Tar-ka

I was coloring with Tucker the other day in our basement,and had to run to the bathroom really fast. While I was in the bathroom, I hear little footsteps running down the hall after me, and then I hear Tucker yell, 'Tar-ka...Tar-ka...Tar-ka'. He finally found me, and opens the door (which he can do now, by the way...what joy that is) and just barges in and I say, 'Tucker, what did you say?' and he replies, 'Tar-ka' and I said, 'Who's Tar-ka' and he looks at me and points, and says 'Ma-ma'. I was dying! I could not stop laughing! Where does this kid come up with this stuff?

Please tell me that I'm not the only one who has an 18 month old who calls them by their FIRST name!!!

This is the face he makes when you tell him to smile. Stinker!

Usually after a while, he REALLY smiles.

(only because he thinks he's funny!)

Silverwood...

The ONE thing Kayla really wanted to do while she was here, was go to Silverwood. Unfortunately, the weather didn't work out in her favor, so it wasn't as easy a task as we had thought. Finally on their last day here, it was supposed to be in the low 70's-so we took a chance (with clouds in the sky)-and went for it. We all just wanted to spend the day together, and Silverwood seemed like a good place to do it.

We all bundled up and headed out. Me, Tuck, Jason, Kayla, Nathan, Mom, Dad & Pat (Jason's little brother). You will have to excuse these pictures of us, as it was raining and freezing cold in the morning when we got there and all of us look-how do you say-like CRAP! :)

Tuck didn't like the merry-go-round so much... I thought he would like it, but he pretty much had this look on his face the whole time, like...'when the heck does this thing end???'

One thing he did love, the 'choo choo'...

Here we are sticking our heads out the window...still a little cold out, but still fun.

And cuddling with gramma while on the train to stay warm...

We had to get a picture with the train!

Tucker was finally big enough to go on some rides. Pat and I took him on the Ferris wheel. (no, I haven't gained THAT much weight, I am wearing 3 sweatshirts, and please excuse the ugly natural curl to my hair, I hate it!)

He wasn't so sure at first, we had to do some serious convincing...

But by the end, he was sad when it was 'aww don'... (that's what he's saying in this picture)

Uncle Nathan took him on the flying elephants...

Grandpa took him on the cars...

This child sure doesn't lack attention that's for sure! He always has someone in our family loving on him...(and I don't know where he gets those faces from!)

The sun finally came out and we were able to play in the water park! Yeah! He's like a little fish and LOVES the water! We are so excited for the summer to finally be here.

Water slides aren't my forte, can ya tell?

By the end of the day Tucker was all tuckered out from all of the fun. He had fallen asleep before we even got to the car! Thank you Gramma & Grampa. It was a great way to end our time with Aunt Kayla & Uncle Jason.

Kara's graduation...

A few weeks ago we were able to go down for the graduation of my cousin, Kara. It is hard to believe that she is already graduating from High-School! She will always be about 4 years old to me! :) In fact, I can still remember driving over to their house the day she came home from the hospital, I was 11 years old, and I was so excited about having a new little baby cousin, but I was so scared that I would drop her, so I was praying the whole drive over that I wouldn't drop her! Anyway...

We had a little family BBQ, and of course, when there are Campbells involved, there is seafood involved. It was fun seeing family that I just don't see very often, unfortunately. I just absolutley L-O-V-E my Aunt Kathy & Uncle Scott; they're the greatest!

Can you tell that our family is outnumbered with girls (on both sides, actually)??? :)

Some games were played, some pets were lost.... :)

Even though it was a little cold outside, we couldn't get Tucker out of the back yard, he was in heaven with all the toys and dogs! Luckily, Trinidy was kind enough to always take him out and play with him, so his mama could eat and chat.

And yes, it did rain during the graduation ceremony and no, they didn't seem to hurry things up a bit because of it!

Anyway, I doubt Kara will ever read this, but congrats! And thank you for graduating, so we could have a good excuse to all get together! :)

Just some Happenings...

What happens when you're gone all day at Youth Conference, and your son is in the care of you husband? You come back to a child with significantly shorter hair!!??!! And even gone in some places. Ben took it upon himself to cut tuckers hair --on his own. He was so proud of himself the next morning when I noticed it, I couldn't say anything. (He obviously has NO experience in the hair care department)

In other 'artistic' news, Tucker has discovered a new love for crayons and pens and anything that writes! His favorite place to draw? On his own skin. We have had many instances as of late, where I have found him like this after only a few minutes of being alone with a writing utensil.

(And no, Tucker isn't ALWAYS in his PJ's; sometimes he is naked, or with pants on, but one thing he ALWAYS has on- is a diaper...And these pictures just happen to both be taken in the morning.) :)

One Year...

It was exactly a year ago today that I stopped working to stay home with this little stinker:

I can hardly believe that its been that long already! There were so many hesitations we had about me not working anymore. Obviously the reason NOT to work was the a lot more important than any of the reasons TO work were. But as I've been thinking about this past year, I've realized more and more how absolutely blessed we have been. And I hadn't really realized until just now that Heavenly Father truly has taken care of us! Some of the reasons we thought that I should keep my job were: Health Insurance. We had it through my work, and Ben's (since it was such a small company) still didn't offer it. We had to pay out of pocket for a few months, but shortly after I quit, Sentinel picked it up for us! A HUGE blessing! Not having an extra income, with a child! We were thinking that we would for sure have to dig into savings just for diapers and wipees alone, and we dreaded that SO MUCH! But we didn't even have to dip-no digging, AND not even any dipping!! That is one year gone by with the exact same number of bills (if not more) and we've survived without going hungry OR naked! :) We've even managed to squeeze some non-necessity extras in there somehow! The only reason I can explain this is: tithing!

I think about how much more my life is, being able to spend it with Tucker every day as apposed to being stuck in some office somewhere, and I realize that we made the right decision a year ago! I wouldn't want my life any other way! I'm grateful to say that I know and love my child and am able to teach him and learn from him. And I don't have to wonder about who's teaching him what everyday...ya know! Its totally hard, but totally worth it! (I have to tell myself this as he is entering his 'terrible 2's' a little early already and lately has been a little booger!) :)

These pictures are from a fun day Tucker had helping Grandma plant her flowers! (on one of our few nice days)

Tucker Loves Loves Loves nursery! And mommy Loves Loves Loves being able to enjoy church again! He has now successfully completed two weeks! :) We're so proud! I took this picture after his first week; he learned about his ears, and he got to bring home this really cool bell! He is so social, he's always just wanted to be with everyone and play and he loves to sing and dance and talk, so nursery and him are a perfect fit! He ran into the classroom on the first day and seriously never looked back!

Garden Update...

So I planted a garden last month... And it has been the funnest thing ever. I didn't think I would like it so much. I mean, I wanted to, but I was afraid that nothing would grow and that I wouldn't be able to produce anything, and then a few weeks ago I looked out the window and it was like instantly I had a beautiful garden! The tomato plant was almost a gonner right off the bat, but I was lucky enough to revive it, and I think that she'll be just fine. And for some reason my carrots just aren't coming in. You can see on the end there, there are only like 5 little carrot sprouts. But other than that , the onions, the cilantro, the sweet peas and beans have all come in and up beautifully! Even my corn has come in and I am so excited. I'm not really sure what to do now. I don't know how long to wait to pick and eat, but I'm just so happy that we've made it this far! :) The only things that didn't fare too well were my cute little labels. Look at them, most of them are either broken and missing somehow, or like a big mush of color running together. Better luck next year with those, I guess. :)

The Green Beans, and Sweet Peas:(pure beauty)

The Cilantro, and Onions, and Tomato plant:

(don't mind the weeds on the outside of the garden box)

And the Corn:

YEAH! :)

I don't know how long it will take, but I'm so excited for my very first garden to be so fruitful! :)

Fun with Family & Friends...

My dear friend Megan watched Tucker for me for a few hours a few days ago. And just in the amount of time it took me to open the car door, turn around to pick up Tucker and put him in his car seat to go, all three of her kids had piled into my car! :) I think Tucker was excited to have some company in the back seat, but sadly, they didn't come home with us! :) I just thought it was a cute picture. Owen (the one crawling on Tucker and pointing) is Tuckers age, and they are the bestest buddies! Its really cute to watch them together. Owen is such a happy boy that Tucker loves him because Owen just laughs at everything Tucker does. And we all know how Tucker loves to be the center of attention. If Owen laughs at something, then Tucker will keep on doing it and like start showing off for him so he laughs more. Its hilarious!

We went out to dinner with some friends for my birthday! We went to the Olive Garden-yummy-thank you guys! It was so much fun.

Tucker loves him some girlfriends, and he has quite a few. (He's a little flirt) At our Memorial Day BBQ, he was in heaven.

These four lovely ladies are my beehives! (And also Tuckers girlfriends) In just one short weekend, our class doubled in size! We are so excited to have Jessica and Megan join our class!

Carly always just wants to be one of the big girls!

I watched my nephew, Keyton the other day. Him and Kelli came up to Spokane for some Dr. Appointments. We went outside and the boys had so much fun in the backyard, that I had to bring them in to bathe them after a few hours. Well, I didn't realize the difference in taking care of two children as apposed to just one. Yeah-big difference! :) I got them out of the bath, and before I could even get Tuckers diaper on, Keyton (who has really bad eczema, and has to be lotioned down after every bath) had gotten into the lotion, and this picture only shows the beginnings, it was all over the boys, the table, the floor, the couches...EVERYWHERE! I couldn't help but laugh, it was pretty cute.

I went down to Quincy, WA on Friday night, just Tucker and I, to help Allen and Kelli move into and organize their new house. Its just a few hours away, and Tucker doesn't do so well sleeping in pack -n- plays, so it was a quick trip. (he ended up sleeping on a twin mattress with me the whole night-needless to say, I didn't get much sleep that night!) Their new place is so cute and I'm so Happy that they are finally going to be able to be settled somewhere now! Its very open, which I love and they will finally have room for all their STUFF! They put me to work hard, and we got at least a little dent in the work to be done!

The Mess!

We did take a trip to Target and had a heyday picking out cute new things for their house! Its so much fun shopping at Target, when its not your money! :) ha ha. We did pick out the cutest decor for Keytons bathroom, and did get that done before I had to head home. We were very proud of our work!

Tucker is so excited to have his Aunt Kayla and Uncle Jason in town visiting for a few weeks. They came over on Sunday evening for dinner, and to hang out and Tucker loved it!

He was very proud of himself for figuring out how to use the floaty as a hat.

Daddy taught him how to throw a Frisbee.

Uncle Jason played some baseball with him.

When we got back from Quincy, daddy had a surprise new friend for Tucker. A new pool with a cool slide and giraffe!

Ben kicked Tuckers soccer ball over the fence into our neighbors back yard, and decided to just hop the fence to get it.(notice my flowers are all dead now):(

Thank you to our lovely neighbors who gave us their old swing set. It is really old-but it was FREE-and you can't beat that! And Tucker loves it! He has warmed up to the slide, and it has a really cool one on it. He also loves to swing!!!(do you love his tie-dyed shirt of grape juice and spaghetti-o remnants) :)

We just feel so blessed to have such great friends and families! We love them so much and are grateful that Tucker has such great people around him loving on him all the time! And we are so happy that it is finally nice enough to get outside and play with them!