Monday is a big day…

It is way too late right now on Sunday night.  I am feeling a little bit delirious actually.  Too many late nights in a row, which isn’t the best way to prepare for my kids first day of school.  I have been up printing cute lunch box notes that I’ve found on Pinterest and working on laundry, since my kids need things for tomorrow and I have waited until the very last minute.  Of course.

Before I go to bed though, I wanted to take a quick minute to journal about Drew.  It is his first day of Kindergarten tomorrow!  I am so excited for him, even though he is so nervous.  He worries about friends and not being able to tie his shoes perfectly and being gone from home for so long.  All normal kid things.  I worry about him being gone for so long too.  Here, Kindergarten is all day.  It is such a long day for those little ones!  I am preparing myself for meltdowns before dinner, but I know he will adjust quickly.  I am sad he is growing up.  He has always been my baby.  Even though I have Ady, Drew is still my baby.  He is the one who likes to cuddle and needs lots of extra loves.  I have always enjoyed that about him. 

He did a lot of growing up this summer, which makes me feel confident that he is ready for this next step.

He lost two teeth.  One of them was loose for a couple of weeks.  He wouldn’t let anyone touch it, even though we told him it would come right out and then he would be so glad it was gone.  He wouldn’t even twist it around and loosen it up on his own.  Finally one day Jake and Drew were playing ball and the ball flew at Drew’s face, hitting his mouth and out came his tooth!  He was pleasantly surprised and we were all so glad that ordeal was over.  He got his tooth and a letter all set up for the tooth fairy that night.  Well, the tooth fairy never came…gasp!!!  It is true.  (Yes, we completely forgot.)  The tooth fairy was so busy and Drew had another tooth that was loose and ready to come out at any second, so the tooth fairy decided to be efficient and come one time.  We told Drew that if you have more than one loose tooth the tooth fairy won’t come until she can collect them all at once.  It did the trick and that very same night Drew had two teeth to put under his pillow.  This time the tooth fairy delivered. :)

 

He has this blanket that he absolutely loves.  He has been attached to it since he was only a couple months old.  So attached that even at that age he could not sleep with out it.  He actually would suck on it like a binkie.  He would have this whole routine he would do to snuggle up with it and go to sleep or watch a movie.  I can picture it in my head.  I think I will always remember it.  Anyway, his blankie has gotten so old and so worn out.  I would wash it several times a week and still just by looking at it you would barely want to touch it.

It used to have fringies around the edges but he cut them off.  It is covered with holes by being loved on so much.  It has been time to get rid of it for quite awhile.  About a year ago when his grandma came to visit, we decided to try and persuade him to replace this one for another one.  We took him to the fabric store and let him pick out whatever fleece print he wanted.  We came home and made him another blanket.  He still didn’t want anything to do with it.  It has sat in his drawer pretty much untouched. 

Until recently.  I was cleaning his room a couple of weeks ago and found his old blanket in the garbage and his new one on his bed.  It took my breath away and I was so confused.  A little heartbroken too actually.  I thought for sure someone was playing a trick on him by throwing his blanket away because there was no way HE would ever do that!  I told him that I found his blanket in the garbage and he said, “I know.  I don’t want it anymore.” 

Me: “Oh.  So you decided to throw it away?”

Drew: “Yep.”

And that was that.  I took it out of the garbage and washed it.  I saved it in the back of his closet in case he freaked out once he realized what he had done.  But it’s a done deal.  He doesn’t need his blankie anymore.  He has moved on to bigger and better things.  My heart is a little bit broken. :(  More than anything though, I am so excited to see what this year has in store for him and what he thinks about it.  He is so good at communicating and explaining how he feels.  He says the cutest things and speaks from the heart.  I love that about him and hope that quality will only grow with him.   

Drew’s Day

Last Saturday was Drew’s Birthday.  He turned 6 years old.  All day I kept thinking and saying he was 4!  I asked everyone if we had 4 candles for Drew’s cake.  They all thought I lost my mind…and maybe I did!  I still think of him as my little 4 year old though.  I think I am in denial that he is going to Kindergarten this year.  Ahhhhh….

He had a special day.  It went something like this:

Good Morning Drew.

Happy Birthday to YOU!

Time for Breakfast.

He requested Skinny Pancakes.  I think the milk mustache is proof that he loved it.

He got dressed and ready and then it was time to open presents.

Mom and Dad knew what the gifts were, so we planned on opening them early in the day.  It was going to be our entertainment all day.

I love Drew’s look of excitement when he sees what it is, followed by Jake’s excitement. 

The two Lego sets he had been asking for.  That was the theme of our day.  Legos.  They played all day long.

Kaylee and I were busy in the kitchen.  (She is quite the helper and party planner.  More to come about that.)

We made and decorated a Lego cake and lined the table runner with things they had made that day.  

The boys didn’t think the cake was decorated enough.

They switched things up and added more until it looked like this.

It was quite the masterpiece.

Time blow out the candles.

Drew’s dinner request was Shells and Tree’s, Ham and Cheese.  It’s one of his favorites.  I’ll have to share the recipe  sometime.

At his request, we ended the day with a trip to the snow cone shack.

The End.

Happy 6th Birthday Drew!

Catching up…a list

Where have I been? 

You may have been asking that question.  But then again…maybe not! :)  It has been a month since this poor blog and blogging world has heard from me.  I can hardly believe I let myself get so far behind!  Busy, busy, busy is about all I can say.  So busy I can hardly catch my breath, but we have been having lots of fun.  That is the important thing…although I am SOOOOOOOO ready to get into a routine, even if it is a summer routine!  Here are some of the things we have been up to…incase you wondering.

In list format (that’s the way my brain thinks):

A couple of days after our summer break began Andrea and her family came to visit for a week.  Berry picking, family photos, a massage, baseball game and shopping, LOTS of kids play time, outings to the pool, just to name a few things.

Ady went on a trip to Utah with her daddy for 4 days.  It was over Fathers Day weekend but it really was more like a Mothers Day present to me!  Awesome dad/husband, huh?

We wrapped up swim season.  We now have 2 extra hours in the morning and Saturdays free. 

We took a trip to Arkansas to visit Andrea and her family.  It was just me and the kids.  I drove myself there and back.  Pretty proud of that.  So glad I did too, because the trip was exactly what I needed, even if we did just see each other a week and half ago.

When we came home from Arkansas we had some very special visitors here.  My friend Sara and her husband Christian were here house hunting for 10 days.  We grew up together and were pretty much joined at the hip!!  The kind of friendship where our parents seriously considered each of us the other daughter.  We are so excited that they are moving here.  Not only to Houston, but into the neighborhood and our ward!

Then we celebrated the 4th of July.

And then it was Kaylee’s birthday.

And today is Drew’s birthday!

So as you can see…I have been a tiny bit busy enjoying friendships and family celebrations. 

But wait!  There’s more…

I have been VERY busy dealing with the household craziness that comes with having 4 kids home for summer break.  Ughhhh… is how I have been feeling most of the time.  But I know that is about to change now that we have more free time and a summer routine to look forward to.  We have so many fun things planned and I really can’t wait to get to it!

I have had 4 photo shoots this past month. Which might not sound like that much, but to me it is A LOT.  I am loving it though.  It is so rewarding.  I’m just working on balancing all things which really is a never ending story. You can view two of my recent photo shoots here.  I’m working on editing the other two.  Check back soon.

Besides all of that I have been working on my photography portfolio.  I have my photography page up and running on Facebook and I am so glad I did that.  What a wonderful way to advertise.

Since I am on the topic of photography…I made the BIG change to CS5 and WOW!  It is amazing.  The best change ever!

AND…I am in the process of organizing and purging 1000+ photos I just took off my memory card.  HUGE headache!

I also have been pinning…A LOT!  What is not to love about Pinterest?  It is easy, fun, addicting and creative.  If you haven’t tried it yet you really should!!!  You can find me here.

I had a fun surprise a couple of weeks ago when my friend Michelle e-mailed me and told me I had been featured on Tip Junkie!  OK…what???  That was my thought.  She sent me the link.  I checked it out and sure enough there was a photo of Ady’s 1st Birthday.  Second one from the top.  So fun to see that!

So there is one month for me in a nutshell!  I have so many things to catch up on.  Since a post (for me anyways) isn’t complete without a picture, here is one of Drew.  Since it is his birthday today and all. :)

I plan on getting caught up on this and so much more very, very soon!

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Our Newest Swimmer

Its that time of year again here in Texas. Swim Season.  We are a family of swimmers and we love it.  Kaylee swims year round, but at the end of spring, early summer swim team starts and it takes over our life.  It’s a good thing it is such a family friendly activity and we all enjoy it because it is a huge commitment.  Between the 3 big kids, we are at the pool for practices 2 hours each day and then meets every Saturday for half of the day.  They do awesome and usually ribbon each meet so that is a bonus for them. 

This year Drew joined the team.  He is so stinkin’ cute I just want to smother him with kisses!  He was so nervous at his first meet.  The tent mom who is in charge of his age group taught him to clench his fists really tight and then let all the jitters go.  He was so excited that it worked!  He got over his nervousness and did great.  We are so proud of him!

 

 

See?  Don’t you just want to eat him up?! 

The numbers on his arm are the events that he is swimming.  He is in the freestyle relay and then he swims the backstroke and the freestyle individually.  Did I tell you that we have over 300 kids on our swim team?  It is HUGE, but we have an AMAZING, competitive team because of it.

Here he is getting ready to get in the water for his backstroke.  He looks so teeny-tiny to get all the way across the pool.

He did it though with out getting disqualified and he even improved on his times.

I was timing and he just happened to be in my lane. 

High five from mom. 

 

I just love this boy!

The 6 and under kids get a ribbon at the end of every race with their time on it.  They love this!

  

Great job Drew.  You ROCK!

So Blessed

I have been meaning to sit down and take some time to journal about Mothers Day all week,  but with 3 of us being sick, a husband working crazy hours of overtime, baseball tournaments, swim practices and end of the year parties my intentions to blog didn’t make it very far.  What’s new really?  That is just part of Motherhood.  Being able to roll with the punches and realize what is worth stressing out about and what isn’t comes with the territory.  I didn’t even clean my house this week, as in…didn’t make a bed, didn’t wipe off a counter, didn’t vacuum…nothing.  I can honestly say I didn’t have time for it.  I don’t plan on making that a habit, but this week that is just how it had to be.  It has taken me a long time to get to the point of living day by day and having to decide what I can look past each day.  Even though I don’t enjoy living in chaos on a regular basis, I have come to the realization that this is my life and I really do love it.  I love that my life isn’t boring and that I learn new skills and am pushed to my limit every day.  I have to get creative to make things work around here in our home, with our children and managing our schedules.  I am thankful for my husband and good friends and neighbors who forgive me for my forgetfulness and know my true intentions.  Most of all I am thankful to be a mother to these 4 beautiful children and for my husband who makes it possible for me to be the kind of mother I desire to be (and am STILL working on becoming).   

 

Earlier last week Drew’s school hosted a Mothers Day lunch.  It is the cutest thing ever.  The kids and teachers put so much effort and love into it.  Everything was hand made.  My lunch was all served up for me and ready to go when I got there.  Drew had made butterflies on my placemat with his hand prints.  To know which place setting was mine there was a hand made picture of me and a vase of flowers with Drew’s picture.  My gift was a recipe holder with a poem about Mothers.  So sweet.  I use the recipe holder in my kitchen now.  

The kids were on staging singing for the first half off the program and then when it was time to eat with us they came and knelt on one knee in front of their moms and sang “You are my Sunshine”.  It truly was the sweetest thing ever!  I don’t cry really, but the tears started coming during this song.  I had one of those flashback and then flashforward mom moments and it scared me!  I sang this song to Drew all the time as a baby and a toddler.  Up until just a couple of years ago he was still asking me to sing him this song when I tucked him in at night.  And now here he is singing to me!  Seeing him on his knee in front of me made me realize how fast he is growing up.  He is still MY baby and always will be, but I know that sooner than later he is going to have other girls in his heart and be on one knee proposing.  I know that sounds so silly, but he is not going to be little forever.  I love this little boy of mine and all the extra time we have been able to spend together.  He has a July birthday and I struggled a lot with the decision to keep him home for another year or send him to Kindergarten.  I know that we made the right decision by keeping him home.  He is so ready to be with the big kids now and I can let him go knowing that he is more mature and better prepared.  Plus, once they start school, that’s it.  You can’t ever get those years at home back. 

My family spoiled me on Mothers Day weekend.  I was able to take half of Saturday and go on a much needed shopping trip and then enjoyed staying in a hotel all by myself.  My husband understands my language.  The way I recharge my batteries is time away.  It was the perfect gift for me.  My family joined me for breakfast and then I came home to a bazillion hand made gifts.  I have an art section in my laundry room where all of my gifts are hanging and will be for awhile.  It’s nice to know that I am needed AND appreciated. :)

Drew’s Turn

My little man started school last week.  Which meant it was his turn to be the star of his own Back to School photo shoot with mom.  He is fun to have in front of the camera.  He always has his own agenda and I just have to follow along.   Look how big he is!  I seriously love that smile!   

 

 

At this age he still enjoys having me take him to school and be a part of his big day.  I love that!  He clung to my leg a little bit until his teachers greeted him by name and gave him a big hug.  Then he actually WANTED me to snap some photos while he showed me around his room. (unlike his siblings on the first day) 

Here are some outtakes that warm my mothering heart and make me laugh out loud!  He was being silly in between shots. We had lots of laughs!   

 

His laugh and smile are infectious!  When I am grumpy, both of my boys have the gift of laughter that melts everything away.  It really is a gift.  I hope that laughter will always be important to them. 

And of course he waves  to the neighbors as they drive by.  I love this boy!!

 

Drew,

I hope have an awesome year at preschool!  A year that gets you ready and excited for Kindergarten.  You are such a fun boy to be around.  I miss you while you are gone, but I know that you are growing and having wonderful experiences.  I hope that you will share your fun personality with others and always remember to be an example. 

I love you,

Mom

A very late Happy BiRtHdAy.

Drew had a birthday almost 2 weeks ago.  He turned 5 years old.  We had just arrived in Arizona late Thursday night and his birthday was Friday, so we kind of winged the day. 

He woke up to Krispy Kreme Doughnuts.

     I think he was pleased with that.

           After breakfast we headed out to a local train depot.   

      Drew loves trains.

It was our first day there, so we were all prepared to brave the Arizona heat, since we are from Houston and all.  Ha, ha, ha!  After getting to the train depot we found out they close during the summer months.  We thought that was dumb at first and then after a whole 20 minutes we realized why. Only crazy people go out in the summer months. :)  We made the most of it.  We were able to go on a train ride for kids and tour around the outside of a couple of trains.  At least we could say we attempted a fun birthday outing!

Once we got home Drew tore into his presents.  He didn’t even wait for us to find a seat and get comfy.  It was like now or never in his little 5 year old mind.    

     He was a happy boy.

I think I’ve mentioned before that it is a tradition to celebrate birthdays for at least a week.  We were able to do this the next day.  Uncle Bubby and Aunt Beth came from Tucson to celebrate with us on Bubby’s birthday.  We have four birthdays on my side of the family within ten days of each other.

         The big 100.

        Here is the birthday crew.

      56+9+5+30=100

Left to right: my mom, Kaylee, Drew and my brother Bubby (really it’s Brandon but Kaylee has called him Bubby ever since she could talk.  It has stuck.  We love Bubby.)

It was fun to be altogether and share each others special day!

Random Wednesday

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately.  I ran across this quote a week or so ago.  It’s been on mind since.

Hmmmm…

I want to teach that to my children. 

I want them to know that they can do anything they put their minds to.  Even if they aren’t the BEST at something, they will still learn so much about themselves from trying and grow in ways they can’t imagine.

I want them to know that their Dad and I will be behind them, cheering them on in whatever dream they work to aspire.

Then I started thinking about myself.

Hmmmm…

What dreams do I have?  What am I trying to aspire?

I was stumped and felt a little frustrated. 

I have lots of loves/hobbies in my life.  Photography, Blogging, Scrapbooking, Decorating, (to name my faves) but nothing I was really trying to shoot big for. 

The more I thought about it, the more I got confused. 

I kept wondering if there is a path out there that I am  supposed to take that I haven’t thought of yet.

Something that I am supposed to do more of or do more with.

Just yesterday I ran across this quote: 

"God expects you to have enough faith and determination and enough trust in Him to keep moving, keep living, keep rejoicing. In fact, He expects you not simply to face the future (that sounds pretty grim and stoic); He expects you to embrace and shape the future--to love it and rejoice in it and delight in your opportunities.

God is anxiously waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as He always has. But He can't if you don't pray, and He can't if you don't dream. In short, He can't if you don't believe."
— Jeffrey R. Holland

Hmmmm…

So I did just that. 

I prayed and pondered for some direction.  Some sort of revelation that I am on the right track. 

Once again I received my answer. 

For me, it’s always the same answer. 

Family, Family, Family.  My time and talents need to be used to bless my family right now.  I have them to bless the lives of my husband and children and others around me. 

That is my big dream right now.  The thing I am trying to aspire.  My family.  My season for other dreams will come later.  And I feel good about that. 

I am thankful for prayers being answered.  Even the ones that seem so obvious.  Even the ones I already know the answer to.

Even when all I need is a little clarity.

********************************************************************************************

And on a totally different note,

Since this is a Random Wednesday post here is a random picture from this morning.

Dear Drew,

This is why mommy tells you not to climb.

I love you,

Mom

Random Wednesday

This is my new idea for a weekly post.  Hopefully it will keep me in the routine of posting even when I think there might not be anything worth posting about.  There is always something to blog about, right?  So on Wednesdays anything goes for me.  We’ll see if I can keep it up. :)

I figured out my Mothers Day gifts and I am  EXCITED!!! A little blog reading yesterday and I am set.  I love blogs for that reason.  They are so helpful and inspiring and I love that we women share the goods in our life.  We all have been given talents and this is such a wonderful way to share them, whether it be through our inspiring words and thoughts, our projects and ideas, photography, recipes, our personal goals or sharing our cute families and fun things we do.  Whatever it is.  Blogging is inspiring and such a fun way to learn and grow. 

OK enough of my soap box.  Here is what I’m going to be working on this weekend.  Mothers in my life – do not click on these links.  Unless you don’t want it to be a surprise.  That’s up to you.  I will have them in the mail to you next week. 

This is what I am doing for my Mother-in-Law and This is what I’m doing for my mom.  I’m going to get my sewing machine out!  Can you believe it?  I know they are like super easy sewing projects, but I don’t sew, remember?  I’ll let you know how they turn out.  

Another piece of random…I hobbled along with Drew on his school field trip today. 

                       My foot is paying for it now but he was happy.  I sure love him!

Fun???

Does this look like fun?

 

 

hmmmm…in my eyes, NO!  In Drew’s eyes, Yes.

I was doing the laundry today and blogging.  You know…minding my own business. 

Drew said, “I’m going to make a snow angel.”  I said, “OK.”

He was quiet, playing for a long time.  I was still minding my own business.  Just like he was.

He goes outside and gets a shovel from the sandbox.  He brings it inside the house.  I tell him to go wash it off in the sink.  Gasp!!  Normally I wouldn’t even let it come close to my back door.   You know, since outside toys are outside toys.  But today, I’m minding my own business.  Oh yeah, and so is he. 

Who knows how much time had passed by, but I eventually walked through the living room to find his beautiful snow angel.

Why does he look mad at me? 

This picture doesn’t even do justice.  This was only half the mess.  Notice that the jar is halfway full?  It was pretty much empty when I found him.  I will give him credit though.  He was doing a nice job cleaning it up with the shovel from the sandbox.  I had plenty of time to think while I was helping him clean up this tedious mess.  After a while, I decided to get my camera and document.  This was an annoying thing, not really any fun, but this is our life.  As annoying as it is sometimes.  Especially considering I spent Ady’s naptime cleaning it all up.  Which happened to be a good thing.  She is get much more mobile and Drew is always playing right by her.  It would have been bad, bad, bad if she was around during this. 

This little toy from Ikea has been hours of entertainment for my kids, so I salvaged most of them.  Eventually I said to heck with these little creatures.  The rest of them are now living in my vacuum.  Because I was done.

And then I had an ice cold Coke.  Because that makes everything better!

Yesterday…

We used to have Superman living with us.  Now we have a Ninja Turtle/Darth Vador/ Batman. His very own creation.

Kaylee and Jake thought I lost my mind. 

Jake: “Mom, you know we are going inside the store.”

Kaylee: “ He is not going like that to the Open House tonight!” 

Yes, I knew we were going inside the store and no, he did not go like that to the school open house, but he did go like this to Sam’s Club and I really didn’t care.  I was on a mission and in my project mode.  I had Enrichment on my mind and this awesome frame we were going to make and I really needed my pictures…now.  So lucky for Drew I did not fight that battle.  I thought it was hilarious and refreshing instead.  Don’t you sometimes wish you could be a kid again and not have a care in the world?

I do. 

Yesterday we both won.  He was happy in his costume and I was happy to get my pictures.

The End.

Funny…

*I went upstairs to tuck the boys into bed the other night and this is what I found.

 

I should have figured they were up to something when I hadn’t heard from them in awhile.  I didn’t really think much of it that night.  I just thought,  “Oh how cute.  They were being creative and decided to take charge and show off their work.”  I said goodnight and went about my night.  The next morning I looked closer and actually read what their notes said.

That is Jake’s handwriting.  It says: Boys most of the time.  I have no idea what the drawing is???

 

This one says: Only girls that have long hair can come in.  Hmmmmm….I think he considers my hair long.  I think what he really means is, “No certain sister and her friends allowed!”

 

Just in case we didn’t quite understand, they drew a picture.  Point made!  Do you like the short hair?

Drew had to back up his brother and put his 2 cents in.  He calls these scribble marks his “Listes”, not “Lists”.  I had a good laugh.  It’s been a couple of days since then and they are still hanging on their door.

*I’ve been doing a lot of minor rearranging around our house lately.  Drew has seen me and been paying attention more than I thought.  He came home from preschool today with a Valentine present for me.  After he hid it in my bedroom and made me go find it, he took it upstairs to his room and told me he was going to find the perfect spot for it.  This is what I found.

The gift was the heart with the picture of us together at his school party.  He hung it like that and then leaned our family Christmas card in front of it.  (He’s been carrying that picture around for awhile now).  He told me the Tiger had to have a bed and then layed it in front like that.  All I could do was smile at him and think, “I’ve really messed my kids up.” (with the decorating)

*Casey has been wearing his contacts lately instead of his glasses.  The other day Drew made his day.  He told him that he looked like a teenager with out his glasses.  We both thought THAT was really funny!