The School Year Ends

This is what my table looks like every morning as more papers are coming home every day with the kids. Since they are supposed to empty their backpacks as soon as they get home you'd think this would be an afternoon scene. However we've fallen into a routine that goes something like this. Mornings seem to find me walking around cradling a nursing baby while half dressed & desperately trying to drink my coffee before it gets cold. My children who are supposed to be eating breakfast keep jumping up & shoving various papers in my face while telling me all about school the day before. Every day after school I ask them how their day was & what they did. The answers are always variations on this theme, "Fine, good, nothing" They like to save all their stories for the morning. You know, when we are relaxed & have all the time in the world.

Anyway, we are almost done. I've got swimming with Ayla, a picnic with Micah, Ayla's graduation & then we can all breathe a sigh of relief. Short lived I'm sure. At any rate at this point I say let the boredom & all day fighting begin!

This has nothing to do with the above paragraphs, but I wanted to share this photo of my dad & Kaia. Gramps came up for a short visit this past weekend to be silly & play with the kids non-stop. One day very, very soon I plan to do a photo shoot with Kaia. A few people have reminded me lately that she is almost 9 months old. Yep, 9 months & I haven't had professional photos taken yet. How things change the third time around! They are coming soon, I promise.

Crazy Eight's Tag (With a few minor adjustments)

It's been a week since I posted. At the moment I'm not feeling very creative, so I'll just do this.

8 things I look forward to:

1. An anniversary date tonight
2. Sleeping in tomorrow
3.Finally getting my bedroom cleaned up. I've changed out the kids' clothes for the season, but our room & closets are still in major disarray.
4. School being done for the Summer. 10 days left still!
5. Todd & Ina's visit!
6. Re-doing the kids' bathroom
7. Finishing this post so I can go look at the garden
8. Getting an email saying that any one of my books on hold is ready for me

8 things I did yesterday:

1. Clean the entire kitchen after supper
2. Get one load of towels washed & dried - perhaps today I can get them folded & put away!
3. Ate supper on the porch
4. Changed many diapers
5. Picked loads of lettuce from the garden
6. Made strawberry rhubarb cobbler in the crock pot - it was good, but i cut the sugar back a little too much
7. Read my bible
8. Put the kids to bed early & relaxed with my dear husband

8 things I wish I could do:

1. Get my pre-baby cleaning routine back
2. Somehow force my kids to appreciate all the meals I make
3. Convince myself that a pedicure is a need not a want
4. Not worry about the baby while on our date tonight (can you tell this is our first date since having her?)
5. Get motivated to work out more than once or twice a week
6. Pay off our mortgage today
7. Get the air fixed in the van
8. Add one more bathroom & bedroom to our house so it'd be more comfortable for guests

Here's the adjustment part. You're supposed to write down eight shows you watch. Since we don't watch any shows on any kind of regular basis I'm skipping this part. Feel free to add it to your post if you decide to join this tag. Have a great weekend all!

Eight Months, Already!

I know she is still a baby, but she's my last baby. Eight months seems so old when I'm doing it all for the last time. The newborn baby phase is already a blurred memory. I've been taking lots of photos and videos of us breastfeeding. I absolutely adore that part of being a mother. I have decided to let her self-wean. If you ever hear me complaining that she's refusing to wean, direct me to this post!

Don't worry, no skin is showing.

Funny face!

Another funny face. She's been cracking us up with her emerging personality.

I do realize this is blurry, but I love her smile & eyes here.

Hanging out with the big girls.

Springter Or Some Such Nonsense

It's Spring, but it feels like Winter. It's Spring, but we wish it were Summer.

I think Ayla's outfit perfectly sums up the former sentences. The swim goggles are a bit of wishful thinking on a day like today. It is cold enough that we have a fire burning in the wood stove. It is cold enough that Craig is outside covering up all the plants that we don't want to die tonight. The good news is that we aren't camping like some people we know!

Interpretative Dance

What's Growing Around Here

Chives

Strawberries

The Garden

Peas

The Willow

Girls

Bonfire

We had our first of the season last night.

Here's the Micah Ninja. He's taken to wearing this scarf as a sheaf for his pirate sword.

Ayla had princess curls. They were piled on top of her head in the morning, but by afternoon were starting to slip & fade a bit.

This photo is a good example of the attitude she had all day.

And here's the sweet baby enjoying her first bonfire. It seems so hard to believe that she will ever be sporting an attitude. Gotta soak up all her innocent sweetness while we can!