Days gone by

Giving up on blogging came easy. At first.
And then I started missing updating my blog because I know that I am going to miss looking back and wondering at our days gone by. I have quite a few blog posts that are in "draft" because I haven't had the time (read: taken the time) to finish them and upload pictures with them. But my goal is to be better so that I have memories to look back on with pictures and details when my memory grows fuzzy and dim.

One of the favorite activities that the kiddos love to do right now is ride the 4-wheeler all.by.themseves in the back yard. In first gear. But they still think it is awesome!! (I got out too late to get Buddy-Ro driving, but I caught Birdie on her ride.) Mr. P likes to be taken for rides, too, but he does not like to go fast.

The kiddos actually love to just be outside period. However, it has been absurdly hot this summer, and Mama and Daddy can't tolerate it like they do anymore. So the evenings are our best friends. :) That's one great thing about summer - later bedtimes because it's light enough to stay outside and play without being in the overwhelming heat! Scott set up a "course" for the kiddos to ride and race each other's time. They thought this was the bee's knees!! (That's my newest saying. Have you heard it before? Scott had not, and he thought I was crazy the first time I said it and told him that it was a "real thing.")

Of course, the littlest one can't be left out. He choose to run in a straight line for his race. :)

Our days gone by have been full of fun times and mostly just being together.

Family Portraits 2014

Taking our family portraits was {a little} less stressful this year. No one but me gets excited. Sometimes children don't want to cooperate. Sometimes Daddy gets tired. And then, ahem, Mama gets aggravated. But this year was quicker than any previous year, and our pictures turned out great. Ahhhhh...stress free until this time next year!! ;)

These kiddos are just too much.

This girl is growing up so much lately. Some days are hard as we all try to find a balance between wanting to grow up and wanting to still be little. But her heart is sweeter than ice cream, and I know that time will work all things out as we grow together. I love her too much sometimes.

You have not met closer siblings. These two have a bond that is so thick. Yes, they can aggravate one another, but tell them to separate and things are all good. To them, being separated from one another is the worst punishment. That makes a Mama's heart sing.

This boy with his missing teeth!! He melts me in a way I can't explain. He is challenging at times, yet his heart is gentle and extremely generous. He has the greatest smile.

This kid has more personality than I ever imagined a 2 year old could have. He is my baby, and I am not shy about letting him know it. I love him so stinkin' much!

These three faces are the most beautiful faces to my heart and eyes. They aren't perfect. They have their flaws (as do I), but I wouldn't trade them for anything.

It was so hard to choose between all of these pictures for our Christmas card. But I ended up choosing this one as the front of the card. Even though Buddy-Ro isn't smiling really big, I still really liked this picture as a whole.

But I chose this one as a large print to hang up on the wall in our home. (I did an 8x10 of the other one!)

This one was actually my favorite...but it was taken a little too close for me to get sizes other than a 4x6 without unwanted cropping. Such is life when you take your own family portraits. (A side note - I am SO stinkin' short. I have wedge boots on, yet Scott still towers over me. Sheesh!!) 

School Pics

We started our school year much later this year than last year. Last year we started on July 15, and this year we started on Sept 8. Whew! We tried starting back while we were still at Nana and Papa's house, but there were just too many distractions and people constantly around that it just didn't work. But that's one of the joys of homeschooling - flexibility. Now that we are settled in our new home, school is going very well and we are enjoying our new school room and time together.

Pics from our first day:

These three.







 

The boy who fixed his own hair for pictures. The baby who is a m.e.s.s. And the big girl who is a little mama and {mostly} sweeter than ice cream. Yes. It's these three that make our homeschooling journey a great family adventure.

Another house update

We went by the house yesterday evening because they had started painting and the kiddos were anxious to see their rooms. Well, the boys were excited because their room was painted. Birdie's room was painted, too...just the wrong color. She was so disappointed, but we assured her that they would fix it!



They should start painting the main level today, so it will be exciting to see how it transforms with new paint. The ceiling in the living room should really pop with the coiffured trim!



Scott designed the trim in our entire house -- the crown molding, the doors, and windows. It is so beautiful!! And he even did the dining room himself. It's so special to have his hands all over our house as it's being built.







Front doors are in! Covered by plastic so they won't get paint on them, but still in!



And the outside -- brick and stone are complete, just waiting on exterior pain to be done and shutters put on. The dumpster has finally been moved from the front of the house!! Yay for a family picture on the front porch. :) I'm pretty sure landscaping will make a huge difference. ;)



Yay for more progress!! 31 days and counting. Hopefully!

House Progress

I am way behind on updating the progress of our new house, but I have pictures that I've taken because lots of work has been going on!! These first pics are from about a month ago.









 

The view from our back porch. Ahhh, I foresee me spending LOTS of time out here with this view. :)





Before the steps were built for the back porch. Looks very far down and makes me nervous!







Photo op on the front porch.







And in the front windows.



Inside progress.













And these pics are from two weeks ago. There's been so much going on since these pics were taken, but they've been painting so everything is covered up. I'll have to go over in a few days to get updated pics.

















It takes a long time and a lot of work to build a new house. But it has {mostly} been fun. We are definitely looking forward to it being complete and settling in. But of course that requires moving again...and that was hard work!!