A Gentle Smile, A Fun Boy

I came across this gentle smile from Burl on my photo roll. I think I was testing some stuff on my camera and he was helping me. It shows his squinty eye, his cute front teeth, and how simple he can be. 

This close up moves me as his mom. John and I are having so much fun hitting home runs with his third grade humor. The right potty joke at the right time will catch him off guard and he starts laughing so hard, he stops breathing, stumbles, and falls to the ground. The other day I was unloading diapers (regular and overnight) and he says, "my favorite diapers are overnight diapers" with perfect delivery. We laughed. Now, that's our inside joke with him. He's always having fun. 

Ridge & Lark Christmas Swag.

If you've been around here for long, then you know I fall over in love over the precious sibling relationships. These two boys are hilarious. Being so close in age and interest, they pair up for some great moments. This was after Christmas-slippers, jammies, gloves, and backpacks have them ready to save the day!

Christmas Eve Cinnamon Rolls

For Christmas Eve, my dad came over and made cinnamon rolls with the kids.

Those little hands had so much fun with all the new textures. 

Then, we unbuckled the real fun and let them play in the leftover ingredients to make a big mess. 

Fern topped them off with the icing. 

They tasted good, but nothing was as exciting as the making process. 

Potty Jokes & Tree Decorating

The tree is long gone, and the season is at the end. I still need to remember this quick night of decorating the tree. Decorating for Christmas happened throughout the season. Fern especially enjoyed moving things around-taking ornaments off the tree and moving them to random spots around the house or daily rearranging the manger scenes. We enjoyed adding all the layers for the holiday season.

This is a post about the first wave of decorating. It was a quick, surprising hustle after school and before small group. We popped open the bins and started digging. 

We found a discarded Christmas Mad Libs. The kids finally "got it." They know what nouns and verbs are enough to pick them for third grade hilarity. As we gathered all the potty words that are allowed, Burl was sent into a spiral that kept him laughing all night. 

The laughter and silliness became contagious throughout the family. 

John and I egged it on, emphasizing the potty words, the kids not breathing from laughter. 

That's what I will remember from this year. Burl's amazing third grade laughter as we unpacked those bins...

Mama Rain

When we let her, Fern takes over the mama role of Lark. She was telling me the other day how she just can't take how soft he is. "It's too much, Mama, it's just too much. I mean, he's so soft. I love him to the top." She continued. For the most part, Lark accepts her love and adoration and calls her Mama Rain during these special times. (Ridge can't say Fern-He says Rain instead-Lark copies everything Ridge does-Lark calls her Rain too.)

I try to stay back and take it all in with my camera and my heart, knowing how rare and precious these days are. 

Fern is right. It's just too much. I love them and their ways. 

Baking With Ridge

When I pull one of my children to do some one-on-one cooking, they become transformed. They're focused, intense, completely obedient, and in-tune with me. 

Then, comes the pride with a job well(ish) done. 

Stop, Drop, & Read

I was fresh from a run and straight into making dinner when they brought me the book.

It's a gift from the Lord that I had enough time and mental space to stop what I was doing to enjoy the babies. I can't always pause my mom chores. When I can, we all celebrate! (And special thanks to John who got a picture on my phone.) Future Meg is going to be glad she chose to read.

Turkey Trot 2019

For something like twenty years, we have had an unofficial tradition of cheering on my brothers at the Turkey Trot. It's THEIR race.

Until this year. The attention has officially shifted to the kids. Fern and Ridge joined Burl in the kiddie K race. 

Burl and Fern won their age divisions. If there was a prize for "smiled the most," then that would have gone to Ridge. He held Joseph's hand as he smiled and ran the entire race. He was so excited. 

And I was just the regular old proud mama, thinking that they were best things alive. 

A Barefoot Day

When I was younger, I use to get the usual question. "What do you want to be when you grow up?" While I always had a backup profession logged in my dreams, the real, serious, actual first answer never changed. Ever. It was always, "barefoot and pregnant."

I got that dream four times over, and the dream stage hasn't stopped. While making pumpkin bread over the season, my baby grabbed his favorite farm book and found his favorite place, next to mama. The dream continues as those four (and no more) do cute things.