Saying goodbye to winter

Today it was 73 degrees!!!!!  Rusty took the boys fishing and to look at some cattle.  I got to go grocery shopping ALONE! and have coffee with my dear friend.  What a way to spend spring break.  Plus tomorrow I am going skiing with my Mom, Callen has decided he is done for the season and is going to ship cattle with Rusty and Claysen is going to daycare so I can enjoy the grown up slopes!  So.... tomorrow I will enjoy one last look at winter and then officially say hello Spring and summer!    

These two puddle photos were taken a while back when it was dumping rain in the valley and snow in the mountains.  I am looking forward to enjoying that new snow tomorrow!!!!

Also I got to get away for a girls trip last weekend.  My friend Holly invited me to join her wonderful group of ladies to snow shoe in Sun Valley.  I have never been to Sun Valley or snow shoeing.  It was fun and nice to get away.  I am on the far left in this photo if you can't tell.  

Cha-Cha-Changes

So, I have been extremely frustrated with Callen lately.  He is ALWAYS arguing with me, very aggressive towards Claysen, quick to cry or throw a tantrum.  First I got some suggestions from a counselor that I trust.  Next we went to a Swedish Naturpath, on the recommendation of the counselor.  He suggested that we try a dairy and gluten free diet.  Ugh, was my first thought.  This isn't an easy fix.  But it is worth a try.  The first week I tackled the dairy free.  I saw physical results immediately.  Physical in the sense that the toilet was no longer clogging when Callen sat in there for a while.  Removing the gluten has been a little trickier.  Finding replacements for the things he loves like Oreos or making a sandwich or finding crackers that look the same as Club Crackers but are gluten free has been hard.  So much is made with wheat.  Even twizzlers have wheat.  It's the second ingredient!  But is has been 2 months now, removing the gluten has been gradual, but the difference in Callen is notable.  I feel like it is a relief, I can actually like my kid again.  So if you know of any good gluten free recipes that are kid friendly ( as in something a child wouldn't turn their nose up at) please send them my way.

The Purple Firetruck!

So it is only the weekend before Valentine's Day and I am getting around to posting this.  For months, I mean like 4 months, Claysen said he wanted a Purple Firetruck from Santa.  A what?  That's right.  Google proved that they do exist in real life, just not in toy life.  So, what is Santa to do...  Etsy.com came through. Wooden firetruck, Santa painted in his workshop many hours and many coats.  Ta-da!  Looks nice I think. I thought he would play with it more, but if you ask what his favorite present was...The Purple Firetruck.  That is success in my book!

When did he become a teenager?

Today Callen asked me why I haven't gotten him a cell phone yet.   OMG, what?  I text Rusty this question and his response it not appropriate for this family friendly website.  But wow!  I didn't know what to say.  Finally my response was, "When you can pay for it."  He didn't agree with me.  We need to work on the who buys what and deserves what around here.

He's going to be a writer

Two stories or lines from them anyway...

Callen: Do you know how big baby gorillas are?  They stay babies for a long time.  They stay babies until they get bigger.

Callen: Mom, I want a girl black horse for my horse Cole (he has been talking about a black horse he wants that he'll name Cole).  I hope they fall in love so Cole can be a stud.

That imagination of his is ALWAYS running!

A little bit more...

We always spend Christmas Eve with Rusty's Grandma in Weiser with the whole Cada family.  One year we counted 55 people and since we have added a few more.  It is fun. 

Next I'll try for the infamous Purple Firetruck that Santa brought to Claysen.

Catching up

We got a little bit more snow early the week of Christmas.  So we took advantage of it and pulled the boys around our neighborhood on the sled with the four wheeler.  They had a blast.  Claysen enjoys rolling off and then chasing the sled.  I think more than riding it.  He would fall off, I would stop and he would wave me on telling me to go so he could run after the sled.  Silly boy!

Claysen loves to use the camera.  Just like Callen did at 3.  Claysen is pretty good at getting people to smile.  Rusty never smiles in pictures, at least not very often.  He hates having his picture taken.  From now one when I need a good picture of Rusty I am just going to have Claysen take it.  We have two like the one below from Christmas break that Claysen took.  Claysen's charm seems to work well on Rusty and he will smile for his son.

More to come, my computer is loading all the pictures I want to post so slow....I think I need a new computer, but have to come up with a better excuse to buy a new on than that.  Or so Rusty says...