hunts and lulu

our fall, in brief

2012-01-27T15:05:00.010-06:00

Just a few notes about our fall and what we were up to:

Since Lucy's hippo obsession had been continuing in a fierce kind of way, we took a special little tour of the hippos at the zoo. Little did I know (until that tour) that hippos are actually quite aggressive and not necessarily a nice animal. So glad my daughter prefers to cuddle with the stuffed variety.

The Cardinals proceeded into the postseason and opened up a can of whoop a**. They were amazing! I've never been so thankful for a season to be over with, though. It was super fun and super exhausting. My sweet little blondie scored a couple balls! I'm not complaining, but I was tired of going to games with...

...this big belly. I did enjoy many a kosher dog with grilled onions. And I really enjoyed returning to my regularly scheduled program: an early bedtime. Surprisingly enough, I'm already ready for baseball season again. We'll see how it goes this year with our myriad changes.

Lucy went on her first official field trip. Here is her testosterone-packed 3K class. They are a bundle and a half.

Lucy and Yia Yia on star day. I love to watch Lucy give clues for the mystery bag which always contains (what else, but) a hippo! She is always the super cutest star.

Halloween brought with it a seriously super cute cheerleader from the University of Lucy (I really hope this is not a picture of our future--I want to see grass stains on my daughters' soccer uniforms)...

and a butterfly. I was completely suckered in to overnighting this costume to my house because of my indecisive child. I'm not sure why I gave in. I think it was the pregnancy hormones. But she made for one beautiful butterfly.

Here's my sweet Lu, remnants of her breakfast bar all around her mouth and gorgeous as can be. I love this little spark.

And my big birthday girl, who turned 6!

Hunts "performed" in a Kindergarten Thanksgiving historical play. She was the opener for the entire thing and did her line all by herself. The microphone wasn't on, so she had to do her line again and it didn't even make her skip a beat. I was so proud...and crying, of course. She was awesome.

And here's our newest little pup, struggling to enjoy the bilibed. I mean, I would have the same face, too, if I had to wear that little space suit and lay on a light bed all day. She was my only babe who had jaundice, so it was a bit disconcerting for me, but everything ended up being just fine.

Here we are, just about to leave the hospital to bring her home. I promise to post new pictures of this baby soon, since she's changed so much already!

from 4 to 5

2012-01-10T16:51:00.004-06:00

Well, it certainly is a new year. And with this new year has come many new and wonderful changes. We had a super busy and exciting end to 2011 and we received our most favorite Christmas present, Polly, on Thursday, December 8, at 9:49 in the morning. I will never forget the sound of her cry as she entered this world. A perfectly loud and clear announcement to her parents that she was most definitely here. She is beautiful and healthy and calm. A perfect addition to our family. Sometimes I feel like it was a piece of cake (pregnancy, that is) and then I think back to the first time I took the test, saw the 2 pink lines, texted Josh while he was in China, and poured myself a huge glass of wine. From that moment, it seems as though I had been pregnant for about 2 years....as you can see here in this first photo. I was tremendously preggers here with my two kiddos. This was our last night before we became a family of five. And so we went from this...

...to this, with my six year old, holding our newborn child. I only wish my memory of this moment was as clear as the brightness of my daughters' eyes. But at least I have this picture. I love them all so much. I love them so much, my heart could explode. I am so proud that I was able to grow them and nurture them, even though I have several severe memories of barfing into various and sundry sinks & toilets throughout the city of Saint Louis (and one very vivid memory of a mermaid sink in Mexico while pregnant with Lucy). I love that I was able to feel them kick me for the first time and share my body space with them and endure the pain of carrying each of them to then bring them into this very wild world in which we live. I am thankful that I no longer have to share my body with them, but that I can share life outside the womb with them. They have ripped my heart wide open and they have filled my cup to the point of eternally running over. They are my greatest responsibility and challenge as well as my greatest joy and have changed my life for forever....and I wouldn't change any bit of it.

And so here we are, on the day we were discharged from the hospital, holding Polly between us and shamelessly taking our self-portrait to commemorate the special moment as the "three of us" before we went to bring her home to our other two babes. I love this picture not for its aesthetic beauty, but for the moment it represents. I love that Josh's eyes are cut off, but I can still see the happiness creases around his left eye. I love the "P" on her shirt, reminding us that she is our brand new baby with a brand new name and a brand new personality for us to discover and learn and love. I love the tiredness in my face: a well-deserved tiredness which was the result of bringing forth a new member into our family. But most of all, I love that Polly is touching both of our faces with her sweet baby hands, connecting us three. I am so thankful for my sweet new child and our family of five.

Colorado

2011-10-13T09:11:00.008-06:00

Josh and I had a little "babymoon," I guess you could say, in Colorado last week. It did include killing large animals [which I wouldn't exactly put in the category of romantic babymoons] and I was super sick with some horrible sinus infection type sickness Josh so lovingly passed on to me [which also stripped all romanticism out of the trip] but it was, nonetheless, incredible to have some time away from our sweet babes before our newest babe arrives in 8 weeks. I was so happy for Josh to have ample time hiking and hunting on those incredible Colorado mountains. I spent a lot of time lying in my bed blogging, which I was very happy to do. Here are a few snapshots of what our time was like.

This is Josh with his biggest elk yet. I missed going on the elk hunt this year because there is such beauty in the hunt. These huge bulls have these almost prehistoric bugles that echo among the mountains...it's beautiful and eerie and compelling all at the same time. You can tell by Josh's smile just what a tremendous feat this was to get this huge elk. I am so proud of him!

And his guide, Scott, was so pumped about Josh's elk! It is huge.

This pretty much sums up my happy husband, with a cigar in one hand and a double macchiato in the other, about to embark upon a short fishing trip.

My belly at 30 weeks.

Josh's mule deer, one of his favorite hunts to date.

My 23-inch trout with my guide, Duncan. That was about the extent of my physical labor for the week: wrestling this trout in. I caught about 4 others, but this was my biggest. I took a nice nap afterwards.

This was our whole crew this year: guides and everybody. It's a fun time of camaraderie and relaxation.

And with our guide, Scott Hatch.

good challenge

2011-10-08T18:22:00.000-06:00

I came across this today on Pinterest and really, really like it. It's good stuff to think about.

Lucy's first Star Day

2011-10-05T20:59:00.000-06:00

Last week was Lucy's first Star Day in 3K. The star gets to bring a surprise in the mystery bag and give the class three clues to guess what's inside. It gives each child exposure to some "public speaking," if you will. Lucy had a brief moment where she told me she wanted me to be the one to give the clues, but I told her she would do great and she did! Her teacher, Mrs. Heinemann, is such a loving and nurturing woman who really gives Lucy tender encouragement.

Here Lucy is revealing her surprise: what other than a hippo. Of course.

Then the star goes around the circle giving each student a chance to see the item up close. This little girl is Winnie, one of Lucy's favorite friends in school this year.

Super serious Lucy. I treasure these moments that I get to peek into what her world is like in 3K. It's been a great place for her to develop.

Daddy, with his star daughter.

And eating her special cookie for her special star day. Great job, Lucy! You are always our little star. We love you!

Huntleigh's tile

2011-10-05T08:00:00.001-06:00

Remember that tile Hunts had painted back in the spring? Well, the Nordstrom finally opened and there was a fun time set apart for the kids to go and find their tiles. We ran into the Lindmans while we were searching for Hunts' tile and I snapped some pics of our girls together. I love this one of Hunts and Manna. They have a sweet friendship for which I am really thankful. Teachers often mistake them for the other because of their blonde hair and blue eyes.

Here they are in all their toothy glory at the end of JK last year.

Hunts posing with her finished tile at Nordstrom. I still think it's so cool and fun that her art is at the store for everyone to see! (And I'm really glad they chose the giraffe and not the whale, by the way!)

Giraffe face painting to celebrate the giraffe tile. I love Huntleigh's beautiful little profile.

These are the little sisters, Lucy and Eden, who are also in class together. They were too young to paint the tiles, but they were certainly able to take part in the festivities of the morning. Here they are modeling their painted hippos, an idea driven by Lucy. Have I mentioned my child's obsession with hippos? And when I say obsession, I'm really not sure I can express the full impact of that word. She is seriously in love with hippos. I actually think it's kind of a fun obsession to have because it seems to me to be a bit unusual. I'm already all prepared for her birthday and we are going to have a special tour of the hippos at the zoo next week, so I suppose I'm entering into the obsession, too.

And just a little close up of the hippo, so Lucy can enjoy the hippo now that it is long gone.

soccer season

2011-10-04T19:28:00.001-06:00

Soccer has been another first for us this year. We tried it when Hunts was just a bit younger and it wasn't the right time. But the swim team really helped prepare Huntleigh for soccer in so many ways, and it has been a success this fall! Josh is one of Hunts' coaches and she is playing on a team with all her friends from school, so those have also helped to conquer her potential fears of the sport. So far this season our team is undefeated and Huntleigh has this uncanny ability to remember the scores of each game and she keeps very close track of how many goals are being scored during a game. It's really cute. Here she is on the day of her first game.

Coach daddy doing his coaching thing. I love watching him interact with the kids. I love his understanding of the sport and how he applies it to all these 5 & 6 year olds.

These next three pics capture the making of Huntleigh's first goal! Proud momma here! For her future games I bought her some hot pink shoelaces and told her that they were going to help her score some more goals this season. We have been out of town this past week, but she told us that she scored another goal at her game on Saturday. Victory!

Lucy's room

2011-10-03T16:01:00.002-06:00

Since my children went back to school, I have had some time to focus on finishing touches and final details for certain rooms in our house. So, I am finally posting pictures of Lucy's bedroom at least. I know it's been a year, so maybe no one even cares anymore, but I do intend to post more pictures of our house before this baby comes!

Lucy's room is one of my favorites. I had originally intended for the bird theme to be incorporated into Huntleigh's room, but the birds decided to land in Lucy's room. And I think the shade of teal I chose goes really well with who Lucy is.

I modified the alphabet from Huntleigh's bedroom at our old house and wove in the green teal color with some golden tones, too. I painted the "A" and the "r" myself and was so proud afterwards. I love creating something like this for my children and I love it even more when I hear Lucy singing the alphabet aloud when she is getting ready to go to sleep.

I wasn't willing to commit to painting the kids' rooms a big, bold color yet, so I went with a neutral palette and worked the color in around it. I think it even took me about 7 tries just to finally settle on the neutral that I did. But I did add that splash of teal to the arch ceiling in the entry to Lucy's room and love it. The "every child is an artist" sign came from this artist. She/they are Saint Louis-based, but ship their products anywhere. And if there's any other items you're interested in knowing about, I'm happy to share my sources. Just let me know! I'm also happy to help decorate your child's room to make it a space of beauty in which for him or her to dwell.

firsts

2011-10-03T15:39:00.003-06:00

We now have a Kindergartener and a 3K-er. Summer seemed to end so quickly, but the entry into the school year has been quite smooth. The girls both love school and Huntleigh begs us to put her in full day kindergarten, so at least we know she loves her teacher and loves learning! Here are the girls in their first days of school: Huntleigh started on a Thursday and Lucy started the next day, which also happened to be my 34th birthday, so that was fun! Neither of these pictures are my favorite of my children, but they are the memory capturing them on their first days and I'm thankful for that. It's hard to get major photographic cooperation at 8:15 in the morning from my kiddos.

heading west

2011-10-03T11:02:00.004-06:00

Upon returning from Chicago, Hunts and Lu were in their 5th and 2nd weddings (respectively) as flower girls. It was the very meaningful wedding of our special babysitter, Katie Tipton. KT was our first babysitter to come on vacation with us when Hunts was one and I was about 12 weeks pregnant with Lucy. Katie got sick while we were in Mexico and we could not have fallen more in love with her. Spend a couple days in a hospital in a foreign country with someone and you will get to know them a whole lot better than you knew them before! And she's seen our family in a number of different situations, so she knows how quirky and weird we are and she still loves us! Look at what a beautiful bride she was. We love you, Mrs. Katie Spencer! You'll always be our number one!

And a day after the wedding, we hopped on a plane to head to the beautiful pacific northwest to see our good friends, the Walkers. We spent a gorgeous five days in Bellingham, WA where they have planted an amazing church: Christ Church Bellingham. The Lord is doing great things there and it was so refreshing to be with Nate and Shannon and our (combined) 8 children...well, one still in utero. The kids did really well all together and it was fun to reconnect and to spend time reflecting on the past year and how the Lord has been working in and through their church plant. And we were able to go to Boundary Bay....twice! And Top Pot Doughnuts twice, as well, on our way in and out of Seattle!

Will and Hunts sharing a moment of reflection over this little crab.

Big Lucy, Hunts, Will and Ada. There was no attempt to get a picture of all the kiddos together at one time. Just a little tricky.

hot town, summer in the city

2011-10-03T10:00:00.000-06:00

Our good friends, Drew and Jessi, came into town for about 36 hours and we were able to steal one evening of their time in Saint Louis. It was just perfect. I usually get to see Jessi now about once a year (with all our kids) and Josh gets to see Drew once a year, but it has been 5 1/2 years since we've had some adult time, just the four of us. We had an excellent dinner at Franco with a few hours of uninterrupted conversation. True bliss.

And as Drew and Jessi pulled out of Saint Louis, we pulled out on our way up to Chicago for a mini-trip. We were able to have some great time with my mom's side of the family. We spent a beautiful evening together on my Aunt Carrie and Uncle Chris' deck. Here's Lucy with my cousin Lauren. Sweet pic.

My momma with her siblings, from left to right: her sister Carrie and her husband Chris, her brother John and his wife Lisa, my dad and my mom.

And the whole gang: me, Lauren, my mom, Josh with Lucy (who is holding a fake snake!), my Uncle Chris, my dad, Tommy, my Uncle John, Aunt Lisa, Celia, and in front: Aunt Carrie with Hunts, my cousin Camille and her son Carter. We were missing Scott, Kevin & Cassie, Jackson and Jason...I think we need a wedding to get us all together again!

Silly girl in the city.

We stayed with some old/new friends for the night and our kids had a great time playing together: Rachel, Michael and Gabe were great hosts to Hunts and Lucy.

And no trip to Chicago is complete without a trek to American Girl Place. The girls love it, and I was able to get my Christmas shopping done! But seriously, it's gonna be awhile before we go back there. The girls need to experience the amazing culture of Chicago next time. No more of this Michigan Avenue retail therapy!

overcoming our fears

2011-10-01T07:40:00.005-06:00

Huntleigh participated on the swim team this summer and surprised us all. Josh and I decided to sign her up for swim team because we know her incredible potential as an athlete, plus we think it's part of being a well-rounded person. Last summer, after initially overcoming her fear of having her head underwater, she taught herself to swim and she practically became a fish, so this summer we knew it was time for her to be more challenged in the sport. She did fine at practices until they had "time trials" and then she freaked out. There was no getting her to do time trials because, as my extrovert child told me, "I don't want all those people looking at me, mom." This presented a tiny little hurdle to jump over, seeing as time trials were just an informal introduction to what a swim meet was actually going to be like. So for days, she would go to practice, but would skip out on time trials at the end, which drove Josh and me crazy, but we pretended like it was no big deal.

Side note: since Josh and I are both firstborns, we really struggle to not have these high expectations of our firstborn. We sincerely just don't want her to turn out like us, in the sense that it took us both a long time in our lives to bloom and to overcome our fears of so many things. We want freedom from fear for Hunts while seeing her potential but yet not forcing her into commitments beyond her emotional capabilities.
It's a tricky balance, but we pray for wisdom to know how to manage our expectations and her (sometimes unwarranted) fears.

So, we didn't attend the first meet, because we didn't want to overwhelm her. Nor the second one, which was at a different club. Somehow, Hunts was finally ready by the time we had our third meet. She did one race and I had my camera ready and everything, but realized my battery was not in my camera, so there are no pictures of this major accomplishment. Oh well. I'll remember how I was crying because I was so proud of her for overcoming her fear, and how she was crying at the end because water filled up in her goggles the whole time, but how she won 4th place out of 6 swimmers and got her first ribbon at the end. After she got over the fact that she had water in her goggles the whole time, she couldn't stop thinking/talking about swimming in the next meet....at which she had swimmer's ear. Of course. So she couldn't swim in that meet and then the next meet was cancelled and her final meet we were all ready for....until we waited for 30 minutes for an imminent torrential downpour to begin (at which time it finally did) and our final meet was cancelled as we stood looking at an empty pool.

All this to say, Huntleigh swam in one meet this summer before our conference meet, which was so much bigger than I could have prepared her for. She was excited as we got there, but upon seeing a couple hundred people was again overwhelmed and so we had to patiently wait out her fear. This is where the team was really good for her. Her coaches encouraged her without pressure and her sweet 6th grade friends on the team encouraged her and finally, finally she participated in a backstroke heat, in which she won first place in her category. And then she went on to do a breaststroke relay in the 6-year olds category. This was complete victory to me and Josh. I love having that kind of pride and emotion for my child.

At the end of the summer, just after school had begun, we attended a sports banquet for the summer sports participants. Huntleigh got her trophy for participating on the 2011 swim team and a plaque for participating in the conference meet but her third trophy is what took us by surprise. She won the best girl newcomer of the year award for "always making people smile and having a positive attitude at practice and with her team." I could not have been more proud. Talk about tears. I'm crying again even as I type this. That is success to me. I don't care if she never gets a blue ribbon again. Huntleigh is so proud of her trophies. She slept with them in her bed that night and they are now proudly displayed upon the shelves in her bedroom.

Josh and I always talk about how exercising courage does not mean we go and do something without fear. It really means that in spite of our fear we choose to do something anyway, which is especially difficult. But God often blesses the result. Here's to overcoming our fears. Great job, Huntleigh. We love you!

may/june

2011-09-30T21:22:00.005-06:00

Our May dinner club took us to Scottsdale for a few days. Despite feeling sick most of the time from my early pregnancy, it was a blast. I'm so glad we were able to snap this great picture of the 12 of us! Hagers, Finneys, Browns, Amoses, Kaufmanns & Reisners: here's to fun times ahead!!

I love this picture of our babes. Glad I captured a quick moment in time: all pink and cute in their cheongsams from our friend Sharon in Hong Kong. At least I took one picture of my children in June. I spent most of my time trying not to throw up, so I remember feeling not so creative with the camera....

And our 9th anniversary was spent at Annie Gunn's with our friends, the Finneys, who were married on the same date and almost exactly the same time as us! June 29, 2002 at 2 pm!

all covered in Lilly

2011-09-30T20:53:00.002-06:00

My mother-in-law is a big fan of Lilly Pulitzer and each year she helps manage this huge sale at her boutique in Boca Grande. The fun part is that she first gets to shop for before all the other customers come in. Needless to say, my girls are dressed to the nines in their Lilly dresses from B! Here they are covered in all their new Lilly dresses with Pop and B right before summer began.

more florida

2011-09-30T16:49:00.007-06:00

So I am going to be doing a bit of retro blogging this week. Just hang in there. At least there will be new things to look at! I couldn't resist these sweet photos of my beach babes, sandy bottoms and all.

a little bit of this, little bit of that.

2011-09-11T21:46:00.005-06:00

So I'm just doing a bit of retro-blogging. It's actually been great to see that we have done a bunch of fun things in spite of an "un-fun" 20 weeks of pregnancy. Some days felt like they were never going to end and yet the weeks have seemingly gone by quite quickly. Anyway, we took an early summer vacation to Florida in May. In spite of feeling sick most of the time, it was such a perfect family time. We had an excellent low key trip. And we love being silly as a family.

Lucy fighting off the crab. She won.

We came back to a few busy weeks at the end of school. Huntleigh's JK class did this incredible art unit and had an art "gala" at the end of all their studies. We went out for a fancy dinner beforehand and then she presented her art to us as the docent in their "art museum." Such a fun evening.

Pop and B came to join her at her art display. Here they are in front of the Monet display.

And Huntleigh with her loving and nurturing JK teachers, Mrs. Burzinski on the right and Mrs. Harvey on the left. We love our school!

Lucy had an end of year gymnastic presentation which was AWESOME! I was just crying all over the place. She could not have been cuter or more proud of herself and I just love watching Lucy do something that is a special thing just for her.

Just look at her sweet face! I love it! Here she is presenting at the end of her jump.

And balance-beaming it. She rocked the balance beam and then had a little melt down after this presentation. She got a little trophy and was so proud of it, she slept with it in her bed for a few nights. Too cute.

She got a little slurpee reward after all was said and done.

seriously

2011-08-01T11:08:00.002-06:00

Blogging has obviously become a very remote and sidelined past time for me. But since I am very exceptional at procrastinating and I really should be packing for our plane trip in just a few minutes, I thought I'd hop on my blog and do a quick update.

So just to sum-up:

This is my precious 3 1/2 year old from this past Saturday. She and Hunts were in Katie Tipton's wedding and they were stellar. I mean, Hunts is an old pro. It was her 5th wedding. No kidding. It was Lucy's 2nd. I am happy to hire them out for a small fee to be flower children. They will be a hit.

In other news: we have had a crazy July full of lots of fun activities and we just returned from Chicago and will be on our way to Seattle in about an hour.

We are also 21 weeks pregnant with our third child. We are having our third GIRL and are super excited. Josh is completely out numbered, seeing as we also have a girl dog. If we count our dog, Kate, that's 5 to 1. Our baby is due to arrive December 8th.

Since my husband is making fun of me for blogging and I should probably be packing my children's clothing, I think I will leave you for now. Happy August!

the northeast

2011-06-09T14:42:00.006-06:00

Back at the end of March, my dad and I took a trip up to Vermont to see my brother in his new state of residence. We had a quick few days together just hanging in local eateries and enjoying the beauty of the state, but one of our highlights was taking a tour of Beau Ties Ltd. of Vermont. For those of you who know and love my dad, you will understand why we went quite a bit out of our way to tour this little company who makes a big impact. They were ever-so-gracious hosts to us, and the women who work in the sewing room really love what they do. It's a fascinating process, and they'll even turn your favorite neck tie into a bow tie for you!

Here's my dad with Mr. Bill Kenerson, the founder and owner of Beau Ties Ltd. The only thing missing from this picture is a bow tie around my dad's neck!

And just a few more family pics of our time in Vermont. My brother was a great host and it was great to be in his environment.

A partial view from the tower at Hubbard Park.

After my time with Scott, I drove down to meet Josh in Boston who was there for business and squash. I haven't been to Boston since I was 16 and I really had very few memories of what Boston was like. Boston is incredible. I would move there in a heartbeat. Great city, great culture, great seafood, good enough baseball, great shopping...I could go on and on. We spent time with our friends Preston and Mayo and had a blast. It was an incredible trip, not to mention incredibly cold, too. Boston is calling my name.

Here's my boy squashin' it up. I think I'm his bad luck charm, because he always seems to lose the matches I watch, but he did manage to be a 3.0 Division Finalist!

And we had to take the standard tourist photo of the ducks from Robert McCloskey's Make Way for Ducklings for the kiddos. We love Robert McCloskey in our house. He is definitely one of our favorite children's authors. Blueberries for Sal, One Morning in Maine, Time of Wonder....they are all beautiful books.

winter days

2011-06-08T20:12:00.004-06:00

In some small ways, this picture sums up Lucy from this winter. She is my pajama girl. It's very tricky to get her out of her jammies in the morning. She would preferably wear them all day if I would let her. And those Wheat Thins are a staple in her diet. The child would never eat any protein if I didn't make her. She would be quite happy to subsist on her "crunchy crackers." She's our cheeky monkey, she is.

And this one is modeling the JK reading quilt her teacher, Mrs. Burzinski, so lovingly put together for the Junior Kindergarten classes. Early in the year, each child was given a quilt square to decorate that would be sown into the quilt and then, when the quilt was completed, every student had a chance to bring it home to "snuggle up and read" with his or her family. Huntleigh was so excited when she came home with it one Wednesday! We had a great time snuggling up and reading an extra amount of books that night.

girls, guns & good friends

2011-06-08T19:04:00.003-06:00

So, I lied. I told you I would be posting (some) pictures of our new house by maybe mid-April and then I went and abandoned my blog until June. I'm sorry. There is perhaps some legitimate reasoning for the abandonment, but then again, maybe not. I guess I'm just lazy. So....these pictures actually originate back at the end of February, and that is where I will begin catching up. Josh had his annual boys' weekend at Raccoon Ranch and I survived it because my good friend Jessi was with me. She has two sweet boys, Hudson and Bennett, who are both just a bit younger than Lucy and Huntleigh. It makes for quite the exciting household when we are all together.

Hudson (2). Lucy (3). Bennett (4). Hunts (5).

We took the kiddos to Monkey Joe's to jump out some energy. I really hate Monkey Joe's, but the kids love it, and admittedly, it's a super fun place on either a very cold or very hot day. It's just a bouncy house on steroids. Next door to Monkey Joe's there is one of the largest liquor stores I have ever seen. That's smart marketing.

By Sunday, we were ready to see the daddies, so we took a little car trip up to the farm and the kids shot guns for the first time. They loved it. I love that my girls wear dresses but want to shoot guns. Their daddy is the best teacher because he's very patient and very thorough. Here's Lu with the gun.

And Bennett.

And Hunts. She loved it! She had this cute little laugh every time she pulled the trigger. Priceless.

And here are the boys. Anthony, Andrew, Kurt, Scott, and Josh. Coming to you from Chattanooga, Huntington, Los Angeles and Saint Louis. During this brief weekend the wives weathered: electricity outages, trips to the E.R. for a busted chin on a certain 3-year old, sleepless nights due to children barfing, and scary noises coming from the basement in a new house. But we made it through. Next year we're leaving the daddies home.

the new and the old

2011-03-22T06:00:00.002-06:00

I love these two. And I mean my two chairs. Of course I love my children. If you read my blog at all, you will know that about me. But I am really proud of my chairs. Found at an estate sale in Hampton Park last September and just recovered in January. I love, love, love them. They have become a very happy statement piece for our new foyer, but they're just the beginning of this project known as decorating. It's always a shifting canvas, I think. But I really enjoy it.

Four feet.

The other two: the firstborn and the trouble. Can't you just see it?!

yia yia and poppa

2011-03-21T15:36:00.010-06:00

I know there are a lot you out there who would like me to post pictures of my new home, but I will not be doing that until probably the middle-ish of April. I'm sorry to make everyone wait, but I am welcome to having people stop by to just have a little look-see. And I will happily take a Starbucks coffee for admission. In the meantime, I have a bit of potty talk to discuss. My kids are really in that place (especially Lucy) where they like to push the limits to see how much pee and poop talk they can possibly get away with before punishment ensues. I'm not really sure why it gives children such a delight to talk about poop, but I guess it is interesting, (if we're honest) to some degree. Anyway, my parents and I went to the Zoo with the kids a couple weeks ago and we spent awhile studying this display near the hippos on the River's Edge. Please notice the little fish in the corner saying "Yum!" to the poop with a knife and fork in its fin. Lucy loved it. She talked about the hippo's poop for days afterward. That's legitimate poop talk in our house, because it's educational, and super fascinating to a 3-year old. Just too funny.

I'm loving this next picture. I love having my children know their grandparents. I love that my parents enter in to the lives of their young grandchildren, which, I admit, is not always an easy task. But it's not just poop they're talking about. They're faithfully building the foundation of a lifelong relationship. These days could be short, but I pray they are not. I earnestly pray for many years ahead. I want my mom and dad to be on the top of the list of those people our children run to when they've finally discovered that Josh and I are crazy and have no idea what we're talking about. Or when they have boy troubles. Or when they are wrestling with who God is and is He real and why is He worth knowing? These days of poop talk are just the beginning. I am thankful for this captured moment.

bag lady

2011-03-07T23:44:00.005-06:00

This is my daughter, the bag lady. This child has taken to putting every one of her favorite things into this silly little "lucy" bag that our friend Audrey brought home from L.A. for my Lucy. She even sleeps with the bag. Because a bag that has your name on it is much more comfortable than just sleeping with the comfy stuffed animals themselves. Please notice the crinkly nature of the bag...it has clearly been snuggled. All in all, this picture has captured a particular moment in time because this child bites her blankie, as shown, and carries around this silly bag with her pink baby hippo from Christmas and all her stupid Squinkies I bought her for Valentine's Day (I am sorry for that purchase) and her giraffe lovey. I will soon miss these days, I am certain. But some days, when we have lost the horsey and turtle Squinkie and have no idea of their whereabouts, it's a bit exhausting as we go on a housewide search for these ridiculous plastic animals. Please notice those gorgeous hardwood floors in the background of this picture. That was one of our huge projects upon moving into our new house....completely worth the result.

artist

2011-03-04T23:31:00.004-06:00

Hunts got an invitation to paint a tile that will go in the floor of our newest Nordstrom opening in Saint Louis this fall. It was a really good activity for her to do and I loved watching her create something for such a public venue, where she'll be able to see her artwork displayed. Now, I realize that her tile could be chosen for the nethermost corner of the Nordstrom under a rack of clothing so that no one ever sees it, but I will still be so proud of that tile.....even though I hope it's the giraffe. The nebulous whale/fish tile is admittedly my less favorite, and was I silently a bit competitive with the child who was painting PERFECT butterflies next to my child? Maybe. I just told myself she was about 8, until I asked the mom how old her daughter was and she said "5." "So is she in Kindergarten?" "No, not until next year." All righty, then. I just moved on to silently comparing her giraffe to some 10 year-old boy's indescript picture of a warthog. Not so cool, buddy. My child's giraffe kicked your ugly warthog's butt. Anyway, I'm not sure where that competitive streak came from. I think it must have been that "Tiger Mom" article I read.

Here's the proud artist with her tiles. Two for safe measure, just in case something breaks on its way to being fired. Look for it, coming September 2011.

the light and dark of lucy lennox

2011-02-28T21:24:00.003-06:00

I love my children very much. They are constantly in a state of sanctifying me, which is very good and very exhausting, to be honest. This little one, she's fierce. Sometimes unpredictable, occasionally dramatic, always super squeezable. Nothing slips past this girl. She is a stealth and astute observer of her surroundings. And she has a funny sense of humor.

the light and the dark

done with snow

2011-02-26T21:26:00.006-06:00

I've had it with snow for this year. Don't get me wrong....I do love snow. I've grown up with snow, living most of my life in Chicago and upstate New York, but having young children in winter is another whole story. The layers, the accessories: it's like Ralphie's little brother on "A Christmas Story." I'm pretty certain Huntleigh has lost about 5 pairs of mittens this winter which I am really hoping to find in the lost and found at school.

Favorite snow pic from the winter to date.

Here is our 2011 snowman. I was impressed. I had nothing to do with it.

We took our sledding adventure at Art Hill this year. Lucy did make it down the hill one time and then sat in the car for remainder of our excursion, while the rest of us had fun fighting the sleet flying in our faces. Ouch. Let's just say next year we'll wait until the sun comes out to get on our sleds. Poor Huntleigh. I hope she wasn't scarred for life.

3 years of light

2011-02-25T15:03:00.004-06:00

Lucy's 3rd birthday was a bit of a blur this year, but I really don't think it mattered to her. Just a cupcake, some presents and lots of singing "Happy Birthday" and I know she felt sufficiently loved. Lucy is our baby who was born during a very dark time in our family history, and she has radically embodied the meaning of her name, being "one who brings light." We are thankful for our little light, as she insists on being our baby and not our big girl. "Daddy, I am not a big girl. I am a baby girl. But Daddy, I am three, not two!" Well, okay then, little Lu.

I can almost hear the "cheese!" flowing from this picture!

with spring on the horizon....

2011-02-22T22:53:00.002-06:00

....I thought it'd be a good time to post. There are myriad blog posts that I have written in my head, and almost on a daily basis, at that. I think most of them would be interesting, but maybe not. Who knows? Sometimes I get clogged up because I have all these pictures, but I really don't feel the need to post everything, and I have all these thoughts, but my blog is not really a writing blog....so then I just continue to not do anything with the blog. It's a ridiculous cycle, really.

We had a very good Christmas this year. But I will say, that Christmas doesn't really come easily anymore. It's a very difficult time of year for me. It produces a lot of emotion for Josh and me and there are very few outlets for our sadness because isn't it a time of year when everyone is supposed to be upbeat and "put together" and happy? ! We might look that way on the outside, but my heart just really longs for Jesus to return and to make all things right and new. Being with family at Christmas is just the reminder that things aren't the way they were meant to be. Relationships are broken, people are missing, and gifts never ever make the empty feelings dissipate. In no way do I intend to sound like a cynic or a pessimist, and I am completely willing to explain anything in the entirety of this text. We live in a world trampled by sin and no one is able to make things right other than Jesus Christ, himself. So in the season of Advent, the season of waiting for the coming of Christ (not just as a baby, but as a King come to rescue his people), my heart is sensitive to all that is un-right and incomplete in my life. Do I have joy? Absolutely. But in my adult life, my joy mingles with sorrow while I wait patiently in the already and the not yet for Jesus to come and wipe the tears away forever.

And speaking of joy, this picture is my favorite from the Christmas season. My beautiful firstborn, full of excitement from receiving her new American Girl doll from her B and Pop. Click on this for more pics. And yes, I do have braces.

our fall, in brief

2010-12-19T20:38:00.020-06:00

With winter snapping at our heels and a crazy season behind us, I wanted to briefly catch up on a few major activities and milestones. This is Hunts on her first day of Junior Kindergarten this year. She has made incredible strides this year at school and I am thankful for a loving, academically challenging environment for her. Here she is on the homepage of our school website!

One of the fun things they do at the beginning of JK is "All About Me" day. Even though Huntleigh's all about me day fell on one of the busiest days we've had to date, Huntleigh shone like the star that she is and she ruled that classroom like the future CEO of her own business. She was amazing. She shared a bit about herself with some little props and pictures and then she led the class in shouting all the letters in her name, then she clapped out the syllables in her name. I loved being there to see her shine!

Syllable counting....

Just a bit of a timeline: We closed on our new home on September 15 and then we began our projects on the 16th. One of the most high impact projects was ripping up the nasty pink carpet in the upstairs. Beautiful hardwood floors were just waiting to be walked on underneath. We used an amazing company to do the work and they did an incredible job. I highly recommend using them for any future flooring projects.

The basement became one of the biggest projects in our house because we knew how much it would be used by our family. I put my heart and soul into making this space a warm, loving place in which to hang out. I can't wait to post pictures of the new and improved "lower level"!!

In the midst of all the autumn chaos, I planned and executed a double 60th birthday surprise party for my parents 3 days after we closed on our house. The house closing was my red herring for the party. I am always SO pleased when I can fool my mom and I pulled off the party without her even suspecting a single detail!!! We had an amazing night and I even got my brother back in town for a few days, which was awesome.

The following weekend, our girls were in their first wedding together. They were incredibly well-behaved and beautiful. Being the emotional person I am, I cried as they came down the aisle together. I am so proud of my girls and I was so happy to be a part of Johnston and Amanda's day of celebration. What a fun memory! Lucy's flower ball was about to fall apart in this picture, so her jaw was dropping right about the time the flowers were falling the floor....

I've been on a couple field trips this fall with the JK and our first one was apple picking. I love being with my daughter in her school environment. I mean look at this face. It's irresistible.

Huntleigh and her friend Florence. They're good little buddies.

This was our special meet-and-greet with a sea lion at the Saint Louis Zoo. I love Lucy's body language in this picture! I love the sea lions, but I have to admit, when you're up close to this 400-pound animal, as gentle as they are, they're still a bit scary!

Here's Hunts getting ready to pet the sea lion. She was our brave one that day. It was a great visit!

My mom and I took a whirlwind trip to Chicago for a weekend so she could attend a high school reunion and we could see a couple friends & family, and do what else than go to the American Girl Place and IKEA! Here are Hunts and my mom during our brunch at American Girl Place.

And could Lucy look any happier than in this pic? Too cute. Love all those teeth!

Halloween is a very big event in our new neighborhood. We had a great evening with Josh's sister Abby who came to trick-or-treat with Ladybug Girl and Snow White. You gotta love it when your neighbors give candy to the kiddos and beer to the adults. That's community for you! Halloween night also marks the first night we slept at our new house, and it was a great night to really call our new house our home.

Sweet Aunt Abby!

Huntleigh's 5th birthday was just a couple days after we officially "moved in." Crazy times. We had a very crazy birthday party for her with the best cake I've ever had for her. I did NOT make it, but I did design it with my new favorite cake maker in Saint Louis. Here's Huntleigh's cake and this is my parents' birthday cake. This woman is incredible.

And last, but not least, the school where my dad is Headmaster opened its doors at a new location on November 22nd and we went bright and early to celebrate with my parents and the school. We are thankful to The Journey for its willingness to extend the invitation to bring this school under its wing to be its new home for the time! We've all done enough moving this fall to last us for a long time! And that's the end of my blog post. I'm sorry if you fell asleep while reading it....Happy Monday!

scrumptrulescent

2010-12-18T14:33:00.002-06:00

This one. Love this one. Funny, tender, delightful, yummy, emotionally perceptive, challenging, loving, and stubborn as hell. Can't get enough of her.

the end of an era

2010-12-17T21:55:00.003-06:00

I do plan to consistently return to this blog someday. In the meantime, we have said goodbye to our wonderful house where we spent a very happy five years. We brought our two beautiful babies home here and nurtured our young family here and had friends from all over the US and the world visit us here. We loved this house well and built a deck and added a back door and gave it a friendly third floor play space and the list goes on....Could we have done more? Sure. Should we have done less? Absolutely. Live and learn, hindsight, blah, blah, blah. We are so very grateful to have sold our home in a time of economic recession. The Lord was very gracious to us to send a buyer our way. We only own one home now, and I realize that is more than many people can ask for. For this, we are simultaneously overwhelmed and extremely thankful. God is good. He is good in plenty and in want. I am excited to post pictures of our new home. It is a place of beauty and chaos right now. Chaos is not an easy place for me to sit, but I'm pretty sure God is sanctifying me through this and it is seems like the hardest thing I have gone through to date. If you know any of my story, I suppose that sounds dramatic, but moving with children is....complex and I don't always manage those complexities very well. I am very thankful for a gentle, loving husband who is always willing to eat frozen pizza and bring me a glass of wine.

life in disarray

2010-10-12T20:30:00.003-06:00

Hello blog world. I have been absentee. I must admit that when my creativity goes elsewhere, I can't keep up with my blog. I have pictures from June that are just floating around somewhere. They might never make it on the blog.

So....an update: Josh and I closed on our new home on Wednesday September 15. I thought the day would never come. Now, it has come and gone and it's almost been a month and a lot has changed. There are always, always, always people in our house doing something or another. It's kind of tiring. We are not living there, yet. Praise God for a safe, comfortable, familiar place to rest our heads at night....our old home. Having two homes has been a blessing in disguise, but not necessarily the blessing I was hoping for. But who am I to know what is best for me?! This is where trust really comes in to play.

We are tackling some major projects on our new home that will make all of our living spaces homey and welcoming....namely the family room, the basement, and the bedrooms (especially Huntleigh's and Lucy's). I will try to get some pictures up...try being the operative word. And there are some things that don't even look like progress has been made: like the wall where we found all the dead mice in the insulation. Not kidding. That wall looks like the same old wall. It just doesn't smell nearly as bad as it once did.

And paint colors....oh my gosh. I have never spent so many hours on choosing such basic colors. I've enjoyed it, but I'm still not nearly finished making those decisions. They're all neutrals, so far. Should neutrals seriously cause me this much stress?! I am not super human. I cannot do all things simultaneously and do them perfectly. And lately, sometimes it's all I can do to get my kids dressed and have their hair brushed and make sure they eat well and sleep peacefully in spite of all the chaos surrounding our lives right now. And if you see me, I'm chewing a piece of gum because I probably didn't brush my teeth that morning.

I leave you with a totally unrelated and outdated picture of my sweet children and their excellent summer ballet recital in August.

Sun Valley!

2010-09-13T19:46:00.003-06:00

Hunts took this picture of us with Katie Tipton. This was on our vacation to IDAHO in July! I am proud to say that I did nothing to edit this photo, other than maybe add some contrast. Great work by our little budding photographer. This is absolutely my favorite picture of the summer.

where was I when my babies got so big?

2010-08-17T20:38:00.001-06:00

the already and the not yet

2010-08-12T14:46:00.002-06:00

We're very much in an in-between place in life right now. Some days it is really frustrating. Some days I just kind of take it as it is. Some days I work really, really hard to get everything in order and keep everything perfect....and then no one comes to look at our house. And then some days are like today: I don't do much of anything at all. We are in between houses. We are in between the end of summer laziness and the beginning of school day craziness. We are just in between. We are waiting. And we are trying to do this without giving up on the now. This part--this in-between part--is always the most difficult part for me. It's been this way my whole life. It's hard for me to not want to just give up and move on already. I'm lacking motivation....not that this awesome humidity is really helping anything. Anyway, here's one of my bubbly bearded cutie pies.

out of routine

2010-07-25T19:08:00.006-06:00

These are my two awesome babes. In their own ways they are both cheeky, both perceptive, both beautiful and have tender hearts. We have good days and we have bad days, but we've been having a lot of great days lately.

I am super grateful for our new home, but it has been really tricky to have our current home on the market. We will officially own our new home on September 15, so until then, we are still living in our current home. It's not an easy situation to have small children and to have your house be in perfect "show-ready" condition at any given moment. I feel like a slave to keeping my home clean, and if you know me at all, you might think I'd love the opportunity to clean all the time, but not so much. Not under these circumstances. I want my children to feel free in their own home, but instead, my 4-year old has to ask me if she can play with toys and I hear her telling Lucy, "No Lucy! We can't touch that now!" Boo. All it takes is one buyer. And so we wait patiently.

Summer has us falling out of any semblance of routine, which is both freeing and tricky. We go to the pool A LOT, which has been a complete lifesaver for us. It's kind of like our home away from home, which gives us a bit of security, when our home doesn't really feel like our own anymore. Swimming has been a challenge for Hunts, but she has decided to completely teach herself. She and Josh had an intense 30-minute battle one afternoon, when he told her that she had to choose to put her head underwater or we were done with the pool. She cried and cried and cried and then finally she chose to dunk her own head. She was a different little girl after that. More confident and daring. In June she was loaded down with floaties and water wings and noodles and just last week she decided to drop all equipment and swim on her own. I could not be prouder of her. In her own time.

In spite of our house being on the market, we had Art Camp at our house last week. One of our favorite sitters, Karri, comes from a sweet, artistic family and she loves doing projects with Huntleigh. So I asked her if she wanted to do an art camp with a few kiddos in our garage and she said yes! It was perfect. Karri put a lot of thought into the camp and the kids had a good week experimenting and learning and painting.

My proud little artist in front of her gallery of the week's art.

This one. Oh, this one. She is a perceptive little soul. She takes in everything and she's cunning. She's independent and super cheeky. She calls Huntleigh "Uhn-hee" and I hope it never changes. "Uhn-hee, Uhn-hee, where are you?" "Uhn-hee, come here!" There is a lot of love between those two and a lot of rivalry, too. Man. No one can rev Hunts up the way Lucy can. She's an instigator. She's got a great laugh. She's funny, too. Tonight, Josh and I asked her what her name was and she said, "Ummm..........Uhn-hee!!" with a coy little smile. Her newest thing is to turn my face to hers when she has something really important to tell me and she'll keep doing it until I've heard her. I just figured out she has taken to doing this because I do the very same thing to her when I want her to really listen to me. Smart. Effective. Cutie pie. Forgiveness is a very important thing to her. She's totally willing to disobey, but her heart really longs for forgiveness and then restoration. Tender. And she's still a lousy eater. But you can't interrupt her from eating a snow cone. She'll sit still for 30 minutes to eat the whole thing.

growing up

2010-07-04T14:58:00.006-06:00

This is my four year old on her last day of 3K. I love this picture so much because it conveys such a confident Hunts. 3K was a wonderful learning experience for her.

So here's a full body shot on her last day of 3K.....

...and as a reminder, here's her first day of 3K. (Wish I knew how to do that side-by-side photo thing.) Lots of growing going on during this year. She's looking so much more like a girl and growing out of all that toddler chubbiness.

I love that Josh drives her to school most mornings. It's his special time with Hunts to talk and process her morning thoughts and then he runs to get his double espresso afterwards.

Hunts with Mrs. Moore...

...and Mrs. Heinemann. Her two very loving and special teachers who nurtured her well throughout her first school year. Good work on the completion of 3K, Hunts! We love you!

3K Field Day

2010-07-04T13:57:00.003-06:00

These pictures are like old news, but I'm posting anyway. This was one of those last fun days of school for Hunts. There were really no winners or losers for 3K/JK Field Day, but if you want my opinion, Huntleigh really kicked you-know-what. I was so proud of her because she was such a great participant and seemed to really enjoy herself.

"Face" painting

Musical chairs

Waiting in line with London, Madison, Tanner, Charlie & Anna

Scooting around the cones.

home sweet home.

2010-06-27T19:34:00.006-06:00

I've actually been stalking my own blog lately, in hopes that it might mysteriously get updated since I clearly have not been updating. Our home is really the reason why I have not updated. In a crazy whirlwind of events, we found an amazing new house, put a contract in and put our current house on the market....all in a matter of 6 days. We had been kind of looking for awhile, but only just online really, and then everything happened so quickly. We are literally only moving down the road. We feel super blessed and are just waiting upon the Lord as we sell our house. I know the right buyers are out there somewhere, and I'm posting a few pictures of our home in case you might know anyone interested in buying the University City area. Let us know and leave your email address. We have loved our home for the past five years and we are proud of it and both happy & sad to pass it on to a new family.

the living room

dining room

den

kitchen

breakfast room....with door leading out to the deck

the girls' room

master (with a huge walk-in closet)

our beloved playroom

....and the deck. I will soon post some pictures of our sweet girls. I promise.

warning: high volume of drama

2010-06-01T07:46:00.000-06:00

Let's be honest. Behind this picture we were experiencing an unusually high volume of drama. It was a Mother's Day photo, for crying out loud. Couldn't everyone just do what I wanted?! Don't let our pretty dresses fool you. We are just the picture of another dysfunctional family. In all seriousness, though, I love my girls. We do have a lot of drama, but we love being a family. And I really love being their mom.

And later in the day we enjoyed some hopscotch. A perfect end to my 4th Mother's Day.

ada's first birthday

2010-05-31T16:59:00.000-06:00

We celebrated our little friend Ada's first birthday and had a swell little time. It's always good to see Sara & Alex and our kiddos had a blast.

Do you see Lucy's little finger in the air? Watch out for some sass flying your way. That's my second child.

Ada got an American Girl Doll Bitty Baby from her grandma. It was super sweet. I am such a softie for anything American Girl.

Happy Birthday, big girl! You're a cutie pie.

yesteryear

2010-05-30T19:23:00.004-06:00

Why hello, blog world. I gotta get us up to date, here. So much has been going on. I just uploaded my pictures to my computer last night and it was a whole month's worth of photographs. That's kind of a long time for me. We've officially entered summer and have been at the pool for the last three days.

So during Derby week, we went to see the Halvorsons in Louisville, KY. We just spent a bunch of time horsing around. I'm just joshing you. Oh my gosh. Please make me stop.

Okay, so even though we've been to Louisville before, this was our first time to visit the Downs. We did a truncated tour of the Downs and the museum (we had all 5 kiddos) and had a great time. The culture and hype surrounding Derby Day is so much fun, but Mint Juleps are really kind of nasty.

Katelyn and Huntleigh watching some of the horses parade around the track during our tour.

Here are our five babes, dirty, tired, disheveled and super cute. From left to right, Maren, Lucy, Hunts, Kate, and Karsten.

cheeky monkey

2010-05-04T15:30:00.002-06:00

cold turkey

2010-04-27T21:13:00.005-06:00

This child has literally just decided to stop wearing diapers. I am not joking. I had been tossing around the idea of attempting the 3-day potty training method, once again, (I did it with Hunts and it worked!!!) when Lucy decided she was no longer going to pee in her pants. I thought she had a UTI, so we went to the doctor and she peed in a cup and all her test results came back normal. Because clearly it's not cool to pee in your pants anymore when your almost 28 months. I get it. There are kids in China who have never worn diapers. They just pee and poop out of a little hole in their pants. Again....not joking. I have pictures somewhere in my archives.

So this is my child who potty trained herself. I mean, what are parents for anyways?! We're so high strung. It's our kids who are teaching us to chill out, or as we like to say around the Hager house, simmer down. Simmer down now. I said a simma don nah.

And P.S....I in no way mean this to be a bragging blog entry. This is my most strong willed child at her finest, choosing to use her will for good. To each her own. Her decision had nothing to do with me or my desires.

M.I.P.

2010-04-25T19:58:00.003-06:00

So, I just want to mention how proud I am of my hubby for winning this award on Friday night:

He really has put a lot of hard work into his squash game this year and he has had a lot of fun doing it. Even though I was in a bit of a bad mood when I went to meet him for dinner and part of that was because of squash, I was still really proud of him when he won the award. I love you, babe. Good work.

painting projects

2010-04-25T19:22:00.004-06:00

We've kind of been on a painting kick lately. I found these little movable wooden people I had gotten at Ikea forever ago and Hunts loved painting them. The painting was super fun. The clean-up....not so much. That is exactly why I love that the kids do so much painting in 3K. There are now green & blue hand & footprints in the corner of our deck. They'll be here for the next owner.

Here's our finished products: Bob and Bob.

And then we went to Yucandu AGAIN! Someone generously donated a special field trip for the MWF class to go and paint butterflies! It was so much fun and such a special treat!!! Here's Manna, so seriously painting....

Hunts, so seriously painting....

This is Huntleigh's 3K class. Madison, Manna, Tanner, Cooper, Charlie (in the back), Ellie, London, Hunts, Anna, Rocco, Seth, and Mallory. I really can't believe that we only have one more month left of 3K and then my babe will be in JK! We're really going to miss Mrs. Heinemann. She has been such a blessing. She's an amazing teacher and so full of love.

the gardens

2010-04-21T20:23:00.003-06:00

The Gardens. I love being there. We've frequented them a few times this spring and with much more success than last year, seeing as I am now heavily medicated. Thank goodness for antihistamines and asthma inhalers. Anyway, we were there the other week when it was in the mid-80's in StL and enjoyed the coolness of the water in all the fountains.

Hunts, Lucy, Hampton, and Mallory. Love this photo of the cheesy foursome.

pre-bedtime dance party

2010-04-19T21:23:00.002-06:00

We really like to dance in our house. We crank up the music, let our hair down, and jump around. Hands up, feet off the ground, music ringing in our ears....Miley, Katy Perry, Coldplay....Oh Coldplay! I've been a little unfaithful to Coldplay lately. I hope Chris Martin can forgive me for listening to Miley Cyrus. I hope that I can forgive myself for listening to Miley. Yikes. But you, you secret Miley Cyrus lover out there, don't judge me. You know you're just jealous because you didn't get the memo about the stilettos. Just let the butterflies fly away.

city girls

2010-04-15T14:39:00.002-06:00

it's baseball season, baby!

2010-04-13T22:23:00.002-06:00

So Monday was "wear your Cardinals red!" day at school for Hunts and I literally had to force her to wear this t-shirt. I felt like a t.o.t.a.l. hypocrite since Josh and I (religiously) do not wear red to Cardinals games even though we are major Cardinals fans. I actually bribed Huntleigh by telling her that she could have her Cardinals Pez if she wore the shirt. She took the Pez to school and I got this picture. After school she made very clear to me that she is "not a Cardinals fan," but she does "want to go to baseball games." Ok. She proceeded to sit in my lap and watch the game on television while I taught her about our team. That's Yadi, that's Colby, that's Holliday, "Is it because he's a holiday, mommy?" That's Pujols! Like your t-shirt! And then Pujols hit a homerun! Here's our NON-Cardinals fan talking to daddy about Pujols' homerun while watching the game.

modern child

2010-04-12T21:12:00.004-06:00

This child can work an iPhone like nobody's business. I'm not really sure this is something I'm proud of, but I am fascinated by it. There are certainly times when this skill comes in handy. Look at this imp. She's just a bit irresistible.

That little brow is furrowed in heavy concentration on her bowling game. She scored a 167.

And these feet. They don't seem to grow as quickly as I remember Huntleigh's grew, but we still seem to have a plethora of shoes around. This child is a shoe fanatic.

And this blankie....the beloved blankie, made by her very own B (that's Josh's mom). This blankie has seen better days, but at least we're not dealing with another faceless doll. This child has gotten her hand stuck in the taggies of said blanket and it was so bad that it was nearly cutting off her circulation, so all taggies have since then been cut in half to avoid such future tragedies....well, all except for this pictured taggy. Now the taggies are unravelling and Lucy likes to pull on the strings. I've even clear nail-polished all the ends of the taggies, but that can only last for so long on a beloved blankie.

it's highly applicable.

2010-04-11T22:21:00.002-06:00

Kudos to my mom for pointing out this license plate. It seemed to be too true of Lucy to pass over the photo op. This child talks non-stop. I'm all about language development, but lately it's kind of made my brain a lot more tired.

We had probably the least successful evening in the Loop that we've ever had. Blueberry Hill was as slow as molasses and Ben & Jerry's did just not deliver. I guess everyone has to have a night like that sometimes. But it made me think that I'm just gonna go east of Skinker for a little while. At least I was with good company.

cherishing the hunts

2010-04-10T21:20:00.002-06:00

Hunts has been less interested in nap time lately. I know that it's kind of unusual that my almost 4 1/2 year old is still taking a nap, but I will push it as long as I can. We celebrate naps in our house! Anyway, she did end up falling asleep the other day on top of her quilt, and I couldn't resist taking a picture of her. Ami was completely shoved inside of her shirt and Huntleigh's hair was all curly from sweat. I snuggled up with her and woke her up slowly. These are the moments I cherish in my heart.

And on a side note, tonight as I was putting her to sleep, Huntleigh told me whom she was going to marry. She got this really cute/embarrassed look in her eyes and her voice lowered and she covered her mouth and I knew she was going to say, "Tanner." She did. And so I said, "What about Seth?" And she replied, "Saph has weird toys." (I guess the mystery bag has been too revealing on "Saph's" behalf.) I probed again: "What about Bennett?" And she said, "No. He shoots me with guns." [Silent reflective pause.] "And I don't like his hair." Okay. That's cool. At the end of the day, her top choice is still "Daddy," which is fine by me. I will gladly welcome a son-in-law who is like my husband. We have a few years to relax until that time, I suppose.

classic huntleigh

2010-04-08T20:07:00.002-06:00

This child. She sometimes drives me crazy, but it's simply because she holds a mirror up to me. She is the foremost sanctifying agent in my life. I do not remember what life was like without her. And that's just how I want it to be. I love this girl.

speaking of resurrection....

2010-04-05T12:56:00.004-06:00

Sometimes I just want to give up blogging. Like forever give it up. I don't want to feel bound to it. I want to take a break and not feel guilty for getting away for awhile. And then I get indignant that I even have guilt about my blog. As though my blog is somehow unfairly treating me as some kind of captive. Other times I have blog confusion, a condition that renders me unable to pinpoint just exactly what kind of blog it is that I have: is it just a picture blog? Because I think my pictures have become a snooze fest. Is it a "just to keep y'all updated" blog? Because who really cares about that?! Is it a display of my children blog? Well, I suppose it started as that, and then morphed into a "this is our life" blog. Because it is our life and my children have become a part of this beautiful life I have with my sweet and tender husband, Josh. I begin all these really funny blog posts in my head throughout the day and then have forgotten them all by the end of the evening. (But, as a side note, I am really funny. I think you might wish I would have written some of those.) So, it's time for a bit of a resurrection.

Easter was super this year. We had about 20 people over for lunch and it was a great combination of personalities. Church was worshipful and rejuvenating and Jesus has conquered sin & death and is alive in heaven! Praise God. I just look forward to the day when my children can attest to this truth with their own mouths and hearts. God is faithful. I see fruit in both their young lives.

Here's my brother-in-law Zach hunting Easter eggs with Hunts. He was our "Easter Bunny" who hid the eggs while we were finishing up lunch. I guess something made him crack up in this picture, but I'm not recalling what was so funny.

Isabella and her parents joined us for lunch this year. She was the ultimate hunter. I know she found the most eggs. Nice work, Isabella!

My sweet, sugar-overloaded, kinda dirty, tough little Lu.

I love that I caught this sweet moment between Zach and Lucy. I think Lucy is bargaining for how many jelly beans she can have. He definitely wins for the best uncle!! We love Zach!

stay-cation for spring break

2010-04-03T14:00:00.002-06:00

Even though Hunts is only in preschool, I felt like spring break was somehow made an official establishment in our home this year. We opted to not go out of town this year, but we made an effort to do some fun and out of the ordinary things during vacation.

Abby took Huntleigh to Yucandu in Webster. If you have not been, you need to go. It's an amazing art studio. Hunts and Abby put their creative energies into making a butterfly together.

Josh took a day off of work and we took the kiddos down to the Arch. It was a rainy, yucky day, but we had a (mostly) good time anyway. Riding up the Arch was fun but when we arrived at the top, they informed us they were experiencing a bit of a "sway factor" that morning, which we instantly felt. Yikes. I love Lucy's face in this picture. It's like "Seriously Ma? The Arch?!"

The ever-so-exciting downtown of Saint Louis, Missouri. Good thing we're a baseball town.

You can sense both Huntleigh's and Lucy's apprehension in their faces in this photo. Hunts has let me know more than one time since the fact that she "did NOT like going up in the Arch." Oh well. You can't win 'em all.

And we spent a whole lot of time in the yard. It has been such a relief to have nicer weather and since I have medication this year, I can actually enjoy being outside, too. Even though we all come inside with a layer of yellow pollen on our skin. Check out that soccer kick!

mad marchness

2010-03-25T14:56:00.005-06:00

Just kind of an overview as to what we've been up to lately:

Being cute.

Being cheeky.

Being freaked out. There were these old framed Tour de France posters that were kind of filling wall space in the guest bedroom and Lucy has told me for months now, "No me like. No me like that." I just told her to not worry about it, but when Josh and I got home from a trip and saw that my mom had covered up one of them with a robe, I thought maybe I was kind of being an insensitive mom, so I finally replaced them with something Lucy liked a bit more. She does look genuinely concerned in this picture, I suppose.

Being good children. Here we are with my parents at an auction for the school where my dad is the headmaster. We always enjoy our time at this auction when we're able to make it and this time we scored some awesome packages! We mastered the silent auction this year....even though Josh didn't come home with that Harley. Oh well. There's always next year.

Being squashy. Josh has been playing squash for about one year now and he entered his first tournament which took us to Chicago, yet again! It was actually the first time I've even seen him play. He didn't win his division, but it was a great learning experience for him and a great shopping experience for me. Seriously though, I was the supportive wife and did watch his matches...and I also had a little bit of fun on Michigan Avenue. So it was a win-win.

Being brunchy. While we were in the Windy City, we visited our new favoritest place EVER for brunch. The Publican. Our good friends Glen and Audrey led us there in October and we will not fail to go from here on out. Check out that Bloody! It's a meal in a cup and it comes with its own beer on the side. When you're in Chicago next, you gotta go there.

movin' on up

2010-03-22T19:55:00.004-06:00

Well, I am proud to say that Lucy has finally graduated from her pack n' play to her "big girl" toddler bed. I think I feel like less of a bad mom by knowing that she is sleeping on an actual mattress and no longer some super hard cardboard. She completely loves it. She was ready for the change. She does still sleep in her little corner of the guest bedroom, but one thing at a time, right? I mean, the poor child sleeps in between a filing cabinet and a cigar humidor....the next best thing we could give her was her hand-me-down toddler bed. Look at how happy she is. We've only found her sleeping underneath the guest bed a couple times. Other than that, she's done just perfectly. Next big change: no more diapers. If anyone is in the market for a lightly used, light pine sleigh crib, let me know.

boys weekend/girls weekend

2010-03-18T14:21:00.009-06:00

A few weekends ago, Josh's closest friends from college came into town for their annual boys' weekend. To my great delight, one of the wives and her kiddos came into town so we could have a girls' (+ kids) weekend in our husbands' absence. Jessi is one of those friends from college with whom I never keep in contact, but we consider each other close friends, nonetheless. We just pick up on life from right where we left it off. Our kiddos do really well together, especially her sweet curly-haired Bennett and our tomboy Hunts. They had a full four days to play, play, play....and they loved it. Jessi and I enjoyed the chaos throughout the day and then our Pinot Grigio and chick flicks at night. Great times that were much needed by all.

Here's Bennett and Hunts just right after their arrival. Notice the gun. This did happen to be the one item of contention all weekend: Bennett shooting Hunts and Hunts crying for help.

Lucy, my hammy ham.

We did the Science Center while Hunts was in school that Friday morning.

On Sunday, we ventured up to Raccoon Ranch to see the daddies and get a little change of scenery. And it was good change of scenery. Jessi and I took a little mommy hiatus and let the daddies do all the work. These kiddos were intently listening to Josh's instructions for their little race around the dining room table.

And then they were off! I love this photo. Hopefully, I can use this at their wedding.

Hudson, the baby of the group, but don't let his innocent baby blues fool you. He's a handful. Lucy was engaged with her iPhone game. She would say, "No baby, no. No you touch."

I love me some camo.

A little bit of daddy time.

Here's the boys: Andrew, Anthony, Scott and Josh (MIA this year were Kurt and Stephen). It was good for them to be together. The last time we were all together as families was here. Now there's five more kiddos added to the group.

Jessi and me. Good friends. Tired mommas. We celebrated with getting a baby-sitter and then some pedicures.

Seattle

2010-02-22T21:49:00.005-06:00

It's taken me a little while to getting around to post these, but with back-to-back trips followed by horrible head colds, there was no real blogging going on around this house. Josh had a ski trip back in January, so the girls and I took a trip to see our good friends in Bellingham, WA. I really do enjoy traveling with the kiddos when I'm a prepared momma. There's something about it that makes me feel really powerful.....until my body breaks down and reminds me that I'm just some normal (crazy) human who likes to take her kids on airplanes across the country. Anyway, it was good to be with Shannon and her five kiddos, 5, 4, 1, and 2 month-old twins. Throw another two kids in there and we had a live circus. Shannon is a good friend for tolerating us. We had a great time. It was good to walk into their life in Bellingham.

I didn't get any pictures of all 7 children together, it was just always a bit wild. Huntleigh seriously took to little Molly. She always wanted to hold her and help feed her and to be with her. I was surprised at Huntleigh's interest in having babies around. It was super cute.

Shannon and I had a few hours away from the kids (thanks to her awesome mother-in-law and nanny!) so that we could explore downtown Bellingham together. We actually had time to complete sentences. It was amazing. And Bellingham is a great city, burgeoning with all kinds of culture.

After our time in Bellingham, we headed south to meet Josh in Seattle. Seattle is one of my favorite U.S. cities. It was so much fun to share my love for it with my girls. We enjoyed an amazing morning at Pike Place Market taking in all the sights, sounds, smells, and action. It really made me miss living in a city with open air markets. We tasted all kinds of fruits and jellies and vegan cookies....even some chocolate pasta. And an artisan made Huntleigh a special pair of earrings for when she gets her ears pierced.

Here's Lucy with the chocolate pasta in her mouth.

One of the bonuses of being in Seattle for a couple extra days was getting to see my great aunt, my mom's aunt, Miriam. She is an incredible woman. Certainly she is the kind of woman I hope to be when I am in my mid-eighties. She is spunky, she's thoughtful, she's active, she is full of patience, she exudes joy, and she loves Jesus fervently. She has walked through trials and arrived more beautiful on the other side. It was a complete privilege to spend a couple hours with her over lunch. My children were near completely falling apart, and yet she and I managed to have some good discussion. Two hours was not nearly enough time with her, but it was perfect. Good for the soul.

And a picture of Josh to prove that he actually has been to Seattle. He always told me that he had gone, but I didn't really believe him. He couldn't remember anything specific and I told him I thought he was confusing Seattle with Vancouver. He had been to Seattle, but this was his first time with our girls. We had a meal at Dick's Drive-In. Check out this menu. The prices are incredible. The burgers were yummy, too.

Overall, another great trip. I'm so glad we did it. I'd love to live in the Pacific Northwest, but there really is no place like home.

priceless.

2010-02-19T17:56:00.002-06:00

This is how I found my child the other morning. Components: One too-short princess (ugliest ever [thanks to my mom]) pajama shirt, one pair of non-matching, not-so-much fitting, crack-revealing leggings, Target dollar bin Christmas Snoopy socks, and momma's shoes from the night before. Don't forget Ami in hand. I suppose Ami makes this whole picture one of innocence and not one of a street corner. Good morning from our house to yours.

Monday

2010-02-08T22:25:00.003-06:00

Sometimes you just have those days. Those ones where your husband flies to Ohio for the day and he kind of wakes you up at 4 a.m. as he's leaving the house and then just as you're about to fall back to sleep, your 4-year old walks in your bedroom and wakes you up again. And even though you try your darnedest to fall back asleep, you're awake for the day, starting at 5:30. You get your eyebrows waxed for the first time in like three years and you get hives from it. It's not embarrassing to walk around with bright red eyebrows all day. It's cool. You continue to walk around in a stupor all day because you have this head cold that just keeps getting worse and refuses to shake and your hives aren't getting any better. And your day is o.k. but it's all kind of a daze because of your cloudy head and you kind of just can't wait until nap time and then nap time comes and goes and you still have to get through dinner--which was actually kind of fun and low key--but then after your kiddos are in bed you're really tired, but you're waiting for that boy to get back from Ohio. So you try to do some paperwork, which really turns into blog-surfing, which turns into self-loathing because there are thousands of creative people out there and I wish I could be one of them with some cool business creating this-or-that. So you pour yourself a glass of your favorite wine and then you see your boy at the front door. And then he tells you that you look pretty and he loves you, even though you're still sporting those hives and your head is still cloudy, and everything's as it should be.

firsts

2010-01-26T20:21:00.008-06:00

Josh and I were in Florida this past week for a (too) short business/pleasure trip. It saved him a trip to Lima and I was able to join him on account of this, so I have no complaints. I really think it's always great to get away from our kids like that because there is nothing like coming home to them. I cannot explain the level of excitement there is on both ends--from the parent side and from the kid side. If you've left your little ones, I know you know what I'm taking about. I suppose this will all change when they are teenagers and could really care less about us, but I'll soak up the excitement while it's there and everybody's little. Anyway, the major highlight of our trip was our ride in this awesome yellow float plane. Major dream come true for Josh. Not only that, but he was able to complete his BFR while learning how to fly this thing. Two birds (plus some).

I can just see the wonder and excitement in Josh's eyes in this picture. He was like a little kid in a candy shop. I was so proud of him. I love flying with him when he's the pilot.

So, we jumped into the airplane from the water because we weren't near a dock and I caught a shot of the guys steering in the bare feet. I love it.

Here's Josh talking to the pilot, Mark Futch, about the ins-and-outs of flying a float plane. Lots of pilot talk. I was too busy taking pictures.

Mark picked us up while we were on Useppa Island, where Josh's paternal grandparents have a house, so I was able to get an aerial view of some of the coast on the island.

Several of Josh's family members have houses in Florida (just not all in the same locations) but we happened to fly over Warren and Ellen's house in Punta Gorda! They have like a mini-Raccoon Ranch complete with awesome house, sunflower patch, dove hunting field, and gardens. I had taken a brief day trip with them to see their place, so it was pretty cool to see it from the air the following day.

Warren and Ellen at their place the day before!

Oh. And I forgot to mention the cows on their property! I guess they help the taxes. This is loud-mouthed Bridget, so lovingly named by Ellen and Warren's twins. I kind of felt like Pioneer Woman, taking a picture of cows and all. Floridian cows.

Passenger. Otherwise known as backseat driver. Although, in this case, I really can have very little input, since I know nothing about flying an airplane. I did think about our living will once (or twice) for a split second, and then I chastised myself for letting that cross my mind.

I was slightly freaked out right before we landed the plane on a grassy air strip. I've never experienced it before, so I was trying to picture what the landing gear looked like as it landed.....it's two wheels in the front, two in the back. It was a perfect landing. Smooth and sweet.

You know, when Josh and I first met each other again (we've known each other since we were both 13), he was a flight instructor out at Spirit of Saint Louis airport. I've been up with him in small airplanes a few times, but not since we've had our kiddos. I've flown in airplanes where he wasn't the pilot probably a hundred times and I am really glad that he didn't pursue being a pilot for a living. Not because I would be nervous for his life (flying is safer than driving any day) but because I know how much he loves flying and I think that making a vocation of it would have drowned out his love for it. I love seeing my husband do something that fills him up as much as flying does. I am so so proud of this guy. To steal a line from Charlie & Lola, he's my favorite and my best.

"playhouse"

2010-01-21T11:37:00.005-06:00

These pictures are just a little sampling of why I love Huntleigh and Lucy's dollhouse so stinking much. I spent a lot of time researching exactly which house I wanted to get them and even when I had made the purchase, I was still not quite sure I had made the best decision I could have possibly made. I asked Josh what he thought, and he looked up at me in all seriousness (sarcasm) and said, "Please do not ever ask me that question again." It's just not the same for a mom as it is for a dad. He did not belabor over the decision as I had. Anyway, we keep the dollhouse on the main floor so that the girls have something to play with and I spend most evenings putting all the little pieces back in their places. When Josh hears me, he likes to ask, "Are you playing with the dollhouse again?!" To be honest, I love putting it all back together. It's the easiest house I've ever had to maintain.

This is the third floor playroom--just like our own house. I liked most of the rooms by Plan Toys, which you can get for cheaper at Amazon. But they are both colorful, cute, and sturdy, which is important for the little babes, like Lucy. We've only broken one tiny thing so far, so that's a pretty good record.

And this bathroom set....too cute. Lucy spends a lot of time putting the little boy on the potty and she says, "You poop, boy? You poop?" I did not teach her that. But I do hope the novelty of it will come in handy with potty-training her, somehow.

And this Kitchen-Aid mixer? Seriously. I love it. (That was from Pottery Barn Kids....of course.)

The kids' bedroom set with a little person in it. Thanks to my sisters-in-law and my mom for outfitting the house! For anyone who is interested, I think these websites have cute options for wooden selections for the houses: Nova, Magic Cabin, Plan Toys, Ryan's Room.

big(little)

2010-01-20T10:45:00.002-06:00

I just love these babes.

jump!

2010-01-18T21:05:00.001-06:00

We had a four-day weekend off of school so with all that extra free time, we hauled out to Chesterfield Valley and played at this fun place called Sky Zone. It's a great way for kids to burn energy on these overcast, damp days that we've been having. And the benefit of being in Chesterfield Valley is the drive thru Chick-fil-A. I'd recommend Sky Zone. It was a fun way to spend the morning with the kiddos.

sunday

2010-01-17T22:19:00.004-06:00

Thank you, Saint Louis, for the things you offer. I know that you're considered a "fly-over" city to so many, and the fact that you're located in the Midwest doesn't really give you a lot of credit, but you are a great city and you have cultural treasures that are free. Like the Saint Louis Art Museum. We went for just an hour after church today and it was perfect family time. We had a sweet time talking about the paintings with the kids and then we made some fun art of our own in the Sculpture Hall for their (free) Family Sundays. Lucy is sporting her medallion with her jewels.

a serious saturday

2010-01-16T15:38:00.001-06:00

woo-ti is 2

2010-01-15T16:37:00.006-06:00

Lucy refers to herself as "Woo-ti" because she doesn't make appropriate consonant sounds. It's so endearing. (And she calls Huntleigh "Huh-hee.") So, Woo-ti turned 2 on January 7. Her birthday comes 2 days after Josh's, so it's just one more exciting week for us after the holidays pass. We decided to celebrate Lucy's birthday at Dressel's this year, and I don't think the atmosphere could have been more perfect. Dressel's is one of our favorite pubs in town and the upstairs proved to be a very warm environment for a party....even one including children. There's a pool table in the back room that kept the kids occupied for quite some time, which was helpful.

This was our second Elmo-themed birthday party. (The first was Huntleigh's 2nd birthday.) It was a hit for Lucy. The empty Elmo pinata was a hit for everyone else. Here, Lucy is showing us how tall (or short) Elmo really is.

Josh, his sister, Hannah, and their dad

Elmo really got into character as our mascot of the party. I think he may have started drinking.

I love this picture. It's a sweet family moment.

The girls were content to eat their cake on the floor. We made quite the scene at Dressel's. It was perfect. I wonder how many two-year old birthday parties have taken place there....just out of curiousity? Certainly it was Dressel's first time to be graced with a super awesome homemade Elmo cake.

We love you, Woo-ti. I'm so glad you came into our lives. You are a tremendous light.

sweet bath cheeks

2010-01-14T23:05:00.002-06:00

This one. There is too much to say about her. Look at this face. Could you not just take a sweet little bite out of it?! Not in a Twilight kind of way....just in a "she's-too-cute-she-must-be scrumptious" kind of way. She is completely consumed with the Dora/Diego phenomenon. I think her favorite is baby Jaguar. "Baby Jaguar cute." "Baby Jaguar help." "Baby Jaguar. Baby Jaguar." I love this girl.

closing 2009

2010-01-13T08:35:00.007-06:00

We had a really great Christmas this year. We had a great Christmas Eve with Josh's family and then we didn't even leave our house on Christmas Day. Everyone came to us! It was relaxing, but Christmas is always full of emotions--both happy and sad--that leave me tired and ready for sleep at the end of the day. On Christmas Eve, we celebrate at Deer Creek Club, where "Santa" comes to visit the party, bringing gifts for the kiddos. This year my father-in-law, Archie, was Santa, which was a fun bonus since his grandchildren got to sit on his lap while my mother-in-law gave them their awesome gifts! It was a sweet moment.

Hunts and Lucy with Archie-Santa.

Another exciting bonus on Christmas Eve is this awesome wood slide. The girls...well, all of us....had so much fun sliding on it. You land on this mattress at the bottom of it and then slide on the floor if you're aiming right. Josh is the best at it.

The highlight of the evening was all the dancing. After dinner, the dance music begins and it continues until there's no one dancing anymore. (We were the last ones dancing.) Huntleigh loved dancing with her Pop and B. They danced for 1 1/2 hours with only a few juice breaks. No kidding. It got her to sleep until 8:15 on Christmas morning. I think that's a record.

Lucy in her sweet "Lucy" outfit. I'm willing to pass it down to someone named Lucy when she outgrows it. Just let me know.

Christmas morning was exhilarating. It's so refreshing to experience Christmas through the eyes of children. We sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and played with the nativity as we read through the story of Jesus' birth and then passed around gifts. This doll house was the favorite gift. I spent a lot of time researching exactly the one I wanted for the girls and they love it. The fun part was that all our family was able to give the girls all the little rooms. To be honest, I love playing with it.

And this was on New Years'. I have to admit that my favorite part was spending time on myself. I love getting dressed up and pampering myself just a bit. I think every mom of young children needs that from time to time. It was a fun evening with our friends Tim and Andrea. And doesn't my husband just look so dapper in his tuxedo?! Here's to an adventure-filled Twenty Ten.

december fun

2010-01-04T21:03:00.005-06:00

I mean, is it any wonder why Lucy is an easy-going child?! She's quite a good sport.

Behind this sweet face is an imp. Really. A sweet imp, but impish, nonetheless.

When we had both Huntleigh and Lucy, many of Josh's colleagues in China sent us these beautiful jackets. The dragon one that Huntleigh is wearing is my favorite. Here they are sporting them at the Gardenland Express at the Botanical Gardens.

Huntleigh and Yia Yia on their way to the Teddy Bear Tea.

Huntleigh and her friend, Mallory, with sweet little girl excitement.

My good friend, Mollie. Mollie and I have been friends for 10 years, but marriage, moves, children and different communities kind of kept us from being in each other's lives for awhile. It was providential when our daughters were put in the same 3K class together because we needed each other as friends again. Sometimes it's all about timing.

In mid-December, we went to a tacky Christmas party. I'm proud of my husband for his outifit, because it was his complete vision from beginning to end. He worked hard to look like Cousin Eddie, scavenging Ebay & Rag-O-Rama for the precise pieces. Please notice, if you would, the dickey underneath his white sweater. Too perfect. I'm still proud of his outift. Tim was Cousin Eddie from another scene of Christmas Vacation. Nice work, boys. As for me and Andrea, well, I spent a few hours running around Saint Louis to find some fun, kitschy pieces that, when thrown together, made up something Christmasy. We were something like Cindy Lou Hoo meets the Candy Cane Twins from one of the deleted scenes of the Nutcracker. It made for a fun evening, to say the least.

breakfasting with Santa while sugar-buzzed

2010-01-01T22:52:00.002-06:00

American Girl Place

2010-01-01T21:56:00.003-06:00

December began with an overnight trip to Chicago with our friends to do one of those really girly things you do when you have daughters....The American Girl Place. It was quite the trip. It took us 6 1/2 hours with (what seemed like) a hundred stops to drive up there and we had two wired kiddos on our hands, but it didn't keep us from grabbing a couple cocktails before bedtime as our children jumped around the bar. As a momma, sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do! We awoke bright and early with two energetic ones all ready to go to the store, which didn't open until 10. Huntleigh brought Kit with her, the doll Josh and I had gotten her back in October, and she was allowed to get one special treasure while we were at the store. In spite of how overwhelming I think the store is, Huntleigh was very focused and she got a horse for Kit. After about an hour of walking around, we made our way up to the restaurant for brunch. As our hostess walked us to our table, she had little seats for the girls' dolls to sit next to them. It was just too cute.

Huntleigh in front of the Kit display.

At brunch, the servers bring out little tea cups and saucers for the dolls. The girls could not get enough of that.

Mallory and her doll, Felicity.

I love this picture for several reasons: If you notice, Kit is really the only one in focus. I see great humor that. Also, you can see how tired Huntleigh is. She was fairly good for how exhausted she was, but when it was time to go, it was time. We had given our girls enough stimulation to last a week. As I looked around the restaurant, I realized that this would only be the first time I would come here. I have a few years of this ahead of me before my daughters grow out of their dolls. It was sweet mother-daughter time and sweet friend time, too. It's good for me to tap into my "girly" side. I enjoy these things from time to time. I've just got to shoot my gun, too.

wrapping up November

2010-01-01T20:40:00.005-06:00

I know it's January, but I'm not giving up on my recap of 2009. And I'm going to keep up-to-date with 2010 once I finish up with December! Here's a few sweet memories from our double Thanksgiving: the first at Raccoon Ranch and the second at our house with my folks.

Aunt Hannah with a cheeky Hunts.

Momma and Lucy.

Before everyone gets all up in arms, that's just apple juice in Hunts' wine glass. She had so much fun drinking it from her wine glass for Thanksgiving. "Cheers!"

Per our tradition, we go to chop down our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving at Heritage Valley Tree Farm in Washington, MO. This year I was quite aggressive about getting there right as it opened to get the nine-foot tree that I wanted. It always takes a bit of hussle to get out to Washington, but we got our nine feet of tree.

Lucy, guiding us with her brochure.

Huntleigh, as always, cooperating for the camera.

my girls

2009-12-23T22:14:00.005-06:00

This was my attempt at getting ready for a Christmas card. I think these pictures turned out cute, but I suppose I should stop lying to myself. I will not be sending out a card this year, unless it's a "Spring is here!" card. Don't hold your breath for that one, either. I'm just not consistent with cards and things like that. And I will forgive myself for not being perfect. And I will not compare myself to all those of you moms who were so on top of it and got the card out at the beginning of December. So enjoy this array of my children. Sometimes they're just too much. Just super yummy-cute. Scrumptrulescent.

the browns

2009-12-23T22:01:00.002-06:00

These are our friends the Browns. They have not made our blog since they got married two Novembers ago, but they are some good friends of ours! Sara was actually the friend who tipped off this website about my playroom. Major kudos to her. It was great to see you guys and your sweet Ada. Maybe next time we can meet on a day when there's not a torrential downpour in the middle of November.

little escape to Florida

2009-12-22T22:38:00.004-06:00

We spent a few brief days in Florida right before Thanksgiving with our friends Tim and Andrea for someone's 30th birthday. Fun times. I didn't realize how much I needed this little break from reality. I also did not realize how much I would love (& hate) Twilight once I began reading it. We had a blast and here are my favorite pics from the trip:

Tim and Andrea

the four on our sunset cruise for the birthday boy

our special celebration dinner

in-shore fishing, thanks to Josh, and here I am with our (camera greedy) guide and my first tunny fish!

Tim's tunny

here we are with our double: two groupers. I won. (Not that I'm competitive....)

Nin's Holy Mackerel!!!!

beach boys

sunset over the gulf

The four, tanned (well.....except for you-know-who) and happy. Thanks for an excellent trip, you guys. We so enjoyed our time.

the pioneer woman!

2009-12-22T21:25:00.003-06:00

Have you heard of The Pioneer Woman? If you haven't looked at her blog yet, you must start. She's amazing. She looks like super woman from observing her blog. My friend, Alyssa and I had the opportunity to hear her speak in mid-November and then we met her after standing in line for two hours to get our books signed! I've never been to a book signing before, but I so enjoyed Pioneer Woman because she was far from pretentious, she claimed to not be an expert on many things, and she was sincerely joyful even after having signed books for more than two hours. I like her a lot because she's real. It's almost as though Pioneer Woman is her alter ego.

Here's the PW's older son, Bryce, who came around signing books as we waited for his momma. Too stinking cute.

Alyssa, with Marlboro Man, the PW's hubby. That's how she refers to him.

Meeting the PW. After all the waiting, it was short and sweet. But I did really like her.

ducky times

2009-12-22T20:14:00.003-06:00

Once again, we've entered another duck season and since it took me so long to post these pictures, we are actually close to exiting the season, as well. I love the first picture of Josh because he's looking at his (camo-covered) phone on his way out to the blind. Nice touch, there, Hager.

Kate, so anxiously and patiently waiting for a directive from Josh. What a good dog she is.

Sunset over the water. Here's to another great duck season.

shaggy

2009-12-20T23:36:00.003-06:00

This child and her hair. It is always in her eyes and she just deals with it. Sometimes she does this little swooping motion with her hands to move it out of her way, but it only lasts for a few seconds. Fly-away fine baby hair. She only tolerates pig tails maybe ever other day. Oh, what to do?!

ilovermont

2009-12-20T20:43:00.002-06:00

The day after we packed up Scott's moving truck, he picked me up bright and early at 6 a.m. and we spent the day driving our way northeast. We found simple joys in checking out the goods at rest stops, we talked about our childhood, we laughed about our parents' idiosyncrasies, we played the alphabet game (and I won...but I'm not competitive), we researched states as we drove through them (we're not nerds, we're just addicted to information), we got slaphappy and laughed our way straight through several miles, we ate plenty of fast food and we got in to Albany, New York at 11:30 p.m. I don't even remember the last time I spent 16 1/2 straight hours on the road. Scott proceeded to drive up to his apartment in Vermont and I spent the night in Albany which gave me the opportunity to drive around some old stomping grounds the next morning. When I was 14, my family moved from Saint Louis to a small little town outside of Albany where we lived for 7 years. I finished high school there and then went on to college, but have very fond memories of our home and our life there. It was very surreal to drive around our small town and drive past our old house and to breathe that fresh upstate air and soak up old memories. I can't wait to bring Josh and our kiddos to this place that has really become so foundational to who I am today.

This was the end of the road where we lived, one of my most favorite and peaceful places in NY.

I continued on in the truck to Stowe, Vermont, a beautiful drive from Albany, and enjoyed the time alone to soak up more of the northeast and the quiet. Stowe is a quaint little ski village where Scott found a great job and a sweet homey apartment and it's pretty darn near to Ben & Jerry's factory, which I stopped by while I was there. Scott and I were able to spend some time in the evenings in Burlington and we ate some excellent food at some awesome restaurants. Burlington is a small city burgeoning with culture and beauty. It's also where Phish got their start.

Scott at American Flatbread, an awesome pizza joint

The sunset over Lake Champlain.

It's pretty wild that in the same year, in the span of just four months, really, I moved two of my favorite people, my friend Shannon and my brother Scott, to two opposite ends of the United States. I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to do both and to have closure that way, but there is a sadness that comes with closing those chapters, as well. I love my brother so much and miss his being able to just stop by and hang out. But Vermont holds a lot of exciting new adventures for him and I'm glad for this opportunity for him. We love you, Scott.

goodbyes.

2009-12-20T19:51:00.003-06:00

My brother moved to Vermont in early November. We spent our last weekend together in Saint Louis as a family at Blueberry Hill and then helping load up the truck to get him ready to move away. It was both a sweet and sad time, but I'm glad we were all together as a family for the weekend.

My parents, Scott and his girlfriend Jaime, me and Josh at Blueberry Hill

I really like this picture of me and Josh.

Josh and Huntleigh picking up the moving truck bright and early the next morning.

Hunts helped Papa with packing....or just distracted him by playing tag.

Lucy helped by staying in her carseat most of the time to watch Toy Story 2.

Sweet goodbyes. We love Uncle Scott.

the big 4.

2009-12-20T19:06:00.001-06:00

So, even though this was nearly 2 months ago and Christmas is just a few days away, I am not giving up on this blog and I am documenting these events for the sake of my children and our family. We had a blast celebrating Huntleigh's birthday and even though at the very last minute ALL plans had to be rearranged, we pulled through and had a fun party. I got an incredible deal on a petting zoo which included a pony and the kids loved it. The pony was a hit. The Chinese chicken, not so much. He was probably the least petted. But he's a chicken, so bok, bok. Also, many thanks to our friends, the Reeves, for photographing our event. It was nice to be camera-free!

Lucy could not get enough of the balloons.

Nin and Lucy

Our sweet friends Corey and his son Drew, who just moved to Indianapolis.

Hunts loving the pony!

Zach with Hunts and the biggest bunny I have ever seen.

Manna with the Chinese chicken.

My mother-in-law Debbie with Lu.

Kudos to little Hampton for being the youngest kiddo to ride the pony!

My cute hubby with his good friend and business coach, Jim. I love this picture.

Abby with Hunts at the craft table, also a great hit!

Happy Birthday, sweet four year old. We love you.

December

2009-12-08T18:48:00.002-06:00

Hello. I'm here. This is just a post to say that I do belong to the land of the living. In November I bounced from Vermont to Florida to Chicago and I gave up on attempting a blog post. I've taken more than 500 pictures, but I will spare you. I promise to give you a little glimpse into our November, if you care to know. I'm also confessing to having fallen into the Twilight Saga. Soon, soon, I will emerge. In the meantime, here's a picture of the four of us on Thanksgiving. Seriously, what does it take to get just one good picture where everyone is looking and smiling and doing something normal all at the same time? It's called Photoshop, I assume. I love this picture because of what it represents of each one of us: Huntleigh's enthusiasm, Lucy's cheekiness, my, well whatever it is I do, and Josh's stability.

koi fascination at the botanical gardens on a perfect fall day in november

2009-11-06T21:30:00.003-06:00

Petunia!

2009-11-06T15:22:00.005-06:00

I just love it when my mom reads with my girls. It is always such a sweet moment. Does anyone remember the book Petunia from childhood? It's a fun book.

the birthday girl

2009-11-06T08:49:00.003-06:00

I have a four year old. She turned four on Monday and I could not be more proud of her. Huntleigh is an amazing little girl: very tender, extremely perceptive, a big personality yet somewhat of an introvert, a thinker. Her mind comes alive especially at night when the world has quieted down and she has time to process her thoughts. She is a delicate, complex little character and I have really seen her blossom even more in these last couple months. We had planned a fun big Harvest party for her at Raccoon Ranch to celebrate her birthday, but at the last minute, all things had to be rearranged due to flooding at the farm and we had to move it into the city. It ended up being just perfect, but I did not take a single picture at the event. Our good friends and photographers took pictures of her party, so I'll post some of those when we get them. (No pressure, Alyssa!)

Huntleigh was the star on her birthday. In 3K this means that you get to have the mystery bag and bring a favorite thing from home with three clues. Hunts loves working on the clues. She becomes so animated and so excited to share with the class. It was so fun to watch her on her birthday. She brought one of her new birthday gifts and then 4 ponies. Because she was 4.

Giving the clues. What a super way to expose children to public speaking.

Rocco, waiting patiently to guess the clues. Sweet Rocco. He gave Huntleigh green sparkly nail polish for her birthday present. Too cute.

Peeking in to get the mystery!

Discussing the ponies. 3 of them were mine from when I was little and 1 was new. The vintage ponies are a bit less sparkly than the new ones. They have to have sparkles just to keep it interesting. Being vintage rocks.

Birthday girl having lunch and cupcakes with her sister in her big girl classroom.

kids halloween

2009-11-05T14:16:00.007-06:00

Halloween night we headed over to our friends' house in Kirkwood and did a little trick-or-treating over there. Typically we do the trick-or-treating in our neighborhood and have a low key chili party at our house, but I was a bit overwhelmed with parties this year, so we took a break. It was nice to not have to do anything, but still have a fun reason to dress up the kiddos. Huntleigh had decided on this peacock costume sometime in September and I decided to go with it. I kind of felt bad that I didn't spend any time on her outfit other than the time it took to order it, but she loved it. I really like the homemade variety of costumes....ones that require scrounging and scrapping together things and the hunt to find just the perfect item to complete an outfit. Kind of like what I did for Lucy's outfit....Anyway, here's my happy peacock. She looks so great in blue.

Cheeky peacock.

Peacock with blue-haired momma. When we lived in Hong Kong, I used to walk through these open-air markets everyday with tons of junk and fun stuff and I always loved stopping at the wig booth. Finally, I cracked down and bought a few wigs. Having blue hair is just so much fun. I love it. In fact, I love it so much, that I might wear it sometimes just for the heck of it. Don't be surprised to see me walking around in my blue wig.

Pebbles. Check out that face. She looks just like Josh.

This was the best pic I got of her outfit. I had some fabric that I originally bought to have some pillows made and I bought the cording, too, so I just threw it all together and wrapped the cording around her and woila.....Pebbles. And the plastic bone in her hair.....it was sticking out of her muffin at the City Coffee House the day before. Perfect.

Overhead view. Had to get a complete picture of the bone.

Hampton, the lion, with cupcake on his face. He was just too cute. And the token little boy.

And Lily. She was Elmo. Just too precious. Such tender eyes.

costume party

2009-11-03T20:25:00.010-06:00

It's been years since Josh and I have dressed up for Halloween. We had a costume party when we lived in Hong Kong in our tiny little apartment and that was October of 2003. So we were ready to have some fun with our costumes this year. We figured that since the party would be in a German hunting lodge (i.e. Raccoon Ranch) that we would dress like "ze Germans dress." (Say that with your best German accent.) All this to say, when we were at Oktoberfest downtown, we came across a booth with the motherload of outifits and we had ourselves a heyday.

Tim and Andrea were our fun fellow Germans. Would they not make the most perfect Hansel and Gretel?!

Michelle wore this outfit with some serious attitude. I think out of everyone there that night, she and her husband Billy had the best costumes, because they totally played their parts. Billy is one of the preppiest guys we know. This costume had to be his alter ego.

Proud to be German.

Redneck Ryan, with the German twins

German-Redneck sandwich. That was one sweet wig, Janey.

David, subtly costumed for the evening, ended up sporting Michelle's pink hat.

play date

2009-11-03T14:21:00.003-06:00

I had to include this cute shot of Huntleigh with her new friend Mallory from our play date last week-ish. October kind of runs together for me. I think I'm glad we've moved into November. Mallory's younger brother Hampton is the same age as Lucy...well, they're two days apart. It's sweet to see them interact, as well, but there wasn't a great picture of them, so I'll get to work on that.

it's seriously almost November.

2009-10-29T20:20:00.005-06:00

Here's just a little sneak peek back at what we've been doing:

At the beginning of October, Josh and I took a quick weekend up to Chicago with some friends to just hang out and eat yummy food and shop and all those fun things. It was so great to be in that city. I love Chicago. We stopped by the Merchandise Mart International Antiques Fair where I picked up an awesome lizard skin belt with a superb duck buckle. I later convinced Josh to run into the American Girl Place store with me and, being the excellent husband that he is, he willingly went. I had no motive other than to show him the production that the place really is and what his future holds for him with two little girls. So when he said, "Let's get Hunts a doll for her birthday," I started crying, to then which he said, "They really should serve beer here." I am such a sap. I cannot wait to give it to her.

The view of Millennium Park from our hotel.

Josh with his espresso at the Merchandise Mart. Remember the espresso?! Well, it stuck. I'm so proud. I think he's at Starbucks more than I am. There's a feat.

Here's the boys (my hubby and my brother) at Oktoberfest right before the Cardinals lost their third game in the Division playoffs. Boy, was that game a major disappointment. We found our Halloween costumes that day, though. That made the trip downtown worth it....more to come on that.

Huntleigh had her first Grandparents Day at Central. I was so proud that my parents could see her and enter into the world of 3K. I am so impressed at how Central really seeks to honor the grandparents of the student body. I gave my camera to my dad to get a few pictures of the morning's activities so at least I could get a glimpse into their time together. There is such limited space on Central's campus and there are so many participants in grandparents day that they make very clear that parents have to stay away for the morning. Here my mom and Hunts are at their activity center.

Huntleigh had her first field trip, which I was able to join, and it was just perfect. Look at this one. She is so scrumptious. We took a little walk from her school across Wydown to Acorn Park and had a little nature treasure hunt and then ate a picnic lunch together. I love that Hunts is in school. I am just so proud of her and can see how she is growing and maturing.

Do you see that look? I couldn't resist putting it on the blog.

This is Mark and his daughter Mallory, one of Huntleigh's new friends, who happens to be the daughter of an old and good friend of mine, Mollie. I've been so thankful for school and the new community of friendships it has brought, some new and some re-newed!

I mean, doesn't this picture just take you right back to your childhood? The parachute was my favorite P.E. activity.

And the treasure hunt bag with the treasure hunter. Good work, my sweet pea.

life is good

2009-10-14T20:31:00.004-06:00

with these three babes in my life.

And along another train of thought:

You know you've really given in to motherhood when your little child has diarrhea while she's sitting in your lap and a little soaks through her pants to your jeans, and then you momentarily think that you should change out of those jeans, but then you forget and wear them all day long instead. Awesome.

life

2009-10-11T21:50:00.006-06:00

This is my sticker babe. I seem to find stickers all over the house in funny locations. I notice they are most often stuck to my shirt in obvious and embarrassing places...especially when I step out in public. Oh well. This is life.

We've been busy. We've been out of town. And then we've been sick. Does anyone even read this blog anymore?! I have become the most boring blogger. I do want to try to post more regularly. I'm even boring myself. Could the Cardinals have performed worse in the Division playoffs? Seriously. At least we can rest easy for the remainder of the season. I'm a bit tired of hot dogs.

More random thoughts:

I can neither confirm nor deny that this picture of my husband and our friend Tim was taken during the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy in our livingroom on Thursday, September 24th at 8:22 p.m. But man, does my husband look sheepishly cute in this picture.

I felt like I was living in Seattle this past week with all the rain that fell here in Saint Louis. It was too much rain for me for this time of year. I'm ready for some more typical autumn weather before winter decides to settle in.

Huntleigh loves school. Every morning when she wakes up, she asks, "Is today school day, mommy?" I'm both happy and sad when she asks that question. I love that child so much. She is both my greatest challenge and my greatest reward. The Lord knew I needed her to make me more like Him. The truth is, she is really just a. lot. like. me. (Thanks Dad, for the insight.)

I am not complaining, but it is really difficult to be laid waste with a cold and to have two young children who have a lot of genuine needs that keep you from being able to lay down on the couch to watch movies & sleep all day. It makes recovering from sickness that much harder. So this is what it means to die to yourself. Shannon, you know that ten (thousand) times more than I do.

NyQuil is really great.

My house is totally trashed right now. Please do not come over. I would be completely mortified. I'm a perfectionist. But I want to be honest about my weaknesses. Oh....just come over. It would be good for me. It's good to be humbled. Just don't judge me.

Kentucky

2009-09-24T18:27:00.007-06:00

So we had a blast in Kentucky. Jessi drove from West Virginia while I made our trek from the Lou to meet Julianne in Louisville. It was super fun to be all together and to just feel free to be girls without any husbands around. Let's just say that the mommies survived on caffeine, Cheetos, and champagne. The perfect trio....at different times of the day, of course. There was no documentation of the three of us, so our kids are going to have to do the representing.

Karsten. Maren. Hudson. Bennett. Katelyn. Lucy. Huntleigh.
3 Halvorsons + 2 Cooks + 2 Hagers = a very fun handful

Check out those curls on Bennett's head. Just too sweet. I'm so glad that Huntleigh had the chance to hang out with Bennett again. This was the last time they were together.

Little buns. I look forward to sharing this with them when they're older and "wiser." What I look most forward to is that these kids are going to be friends throughout their lives because their dads all committed to being in one another's lives, despite distance, time, and differences.

Karsten and Huntleigh working on the USA puzzle together. They were a good little team. I remember when Karsten did this puzzle by himself as a 2-year old. He is the puzzle master.

The three jumping supermen. It was a whirlwind weekend, but super rewarding. Love you Jessi and Julianne!

and we're off.....

2009-09-18T14:08:00.001-06:00

About to go and embark upon a little adventure. Josh headed over to China earlier this week and the girls and I are taking off to Kentucky to see some good college friends for a girls' weekend, plus our seven kiddos. Here's my 3 favorite babes, right before we put Josh on an airplane. Now he's eating Peking Duck in one of our favorite cities in the world. We love you, jdh. You are my favorite and my best.

excellent form!

2009-09-18T10:04:00.003-06:00

Lu's hair is a bit long enough now to where I can stretch it into these sweet pig tails. I seriously cannot resist the pig tails. She is such a scrumptious little munchkin with them on her head! We've really gotten into coloring, as of late, and check out her handle on that crayon...nice form, Lucy!

pizza girl

2009-09-18T09:52:00.002-06:00

I had to document this moment, because Huntleigh is finishing up a piece of pizza topped with onions, red peppers, mushrooms and basil. She made this pizza the other night at our good friend Audrey's house and wasn't able to taste any before bedtime, so Audrey sent a few pieces over to our house and Huntleigh chose one and proceeded to consume the whole thing. She did say to me after she ate a mushroom, "Mommy, that exhausts me!," but she did it on her own volition. Sometimes I never know what I'm gonna get with this child, but, man, do I love her.

silly girl

r&r at RR

2009-09-15T08:02:00.002-06:00

I don't know what it is, but since the Hunts has been in school, life has sped up. Perhaps it has always moved this quickly and I never noticed, but somehow school has exaggerated the pace. Anyway, we spent Labor Day weekend out at Raccoon Ranch and I realized that we haven't been up there since we lived out there when we were beginning the playroom construction. (Crazy!) It was a great weekend of hunting, relaxing, yummy food and friends. Our good friends Tim and Andrea came to spend the time with us. Excellent times. And our drive back to "civilization" was only half an hour. Although, for all the stuff it requires to bring two little kiddos up there, I could have used a bit of a longer drive to return to our house. I'm glad we went though. Change of scenery is always a good thing.

rude awakenings

2009-09-14T20:37:00.002-06:00

I just had to capture this one after her nap the other day. I love this hair picture in contrast to her hair in the previous post. Just love this girl.