in the woods

For the third year in a row - a gaggle of us have headed down to Hocking Hills, rented a cabin without Wi-Fi or cable and spent the weekend.  The annual Woods House Trip as our kids call it.  The weather was so great - we were able to be outside without coats and snow boots.  I believe there was another confirmed Big Foot sighting.

Hooky

Last week Michael had his board exams back in our old stomping grounds of Columbus.  We decided to play hooky and take the family up the day before, visit the zoo and our very favorite people.  

It was ridiculously cold so we we stuck closely to the indoor parts of the zoo.  The ones that were heated and protected from the 30 degeree windchill drop.  (Come on April... seriously?)

There were the aquariums...

And the gorillas...

Then it was friends+family who had pizza, wine and bubbles for the win.  I am still dreaming about the roasted tomato and pesto pizza... oh my.

surprises

Auntie Carri and Uncle Jesse love our babies...

First some souvenirs from Uncle Jesse's work trip to Japan.

A cool truck carrying a dinosaur.

Then it is a dinosaur eating a truck!!  ROAR!!

Then there are some "super cool" stamps as Eva called them.

That make some killer tattoos!

And then there were these...

Hours of worm torture toddler entertainment in can!



Jackpot!

I will warn  you... just make sure that lid is TIGHT when storing them in your fridge...
Really tight.

Thanks Aunt Carri and Uncle Jesse!!

friends

A night with friends.  The best kind of friends where you can throw in frozen pizzas and not worry about the legos under every piece of furniture in the house.  The kids run wild and the grown ups hope that the late bedtime will equal a later start to the morning.  

And then there was our after dinner show.  A show with multiple costume changes and a princess Theodore.  A Theodore that refused to remove said princess dress and slept in it.  There was a director - an amazing almost 8 year old that I can't believe is so big and her too cool for dress-up brother.  He made a cameo appearance.

friends

3 in the bed

sprinkler

3 in the bellies

sad girls saying goodbye

Finally catching up with friends we haven't seen in way too long - that was our Labor Day weekend.  It was so good to catch up and watch the kids wear each other out.  It's hard to imagine that in a few months, our crew of seven will become a crew of TEN - as we add a Deedle and they add twin girls to the mix.  Six kiddos and only four adults... we are going to be heavily outnumbered!

*thanks Kellie for the first photo - love it.

cabin

the quarters

controlled chaos

muddy Theo

Eva and her buddy Charlie.

Theo and Daddy exploring.

Maple syrup beginnings.

Icy caves.

The normal scene.

A few weeks ago we went to the woods.

We met a bunch of friends.

There were a lot of babies and little ones.

It was good for the soul.

Tag team parenting and zone defense.
Big meals and good food.

Losing kids in the huge cabin.

Staying up late and hilarious games of skill.

Being "forced" to take naps when the kids nap.

Hikes in the mud and snow.

Sasquatch calling and sightings.

Fresh maple syrup.

Laying around and catching up.

the good when it's bad

Friends who drop everything to rush over and Eva sit and bring pink paint to make fun art projects.

Thank you Carri and Jesse.

Thank you mom and dad for scooping her up that evening...

I know she is in the best hands with Goggy and Poppy.

A wonderful gift that arrived at just the perfect time...

Right when I was holding my little man for the first time in a few days.

Thank you Adrienne.

Visitors and grandparents.

Keeping our minds occupied and let us run and eat, shower and rush back.

Thank you family and friends.

Yummy treats delivered to your front door to celebrate being home.

Sugar butter and strawberries... comfort in a bite.

Thank you Amy.

It seems with things go bad, the good somehow always rises to the top.

Little bits at a time, that lift you up and carry you.

I know it has been a few weeks, 

but things finally feel like they are getting back to normal.

Thank you to everyone.

There were so many well wishes and prayers.

Cards and meals.

Emails and internet love.

Phone calls and text messages.

Visitors and hugs.

Every single word, thought and gesture meant more than you know.

All in all, we ended the mess with a healthy Theodore...

and the feeling that there is so much love in this world.

now a mommy

coffee and indulgent reading

snow all the way there

baby rocking

muffin making

facetime ending in tears

soaking her up

the new mommy and me

Liz is one of those very special rare friends.
We found eachother in sixth grade and through the ebb and flow of life have stayed close.
Close as sisters, and that's a better way to describe her - my sister - family.
So when she became a mamma in January - there was no way I wasn't hoping on a plane.

Seeing new a new mommy and daddy.
Snuggling that little peanut.
Oh, that new baby smell!  

This was my first trip alone away from my babies.
They were in great hands - mostly daddy's with some grandparent and godparent helpers.
I still missed them something awful.

Good thing I had a snuggly baby to keep my mind occupied.
I did some cleaning and cooking.
Baby rocking and bouncing while mommy and daddy napped.
Her mommy and daddy were very tired.

I know by the time I snuggle her again, she will be twice her size.
She will be sitting up and maybe even starting to crawl.
She will be sleeping more and so will they.
Those first few weeks are some of the toughest and the most precious.

I came home to my babies.
Who seemed bigger than when I left them.
I had worried about Theo with me gone, but it was my Eva that took it the hardest.
And it was her that gave me a 10 minute hug at the airport.
Hugs like that do a momma's heart good...
especially when she wonders how the world her babies grew so fast.

Christmas 2013

Here it is few days into the new year, and I am amazed it is 2014 already.  It has been non-stop for months now.  Non-stop full with a lot of the good stuff - family, friends, husband having Christmas off for the first time in 6 years!!

  Our computer bit the dust... or it finally gave in to the abuses inflicted upon it.  A toddler pounding the keys like he is performing life-saving CPR right after he found it sitting on the couch and shoved it on to the floor... can't be good for its durability.  We knew it was coming but there were still a ton of decisions to be made and rehashed and remade again.

This last week, Michael has been working nights and home more than usual.  He still had a 60+ work week, but a lot of that was while we were sleeping.  He is such a trooper, napping for a few hours and spending the day with us.  We haven't been doing much, more visiting of family and checking out all the new toys, but is has been so nice.  I am going to hate to see it end.

I have been really attacking the house and getting things all clean.  I forget what is like to have an extra set of hands and eyes around so much.  I can get the load out of the washer and start a new load without running upstairs to remove Theo from what ever new high-thing he has climbed up on.  My floors are clean, grout is scrubbed and I don't have enough dirty clothes to wash a load tonight...

that folks is epic.

So here are a few photos from the holiday.  It was a good one.  Eva really was into getting and giving presents this year.  We made a last minute call to skip the long-lasting, open-ended, gender-neutral, non-battery operated toys and get Eva the princess people and sparkles she was asking for...

it was the best move ever.  She was so excited.  Theo was just excited because Eva was.  He is a great brother like that.  Squealing in delight over Ariel and Rapunzel almost as loud as his sister.

A Friends-mas on Christmas Eva.  It was the first ever, but we hope it becomes annual.  We had a great food, made gløgg, played a game and laughed a lot. We even managed to recruit their help in with a wrapping party after the kids went to bed.  Thanks guys!

Ready and waiting.  Notice the clearance at the bottom of the tree?  We only put up a few ornaments this year... all the way at the top.  The candy canes are plastic ones and the kids took them on and off all month long.
  

And a candy cane was the first thing Theo went for... not the presents.

A mermaid like her besties.




One and done...


Well maybe not!

"He got it, Santa got it for me!"


The resulting chaos... this kids loving their gifts and mosty sharing.  Michael and I kept sitting back and watching them play.  It was a great morning.


Grandma and Grandpa's.  Round 2.
Food and cousins.  Presents and pie.




Poppy and Goggy's. Round 3.
More food and more cool toys.  Theo found more candy canes.  He is a collector.


Right after this one, I forgot to take any more photos.  Poppy brought in a new, bigger bike for Eva.  Theo immediately started clapping and cheering, completely unaware he wasn't the owner of these new wheels.  Eva climbed on and Theo started pushing her off.  "Me bike, me bike!!!"  He even threw in some caveman chest pounding and foot stomping for emphasis.  "ME bike, ME bike!" Pound, stomp, pound, stomp!!  It was hysterical.

I wish I had taken pictures of him shoving his sister into the floor to get his chance.  Trying to get his stubby legs high enough to get on, anywhere, even on a wheel was just fine for him.  I wished I caught Eva's laughing face because she thought it was just hilarious.  And some of mom pushing him up and down the hallway over and over and over... because if she stopped he started pounding and stomping again.  Video would have been even better.  All Eva kept saying was, "Silly Theodore."  Instead of taking the pictures, I was belly laughing and wiping tears from my eyes.  These kids crack me up.

It was a very Merry Christmas.