The Here and Now

My friend does these things on her blog to catch people up on the happenings of life after not blogging for a little while...I hope she doesnt mind if I take that idea and run with it because I feel like I am really failing on this blogging thing lately...

1. We have gone swimming at least 4 days a week each week this summer.
2. Owen has become a little fish with his head underwater but his feet always
touching the bottom.
3. Hayden jumps off the diving board and swims like her daddy (we call it scary
shark)
4. Kiely, Bailey, and Fallon have perfected some acrobats under the water but
refuse to take their abilities to the deep end.
5. Devan actually swims quite well, but stays mad at me because I refuse to let
her go past 3ft for peace of mind sake.
6. Baby Irelyn loves the water so much that she falls asleep on me everytime.
Maybe its a womb thing.
7. We are getting ready to start school back in 2 weeks...yippee (Im being
sarcastic)!
8. Irelyn has been rolling and beginning to situp on her own...she is the
happiest baby ever, and has a smile for everyone. She sleeps through the
night and wakes up with a happy playful voice every morning. Its the best
way to start my day!
9. All the kids are really missing Big Papa and are ready for him to come home.
10. And me, well, Im enjoying this summer of just being Mommy and nothing else.
I have enjoyed my kids more in the past weeks than I have allowed myself in
a while. Removing the "teacher" role always helps me to find more joy in
my most important role of all...mommy! I have learned more about my kids
over the past few weeks than I learned all year. I learned that I have
amazing kids...not perfect...but amazing. I am a very blessed woman and am
praying that God will keep my eyes open to the awesomeness of each day I
am given to be with them!

The Little Things...

To My Baby Daddy

I know it is hard to be away from all the kids right now, and the little things that happen day to day. I wish you could be here to see your little fish in the water every night, so I took like 500 videos of her trying to capture that silliness that she exhibits in the tub. The problem is that she gets captivated by the camera and doesnt do what she typically does. However, here is just a glimpse into her nightly bath routine. She usually splashes around like a fish then shoots her arms into the air like Superman, but on this particular night she decided she was hungry and could not go without eating her hands. She is definately a chunk and if you dont feed her in time then she will find everything possible to try to eat. Her hands are her favorites, especially the right one...however when she grabs toys she always tries with her left hand first. I will try to post more videos of the kids to keep you in the know of their day to day discoveries. The boys are working on a robot dance for you...I cant wait to post that one!

Small Talk

Do you ever have one of those days when it feels like everything you say is "small talk"? You know those generic comments like...Wow can you believe how hot it is?...Those are nice shoes...We'll have to get together sometime...
It goes on and on the things you can say without saying anything. Amazing! Anyway, I feel as if my entire conversations lately are nothing but a bunch of "small talk" statements added up to sound like conversation. When really I am saying nothing at all. Why do people get together and never really talk about anything. I'll tell you why...FEAR...fear of judgement. If I were to expose the comments that rush to my head, but I have to bite my tongue to keep from saying; people would look at me like I had two heads. Because what comes to my head is the truth, but what I allow out of my mouth is the filtered version and it is so dulled down that it comes out sounding like "small talk"! I wonder if everyone else around me is doing the same filtering and that is why all conversations seem so trivial. I say we take the filters off and just let it rip...it might make us all feel better.

Fourth Festivities

Ok so I have become one of those moms who make their sweet baby girls wear those tacky oversized bows on their heads. Dont judge me!!! This is my last baby girl and I want her to be ribbons and bows for as long as I am still in control of her wardrobe. I have lost the battle with the older 5 so I am living my dream through Miss Irelyn! Besides she does look so cute in these things. She looks like my little Gerber Baby. Cant you just kiss those sweet squishy cheeks?


It has come to my attention that whenever I want that one perfect family photo...there will always be a clown amongst the group. It is not always the same person who throws a kink into my group photo plans, however, I have noticed a trend in one cute little boy making goofy faces in my pictures. Oh well, what is a group of kids in a picture without one clown. Thanks Owen for all the personality you bring to my camera.