Growing pains

my babies are growing up so fast. i can't believe that in a few short weeks my baby boy will be 1 and my sassy girl will be 3.

where did the time go? i was watching them play this morning and i was literally holding back tears thinking about how fast the time has gone.

look at how much my sass has changed in two years.



it breaks my heart how big she is and how incredibly beautiful she is.

and my little noey, who i specifically told to stop growing up and he goes and starts walking!


love you kids more then anything now stop growing up!

where did the week go?

i can't believe it is already thusday. usually, when my weeks fly by it's because i was to busy being productive to notice. that is not true this week. i can't remember doing anything remotely productive, to be honest i can't remember doing anything period.

this is my list of things i need to get done this week.

1. take the babies swimming.

2. clean my house. and i mean clean. not just pick up like serious de-clutter, scrub the floors and windows clean.

3. order new photos of my kiddos including but not limited to this one....


and this one...


4. decide what i am bringing to our, "meet the new neighbor party" to share tomorrow night.

5. make photo books for my kids of the past year. (that's a doesy)

6. stop obsessing about wanting a new dog. you do not want a dog. you do not need a dog. you don't have time for a dog. amen.

i have to keep reminding myself, sorry.

Wordless wednesday - first heart to heart

the banish club

so the other day i wrote about my wonderful childhood and all the good memories i have from it. today i thought i would share one of my favorite memories. my brothers and sister and i talk about this memory often around the sunday dinner table and we are always laughing so hard we are crying.

first, my mom home schooled all seven of us. she stopped with my younger siblings a few years ago so she could go back to work. because we were home schooled and were aloud very very limited tv, there was a ton of time during the day that we had to fill with making up games for entertainment.

on this particular day we decided we were going to have a circus on the family room couch. my mom who all throughout my childhood was either pregnant or nursing, was napping with the youngest at the time. so here we are walking along the back of the couch, jumping on the cushions and doing flips over the arms and wouldn't you know the darn thing broke! and i mean broke. the frame snapped and one or two of the legs collapsed.

it made the loudest sound imaginable we all looked at each other and held our breaths hoping my mom hadn't heard. before we could blink, she was standing in the family room and she was not very happy. i can't remember her exact words but something like she didn't want to hear or see us until after nap time.

subsequently, my oldest brother jake, convinced us that she meant she never wanted to see us again and we would have to live in the basement from now on.

jake, was always the leader so being good sheep we followed him down to the basement.

he then told us to make clay cups and plates because we weren't ever going to be aloud to use the stuff in the kitchen again. finally, he got us all paper grocery bags and had us put them on our heads and practice eating because if we were ever on the off chance invited to join in any family meals we would need bags on our head, so my mom wouldn't have to look at us. so we did that too. we spent the rest of the day in the basement in what was dubbed, "the banish club." jake named it, naturally.

eventually, my mom made us come up for dinner of course she had forgotten about being mad and told us to take off the paper bags. to tell you the truth i think she was happy we broke that couch. it was ugly and smelled like cigarette smoke from the previous owner.

the end

cute kid

seriously?


i mean...


how cute...


is this kid?

Memories

i had a wonderful childhood. i grew up in a big family so there was always plenty of excitement, fun and laughter.

i am always wondering what my kids will remember from there days as littles. will it be the hours upon hours playing in the circle with their buds, our family vacations to the beach or all the days we spent at the zoo?

here are two things gracie remembers and talks about quite often. not so sure i am doing a good job.

gracie: hey mom, remember that time you were outside with noah reading books and i couldn't find you and i was scared and i cried? remember that?

gracie: mom, did we have a dog?
me: yes, we did have a dog.
gracie: was his name henry?
me: yes, his name was henry.
gracie: remember that you gave him away? i miss him. i loved henry.

worst mom ever.

tuesday already?

1. gracie slept until 9am this morning! that is a record for her. she is usually up by 7 no matter what time she goes o bed at night.

2. i am totally, unbelievably in love with my husband.

just thought you should know.

3. we pool hopped all day today. started this morning at my mom's and ended at our neighbors. my kids are sun kissed and exhausted. hoping for a great night sleep!

4. this is my 3rd week participating in fmbt. click on the button and check it out!

5. the fifth kid in my families line up, nate, is graduating high school tomorrow. i can't believe he is old enough to graduate. i remember the day he was born, i was all of 5yrs old.

6. this is gracie's x-ray from last summer when she swallowed a pin from out screen door.

























that was fun week....