I don’t know if this happens to anyone else, but sometimes it feels like our days are intense. Not intensely bad or good, necessarily. But we eat our breakfast intensely, clean up furiously, then play vigorously. Emotions are only felt in the extreme. We giggle instead of laugh, sob instead of fuss, scream instead of yell. Some days this doesn’t just go for the kids, but me too. My theory today is that it’s because of the weather. The mornings lately are cold and gray and dull – so everything else is vibrant and INTENSE to compensate. That goes for the editing of these pictures from our afternoon at the park this week, too. Whatever the reason, sometimes being a mom just calls for a little intensity. Today I’m intensely grateful!
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January27th
Motherhood is Intense
Posted in: Slice of Life
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January14th
Siblings at the Park
Posted in: HouseWifery, My Kitchen, Our Traditions, Slice of Life
I’m in a bit of a reminiscent mood this morning, hence the photo editing above. Bear with me…
My brother Jacob and I are the same age apart as Kade & Berlin, except that in my case, I was the older one. I like to imagine that I was as nice to him as Kade is to Berlin, but in reality…there are stories. Like me feeding him pennies when he was an infant or coaxing him to touch the oranges that Mom had forbidden us to touch or Dad coming downstairs to find Jacob crying, with a red hand print across his face.
Dad: “Did you hit your brother?”
Me: “Nope”
Lucky for Berlin, Kade is a very sweet older sibling (most of the time).
We went to the park this week to burn off a little energy. It was a gorgeous day and we had a great time!
Just want to give a little shout out to my cousin, Amanda. One afternoon about 20 years ago, she and I went to a thrift store and found the tiniest clothes we could. They were so small and so cute and she might have been a little baby crazy and pulled me into her craziness. (I blame her entirely!) But I ended up saving a pair of shoes and a little plaid vest and this jumper for 20 years so that one day my baby girl could wear them. But of course, I lost them and forgot about them. After Christmas, we cleaned out the garage and guess what I found buried in a plastic storage tub! Only problem, my baby girl wasn’t a baby anymore and this little jumper was the only thing that fit. I couldn’t help but think how things have turned out just like I imagined 20 years ago. Am I lucky, or what?!
On to the playground…below he is ignoring me and she is blowing me kisses. Together it’s a good balance.
Priceless!
Hope everyone is having a good weekend. Tonight is our first “Family Night”, Kade is making dinner and we’ll all play a game or two. Then tomorrow night we hope to have installment #2 of “Foodies in Training”. I’ll try to keep this updated.
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January4th
Happy New Year!
Posted in: HouseWifery, Our Traditions
Welcome to 2012! We hope everyone’s holidays were merry and bright – ours definitely were. The kids and I headed back to Colorado a few days before Kyle, just in time for a perfectly white blanket of snow and even better, the arrival of my first nephew, JR.
Isn’t he beautiful?! And obviously a genius…we took this when he was four days old and asked him how old he was – he holds up four fingers! (OK, so that story may not be true, but he is definitely a handsome boy and so precious.)
Christmas Eve was at Kyle’s family this year and the kids were more than ready. Kade remembered all about Christmas and presents and was ready to dive in. Berlin just wanted to wear her new shoes, even with her Christmas jammies.
I made the mistake of asking Kade if he wanted to kiss Berlin on the cheek. Perhaps I should have checked with Berlin first! I love how proud he is that he “won” at the end.
Christmas Day we drove out to my family’s place where Kade got to be Santa’s helper and pass out Christmas stockings and Berlin discovered the joy of independence as she figured out how to walk alone with her new baby stroller.
It’s always so much fun to go back and be with family and friends. We did puzzles, drank hot cider, played games, held babies, and slept in. One of the best days was going thrift shopping with my mom and sister. I literally doubled my wardrobe in 1 day! We had so much fun hunting for deals and I may have actually purchased 15 cardigans for myself.
Now we’re safely back home; Christmas is packed away; we’re mid-grandparent-detox with the kids; and I’m trying to sort goals, resolutions, and to-do lists. Thank goodness for vacations and thank God for His blessings. Happy 2012 and may you see Him work this year!
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November25th
Pumpkin Picking Patch
Posted in: HouseWifery, Our Traditions, Slice of Life
Happy Thanksgiving and Black Friday! We aren’t out shopping today, instead Black Friday in our house always means decorating the Christmas tree. But before we dive completely into that holiday, here’s the last of my fall pics of the kiddos.
One of my girlfriends and I took our kids to a local pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins this fall. Her beautiful baby girl is just two months older than Berlin. She’s just a doll and it’s so funny to watch my kids interact with her. Kade loves being a big brother to another one and Berlin is just not too sure she wants to share, especially her wagon.
Yes, I know the skeleton shirt makes her look like a boy (that’s why she’s wearing pink pants!) and that it probably was an outfit that is supposed to have legs…but I just loved it on her. She’s so darn cute in it! Plus, I always loved the Karate Kid movie. (Wax on…wax off)
Aren’t they adorable? Just chillin’ with elbows hanging out of the wagon.
Kade loved pushing this little wheelbarrow around. Although the photo op was priceless, I told him he couldn’t actually push his little sis in it.

























































