Isn't he lovely?

Quite often Brad and I entertain ourselves with crazy conversations about which one of us is better at a certain task or skill. The personal resume that we give each other contains hyperbole after hyperbole of our particular skill set. These conversations usually end with me talking loudly, flailing my hands, and Brad doubling over in a laughing fit, completely unable to speak. Good times indeed.

I bring this up simply because I must occasionally give up the fight and give him credit for being the fantastic husband (and friend) that he is to me. He can work 10+ hours a day (for days on end) and still come home and willingly help me out with the continual domestic madness. He does dishes, changes diapers, runs errands and referees children. Plus, he shows me genuine sympathy when my Yankees dissapoint me and lose in the first round. That is a good man.

On top of all of this, Brad just spent all three of his days off last week with my ex-husband, who was in town to visit Mady. He not only entertained him but truly showed interest in his well being. I believe that Scott left with a desire to be a better person for the time he spent with Brad.

So, could I be luckier? I don't think so.

Although, out of sheer pride, he will never beat me in soccer.

Liza learning to twirl

My favorite part of the video? Hearing my mom laugh.

Here come the terrible twos...

So, everyone keeps asking me why the blog is so sporadic. Well, this young lady would be why.

She woke up about two weeks ago as a completely different child. I don't know if I am going to survive all of the following:

• climbing into sinks with the water running


• grabbing handfuls of the sauce that I am making with dinner and sucking it down while it drips on the floor


• taking endless amounts of cereal out of the pantry and dumping it on my kitchen floor


• using the dog as a step stool


• trying to "hug" Daniel until he screams


• crying at anything and everything at the TOP of her lungs while screaming "No, NO, mommy!"

Ok, ok, to be fair, she has her cute and funny moments, too.

• She loves to have Grandpa pretend like he is sleeping so that she can kiss him and wake him up.


• Anytime she wants you to move she says ,"Beep, beep" instead of "excuse me".


• She has the best look of surprise. Any time she sees or hears something new she looks like Mccully Culkin on Home Alone with the mouth open and the eyes wide. It's very cute.


• She will sing little songs to me. I have no idea what she's saying, but she'll do it over and over again if I ask her to.


• She loves her siblings. She asks about them all day long while they are at school. Also, she loves to have Daniel follow her to her room so that they can play. She'll stand in the hallway and say, "D, play. D, PLAY."


• She loves church. As we pull into the parking lot she says, "YEAH, YEAH!"


• She gives me butterfly kisses.

So, forgive me if the blog is not current. I'm tending my babies, and babies don't keep.

Back in the saddle

So, it's been awhile. I truly apologize. Life gets away from you when all six kids are at home. So, now that 4 of them are back in school, I have no excuse (other than the fact that Liza is currently trying to push me off of the chair...).

I really have nothing to report except that I am quite unsure if I will survive the experience of my children entering middle school. If anyone has a tip or two on getting through this phase, I would be glad to hear it!

As for Liza and Daniel, they are delightful! My new found joy is that Daniel will toddle back to Liza's room and start playing with the toys. Liza is soon to follow. So, for a few minutes they will listen to music and play together! This, I love.

family and fun

We have had such a good time with all of the family visits this summer. Here are a few pictures.

It has been a lot of fun having Liza as my shadow in the garden. She comes out to help me water each time. I have loved sharing that time with her.

We also enjoyed visiting the gardens at Thanksgiving Point with Tammye, Candy and Brynna. We spent 4 hours there and it just flew by. Tammye took these fantastic pictures for us. None of us had been there before so we slowly took it all in. It was one of those rare, perfect days that you love to look back on later.

Bon Voyage!

I have been so behind on posting photos from all of the events of this summer. Here are some from the barbeque for Carl before he left for Virginia. There were so many great ones of everyone. Sorry I can only post a few!

Enjoy!

Good things come to those who wait (for their mom to visit...)

I must give a little shout out to my mom. She swoops into town, sprinkles her fairy dust over my house, throws in a good measure of elbow grease, and viola! my plants are thriving and happy.

Thanks to her I have my trellis' up in my garden, my herbs planted in pots, and I even got a night out with Brad! Amazing. She is truly able to accomplish more in one hour than most of us accomplish in a week. And, having seen her recently use both a pick ax and a shovel, I'm pretty sure she can still take me in a fair fight.

What would we do without our mothers? THANK YOU MOM!