Motorcycle Mama on Mother's Day

 

This years Mother's day was quite a monumental one!  Laura turned into a Motorcycle Mama.  That is right ladies and gentleman... Laura is finally an official member of the family - now that she has her own bike!  Yes, Clay and the kids got Laura a motorcycle for Mother's Day!  When they were in Lubbock for the Stake Temple Day, Clay found this motorcycle and knew it was the perfect fit for Laura!    Clay has been working on warming up Laura to the idea of a motorcycle for some time now...but it wasn't until recently that Laura started showing signs of real promise at the idea.  One of the stipulations was..... the motorcycle would have to be a smaller bike...one that wasn't too big or overpowering for her.  At one point she had made the comment, that she would want to sit on it before it was bought so she would be able to feel and try out the size.  So... being the good man that he is...Clay stood by that request.  He took Laura to an "undisclosed location"  so she could "help him" with something.  When we pulled up and there was a motorcycle there, Laura squealed with delight!  It looked perfect, now for the sit test,  however...there was just one problem...she was in a skirt.  How can she sit on a motorcycle in a skirt?  Well, Laura did what any girl in her situation would do...she wore her husband's pants!  What a girl will do to ride a motorcycle!  As soon as she sat on it, she knew it was truly perfect and gave it the final stamp of approval!  Now..if only she can learn how to ride it!  Motorcycle class...here she comes!

 

 

Mother's Day was full of sweet gifts, pampering, fun, goofiness, breakfast in bed, rocky mountain chocolate factory cookies and crème caramel apple....it sounds amazing right?  Trust me, it WAS!  Laura loves being a Mom...and her kids love her too!  In Aparri's own words it was.... "Valentines Day For Moms!"  We couldn't have said it any better.  Good job Aparri!  We love Moms!

 

 

 

Our Littlest Piano Man

One afternoon, Laura caught Detric doing his latest trick!  He had climbed up on the piano bench and was playing beautiful masterpieces!  He would pause, turn the pages, and then continue playing.... He knew exactly what he was doing!  Laura was so thrilled that she had happened on this little episode and that it wasn't lost without an audience!  It brought such a smile to a Mother's face, seeing her little man smile and play the piano so beautifully!  It was a little bit of heaven! 

A little taste of Summer

 

It got up into the upper 80s and the kids were in heaven!  It was warm enough to whip out the bathing suits and fill up the turtle!  It's amazing what pleasure a little water can do!  The kids were in heaven.

 

 

 

Quick Feet

Laura has been trying to tell Clay for weeks just how quick this little man is... but it's not until you have a little experience for yourself that the words really sink in!  

 

Laura warned everyone not to leave the garage door open...Detric will run out.  Clay acknowledge what Laura said, but thought that he could be quick - he had just forgot one thing, so he ran in for something and left the door open...in the few seconds that the door was open, Detric was out the door and 1/2 way down the driveway before Clay caught him! (Episode 1). 

 

Next, we were at the zoo.  Clay being the helpful hubby that he is - came up to Laura and took Detric and said, "I got him"  So, Laura wasn't paying attention to him because, "Daddy's got him....." within 2 minutes...this...happened:  Clay was distracted by some animals and Detric was exploring a mud puddle and wouldn't you know it...down he went covered in mud!  Detric didn't seem to mind the mud or the hose off!  That is one tough kid. (Episode 2).

 

The next day at church, we were running late, so Laura was at the head of the pack with the three older kids rushing into the building with Clay and Detric bringing up the rear.  Laura went in, chose a seat, sat down with 3 kids, and in walks Clay and sits down...no Detric, "Where is Detric?"  I thought he followed you in?  WHAT????? He was with you.  Clay runs out searching for Detric, Laura stands up and starts scanning the chapel...low and behold, there he is...down an isle just wandering saying hello to everyone and smiling at each face that smiles at him....goodness gracious.  Clay did have an explanation... Detric was with him up to the front door of the building, but when Clay got held up at the door (being a gentleman and holding the door for another family) he just assumed that Detric would follow Laura and the boys in the building - however, since Laura had no clue the little man was the caboose - she wasn't watching for him, and Detric the little explorer that he is...started wandering and saying hello to everyone.    (Episode 3) 

 

Luckily all 3 incidents have ended happily, and Clay now firmly believes that Detric does indeed have VERY Quick feet.

Saturday Morning at the Zoo

 

It was a gorgeous Saturday and we spent the morning at the zoo with some friends.  (We were at church one Sunday and from across the chapel, Laura thought she saw a familiar face from Fairchild, but wasn't sure... after a few minutes, she had to take a rowdy kid to the foyer, and low and behold it is Valerie Fry!  It is such a small world.  We knew them for about a month before we PCS'd from Fairchild back in 2010 and here our paths crossed again - they just moved into town!  More friends, yippee.  So we have been trying to get together ever since and this and that have kept getting in the way, but we finally were able to meet up at the zoo!  It was such a neat day at the zoo...spring was in the air - we saw tons of babies and mothers sitting on eggs waiting for babies to appear!   

 

  

 

 

Nasty O's vs. Preston

So....we have been having a problem lately with children wasting food.  Not only is this a waste of money (milk here is seriously over $4.00/gallon - ridiculous!  And when your family goes through approx. 4 gallons a week it is a big expense!) but we felt like it was just pure WASTE of resources and food all together;  and needed to stop.  So Clay and Laura finally decided to lay down the law.  So... on this particular morning, our dear Preston poured himself a bowl of cereal, which he proceeded to eat and finish (good) but then poured himself another HEAPING bowl of honeynut cheerios.  Laura watched the incident unfold....he ate 1/2 the bowl and started to hop down and take his bowl to the sink.  Laura stopped him and said that he needed to finish what he took.  Preston refused stating that he was full and couldn't possibly fit another bite in.  Laura then said, Well, that is too bad....because you can either finish it or lose desserts for the REST OF THE MONTH (and this is a kid that LIVES for dessert...), you could see the wheels turning in his head.  He spent the next few minutes eating a cheerio here and a cheerio there...but not really making a dent.  After several minutes of this, he stated, Mom...these cheerios are too soggy and I am just tooo full.  Can I please save it for later?  At this point, Laura knew she had won...because all of us who have ever had cheerios knows..that within minutes those little O's become soggy and nasty...NO ONE likes soggy cheerios...it is just gross.  So Laura tried to explain that to Preston stating, the longer he waits the nastier those little cheerios are going to be.  Well, Preston insisted that his bowl get saved for later, and so...that little bowl spent the rest of the day (until he got home from school) in the fridge soaking up milk and getting nastier and nastier.  Well....the afternoon came and Preston was reminded that he needed to take care of some cheerios that were waiting for him.  He tried a spoonful and gagged (Laura did too...it was really hard to watch him.)  He said, "This is nasty"  "Yep.." was all Laura replied.  So...it was Preston vs. Soggy cheerios with dessert for the rest of the month on the line, and wouldn't you know it...the kid did it.  He separated the cheerios and the milk....he drank the milk in a cup and slowly ate the soggy cheerios out of a bowl.  Laura gave him a little slack...and only made him eat 1/2 the cheerios...it totally grossed her out!  But when it comes to sweets, our Preston will do just about anything he needs to do to get it!  Today totally proved it!  Wow. 

 

 

 

 

 

WOLFman

CJ completed his Cub Scout Wolf requirements several months ago, but has not been awarded it ...until now.  After months of waiting, he received his patch, pinned his mother, and got several arrows.  Now on to the BEAR!  Good job CJ, you have been working hard!!

 

Tennis Anyone?

For the past 2 months CJ and Preston have been taking tennis lessons at the local college.  The class was taught by Brad Heath (our wonderful bishop).  The boys improved ALOT these last two months!  We can't wait to take these boys out to the court and have a family volley!  We are so proud of them...tennis is a hard sport and they did great!

 

 

Do you know who William Bonney is? WE do!

 

 

 

Since we move so often and get the privilege of living in all parts of the country, one thing we try and do is find the local hotspots and visit them while we live in a certain area.  Well, one of the POAs near Clovis is William Bonney's grave.. aka  Billy the Kid's grave and museum in Ft. Sumner.  So, one Saturday in April, we decided to check it out!  We first walked around the cemetery, looked at the different grave sites (Found RAB's grave site!  for those fellow Harry Potter fans!), got out youngest child stuck in the fenced area that encloses Billy the kids grave (Yep...he is so small and agile....he squeezed himself right through the steel bars and was having a hay day on Billy's grave...oh that sounds awful...because it was!  Laura and Clay were dying.  How do you get a 16 month old to understand that the party he is having is not ok and the more that you try and grab him through the bars, the more he thinks it is a game and the farther away from your outstretched arms he runs....after LOTS of coaxing, we finally got him out.  You better believe we held a tight grip on him after that!)  Next we went inside to the gift shop and museum.  We read about several outlaws, saw lots of antiques, and locked our kids in jail!! It was interesting to see and read about the wild wild west. However, It also led Clay and Laura to contemplate whether or not this was a very constructive and positive trip to have taken---as the kids walked around and looked at pictures and  asked questions about the people on the wall and who Billy the kid was, it hit us that -yes Billy the kid is a western icon and part of history...but lets say it how it is...he was a bandit who stole and killed and did such awful things at such a young age they call him "A KID".  Not the sort of thing to be proud of...As we drove home, we had a good discussion about glamorizing awful deeds and criminals such as bandits on pedestals... is it such a good thing?  Is it really a pedestal or just a museum telling a bit of history?  You be the judge...