November

I just want to remember:

the time Feta changed my phone setting to Korean or something, 

and I managed to change it back.

this cute face and those curls

October

Let the picture purge continue!

In October we took a quick trip to Utah during the kids' fall break

We visited Nan and Papa. 

Why they must sit ON him, I'll never know.

Funny faces with Nanny.

We're still here!

Life may or may not be trying to do me in this time.
Just as post baby sanity begins returning, and I'm swamped with all the everything else!

I've been thinking about blogging. After months of such thinking, here we are.  A post of pictures.
Because I don't want to forget the little stuff. These little stuffs. (not that they'd let me forget them even if I tried....)

So- Photographic evidence that we do, in fact, exist. At least, we did last September.

In no particular order:

A rain-gutter regatta. Our cub scout's boat didn't fit in the rain gutter due to his (and his father's) over-active imagination. SO he used a borrowed boat for the races.

Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday, Baby! Oh, I love you so!

One Candle makes a lovely light!

  She helped me pick her gifts

Meet the Monkey

Love how this one looks like a selfie?

One of the very funnest things about this little monkey turning one is that her personality is just exploding out of her. She is rapidly blossoming into this tiny goofball and I find myself frequently laughing my guts out over her expressions or actions.

She thinks the phone is hers. 

She often lets me know when she wants it back.

 A few weeks ago,

As a baby grows...

I've been a little absent lately. 

(new calling helping the young women? Yeah, that can do that to ya! 

Also this danged running business: wherein my husband is preparing to run a crazy marathon and I decided I didn't want to be left out (?) so now I try to run a mile or two sometimes..... Bleh!)

Today is merely a brief attempt to document the sheer cuteness that is my littlest monkey.

She likes to get into trouble. 

In that valley of the Sun!

*if you click the photos you can see them larger.

The Doctor's extended family has a tradition of getting together in a place called Sun Valley.
(Don't get it confused with my home of origin, Star Valley.... Also dreamy, but not where we're going today)

All 33 of us were together this summer.

Summer

Rooming

We have enjoyed living in this new house of ours. We have slowly been making it our own.

(As a side note, I have really disliked having our house called by someone else's name. I understand that you may have known the past two families to live in this home, but don't say so to me!!
"Oh, you live in the old So-n-So's house?"  Correction- I live in my house. That's why I live in it. It is mine.  If So-n-So used to live here, that is neither here nor there to me. Because I didn't live here then.) ANY WAY....

We have been working first on the kid's rooms.

The Boys' Room-- Robot themed

Bunk Beds!

 Top Bunk

Eight Months later

So, I had a baby. EIGHT months ago. 

She's a happy, happy baby. It's so fun to watch her figure out the world.

She got sick this month. Her nose was so runny, and her coughs were murder for her momma. 

She didn't sleep well (and that's saying something!) so neither did I. Recovery has been slow, but I think we'll get there.

Life according to my phone

This old phone of mine- he comes with me everywhere. I take more pictures with my phone than with my good camera lately, because, really, it is more portable, quicker, and easier.
The photos are not better, but there you have it.

This month has been full of events and moments, and this phone has captured most of them. Let the photo dump begin!

A walk in our neighborhood. We saw a "Green-headed fire dy-hydrator"

 And a "red headed one"

 And our neighbor's statue of a 'wilderbeast'

Dinner out with my favorites

A boy got the horrible cold of the year,

 and his coughing earned him a quick trip to see dad and get a breathing treatment in the ED.

Another boy lost a front tooth (don't worry, the second front tooth is on its way)

Claude Monet taught us a thing or two at the 'waxless wax museum'

I decided to try a new hair color

Socks was in a musical

Grapes was recognized with the citizenship award for her class!

Pencil graduated pre-school

He got the curiosity award.

The biggest two and I went to the high school production of "Cinderella" on a date

The weather has been distinctly summery, and I told that Doctor of mine, "I love the onset of summer!! Well, except for the snow." It's only snowed twice this month, and never stayed for too long, so there's that, anyway. 

Life is good! Happy May to you!

The business of being the Mom

I've been thinking about motherhood for a while now. (like 11 years, what?!)
I mean, this is my life's work.

My Magnum Opus, if you will.

And I still feel like I haven't really gotten started. I have all these visions....imaginations of what a mom could be. Should be, maybe. And I have highly polished intentions of becoming That Mom.

Sloshy belly dance

Pencil--- enough said:

Quotes from recently:
My neck hates my stomach and my stomach hates my neck.  (said when he was sick)

I feel really rich, and angry! (as he was reenacting a video game where the characters eat a sandwich and grow into a giant-- a la the HULK)

One time, there were carrot cubes in my puke. It's not funny!

You're a good cooker, Mom. But next time can we just have Little Caeser's?

Hey, look! I'm doing what everyone else is doing! (at preschool... meaning he was on task instead of wandering around or playing toys)

a quick note

Feta is seven months old now.
Time is moving too fast!

She loves her walker, and moves VERY fast in it. Toes beware!

To celebrate Easter

 Our Easter Weekend was simply lovely, thanks for asking.
Some of the things we want to remember...

An odyssey

My Grapes has been on an Odyssey Of The Mind team. They work together to solve a long-term problem (and then present their 'solution' to the judges) as well as preparing for a spontaneous/unpracticed problem in front of judges.

Grape's team worked on scripting, rehearsing, designing and presenting (making props and costumes as well as sets) for MONTHS.

The True Meaning of Easter

We have a family activity that we have done every year for Easter and I have had a few friends ask about it lately. I thought I'd share it here so you can do it too.

This bag is falling a part! It holds 11 plastic eggs (ours are all different colors, but you could do it however you like) Each eggs holds a scripture reference and a small item to help tell the story of the first Easter and the reason we are really celebrating this time of year.

We usually just take turns opening the eggs and reading and talking about the insides, but you could easily hide and find the eggs first.  This has been a family night activity for us, but some years it has been an Easter Sunday activity instead (because we invite the chocolate and bunnies on Saturday)


I suggest labeling the eggs with numbers.  We just have a ratty paper that tells the order by colors, which is bit of a pain, and if we ever lost the paper we would be in trouble!

So here you go:
 The True Meaning of Easter

Egg #1- Matthew 26:39
Small cup

Life's problems

Some of us have real problems.

One of mine is convincing these monkeys that they are not the people with real problems.


Problem #1: Only having one brother to be crazy with.

Sorry!

Family time is worth its weight in gold. Whatever time weighs...

We had an awesome day! Pizza and a movie (Cinderella! Grapes and I loved it. The boys.... were present. I think they didn't mind a few parts, but it was a little long in the fairy-tale department)

Then we came home and played Sorry!

Half a year

we sang happy half-birthday to this little chub this week. 

She is getting so big- at least, she thinks so. She wants to be in the thick of what the big kids are doing, and she let's everyone know when she isn't involved enough. 

These faces

The sun is shining and the trampoline is calling. To my kids. It's not calling to me.

Just to capture the moments- to remember these faces as they are before they turn into the faces they will become. And just to remember that the same humans who drive me decidedly bonkers are the the ones I live for and the ones that bring me the sweetest, most bestest joy.

Happy March!

to complete a year

In Spanish the word for birthday is made of the two words "to complete" and "year"-- literally your birthday is the completion of another year of your life. I'm realizing though, it's more than just a year of your life, it's a year of life for anyone who is part of your life. 

My Grapes turned 11 this last week. Eleven years of her life are finished: milestones passed and landmarks reached. Her journey to become the Grapes she was meant to be is fully underway.

But 11 years ago was also when I became a Momma; when we became a family, rather than a couple; and when life as we once knew it became a memory.  Things have changed in so many ways, and it has been both a blink of the eye and an eternity to reach this point. 

We celebrated (twice!)

First with family

Sometimes it's better to be British a little

Found this old video on my camera and had to share. 

FIVE months old

Are you seeing this deliciousness??

This girl is getting so big (and by big I do mean chunky!) But more than that she is figuring herself out and it's been SO fun to watch.

Will you be mine?

Valentine's Day Krispy Kisses 

The Doctor had to work on Valentine's day, so he and I went out on Friday the 13th. We were lucky though, because one of our favorite babysitters, "D" was able to come watch kids.

My dates for the actual night of love were these darling monkeys. Spaghetti and Meatballs and sparkling cider made it an evening to remember.

Lots of Love to you all!

Sometimes you need to vacate the situation

The doctor has had a few long weeks and rough shifts recently. It's a hazard of the job-- long hours and difficult cases.
The kids had a long weekend that coincided with three days off for him- so we hit the road!
It was a surprise mini-vacation to the exotic destination of Phoenix. A land of cacti and palm trees and weather 20 degrees warmer than where we live.
 We got a hotel room complete with transformer bed/couch. Pencil was positively giddy. He said about 100 times as he got ready for bed, "This is my life!"

Four Months and counting

This little girl is rapidly becoming one of my favorite humans on this planet. (right behind her fiercely bearded daddy and the other tiny humans trying to run my life!!-- although, lets be real, that oldest kid is hardly tiny any more!)

Back to the baby...

She's figuring out her hands. She reaches and grabs things, often bringing them right to her mouth. She is still getting the hang of it, and there are lots of drops and failed attempts, but she sticks with it!

Life As We Know It

I posted about our Christmas. (Pictures are worth a thousand words, right?)
But the rest of December- the regular life and family craziness- effortlessly glided into January.
I want to remember it, so I'm sharing with you.

We'll begin with Pencil.
Because with this monkey there are always a zillion tell-able tales.
He asked for cinnamon toast for breakfast almost every day one week. This is how he ate it:

After all, there's only one more sleep 'till....

Christmas!