Don't you just love sisters with good advice?!

And a listening ear. Those who don't mind when you call and cry about silly/important things. Unfortunately I feel like I am losing a lot of battles these days. It's nice to be reminded that I'm also winning the war.

They're happy, they're healthy, they're loved, and they love each other. They came into this world wanted and valued. Sure somedays they are still sporting their pajamas at 4 in the afternoon, but they are enough. And so am I.

"Essential, Necessary, and Nice". I'm going to be more mindful of this today.

I couldn't stop laughing...

This girl had the time of her life slurping on some broccoli the other night at dinner.

A few things...

This made me laugh. Asher was eating lunch and asked me to take a picture of his "Big Dip". He had arranged his cucumber squares in the shape of the Big Dipper.

Sleepy boys.

The boys got to put on some old painting clothes and help Justin with a project.

They did a great job!

Tuckered out...

These boys think they don't need naps. What do you think?

Asher had been flying around like Superman all morning, but assured me he was NOT tired.

And poor Caleb ended up snuggling with his shoes during his impromptu nap.

Asher drew a picture of me...

...and the likeness is just uncanny ;)

The boys were at the counter drawing while I was cleaning up the kitchen. Asher asked what he should draw and I said "how about me?" I heard him say "head, eye, eye, nose, mouth, lots of hair, arms, legs, and oh yeah, hand." Then I turned to check out his drawing. Totally awesome! But what I really loved was that he wrote -by himself- M O M at the top! I squealed. He asked if I wanted to watch him write everyone in our family's names. YES! So, he did. DAD, MOM, ASHER, CALEB, (i helped him spell KAYCEE). I kept squealing... until he said "Mom, stop screaming. You can laugh... but quietly." I asked what else he could spell and he wrote HOUSE then turned the paper over and wrote APRICOT. Wow, what a fun thing to watch!

Caleb (my little artist) was having fun too. He has mostly been into circles, but lately branching out to lines and rainbows :)

It makes me want to kiss those boys... and paint.

Our lunch guest...

Kaycee girl joined us for lunch today. Oh, she had the time of her life sitting at the table with the big boys.

I gave her some banana to play with while we ate.

I think she liked sucking it off her fingers, and she made some funny faces that had Caleb laughing so hard he could hardly chew his food.

But, come on! I just wanted to nibble on these cheeks the whole time :)

What a polite little lady. Come again any day!

my little men...

they just keep growing.

Know what I love?

Having a daughter.

I'm well aware that females sometimes bring an added dose of drama and emotion. Good. She's worth every bit of it. I just want her to live her truth because she surely is a crowning creation.

Here's to good women: May we know them, may we be them, may we raise them.

Mr. Cool...

A friend of mine was getting rid of some little boy clothes and asked if I wanted this jacket for Caleb. It's black, leather-like material with an embroidery of Elmo riding a motorcycle on it. It's not my favorite, but I thought Caleb would really like it. Boy was I right. He wore it almost all day and kept saying "I cool like Rex! Me have Harwee too?"

It's hard to tell who likes the foot massager more... me or Caleb.

Although, I don't use it like he does ;) He turns it on as hard and fast as it will go and sits his little bum right on the rotating Shiatsu balls. What a funny kid!

Kaycee goes vintage...

Kaycee blue-eyes got to wear one of my old dresses to church on sunday. How fun is that?!

Here I am wearing the very same dress in good old 1984. Don't worry that I'm almost 2 years old at the time and Kaycee is not even 5 months yet (it was a bit big on her). Also, I do hope her hair grows faster than mine did ;)

My little sailor girl!

Thanks, Grace (and hannah), for sending it our way!

What was fun in 1985...

(peter, dad, abby, jeremy - 1985)

(asher, daddy, kaycee, caleb -2011)

...is still fun in 2011!

Where Kaycee is...

...there shall Asher be also.

dear world,

i'm pretty sure nobody can do the motorboat better than me.

love, kk

friday night date (for five)...

includes a bubble bath and some bedtime stories.

happy weekend.

p.s. happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday hannah! happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday hannah! happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday hannah! happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday hannah!

(sung really loudly to the tune of "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious")

we love you!

go kk, go kk...

Kayce is a good sleeper. She likes her crib, she takes long naps during the day, she snoozes through her brothers' craziness, and she goes right back to sleep after she nurses at night. I'm a lucky girl. I really am. That said... interrupted sleep k.i.l.l.s. m.e! She has been an every four -maybe five- hours eater, and because I put her to bed so early (so we get a calm, no kids allowed evening every night and so she gets used to that bedtime) it means I wake up 2 or 3 times a night. Well, the last few days her stretches at night have been longer. Maybe seven hours before she's hungry, then back to bed for a little more shut eye. Then last night, she slept 8 and a half hours, I fed her, and she slept 5 more.

Are we on the cusp of more consistent uninterrupted sleep? Dare I dream?

Caleb in the middle...

Mr. Caleb has always had a quiet determination about him. Somedays it seems a little more like stubbornness (borderline disobedience...) but, I try to see it as the gift of knowing what he wants and the ability to make a plan (often very creative) to get it. Sometimes I tell myself "If I can guide him and teach him in love then that very quality (that is usually frustrating at the moment) will serve him well someday!" Today I was telling the boys things that I think they are good at and writing a letter on their little fingertips with a pen to remind them. On Caleb's hand I had already written a "T" for trying new things, a "B" for being brave, and "H+K" for giving hugs and kisses. I asked Caleb if he could think of something he's good at and he said "Umm, me get what me want!"

These pictures are from a few weeks ago on a day when Caleb only wanted to wear green (because "gween my fav-wit colow") I said "That's fine. I like green too, but you're going to have to do it yourself." So he did. It took him probably 15 minutes to look through the shoe closet and find his old green shoes and put them on himself. The tantrum came when I asked him to please clean up the mess he had made in the process.

This was today when Caleb fell asleep MID-SENTANCE while he was talking to me as I fed Kaycee on the couch.

Looks pretty peaceful for a kid that is sure he does NOT need naps anymore ;)