The Girls

Friends. 

Really. 

Is there anything in the world better?

I think not.

And today? Today is two of my bestest good friends' birthday.

Today Kari & Kori turn 30.

Kari is thoughtful.

Brave.

And an adorable soon-to-be mama.

Kori is beautiful.

Funny.

And an inspiring mama of two.

Hanging out with those two, plus my own sister, for a few days this summer was so much fun.

We enjoyed sharing stories--

from our marriages,

from our journeys to motherhood,

and everything in between.

I am so grateful to call those crazy girls (and my own little sister) my friends.  

They make my life awesome.

***

Life Stills This Week

 Saturday we enjoyed a family stroll to the Yukon. 

{more to come}

 Sunday we enjoyed a walk to the old airport.

 {More of that adventure to come as well.}

 We did haircuts.

 This little one is now the spitting image of his father.

Kills me.

 The twins' reading is picking up so quickly my head is spinning.  I am still shocked when they read aloud. They can read!  It's amazing!  

I am also continually surprised when they answer questions the same way or get the same wrong answers.  Watching their brains work identically fascinates me daily.

 Tonight we started what I hope will become a tradition-- playing Uno after dinner.  The boys love to play and are really good sports.  Watching them play with their father, I saw a glimpse of who they will grow up to become.  And it made me excited. (Okay... and a little bit sad.)

 Bedtime lately is making me a lot sad...  I go in once the boys are asleep and lay on Wyatt's gigantic queen-size bed beside him.  I hold his hand, rub the place where his fingers now have dimples but will one day instead have knuckles.  How is he three?  How are they six?  I want to embrace each day, cherish every hug and remember every moment.  An impossible task, but I will try anyway.

 Like tonight when Jack was helping me make dinner.  He broke the eggs open while I chopped the onion.  "Is that the one that hurts your eyes mom?" I nodded and handed him the container with the other half and asked him to put it in the fridge. He did as I asked and then said, "Don't worry mom.  I didn't look at it. I didn't want it to hurt my eyes."  

 Or Logan who was telling Josh how he got his hair to look so sharp.  "I used my comber, dad." 

Lately the boys have taken to "shaving" as well, in the bathroom sink with their plastic toy razor & shave cream bubbles made from handsoap.  Jack wants hair gel everyday and Logan thinks flossing is the coolest thing ever. 

It's all just going so fast.

*

 The boys, my sweet boys, being colorblind is real.  Today, again, they asked if green was brown or if brown was green.  Can you tell?  In this picture?  Which of these is brown? Which is green?

No. Neither can they.  Instead they must spin the crayons round and round until they can find the tiny print that tells them which is which.  I know it's not a big deal, it's something they can work with.  But I feel bad nonetheless that it's something they have to struggle with.  Having Wyatt, who just turned three, be better able to label colors than his six year old brothers makes the loss even more real.  

All of it, though, even the struggles, can be so beautiful.
And I'm blessed to be experiencing it.

*

Elementary Cross Country Meet

The boys were so excited last Friday.  Russian Mission (a neighboring village & fellow Lower Yukon School District school) came for an elementary cross country meet and we got to participate.  They came by boat, and I hear it took roughly two hours to get here, and even longer to get home, cause it's against the current.

They did races starting at preschool age and ending with sixth graders.  All three of our boys ran their hearts out and my mama heart was so proud!

Waiting for the races to begin.

Wyatt loves his gloves-- they have basketballs on them!

My beloved husband, affectionately known as "Mr. C" to all the kids of Marshall.

Jack, his best friend Charly, and Logan

Wyatt ready for his race.

Ready Set Go!

My guys:

"Brothers don't shake hands. Brothers gotta hug!"

*

First Grade Boys Short Race:

My sweetheart capturing the action!

Wyatt taking a rest after his race.

{Mt. Pilcher}

First Grade Boys Long Race:

Shoulder Rides!

Look!

Twins!

A packed playground!

What a wonderful day we had.  

I loved seeing the joy on the kids' faces when they were running.

My boys are still talking about it!  

Free Chores At A Cost

Coming back this year, as you know, I was scared.  I was nervous about many things, but maybe the biggest was being overwhelmed.  When my anxiety does hit, it's hard to not feel like the whole world is crashing down.

Thankfully my anxiety has stayed under control and things have fallen into place really nicely the last three weeks.  That said, there are some things we have changed to assist in maintaining my sanity.  I wake up with Josh and be sure to shower before he leaves for work; the boys have enforced quiet time in the afternoons so I get a break; and the twins have started helping out more around the house.

If you could come over, this is what you would see.  What you won't see is the medal I deserve for tolerating the standards my six year olds have, when inside my own personal standards are drowning in their tears.  Having the boys do chores (and take responsibility for some things) means that once they have done a job, I really need to leave it alone.  (Even though I really want to re-fold, re-sort, reorganize.)

So when I asked Logan if he could put Candyland away without spilling all the cards (can we just take a minute here and agree that Candyland is the second worst childhood game ever? Chutes & Ladders, of course, being the first. How do you even win that game? It's a trap, I tell you.  Forty-five minutes later you're still playing because that jerk of a little girl stole cookies AGAIN and slid down the big pink slide just when you were about to win!) Sorry... where was I? Oh, yeah, Candyland. So he put the game away, and I had to laugh when I entered the playroom later and saw how he "put it away".  

It's the same with their laundry.  I will wash and dry it, but it is their responsibility to fold it and put it away.  They put things in the correct drawers (shirts, pants, pajamas) but let's just say they don't do it how I would do it.

The first week it took a lot of resisting to just leave it. To let them own their work and struggle to find shirts because their folding leaves something to be desired.  Now I'm just relieved that I don't have to do it.  To make the chore more fun, I let them listen to music when they do it, and it's amazing how much they enjoy that.  (Hilarious side note: their favorite song currently is Ridin' Dirty. Oh my god, listening to them sing along kills me!)

They dress themselves, brush their teeth, make their bed everyday, clear the table after mealtime and clean up the playroom.  Adding laundry to their chore list has lightened my load incredibly.  Another one I added? Putting away the dishes.  It takes them a little longer than if I did it, but it's one less time I have to touch the pots & pans!  Obviously with their laundry (and making their own beds) it doesn't look as good as I would like it to (I mean, they are only six) but the only 'cost' there is perfection.  This morning when Jack was rushing through putting away the dishes, he broke one of my favorite tiny Anthropologie ice cream dishes.  He was apologetic, and I was heartbroken.  But as Josh and I discussed before he left for work, if a broken dish here or there (or an insanely wrinkled stack of size 7 shirts) is the cost of having our boys learn responsibility and be contributing members of our family, then that's a price we're willing to pay.