sweet life

Over the last couple of years, there has been a major shift in the stage of parenting I am in. As a mom with babies and toddlers in the home, I filled our days with adventures, outings and playdates to break up the mundane tasks of diaper changing, food preparing and napping of my little ones. With so much time needing to be spent in the home, we enjoyed opportunities to break up our day and enjoy life with others. Now, with all 3 kids in school, so much time is spent running around that time spent together in the home seems like a rarity. I find myself craving quiet evenings and weekends with my family and when they come, they are especially treasured!!

Because of that reality, it was easy to find great value in the past several weeks of illnesses that have invaded our home. We were stuck at home together and even though we were not feeling great, there was sweet life to live and precious memories to be made! This precious time together reminded me of what an incredible blessing my children are and allowed me to appreciate, all the more, the wonders of being "mom". Here are some such wonders...

My engineering minded Colson was studying my baby proofing one day and determined it was just not good enough. He fiddled with it and said, "Mom, this is too easy for Tiny to get into!"

He then scrounged around in the drawers and found a system that he preferred much better... and wouldn't you know it, it's much more effective at keeping baby "out" than my clips were!

Do you see him? Poking his head over the pillows in between the sticky notes that say "I love you!" and such is a "man". My Kaden was so excited that his art teacher taught him to draw a realistic person that he came right home and drew one for Jim and I to enjoy... every single night as we get into bed. :O) A little scary, maybe, but if it helps my son to feel special and important to us, so be it.

One of my dear friends taught Kylee how to make flower hair clips and she is so excited!! We ordered some supplies and she and I (and the boys) have been busy ever since! She has visions of not only making clips for her friends, coaches and the baby girls that enter our home, but also hopes to make some to deliver to a children's cancer ward. Just love this girl's heart.

In preparation for Baby Hope (due 3/20), we bought an adorable AA baby that Kylee has been caring for ever so diligently... this baby doll is named "Chloe Brooke" and Kylee is so very anxious to have a "sister" just like her!!

Our sweetest Tiny girl will be leaving us soon. Knowing we have just another month with her in our home (if all goes "as planned") we cherish moments with her all the more. We're still completely unsure of how we'll ever manage to move on without her, but we know by the grace of God we will... some day.

Oh yes, and our big girl is still losing teeth (6 to date). And, just in case we forget...

While Jim was out in CA for grandpa's memorial services, we had the biggest snowstorm of the decade!! Certainly, in our 6 years here, this was the most snow we've ever seen!! It took a WHOLE LOT of work to clear the driveway enough to get the van out, but there were some wonderful memories made along the way as well.

And just in case anyone should wonder, yes, we are big Packer fans!! It's kinda an obligation if you live out here, but we don't mind at all because it's a wonderfully fun culture to be a part of!! Wisconsin became of sea of gold and green ever since the Packers beat the Bears a couple weeks back and we've done our part to be involved!

The kids have all had a huge interest in helping me cook lately, which I love! Our small family Packer Party was a perfect opportunity for them to help make goodies for the BIG GAME!!

Ky created a Packer colored hair clip to wear to church Super Bowl Sunday

And is proud to show off her Packer colored nail painting she did with a friend.

Even our coloring started looking a little gold and green... :O)

The kids were totally into the game and were so proud that the Packers were the Super Bowl champions!! They didn't even mind the fireworks that blasted for hours outside after the big win!!