The Blanch Herd: Photos from Phones

Well, I've fallen way behind after doing quite well at keeping this ol' blog up to date in a timely fashion. It's mid-April, but here's a (loooong) run down of March for ya:

3.1.18
(We were walking with the sun directly behind us
when #sunnysammy looked down and discovered
his shadow for the first time. "Look, mom! It's me!"
(And then my heart melted!))

3.1.18
(always has a truck in hand)

3.1.18
(the hat and sun glasses just kill me)

3.1.18

3.1.18
(this kid is too cool)

3.1.18
(I actually think Callie wrote a few days/week previously,
but I had to snap a picture of it before I tossed it, because a) I
love every single note she writes me and b) I love that she calls
an owie that leaves a visible mark (ie cut, scrape, bruise) "damig"
(aka damage).)

3.1.18
(dinner was yummy and quite pretty to look at. I love
sheet pan dinners!)

3.1.18
(they went birthday shopping with dad and were
stinkin' adorable, as per usual)

3.2.18
(red sky in morning, sailors take warning?)

3.3.18
(7:15 am - we were expecting a big storm
and got less than nada.)

3.3.18
(I went on a solo walk to the lake - the ice is melting!)

3.4.18
(7:12 am - you're late, snow. And pretty puny.)

3.4.18
(added Spanish to our I Am A Child of God
languages in primary)

3.6.18
(little future paleontologists)

3.6.18

3.6.18
(A lovely, though chilly, morning at dino park with Cal and Sam
and a styracosaurus. Hopefully with time (and our shiny new
family membership pass), Sam will be smiling during our whole
visit (rather than clinging to my neck for dear life for most of the
time - minus this lucky photo-op.)

3.6.18
(fyi)

3.6.18
(Cal got in another ski date with Dad)

3.6.18
(Sam and I walked to Pat's to eat tots for our
date, but it was closed (doesn't stay open for dinner
on weeknights till summer - bummer). so we
did the next best thing and bought a $.75 corn dog
from the Valley Market deli - Sam chowed down
on that thing! (Must be related to his momma.))

3.6.18
(Cal got pizza and potato chips in the lodge -
dinner of champion skiers, I guess.)

3.6.18
(I looked over at my current to be (and in the process
of being) read stack and realized I had all the colors of
the rainbow represented. Naturally, I had to organize them
for a photo op.)

3.7.18
(Heatha, Gracie, and Mugs came to visit - we had
a fun morning at Music Makers followed by
a fun walk/hike near the lake.)

3.7.18

3.7.18
(we had a fun day with these fun girls.)

3.7.18
(activity days service project cleaning toys in
the nursery)

3.7.18

3.7.18
(Cal thinks she's one of the girls - she lives
for activity days!)

3.12.18
(walkin' in sunshine - whoa-oh!)

3.12.18
(they beat me up the hill - no surprise there!)

3.12.18
(giggling goofies)

3.12.18

3.12.18
(detour to the cemetery, naturally)

3.12.18
(Not quite the first day of spring, but we had a
day full of springy firsts: first chaco walk of the year,
first afternoon with windows open through the house,
first day for an fhe campfire. (And yes, Cal and Sam
are holding hands - totally their idea - in this photo!))

3.12.18
(I love the street where I live)

3.12.18
(this series of notes was slipped under Gregg's office door in
quick succession)

3.12.18

3.12.18
(all the heart eyes for this girl and her messages)

bonus video

"Sam makes his picks"

3.15.18

3.15.18
(nasty scab update - it's starting to fall off!)

3.16.18
(Oh what a beautiful mornin'!)

3.16.18

3.16.18
(scab update: it's totally off!)

3.16.18
(and it's left quite a dent)

3.18.18
(post church stories and snuggles)

3.18.18
(Who knew a book about fruit could be so hilarious? Personally,
I think their pile-on-Dad-for-story-time method is chuckle worthy.)

bonus video!

"go aggies!"

3.18.18

(Sam is loyal - no matter who is playing, this is his chant)

(And, just for fun, here's Cal's almost two-and-a-half-year-old version)

3.19.18
(tried something a bit fancy for libary hair
today)

3.19.18
(These two friends are too much.
This is Charlie (sometimes we have to call
him "the boy Charlie" because we also have
a friend Charleigh who is a girl).)

3.19.18
(thanks, ogden clinic, for seven identical bills for my wound check/
stitches removal all delivered today in a big pile of envelopes.)

3.19.18
(puddles!)

3.19.18

3.19.18
(there was more puddle splashing than bike riding this afternoon.
yet the helmets remain.)

3.20.18
(an outing to the train museum in Ogden (since
we can get in free with our dino park pass - bonus!))

3.20.18
(we met up with our pal Charlie (and his mom Erin) there)

3.20.18
(the model trains were a huge hit)

3.20.18

3.20.18
(I've been workin' on the railroad)

3.20.18
(she found a free railroad safety activity book
and got promptly to work on it)

3.20.18
(back in the caboose)

3.20.18
(mischief makers)

3.20.18
(since it was the first day of spring we decided to have a picnic)

3.20.18
(and Cal was so cold she had to put on her coat)

3.20.18
(she found some seeds from a pod at the park
and brought them home to plant near our house -
next to a big post that gregg dug out shortly there
after. I don't have high hopes for these seeds)

3.20.18
(baby horse is gettin' big!)

3.20.18
(we walked again to the cemetery, but not in
chacos this time)

3.20.18

3.21.18
(second day of spring deck lunch vibes)

3.22.18
(we went to the Treehouse Museum with my friend
Christine and her boys and her nieces and I only
took two sneak pics of Sam the entire time we were
there.)

3.22.18
(he loves to play in the kitchen areas and I think
it's just too cute for words)

3.22.18
(there were lots of friends to play with, but that made it tricky,
too when everyone wanted to go in separate directions. Here's a
rare moment when almost everyone was in the same area at the
same time.)

3.22.18
(choo choo!)

3.22.18
(choo! choo! This is Sam's other favorite spot at the treehouse.)

3.22.18
(lunch in Christine's car because it was raining outside - we
were squished, but it was fun. from L to R:Timothy, Sadie,
Zachary, Sammy (Samantha), Callie, Sam)

3.23.18
(today for our science friday mom and cal time:
Dancing Raisins and Sink or Float. And, as always,
we end with a baking soda/vinegar volcano in the sink.)

3.23.18
(I love the squished magnifying glass on the
goggles - it was a technique to keep the safety
glasses from slipping down her nose, and it
worked pretty well, I guess.)

3.23.18
(mail time! Cal got this super sweet thank you card from
a lady I visit teach because I asked Cal if she would draw
a picture for me to take to her on a visit and she happily did so.
Sister Blain is the best at thank you notes!)

3.23.18
(pictures for Grandpa Thornley's party)

3.23.18
(she learned how to draw arrows specifically for labeling this
card)

3.23.18
(We celebrated this amazing almost-90-year-old grandpa this
evening. I'm pretty sure I inherited my love of popcorn, science
and extra brown (some may call them burnt?) cookies from him.
We're sure lucky to have him in our lives.)

3.26.18
(pretty morning sky at breakfast)

3.27.18
(Grandma Blanchard came to Utah for a week
to get some help from doctors since she's been
feeling really crummy for a long time.)

3.27.18
(we got to spend the afternoon with her at our house
between appointments and it was quite the treat
to watch Cal read her some Elephant and Piggie
stories)

3.27.18
(I LOVE THIS!)

3.27.18
(serious Blanchard book love going on here)

bonus video!

"story time with Cal and Grandma"

3.27.18

3.27.18
(it was a lovely evening for a walk/bike/jog around
the loop)

3.29.18
(morning stories. be still my heart.)

3.29.18
(we were walking to the store and Cal insisted
on bringing her notebook and a pencil in the Burley.
as we walked, I asked: Whatcha drawing, Cal?
Cal: I'm not drawing anything! I'm writing down
things.
Me: Oh, what are you writing down?
Cal: Body parts.
Me: :) Nice! What do you have on your list?
Cal: Knee, elbow
(and then she added a few more
(hands, feet, legs, arms, tummy)
by the time I snuck a photo for posterity))

3.29.18
(she moved on to listing feelings shortly after
body parts. here we see: icky, calm,
happy, sad, mad. I seriously can't get
enough of this learning to write stage.
It's so entertaining and heart warming!)

3.29.18
(It's that time of year again. High Jump Higher with
coach/daddy. (On the way here, Cal said, "he's a coach
AND a dad?) Thankful for the sunshine on this breezy
opening meet afternoon.)

3.30.18
(We love to see the (Jordan River) Temple (Open House).)

3.30.18

3.30.18
(after our temple open house visit, I had the
afternoon "off" (thanks to gregg for using
his day off to let me go run some solo errands,
including birthday shoe shopping (finally) - these
are what I liked best, but I didn't buy them
because I wanted to shop around online))

3.30.18
(meanwhile the kids and dad were having a kite
day at the park, among other super fun stuff)

3.30.18
(after dinner Sam had to show me his new trick-
he FINALLY tried out his bike and was hooked!
(I'm not sure why he had been refusing to
sit/ride/try it, but I had to tell him he couldn't
wear his helmet unless he was riding his bike
in a desperate attempt to get him on the thing.
spoiler alert: it didn't work.))

3.30.18
(The Biking Blanchards v2.0!)

3.30.18
(From Sam: "These are my bike shoes, mom.
I'm in a bike race. I go fast!")

3.31.18
(conference morning breakfast - mini quiches! They were
AH-mazing!)

3.31.18
(plus cinnamon rolls (that didn't rise quite enough, but were
still pretty dang delicious, too)

3.31.18
(breakfast of champions and ready to feast on the word)

3.31.18
(between sessions, Gregg ran some errands while the kids
and I birthday partied with our friend Moriah at Kangaroo Zoo)

3.31.18
(these were taken about 30 minutes before we left, when Sam
finally decided he'd let go of my neck and get down to play
(and have a blast doing so, I might add!))