With Love

 There are so many blogs cut off with no official ending. Obviously people get busy, and spending time documenting life can be overtaken with living it.

I believe the time has come for an official ending to this blog. 

BUT, before I go I figure one final update may be in order, most easily given as individual updates...please indulge me...

Magnolia

She seems to have blossomed at school, each day excitedly telling me what new friend she's made while still hanging onto a few close ones. 

She had begged and begged to start gymnastics, so finally we worked it into the schedule and she of course loves it.

We were recently given a piano, giving her a new place to be. She as worked hard on perfecting a few simple songs, and of course insists she must now add piano lessons to her list of weekly activities. 

She pushes herself to excel in everything, which both delights and worries me. 

But overall, she is still our little Maggie.

River

He loves school. I could probably sum it all up with that, but really, he loves it. Even on sick days he begs for those 6 hours he spends with Ms. Leeanne and his friends at Gold Mountain. When at home he is often happily helping Daddy with some fix-it task around the house, or cuddling up with Mommy to read a book.

Zac

Always juggling so much, Zac has transitioned easily to more and more tasks at home since I began working full-time. He gets both Magnolia and River up and ready for the day, and then to school (a grand task my friends). He of course is always dreaming and scheming up some new and grand adventure, but for now he has indulged his wife with a bit of simplification.

Melissa 

I recently transitioned into a full-time clinical faculty position where I will continue to focus on my work regarding early childhood inclusion, and also coordinate the state's child care health consulting program. I won't bore everyone with all the little details, so to sum it up, this is an exciting adventure for me. 

I am also working a schedule that gets me to work early so that I can pick Magnolia and River up from school and spend the afternoon with them. Somehow, I'm balancing career and family, and it's feeling okay.

a sibling selfie I found on my iPad.

So with that final summary, we'll make this official...

THE END

*I do reserve the right to post any major, or super exciting updates, IF finding myself with the time to do so ;) *

River at School

I am occasionally hit by moments of extreme gratitude for those who have shared in the tremendous task of helping Zac and I care for, teach and love our children. 

Thank you to all the early childhood educators changing the world one child at a time, and a extra special thanks to those that have touched our lives.

Oh, Hello!

I know, I know. Keeping up with posts and life has become a bit of a challenge for me. 

Luckily, I still have a knack for capturing those special moments. You'll just have to be patient with me...it'll be awhile before I get around to sharing;)

We finally had a weekend at home. To just feel like we were really home.

We did normal home "things."

Like drawing with sidewalk chalk.

And running through the sprinkler.

We did a little bit of work to.
Recycling what we had around the house to make a compost pile.

And turning a raised garden bed into a sandbox.

Overall, we are really starting to feel at home.

Now we just need to get some friends and family in town for a visit (wink, wink)!

We did it.

Well, we did it. We bought a house. 

An old, beautiful house to fill with love.

We are officially cemented here in this little town, in our little white house on the hill.

Our sweet girl was pretty excited to check out her new house. 

These two are super excited.

White picket (sort of) fence and all.

604 E. 7th Street

Dear River,

You are three today! THREE YEARS OLD! I have to remind myself often to stop and watch. You are growing into your own little person and I don't want to miss that. Everyday I am overwhelmed by your thoughtfulness, your gentleness, your humor.

You little River, are always up for an adventure. You can bike all the way to downtown, then to the library, and back home again. You are usually happiest outside. We let you lead on hikes because we know you'll set a steady pace. You tell us often of your big adventures someday in the future...climbing TALL mountains, catching HUGE fish, or building a BIG cabin with your daddy.

You love to sing...and dance. You sing often, and everywhere. You sing at home, in the grocery store, in the car, and any place that might have an echo.

I love you so very much, and can't wait to see what this next year holds for you. You are starting preschool and already I can see how much your world has grown.

Love you Bean.

Mama

Traveling

I've been traveling for the last two weeks. First to Hawai'i for work...

(I promise, I did work)...

then, we headed to Boise because I had, well, more work there. 

Two weeks is a long time away when you're a mommy of two little ones so I decided to pack up the family and take them to Boise with me. 

With Maggie out of school now, we decided to make it an official summer vacation.

*

Magnolia has an incredible memory. She remembers so much about living in Boise...her friends, her favorite parks, favorite places to eat...she has an agenda before we even arrive. 

So when I wasn't working we were all over town hitting up our favorite Boise spots.

The Linen District
Of course we have to grab a muffin the size of our head at Big City and then wander around to check out the shops and art.

Magnolia asked to have an entire side of the booth at Mazzah all to herself, "because I'm going to be very serious about this food I'm going to eat."

River checking out the rainbow trout at the MK Nature Center.

Nothing is better than stumbling upon a few of your best Boise pals at the park!

We pulled together a little Boise birthday celebration for River with Grandma Amoo, Grandma Tara and Auntie Julie.
Thanks for the love fam.

And then we traveled back across the state towards home.
With a few stops along the way.

Kinder Dinner Party

Magnolia and her kinder crew wrapped up their "Dirt to Dinner" expedition with a Kinder Dinner Party this evening for their families. It was a wonderful little dinner that showcased all their hard work. 

Magnolia posing with one of the flower arrangements we put together to help "beautify" the tables.

There were 80+ people in attendance and Magnolia stood up and read her write-up on broccoli loudly and clearly!
Obviously, Mommy and Daddy had huge smiles on our faces!

Magnolia and her crewmates each had a focus vegetable to study. They created collages of their vegetable (Eric Carle inspired), wrote an informational piece on their vegetable, AND each of their vegetables was served at the dinner.

Hand-written name cards and menus.

Magnolia and her awesome kindergarten teacher, Ms. Corwine.

Next week is the last week of school, and just like that she'll be moving on to 1st grade...oh my.

She has grown so much over the last year, it's quite amazing.

A Mama Approved Kind of Day

A perfect mother's day...orchestrated by one amazing husband, two super children, and a rambunctious pup.

We are a very happy bunch when we are outdoors. So for mother's day (with my new hikers on) we headed out for a perfect day hiking adventure. 

Did I mention it was perfect? ;)

Our first time geocaching. I had no idea finding treasures in the woods would be that much fun.

New hikers broke-in quite nicely.

Spy that little guy in the pond?

Thank you family. I love, love, love you!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happiness

She looked so grown-up signing her name on the back of that library card.

What's happier than a bright yellow little man??

?

The last few months have been full of questions and uncertainty for Zac and I as we attempt to navigate this life of career and family. Without sharing too many needless details, the gist is that there has been a lot left "up in the air." Truthfully, although we have some questions answered and a few decisions made, we still are a bit "up in the air."

After months of questioning whether we were ready to buy a house again and plant our feet firmly...somewhere, we have decided to stay in our current house for another year. With a child in school just up and moving anywhere, whether across town, across the state, or across the country (that's been considered too) is not an easy choice to make. Although I sometimes ache for a home of my own again, I am also relieved to have been settled in one place for almost two years now! That's a long time considering that we've lived in three houses since our move to Moscow just over three years ago. But really, we are settled here, the space works for us, we have neighbors we adore, and simply put...it's home.

This summer River AND Magnolia will be attending the summer program, part-time, at Gold Mountain Community School. We know we lucked out last summer with Molly, but finding a great nanny two years in a row, in a college town, just doesn't happen. It's rare that a preschool program really pops out to me as potentially outstanding (I'm very particular) but Gold Mountain did. Leeanne, the owner and teacher has a teaching philosophy firmly rooted in all things play-based, child-initiated, and developmentally appropriate...we seem to be kindred early childhood spirits.

So with that, after we heard from Leeanne just a few weeks ago that she can indeed take Maggie and River this summer, we have checked another unknown off the list. We are hoping it will work well for River to adjust to a group setting with his sissy with him (really though, he's generally our easy-going child), and for Maggie, an entire summer of play and new friendships will be a gift.

I'm sure I'll be posting more family updates soon as we answer some of those lingering questions, but for now, here's a glimpse of life these days...

Building, Fixing and Constructing

Aunt Sara and Uncle Brad just bought a house in Sandpoint and luckily had some leftover hardwood flooring for River. 

"This is the best thing you ever let me do!" -Magnolia

I have this urge to fill space with color, I've been really holding back. So after the decision was made to stay in this house for another year I headed straight to Moscow Building Supply for some paint.