The Way I View - Motherhood

The theme this month for our "The Way I View" blog circle is Motherhood.

I hand very grandiose plans for my pictures this month.  They were going to be tender, loving, happy, wonderful.  Yeah, you all were going to cry...and then motherhood happened.  Things got busy, kids were crazy, schedules were full, the house was dirty, etc.

I originally wanted the pictures done by Mother's Day, then I figured it'd be fine if they were done the week after Mother's Day, then as long as they were done before our Moab trip, then I knew I'd have more time this week to get them done, and lo and behold, tonight as I'm putting the older girls down for bed I realize, "Oh my gosh, it's the last day of the month and I haven't done the motherhood pictures."  And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the way I view motherhood. Te he he.

I thought about copping out and just pulling together some pictures I got this month of my kids doing the crazy things that I absolutely love about them, but then I thought, "NO! If I don't get pictures of me with my kids now, when will I do it next?!?"  So I grabbed my camera, tripod and shutter release and took them upstairs to get some pictures with my older girls before all the evening light disappeared.  This was the result:

Oh how I wish life could be about blankies and barbies forever.

So there you go, that's the way I view motherhood.  Mostly improvised, not quite perfect, rough around the edges, but a whole lot of fun.

I've included links to my other "The Way I View..." posts in the footer down below if you want to check them all out. Now go check out Candice's post about motherhood.

Weekend In Moab

Last year, we went to Moab for the Art's Festival and Memorial Day.  We decided to do a repeat this year, and I think next year we'll make it a full blown tradition.

We started off the trip with the Art's Festival.  It was a rather blustery day so our visit was cut a bit short.  Bart said he liked last year's better, he was still really impressed with the ceramic artists.

Not that he's biased or anything.

I was impressed with this little guy.

You would think Bart would be really excited about the Art's Festival because it's...well...an ART'S festival.  But from the moment we we decided to go, all he talked about was the "Carnie Food."  He was really excited.  And this year we discovered this little gem:



On it's Facebook Page, Quesadilla Mobilla says, it's mission is, "To create and serve the most unique and delicious quesadillas in the universe! But we'll just start with the planet earth for now."  Well Quesadilla Mobilla, mission accomplished! (At least here on earth).  Not certain it qualifies as "Carnie Food,"  But it was pretty freaking good.  Bart and I got the Southern Belle and the Enchanted Chicken.  Then for desert we had a little Cran-Apple Delite.  Absolutely the most delicious and unique Quesadillas I've ever tasted.  I hope to see them at the festival again next year.

The kiddos opted out of the Cran-Apple Delite (much to our delite, since we got one to share with everyone) and chose to have Ice Cream instead.  Hannah actually claimed her tummy was hurting, but the ice cream apparently fixed that.

I have to admit, we kept the twins in their stroller most of the time because the wind was so strong it was really kicking up a lot of dust, and the covers protected them a little. 

But I SWEAR, we usually take them out of the stroller when we're out and about....okay, most of the time...sometimes...alright alright alright every once in a while!  Don't judge!  You try and chase down two toddlers running in opposite directions and then come back and talk to me about how frequently you should let your kids out of their strollers.  Sometimes it's hard enough just keeping them in the stroller!

Moving on...

Sunday was Hannah's Birthday!  My little lady is now officially 3, although in my mind she's been three ever since she started talking in complex sentences.

While I was getting her breakfast ready, I had a feeling that I would forget to get a birthday picture of her if I didn't do it right then, so I asked her to give me her best Hannah birthday face.  This is what I got:

 

I'm going to have to agree, those are some of the best Hannah Birthday faces I've ever seen. ;) Love you little lady!

I was pretty much right.  The only other picture I got of her on her birthday was her blowing out the candles on her cake.

It took her a few tries, but when you're three you're allowed more than one, especially if it will help avoid getting spit on the cake...which it did.

And finally, the real reason we came down to Moab:  Memorial Day.



There's a reverent dignity to cemeteries on Memorial Day.  In all honesty, it's there every other day of the year, but it is very pronounced on Memorial Day.  You can just feel the respect and love the living have for these people who have passed on.  Especially for those who have served our country.  I absolutely love it.

When we got there, the girls realized they didn't have flowers, so Addison and Hannah decided they wanted to gather pine cones to place on Grandpa's grave.  When Maya and Lilly saw what they were doing, even they joined in.



Not sure why, but it was really a touching moment for me. These girls, only one of whom ever got to meet Grandpa, reverently gathering and arranging pine cones as their gift to him.







It really was a wonderful Memorial Day.  I can't wait to go again next year.

Yardwork

Since Bart finally finished his thesis...okay, so he still has his defense, but the hard part is done...he's been able to get some work done around the yard.

He knew that there is a broken pipe in our back yard sprinklers, but he wanted to test the sprinklers in the front yard to make sure they were still working properly

Seeing as this was the twins first experience with sprinklers, they were quite excited.  Water spraying from out of the ground?  Yes please!

Unfortunately there was some work to be done.

But I don't think the kids minded much.

There was also some work to be done in the back yard.

Confession: I love watching this guy work in our yard.

Dang! He is good looking.

"Babe, are you just going to take pictures, or are you actually going to help?"

What a silly question, of course I'm going to help...let me just go over here and...OH look at what our adorable kids are doing!

Just kidding.  I really did help...and in the spirit of full disclosure, that's not what he was thinking when I took that picture of him.  I asked him right after I took it and he said he didn't even realize he was making a face...that's what he told me at least... ;)

I got the kids to help too.

We train them young here.

Not gonna lie, it's good to have my husband back!

Oops She Did it Again...

Technically she lost it last Saturday.  If you look closely, you can see a new one growing in.

The Twins - 18 Months Old

The other day I had ALL of the girls up and dressed with their hair done before I took Addison and Hannah to preschool.  This is actually a pretty big deal for me.  Most of the time I am proud of myself if I can get Addison and Hannah dressed before we go.

Then, on the way home, I saw this beautiful light coming through the trees and I decided, on a whim, I would try and get some 18 month old pictures of the twins.  (I can't believe they'll be 18 months old this month!)  Let me tell you, I am SOOOOOOO glad I did!  These are probably my favorite pictures I've taken of them...EVER!



They were a little hesitant at first.  I plopped them down in the middle of this clearing and they looked at me like, "Uhhhh...is this some sort of trick?  Are you going to force us back into the stroller as soon as we start playing?"

When they finally decided I wasn't going to snatch them up the second they moved, they started exploring. 





Do you see the spout of hair on top of that little girl's head.  She has more hair than any of my other kids at this age hands down!


Alright, so technically Lilly's hair wasn't done...but I did comb it.

The poor thing actually saw me putting a rubber band in Maya's hair and found a rubber band, handed it to me and pointed to her head.  I tried.  I swear I tried.  But there's just not enough hair there Lilly!  I'm sorry...hopefully for your two year old pictures.


And this picture on the right of Lilly.  Hands down my favorite picture of her to date!  And I love that one of Maya's little tongue too! I LOVE these babies!




I may have to get everyone ready early more often!