Back to School

Hillary, 1st Grade

Dustin, 3rd Grade

Rachael, 5th Grade

Hogle Zoo

We took a quick trip up to the zoo to use up the last vacation day Keith had before he changed jobs.  It was HOT, HOT, HOT but the kids had a good time and Mom and Dad had fun pushing the double stroller up all the hills.

Riding the Carousel

Riding the Carousel, Part 2

What a bunch!

Waiting for the Bird Show

Avery Baby

Mom's best monkey face.

The Twins Turn 1!!!

What a year it has been!  Good to have behind me, and yet hard to look back on.  I have grown by leaps and bounds (and so have Avery and Kole).  There have been many memorable moments, more than I  could count.  I have laughed, sobbed, smiled, screamed, panicked, collapsed from sheer exhaustion and eventually slept better than I had in months.  There also have been lessons to learn.  Patience, humility, long-suffering and depending upon others so that you stay sane.

We had a small party for the babies.  Both of our families are so big that for birthday's we keep it simple with just the grandparents and us.  It was fun watching them attempt to open their presents and caring more about the wrapping paper instead of the gifts.  But the most entertaining part was watching them dig into the cakes that I had made for them.  Too bad the mess had to be inside due to the rain.  Still, definitely much more fun with 2!!  Enjoy the picture overload.

I Have a Ten Year Old!!!

How did Rachael grow from this….

…to this so fast???      

Rachael had a great birthday full of swimming, presents, cake and her favorite…hamburgers BBQ'd by Dad.  What a grown up girl I have!!!  I love her to pieces and am so proud of the young lady she is becoming!

Hillary is 6!!!

Our little Hilly-Bill-erina is now 6!  Her actual birthday fell during Keith's family's reunion so we celebrated a few days early.  As you can imagine, Hillary had no problem with that.  Especially being able to party more than once.  This year she wanted "Tangled" everything.  So, she got all Rapunzel presents and a chocolate cake with cherries on the inside :)  Hillary is now officially our favorite 6 year old!

A Vulnerable Place

This week was a throw-away, a bad apple. A dive on the mom roller coaster. When I wasn't comforting a feverish child or wiping a runny nose I was being impatient with my kids and complaining to my husband. And if I wasn't doing that, I was sitting on the floor with a zombie face holding one baby with the other by my side lost in a miserable fog of blah-ness. To say I was not 'at my best' is putting it mildly.

Thank heavens for the earnest smiles of a stubbornly cheerful 4 year old and the helpfulness of my 8 and 9 year old. I love that the moment-by-moment cure for the moment-by-moment struggles brought on by having children is the children themselves. Like heavy rain during a lightning storm.

But mostly? Thank heavens for Keith. For his cool head when mine is in a panic. For his calm words when I need a call back to reality. For his steadiness when my inner balance is so shaky. For his superhuman patience even when I'm abusing him so unfairly. For the arms that find their way to my shoulders when I find myself wavering.

I hate it when I am like this. But Keith, he loves me anyway. This above all else gets me through. Being half of this team gives me the reason to fight and what I'm fighting for.

It gives me the ability to look at today - see that it's just a bad apple - throw it away, and start again tomorrow.

Baby Food...YUMM