A Pretty-Weird Tree

We have this tree in our backyard....I'm not quite sure what to think, other than it must have been planted by a bird! You see...1/2 of it has apple blossoms, and the other 1/2 is, well, I don't know! There are some red berry looking things on it. They make a mess all over the yard. Jet wants to eat them when we're outside. 

The blossoms are pink on the "berry" 1/2...

  ...and white blossoms on the apple 1/2!

The bees are sure loving it! Speaking of bees....Emri was outside yesterday running around picking "flowers" (dandelions) as Brett mowed the lawn. Then she ran to him bawling....apparently she picked a flower that had a bee on it. The bee fell off onto the grass, so she picked it back up. She was so kind....but the bee was not! She got a sting on her thumb. This is not her first sting. She knows that bees "sting," but I guess I haven't taught her well enough that a sting hurts! Poor girl! Nothin' a little mud mixture won't help (I was at the grocery store...so we have no picture).

Oh, back to the tree....not sure what kind of apples we will have, but hopefully we can put them to some canning use this Fall?? 

Bikes....and Crashes

Emri has been out practicing quite a bit on her bike. Now I kinda feel bad we never go her a little bike or trike last year... it's all such a new concept to her, but it's coming along!

 At times learning to ride a bike can be frustrating (for more than just the rider)!

 Let the races begin!!! Jet likes to move at the speed of a slug on his little bike (we push him about 3 inches before his feet slip off the little "pre-pedal" spot and get all gangled underneath, then we back up an inch to undo the twisted foot), it's quite the process, but he loves it! I love living on a quiet cul-de-sac for this very reason!

 Jet boy is getting used to his helmet! Oh, this picture makes me laugh! Like his 90th percentile head needs any help making it look larger than it already is! :)

Last Saturday Emri wanted to ride her bike. Great timing as always...Brett was seeing an emergency at the office, so I was on my own. I got her bike out, helmet on and told her to WALK her bike down our (slanted) driveway while I held Jet and grabbed his bike. She INSISTED that she ride her bike down....I said AGAIN to walk it, that I couln't hold Jet, his bike, and keep her steady all at once (SHE'S CLIMBING ON WHILE THIS CONVERSATION IS HAPPENING) and before I could drop Jet's bike to assist her she was rolling away. "BRAKES! PUSH YOUR BRAKES!" (she panicked and didn't do anything but sit on that bike as it rolled down the driveway) I may or may not have said a swear word here :/ as she got to the bottom of the drive-way and totally laid out.

Ugh. She was screaming. Jet started crying because she was screaming and I might have been (read: was) frantic! I was borderline ticked off because if she had only listened....

...and at the same time I felt so bad for her and just scooped her up for a hug. Her wrist and elbow and hip were pretty skinned up.

I tried to explain to her that if she could have waited for me or just listened to what I was telling her to do then she wouldn't have gotten hurt. That I knew what was best for her (insert Mother Gothel from Tangled singing "Mother Knows Best")! Surprsingly, Emri agreed to hop back on her bike after she was bandaged up....but she wouldn't let me NOT touch her hand while she rode. And it only lasted about 1 minute. I felt like we went 2 steps backwards; she had been doing so well!

It was a good teaching moment for me though. It was a hard lesson learned for Emri. After all was said and done I was thinking---I can't imagine how many times my Heavenly Father has felt that way with me (ticked off!)....HAVING to do things MY WAY, on MY TIME, and after it all I ended up getting hurt. Thank goodness He's so forgiving... because I/we/His children...can be pretty darn stubborn at times! Later that day Emri said, "Sorry momma for not listening to you. I will try to listen tomorrow."

I don't know about all this parenting stuff. It's kinda hard. And this is only the beginning for us! YIKES! Heaven help me when those teenage years hit!

Jet @ 14 Months

This handsome little man just keeps a growin'!

When Emri lets him, he loves to snuggle in her pile of stuffed stuff!

 He has perfected the "cheeser"---straight from Dad's bag of tricks!

 He's becoming quite the little climber...

 ...is much more mischievious than I remember Emri being :)

 Future President of the United States....

 ...all you need is peace and a toothbrush!

 Squeaky clean!

He's keeping hats on a little more than 5 seconds at a time now. Ah, I could just eat him up!

 Emri is somewhat responsible for this picture... I have a feeling this is only the beginning of "dolls, strollers, and dress-ups" for the boy!

At 14 Months, Jet:

• has finally figured out how to suck from a straw!
• laughs, and smiles when dad gets home and is frantic until he's in daddy's arms.
• loves to wrestle and tease Emri.
• points to eyes and nose when asked
• loves his books about Farm Animals, and Peek-a-Boo
• In the past week has started sleeping in an HOUR longer! (about 12.5 hours @ night) YAY- (now, if only Emri could get the memo)! He's been waking up at 8am! Not sure if he's growing, or just re-adjusting his sleep schedule on us. He's been taking only one nap a day now since this has been happening. 
• Has to sleep with his teddy bear that great grandma and grandpa Brklacich gave him for his bday.
• still, only 4 teeth... I swear there's more coming ANY DAY (but I said that on his last month's update too)....we'll see!
• can and will stand alone for short periods of time. When we encourage him to walk, he laughs and plops down on his butt! 

Our 30 year old SUPERHERO!

Even though our Vegas trip was for his 30th bday...the hubs still deserved sleeping in and breakfast in bed! His bday was the day after Easter, which the office had conveniently scheduled off! We don't have too many long weekends around here these days, especially the weeks when Brett works Saturdays (one day, when the loans start decreasing, he'll have REAL dentist hours)!

The kids gave him this awesome shirt because he is definitely their SuperHero! Emri makes sure he wears it everyday after work! Brett was able to take E to her tumbling class that morning and see her in action for the first time. After lunch we made a Costco run, then to Sears where we bought OUR FIRST LAWNMOWER! That night we went out for dinner w/ Brett's parents. In all it was a very memorable day :)

Happy 30th you sexy beast! xo

Easter Festivities

We had a wonderful Easter weekend, celebrating Easter with both families this year. And although it's tricky working out all the scheduling, this is one of the many reasons it's so great being back near family during holidays---and traditions with the kiddos!

Jet figured it out pretty quick and crawled his way around the yard putting goodies into his basket!

Emri was on a mad dash with the rest of the 20-something Anderton grandchildren (I lost count) + all the mom's and dad's following closely with cameras, cell phones, and cam-corders making sure every moment of chaos is captured!
The 2011 babies: Loralye, Webster, & Jet---according to their clothing, can you predict what the weather was like that day?!The loot pile. Seriously?! Once it's all gathered in, it gets sorted and dispersed evenly. Hey...whatever happened to survival of the fittest?! Grandma is a very fair Easter Bunny :)My loves with sweet Great Grandma Anderton. It's so great that she lives next door....we love seeing her often!Easter Morning. The kids had a little egg hunt, ate chocolate for breakfast...and there was an egg trail down the stairs to the backyard where, "Peter Cottontail brought us bicycles?!!!"I can assure you all Easters WILL NOT be for gifting...but these kids have ZERO outdoor toys (and they are growing weary of riding in the bike trailer behind mom everytime the sun decides to shine) and it seemed like a fun way to give them a new toy.All dressed up in their Easter Duds and off to church to celebrate the real meaning of Easter. How grateful I am to my Savior for his amazing sacrifice, and for the Resurrection and knowledge that we will all live again after this life. Emri calls this her princess dress (Great Gma and Gpa Brklacich sent it to her last year for her bday and it was still a little big, so we saved it and it was the perfect Easter dress)!After church we cruised to SLC to hang with the Brklacich's. Gma and Papa with their babies :)
Of course, more spoiling was done here with some fun clothes for summer!
Gma & Papa filled eggs with "greens" (dollar bills), and candy. The 4 grandkids---Ayden, Keeley, Jet & Emri
Emri cracked me up....she would shake each egg when she picked it up...some had coins and those were keepers!
Pretty Keeley baby (very few Brklacich's have brown eyes). I can think of one cousin out of about 15 that doesn't have blue eyes.
"Dis is sooo heffy!"

We ended the night with a tradition we picked up from the Nydegger's in Ohio "Spitz and Gooph"... trying to crack eachothers boiled eggs! I think Emri beat Great Gpa in this round!