots and lots of chickens! Seventeen to be exact. You can't imagine what an exciting addition this has been to our family. Luke has been the most excited about it - and, true to his nature, he has become obsessed with egg collecting. It starts as soon as he wakes and continues until dusk. And, his enthusiasm beams with every. single. egg. "MOMMY! Aren't you SO glad that the chickens laid an egg?!?!"

Although, not as obvious as Luke's love for the chickens, Adam is quite taken with them as well. I was the one who had suggested that we get a chicken coupe, but Adam has been the one to take care of their every need - without me ever asking it of him. He even has a chicken forum that he now spends more time on then his beloved hunting/snowmobiling forums. I'm relieved that he has taken on this responsibility, because I have been busy with...

2. a garden! My weak attempts with a couple of small "practice" gardens haven't produced much, other than a few peas. This year is going to be different. I'm going big (or big-er). And, with my mom holding my hand along the way, I hope to not only gather some peas, but a few other things along the way. Now, I'm a realistic girl, so I'm not expecting to get anything out of at least half my plants... but, if I can get a few tomatoes and an ear of corn or two, all the hours of work this summer will be worth it.

3. The ol' Loveridge family reunion went down earlier this month. So much fun! Adam and I had the "privilege" of planning the big event. We decided to take the family down to Pinewood's (down by Brianhead - Adam has ATV's down there). It was a much needed vacation for our family. We had fun spending a day at Zion's, doing some Ranger riding, and getting attacked by mayflies while trying to catch some fish. We had tons o' fun just relaxing with my family, whom I think are pretty much the coolest people I know (aside from Adam's family, of course). And, of course, Isaac DID NOT like the fact that it had to end (neither did I). When I asked him what his favorite part of the trip was, he said, "The fire and the park (there was a playground at the lodge)." I'm glad it doesn't take much to make my boys happy.

4. Well. One of the more exciting things I did over the last couple of months (or years, for that matter), is go to the U2 concert with my brother, Matt. Adam ended up renting out some machines to some of their roadies and they told him they could get him and a friend into the concert. He knows I am a fan, so he told me to invite someone and go. Well, as I considered who to invite, I thought of Matt... and our days in Moroni, when he would play his collection of U2 cassettes for me - telling me various U2 facts that only a true fan would know. I felt cool that my older brother let me in on this super cool band. It was a time in my life when I was anything but cool (not that much has changed). We had recently moved, and I was painfully shy, so it took me a while to make any friends. I don't know what I would have done in those days without my siblings. Seriously.

Anyways, enough about my debilitating shyness. We had SO MUCH FUN! I must be getting old though, because instead of being ecstatic, like I should have been, upon receiving the news from Adam, my first thought was, "I'm not sure I want to go... I would be up pretty late... and, I might have to go out of my comfort zone and call someone I don't know (the roadie who gave him the tickets)" What?! I'm such a loser! Well, I knew I would regret it if I didn't go, so I mustered up a little life, and headed out. Oh, I'm so glad that I did! The girl gave us a backstage (or understage) tour and it was pretty dang cool. The concert was great - I think both of us were surprised by how much fun we had... and we were proud of ourselves for doing something as crazy and youthful as going to a concert (seriously, when did I become so old?).

5. Speaking of old... my boys are on a kick lately. Isaac has learned that there are a lot of things in his life that haven't always existed (imagine - no computer, cell phones, or DVRs in a home!). So, he continually asks me, "Did they have (fill in the blank), when you were little." My favorite was when he asked me if there were roads when I was little. Luke's constant question, lately, is "Mommy, did you used to do this (whatever he's doing at the moment) when you were little?" He loves hearing about what I did when I was his age.

An onslaught of pictures:

We managed to get the boys out for a ride before the snow was gone (May?!). Asa was definitely ready to head out.

Luke and Uncle Neil

Neil and Kilee. Poor Kilee.

Anybody's claustrophobia kicking in?

You know, I am almost intimidated by his web slingin', but then I notice the pink & purple flip flops, and his credibility goes down a notch. Thanks Dani, for the hand-me-downs - Asa loves them, as usual.

Luke graduating preschool. I was relieved by how much he learned this year. It just takes a loving professional to teach my children.

Luke and Drew

lukester turns 5

Five years old. FIVE. Why does that sound so old to me? Once again I'm surprised by how quickly my kids are growing up without me knowing it.

Luke is truly one of a kind. He has earned the title of my most loving kid and my most challenging kid (although, Asa has just about taken his place on the latter). He often leaves me scratching my head or pulling out my hair. But, he also makes me laugh and reminds me that I need to stop and smell the roses more often. He truly brings something special to our family and we are grateful for this sweet, loving little guy.

Here are some of the things that make Luke, Luke:

1. Luke LOVES his sister. L O V E S! I can't begin to describe just how in love with her he is. He literally cannot see her without going into a lengthy rambling of baby talk. Intense baby talk. I tend to intervene and tell him to take it down a bit, but Elise thinks he is hilarious. It's just the rest of us that it seams to bug.

His favorite nick name for her is "Cutie Miss". There are other similar names that I have mentioned before, but I wouldn't be able to count how many times in a given day we hear the words "CUTIE MISS! cutie miss. Cutie Miss!"

2. Second to the love he has for his sister, is his love of flowers. If he could have his way, he would transplant every flower/weed he found in our yard into a cup and keep it alive in our house - but, I've limited him to two. It's not enough to just pick the flower - he wants it to live, so he carefully tries to keep the roots intact.

3. Luke is a collector. I always joke that he is going to be a hoarder someday. He will collect the most random things, but his favorites are: feathers, rocks, bugs, leaves/flowers, and anything shiny, colorful, or beautiful. Endless amounts of baggies and jars have been filled with Luke's treasures.

4. He loves arts and crafts. It's interesting to see the difference in my boys as they get older, and one area that I see these differences the most is with their artwork. While Isaac tries to be meticulous in his artwork and doesn't handle mistakes very well, Luke is much more relaxed in his approach. He doesn't worry about making sure his colors are appropriate - the more the better, is his style. And, he displays his work proudly all over his room.

5. Once Luke gets something in is head, there is no deterring him. The words 'wait', 'hold on', 'later', and 'in a minute' are just about the worst possible things you could say to Luke. If given such an answer, he will usually proceed with his agenda anyways. It absolutely has to be done right at that very moment!

6. Luke is extremely affectionate. So much so, that he often inflicts pain from the act of hugging. It can get pretty intense. Adam's family has told stories of Adam as a child and how he was constantly hanging on them - craving affection. I imagine he must have been just like Luke as a kid.

7. It's always interesting to listen to Luke's interpretations of various subjects. He is always explaining how or why something is the way it is, and his reasoning can get pretty out there. He especially likes to speculate on why Heavenly Father made certain creatures. One that I heard today was, "Heavenly Father made rattle snakes so that they could make medicine for when someone gets bit my one, huh?"

8. That leads me to the next one: Luke ends almost every sentence with "huh?". He pretty much speaks in question by doing so. And, if you don't respond to his "huh", he'll keep saying "huh", until you acknowledge it. I guess he needs the reassurance that you are listening to him.

9. Luke is extremely loud. His volume control seems to be stuck on high. Even when you are just inches away from him, he talks as though you are in another room.

10. He is still a big fan of Spiderman. But, he's expanding his love to include ninjas.

My mom gave him a bouquet of flowers, and it ended up being one of his favorite gifts. I took this picture the next morning when I saw him admiring them. Did I mention how much he loves flowers?

six months... where did go?

1. Wow! Elise is six (well, almost 7) months old! Half a year! And, I am SO GRATEFUL that I have her in my life. The other day I was thinking about how excited I was when I found out that I was having a little girl. Now that I have her here, I realize that I never could have imagined the happiness that this little girl brings me. She is sweet, content, easy going, and lovable... all wrapped up in a little bundle of cuteness. I'm glad that my boys love her to pieces as well. Although, I tend to get a little annoyed when they borderline smother her, I appreciate the utter love they show her.

2. The Pulley's have a pet! Four, actually. Isaac and Luke filled up their charts and decided they wanted fish as their reward. So, a couple of goldfish in a glass bowl is what I was thinking, but about $100 and a couple of very excited boys later, we now are the proud owners of an aquarium. Adam had to go and get all sentimental on me while we were at the pet store - reminiscing about his youth and the excitement of fish gazing. I actually have fond memories of a whole month in my life when my family had an aquarium as well, so I concurred. I have to admit, I find myself doing a little fish watching while sitting at the table. I consider it my meditation time.

3. We managed to get away for spring break. I was quite surprised that the universe aligned in such away that allowed Adam to take this much needed "break", so we seized the opportunity when it presented itself. We headed down to Moab for a few days of fun and sun. Adam and the boys went on an ATV ride with some family one of the days, while I stayed back at the hotel with Elise. Bored? Not at all. I relished the peace and quiet that it offered me... I think Elise may have noticed the lack of chaos as well. The next day we spent the day hiking around in Arches. Isaac was disappointed that we didn't hike to every single arch in the park, but we still managed to wear ourselves out. Isaac was also upset when we didn't heed his request to move down to Moab right then and there. After all, it is much funner than Heber. One thing about Isaac - he absolutely hates for fun to end.

4. Funny conversation while driving to Moab: We passed a Wingers on our way down and Isaac asked what it was. I told him it was Wingers and that it was a restaurant. So, he asks me if I had ever eaten there.

"Yes, I kinda like Wingers", I told him.

"It looks like a cool place. I want to eat at Wieners someday", he says.

I start laughing.

He asks me why I'm laughing.

I explained why it was funny.

He starts laughing. He has never been aware of slang terms before.

Then I told him that some people call hot dogs wieners. And, that dachshunds were sometimes called 'wienie dogs'.

He laughed some more.

5. Driving home the other night, Luke asks me the following: "Mommy, can I have Elise when I grow up so that I'll have a mommy?" What I think he meant is "wife". He sure does love his sister. Unfortunately, I have already betrothed her to one of her cousins, so we'll have to keep searching :)

A million pictures and a pledge not to let it get this out of control again:

Elise's first taste of real food. She got crazy excited.

We managed to go sledding one time this winter with some friends. You could tell it was a first for Asa - he was content scooting down on his bum. As fun as that was, he did have a blast once he got on a sled.

This is what happens if you lay down on our floor - you get attacked by a gaggle of pesky boys.

Luke decided that Elise would appreciate a little company.

It's always fun to see what you might find when checking on kids before bed... naked child in a pee soaked crib, the entire bookshelf emptied onto the floor, same naked child in a poop smeared room, and this - a scooter in the crib.

Elise showing of some mad skills. Up on hands and knees.

The only picture I got of our Easter festivities.

This is a first for us - a child falling asleep while eating.

He really loves this scooter. What to do with this goofy boy.

hush little baby

I'm feeling a little emotional tonight. It seems like every so often I get hit with the fact that my babies are growing up and that my memory isn't the video camera that I wish it was. Tonight Isaac told me that there was a book under his bed that he wanted me to read. It was one that I hadn't seen for a few years. I was quickly taken back to when Isaac was a two year old and would request that very book every night. It was his favorite because it was one that I would sing to him (Hush Little Baby). As I sang it to him and Luke tonight, I had to fight back tears. It seems like an eternity ago that these two little guys were tiny little bundles that fit in my arms... and I don't remember it like I want to. Elise is already six months old. I'm trying to cherish this moment in time before she grows up as quickly as her brothers have. And, I am willing my brain to hold onto some memories better than it has with my boys. But, I know better, and so I'm a little sad.

I hope I don't sound ungrateful for who my kids are today. I love them. I love watching them grow and learn. I love seeing the differences between them. I love that I know them so well that I can (usually) predict how they will react to something. I love that I can see the greatness of their spirits. I love that despite my weaknesses being forced upon them, they are good and loving and happy. And, I'm grateful that my Heavenly Father has allowed me this opportunity to grow and learn and love. I am a much better person today because of the things I've learned as a parent. And, I still have so much to learn.