6.15.2015

A Big Boy Birthday Party












"I'm going to be four!"










Today marks Wyatt's 4th birthday.  To celebrate, Josh barbecued chicken wings and we ate double chocolate cake after dinner.  He is so happy to be four.  "A big boy" he says joyfully.

A few days ago, we had a "big boy" party for him & his brothers.  We ate cupcakes, opened presents and swam our little hearts out.  It was so wonderful to celebrate our three beautiful, happy, healthy boys here at home with our family.

How blessed we are.

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6.14.2015

Cousins

Gisele, Jack, Gustav & Logan
Josh's sister Andrea has Gustav, Gisele & Liesel


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Ethan, Jack, Wyatt & Jay
Josh's sister Julie has three boys-- Alvin, Ethan & Isaac
Adorable Jay is Josh's cousins' son.
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Ferris

The reunion!


Ferris watched the video of Wyatt crying about being little (on my Facebook page) and told Roxanne that day that when he saw  Wyatt he'd call him a big boy.  True to his word, months later, he saw Wyatt and asked, "Who is that big kid?" Roxanne was crying. It was beyond precious. 
Milo & Wyatt
Ferris & Milo are my sister's kids.

Our crew-- Wyatt, Milo, Logan, Ferris & Jack
I love that my boys have all these amazing cousins to walk this road of life with them.
What a beautiful blessing.

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6.13.2015

Life in the City




I'm sorry for the recent lack of posts.  You guys, it's just.so.awesome being home!  The kids all have so many questions.  Mostly about driving, ambulances & police since we don't see a lot of those the rest of the year.  Wyatt is fascinated by all things automatic and loves riding in shopping carts.  The twins are loving all the time with aunts, grandma's & cousins.  I am loving the warmth of the sun on my face, laughing with my mom & sister, the comfort of being surrounded by loved ones.

We did our annual summer-clothes-shopping and this year my saint of a mother went with me.  The boys did great and are thrilled to have sandals, shorts & tank tops, all of which feel pretty special compared to the layers they always wore in Marshall.

Every store is an experience.  We spent probably a half hour wandering through the tiny pet store in our local mall.  And Wyatt refuses to visit Walmart without paying a visit to the goldfish aisle.  Another favorite? Seeing the tarantula at the mall.  "It'll scare your pants off, mom!" he warns me.  He is tickled and delighted by every thing he sees.

My mother-in-law (whom we're staying with, which is also awesome because hello, built-in help!) has two cats, and the kids are loving having pets.  They worry after them and love on them, and the cats have been so very tolerant.

We've been mostly banging out appointments this week, dentist, eye doctor, pediatrician.  It feels good to be crossing them off the list.  We've completely settled in here except for two dressers for Josh and I.  We are still on the hunt.  

We've also squeezed in a trip to the coast to see my grandparents and a few trips to the pool as well as the river.  The boys are LOVING all the swimming and so am I.  We have three little fish on our hands.  I even signed them up for swim lessons this year with my sister's boys.  It will be so fun to watch them learn!


As I said, a lot of our conversations center around driving.  And the boys love riding in other people's cars.  So far they've ridden in Uncle Samuel's car, Grandma's car, Papa Barry's truck, Aunt Julie's car and Nanny's Mustang.  The Mustang + the top down was a big hit!

We've also been enjoying nature.  Walks to the school nearby, playdates at park and picnics on the waterfront.  I cannot express to you happy all this makes me!

We're also eating all the food!  The boys love eating out, and Josh and I love the simplicity of visiting the grocery store instead of making everything from scratch.  Wyatt still doesn't understand how it works here, though because when I tell him no about buying something he says to me, "But they have it!"  Like, if they have it, we have to buy it cause they might not have it next time.  It's going to take a while for him to get that grocery stores here aren't like the co op where the produce or variety comes and goes.  

And also? Netflix.  That's right.  In Washington we have enough internet to run Netflix, and the kids pretty much think it's the best thing ever.







And also... paved roads.  These boys have become regular stunt devils riding their bikes on the sidewalked street in front of grandma's house.  It makes me so happy for them.

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Summer on, people.
Summer on.

6.06.2015

The Birthday Boys


Today Logan & Jack turn seven.  

These boys...

They are just so much fun.
They are growing up right before our eyes.  

They are sweet, funny, helpful and amazing big brothers.
We're so glad they are ours.

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6.05.2015

Thoughts from the Locker Room

 Tonight as I walked, feet slapping the wet concrete, with Wyatt into the ladies' locker room, I smiled, grateful yet again that we are in Washington, enjoying all there is to see and do, with our family.  Tonight it was swimming at our favorite pool, watching the twins slide down the yellow twisty slide by themselves (!!!), and catching Wyatt as he cannon balled at us from the pool deck.

While I was in the changing room, there were a few moms whose kids were out swimming, but their moms were fully dressed, chatting in the locker room.  Not only was I self conscious-- hello seventh grade. This is my body. Having it naked in front of other women makes me uncomfortable-- but I also found myself growing progressively more sad.  One woman was discussing how overwhelmed she was every time she opened her garage (a feeling I can relate to every time I open our storage unit here) and the other was talking about how she can't remember dates or important things any more, and she thinks it's because she has five kids and suddenly there's just too much going on.

But what made me sad wasn't that they were overwhelmed or forgetful.  Like I said, I can so relate! What made me sad was that they were there, at the pool, where they couldn't do anything about their to-do list anyway, and yet they weren't swimming.  They weren't in the water, laughing as their daughters raced across the deep end, or giggling as their sons did belly flops into the clear water.  It's true, life often feels like a race.  And it's hard to take time to have fun or enjoy the things we work so hard to have... but they were so close.  They were one door away from having what could have been the best night of their week so far.  They were one outfit change away from making memories with their children that could last forever.

So even though my Tinker Bell towel didn't quite cover all my flaws, and I'm sure those ladies saw more of my backside than they might have desired, I walked away feeling great.  I don't have a perfect body, the perfect house or the perfect life, but I am getting one thing right.  And that is taking time to make memories with my kids.  And that's pretty perfect.

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6.03.2015

The Inspired Readers Book Club

So when my friend Ashley over at The Big White Farmhouse suggested to Tabitha and myself that we start a book club together, I pretty much jumped up and down.  And when our pipe dreams began coming true as Ashley chose a book and created a Facebook page, I felt giddy.  Then the last two days happened (just... life.  Settling in here, sorting through the storage unit, dealing with tired, overwhelmed kids...) I kind of lost momentum and didn't post about it as I had planned.  

But I live by the motto better late than never, so we will take Wednesday, even though the goal was Monday!  And luckily, this week is simply Introduction Week, so if you feel so inclined, pop on over to our Facebook page, request to join, and tell us a little about yourself!

I stole this next little bit directly from Ashley's post about the book club because it so perfectly captures what we're trying to do, and lays out our book club format for you.




Our first book is going to be Make It Happen by Lara Casey.  We thought it was the perfect choice to start with since intentional living is what brought us together in the first place!  We will be reading and discussing this book for eight weeks, which takes us through June and July.  We think this is the perfect pace for the summer and it should be easy to fit the chapters in during all of your summer fun!

The reading schedule is as follows:
Week 1 (started Monday!): Introduction to the Book Club, "Welcome to your Start"
Week 2 (June 8): Chapters 1-3
Week 3 (June 15): Chapters 4-6
Week 4 (June 22): Chapters 7-9
Week 5 (June 29): Chapters 10-12
Week 6 (July 6): Steps #1 & #2
Week 7 (July 13): Step #3
Week 8 (July 20): Step #4 & #5

We've started a private Facebook group (join us here!) and every Monday will post a few questions to get the conversation going.  Feel free to pop in when you can to add your thoughts!  This book club is not meant to be stressful or add another commitment to your already full plate.  Our intention with this book club is to read a wide range of books while creating community.  We want our book club to be fun and something you look forward to!  


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We would truly love to have you, whoever you are, wherever you're from, and believe that more voices lead to more learning and more growth, which is always our goal.

We really hope to see you there!

A Good Life




I've been waiting for these days for months...  
Taking my boys the park, 
enjoying sunshine, 
picking flowers 
and teaching Wyatt how to blow out wishies.

"A good life is a collection of happy moments." 
-Denis Waitley

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