To Not Do List

Today I am NOT:

*going to fold any laundry.
*wash any dishes
*make any beds
*pick up any toys
*mop
*vacuum

...or do any other house work.  Because today is too beautiful to be indoors!  So good-bye, dear house.  I'll be back another day.  Just not today. :)

A Good "Helper"

Paige helped out this morning by washing all the kids toothbrushes, the handsoap and mouthwash in the bathroom sink.

As usual, she quickly realized she shouldn't have been playing in the sink and cleaned up her mess immediately.  *Pause*  Hahahahhahahahahaha!

Actually, she looks quite pleased with herself.  And when you're that cute, its hard to disagree. :)

Ah, Spring...

....My how we've missed you!!!

But we enjoyed every bit of your sunshine and warm air yesterday.

I took the three younger kids to the park after school and before dinner, while Elise spend some time with Emmy.  (Notwithstanding a million different facts, Ian and Merry Grace were devastated that she left, but the park did a lot to cheer them up.)

 Paige loves swinging, but when the big kids got off, she was done too. :)

 That boot didn't slow this cutie down one little bit.

 Of course.  Why bother sliding down the slide, when you can climb up it. :)

 After we played on the playground, we went to the baseball field.  Ian ran the bases a few times.

Paige played in the dirt.  There were two little flag on the field to mark a hole that needed repairing.  They were an endless temptation to the small fry, who wanted to play with the.

My little bench warmer. :)  It won't be long before she's sitting here, waiting for her turn at bat.

Merry Grace made an awesome path in the dirt with a stick.

I love this picture!  I caught Paige "mid-gallop", as she ran to Ian and Merry Grace.  I love her cute little self. :)

Ian made a path with a stick and the little girls had to follow his trail.

Working together. :)   I love it!

 Paige was working really hard to make a little sand castle.  I love how intently she was focusing on that hard work.

 Just being cute.  I know, I know.  There are a ton of pictures.  But it was so fun and the kids are so cute, I can only narrow it down so much. ;)

 And quickly, Ian turned to throwing sand/dirt.  That's a boy for you.

And the obvious next step is to build a sand castle on your head.  Obviously.

Love that kid. :)

And that's the way it goes.

This weather has been so wonderful.  We're getting spoiled.  And I'm thinking we're not going to handle it too well if it gets all cold and yucky again.  Take note, spring.  You do NOT want to make us mad. :)

Joy in the Journey

My friend's recent blog post reminded me of something I've been thinking about for a while.  Its about finding joy in the journey.  Way back in August, when I found out I was pregnant, it was definitely a surprise.  And a shock.     And while I certainly felt those things (along with nervousness, nausea, and worry) mostly what I felt was happiness.  I even felt a little giddy about the whole thing.  How could I have known, in that moment, that I would only have 20 short weeks with my little guy?  But what I am so grateful for, is that I didn't spend even one minute feeling sad, one minute feeling angry or one minute upset about the fact that I was having a baby.  That baby.  My baby.

 I know some people do feel that way or have felt that way and I don't in any way mean this to be a criticism of them.  I feel that the experiences we have are here to teach us something, and those mothers had something entirely different to learn from their experiences than I did.  And part of what I think I needed to learn, was to find joy in the journey.  To find joy in the unexpected, joy in the hardships and joy even amidst the trials.

 It's something I'm still learning, as a Mother.  So much about motherhood is "lather, rinse, repeat."  The same dishes have to be loaded, the same clothes have to be washed, the same rooms have to be cleaned, the same toys have to be picked up.  Every day.  Sometimes its hard to see forward progress when you're stuck on the repeat cycle.  But there is joy to be found in those things.  I don't always see it.  But dishes to wash, rooms to clean--all mean that we are living.  It means we are still here and we still have work to do.  And I love that.

I think Sister Hinckley summed it up best: "I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails.  I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp.  I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbors children.  I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden.  I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder.  I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived."


And that is finding Joy in the Journey. 

Its Crazy Day!

The kids love "Crazy Day" at school.  They have the BEST time coming up with outfits and planning what crazy thing they'll do to their hair.

 Here were the kids before getting in the car for school.

 And Merry Grace wasn't about to be left out of the craziness.  :)

And neither was Paige.  Although we figured her hair was enough crazy for her.  Her personality make up for the rest.  ;)

The Merry Birthday Girl

Our sweet little Merry Grace is a big 5 year old.  She's so excited and so proud.  And she should be.  It takes a lot of work to be the sweetest and cutest 5-year old around.  

It may have taken 5 tries to get all the candles blown out.  But I'm pretty sure that means you get 5 wishes. :)

She had a cake with peace signs all over it (her request), Little Ceasar's Pizza (because that was the "right" kind--no homemade for her!), corn on the cob, strawberries and powdered sugar doughnuts.  A perfect dinner for a perfect girl.  We're so thankful for all the happiness this little girl brings into our home.

Broken

Yes, a broken foot.  Poor little Merry Grace jumped off some furniture trying to catch a helium balloon that had floated to the ceiling...and broke her foot.

And now she has this cute little boot to wear for the next four weeks.  It took her about 4 days after breaking it for it to feel well enough (and for her to get her courage up) to walk on it.  Now she's getting around like nobody's business.  She's been awesome about keeping it on and wearing it well.  And sure enough, she's managed to make a cast look adorable.

After spending most of the day getting Merry Grace doctored and x-rayed and all the fun stuff that comes with that, I'd just barely gotten back home when I got a call from the school saying Ian had gotten a "gash" just above his eye and that he'd come into the office "gushing blood".  By the time I got there, it had mostly stopped bleeding and we decided butterfly bandages would work just as well as stitches.

And at that point we decided we'd call it a day and try really hard not to move or do anything that could cause further injury! :)

The Walking Trail

My parents have the greatest walking trail in their hometown.  It is beautiful.  So after we played on the playground, we went for a walk on the nearby trail.

 Elise and Ian love walking down to the river.

 Merry Grace really wanted to walk Grammy's dog, Chip. :)

 Elise was giving me a sassy look, so Cory got her to smile for the camera. :)

 Grammy gave Paige an old spice bottle and she filled it up with rocks she found along the trail.  She barely let it out of her sight the whole weekend. :)

 My cute little Merry Grace by the river.

Ian's favorite part of the trail was finding cockleburs.

Elise took a turn walking Chip.  Spoiled little dog.  We jokingly call him our little brother. :)

My dad and Elise, looking at the river.

Oh, how I love this sweet girl.  She's one in a million!

The cutest kids in the world.  Bar none.

The kids again.  They are way too cute. :)

Everyone loves throwing rocks into the river.

Even Paige, who still needs a little help getting the rock all the way to the water.

Me and Paigie.

Down by the river.  Miraculously, no one fell in.  (Or jumped in. :))

Our little family.

And the cockleburs again...  The best discovery of the day was by Ian, who realized he could just grab the plant with his sleeves and the would come off by the dozens.  A few people were lucky enough to get a high five from these little cuties.  (Sneaky rascals!)  Anyone want to guess how many cockleburs made it home with us?  You probably don't want to know...

The newest Eagle Scout in the family.  We're awfully proud of him.  His Eagle Court of Honor was one of the best we've ever been to--lots of fun, good messages, and plenty of love.  

The Playground

The other weekend, we went back to my hometown for my "little" brother's Eagle Court of Honor.  When we first got into town, we went to the playground at my elementary school.  It was fun to show the kids where I went to school and share some memories with them.  Some of my favorite playground equipment wasn't there anymore (namely the merry-go-round and the slide down the hill) but it was still fun.

 It was a fun, nice day to be outside--and those days have been hard to come by this winter, so we have to enjoy them while we can. :)