My brother and his fiance

Aren't they cute? We did pictures over the weekend. You can see them all here but these are my favorites!

For everyone who thinks only girls should play the flute.

Another Motherhood first

We met some neighbors of ours a few days ago and tonight there was a knock at my door. I opened it to find their little boy, who is about Nathan's age and he said "Can Nathan come out and play?"

I know, it's a silly thing to make a big deal out of...but I got a kick out of it. It's the first time it's happened!

YAY!

Thanks to my friend, Grace, whose son is now a teen and no longer interested in swingsets, she gave us a swingset and trampoline for the kids! Aria is in heaven, she loves to swing. It's been really cold the last couple days, but she still stays outside swinging until she's so cold she just can't stand it anymore.

Aria helped put it together.



Gabe watched through the window.



And when it got a bit too cold, Aria (and Nathan) came in for blankets so they wouldn't have to leave the fun new swingset!



We're not setting the tramp up until we fix our poor sad half dead grass.

Kids say...

Aria said this out of the blue a couple days ago.

There are 3 things that make you grow up. Number one, when your numbers go up on your birthday. Number two, eating. Number 3, sleeping.

Profound, huh?

Reunion

I called my brother to ask if I could share these and he said it was okay. He's been away for quite some time and my family and his fiance were reunited with him yesterday. These pictures are just so touching and real, I'm glad he's willing to let me share them.










I think this next one could stand alone. It's my dad and brother.

Backroads

I left really early the other morning to take some pictures at sunrise on the backroads between my home now and my home where I grew up. I love how they turned out.

This little church in the middle of nowhere just moves me somehow. It's simplicity is beautiful to me.




I had to stop when I saw this truck with a tree growing out of it. I made it a useful stop and Nathan and the dog both relieved themselves.



And this is just home. It's peaceful and makes me feel like I'm home.

Bubbles

One of my favorite things in the world is bubbles. I don't think anyone can be mad when they're surrounded by bubbles. Aria agrees with me, a couple weeks ago we were talking about bubbles and she said "I think everyone should blow bubbles all the time and then everyone will be happy."

I also like reflections. I have some fun pictures of reflections, but these have got to take the cake.

The Easter Bunny brought a bubble machine for the kids and I had way too much fun taking pictures of the kids and the bubbles.

Click them to see the reflections. You can see me and Nathan and the house, trees, sky. It's very cool.




















I think this one is my favorite. The bubble is mid-pop.

I got nothin'

I have nothing to say. My head is empty.

Actually, I take that back. My head is so overwhelmed with stupid, mundane stuff that I need to just take care of, that nothing creative or fun can squeeze through.

I'll just tell you about today.

Today...I bought a dress. I tried on about 20, with my kids in the dressing room moaning about how bored they were. Except Aria, who was upset because she wanted to be the one trying things on. I, apparently, do not look good in dresses. Skirts and shirts are much better. I did find one that I like. I also found one for Aria to wear in my brothers wedding. It's gorgeous.

We went to the carousel again. Gabe doesn't love it as much as he did the first time. He likes it but he's a little scared. His "whees" are intersperced with "whoas". Nathan had a complete meltdown when he didn't get to ride the Lion. There's only one and some boy beat him to it. He cried the whole ride, so like a good mom, I bought him ice-cream. Then, not to leave the other kids out, they got a bag of cotton candy to share. Right before dinner. Oh, and Aria isn't afraid of the carousel anymore. This is a big, exciting deal.

I took them to a museum. That was...maybe not the best idea I've ever had. We were having constant lessons on museum etiquette that were largely ignored. But they want to go back. Next time we'll do the lessons before we go.

That's about it.

Oh, how the heck do you keep a dog from going upstairs? I want the whole upstairs to be off limits but apparently I don't speak dog.

Babies in teacups

I'm normally not a prop kinda person. But I couldn't resist these!

Teacups on the beach...



Gabe and my friend's daughter







and my cute little neice.

Eating my words...again.

I recently said I wouldn't be getting a dog any time soon because I had enough on my plate with 3 kids. Then we had an opportunity to get a Cocker Spaniel because someone at Dave's work was giving hers away.

When that fell through Dave was on a mission.

Must.find.perfect.dog. Must.be.dad-of-the-year.

So he did some research.

Meet Pascal. (cyber prize if you can tell me anything about that name) Pax for short.



We drove 6 1/2 hours for him. He's 9 months old, potty trained, crate trained (I think), neutered and very sweet. No major problems with the kids yet. Although Nathan is scared of him unless he's sitting still. I think I'll take Nathan with me to obedience classes.