December Part 1

Yep. I'm awesome at coming up with creative titles. Let's move on.

December greeted us so quickly that I have to remind my self that the New Year is just around the corner. We've had a lot going on, but all good things and I am thankful for what we were able to squeeze in together as a family.

Tree decorating, play nativity table, favorite ornaments, making new ornaments (kids did the glass balls), buddies and spending an evening with some of our favorites.

Christmas Party with Bible study girls, Mary Poppins with girl cousins, puppet shows, cello concert, rites of passage (first buck)

Longwood Gardens

Here is where I will say what I really think positive things about the snow: Beautiful wonderland, ultimate playground for the kids. And it ended up cancelling half of our extremely busy week. I AM thankful for that. 

Sunday morning we did our own family Christmas.

Can you guess what his favorite gift was?

Never fear. The Caped Crusader is here.

Eden and her cousin Elliot are a part of the Solfege Choir and were able to participate in the Living Christmas Tree.

Coming to an airplane seat near you.

The days

The days have been coming and going and I've felt the weight of monotony. I've also learned to see the moments that I can be thankful for.  And for even that, I am thankful.

A son who is eager to get his work done.

A daughter who does her work well. 

Spicy candles from a friend who is near and my favorite mug to remind me of friends that are far.

We celebrated my MIL's 60th birthday with a meal of her favorite foods and a family picture at her request.

This was no small feat.

Catching the first signs of colds as they come and watching them go.

Summer Photo Dump

We still have a few weeks of summer and I'm holding them tightly. I love summer. Even at the end of summer I still love it. Sure, I like cool nights and sweatshirts, but I'll take a perfectly warm day over the cold hands down, all the time.  However, the rest of our hemisphere is ready for fall and the school buses that we are seeing on the road have declared it so.   It's been a fast summer.  It's been a lovely summer.  These are the photos that have been building up (mostly from my phone).

Lots of walks. Or as Vanden says "Let's go on an venture."

Kitties at sunset by the campfire

Silly times with cousins.

Rescuing toads from campfire ring.

Breakfasts with my early riser.

Imaginations running wild (here he is driving his boat).

The kids were often begging to take pictures with my phone of the cats and most of the photos look like this.

 

Longwood Gardens. So beautiful. This time there was an organist champion playing the pipe organ. This organ as over 10,000 pipes! It was truly breathtaking. I was a bit choked up. Also, we got to see one of the cats. This cat is definitely a highlight of each visit. Always hanging out by the du Pont house.

We have a membership this year and I've been trying to get the kids to understand that we do not have to try to see everything every time we come.  But they insist on seeing the Eye of Water. This is always the last thing we get to and even though they (3 out of 4 anyway) are done they still want to hike to it. As you can see only one of my troopers is really interested in anything at this point.

Rook games with friends. I WON! (possibly my first win ever)

Rides to the river.

"Sleeping" in the woods

Alligator art

Filming. If you didn't see it click here.

Dress up at the library, and someone caught their first fish!

Swinging, sunset and tractor play

Family reunion, celebrating some 60yr old members.

First day of school.  Well, first day of consistent school. We knocked a few days off over the summer.

Either I don't remember or this has been my clutsy-est summer ever.  The list includes but is not limited to falling down the stairs, falling off the front porch, dropping a full glass 1/2 gallon of milk, dropping pizza off the pan (it landed top down of course), etc.

But this guy helps me clean up.

We had a appreciation bbq for our friends that helped out with our house (paid and unpaid). It was a progressive meal. Dinner was at Dave and Gina's with Dave's fabulous chicken and dessert was at our place. I didn't take any pictures of that, but it was an ice cream bar and it was adorable and delicious.  Dennis made an awesome slip and slide and I will let the faces of the kids be the testament to its greatness.

However this cutie was not impressed by me at all. He found me tolerable.

Even though Dennis had to put the sides of the slide away, the kids still pulled out the plastic over the next few days and made the most of it.

When the boys get a little restless at church we head to another room.  Here Van is showing Beck how to make monkey faces.  Notice Van's footwear. We are halfway to church and we hear from the back of the car "Hey! I can't wear my boots to church!"  1. It's hilarious to me that he would notice and care that he put the "wrong" shoes on for the occasion 2. We need to look more closely at our kids before they head out the door. 3. At least he was wearing pants. I call that a win.

There was  a day when they had done their regular work so fast that I said, "go for a walk, find some stuff, glue it and be creative." Homeschooling at its finest.

Today was beautiful. They loved on their cats and had a picnic.

There were also tears and frustration, hitting and yelling, whining and complaining. Keepin' it real folks. And now they're in bed. Tomorrow we'll do it again and be thankful for this gift of life and the living of it.

MAY!

May is my favorite month. Even though that's a bit self centered I'm sure I'm not the only one who loves their birthday month the best. The celebration of my life is not the only reason I love May. May means the arrival of longer days, strawberry season, and summer, just to name a few. 

Field trip to Hans Herr House (don't they look thrilled?), Jedi Lion (or "just a guy" he says), Rides on the four wheeler (with the appropriate head gear), date with my #3, boo boo kissing, kitty snuggles, swinging, and brothers building bridges.

April Out

April as month feels like a blur. I know it was there. I remember things that happened. But....was that April? I suppose it was.

My sweet sister in law Gina thought it would be fun to  take the girls to a hotel for her birthday. It was! We did the pool, got dressed up for dinner and went to the mall the next day. (look at my daughter's face in the dark restaurant photo)

Oh my girl. She had money to spend spend she did. Jewelry, flip flops and a mug for her brother (from Anthropologie no less) And then her photo faces. If you ever see a sweet pic of her I guarantee you there is a 4:1 ratio of silly faces to a normal face. Look closely above.

The calves escaped, before bed reading, sunset beauty,  Gina's official birthday and a new family addition (Airbender).

Returning home?

Even though I am nearly 36, I've been married for nearly 14 years, lived eastward for eight, and moved into a home that my husband and I built from the dream floor; it still feels odd to say I'm "going home" when I leave my parents house. California will always be home, and yet it's quite clear that I'm a grown up, building a life in my own home in PA. Home is truly where the heart is and my heart is spread wide.

It's always bittersweet to leave. That's the question people ask. "Were you sad to leave?" or "Were you ready to go?"  Yes and yes.  It's a very "you can't have your cake and eat it too" situation. I'm never ready to leave CA but I'm usually ready to get back to our space and routine. I want both.  (Insert foot stomping and whining.) Still, I'm thankful to have more than one place to call home when so many have no place at all. My life isn't perfect but compared to most of the world it's cake.

We returned and hit the ground running. Saturday night we went to see the play Esther. It was written and directed by my dear friend's mom and it was quite good. I had helped Rachel a bit with her part as the narrator (shown above) and it was fun to dip my toe into the world of theater again. 

Dennis took the kids fishing and Eden had success! Van and Eden have been dancing, but she wasn't keen on me capturing the moment. We have dogwoods! And I met a local gnome.