The Night Before One

Where did the time go?

On the eve of Gabriel's first birthday
I took him into the front yard to look at the stars.

This little guy is so special to our family,

and I needed that quiet moment to savor his baby-i-ness.



He indulged me for approximately 3 seconds!

Thank you, son!

For letting me hold you,

love you,

and of course,

the awesome priveledge
of being your mom!

I am so very grateful.

Love,

Me

Nothing Better...

...then spending time in the kitchen with my kids!

These are magical moments:

{Teaching}

{Tasting}

{Togetherness}

(Is that a word?  It is now!)

Life with Two Boys at Home

I still can't believe that in addition to being a mother to

three stunningly beautiful girls, 

I am also the mother of two very handsome boys!

What a blessed life!

This realization hit me the hardest when the school year started

and we saw the girls off to school. 

Then it was just me and the boys

looking at each other thinking, 

"Now what?"

Here's what I discovered:

Boys are very different then girls. 

Though I can't really explain how. 

It's not that they rough-house more-you should see our girls! 

Or that their personalities are different-

you should see the range in our daughters-it's like night & day. 

See.  Unexplainable.

 

Yet, very different. 

But, in a good way.

Like girls, however, they love being "helpers".

Where else is the process of unloading a dishwasher

a main event that causes you to drop what you're doing and come running?

More kisses than I ever expected.

Maybe it's the latin-blood in them,

but these boys love to smooch! 

Kisses are aplenty in this household,

and who could resist their outstreched arms and "mmmmm..."-ing?

In a nutshell,

life with two boys at home is...

Wonderful!

And the only thing that makes it even better,
is hearing the girls barreling down the hall after a full day at school,
and Samuel's keys jingling as he walks in the backdoor. 

That, is home.

Period.

Grandma Rose: Happy Birthday!

We had a great time celebrating my mom's birthday with an old fashioned Weenie & Polish Dog roast!

Everyone loved it-especially Ava!

Nice see-food, hon!

I love the gang sign Owen's throwing out to his peeps!

Good goin', homeboy!

Mom,

We all love you so much! 

You make every one of us feel so special and loved. 

You are a super-special mom, mother-in-law, and grandma! 

And it is a great blessing to have you in our lives.

We love you!

Samuel, Olivia,

Isabella, Ava, Iris,

Owen & Gabriel

This is life...

Seeing a little piece of you...

in them.

It's incredibly humbling.

Mother & Daughter Tea

The girls school held their first annual Mother & Daughter Tea.  I volunteered to dress a table, and it was so fun getting out the nice dishes to create a whimsical setting for my daughters.

After setting up, there was a mad dash for home to get ready for the event.  This was real dress-up affair, and the girls and I had fun getting girly and posing for pictures on the lawn.

The tea party itself was amazing!  And I wish I took photos of all the delicious treats.  I don't think anyone managed to snap a photo though, in the blink of an eye they were all gone!

We had some great mother-daughter time, and this tradition is something we'll surely continue!  I especially can't wait for my youngest daughter, Iris, to join us.  She played tea-party at home with dad, but I know she'll be thrilled to join our table next year as an honest-to-goodness kindergartner!

Until then...

One lump or two?

My Walk to the Library with Five Kids in Tow...

As you can imagine,

it all begain with the thought...

"It's not that far, right?"

Sigh.

It IS that far.

But, we survived,

and we had a great time too!

It all began as a result of my seeing how increasigly tiny our house was getting.  Samuel was working on a take home final and studying for yet another.  And after a particularly grueling week it all culminated with a super stressful on-line timed test in which the clock was ticking and you apparently needed TOTAL SILENCE!

Normally, Samuel is super easy-going and can function at top capacity even with three to four kids hanging from his earlobes, but the pressure was on to secure A's in both of these classes and I could see he needed some much needed
"quiet time". 

I know that term well, because I need it often too! 

Anyhow, I got the idea in my head to take the kids to the library and park. 
Not particulary adventuresome,
but what if we walked the 3+ miles instead? 

The kids were thrilled,

so we loaded up the double stroller,

said good luck to dad

(who thought I was nuts and said "good luck" to me too!), 

and we hit the road...

literally!

No hike is complete without a walking stick!

Or a romp in the meadow...

And even though there were signs of weariness, big sisters stepped in to lend a hand...

...and give words of encouragment!

After spying a huge turtle in the creek,

peering into the Oak Forest,

and catching sight of several baseball games,

we crashed under the trees!

We made it!

Time for lunch!

And how enjoyable is it to eat cheese and crackers atop the cool green grass and under the shady canopy of trees?

Bliss!

We hit the park and played in the sand...

...the water...

...and anywhere we could find some shade!

And after a romp on the swings...

...we hit the library to read abit before calling dad to...

PICK US UP!

Happy Trails...

Fountains Time Again

{One: Isabella}

First the worst?  No way!

This is MY girl and I love her to pieces!

She is a big help in so many ways, no more so than to her momma.

{Two: Ava}

Loves to run, jump, and play!  

Will pause for photos and always has a winning smile.

{Three: Iris}

Never caught without a headband and a hair clip of some kind, no matter how scraggly the hair.  And no matter what, the band almost always sinks down over one eye!  Sharp, sweet pea, sharp! 

{Four: Owen}

I love you son!  

I wish I had  you're picture but somehow you eluded me!  

I'll catch you next time!

That's a promise!

{Five: Gabriel}

Stuck on the sidelines with mom, but content to watch the action from afar.  Thanks for keeping me company on the bench, son.

Yum!
You're just like your momma sweetheart!
If we're not running around,
we're EATING!

This is bliss...

Gabriel...10 Monther

Handsomer than all get out!

Gabriel, I love you!
And I can hardly believe that in two short months you will be one!  Crawling eludes you, though you're ALMOST there, and you are a champ at eating with eight teeth!  You a delight in every possible way, and though you squirm, I still love to hold you close!

I'm excited to see you grow son...

Love,
Mom

SD Nightmare

This innocent looking piece of one-inch plastic and microscopic metal parts has been a major pain in the you-know-what.  

I have happily been snapping pictures like crazy capturing 

Back to School Night, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, and Dafodil Hill-

among other Elmer family note-worthy events...

only to find that unbeknown to me, 

my camera harbored a stubborn little SD card

that decided to go all corrupted-crazy on me!

After repeated attempts to free my precious photos, 

I finally caved (And yes, we did go Spelunking too!) 

and forked over the forty bucks for a recovery program.  

Sigh.

Well, all really is well now.

I have my precious photos, which really are priceless, 

and I can be grateful that my recent adventures in couponing-

which has already saved our family a nice chunk of change-

more than paid for this mishap!

Just when you think your ahead...

Shake it off, right?

I now have a hearty new SD card ready to take a beating,

and believe me, it will!

Cupcakes...

  

...are the best!

So says Owen, who was postively delighted to show me that he could eat a whole cupcake in one bite!  

Now that's something to write home about!