A (March) Year in Review

Last year I had a New Year's Resolution to not turn on my computer until after my kids were put down to sleep.  It was a good resolution, but it did leave me swamped at 8pm every night-returning emails, reading the Drudge Report for daily news, and editing, oh the editing.  I really never had time to blog and I have missed it.  This is my main way to record my family stories and thoughts.  I am glad to be back:)  Here are a few of my favorite images from the last year that I have taken off...

Emma lives by the motto: "Go for it!" She is a voracious reader, loves to climb tress, & nature makes her heart so happy.  She has a delightful imagination & her brothers and sisters are blessed by her story telling and animated book reading. She is my instigator and when she is away from our home (at a play-date or camp)-things change dramatically around our house. She is the ringleader of the bunch:).  Everyone gets a little disheveled when she's not in the mix. Emma has a knowledge of the Presidents that is unmatchable in our family.  She is a library buddy at school this year-she loves her kindergarteners! She is going to be a life changer one day-there is just something about her.

Addie is my most maternal.  She is my mother hen. Addie is kind, compassionate, and loving. Her eyes always see the needs of others.  She carries things heavily on her heart.  She is deeply impacted by the world around her and has a unique way of impacting others. Kids are immediately drawn to her because of her caring and playful disposition.  She has the greatest laugh & almost daily laughs her self to tears with her own jokes.  Addie is so creative when it comes to play time-last week she was pulling all her brothers & sisters around the trampoline on a tricycle, calling it "bull rides."  She is a fun outfit chooser.  She just lost her first front tooth.  She and Titus have a special bond.  She also loves to clap:)

They are best friends.  They are opposite in almost every way, but they manage to love each other well, fall asleep every night laughing, and play together everyday in the back yard.  Sure the way Addie puts all of Emma's clothes in a huge pile on the ground in the center of the room, while she hides hers in the back corners of closets and bookshelves, drives Emma bonkers and the way Emma sings really closely into Addie's ear, while we are in the car, drives Addie and the rest of us bonkers. They love far more than they fight, and I am so thankful for that:)

This guy loves digging and everything tractor.  I love to watch him be a boy.  He is a great brother-he can play easily with the "littles" or mix it up with the "bigs." He likes to help around the house with hammering/drilling. Titus loves to ride his scooter & just last week learned to ollie over his skateboard. He is competitive too. Tractors & cranes mesmerize him. He is thick like a tree trunk & loves to tackle. He used to call "sausages,"-"hostages" and that was really confusing for a while. Every night before bed he sings with me (I will do that with him until he is embarrassed by it, which is probably too soon for this mommy). He says, "Ahh guts," when something goes wrong. And I just plain love his guts:)  

These 3 help me hold down the fort around here.  They are beautiful little people.

This is one pint sized with a boat load of personality, reason why I need help holding down the fort.

Gwen the boss. She is either the "life of the party" or the "party wrecker."  She is bold in her emotions and we are never wondering what she is thinking or feeling. She has a loud volume-which is fun when she is laughing & humbling when we are in public and she is sad.  She is inquisitive and easily gets into your business. She knows no strangers. She is fearless and adventurous and she almost gets lost quickly, but thanks to her loud disposition we find her quickly & easily. She is my only blue-eyed kiddo. She is a crack up. She loves to dance, she is particular about shoes, and pronounces "underwear" as "unnawear."  She is my best hugger.  

School shoe shopping resulted in these adorable looks.

Can't ever get over his curls.

Is a bit timid. He is generally cautious & takes a while to warm up-to anything (people, places, sounds, etc).  
He absolutely loves to mow and weed whack.
 He will follow his dad for hours around the yard with his mower and weed whacker. 
He is very serious about yard work. 
He will take anything he finds-fishing poles, sticks, baseball bats, and will turn them into weed whackers. 
He even makes this blowing sound while he works:)  
He loves to play sports.  He is brave and strong-and I will tell him that everyday:).  
He is a small guy with the hugest hair-curly and blond.  
He has an incredible memory, a deep raspy voice, & can make his twin sister laugh deep belly laughs. 

The beach is one of of my favorite places to take the family.  I love how wide open it is.

This was a goodnight message I sent their dad, who was out of town:)

Face wrestling:)

Titus having a moment of sheer bliss sitting on a tractor wheel.  Gwenyth having a meltdown.  Even in the snow, some things don't change.

We spent many hours together driving this past year.  Over 70 hours to be exact.  One trip was while the twins were potty training.  We saw many deserted off-ramps in the middle of nowhere in Utah.

He makes footballs season look cute.

The kids still spend at least a little time everyday in the trampoline.

A little brother/sister public fighting.  This did not end well.

 For Emma's 10th Birthday, she got her ears pierced.  

She cried out of pain and I cried out of happy/sadness.  It was one of those moments I couldn't hold back the tears.  I live everyday with my kids.  I soak them in.  I know them each very well-  Who they are, what they are good at, what they struggle with, what makes them happy, how they cope with stress, and where they hide their dirty clothes.  They grow up everyday a little more and I am in love with the journey and who they are becoming, but it is moments like this one that makes my heart swell with "Oh wait."  Time will never stop-it just keeps going.  And everyday is a day to pull them close while getting them ready to one day launch out.  My oldest will one day launch out of my nest with beautiful little earrings.  

 Gwen loves her boots and leggin's.  She reminds me of Sully from Monsters Inc., only in pink.

 Halloween 2012.  Gwenyth didn't have an official name for her costume, but she looks like she came straight out of Candyland.  Titus was Green Lantern Man (I bought it before Marvel made Green Lantern the first gay superhero. Titus is unaware of the historical significance of his costume-we'll keep it that way for now).  Addie also didn't have an official name for her costume (it was a $1.50 from Goodwill), so we just called her a dancer from Dancing with the Stars.  Nehemiah was Handy Manny.  Emma was an adorable flapper.

Brian got into the spirit of the USC/UCLA game. 

 We got a cute little dog.  After the following suggestions:   Sparkle, Superdog, BlackSnow (res, you read that right), Ninja, Betsy (Betts), Beanie, Gina, Olive, Unicorn, Pinky, Girldog, Tasha, and Bullet,  we ended up with Beatrice and we call her Bertie.

We celebrated Brian's birthday in the snow of Utah. We have a tradition of dancing as a family to Stevie Wonder's "Happy Birthday." My parents got to join in the fun this year.

Nehemiah walking Beatrice.

We dressed up as a 90's prom couple.

The girls painted their fingernails for the first time.  I have waited on this milestone just because I wanted to keep them from caring too much about fancy outward appearances.  They were asked to help in a friend wedding to pass out programs, so I thought this would be a perfect reason to don  fancy fingernails.  They were overjoyed and I felt time passing by too quickly again. I guess one day, they will both leave my nest with earrings and painted fingernails.

One night, I decided to giggle a little more with the kids, and not rush the "goodnight songs," and then document some of those precious moments. 

I call this "swim practice shenanigans."  

We have some of the most fun while we wait for swim practice to be over.   

These two turned 3 this past week.  They bring us great joy and frequent humility:)

That's a wrap!!

I worked hard this past year to simplify.  Not do life like a rat-race or fall into the habit of going through the motions.  I worked hard to be purposeful.  I cut back and let go.  I took inventory of what is most important.  I want to do life well.
 I don't want Christ to just be in my life, I want Him to be my life.  I want his word drenching my mind and permeating my soul.  I want to count all things loss just to know Him more.  I want love my kids and husband well, be goofy with them one moment and listening to their hearts highs and lows the next.  I don't want their activities to ever be the way I know them best.  I want to be in tune with what makes them tick, what makes them nervous, what makes them laugh or be embarrassed.
I want to laugh often and with people who truly know me.      

One of this year's New Years Resolutions is to blog more often:)