I can only assume my oldest boy is......unique. This week he has managed to do two things that have made me stop and scratch my head. And almost break my butt. I love the boy.... Yesterday he squirted dish soap all over the bathroom floor. When I went in to use said bathroom I almost fell as the floor was slippery. The entire floor. Do you know how hard it is to clean dish soap off of linoleum? Near impossible as once it is wet, it just lathers up. Not only that but as it dries it leaves a nice film as well. Today he decided to glitter the computer room. I have nothing against glitter. I think is serves a purpose in society. But holy night. Not only did he manage to glitter everything, but then he had the pitcher of pink lemonade and manged to spill the. entire. pitcher. Think about it. Picture it with me now: glitter all over the floor with lemonade ON TOP OF THE GLITTER. Um, the lemonade acted as glue. Seriously. Do you know how hard it is to clean sticky glitter...

I get an idea in my head and well..... I have been thinking of Xan's first birthday party for some time. Knowing I would be making the cake and sugar cookies and trying to come up with a theme. At a year old, it is not like he is into anything. (We will not discuss what my big kids have come up with for their birthdays.) After looking, most of the First Year birthday stuff......is not to my liking. Then for Mother's Day my in-laws got me this awesome cupcake cake pan. Then the idea hit me: Xander's first birthday would be done in blues, brown and white, with polka dots and cupcakes. Awesome plan. Only.....do you know how hard it is to locate paper goods that fit the theme you made up in your head? Not only that but since I was stuck on that exact thing, I could not find anything that came close to the picture in my head. Sigh. I had to make the invitations myself. Complete with cutting out little cupcakes, in different paper, stamping and writing the details, and ...

I have been........busy. My apologies. (Madison.) I had a big cookie opportunity come up and it involved making a little over 100 cookies. Sort of a big deal. Then there was the whole taking care of the kids thing and you know. Life. I also have been trying to get Halloween costumes together as well as plan Xander's first birthday party. It is just a busy time of the year. I have some pictures. I will try to get some up soon and maybe a real post as well. What can I say? I suck.

In short, because you can not keep your kids from hurting. When they fall and get an owie, you can bandage it and make it feel better. It will heal in time. A physical wound just needs time to feel better. But when their heart is hurting? There is only so much you can do. You can hug them and hold them and kiss them and tell them you love them. But you can not bandage up the pain. You can not swoop in and take it away. You have to let them feel it and cry and get it out. As a mom your main purpose is to protect your kids. From hurting. But in the real world there is simply no way to do this all the time. Not only is it impossible, but I fear in the long run it would do your kids a huge disservice to protect them so much. Sheltering. I have learned that when your kids hurt, you hurt too. Even though you are the adult and you understand how life is and you know that sometimes things are for the best, you still hate to see your child hurting. You ache for them. You want to...

Since finding the manual mode on my camera, I have been photo happy. As a result I have taken over 100 pictures this month so far. Yikes. This makes it hard to post pictures because........there are too many I like. My boys. Dressed in matching outfits. I love how in the first one they are looking at one another. This is what we do on Saturdays. Brave the crowds and head to Costco. These were taken with my phone. I just thought it was funny. This one cracks me up. My dressed alike boys. Xander has begun pulling up on everything. I figure it is a matter of time before he is walking now. He see the big kids running around the house and he gets all excited. We went to the park yesterday and my niece asked if I thought Xander would like to swing. I have never put him in a swing because, to be honest, I do not like to be outside. So he has been to the park a few times but I never thought about plopping him in the baby swing. We went and put him in the swing. The boy loved it. He...

I say this a lot. This kid is.....so strange. I have been doing some preschool with Davis. Mostly to keep him out of trouble while Emma is doing school. But also because he was not writing any letters. I was at a loss because Emma learned her letters in preschool. As in one I paid to send her to. And because she seemed interested in learning her letters. Oh. And she is not left handed. I was first not sure how to teach Davis to write because as I said I did not teach Emma. Then, I thought it could not be too hard, right? Wrong. Davis.....marches to a different drum. Actually, I am not sure it is a drum at all that he is hearing. I think it might be some bagpipes or some other different instrument. It may not be an instrument at all. This kid, he is like a puzzle to solve. And he keeps things to himself. For example, he never really drew a lot. He would color and scribble on paper but never really drew any sort of picture. Then one day I notice an animal drawn on the doo...

Well, he started crawling. And every once and a while he will pull himself up to stand. I realize he is ten months old. But really. I was in no hurry. They grow so fast anyways.... Here are some current pictures. I have been playing around with my camera lately. These are some images I have captured in the last few days.... They are handsome men..... I like to stare at them. Mark does not enjoy it so much... First battle wound. Isn't he lovely? He has the longest eye lashes.... It's time for your close up. See? Look at those lashes! Sigh.... Hey dude.... Like how his diaper is hanging out the top of his pants? He rocks the low rise. This was after I told him no. Do you see that ornery grin? Trouble.... How you doin'? Cold weather here. Causing us to lounge most of the day. Fall is on its way. As well as Mr. Xander's first birthday. Where did the year go??? And where did my baby go???

Why yes, that is a song from Free To Be, You and Me. I had the album. As in vinyl. Way back when I was a young girl. Anyway, this is just to post some pictures of my children. Being sisters and brothers. Brothers and sisters. Brothers and brothers. If these photos are any indication of what the future holds......it shall be interesting. You're going down, down, in an earlier round... And sugar you're going down swinging.... You can read to me.... But I will turn the pages... You are not doing it right. What is that at the end of the table? Oh, it is a XANDER MAN!!! Ah yes. The baby crawled today. I am aware that he is almost ten months old so I should not be shocked. But, um, he crawled today. I liked him unable to move. Now, the real fun begins....

We have started the new home school year. Yes I realize I am nuts. No need to point out the obvious people. So far, so good. I am enjoying the more free schooling we have adapted for this year. Fits my personality better. And we all know, if mama ain't happy..... So it goes. Another year to begin. I am not sure what it is about this time of the year. But I like it. The weather is cooler already. It is as if with fall comes a new chapter in life. Or just as the leaves change, so does your view. A new beginning if you will. I hate to admit this out loud, but having the baby hit me harder than I expected. Everyone said that adding number three was seamless. Once you have two, one more is no big deal. Either they lied or I am a freak. Because it kicked my arse. I think I am just now coming out of the baby fog. And it feels good. Do not get me wrong. I love the little guy. But it has not been easy. Mostly on my mind. Which as anyone who knows me can attest to, is...

I get razzed a bit for being all hippie like. Breastfeeding and natural and organic and all of that. But never fear. We still eat crap. Witness Xander eating an Oreo. Oh yes. Those little cookies seem so innocent. But in the hands of a child? They somehow morph into the messiest item on the planet. What is this cookies you speak of? I tell you, I ate no cookie. I tell you, I ate no cookie. Okay, so maybe I ate one little cookie. Shhhhhh.......... See? On an unrelated note, I made some kick azz Nemo cookies. Here fishy, fishy...

I love to read. I have since I was little. I also have a bad habit of getting completely engrossed in what I am reading. Getting so wrapped up that I can not put the book down until I know what happens. I am still this way. I have no self control when it comes to reading. That is not the shameless part. What is shameless is what I like to read. Chick lit. There I said. I like to read the mindless dribble that is chick lit. Not romance novels. Just your run of the mill chick lit. Over the past couple of weeks I have reignited my love of reading. And I gave into the chick lit. What is it about this genre that does me in? I have found that I enjoy the books that involve being a mom as well. Which makes sense. It is relateable on that level in some way. I can not quite put my finger on the draw. The last three books I have read, I have been able to identify with the main characters in some way. Seeing as to how they were all moms. I also seem to like (this is even more ...

It is seeing images like the ones that follow that make me swell up inside with love. The bond of my boys. I enjoy watching it blossom. The only thing that makes me a bit sad is not having a sister for Emma. Maybe one day. Otherwise it is the Princess stuck in the sea of Princes. I am not sure what Davis is telling Xander in the third picture. I do love how you can see they have their hands on top of one another. So sweet. My boys.

I am not photogenic. Never have been. I almost detest having my picture taken. I am usually the one who volunteers to take all the pictures. You are safe behind the camera. However, looking through pictures, I realize there are very few pictures of me with my kids. This does upset me. I want pictures of me with the kids. Time is fleeting. I want to remember these moments with them. I want photographic evidence that I did exist with these kids. Yesterday we tried to get ready for church and we were very late. I also had a cake and cookies to take for dessert for lunch and the icing would have melted in the car. We opted to let Xander take a nap and just go straight to Mark's moms for lunch. We were all dressed for church though. I usually dress us to coordinate as much as I can. No idea why. It is a sickness. We were all dressed and ready to go, so I asked Emma and then Mark to snap a few pictures of me with the kids. Here are the best ones. Davis has a hard time be...

Cause me to long for fall. I am looking forward to stews and roast and soups again. In the summer it is hard to find food that sounds good when the temperature outside feels like 112. Today we woke up to overcast skies, rain and fairly cool weather. It feels wonderful. I am sitting here uploading pictures while Mark and Emma play Mario Party 8 on the Wii, Xander plays his toy piano (lovely sound) and Davis colors behind me humming. It really is a great day. The only thing I am not looking forward too this fall is that my baby (!?!?!?) will be celebrating his one year birthday already. I do not want to think about it really.

For nine months I carried you around in my belly. I saw you for the first time when you were 6 weeks old in my belly. You were a tiny spot then. I saw you again when you were about 13 weeks in my belly. You were a little jumping bean. The last time I saw you in my belly you were about 20 weeks. You did not hold still. For about 25 or so of those weeks I felt you move and dance. You grew and grew and all the time I wondered if you were a boy or a girl. Finally, nine months ago today, I saw your gorgeous little face and met you. Our little Alexander... Time has gone on. Far too fast. Before long you were four weeks old. An entire month passed. My little wise boy. The next thing I knew, I blinked and you were two months old. You began to smile at us. Another month flew by and you were three months old. By now we were rocking cloth diapers. Four months hit us just as quick as the other ones did. You began to love to bounce in your jump a roo. By the time you were five mon...