The last few weeks

I am so behind on blogging...sad!  In my over six years of blogging, I've never felt so disconnected before.  But life is just so.dang.busy with three kids and one in kindergarten.  I keep waiting for it to slow down so I can catch up, but it hasn't yet.  I have a sneaking suspicion that it won't for some time.

Life is good, busy, exhausting, full, and crazy.  Justin and I rang in 20-15 with a quick getaway to Florida for the Iowa/Tennessee bowl game.  Iowa embarrassed us with a terrible loss, but we had a great trip (first time away from Char!), hung out with fun friends, and enjoyed 48 kid free hours.

The only One of the redeeming parts about living back in my freezing cold home state is that I get to reconnect with old friends.  Early in January, a great high school friend was in town from Colorado, so I was able to get together with her and another local friend.

 Another friend was in town over the weekend so Amy and I got to catch up with her, too.  Yay for reconnecting with old friends!

Charlie is learning things like crazy, growing curly hair like crazy, and generally continuing to make us all laugh!

The girls got several inches cut off their hair.  Emma has been asking for a year now to have hair like her friend Britain.  And after suffering through brushing their long and tangly hair everyday lately, I finally decided to go for the haircuts.  Best decision ever.

That's our January in a nutshell! 

Mama's Day 2013

I loved celebrating mamahood with my sweet family on a beautiful day yesterday.  So thankful for these ladies in my life!  I know that motherhood is a privilege and even on the hard days, I'm incredibly thankful that I get to enjoy this amazing gift.


                                                 Discussing how we should pose


                                        Emma's idea - hands on our hips!


                                        These ladies bring me so much joy.

Happy Mother's Day to all the amazing women in my life, especially my own mama who taught me so much about selflessly serving and loving!  xoxo

Easter Pics

A few pictures from Easter morning at our new house...

Baby Love

Things haven't changed much around here.. babies are still the #1 toy in this house.  Emma has gotten into them just as much as Claire did at her age.  I just LOVE that these little girls love playing with their babies so much.  I overheard them playing 'house' for the first time the other day.  Poor Emma had to be the Daddy.  ;)    

It's a problem

Remember this post about my daughter's cute new obsession with fashion/outfits/changing clothes?  Yeah, well it's not so cute anymore.  I had to put a lock on her closet door because she was constantly getting clothes out and making a mess in there.  That didn't stop her creative clothes-changing ways as she simply started choosing things from her (or Emma's) dresser to complete her look instead.  That started getting out of control (think swimsuits layered over jammies, strange mismatched socks, etc..) so I had to put another lock on their bedroom door.  Her only hope now is the small basket of dress up clothes/leotards we have.  It is amazing how many creations she can come up with just from those few items!

Luckily she still lets me offer my suggestions when dressing for school, but on non-school days and the minute we walk in the door from school, she wastes no time putting on some kind of funky outfit.  Her newest addition is that she has started to "do her own hair."  Picture lots of clips, bows, headbands... My oh my.  We are already arguing over hairstyles, clothes, shoes.... And she's only 3!! She is so particular about not only the clothes she is wearing but also how she is wearing them - tucked in vs. tucked out, socks vs. tights vs. leggings, shoes vs. boots.....

I should plant a hidden camera some morning so you can all witness the drama involved in simply getting dressed each morning.  This is one of those situations that makes me think boys would be so much easier!! Mamas of boys, what do you say?? ;)

A day in the Life

I was recently looking back on my blog and came across this post.  I decided it would be fun to do it again, a year later.

So, here ya go... a day in the life!

Mama, Daddy, & Claire were all awake and getting started on the day..

First step is coffee!

Claire said bye to Daddy.

And Mama did too!

Emma had gotten up and the girls had eaten their breakfast.

I was listening to worship music while cleaning up the kitchen (leftover dishes from last night's dinner. oops!)

Emma decided to feed Sadie.

Mama was getting ready.

I found the girls looking at some pictures of Emma they found in their room.

We were at a friend's house for playgroup... a few minutes late on this one!

Mamas hanging out and kiddos playing.

Still at playgroup...

Lots more kiddos & mamas here now!

Claire and Lilly were busy dressing up.

Back home and time for lunch.

Mac & cheese and oranges.

Yummo.

Emma was having a tantrum...

so that meant it was naptime!

My no-more-naps girl doing her 'rest time' in the playroom.

Mama having an afternoon cup of coffee and doing a little reading.

Rest time was over by now.

Claire and I were working on our Countdown until Nana & Papa get Here Chain! Yay.. 10 days!!

Someone woke up!

It was a beautiful 74 degree day so we walked to our neighborhood park.

Playtime!

The witching hour begins!  And Daddy had a work dinner tonight so Mama was on her own.

Finishing up dinner..

Claire was having her typical late-afternoon-exhausted-because-she-refuses-to-nap breakdown.

Bathtime

Reading books in Emma's bed

Silly girls ready for bed.  Goodnight!!

So there you have it!  A fairly typical day in the life.  It certainly isn't all rainbows and butterflies everyday... but I've been asking God to continue to give me perspective on each day and remember that though the days can seem oh-so-long, the years are short.