Lakeside With Papa

I've lived here all my life and our big blue sky still takes my breathe away.

Papa instructed the kiddos on proper rock skipping technique.

It all starts with finding the perfect rock.

 Fishing!

Almost like being on a real beach!

We found treasure.

This spring day was perfect. The sun was shining. It was warm. There was no wind. We were lakeside. And Papa was there.

Easter Egg Hunt

It lasts seconds. Literally seconds. By the time the fire engine siren signals the start, to the time the last egg is snatched off the grass, it is seconds. I lower my camera to encourage Addi to hurry! I look up and a rush of children are coming at me like a wave at high tide. It's now or never. Grab a few eggs before they vanish.

She doesn't really like it. She never has. She gets timid and shy and the look on her face tells us exactly what is going through her mind, This just isn't worth it!  She gets frightened as the wave of anxious egg-hunting children run towards her. She isn't competitive. She really doesn't care to win, or hurry and getting the most eggs means nothing to her. I think she would rather stay at the edge and just watch and then go home and un-competitively pick up her own eggs off her own grass!

"I'm still not sure about this."

Landon went with Daddy to the under age two section. Most of these kids on new walking legs. However, the competition still fierce! It lasts a little longer and the unsure stumbling is adorable. He found a prize, a monkey shaped egg. Boy was he proud. Even more proud when we opened the egg and inside was a piece of candy!

Checking the loot.

Happy its over!

Easter Eggs

This year we dyed two dozen brown eggs. 

I pulled the egg containers from the fridge as Addi practically ripped them from my hands, eager to see the eggs that will become her prize creations, she squealed...

Addi: MOM!!! Why did you get chicken eggs? We can't dye CHICKEN EGGS!!

Me: You mean because these eggs are brown?

Addi: YES!

Me: Honey, what do you think the white eggs are?

after seconds of confused silence ...

Addi:  Well, I don't know. 

 She was skeptical with the brown chicken eggs, but she decided to trust me and dye them anyway. Addi is an egg dying pro! She explained every step to Landon so he would learn the proper way.

The first year she dyed Easter eggs we were living in Salt Lake City and Addi was 17 months old. It was Great-Aunt Moni's turn to pass on to Addi her egg dying expertise. Addi learned the art from the very best. Addi loved it then too!

She thought it was totally fun!

Eating the eggs however, not too impressed!

And now she's five! Doing it all on her own.

 Landon enjoyed getting the eggs ready by sucking on them before slam dunking them into the dye cups. The dye water splashed all over and his eggs cracked.  

He could hardly stand to let them sit in the cup while Addi counted to 30. After 30, they are ready.

He was SO egg-cited once he pulled the egg out of it's cup .... but .... ewwww.... it was wet and slimy. He does not like his hands to be messy. 

Nope! You get it sister!

As we were finishing up the last few eggs, some friends stopped by.

Naturally speckled and the color turns out deeper, more organic, natural looking. I loved them.

             

Mama's Easter Basket full of the kid's beautiful eggs.

March Madness

It infects them all, no matter their age or size. From what I can tell no person with the Y chromosome is immune. Unfortunately for us non-male humans whom have as about as much interest in watching sports on TV (especially basketball) as we do watching mold multiply, are left to our own devices. Forced to watch important programs (i.e. Duck Dynasty) alone in the bedroom. For well over a month I have watched my husband sit practically motionless on his chair, drooling, grunting and yelling gibberish, while ignoring everything else actually important happening in our world! Okay, that's a gross over exaggeration, but when March comes around I can expect my very handsome, intelligent, attentive hubby to turn into some sort of caveman-like person!

I don't get it and I never will.

I am sad to say there is no hope for the next generation of Man-Powell. Even the littlest one that is part me as succumbed to the basketball trance!

the basketball trance, he has NO idea I am there taking pictures!
switching between games 

'knucks' for Daddy
"Touchdown" -- we know! wrong sport, but it's adorable. Daddy cheers, Landon does this and crack up!

See, Mommy, I make March Madness adorable. 

Mr. Mischief

And so it begins. The gradual transition into mischievousness - the I-know-its-wrong-but-I'm-going-to-do-it-anyway phase! (Addi entered this phase around 24 months and she has yet to come out of it!! --- It's a long phase I guess!)

He knows he is not to climb on the toilet. If I don't remember to shut the bathroom door I will spend my day literally peeling him from the fixtures.  I have had premonitions, day-dreams, a mother's gut intuition of him slipping and banging his chin on the sink counter, before he crashes to the tile in a heap of blood, missing teeth and hyperventilating tears. No thank you! Despite the apparent danger and high level of risk, he absolutely loves it. He loves to pull himself up on the toilet, stand on the very edge on his tippy-tippy toes and stretch and stretch until he reaches the water faucet to turn the water on full blast. After his huge naughty accomplishment he cracks up in his mischievous little grin.

Once I unhinge his grip and remove him from the upstairs bathroom he will make a bee-line down the stairs to check to see if I remembered to shut the downstairs bathroom door. I will hear him shriek in defiant failure while banging on the shut door!

It is so scary to watch him teeter on his tippy-toes and seeing him body's stretched to the max, but his proud little grin is just so cute!

"Here, I go! This will be so great."

"And reach and stretch..."

"Did you see me? Did you see what I did? Wasn't that awesome?!"

"It was naughty, but hilarious and so worth it."

{21 months old}

Under Our Big Sky

I haven't traveled to too many places, but I can confidently say when spring hits Montana there isn't a more peacefully, beautiful place. The days gradually grow longer and warmer. The brownish, depressing death covering everything is replaced with a hopeful palette of greens and oh, our sky - our sky is so happy and so, so blue.

I love the slow transition into being able to spend all day playing outside. When it is available we soak up every ounce of sun and warmth, enough to last through the long, ugly, cold winter months.

It is still chilly, usually until June - coats and vests are still required, but the bright, blue sky and warm sunshine gives us new energy.


A flock of geese fly past the sun. Landon watched them until they landed on the lake. 

Nature bug trekking to see the geese on the edge of the lake. 

One of my favorite pictures to take of LW is his close up profile. 

He recently got a couple new hats. And his loves them, as long as they are on backwards! We might have a little punk on our hands!

Faithfully following her - everywhere.

Happy, happy, happy spring!

The Treasure Stick

To Addi, any piece of nature - a feather, a stick, a pine cone, a shell, a fossil, a shiny rock (and sometimes human garbage) is "treasure". She has jars, plastic cups, and containers galore covering every inch of her room, filled with the treasure she has found on our adventures.

{The other day while doing laundry I found Landon's vest pocket full of treasure, a handful of bird seed --- Let the treasure collecting continue!}

I love their 'treasure'. Addi still runs her treasures to me, eager to show off what she has found. She often speculates what animal the treasure was from. She loves creating a story as to how the treasure got the spot where she found it.

I wanted to somehow proudly display the treasure they find this spring and summer, thus ---  the treasure stick! 

We will be attaching our treasure with fishing line to the treasure stick. Allowing their special treasure to dangle and gleam in grand splendor.

Landon found a small, black bird feather at the park the other day. The first treasure found for the treasure stick! But I'm sorry, Addi ... you may not attach that old crinkled, rusty beer can you found in the park creek to the treasure stick! --- I have to draw the line somewhere!

Adding the first treasure of the spring to the Treasure Stick!
Not before tickling the not-so-impressed Landon first!

For now, we wait for it to stop snowing so our treasure can be found!

The Treasure Stick, displayed here, for now!

In Her Shoes

The kid just loves shoes. A love affair that goes beyond his favorite red Nike tennis and expands to sister's snow boots, cowgirl boots, Daddy's hunting boots and Mama's slippers. He checks out shoe piles at friend's houses and at gymnastic class. We call him "the keeper of shoes". When Daddy leaves for work it is Landon's self-assigned duty to bring Daddy his shoes and it breaks LW's heart if Daddy forgets to leave this special responsibility for Landon.

                       
                                   

Lately Landon has loved wearing Addi's tap shoes. There are so noisy and he walks circles around the tile in the kitchen, while pointing at his feet and smiling.

On The Bird Feeder

The morning after we fill the bird feeder you will find Landon perched (ha!) on the edge of the couch watching song birds and doves fly in to feed on the fresh seed. He gets so excited and just watches in awe.  He claps, points, squeals and shouts, "oooohhhhh." It is really sweet when he folds his hands together in a up-turned way, that is his way of saying he wants to either be held or he wants to hold something.

Darn, out of focus - but the pure joy is still there.