Remembering This Moment: Rainy Day

I have not done one of these posts in a very long time.

(here's one from quite a while back--look at how little my Davy is)

But as I looked through these pictures I took today, I thought, "I want to remember this."

I want to remember these moments with them, because I am sure there will come a day when it won't be like this anymore.  

And the craziness of it all will grow dim.  

I won't remember how many things happened in one, half hour block of time.

I won't quite remember the noise.

Or the energy.

And I want to.

I want to remember how much I laugh when they make silly videos and shake their bootys at the camera and giggle like it is the best thing ever.

I want to remember rainy days when I let them run in the house, and play chase, and how loudly all of us are screaming every time we nearly crash into each other.

I want to remember that we were all getting grumpy and cabin feverish, and that doing jumping jacks, skipping around the house, and dancing to the music turned up real loud, made everything better.

I want to remember when our life was this simple.

I want to remember these moments.

By taking the time to photograph and write about these moments of my life, I hope I can look back on this time and say, "really?  My life was really like that?"

And then I can congratulate myself for surviving.

Ha!  

Just kidding.

Kind of.

Because, really, it's gets pretty crazy up in here.

................................................................................................................................................

After 2 days of grey, rainy weather, and being mostly stuck in the house, some of us were, literally, climbing the walls.

Aside: am I the only one who has the house rule, YOU CAN ONLY CLIMB THE WALLS WHEN YOUR FEET ARE CLEAN?

Yes?

I thought so.

Lilly refuses to believe that she cannot do what her brothers do. 

So she's been working on her wall climb.

Today, she mastered it.

Going up.

Almost there.

I didn't get the shot, but she made it to the top and then slid back down the wall like a fire pole.
Tada!

Feeling all the pent up energy and being unable to send them outside to climb the tree, I decided to take charge of the situation.
We all needed a break from school and to move around the room.
We needed to shake the grouchies that were growing in all of us.
So we did crunches, side stepped around the house, did push ups, skipped, and did lots of jumping jacks.
They were all smiling and laughing the whole time.
It's pretty funny when your mom makes you do jumping jacks to get out of a bad mood, right?

Even David got in on the act.
Look at him jump back there.

 After a bit, they collapsed on the floor claiming exhaustion.

 The tickling began in mere seconds.

And the next thing I knew, clothes were off and there was a full blown wrestling match going on.
This was no surprise.

After they tired of wrestling (or before some of them tired of wrestling) I suggested a dance party.
They asked for Rock Lobster, and we started dancing.
Apparently weapons are needed while dancing, and weapons can be had in the kitchen.

That's where they headed.
They quickly found what they were looking for.

 James led the charge around the house, weapons in hand, and hips shaking to the music.

Our play list included, The Love Shack by the B-52s, Darth Vader's music from Star Wars, Mr. Roboto by the Styx, Sister Kate by the Diddy Bops, and I Walk the Line by Johnny Cash.
We like to mix it up.

Then William put on a little Glen Miller and did a show for us.

Lilly was next.

And that was all in less than an hour.
Everyone was smiling and happy.
We watched the videos we took of ourselves dancing.
We laughed a lot.
Then we ate lunch.
David went down for a nap.
And our after lunch reading and drawing time was calm and enjoyable, just like it should be.
As crazy as they might be, I love these little people to pieces.
Wishing you a weekend full of many moments that you want to remember.
Love from,
Greta

A 4th Birthday Party for Lilly

Lilly turned 4 on June 30th.

Our family has a seemingly endless string of celebrating from April 23rd (James' birthday) until Lilly's birthday.

There are 5 birthdays in there, Mother's and Father's day, and our anniversary.

And that's just within our immediate family!

It can get kind of exhausting.

I pushed Lilly's birthday party back a bit into the first week of July, but I was still feeling kind of celebrated out.

I had also been sick with a terrible flu that took me down for 4 days, and we'd been leading our normal busy life.

And so, as much as I am ashamed to admit it, I threw her party together at the very last minute.

As in, the night before.

But it still turned out great.

She had a wonderful time with all her girlfriends.

And I had a wonderful time celebrating my little girl.

I can't believe she is 4!

I remember every detail of the day she was born, but the ins and outs of the days filling the past 4 years are a bit of a blur.

All I know is that it is going by much too quickly and that I want to savor every minute of days like this, parties full of dress up clothes, lots of pink, and giggly little girls.

I want to enjoy my getting bigger, little girl.

Here are some of my favorite memories from the party:
It was a paper doll party!
How cute are these paper dolls?

In addition to the ready made paper dolls, the girls gathered around the table to make their own dolls.

It was some of the things Lilly loves best: art, glue, pretty stickers, flowers, and sequins.

She's just like her daddy and her big brothers--an artist already!
She always puts long eyelashes on the girls she draws.
It's her trademark.
I'm pretty smitten by it.

We put her dress up trunk out for all her friends to use.
Most of the girls were walking around in big, puffy dresses.
It was so much fun.

We also painted every one's nails.
Lilly got nail polish for her birthday this year and she was so excited to share it with her friends.
And there was lots of pink!
Even pink, polka dot straws.

I loved watching her open all her girly presents.  (see all the dresses in the background?)

This is one of my most favorite pictures.
All that pink, the tulle, the pink crown her cousins gave her, and just the sweet, little girlishness of it all.
I wish I could wrap this moment up and keep her here for a long while.

My favorite moment of the day was when we sang Happy Birthday.
Lilly's bestest cousin, Lizzy is exactly a week younger than Lilly.
Lilly's party was on Lizzy's actual birthday.
So Lilly wanted Lizzy to blow out her candle with her.
Seeing these 2 together makes me so happy.
They love each other a LOT!
People always ask them if they are twins, and they love that.
Lilly might not have a sister, but she has Lizzy, and that's almost as good.
I am so grateful for these 2 fun, crazy, silly, and sweet, little girls.

They got a little embarrassed.

They told secrets.

And they blew out the candle together.

Happiest of birthdays to Lilly and Lizzy!

You are so loved.

Love from,

Mommy

Dyeing Eggs

Dyeing eggs is one of my most favorite holiday activities.

Of all time.

Long before my sister or I had kids, but also long after we were done being kids ourselves, we still dyed eggs together.
It's just so much fun.
Watching those white eggs turn all sorts of bright and beautiful colors is magical.
I do love color.

I've done it every year with my kids since James' first Easter.
There would be rebellion if we missed.
This year was the most fun time yet.
They are all big enough now that I can just set them loose and let them create.
Which is just what they did.

I let each kid have their own dozen to dye.
I know, it seems like a lot, but the fun they had was worth every penny of that $1.49 per dozen.
We did the dyeing outside so there was no stress about dye getting on table, chairs or floor.
It makes for a much more fun experience.

Don't you love the way the dye fizzes when you add the vinegar?
We left some with just vinegar and dye, no added water, to get really bright eggs.
And we used some brown eggs to get those jewel tones we love.
This yellow and green one are brown eggs.

I snapped picture after picture while they dyed eggs.
I just couldn't get enough of all the fabulous colors.

And I love to watch them interact with the process.
I love the way they experiment with the colors, letting them sit a long time, or mixing them around.
It's such a great art project.

It's messy.
We always have some remnants of dye under our nails on Easter morning.
It doesn't matter.

Every single egg is different.
Even if they go in the exact same cup of dye.
They love seeing how each carton of eggs is unique.

And what does a little, almost 10 month old baby do while his big siblings dye eggs?
He crawls around on the ground and gets into mischief.

He tried to eat a lot of succulents.

The kids spent the entire morning dyeing eggs.
We all agreed it was more fun this year than last.
And we know next year will be even better.

I love this tradition.
I hope they'll indulge me when they're in college and I ask them if they want to dye eggs.
Say yes, OK kids?
Because no Easter would be complete without the egg dipped in every color.
We must have the muddy egg.
It just wouldn't be Easter without it.

Only 1 more Easter post left, folks.

Or, maybe 2.

I aim to get them done before the week ends.

You know, so we can get ready for the 4th of July.

Happy Easter!

Love from,

Greta