Merry Christmas!

 Greetings! Time has flown by as indicated by my lack of blogging, and my knowledge that I'm too far behind to attempt to catch up!  (I did do an album of all the pictures, but you'll have to come over to see it!)

A few of the highlights this year include a cruise which Brett and I took with friends to Belize and Cancun in January, which was a terrific way to start the new year!  In the summer we went on countless camping and fishing trips as a family including going to Calaveras Big Trees to see the sequoias & redwoods.  We went to San Francisco, visited family, hit Tahoe, and spent plenty of time at home playing with friends in the neighborhood, swimming, going on drives, and curling up together to watch movies and play games.  I wasted plenty of time on Pinterest, worked on some crafts, and spent the rest of my days trying out yummy new recipes between loads of laundry and shuttling kids about.  And Brett, ever the hobby whore, raised chickens, built a shed, got a woodworking shop, and is working on building some furniture, when he isn't at Scouts, wrestling the kids, or, oh yeah, working his day job!

In short, we've had a busy, happy year!

Our kids have grown and changed so much.  Here's a little about our brood:

 This little sweetheart is in preschool and is proud to have learned how to pump on the swings by herself and to ride a bike this year.  She is in preschool and can't wait to go to kindergarten and be dropped off with the big kids. She is a charmer and melts the hearts of her Daddy and grandpas alike!  She is a great helper and as sparkly pink and girly as they come!

 This funny kid is a mad scientist who loves dissecting anything and everything to look at under her microscope (don't even ask!)  When she isn't learning how things work, eating other kids' vegetables at school, or playing with friends, she is reading Harry Potter, drawing, and studying up on how to become a mermaid.

 This guy is a daredevil, a comedian, and an endearingly stubborn little boy.  He will try any activity, as long as it isn't eating dinner, and he loves being with the big kids and doing whatever they are doing.  He knows his ABCs, he loves music, but most of all, he is his Daddy's shadow like no other-he LOVES his Dad!  This year this kid got potty trained which, yes, makes it a benchmark year for me-for the first time in too many years to count I don't have to add diapers to my Costco list!  Rejoice!!!  (Listen closely for a choir of angels singing...I hear it!)

 This big boy is our tenderhearted teddy bear.  He will do any chore for a piece of candy, then turn around and distribute his confectionary wealth to anyone who wants it.  He is an excellent reader, an avid Power Ranger enthusiast, a kind boy to everyone he meets, and the biggest sweetheart!  He is a giant sized first grader, with an equally giant sized heart.  We sure love him!

So what will you take from this blog post?  That Wendy is super stoked to have a diaper free household?  Yep.  That my husband is smokin' hot?  Affirmative. That life is good?  Yes, that too!

We hope the holidays find you and your family happy and healthy.  We hope too that the new year will bring good times and laughter into your home, and that we will all recognize and find joy in the little things that make life worth living!
Merry Christmas!

Dear Brett...

Dear Brett, when you check in on our blog, which I haven't posted on in too long, I know, I want you to know that you are right. Yep, I'm saying it. You. Are. Right! The other night you said that you were the only one who does the planning and you do, it's your thing. And you're good at it! I could do it, but I'd never plan anything as good as you do, with as much thought as to what exactly we could do that would leave our kids grinning over the memory for months, so I leave it to you.

What I do though, besides the loads of laundry our excursions create, what I do is take the pictures, and make you an amazing family album every year to remind us of the magic that happened on the trips you plan. (I might post more to a blog too if it didn't take so long to load pics here!) Yep, my thing is the memory keeping.

I'll write about how this girl couldn't contain her smile over her vast new geode collection...about how she set up a museum at our campsite before we even got the tent up...
I'll write about our goofy tradition of wearing matching bandanas, about how you brought us rock hounding, camping, and hiking, before we even hit summer...

I'll write about how I have the most amazing husband and my kids have the best father (even if he grows his facial hair out to look like Neil Young!)

I'll write about how Max is the sweetest most stubborn little Superman, but about how he makes the funniest expressions you'll ever see, and about how he has moves like Jagger if the right song comes on...

I'll write about how you challenge our kids to try new things & develop new talents, and you stay by their side and show them that they can do it!

And I'll write about how blessed we are to live this life of ours with all these sweet kids to fill our home and memories of events with them to fill our pages...

With that said... you'd better get on our summer vacation itinerary already Easy Rider!!!

Pretty Little Thing

This beautiful girl turns 8 this month. My baby. My stilt walker. My tree climber. My tomboy. She's a math whiz, a pack rat, and a spit fire. She can eat with chopsticks and write a word with three variations of spelling. She plays piano. She reads Harry Potter. She farts with her armpits and has a grin that melts your heart. She loves learning, camping, cupcakes, and being with buddies. She is her own person.

She is a pretty little thing.

And I love her.

Happy Birthday Monkey!

Sweet and Bold

Today while walking to the school to pick up the girls with my neighbors, Quinn and his friend Addie fell into stride and their hands slid into one another's with ease. Izzy joined in and for most of the walk there the three of them held hands, talked, and laughed. Angie and I watched and felt a longing for them to stay just as sweet and tender as they were, for time to just stop. We also wished we'd had a camera. On the way home Quinner got ahead of the group and his friend Warren saw him, sprinted towards him, and they too held hands and continued on.

Tonight as I think about this afternoon I feel a little sad. We start out in life so bold, so brave, and, I realize, we often lose part of that along the way. As children we talk to anyone around. We become instant best friends with kids we only just met seconds ago at the park. We make friends of strangers. We hug. We touch. We hold hands. We are magnetically drawn to others. We notice when people feel sad and want to comfort them. Children are so uninhibited. So able to stop and see the beauty of a flower, to wonder at a bug, to notice with awe a rainbow, a sunset, a dandelion. To see that someone needs a friend or a smile and to give it without hesitation.

Children are so sweet. So bold. I think we lose some of that along the way. Quinn had a pocketful of candy from a pinata and on the drive home from the party he'd attended he stated, "oh, there's some laffy taffy in here, Anna likes those a lot, I will give it to her." How often do we look at what we have and think first about who we can share it with? How different would the world be if we could live like our children? If we could be friends with everyone? If we could hold hands and laugh and love as freely as a five year old? If we could love others without hesitation or judgement?

I'm so grateful for the chance to be a mother and for all the learning that comes along with it. Oh, and for my tender hearted Quinn, may he always stay this sweet!

New Thinking

The other day I was at Becky Higgins blog and she posted this printable which I liked. Go to her sight, she explains it. Basically, if you look at each thing you're doing and think of it as a way to build your relationship with the person you're doing it with, or for, then you will have a new attitude about it. Homework, cleaning my daughter's bedroom, doing laundry with Izzy-these are small tasks which provide time together to be us and talk about simple things. It makes sense. I was thinking about how much I love working on a project with Brett, painting a room or a piece of furniture-it's a relationship building task. I want to work this year on changing my attitude about the things I'm doing and focus on strengthening my relationships.