We're Back!

Its time for a come back! 

It's been a while! 

My last post was April 2013...

Fast forward to October 2015

I was looking back at all the posts I've done over the years (including my first blog), 
and realized one thing...

I miss documenting our fun times!

Since the blog ended a few years ago, I don't take as many pictures and videos as I use to. 

and ... I wish I did.

I don't write down experiences the way I use to .... and I wish I did. 

It was pretty clear as my kids and I sat down and looked back over the blog,

we LOVED seeing all the pictures & video.  

So, I think the blog needs to come back ....

This is Elaina earlier this year at her 7th birthday party! 

(Oscar 9, Elaina 7, Mason 5)

As I looked back at the pictures I've taken this year, 

I couldn't find hardly any pictures with all the kids together!

It makes me sad, that's for sure.  We have had some crazy times, hard times, stressful times the last two years, but STILL ... that's no excuse for the lack of pictures and video!

Its October, and I only found a handful of group pictures for the entire year so far!

So, my mission is clear. 

Re-start my blog and get on the ball with taking more pictures, video, and telling our stories.

Plus, its a great outlet for me!

Here's a pretty recent picture of Oscar and Mason

Here's one of Ellie & Oscar

 I'm excited already for this new beginning. 

I know there will come a time when my kids and I will sit down again at the computer to look at our blog,

and I will be super happy to see that it has recent stories and pictures! 

And probably even more important is that THEY will LOVE IT!

I found this picture too - 1st day of school 2015

Mason - kindergarten

Ellie - 2nd grade

Oscar - 4th grade

March was a great month!

The sun finally came out and we all love it!

See that huge bruise on Mason’s cheek? 
He got it by running to me so he could plant a huge kiss on my cheek.  He is quite the kissing boy! I didn’t know he was coming and turned my head at the last minute, and he hit me right in the head. The biggest bruise he has ever gotten, and all because he wanted to give me a kiss!
Another thing I love about Mason was that when I made him this bowtie, he was so excited about it he wanted to wear it all day, he wanted to hold it, and he thought it was the coolest thing ever – he even put down his cars so he could hold it.  It was definitely worth the effort to make him an Easter bowtie.
Aunt Marilyn (Joe’s wife) came over and we all made them together! It was a much needed afternoon with Marilyn and her boys Bennett and Carter.  I told her the last thing I needed to be ready for Easter was for the boys to get a haircut. To my surprise she offered and took all the kids home with her and when I saw them again they were looking as clean cut and cute as ever! (I need her to show me the proper way to comb the faux hawk… is that the right name?)
Thank you Marilyn!! YOU did an awesome job!!

Elaina also proved to be great for my confidence when she loved the dress I made her. I’ve been wanting to make her a genuine twirly dress so she can dance and twirl to her heart’s content.  It was super easy – I just sewed some material onto a white shirt and added a belt made from the same material. (Thanks Pinterest!)
And boy does it twirl – I was almost jealous as I watched her twirl around and around. It looked like so much fun.
A funny story about Ellie this past month. She was sitting on the floor pouring water on her bare legs. I asked her what she was doing and she said, “Mom, I am watering my legs to see if they have seeds and will grow.” We watched the Odd Life of Timothy Green a while back. I guess it made an impression on her!

Oscar has been enjoying the springtime just as much as anyone! He even brought home a seed from school to plant a tree. It is growing much faster than I expected. I was so happy for him. He is following in his father’s footsteps and has a real love of nature and plants especially.
We are currently enjoying spring break from school. He’s having the time of his life just riding his bike, scooter, and getting tons of fresh air.



There are lots of reasons why March was a great month.  I really enjoyed spending time with my extended family more than I have been able to in the past. Thanks Joe and Marilyn and Jon and Melissa! Hopefully I’ll be able to spend time with my other sibling’s families soon too! I also enjoyed my own family more than ever this month – my three little musketeers and my wonderful husband.

Oscar turns 7!!!

I still remember the day Oscar was born. I fell in love with his adorable face and red hair!



As he started to grow and develop, his little personality brought so many laughs to our house! He was so full of life and excitement!

He has the cutest expressions and I think
I took literally thousands of pictures!

Through the years he has been a HUGE blessing to my life.
Its hard to see him growing up so fast!

His first Easter egg hunt

One of the things I love about Oscar is how passionate he is about things!
He gets so excited with the simplest things and it has helped me
appreciate all the things I forget about and rediscover the world.


I’ve had some great times with this guy and
I look forward to many many more!
Thank you Oscar for making me love being a mother!
Because of you and Elaina and Mason I know
that I am doing what I was meant to do!

This is the first time he made bread with me.
His hands got all sticky and he
was so worried about it.  His reaction was so funny!
Here’s a few pictures from his 7th birthday party.

Are we a little crazy at our house from time to time?

 

You Bet We Are!!

It is what makes life so much fun with these 

kids of mine. I love that they LOVE to be crazy 

and just have fun doing silly things.

And if you think about it -- if you can't be crazy--

wouldn't you probably go crazy???

Hats off to all of you who 

like a little silliness and crazy in your life!

My baby is growing up...

I'm a little overwhelmed by the fact that Mason just turned 3! 

He is my little baby and I guess like many mothers out there I'm realizing how fast babies grow up.

We had a simple birthday party at home and boy was he excited.

I loved watching him open his presents and play with his balloons. It was such a fun party!

 Here's a video we took before his little party...

And here's another one of his opening his first present. The big question of the day is "Is it a puppy or a rabbit?"

My own little Curly Sue...

 We had some fun with the soft curlers recently. 
I love that Elaina likes to put them in so she can have "bouncy hair."
I remember hating these things when I was young so I'm glad she is not following in my footsteps!

This last time we put them in I took this picture and couldn't help but think of that movie from years ago

called Curly Sue...

The crazy thing is without the curlers her hair is just like mine - No bounce whatsoever!

A much needed visit to the park

Like most kids my kids absolutely love the park. So, despite me not feeling so hot, I pulled all my energy together and decided to go and take my camera to document the journey.  The rewards for the kids were obvious and the rewards for me were feelings of such joy and happiness watching the kids making the most of something so simple.  

 Isn't it great when the kids just start hugging ... no, this was a request by me that they thought was pretty funny.  Thus the laughs and giggling.

 To say Mason LOVES the swing would definitely be an understatement.  He wanted to swing for so long I actually thought he might get sick from it all. But oh no, he just never wanted it to end!

 Oscar's favorite slide. Its super big and I think he feels a victorious feeling 

every time he goes down it!

 Underdog mom, again mom, again and again!

 We were pretty lucky cause the park was absolutely empty of all other people except for us! 

We had the whole place to ourselves.  We could be as loud and as silly as we wanted!

 More pushes mom, More, More!

 Look at that look of determination as he tries to climb the tree. Nothing was going to 

stop him from at least making a serious effort!

 I love how he was smiling the whole time - except for when I said it was time to go home. Boy that did not go over well.  He cried all the way to the car.

 Ellie also felt like she could conquer the tree

 I had so much fun that day. Everyone was so happy it was spreading like wild fire. 

Mason was determined to climb to the top and got about half way up and I think he must have thought to himself, "What in the world am I doing! This is way too high for me." I ended up bringing him down and putting him back in his safe place -- the swing of course!