Pumpkins with Mimi and Papa

My parents have been here for the past few days, and in my usual fashion I've been so busy hanging out with them that I forgot to take pictures. Not happy with myself at all.

I did, however, manage to get these at the pumpkin patch on Saturday.
It was our first time to visit this place, and the pumpkins were ginormous.
The trees were beautiful.
There were ONE MILLION people there.
Seriously.

Love it when Mom and Dad are here. :)

He found the perfect pumpkin.

Our little family...I've decided that getting the perfect picture isn't possible. ;)
If I'm lucky only one of us won't be looking at the camera. Usually there's more than one.
And that's ok...real life is better anyway, right?

These big pumpkins ranged in price from $25-$150. Crazy. They were huge though, so I guess it's understandable.

On the way home we spotted many less crowded pumpkin patches that we plan to visit next year. Burt's is famous, and now we understand why. Love making a memory. :)

Sunday iPhone Dump

It seems that my iPhone camera has taken over as my main camera these days. Between my new-found love for Instagram and the convenience of the camera that it's in my phone being with me at all times, it's kind of a no brainer.

Here's some of our recent pics...feels good to clear them out. ;)

A day at the park with my littles. I know they're mine and all, but boy they sure are cute.

the almost-pre-teen who is already acting like one
because of the amount of time he spends just like this.

The middle one out on a date with me. A date that he requested. Made my heart melt.

having way too much fun at the Disney Store with the tiny man. Arrggg.

During the same trip to said Disney Store where he convinced me that Bullseye was a must have.

Saturday morning laziness, made even better by robot and cupcake jammers.

The Gun Show with Daddy.

Working on the manly muscles with Dad. ;)

My happy place. :)

New shoes...they really were calling my name. Really.

Celebrating a 4th birthday for his friend Aiden....these guys are his best buddies. :)

Bike riding...love these 3 together. :)

Extra kisses.

A date at a sushi restaurant last weekend with this guy. We tried real hard to pretend we knew what we were doing. Don't think we fooled anyone, but we had a great time. :)

The middle one getting creative with his fruit. ;)

Neighborhood ice cream social, feet in the pool, hanging with friends.

Ice cream pretty much rocks. :)

Get-well notes from my first graders at church, sending lots of love and hopes that I'll feel better soon after my surgery this week. They are so sweet~ these made my day. This particular one made me laugh out loud. Loved it. :) Love their honesty and their sweet hearts.

A little something new for the house. I'm a little obsessed with birds these days.

Bought a much-needed body pillow to help with recovery (it feels great on my tummy) and Hudson tried hard to steal it. ;) Not really, but it does give us an extra excuse to snuggle.
Not that we need one. ;)

Then Harrison came in with the same idea. What?? Looks like there might be some boys getting their own body pillows soon, 'cause Mama's not up for sharing. Lol. :) Love them.

Pre-K Kiddo

This week the Peanut started pre-k. Three days a week he goes to school with his 3 buddies who live on our street. None of them are in the same class, but just the knowledge that they are all there together has bonded them even more. :)

He was SOOO ready to start. So excited....so fun. Really proud of his Toy Story lunch box.

He was confident, walking right in to his class and introducing himself to his teacher.

He sat down in his chair and started to dot-paint over his name, smiling and saying hi (somewhat shyly) to the kids sitting next to him. Patiently smiling for all the pictures I was taking.

Looking like a serious student as he watched what the other kids were doing. ;)

And then he (very sweetly) told me it was time for me to go. ;) Yes, he did. I needed that though...otherwise I might have stayed and watched until the teachers made me leave. Awkward. ;) So I left...with minimal tears. That's kind of a big deal for this mom who just dropped her youngest baby off at his first day of preschool. A first for him. A last for me.

And here's the after school pic. :)
"School was great, Mom. I LOVE school!"

I look at him and am amazed by how much he has changed so quickly. Gone is the tiny one who used to hide behind my legs when meeting someone new. In fact, that's exactly what he did back in January when we went to visit the school that he so confidently walked into this week. That little guy has been replaced by an older version who is much more sure of himself, will talk to anybody (I have to watch him even more carefully because of that), and loves to be the center of attention. He's funny and thoughtful, tough and cuddly, sweet and confident.

I think it's going to be a good year. :)

And I'm just going to enjoy it as slowly as possible, because next year he will be starting kindergarten while his oldest brother will be starting middle school, which just might put me over the edge. ;)

Love and Like

Last week we were sitting in the family room, enjoying a picnic dinner of Domino's pizza. It had been a long Sunday...Sunday school, church, and then a Sunday school teacher training after. 40 minute drive there and back. We were tired. Tired, but happy, and as I looked around the room at the 4 guys God has so graciously (and undeservedly) blessed me with, something hit me hard.

I really, REALLY like these people.
You know...we say "I love you" all the time. In the morning before we leave each other, for work, school, etc. At night when Brian and I are tucking the boys into bed. And lots of times in between. What can I say? It's a love fest in our house. ;) So much so, that I'm afraid sometimes that the word "love" is so overused in our house that it will somehow, over time,
lose it's meaning.

Love is typically instant, at least for me.
I fell in love pretty quickly with B. The second I saw him, I knew he was special.
Within the first 3ish months of our relationship, I knew he was the one.

And of course, when learning about each of our 5 pregnancies, the love was instant then as well. Just the knowledge that there was a little person growing inside me....there's nothing better than that.
That love only increased the second I laid eyes on each of our boys when they were born. And the love is the same for the two we lost...the two who I know are waiting for us, that we'll see again someday. I never understood that saying about how your heart is walking around in those little bodies until I became a mom. It's amazing.

But to say "I like you." That's different. It's not a guarantee that we're going to like everybody. You can love someone without actually liking them. And that's okay....we're all different, and we're called to love our neighbors, our friends, our family. But like? That's sometimes harder.

Today Hud came in our bedroom where I was watching "The Proposal" for probably the 100th time (it's one of my favorites), hugged me, and said "I like you Mom. A lot." And my heart swelled to much bigger than it's usual full self. :) Somehow saying "I like you" seemed to mean just as much as "I love you."

As these three get older, and taking them places is becoming less of a responsibility and more of a completely fun, easy experience....I see how much fun we have together. How each of their personalities are so completely different, and how they somehow complement each other. And I find myself getting excited with each new phase we enter with them, instead of focusing on having to let go of the phases we're leaving behind.

We're silly.

We willingly sit outside in the cold to work from home so that we can attempt to have a successful garage sale. ;)

We drive big tractors (actually...I've never done that. But Harrison helps my Dad a lot, and he's great at it.) ;)

And we ride the merry-go-round really fast and scream loud as we spin super fast around and around. And around.

Do we get on each others' nerves? Sometimes.
Are there days when we just need some alone time? Yes.
Is it always rainbows and puppies around here? Absolutely not.

But it's also home. It's us. It's mostly fun and crazy, with a mix of order and stability. A safe place where each of us gets to be us, without having to explain why. Where we love each other, and like each other too, and are trying to be the same way with the other people in our world.

5th and 2nd

Grades, that is.

5th and 2nd grades.
seems impossible to this mama,

but it's the truth...

...these two started school today. That doesn't seem right. Didn't summer break just start?
Sure seems like it. Our lazy days of sleeping late, vacationing, swimming, and being carefree are over. Sadness.

On a positive note...they both had stellar days. :)

Hunter had a blast getting into all of his big brothers' stuff. ;)
And I got the entire house clean in just under 3 hours.

Amazing indeed.

This is last year's first day pic.

This year their hair is shorter and faux-hawkish, they are taller,

and thankfully we are short a green cast. ;)

This time last year the tiny one was flying off to TX with my sis and BIL for a few days in TX.

This year we're starting our last year with him home with me, before he joins his brothers in school. He starts pre-k next month, and is super excited!

which leaves this question:
What in the world am I going to do with myself?

I'll let you know when I figure that out. ;)

The Getaway

Two posts in two days? No way. ;)

Crazy...you'd think I'd have extra time on my hands right now or something. Huh.

B and I are on our last night of his work conference at Ridgecrest in North Carolina.

This place is beautiful. Peaceful. Restful. Thankful for the time we got to take to go away together, and for our brave family for happily taking care of the boys so we got to do this.

It was just what we both needed.

Kinda crazy about him. And this is hard for me to admit...but we really needed this. I mean, we're fine, of course...don't get me wrong. But in the crazy day-to-day chaos of work, raising kids, taking care of the house and the yard, and being in the ministry....I think it's fair to say that we as a couple got lost a little. We've spent the past few days talking, laughing, being spontaneous (what's that?!?)...and we really needed that.

And this was the perfect place for that.

Gorgeous, isn't it? And the weather is beautiful too. A nice reprieve from the ridiculous TX heat and the equally ridiculous GA humidity. It's hard to not rest and rejuvenate here. And rested we have...I actually slept in until 10:00 this morning. Crazy.

These flowers? They make me happy.

Yesterday B and I did a little hiking. Somehow he was able to hold onto his coffee, so it wasn't super strenuous. ;) It was really fun, and it rained while we were up there, but thanks to the tree cover, we didn't get wet.

A waterfall. In the mountains. So pretty.

And...we made friends with a turtle. Kind of...he was a little shy. ;)

Would love to know who lives in this tree...he wouldn't come out to visit us.

Again...it's been perfect. Thankful for the opportunity to reconnect with my husband without any distractions. Excited to get back home and to have all of my chickens back in the nest.

They get home Friday night, and then we will have ONE week to get ready for the bigs to start school. What?!?! Can't believe it. And I'm sure that month will fly and then it will be time for Hunter to start. All 3 in school? Not sure what to do with that....surely I'll figure it out. ;)

I have really missed these guys this week...

This one....

...and this one....

...and yes, this one too.

Love my family.