Our summer in pictures

 My boys in their element

beauty queen

 my girl

 In-N-Out with Grandmommie

 Catching some rays

 Father's Day...B is very loved.

 Beautiful night for baseball

 Wilderness explorers

 Love.

 Three generations of mountain women

 perfect.

 yum...summer treat.

 5 years old...such a stud.

 90 and 16 months...precious

 And they are off.

 Our little love.

Words

It is now time for a listing of random things my children say.

Jackson: Mom, is "work in" a vitamin?
Me: What?
Jackson: That lady said she put a lot of work into her body and doesn't want to mess it up. Is that a vitamin?

Me (working in yard): There are so many weeds out here!!
Char: It will be ok boo.
Me: Did you just call me boo?
Char: Yes. It will be ok boo.

Me: We need to pack for Midland and something to wear to the wedding.
Jackson: Yeah, I have to look sharp so I can dance a lot.
Me: What will make you look sharp?
Jackson: Handsome shirt, handsome pants, handsome boots, handsome socks. You know.

Brandon: That was really good Jackson.
Jackson: Thanks. I have skills!
Brandon: You have been hanging out with your mom too much.

Oh and my current favorite words that are made up and/or mispronounced by my children:

lellow = yellow
actuadentaly = actually mixed with accidentally to mean actually
mawning = mowing the lawn

Let March Madness begin...

Watch out! We are moving up in the world. This month, Charlotte will turn 3, Kendall will turn 1, and we will be purchasing our first home. We close on the house on Charlotte's birthday as well, so she can hold the permanent record for most expensive birthday gift for the rest of her life. But Kendall will not be forgotten either. She will have her very own CRIB. That is right people. It only took our 3rd child reaching her 1st birthday for us to finally have a crib in our house for the "baby." My children are so deprived. Yeah right. Of course we still have never had a nursery, and my guess is that we never will. Oh well, seems like they never missed anything either way. So let that be a lesson to anyone who feels like they cannot go all out and decorate a nursery and get coordinated baby stuff to fill it and have a crib for that matter...your children will turn out just fine. And I will say that I felt a tiny bit guilty when Jackson only had a baby corner in our apartment and Kendall's room in the house was my office and a multipurpose room. But honestly, God has shown me that impressing other people or trying to keep up with how other people think you should do things is a complete waste of time. So onward we go. For all I know, Kendall won't want to sleep in the crib anyway and I will end up pulling back out the port-a-crib. Isn't that always how it works?

So, now I start planning birthday parties, finalizing paint colors, etc. I am telling you, when you buy a house or have children, it is a constant battle to keep from comparing how you doing things or how your home looks with others. But in the end, you just have to take one decision at a time and try to keep focused on the right things...Heavenly things. And enough of my soap box.

Bring it on March!

The Daily Grind

It is crazy to try to work when you have 3 little kids and no nanny or family in town...just plain crazy. I have to develop some kind of system to accomplish all the various tasks each day or eventually the adrenaline rush will wear off and I will crash.

Kendall is not a problem. She is in a word: content. But Jackson and Charlotte are showing more of their strong personalities each day. And Jackson has been informing me in the past week that I can simply put a movie on for Charlotte and him, so I don't have to listen to them talk! What?! When did that message get sent? Like I said, I need a good system and fast!

The things Jackson says...interesting how a 4 year old can be so perceptive and so ridiculous at the same time. His latest idea is to pray that God will turn the entire world into candy (furniture, trees, cars, everything) so he can eat candy whenever he wants. He doesn't get sugar very often because honestly he doesn't need any extra "energy," but it is all that is on him mind. Sometimes I just want him to go ride his bike instead of cooking up these elaborate plans to consume as much candy as possible. My biggest challenge with him is going to be deceitfulness. He has a tendency to hide things which is exactly how I was as a little kid. I have my work cut out for me.

And Charlotte. She is the sweetest most affectionate little girl and then flips a switch and an iron clad wall goes up. You cannot help her, touch her, or in any way reason with her. Hmmm...Brandon is going to have to deal with that action!

It is fascinating to me how children change and each year reveals more nuances to their personality. I love having conversations with each of them, but it is hard to have them testing and challenging what I say and mimicking what I do. One more reason to get organized and prioritize my time because the last thing I want is for them to in any way feel as if they are being put on hold while I take care of everything else in life. If anyone has a solution to this problem, feel free to share!