spring fever

they tell me its been a mild winter and i am SO GLAD! the past few weeks have been really lovely, with a few exceptionally cold days. lots of sunshine, occasional rainfall that's lovely to sleep to all night with the window cracked just a little and i just smell spring in the air. last weekend we visited a park where the plum blossoms were blooming and it definitely pulled my heartstrings to start dreaming up a happy little yard where beautiful things grow. betsy was oh so happy to help me out at the store. she was in charge of picking out the flowers...not to mention placing in the cart and rearranging in the cart, putting them on the checkout counter and back in the cart...and back in the car. one. by. one. it was precious. and she was so dedicated and focused on the task that i couldn't bring myself to hurry her along. i just sat back and smiled and soaked up that memory. later in the day some girlfriends came by to get out of the house and put their hands in the soil. they were all tickled to be scooping the soil into the planters. one of them took home an extra flower and you would have thought it was her most prized possession, she was just so proud of it.  felt good to be teaching our littles to love momma earth and enjoy growing beautiful plants around our yard. hoping they grow up with the same spring fever.

Happy Valentine's Day 2013

Just  a little love from our sweeties in time for Valentine's day. xoxo

A third FIRST birthday

our little sunshine baby is one today. one blur of a year with this little sweetie in our arms. it feels quite impossible that a year has already gone by, yet here is this little mister all full of life and charms and personality...feeding himself with gusto, scurrying across the room on his own two feet with a mission to accomplish, chattering away at us and gestering with purpose. we're just smitten, every last one of us. i can't wait to see this year unfold as he discovers his awesomeness and unlocks the magic of the world around him. xoxo

after enjoying his first cupcake - which admittedly, his little girlfriend norah (whose birthday is just after his) ate most of after he turned up his nose at the sticky frosting.

teaching his brother how to unwrap presents. poor pete had to wait two hours for baby curtis to wake up! such torture!

he does love him. :)

having a go at the wrapping

loves the new truck - and knew just what to do with it. i love boys

the rollipop game was a huge hit with everyone!

working together watching daddy set up the game

happy birthday breakfast for our big boy! we love you curtis!

megahira

today we had a ball sledding together at megahira, its about 1.5 hours from our home up in the snowy mountains. they must have had a warmer week as there wasn't any fresh powder and it was a bit icy - there was actually a mix of snow/sleet/rain coming down most of the day but we had a lovely time introducing betsy to sledding and watching the littles in action. we went with our friends and enjoyed the time away from the to-do lists to laugh and move and play together.

10 months big!

my sweetie pie baby curtis is 10 months old. goodness how this year has flown by. this picture brings tears to my eyes as my tiny newborn snuggle bunny is swept away by time and is barreling into the toddler stage. but this picture also swells my heart with waves of incredible joy. he brings so much happiness to my days. watching him learn and move. he is into everything his big brother and big sister are working on and squeals with delight when they let him join along. he's quick as lighting on his hands and knees and moves pretty swiftly along the edge of the furniture as well. he'll be walking in no time of course. this little tiny sweet child has grown oh so much in these ten months and i've loved every single minute spent snuggled up together, nurturing him with "momma milk" as the big kids call it. and soon we'll be planning a birthday celebration. oh little man, we love you so much. thanks for all the fun and joy you add to our days! and heavens, thanks for your tolerance and flexibility - we've drug you through so many times of transition. getting ready to move. a long visit to family. flying across the ocean. changing 40 time zones. you are such a patient baby. thank you!!

winter

the sun was out and the wind was whipping - we needed to get out of the house after an all day pajama-fest yesterday. the oldest two were crawling the walls and i needed some fresh air. curtis would have probably preferred to stay cozy in his crib, but majority rules around here. :)  we stepped out to load the car and....saw the sky filled with snow flurries! what an awesome treat! peter kept asking where the "big snow" was...as in, when would the ground be covered with it? i told him we might have to go to the mountain for that when daddy gets back from his mini-trip (its 80+ where he is, what a hard-working bum!).   we went down to the kintai bridge to walk across and back as pete has been asking to go back there for weeks now and it seemed like the perfect day for it. well, it was gorgeous - AND COLD! at the peak of the bridge the wind was really smacking us hard in the face and pete was cringing into his hat, covering his face with is mittens and saying "winter hurts my face!"...little betsy was a trooper but i'm pretty sure she had her eyes closed the entire time we were crossing the bridge there and back again. i was wearing curtis and he was super-bundled up and facing in toward me so i think he was shielded from most directions (although when he would turn his head to peak out, you'd see him whip his head straight back in again as i'm sure he got hit square with the cold as well). our first dose of real winter. i'm sure there's more to come. but we decided it was totally worth the cold to stand at the top of the kintai bridge and look out into the river valley and see giant snow flurries swirling, filling the air. happy hearts. peter thanked me for taking him to the bridge when we got into the warm car and told me i was a sweet girl. we headed straight home for lunch and hot chocolate....and naps!

i like this photoshop action - looks so aged. reminds me of the photo of my dad and his brother bruce hauling maneur "back in the day". :)

Santa 2012

last weekend reid's squadron hosted  a holiday party. unfortunately he was down with a big, but the kids and i dashed out quick to see santa, decorate a few cookies and watch the pilot fly santa back to the north pole in his jet.  peter was ecstatic to meet santa and chat to him, but betsy shared that she was "a little bit nervous of him" and decided she'd rather stand next to him than sit up on his lap. i told her that was absolutely ok. they both really enjoyed watching santa climb into the back set of the jet, the canopy close and the jet taxi away out of site to drive santa back to the north pole. that was just pure magic for all the littles who got to stay long enough to see it.  peter asked santa for a spaceship and betsy asked for choo-choo trains. looking forward to christmas morning this year, as are they!  they've been watching polar express and are absolutely smitten by the magic of it all. :)