Our Aweful Beautiful Life

Some days, are just epic. Like today. We should be all sunshine & smiles today, as its the last day of school and Colton's graduating Kindergarten and let's just hold hands and frolic through the soft summer grass.....right? WRONG. So. Apparently, I’m the worst Mom in the world, because I wouldn’t let Colton wear tall black socks  today with his kahki shorts & polo shirt for Kindergarten Graduation. In fact, I was quite ridiculous thinking he should wear his cute summer church shoes (the canvas like ones), because… 1.)    They are too big. "When I run, they don’t even stay on … see?!" (While showing me and sobbing, simultaneously….insert BIG dramatics here, to make sure that the shoe not only comes off, but flies across the room while running) 2.)    "They give me rashes, right here. They are way too big mom. You don’t even care!!" 3.)    I never, NEVER let him do anything he wants. I don’t care about him a...

It's hard to believe all that's really happened in the last 10 months. Let's recap a bit... - we welcomed Keaton into our family and became a family of 5 (this is where the chaos begins). - Emmalyn started her first year of Preschool at Chalmers Discovering H.A.N.D.S. - Colton started Kindergarten. - Emmalyn went on a field trip to the pumpkin patch. - We survived Colton's first parent teacher conference. - Jason turned 33. - Em did a fantastic job in her Christmas program at Preschool. - We took a much needed adult night get away to Indy as a Christmas gift to each other. - We returned to puking kids, and then puking adults. - We survived the worst winter we've had a in LONG time, including the polar vortex - Colton turned 6. - Keaton had a cold. For at least 3 straight months. - Keaton got 5 teeth. - Keaton started moving -- EVERYWHERE. - Colton started baseball. - Emmalyn had an Easter Party at school that I chaperoned. - We hosted Jason's f...

Keaton is growing by leaps and bounds and I'm doing an awful job (per typical 3rd child) of keeping track of all his milestones. He's been well on the move for awhile now, and will turn 10 months old on Monday. WHERE. HAS. THE. TIME. GONE!?! As with the other two -- we buzzed right through baby foods. They were good, but the fact that he couldn't do it himself didn't set well. So, we're on to table foods and LOVING it. Well, loving what he actually gets in his own mouth. I clean at least a 1/4 of a plate full out of his seat each evening. Regardless...he's a good eater. We raise them "thick" as my cousin might say. Anyway -- we did the initial spaghetti "have at it yourself" night recently, and well....it was....MESSY. But adorable. Only thing that could have been better....him falling asleep in his highchair in the middle of it all! Just getting started... We're having fun now! IT ATTACKED ME!!!!!! Loving watching th...

This is a WAY belated post, but one worth sharing. One evening, shortly after the barrage of candy...ie. Easter....Grandpa Brad & Grandma Jacki stopped by. The boys were at practice still, and it was just me, Em & Keaton. They sat down and visited with us, and Em showed Grandpa her new piggy bank she'd gotten at school as part of a money lesson. He reached deep into his pockets for some change, but didn't have any....after Grandma promised that he would put money in her bank! So, as he shoved a $1 bill down into the bank, I told Em she should get him some candy, and she brought her bucket over. Grandpa took a piece. Then as we visited he took a few more, then a few more. You know how addictive Easter Candy is. Pretty soon, Emmalyn came over, shot Grandpa a look, then pulled the bucket away as if to say, "That's it, Grandpa. NO MORE candy!!"....Jacki and I burst out laughing and Grandpa realized he'd been shamed. HA He kept saying, "Taking back t...

Well - we've officially kicked off another baseball season. This Momma had to take a big deep breath -- as much as I wanted Colton to move up to the next league, I was quite okay with the simple schedule that tee-ball offered. One or two practices a week, and then a game on Saturday. It was EASY. Colton's now 6 years old, and several of his buddies were moving up to Pinto....so he tried out, and made the jump as well. Now we're talking 2-3 GAMES a week (although, no practices...so that's good. I think?!). And as much as it's more work for Jason and I to gather three kids and get home from work and pack a tailgate bag with enough necessities to keep Keaton entertained for week and then get back to the ballfield....it's been totally worth it. The skill jump these kids have made in one year is amazing, and since they are playing by the rules (rather than just batting through the lineup)it's actually entertaining to watch...something worth cheering for! And I ...

I can hardly believe that Easter has come and gone, and that it's nearly May. Weren't we just stuck in a snowstorm after Christmas? Aren't we still living the moving Frozen and fighting to get out from under a nasty Winter? Somedays I feel like I'm waking up in a dream! Easter weekend was....in a word...exhausting. But, that said, it was the best kind of exhausting. Two days of glorious outside weather. A lot of family. Good food. Candy. Lots of candy. And three kids who hunted more eggs than we have any idea what to do with... We hosted the Robinson Family at our house on Saturday -- so Thursday-Saturday were spent prepping for that party. What a great excuse to get our house cleaned up -- and we could not have done it without the help of Brad, Jacki and Jacob! You can actually SEE out of our windows again and my house -- feels fabulous! It was a great turnout, beautiful weather, and an all around good time. I hope the original 5 siblings enjoyed being "home...