My Sister's Yesterday, My Tomorrow.

Now that is a hopeful post title if I ever saw one.
But that is how my sister made me feel. Inspired. Hopeful. My sisters usually make me feel this way. Actually, my whole family does. I'm pretty lucky.

Back at the end of January, my sister, Katie, fulfilled a huge goal of hers and did what she had been training for months to do - - ran a half marathon. The whole time she was training for it, I was so impressed and excited for her! She did a lot of running and a lot of prioritizing to make it happen.
One more instance in which I was taught that there are so many good things to fit into a day. Sometimes the prioritizing can just about kill you BUT if something is truly truly a good thing and really what you want to do, you do just that. You do it. You just GET IT DONE!
Hahahaha Rat Race.
...anyone...?

Katie posted about this on her blog
but I wanted to do so as well because she inspires me. And I have always wanted to be a runner. I feel like acknowledging her victory in my own space will further move me toward that goal. I started training years ago for a marathon but then...baby baby baby...life life life...and here I sit. BUT it will still happen someday. And now I have someone to look to as an example.

Here she is in all her race-day glory!

High-fiving Ben afterwards as she snacks on an apple.
("Uh epple")

Chatting with Bethany about running or ponies or something.

This is she and her roommate, Meghan, coming in for the finish!

This is me and my dad waiting anxiously for her to come into sight!
And Laura...fully aware that it takes no more than two people to wait anxiously and yell for everyone when she does come into sight.

Two of the chillens watching for their champion aunt.

The kids couldn't quite wrap their heads around the occasion we were there to witness. Running? They do that every day. I tried to help them understand this best I could.
Aunt Katie ran for longer than Toy Story 3.
Aunt Katie ran farther than to preschool and back.

Someday I will be able to tell them how long and far Mommy is going to run. For now we'll stick to around the backyard and sometimes the cul-de-sac. (Hard word to type)
For now.

Good job, Katie!!!

A Day of Joy and Gladness...

I will have you know that today is NOT the day I am referring to in the title.
Today was one of those days.
One of those days that demands you multi-task on all levels of your consciousness but somehow inhibits you from successfully doing so.
One of those days that finds your every effort undone and every near-triumph thwarted.
Yes, I'm being dramatic.
It's one of those days that brings out the dramatic side of me.
One of those days that I know I better not have an important conversation about anything in particular or it will turn into an opportunity to rant about whatever chain of topics I find myself attacking.
...maybe it's one of those days I'm better off not blogging...
Haha, but you know what I love about getting older? You start to realize that these 'one of those days' are just that. One of those days. There will be more. And there have been more. And...it's really nothing more than something to laugh at/marvel at/stand back and be entertained by. But not get mad at.
(And when it's 'one of those days' you also know that if you feel mad at anyone, it's better to just accept that you feel mad today. Tomorrow you probably won't. Again, no serious conversations or discussions on these types of days. Except, apparently, with you, whoever I'm talking with at this point, typing this.)

So, on this day I am distracting myself with one of the most exciting things I have ever had to post about.
A wedding. :)

On Thursday, January 27th, my sister, Monica married her sweet friend-who-is-a-boy, Austin. (...wait, do we not have to call him that anymore?)
They used to be in denial about how in love they always have been.
And we had to call him that.
But now...I suppose I get to just call him my brother.
Sweet.

Sweeter still? This picture I made my grandpa take on my camera while were posing for the real photographer.
Well, actually, it wasn't even the real photographer because that would be Bonnie.
But she is a sister (albeit not a "real" sister...family joke...) and is in this picture.
SO, the Assistant Real Photographer (Assistant to the Real Photographer?) took this picture.
Not this one in particular.
I already said my grandpa took this one.
She took the one we were posing for. And he snapped this one on the side.
(Somebody needs to stop me right now.)
Laura, Bonnie, MONICA, moi, Katie.
I like how I am the oldest and shortest and Laura is the youngest and tallest.

Well. That picture got more than its fair share of commentary.
I may need to take something if I'm going to finish this post in one piece.

Here are some cute kids who got dressed up for the occasion.

Full of dignity, they are.

These are my grandparents. :)
They are my mom's parents and they live in Texas and I love them and miss them.
Their names are Bob and Mary. My kids call them Grandpa Bobby and Great Grandma, or some variation of these things.
I think I will frame this picture.
Or drive to Texas monthly.

Random snapshot of the adorable couple.
I took this picture right after they had finally gotten a break from taking the real pictures and Austin shot me a look and said, "It's ten dollars a picture."
Well, look at that.
All we had to do was marry him into the family and he comes alive with humor. :)

He and Ben were able to find the opportunity to have a heart-to-heart as two of the newer additions to the family.

James was able to find an opportunity to hide somewhere.
Doesn't he always.

Here, the kids are getting a talking-to of a preventative nature, concerning their active natures and the breakable nature of all the things that were beginning to emerge as part of the reception decor.
P.S. Isn't that a great color on my handsome husband?
P.P.S. Talking-to or no talking-to, I am pretty sure we almost broke nearly everything that was of any importance at one point or another. The best was when I heard an unfortunate 'clang' and turned around to find Ben holding the champagne glasses meant for the wedding toast (sparkling cider, of course). He had discovered they make a neat sound when you hit them together.

Uncle Andrew kept them distracted from disaster for a while with his song and dance routine.
I wish I could have caught this on video.

A bit later, I discovered they were once again being distracted and entertained by something about this round seating area here. But I couldn't figure out what was so amusing about it for them.

Until my cousin, Angela, popped out for what was clearly the latest in a succession of exciting and animated surprises for them. They were loving it.

Once guests started arriving, we ran into the usual problem for us at any sort of celebration.
Ben thinks that the word 'present' means 'for Ben.'
It legitimately upsets him when presents are not for him.

Hey, there's a familiar face!
Grandma Teri arrived just in time to rescue them from their growing restlessness.
The evening was getting long for the little ones.
What a pretty picture.

Aw.
The married couple.
(My tab now sits at $20)

I love Monica's reaction to Bethany's excitement over...a marshmallow.

The string quartet arrived and started playing.
The kids were enamored.
These girls play in orchestra with Laura so they are somewhat familiar faces.
Kristen (yes?) let them try out the violin. I was impressed with her graciousness.
And, of course, the kids loved it.

James, always an artist at heart, had found his spot for the rest of the evening.

Another beautiful Grandma!

Having shared moments with grandmas and violinists, Bethany moved on to her favorite person to be ridiculously SILLY with.
Aunt Bonnie.

And, on the topic of silliness...
this is what happens when you leave your camera unattended (aka lose it momentarily) and my sister, Katie, is present.

Among all the crazy shenanigans, these guys got their first dance in.
It was all very sweet.

As the evening wound down, they got ready to head off and begin their adventurous honeymoon all over California and back.
I had to share this picture because it's the only one I got of Monica in her snazzy post-reception outfit. Switch the gown for a white sweater dress and the heels for tall boots. Keep the bling.
Gorgeous and brilliant.
And I think Austin is shaking my dad's hand in the background.

Guess it's a done deal, kids.

And we are so glad.

And...my day feels a lot better now. :) I am so happy to have Austin in the family and Monica with someone she shares such love, respect, and genuine caring with. They are a fantastic couple and it will be so fun spending time with them in the next couple months before they head back up to Idaho for school.

P.S. When Bonnie gets the wedding pictures up on her photography blog, I'll link over. They are going to be amazing, I know it!!!

A Family First!

Since when do I have a house full of real people?
I mean, I always knew my children were not figments of my imagination (otherwise they may have been more obedient and probably not near as cute...some things can't be dreamed up...), I still sometimes think of them as babies. I can't help it. It takes so long to get used to taking care of several other human beings, then suddenly your head stops spinning and that's exactly what they are - - real, live, grown up human beings.
Maybe not completely grown up but...you know what I mean.

Case in point...check this out:

This is more than just an excited girl.
Oh, she's excited all right, but what about?

Lack-of-tooth.

Well, in her mouth anyway.
The actual tooth is right here.

How awesome is that??

Here's the story...
It was Aunt Monica's wedding day (YES! My sister is now a married woman. More on that later.) and after school Miss Bethany walked home with the Allens AKA Rockwell's family. She looked forward to this for weeks. She had discovered a loose tooth a few days before and we had just assumed it would take a while for it to get loose enough to actually fall out. But the morning of the wedding, she woke up with it super duper loose. (Wow, spell check lets me keep 'duper.' I hope it's not a word that means something that I don't know about...) I was sure she would lose it that day at school or at the Allens after school.
But, we pick her up from the Allens. Still has a tooth. And an overwhelming desire to go back to the Allens someday. But that's beside the point.
I brought her with me to our neighbors', the Greers AKA Michaels' house to pick up the boys. They had spent the last couple of hours with Sister Greer and they were ELATED about that. We are so lucky to have so many good friends we can count on to give our kids fun, safe places to be when we are away!
Anyway, while we were at the Greers', Bethany started playing and I visited with Candace AKA Sister Greer AKA Michael's Grandma and suddenly Bethany comes running and squealing and what do ya know...a lost tooth. :)
It was epic to be sure.
SO, we will always remember that the first tooth to be lost for one of our little ones was at the Greers' house.
Special.

It was also extra fun that it was Monica's wedding day. Bethany thought that was a pretty cool occasion to share her tooth loss with.
You know what they say, you're not losing a tooth, you're gaining an uncle.
...wait...
Well, anyway, something like that.

What January is good for . . .

While I've been rambling on about all my spiritual realizations...which are great for me but very possibly getting old for all of you...
life has been happening here in our January.
I don't mean to imply that we own January. Quite the contrary. If I owned something it would be March. Not January. Though, to be honest, this general time of the year is really growing on me...
Anyway, I am simply saying that life is happening for everyone this January.
And I am here to speak only about ours.

And our January has been good for . . .

Family Home Evening

We got some great games for Christmas and they have been playing a big part in our Family Home Evening Activities as of late.
This one week, it was Bethany's turn to pick the game. She picked Pretty Pretty Princess.
If you are unfamiliar with the game...the general objective is to land on the appropriate spaces on the board and gather, one at a time, all of your jewelry PLUS the coveted crown and then you shall be crowned the winner and, of course, the Pretty Pretty Princess.
In a family where the boys outnumber the girls, this game still happens to be a favorite.

Ben has some sort of luck going with being the first to snag the crown.
Every time we play, this has happened.

Bethany gets crown envy pretty easily.

But good things come to those who wait.

James loves when he lands on the space that earns him the villain card.
You can't win the game while the villain card is in your possession.
Like his ring?

Ben, you must forgive mommy if she shows this to your friends someday when they come over to shoot pool and watch action-oriented movies.
(Read as: When you grow to be such a man that I can't stand it anymore and you have begun to take your masculine nature too seriously, I will pull out silly pictures of you when you were small and squishy and make myself feel better by embarrassing you until you hug me and beg me to stop. ...What? That's how it would play out, right?)

(Luckily, you won't ever have to know how to properly adorn yourself with jewels)

I like this shot of my boy child James wearing pink earrings. And his heavily bearded father in the background, playing the princess game with his children.

Yay, James won the crown!

And doesn't Daddy look happy when it's his turn?

And the winner of the night is.....
James!
(...with something in his teeth...)

Bethany had a few tears at not being crowned the princess (yep, we are there) but felt somewhat consoled when she got to take a picture wearing all the getup.
Now THERE'S a pretty pretty princess if I ever saw one!

January is also good for...

New Toys

When Ben found himself fully potty trained (YES! It happened!!!...more to come on this eventually.), we all got new toys to celebrate. (and to wean us off the m&m after every potty usage.) James got an awesome Spiderman "space ship."

Bethany got these new horses. Or...technically, a pegasus and a unicorn.
Which she regularly takes for a nice swing in the backyard.

Which makes her happy.

Another new and exciting development of January is an obsession with all things...

Pink Panther

Oh man, this is a big deal these days. We discovered the cartoon on Net Flix and I cannot tell you the interest that then ensued. It is nothing short of being the runner up to the Toy Story obsession.
Mostly for this one...
(pink is now his favorite color, pink panther stuff is all he wants for birthdays and Christmases forevermore, and he constantly wants his face painted as follows)

(Oh, and he has me hum the pink panther theme song every night at bedtime...twice.)

A classic gift of January...

Citrus!

JC brought home some grapefruit from someone at work a couple of days last week.
Yum.
Our kids are strangely drawn to all things sour. They love lemons and grapefruit.
(The other bowls are applesauce that was quickly abandoned when Daddy brought home the grapefruit)

Yeah, grapefruit makes me feel like that sometimes too.

But they slurp it down, nonetheless.

Though James does get frustrated at trying to scoop it out. We all know that pain. It's like, the actual fruit always escapes your spoon...leaving only juice and seeds.

Which will, of course, dribble generously down the front of your shirt.

As we start to play outside more now that the chilliest of chilliness has passed (yes, I know it doesn't get that cold here but since we don't own really warm bundle-y clothes, we get kind of stuck inside while it's colder!), Ben takes opportunities to steal my camera and snap some shots.

Ben's Photo Ops

He got this one of Scout next to our poor frozen bushes.
I tell ya...we spent tons of time in the really really cold weather covering all of our plants. And they all still managed to freeze.
Hopefully they will be okay once they get trimmed back.

I like this one.
Self-portrait.

A favorite past time of ours reappears on those days when the weather is just so lovely you can't stay inside...

The Park!

We returned to what has been dubbed "Ben's park" or "The Playgroup Park."
This is because the first time we went there it was just Ben and I, and it was for his playgroup. That he doesn't go to anymore because he apparently wants nothing more than to sit at home and stare at me.
And...fly through the play equipment when we go to the park as a family.
Caught him mid-air.

Frolicking in the sun.

Posing on the...the...I don't actually know what to call this thing.

I love this picture.

Swings are fun. Closest thing to flying.

Hopefully we will be spending more and more time at the park in the coming months before it gets too hot!

And last but not least, January is also good for...

Hanging out with my honey.

Always a favorite.

So...there you have it. The month thus far. And here we are in the last week of it! Yikes!
Seriously, time goes by so fast.
At least this last week of January is an exciting one! Monica is getting married on Thursday!!! Oh I can't wait! I am so excited for her and Austin. And we have family trickling into town and...it's good times.
Back soon with more of family, fun, festivities, and before long...February.