Time

These days my to-do list tends to overflow.  

Overflow with things that will never get done. . . things that have to get done. . . things I don't want to get done. . . things that make me crazy until they get done. . .and things that make me want to drop everything and do the exact moment the idea comes to me. 

The house is never clutter free.  The homework will never end.  Piano practicing is always hanging over us.  There are books to read each night.  A blog that should be kept up.  Church work that keeps us busy.  Basketball practice to fit in.  Yard work stares me down every time I pull away from my house.  Meals are constantly needing to be prepped and dishes are never ending.  And laundry: you are truly my nemesis.

But then some days.  

I find myself driving down a perfectly quaint Providence street.  And I think to myself how dang lucky I am to call this city my home.  The old pioneer homes, kept up perfectly and set back from the road.  The big trees lining the street, covered in fall-ness.  And I can't help but forget where I was headed in the first place, pull over, unbuckle the toddler and let her crunch those perfectly crunchy fall leaves underneath her feet. 

At first she looks at me confused. . . where are we going?  Then she tentatively takes my hand as she walks through the leaf covered path.  And then. . . in true Stella fashion. . . she runs up and down that sidewalk.  Laughing at the sound her red shoes made.  

"No home, mommy!  Again!"

One of my biggest fears is that I will one day look back and wish I had enjoyed these early years with my kids.  Life is too busy.  So much gets in the way of what's really important.  I never regret ignoring the daily chores and making memories with my kids. . . I never regret forgetting the to-do list and running through sidewalks filled with golden leaves.

Lola turns 6

 I'll never forget the day this girl was born.

I just kept staring at her, with that red bow in her hair and couldn't believe I had a daughter.  

I couldn't wait for the day I first saw her in a dance class.  For all the pink.  For the bows and bracelets, dresses and skirts.  For a little buddy to shop with me.

 

She is such a girly girl this Lola.

She loves to shop with me.  She never gets tired and lasts much longer than I do.  She has such an eye for fashion and definitely knows her style.  And everyone else's.  She sees things at the store and tells me things like, "those shoes are Chelsea's style."  "That dress is Izzy's style." And she's usually right on.

She is the best sister in the world to Stella.

She is so patient, so loving, so kind, and so responsible with her sister.  She lets her tag along with her no matter what she's doing. . . at the park, in the yard, in her bedroom, and when she's playing with her friends.  Sometimes I have to tell her to go play and that I will keep an eye on Stella.  It is seriously just about the sweetest thing I have seen.  I couldn't live without my sisters and am so grateful that Lola and Stella have each other.  I love that they are already best friends.

This girl brings lots of sweetness to our home.

Lots of drama too, and lots of tears, and more sassyness than I care to put up with some days, but mostly sweetness.

Happy 6th Birthday to my smart, sassy, sweet, bubbly, friendly, pretty Lola Belle.  Now stop growing up. 

Jackson turns 10

10 years is a long time.

I can't believe this guy has been in my world for that long.  Not many days go by that I don't look at his big, strong body and wonder where the time went.  I'm constantly blown away by how much he knows about the world he lives in and what an amazing kid he has turned out to be. 

Jacks is my sweetheart.  

He is always looking out for me and is so aware of my feelings.  He takes care of me if he thinks I'm sad.  He jumps in and helps with Stella when he can tell I'm overwhelmed or tired.  He tries to talk Miles into behaving when he sees that I'm at my wits end.   He reads with Lola at the end of a long day.  He keeps me company and makes me laugh.

Jackson's favorite thing in the world right now is sports.  

Pretty much any sport.  He loves watching football, basketball, or baseball with his dad.  He stays up way too late because he can't tear himself away from the end of a good game.  And I usually let him because he's just such a good kid.  I love that he shares this love with Nate.  I love to hear them talk about stats or breakdown the last night's game.  He's playing football right now and has loved it.  He just found out he made a super-league basketball team that will be starting in a couple weeks.  He keeps us busy with his sports, but I love watching him do what makes him happy.

I'm so thankful for this boy!

I am so lucky to have Jacks' as my oldest.  He is such a great example, so responsible, so willing to help, so smart at school and makes me proud every single day.  

Happy Birthday J-Man!

Stella watches TV and gets messy

A couple highlights from Stella's day. . . 

-Sitting on mom's bed watching shows on my phone.  Seriously.  This girl could do it all day, every day if I let her.  She loves her iPhone time.  It used to be Tangled.  Then she moved on to Toy Story.  Currently she's stuck on Backyardigans.  She loves the singing and starts dancing and singing in jibberish when the music starts.  It's the only time she holds still, so it's definitely nice once in a while.

- Eating this cupcake.  Making a complete mess out of it but enjoying every bit.  This girl spent most of her afternoon in the car driving her cute siblings to all their activities.  Her only nap of the day was taken while driving Lola and friends to ballet, in between driving Miles to a class on the other side of Logan and getting Jackson to football practice in Hyrum.  The least I could do was let her enjoy a store-bought-complete-with-nasty-frosting-cupcake. . . even if it was before dinner. 

2. 

Lola Girl Goes to School

This pretty, independent, bubbly, smart, energetic, sweet buddy of mine started kindergarten.  

Kindergarten!

She has been counting down the days. 

She fully embraced back to school shopping this year and appreciated every package that came in the mail and every stop we made at the mall. 

She is definitely my little fashionista. 

She loves to learn.  

She fills notebook after notebook with pages of letters that she practices writing over and over again.  She has been working on sounding out words and is so excited to learn to read this year.

Most of her friends are in the other kindergarten class but she has no worries about making new friends.  

Stella and I walked her into her kindergarten class that first morning and she was ready to go.  I love her confidence.  It's hard to be sad about letting my baby grow up when I know that she is so ready for this next step.  

She jumps off the bus after her day and runs to me,

full of stories about her adventures.

I hear every last detail.

She is Happy.

Back to School Dinner. . . 2012

Back to School Dinner 2012 version...

Theme Book:  The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes

 

Here's to a great school year for my 4 favorite little mini's!

These Boys. . .

These cute boys headed back to school yesterday. 

I blinked and suddenly here they were, in 4th and 2nd grade.  

It feels like they are growing up faster than ever lately. 

They were excited for school to start.
It's always so bittersweet for me.
The end of summer is such a sad thing. . . no more lazy mornings, the end of no schedule, no more popsicles consumed under our cherry tree, no more unending afternoons full of friends, and no more relaxing afternoons at the pool.

But then again, it's nice to get back to a routine.
And I'm not going to argue about how quiet the last 2 days have been with just Stella at home!

Luckily I get to hang on to my little kindergarten buddy for another week.
Makes my transition a little less traumatic.  

 Here's to the start of another great school year!