October 2017
In town to watch Anthony run the Army 10 – Miler
The night before we took the Metro to the Washington Monument.
After the race, we visited Mount Vernon
End of Summer Hike
These kids love to be outdoors. And I think that is one of the coolest things about them. We love this place so much. I used to hike these trails as a kid, and bringing my kids here and having them love it as much as I did means the world to me. I hope they will remember these days forever, just as I remember mine.
Sixteen
Photo recap of our 2016.
Days around the house with my little boys (Ignore my chipped baseboards and handprint-smudged furniture, I’ll get to that someday)
The naptime routine that cataloged the everyday struggle of the first half of 2016.
A trip to our favorite summer-time water hole.
Picnics with the family, complete with epic Can Jam and Round Robin and tournaments. And if I ever learn to edit video, I’ll put the footage of that up here. (Creds to Rachel for the ping-pong photos btw)
And a few other random moments. Don’t worry, my Worst Blogger award is in the mail. I’m expecting it anyday now.
Peace out 2016
Crazy Life of Boys
They don’t always get along, they don’t always behave, life isn’t always like this, but these are the moments that make it all worth it.
Let Your Light Shine
This past Thursday, Hailey finished up her first year of school. The class put on such a cute, little evening program. We enjoyed every minute of it. And I was doing so well through most of it! Then they put on that slideshow. And I almost made it through that – until the very last song!
You Are My Sunshine.
It got me last year with Jace, and it got me again this year with Hailey. It will get me everytime. It is the song I would sing to each of them at 3:00 in the morning, over and over again, as I rocked them back to sleep as little babies. And everytime I hear that song, I can hear that old, squeaky rocking chair, and see those chubby cheek faces looking up at me.
She grew up so much this past year. She really came out of her shell. We are so very proud of her and are excited to see what God has in store for her.
Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Pop-Up Studio Photostrip
A broken window shade + some hand-me-down vinyl = Pop-Up Photo Studio.
Chicken Tacos
My slow cooker doesn’t get a lot of love. And I don’t know why. It is so much better at cooking then I am.
AND it’s so convenient! Throw food in it and forget about it until it’s time to eat. So why don’t I use it more??
Simple. Because I am a procrastinator to my core. Much prefering (apparently) to rush around, last minute, racing despertly against the clock to get dinner on the table at a reasonable hour.
But yesterday, I pulled out my Crock-Pot, dusted it off, and made dinner. At 9AM. It was awesome.
I’d like to say I’ll be doing this more often, but who are we kidding – it’s not likely.
Obviously not a food blogger. Seriously, it takes me long enough to cook a meal, let alone take photos of the process – I have so much more respect for food bloggers now. And raise your hand if you think my food styling skills need massive improvement! Yeah, me too.
But hey, I thought it was delicious so thats all that counts right? Sure, I would have loved it if the kids had eaten it after I spent all day making it *wink*Â but that didn’t happen, so…yeah.
A Little about Little League
Let me preface this by saying we, Anthony and I, are not baseball people. Pretty much any other sport, yes, but never baseball. So we have avoided Little League like the plague. But when Jace found out that the school puts together a team every year and all his little buddies were playing, he begged us to let him join. I, of course, dragged my feet and he just continued to ask me every day if I had registered him yet. I did, eventually, reluctantly.
I had heard horror stories of long, boring games, and even worse – tournaments. So going into this, our very first season, I wasn’t thrilled. That is, until Monday night.
Monday night was Jace’s first baseball game. And IT. WAS. GREAT! Jace loved it so much! And, even Anthony and I loved it. Anthony was getting into it so much, one would have thought he was a coach from all the instruction he was giving out, and the fact that he was actually in the dugout. And I was mamarazzi-ing on the sideline, in between comforting Eli who had just bellyflopped off the bleachers, and trying to convince Ash that rocks aren’t really a great choice for a snack. But despite the previously mentioned horrifying events, it was the perfect evening, and such a great family event.
We love baseball now. I know not every experience will be like this one, but that’s ok. Jace has found something he truly enjoys and I’m excited to see where this takes him. I haven’t seen him have this much passion and excitement about something.
He loved every minute of his first game and still hasn’t stopped talking about it three days later, and that’s fine with me 🙂
Gettysburg
It is a rare thing for all of us to be in the same place on any given weekend. It is especially unheard of for Anthony to be around for his birthday. Since joining the Army reserve, he has either had drill or been away for some sort of training or another. So when we found out that we had his birthday weekend (almost) completely free, we put together a last minute plan to head out to Gettysburg.
Even though I’ve lived fairly close to Gettysburg my entire life, I’ve never been there. It was so special to be able to share this experience with my kids.
We went through the museum first, the three older ones were interested, for the most part, especially whenever we came across a canon or flag – they have a weird obsession with flags. Most of our efforts were directed at trying to keeps the little ones from running through the maze-like displays. A few more years and we should be able to get the full experience. At least that’s what I keep telling myself.
We spent most of our time up on Little Round Top. Large boulders provided more than enough opportunities for them to get their insane amount of energy out. Also plenty of opportunities for the younger two, still without any fear of heights, to go tumbling down between the rocks…
So because I almost lost the youngest one to just such a near accident and decided to put my camera away, here are too few pictures of our family trip.
Turned around and this one was just standing there, looking at me like this, over a 5ft drop onto more rocks…bad mom award.
He said he climbed this when he was a kid whenever his family visited, I made him prove it.
All my favorites in one frame ♥
And a bird. (still more hawks than we’ve seen at Hawk Mountain)
And here is a family shot with Abraham Lincoln before heading into the museum (while we waited for Anthony to run his concealed carry back to the car) oops.
Iphone:
Thanks, Gettysburg -We’ll be seeing you again soon! Staycation Summer 2016!
Christmas Tree Hunting
Since I was a kid, the search for the perfect Christmas tree was always my favorite part of Christmas. We would all bundle up, jump in the van and head to the closest Cut-Your-Own Christmas tree farm. Back before Global Warming (insert eye roll emoji), there was always snow on the ground and we would run around and play hide and seek for an hour then pick the closest tree before we froze to death.
I have always wanted to do this with my own kids, but every year, there was always something holding us back. Kids were too little, we waited too long. This year I was determined to make it happen. I found a nearby Christmas tree farm and made it an event in our shared Google Calendar. Now there were no excuses.
Let me tell you, this place did not disappoint. Wagon ride out to the field, cookies and hot chocolate, and Santa was even there.
We will definitely be going back. More photos to come when I finally download them to my desktop. For now, here are some iPhone shots.
Ok – over a month later…. Those other photos I promised.
That was as close as I could get to a family photo. 4 out of 5 isn’t bad, right?
BURKEHOUSEPARTY 