05-25-15 Opinions needed!

So, I finally finally finally cleaned up the nursery this evening, (like most of the rooms in the house right now, it was piled high with clothes.) You can actually move around in here now!

So now, I would like to finish decorating it. For behind the crib, I would like to get a scripture verse or text to put on the wall and would like some opinions! 

Option 1- obviously we would change the name...

Option 2

Option 3

Thoughts? 

Today was a busy day, we trekked up the road to a rather unique store called the Community Forklift.

We were on the hunt for items for the house, and I had come across this store while researching online. The store is a mix of vintage, antique, and surplus building materials. They have just about anything house related you could think of... Doors, beds, appliances, cabinets, countertops, bathtubs, etc. We didn't really find what we were looking for, but we enjoyed walking around and seeing the variety of merchandise. 

After that, we braved a trip to Ikea, during what should have been naptime. So, you can only imagine how that trip went with sleepy, cranky children. After numerous meltdowns in nearly every department, we were finally able to buy what we needed and headed home. We spent the evening with my sister-in-law's family and the kids got to play with their cousins. Quite the eventful day! It was nice to have a long weekend with my loves!

05-24-15 Cheeks

Know one of the things I love about this guy? 

His cheeks!

Seriously, how is such perfect cheekage even possible? They are the ideal combination of squishy and soggy. When he is happy, his cheeks rest properly on his face and defy even the sourest of persons to be unimpressed. But when he is resting, the cheeks go limp, evoking more of a basset hound appearance, begging to be poked or kissed. 

It is true, that in the presence of such outstanding cheekage, housework has been known to be disregarded and dinner has grown cold. For truly, is there any doubt which is more important?

So, should you find yourself in the presence of such a specimen of cheekage, feel free to compliment this dear fellow on the roundness of this face, and if time permits, steal a kiss or a snuggle! 

05-23-15 A nap with Goobs

This little fellow napped with me today. It was a good nap. The kind that starts out as just resting on a comfy chair and turns into an hour and a half of deep sleep and baby cuddles. His little head nuzzled up against me, his little hands curled up to his chest. His rhythmic breathing would venture into snoring as he drifted deeper to sleep. With a four year old and a three year old constantly vying for attention, it isn't often that I get some quality quiet time with this guy (that isn't 3 o'clock in the morning!) 

05-22-15 Mom's Morning Out

Mom's morning out has come to an end. I left work early today to go to the kids' closing ceremony. They were, of course, adorable. :) 

Here's a comparison of the kids from the start of the school year and today. Wow, they have grown!

05-21-15 With Style

C proudly displayed her drawing to me this evening when I got home from work. It is interesting to me to follow the evolution of her drawing skills. A few months ago I would not have been able to recognize her drawings as coffee. 

I asked her if I could take her picture with it.  So for the first one she smiled.

Then she asked me to take one of her *with style* and this is what I got. 

No, that's not creepy at all! 

Tomorrow is the kids' last day of Moms Morning Out. The next time C goes to school it will be kindergarten. I can't believe that time has passed this quickly. 

At least there is still one baby in the house!

05-20-15 These are my loves...

These are my loves. They make each day more beautiful than the last. I pray that as they grow, they grow closer to each other, that their friendship will be strong and weather through the challenges of adolescence. I pray their bond will carry through adulthood and that they will confide in each other, lean on each other, and look out for each other. 

And when we are gone, I pray they will think fondly of their childhood and know that they were loved. 

05-19-15 Trains and silly faces

This evening we broke out the Thomas train set. This is a rare occasion because it takes up a ton of space and the kids tend to be pretty rough with it. But while I was making dinner, Tim and the kids sat patiently in the living room and assembled it. (At least kind of patiently!)

Even Baby E enjoyed watching the trains go around! 

05-18-15 Some nights are just rough

Some nights are just rough, huh kid? Looks like you had quite the struggle last night. Hope tonight is easier for you!

05-17-15 Turtle Watching

This evening was a perfect night for a walk. My sister and I took the kids to our favorite gazebo park. The path that leads to the park has a boardwalk bridge over some marsh lands. Today, the tide was out, so it as mostly mud and pretty stinky. The kids often refer to the bridge as the 'stinky bridge!'

We noticed some trails through the mud and wondered what caused them. All of a sudden, a little turtle popped his head up out of the water and looked around. He was dragging himself through the mud, creating a zig zag path behind him. 

05-16-15 Bikes

The sidewalk in front of our house has become a racetrack as of late. 

In Baby E news, this morning he tried peas (his first solids besides rice cereal) and he loved them. 

05-15-15

05-14-15

05-13-15 Girls' Day

Today was a huge... Make that monumental day in our house. Kindergarten registration! Bring born at end of August means that C slides in right under the cutoff for Kindergarten, so today we signed her up. 

I decided to make a girl's day out of it. After registration we got lunch and then went to the park. After a long time there we headed to the store and bought her a new pair of flip flops. Then I took her to get her very first pedicure. It has been ages since I had one myself. She was a little nervous but cheered up when I told her she could pick out her own nail polish color and she could pick out mine. She chose bright pink with sparkles for herself. And for me she initially picked black with sparkles, but then landed on dark purple.

It was adorable to watch the whole process. In the end she had a lot of fun and couldn't wait to show off her sparkly toes!

05-12-15 Happy Birthday?

This evening we had Big E's birthday party. What? His birthday was two months ago?!? At the time, it didn't work out to have the party, but the weather has gotten nicer and the days have gotten longer so we decided to do it this week. We met at the park with family and friends. I think the grand total was 39 people, most of which were small children. We had pizza and cake and the kids got to play on the playground. Big E had a blast! I didn't get pictures of everyone cause there was so much movement and action (guess what, little kids never sit still!) so I'm sorry if not everyone is on here! 

We are grateful for such wonderful family and friends. Thank you all! We love you!

05-11-15 No Concerns

"He's growing beautifully and I have no concerns."

Finally I heard the words I've been longing to hear for six months!! 

Good job growing, baby E!!

05-10-15 This Fence...

This fence is important to my children. Perched on its beams they watch majestic animals. They wave to giraffes and they feed elephants. They point out their favorite horses and laugh at the cows as they pass by. It's a circus... It's a farm... It's a zoo...