Magic Moments

Yesterday was the first Sunday of Advent...the Sunday of Prophecy and so we lit the candle of hope and read scripture from Isaiah prophesying the coming of Christ. To keep it real, right after I read the scripture I was trying to take a picture and Sage was making tooting noises and then Cade tooted for real so the hysterical giggles by all 3 boys caught on film isn't because of some wonderful, meaningful moment. They were laughing about what all boys laugh about...

Oh, Sage! Our family is so blessed because of you! You are our child always good for a laugh, not afraid to push the boundaries,  and ever caring about others. What would we do without you? This year you've gained so much independence. I often forget that until today you were still only three. You keep up with Aiden so well and can shower and dress yourself which is so nice since you now have a baby brother. You've already said that next summer you don't want trying wheels. You're trying to make sense of the world around you this year. It feels silly to you that even though the season is Fall there is snow on the ground. You think that since you are 4 you should measure four feet tall on the measuring wall. You think almonds are called humans and I probably won't correct that for quite some time. In school you love learning about countries right along side Aiden and I'm so impressed by the words you're able to read. This coming year holds so much ...

This was our year to spend Thanksgiving with Tom's family. However, with Tom's work schedule and having a little baby it was impossible to spend an (enjoyable) Thanksgiving in Appleton, WI because of the travel factor. So, we stayed home. And although we missed our immediate family greatly, staying home on Thanksgiving was some kind of wonderful. My favorite (and often times missed) tradition is watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Since we were home I made sure to make breakfast the night before so that promptly at 9 o'clock our whole family was on the couch watching my dearly beloved parade. Everyone made sure to be extra quiet during the Radio City Rockettes because that is my favorite part. Every year I lament about not meeting the height requirement to be a Rockette and every year Tom lovingly tells me the height requirement probably isn't the only thing holding me back from acceptance into their chorus line. :) Egg casserole and cinnamon rolls in fr...

The boys have friends over today and they are happily playing outside with swords and battle axes that I deemed to big for inside play. I'm in here with Cade drinking Kombucha and enjoying a few minutes of rare silence. We were at the cabin all weekend loving time spent with our family. We celebrated Sage's birthday with Marme, Pappy, Ami, and Uncle Will. Cade got to meet Uncle Will, Uncle Erik, and Allyson for the first time and my mom, Ashley and I even made christmas crafts and had a shopping trip. Aside from cleaning up from the worst mouse invasion ever, it was a marvelous weekend. Happy Birthday, Sage! Briggs Lake November 2015 Uncle Erik, Cade, and Allyson Sage got a vaccuum for his birthday..something he's been asking and asking for! It's a Dyson for kids and it really sucks up tiny little pieces. Anyway, Sage gladly helped Pappy clean up after the mice. :)

Pretty pictures are my love language. And Mandi, our doula and photographer, speaks my love language very well. She came over when Cade was about 6 weeks and did a lifestyle session at our house. I love these pictures. They are beautiful. And they aren't beautiful because my house is some sort of perfect designer home (it's not!), or because our outfits were well planned (they weren't), or because my family is photogenic (we aren't!), or because the boys were well behaved (HAH!). I love these pictures because they capture our real life and freeze moments in time that I never want to loose. We aren't perfect but we're happy. And we're blessed. The days are long but the years are short and even so I'm treasuring this season of three small children. This crazy family photo is as good as it gets. The boys just couldn't sit still. This sums up how the boys acted. Never a quiet moment. ...

Nothing that exciting ever happens around here because we are laying low. That's what you do with a newborn...leave the house as little as possible. This morning I got up and started our morning stuff...laundry, cleaning, dinner prep, school, and then we left for Cade's 2 month check up 35 mintues away. I mixed up the time of his appointment and arrived an hour early. So, we went out for ice cream. ;) Cade's check up went fine. He weighed in at 12 lbs 11 oz and according to the measurments he's grown an inch and three fourths since birth. He has gotten longer, but I'm not sure he's gotten that much longer. Anyway, we left there and on our way home we very narrowly avoided an accident and called 911 on someone else's behalf. After making it home safe and sound I made Sage some pumpkin pie play dough and threw dinner in the oven. Then I had this wild idea to sit on the couch and watch T.V.  Can you believe it? If felt pretty awesome to watch T.V. in the mi...