Happy Snow Day

You might say to yourself, "That Brooke is so bad at blogging that she is posting Christmas pictures in June! What a silly goose." Well, the last part is absolutely true but these pictures were taken on June 10th. The only word I kept thinking of all day as I was watching the snow fall was WRONG. It's just wrong. Montana is such a beautiful and weird place and this snow is just so very wrong. Our public pool was supposed to open on Monday but needless to say, we stayed indoors in the cold, yucky weather. GGGRRRRR.

Our House---in the middle of Our Street

I haven't posted any pics of the house we built and I have yet to make my house presentable enough to take pics of it now that we MOVED IN! These are some pics of the house about a month ago and some photos of the surrounding views. I absolutely love this home. Jesse is so amazing to be able to draw this project and do so much of the work himself. It was a stressful 4 months but it's been neat to see it come together. Don't go falling in love with it, we are going to sell it as soon as it is ready to show. (For some reason I'm having the hardest time putting things away...I'm not dragging my feet or anything!)

Mia is a Preschool Graduate...what a smartiepants.

There was a time when I would have scoffed and rolled my eyes if someone mentioned a Preschool or Kindergarten, etc. graduation ceremony. I mean seriously, how bored do those mom's have to be that spend time / money on that stuff right? WRONG! I even made the little hats myself (they didn't stay on at all). Our little group of preschoolers was so cute singing the songs and even saying the Pledge of Allegance. I got it all on video and I've already watched it a couple of times! Can you say NERDY MOM?

Feliz Cumpleanos, Mia!

As of May 25th Mia is 5 years old. Hard to believe I'm that old...oops, I mean hard to believe Mia's that old. She had a good time at her little shin-dig in our apt. My parents were in town from Butte and we had a few kids from church there too. I made her a little caterpillar out of cupcakes and we had a butterfly pinata. (Actually the same as Rachel's daughter's birthday pinata...too cute!) She scored some sweet stuff and I didn't get any good pics but I'll post more when my Mom emails some of hers to me. Here, Mia is squeezing the guts out of her friend Gracie.

5K All the Way!

I actually ran the entire race!! OK OK so what if I finished just before the ladies pushing their kids in jogging strollers?? Who are you to judge me? Kidding...it was really fun but definitely left room for improvement. I'm gearing up for the next one.

Move On Back!!

Yes, it's true, I have become a school bus driver. It's ok if you are laughing really hard right now...I laugh about it all the time - probably 5 times a day. My BFF Cecilee has been driving a bus for a couple of years and I decided it could really be a great way to earn a little extra dinero.

So here's the scoop-

* I drive a 2005 bus---cd player, lots of cool buttons to push, hydraulic instead of air brakes

* The owner lets me park the bus at my house!

* I take the kids with me and they provided the carseats.

* It takes me about 1.5 hours in the morning and afternoon so 3 hours total daily...that's it!

* I drive a route to the new high school and the kids are super nice...they actually say, "Thank You" but it's too bad because I can't scream, "NO YELLING ON THE BUS"!

The Dreaded "Echo Tag" echo tag echo tag

Thanks a lot Rozannah for my very first tag...I'm not sure if I hate you for it or not.

Here goes:

3 joys

1. My lovely children and strapping husband...lots of laughs out of this crazy bunch!
2. Springtime is bringing back a HUGE appreciation for the beauty of this world. After a long Montana winter, it's so very nice to see all the lovelies around us.
3. My extended family and friends. It's fun and exciting to have so many cousins, sisters, grandparents etc to share life with.

3 fears

1. I hope this doesn't freak anyone out but I've always had a very deep fear of being assaulted (in the yucky way). I almost typed the "R" word but figured this is a family website so keep it clean! I know...sorry if that's really innapropriate. Jesse always tells me not to worry because he knows I would fight back and he would feel sorry for the poor sucker who ever tried!
2. Lately, as I've been working more with Jesse, I've realized that heights and I aren't good friends any more! I had to mask some terribly high windows in our house on a 15' section of scaffolding and it really terrified me!! I'm not the kid I used to be!
3. I'm very afraid of anything bad happening to my kids or husband. I hear of kidnappings or accidents and it breaks my heart to put myself in the parent's place.


3 goals

1. Get my butt in shape. Seriously, I enrolled in a "Bikini Boot-camp" with Olivia to help this goal along. 5:30am 3 days a week...yeah, they don't call it boot-camp for nuthin.
2. Take better / more photos. I was so great about snapping 20 shots a day of Mia but as I've become busier I've stopped taking so many of the boys and Mia as she gets older...bad mom!! I also really want to learn everything about taking photos and utilizing my sweet camera and all the nice features instead of shooting on "auto" all the time.
3. Start my own personal prayer/ scripture study schedule. We read and pray as a family in the evening but I know I would do so much better if I made time to do it on my own as well.

3 current obsessions / collections

1. Trying to get tan- looking skin without laying out all day! I've been trying the Jergens "Natural Glow" for a while without noticing much except the gross smell! Why is it so hard to use sunless tanning products! I don't want cancer but with my freckled skin I really have to be careful but I refuse to look pasty any longer!!! Any suggestions?
2. Working out with my best workout-buddy Olivia. I absolutely love this girl! She's Jesse's first cousin and let's just sum up her looks in a short story... she got asked by a little girl if she was Barbie. Hello!?! She is super fit and cute and such a great motivation for me to get my jiggles into high gear.
3. Uh--Blogging--need I say more?

3 random / surprising facts

1. I absolutely love yard work! I look forward to mowing my lawn and can't wait to start a garden this year...my first one!( except for the garden we shared with Gramma Barb) Bring on the weeds.
2. My name was on some bank no-no list for 5 years because I overdrew my account while at BYU by $11.80...no joke. I couldn't even get my own checking account for 5 years...how annoying! I'm such a criminal.
3. I am a closet sci-fi reader. My dad has a huge collection and lends me books from time to time and I love them! I really get into them and can't put the dumb books down once I start. What a geek.