What's New?

Uff. I'm way behind. Again. :)

Matt:

- shot a turkey during turkey season this spring! He only hunted for about 12 minutes before he pulverized the thing and came home. Score! Matt grilled up some of the breast last week and it was delicious. The bird was huge so Matt was able to get 5 bags of meat out of it. Another successful hunt!

- has been busy training for the Fargo Marathon on May 21. He just ran 20 miles last Saturday and will train up to 22 miles in the next few weeks. Matt's been faithfully getting up early 4-5 times a week to hit the pavement and I think it's really going to pay off. I'm not sure how many marathons Matt will run in his life, but his training has been going well and he's stayed healthy and uninjured. I'm SO proud of his dedication to finish the race strong (and fast!).

- is a working fool. :) Matt's been out once a week during the month of April doing Mexican Spotted Owl surveys. He has to go out in the evenings, so once a week he works a full day, maybe comes home for a quick hello and some supper, and then heads back out from 5:30-10/11pm. It makes for some long days for both of us! Matt's also headed to Glenwood Springs tomorrow and Thursday for some meetings. It will be fun for him to get back to the western slope!

- is growing a container garden for us! (What doesn't Matt do, right?!) He planted starters in the window sill of the garage and has transferred them over to milk jugs when they're ready. Matt planted tomatoes, zucchini, lettuce, broccoli, bell peppers, and cucumbers... I think. Honestly, I've lost track of what he's planted! Matt said last night that he's "cautiously optimistic" about the garden. The only fear is that the plants might grow out of their containers and not produce any produce. I guess we'll find out! At any rate, it can't be worse than our epic garden failure in Carbondale where we planted 10 fruits and vegetables and only managed to get 1 green bean, 2 pea pods, and a handful of beautiful half-eaten (by deer) cantaloupe. No joke.

Charlie:

- is walking all over the place! He started walking at the beginning of the month by just taking 6-8 steps away from furniture all on his own, and within a week, he just took off. He's actually really steady on his feet and really enjoys being upright. How do we know? Because Charlie just walks around the house for the sake of walking around the house! He does laps in the kitchen, comes into the living room, goes back to the kitchen, etc... Adorable! I wasn't sad to see him walk at all - probably because he was so ready to do it. He'll walk, stop and look at something, and then keep on going! Charlie doesn't know how to stand up in the middle of the room yet, but that will be next!

- "Where's Charlie?" "There he is!" OK, Charlie should have probably learned this trick a while ago, but just the other day figured out that he can hide his face with a blanket and then wait for the question "Where's Charlie?" It's sweet. Last night, he was doing the trick and moving his bath towel up towards his face, but it wasn't covering his face at all. He thought it was because his hands were moving the towel, though! Maybe you had to be there...

- will give high-5's if you put your hand out.

- now notices anytime we eat or drink anything. If we're consuming something, he thinks he has to, too. I guess it's his way of helping out my diet plan! It's not that he didn't notice before, but now will stand at your knees until he gets a bite.

- has figured out how to show his frustration. (Good thing or bad thing?!) If Charlie gets upset or wants something, he'll arch his back, stick out his belly, and tuck his chin into his chest and make some kind of grunting sound to let you know he's unhappy. While it's funny, I feel bad for the guy! It must be hard to get frustrated - which is a legit feeling we ALL get - and have no way to communicate that feeling.

- has one new molar (top left). As far as I could tell, we really couldn't tell that he was teething. We've been blessed to have an easy teether!

- went on his first Easter egg hunt last weekend! It was tough to walk in the park on the uneven grass, but Mommy and Daddy helped him find some candy. We actually came home with a whole bunch - WAY more than we needed. Just as we were walking out of the park, a lady asked us if we even got any and then handed over a HUGE handful of candy. My hips thank you, sweet lady.

- has had a few playdates with some friends - yes, we're slowly making friends! My really good friend, Karen, has two kids and we get together with them at least once a week. We also watched Karen and Kurtis' kids a few weekends ago (so they could go out on a date) in hopes of starting a date-exchange babysitting deal.

- just likes to play, play, play!

Julie:
- started teaching piano lessons! Alright, piano lesson. A family from our church has three daughters, the oldest being in first grade. I just started teaching her last week! She's a brand new player and is very eager.

- has taken a slight hiatus from couponing in the last few months. We've tried to eat out of the pantry and freezer, and I've enjoyed the break. Deals will always be there. Because I'm shopping less, I'm still saving money and spending only a fraction of our normal grocery budget. It all balances out in the end! I'm sure I'll get back into it when I feel we've depleted our stockpile enough.

- is now a part of the MOPS Steering Team (leadership) for the next school year. I've really enjoyed attending MOPS twice a month and have decided that if I want to continue to participate, I probably need to help plan and lead, too. It should be a fun group of women to work with!

- we all have been attending a small group on Sunday nights through our church. There's four (maybe five) families in our small group so it's a nice size.

- has just been trying to be joyful in the daily tasks of being with Charlie and keeping house. Some days are easier than others!

Maybe a picture post will be next. :)