a place for happy

 sometimes they need to jump.  

sometimes they need to sit on the kitchen floor and pound on some pots as loud as they can.   sometimes it turns into musical pattern and sometimes it is just noise.   

sometimes she just needs to try.   and i just need to let her.   

sometimes, this 6 year old still needs to collapse in her dad's arms.   

sometimes they need to spend an afternoon making mud cakes and pies.  sometimes those muddy buckets need to enter the kitchen sink for water refills.   

sometimes it is too darn cute to change.   

sometimes i need to sit on the floor and patiently watch her grow up.   

because when i can sit and let her be independent i get the joy of seeing her joy.   

life

things on my mind:

my sister is supposed to have her new baby any day.  i am calling her nonstop and probably driving her crazy.

my other sister is moving to washington dc in a week.  having her and my nephews and niece so close (6 hours) is a game changer.   can't wait to spend long weekends and holidays with my family!   

starting to plan and get excited for next school year.  

we are watching the bible series on the history channel.   it is so very good.   we have had awesome overlap with our history lessons along with sunday school and bible time that the girls are especially familiar with the old testament.   kinsley and hallie watched the first episode which included the stories of abraham and moses.   the girls were wide eyed the whole time.   we had neat discussions about the angels and the pillar of salt.   seeing these stories woven together and come to life has been so powerful.   (the girls were so excited to see the 2nd episode but we previewed it and it was super violent from top to bottom)  

aside from flurries, this is the first and only time it has snowed since we have lived here.  every child in our neighborhood was outside playing in the dark.  it was such a treat.  

kinsley celebrated her 100th day of school with a friend.   

 

the hershey kiss hunt took the prize for the kids favorite part of the day.   

the best part about read alouds is watching the matching movie. (the cute popcorn buckets are complements of my mom)  

and now, i need to spend a little time on life with caroline.   

she still prefers to have her diaper changed on the staircase.  

without a doubt, she gives the best hugs of anyone i have ever known.  she races to the door when ben arrives and squeezes him.  "miss you, daddy"   "daddy home now"

   she is a light and she blows us away with the fierceness of her love.  

ben texted me the picture above when i was running errands.  someone had a fierce reaction to being in time out.  stinker emptied everything from her dresser while wailing at the injustice.   

caroline bit hallie.   hard.   they were playfully wrestling and she took defending herself to the extreme.   not tolerated.   i include this picture to simply show what sweet hallie had to endure.   

each of my girls have loved their passy more than the sister that came before them.  i thought hallie was addicted then along came caroline.   one passy is just not good enough.   she sleeps sucking one and holding at least one.   5 in this picture.  and a peanut butter face to boot.   

the above picture is what i showed to the children's museum staff when caroline went missing and the place went into lockdown.  "you need a description of her?  here are 20 pictures i've taken in the last hour."  i turned my back to help hallie and the child was gone.   the first couple minutes were nerve-wracking but the remaining 7 minutes until we kinsley found her were terrifying.   when every staff member is looking and no one could find her i thought my heart would beat out of my chest.   i thought she would be so scared.  certainly she would be desperately searching for me.  nope.  just happily grocery shopping.   my core was shaking and she was shopping away.   

can't express how much i adore this picture.   my girl.   

eat your heart out, instagram

my dad discovered a new hobby that has blessed us all.  he has been converting thousands of old family slides into digital pictures.  i had never seen them before and it has been so fun to get a peek into my parents dating years, early marriage and young parenting days.  

the quality of these pictures is fun because in their true form they seem to be exactly what we now try to replicate with filters.

i will start with my adorable parents.  going through these slides gave me a big kick in the pants to get out of my workout pants.  my mom had the cutest fashion sense and i would like my kids to have some memory of me in something other than an oversized sweatshirt and a pony tail.  her pictures are my inspiration.  

early parenting days with anne.  

this picture of me looks just like caroline

i spent my childhood on this swing and at the old swimming hole in the following pictures.   we swam away our summers. 

another picture where i look strikingly like caroline.  

by the time sarah came around, slides were on the way out.   there are not as many pics of the five of us in this particular collection.  

 pictures like this always cause a pause and a sigh. 

thankful for my dad who was great at getting creative "capture the moment" shots before it was popular.  

valentine's day books

for valentines day i always pick out new books for each girl and write love letters on the inside cover.  there was always the intention that ben would participate but it never quite happened.

this year, it was his turn.  he set off to the book store and i bit my tongue so i would have no control over what he would choose.   he poured over all the options and thought carefully about each girl.

his choices were so fabulous i had to share.  

kinsley was the toughest because she is reading chapter books but would also probably still love a picture book.   he choose this about a little girl wanting some independence.  (and i love all the teachable concepts about government).  

this one was perfect for hallie.  it is a funny book and while i would never never never have picked it out i am glad it is part of our collection.  the girls love it.

and, he discovered my new favorite books for caroline.  i had never heard of this so i am thrilled he found it.   it is imaginative, playful and interactive.  i highly recommend it for toddlers (but the older girls like it too).   

colorado

we just returned from a much needed trip to colorado.  i soaked up time with family along with friend visits sprinkled throughout.  

we left ben behind as we started off our travels.  

it was good to be home.


cousin time was priceless.  


driving around mimi and papa's house

cousins plus technology equals quiet cuteness


kinsley has always loved snow.  we have barely seen a flake since we've lived in NC so she set up camp on this tiny pile.  


cousins (best friends).   see the following 2 pictures for further proof.  

exhibit a:  same sleep habits.   

exhibit b:  holding hands while sleeping

sarah and brennan moved in with my parents while i was there.  she made me oreo balls.  worth repeating:  she made me oreo balls.  

(sarah, i will delete this if you want).  she is 34 weeks pregnant and dealt with terrible back pain.  my time with her wouldn't be best captured without showing her on the floor.   

how cute are gabe and papa doing some homework?

how cute are brennan's pigtails?

ford and caroline were little buddies.  

best friends reunited!  i got 2 amazing dates with kari.   one with kids and one without.   we didn't skip a beat and neither did our kids.  

a night with amy d was also priceless.  so much history.  

and i finally, finally got to meet baby tatum.  #ashleyandamyforever

a long day of travel equaled caroline sleeping the final 30 minutes of the flight.   i rarely get to hold her sleeping so this was such a sweet time for me.  

 we were ready and thankful to be together with ben.   and extra thankful that he built me a barn door while we were away.