December Daily #5

The best Elwin the Elf locator around...

Lila is so fun at Christmas because she notices, appreciates and celebrates all the details. 

This girl has a thousand smiles.

And I love every one.

December Daily #4

This is December in SoCal.  

And it's every bit as awesome as it looks.  Chilly in the morning  + evenings, gorgeous during the day.  

The Swishers are soft these days though.  We are all freezing in the low 60's. 

 If it's 59...we probably have a fire in our fireplace.  😁  

December Daily #3

Cheers to the most hodge-podge tree of them all!

Each ornament represents a special memory of Christmas-pasts; a lovely reminder of some the memories we hold most dear. 

This is our family story; represented by a bunch of crazy + random ornaments all over a fake tree.

Tis the season!!!

December Daily#2

Colt loves Santa. (Kinda)

December Daily #1

It's all about simplification this year for us as we enter the Christmas season.  

And on this the 1st day of December, I decided that we won't be sending Christmas cards out. 

Ahhhhhhh.  (Sigh of relief!!!)

It feels so good!

I'll be back next year I'm sure, but this year: none.  

And I'm reallllly glad about.

Please send yours though; I do love them so.

And enjoy one of our favorites from last year. 

An Old Soul

Our eldest son is old soul.  

Wise beyond his 6 years.

Also patient.

Caring.

Brave.

Gentle.

Sometimes people think he is quiet.  

Oh, how wrong they are!

He can be quiet at times, but usually those are times of observing, thinking playing or learning for him.

Oh, he's a rascal too.

He enjoys driving his sister ca-razy for instance.

He's funny + silly + looooovvvveeeessss to dance.

Last night we went to a concert at church.  

At first he drew meticulous and awesome pictures.  

Then he sat ever-so-still on my lap enjoying the music.  

I asked him if he was tired.

Yes.

I asked him if he wanted a snuggle.

Yes.

He turned and nuzzled in to my chest and fell asleep in about, oh,15 seconds.

And I was able to hold my stud as he slept so peacefully on my chest.

My growing stud who just 6 years ago was my 5 1/2 pound Benjamin Button.

I kept thinking this may be the very last time my oldest son falls asleep on my lap.

I mean logistically it's getting pretty tight!!

I'll be honest, I shed a few tears.

I was just so happy.

And grateful.

I so love being Lincoln's mom.

Lately

Wanna know what living the dream looks like???

It looks like hanging out with your 3 kids at the IHOP on a Saturday night.

And loving every minute of it.

Fancy peeps, we are [proudly] not.  

These days...these dog-tired days of raising our children...these are the best days!

Lila's snaggle tooth was finally knocked out by an elbow to her mouth from her twin bro.  

The first tooth she didn't cry about when it fell out. 

 (Even though it was the bloodiest.)

Love these 2.  

Love that they are twins.

Colt rocks his mommy-and-me preschool class.  

He's the youngest in the class and is doing awesome.

After the first class I was a bit worried; he threw fits, hit me once, screamed a lot, etc.

But now, he just loves it!

And I'm loving doing an activity with him that I avoided like the plague with the twins.

(Because 2 against 1 = NO FAIR)

While Colt was taking a nap I snuck out front to chat with a neighbor.

When I came in, he was downstairs eating cookies.  Maybe like 8 in fact!

EIGHT!

This guy.

I did a mud run a couple of weeks ago.

And can I just day, I was so proud of myself?!

I also got to take a foam shower with 50 half-naked strangers whilst being sprayed/suffocated by pirates with organic foam spray guns.

Very Vegas-y.

Very memorable.

You have to be verrrrry patient in SoCal for the arrival of Autumn.  

I can feel some very subtle changes, and I'm getting excited to say goodbye to the tank tops, swimsuits and shorts for a bit.

Hopefully by November.  ;)

I'm Back...Kinda

I'm feeling so very wishy/washy about this blog.
The privacy setting couldn't be more annoying.
I've had many people reach out to me and tell me they want to continue to be a part of our family's journey.
And that makes me feel humble and grateful.
And you know, there's that whole element of us moving away from almost everyone that we know + love this past year.
The people that actually want to watch our children grow + be in-the-know about what we do from time to time.
And I do, selfishly, miss documenting our lives, our family history, for my children to read to read someday.

So I'm quietly reopening this blog.
For now.

Because all of my concerns about why I made it private are still here.
We will see what the future holds, but for now...hello again old friends!
I've missed you.

Also, WE BOUGHT A HOUSE.
So I guess we are now officially Californians.

Lincoln is just about as rad as they come.  He loves skateboarding, skate socks, soccer, basketball, the beach, duck-diving, LEGOS, the Seahawks, climbing poles, camping, nature, archery, salmon + ribs are his favorite foods.  His favorite snacks are nuts, trail mix + hummus.  He is an amazing reader + works hard at everything he does.  He loves his brother + sis.  He likes to be annoying. His front teeth are more than half-way out and they are gigantic.  (Your welcome son.)   He likes to play the Wii and we've just recently purchased an Xbox that he is learning to play FIFA on.  I'm so proud to be his mama.

Lila is my girl.  She loves people and has many friends.  Lila loves art, soccer, singing, being a fashion girl, ice skating, basketball, softball, cooking, camping, LEGO Friends and girlfriend l.o.v.e.s the beach!  She smiles so beautifully, so uniquely, when she is there.  She boogie boards, has gotten up on a surfboard, loves bonfires, duck-diving, treasure collecting and digging in the sand.  She loves all the colors of the sunset and is a pro at finding the whales.  She adores Colt and her best bud is Linc.  She met her first BFF when we moved down here, a neighbor who attends the same school.  It is fun to see her have such a great friend at such a young age.  She is feisty this Lila Pearl.  She is sensitive and caring and wise.  I love every single bit of having a daughter as awesome as her.

Colt is an animal.  He is 2 going on 7.  He is fearless, outgoing + funny.  He brings joy...to everyone.  Everyday.  His hair is fuzzy + wild, which is a perfect match to his personality.  He has friends, young + old, everywhere we go.  He is in school one day a week.  He loves to dance, do ninja moves like Linc, ride scooters, play with monster trucks, crawl out of his crib and eat Z Bars.  He has a chipped front tooth from our summer trip to Big Sur.  His language is off the charts.  He's pretty much been having full conversations with people for 6 months.  He's very familiar with the time out stair and had a 2 year old tantrum last week in which he threw himself to the concrete, in a complete plank position.  I love this rascal and am so over-the-moon about being his mama.

End of an Era

Have you noticed that I haven't posted on this blog for a very long while?

Well that's because this blog is coming to end.

A public end that is.

I'm turning this blog into a private one.
A little quiet place in some corner of the Internet in which I can continue to write our family story without the world having access to it.

There have been many times over the past year I have wanted to write or post special pictures,
but I haven't because I am getting sensitive to the age of my children.

And I want to keep posting and writing.
And I want to continue to tell our story in my voice.
And I will feel more free to do so knowing that it private.

I have loved sharing.
But my twins are in school now.
And their story is becoming just that...their story.

My heart would be broken if some day down the road a sweet pic from their childhood, or a hysterical story from their toddler years was found on the Internet and used in a way that hurt their feelings.

So it's time.

Thanks for reading and loving on our family the past 6 years.
The best 6 years of my life!!

What a Day!!

No school!

So we started our day with a bike ride on the trails by our house.

And then we hit the beach with some buddies.  

The weather was dreamy.

It was (another) one of those days that I thought, 'Is this for real?!'

We came home, showered, picked up B and headed to In-n-Out for dinner.

I love watching our 3 playing in that ocean.  

In February.

What a trip. 

SIX

My Partner

I hang out with Colt more than any other human on the planet.

It's just him + I whenever the twins are at school, or one of their sports activities, or at play dates, etc.

And B is gone a lot. 

A lot! 

 A LOT!!

But this dude is the best company to have!

He is hysterical!  

By far the most outgoing of our bunch.  

By far the most active of our bunch.

And definitely a contender for the best hair of our bunch.

He's an active stud, no doubt!  

But he is also a really good boy.  

Super sweet.

And he loves to make us and others laugh.  

Entertainer for sure!

He is also such a snuggle bug!  

Which is a perfect fit for our super-cuddly crew.  

The days are long around here at times.

But I sure am thankful that I get to spend them with this most-special guy and his especially rad almost-6-year-old brother and sister.

I have a great job.

My Colt

The first of (hopefully!) many flowers/weeds given to me by my Colt.

My baby.

Growing like that very weed he put in my hand.

Date Night

Tonight Lincoln + I made plans for a date.  

He snuck up to his room and got dressed all fancy for me.

He asked me to put on a dress.

I'll do anything for that guy!

He even did his own hair!

I let him choose the restaurant. 

He wanted ribs.  

Ribs at the local BBQ joint it was!

On our way, we noticed the start of a(nother) amazing sunset.

I asked him if he wanted to go down and eat closer to the beach and watch it.

'Next time', he said.

Tonight was rib night.

Linc is one rad dude.  

He is able to articulate his thoughts and feelings incredibly well for a 5 year old.

I just love talking with him

We ended the night with cake.

Every night should end with cake!

Lila went to the Daddy/Daughter Dance at school.

She looked stunning and her mind was blown by the whole experience!

Example: A flower bracelet?!

Mind. Blown.

These 2 are hilarious together.

I wish I could've been a fly on the wall.

And then our perfect night ended like this.

Seriously, who wants a beagle?!

I've got one for you!

What a Game!

What a game!

The first half was paaaaaaiiiiinnnnnful.  

This was the half these turds wandered off and got in a mud fight!

If the first half wasn't so bad, the second half wouldn't have been so sweet.

And how sweet it was.

Go Hawks!

Go all the way to the Super Bowl!!