Chaos in Motion

A gathering of a bunch of people I love. :)  I will miss them all so much once we leave Wisconsin.  The Idaho move is imminent and this is going to be one crazy week!

I just love her

Time Goes Too Fast

As I sorted through old photos today, making piles for each of my children, I felt wonderful, and sad at the same time.  To all of the mothers of young children, you will miss these days.  The days of wiping snotty noses and poopy butts are also the days of tremendous hugs and slobbery kisses.  Hold tight to those wiggling ones, all too soon they are taller than you and making you a grandparent.  

Shown above from left to right: Gage age 3 years, Haden 5 mo, Britney 6 1/2 years and Mikal 5 years. 

The Next Time I See Her, She Will Be Walking

Molly is almost two months old, I'm cuddling while I can, because the next time I see her she will be walking.  It is official, so now I can announce the reason for my third trip this year to Missouri to see grandkids and the reason why we did not go through with buying that little piece of land in June.  We are moving.  Come the end of September we will be calling Boise, Idaho home.  And Idaho is a whole lot further from Missouri.

I was happy to accompany my daughter and her family to the Neosho County Fair.  Adrianna LOVES animals of all kinds!

She even loves the donkey - who bit her!  Tristan is getting so tall!  Seems like yesterday that he was only 2 months old.

Waving to MeMaw from the rides. :)

He's a little daredevil - he ran to the this ride before anyone could stop him.  He rode it 4 times!

Miss Molly enjoyed the fair from her mother's arms.

Life feels this way some times, especially the last couple of months, and next couple, while prepping our house to travel miles away.

Let It Go

The words I keep chanting, over and over. It isn't working yet, but I'm hoping with more time I can learn to let it go.  I think most of us avoid people, and situations that hurt us.  But, what do you do if it's a person you can't avoid.  A family member, who keeps breaking your heart?

To be clear I am not talking physical pain, I don't care if it is a family member who hits you, they need to be cut out of your life pronto.

The situation I'm talking about is more ify.  This person sees nothing wrong in what they're doing.  So you remind yourself that they are not doing this to intentionally hurt you.  Nevertheless, it hurts you just the same.  It's to the point that even talking to this person causes you pain.  Do you cut them out of your life?  To do so, makes it difficult for other loved ones, as they love you and that person.  You don't want to make life hard for them.

This person will never change.  They have absolutely no respect for anyone else's feelings.  For them, the only feelings that matter are their own.  There is no point in talking to them, you have tried, talk is just met with belittlement.  Do you keep trying to let it go, or do you walk away?  Does the answer depend on how you're related?  What if this person is your sibling?  Your parent?  Your, aunt, cousin, etc?  Which relationship can you walk away from, and which must you battle your pain and learn to let it go?

A new granddaughter enters my life

May 24, 2013 was not only the day I celebrated my 10 year wedding anniversary, it was also the day a new, precious, little granddaughter entered my life. At 8 lbs 3 oz she's not so little but she is very loved!

Missing the chaos

For the longest time I was so good about snapping a photo of the crew when we managed to get them all together. However, this last year I haven't been as good about it. I think they're out of practice. . .notice Haden is under the couch, lol.





Falling. . .



This was the last time we'll have them all together for. . .well, I'm not sure how long. . .my daughter and her family moved back to Missouri last weekend. I miss them all terribly already. :(  Our gatherings of 10 have been cut nearly in half.  And the baby of the group is now 19, instead of 3. :'(

Reading Challenge, Great Year and Full Family!

This photo is about 2 years old but it seemed appropriate, since I'm signing up for Jenner's Take a Chance Challenge (get the details here).  This is her 3rd year hosting this year long challenge but the first year I'm jumping.  I m always reading at least one book and Jenners made this challenge, simple and fun - I thought it might shake things up for me without making me jump into a genre I might not be into.  All are welcome, so if you're a reader like me come on and join up! :)

While we're on the subject of books, I am still on the fence about ereaders in general.  I'd welcome your opinions.  Way back when I got my first pda I downloaded an ebook and was so excited about the possibility of reading on the screen.  The excitement quickly faded when I discovered the ebooks were very limited and I quickly gave up the idea until more books were available.

Now most books can be found as a file and there are even gadgets made specifically for reading them on, bigger than a pda. So that has improved.  However, the ebooks are often times more expensive than a paper copy and that just gets me all riled up!  It's actually less costly for an electronic file than a printed hardback, yet they are charging us MORE - I just don't get it!  Have you found a cheap way to get books?  If I can't get the books cheaper, then I don't really guess it will matter what else the perks might be.  With Kindle I am stuck buying from Amazon and with Nook I'm stuck with Barnes and Noble - right?

I don't like that you still must use a booklight - I read most often in bed after my husband goes to sleep.  It would seem more convenient to me if I, at least had the option of backlighting the screen.  I think color would nice so I could see the covers of the books in color, like on shelfari.

The second most popular place for me to grab some reading time is while soaking in the tub - so why the heck can't they make the waterproof?

I am in love with the idea of replacing my 8-10 boxes of books with one tiny device - but concerned about losing all my library.  I love the idea of being able to search through them easily, but hate that I can't share them with friends, or pass them on. . . so, your thoughts?

My Facebook year in statuses and photos.

What a great year!

I think the next couple of days are going to be pretty busy - these people will be coming over and filling up our house.  Maybe your house will be full too!

Impromptu Gathering

Mikal texted me, "Will you be home Wed?" and it grew from there. Sure, I'd be home, and Dennis would be home from work earlier than normal, so it was decided he'd throw some burgers on the grill. Well, if he was cooking out, I'd invite Britney and Nick. . .

So they were in. Well, I better call Khris. . .sure, he could make it. When I inform Dennis all the kids (and significant others) could be here. His first response was, "Great!" (smiling), quickly followed by, "I better get more meat." lol

How true! I grew up an only child, the lonely only. . .but I gave birth to four wonderful people who keep adding more wonderful people to my life, and simply having a cookout with the kids can quickly grow. But it's all good! Imagine what it's like when we try to go to a restaurant!

When I passed all this info to mom (in Missouri) she said, "Better take a picture." Of course! All four kids had not been here at the same time since Thanksgiving! So, we grabbed the p&s and snapped a few in the backyard. We'll be getting better photos taken in about two weeks, when we all look snazzy at Mikal and Amy's wedding!

It's been a while since the kids have been on the blog so, let's introduce them again (left to right):

My middle son, Khristiaan and his girlfriend Ashley.

My youngest child, Haden (in the brown shirt).

Nick and my daughter, my oldest, Britney with their two children (Tristan in red and Adrianna in mama's arms).

Then, my oldest son, Mikal and his fiance, Amy ~ They are getting married June 26th, time is flying!

Happy Birthday, Britney!

Today is my daughter's birthday. She is my oldest child, now 24 years old and no longer a child, but a mother now too. She's my only girl and had to put up with three baby brothers, I'm not sure if it's the brothers' fault or not but she's never been a girly girl. However, we have a girly girl in Adrianna, her daughter, and I plan on telling you more about that at another time.

Britney has a wonderful family, full of love, laughter and so many escapades she should write a book.

I hope she has a wonderful birthday! And I want to thank her once again for making a grandmother out of me.

And I promise that little velcro baby won't stay stuck to her forever and I'm so proud that she tries daily to appreciate the stages her children are at and soak them in. She's a great mother!

I look forward to our Tuesday night dinners while the guys are at work and it's just her and me and the babies. The only thing different tonight is that we'll have to eat cake!

Our life is a circus

A few weeks ago we saw some coupons for a circus and decided it would be fun to take the grandkids. Since it was in the gym of a small town high school we knew it wouldn't be a big thing, but the babies are only 1 and 3 so we knew they would be thrilled with any of it. Mom & dad decided to tag along, and we let them, lol.

PaPaw and I held seats while the parents let the kiddos get their faces painted. One thing my grandkids is teaching me is to live in the moment more and I find myself leaving the big camera away while I play with them. Such is the case this day, we just took the little point and shoot like "normal" people, instead of photographers.

I had to get a closer peek though.

Wonder what Tristan is going to become?

He makes a GREAT tiger, doncha think?

Adrianna just got a cute little sparkly (pardon the boogies please). They had a really good time munching on popcorn and cotton candy while watching their performers.

Their daddy (our son-in-law) even got to be a part of the show.

Hosted by Cecily and Mamarazzi

Do I have to come in?

Snow + Kids = Fun!

Kids and snow go hand in hand.  We had to take Tristan out to play in the snow, he was thoroughly bundled and I was pretty impressed that when he came in over an hour later the only thing cold on him was his cheeks and his hands - they just don't make good toddler gloves - or we haven't found them.

I bundled Adrianna in a too little snow suit thing, one that had been her brothers and I couldn't get it all zipped up, so she and I only stayed out about 10 minuted before we left Twister to his PaPaw.  Since my arms were full of Addy I just brought the little point and shoot with me to snap a few shots.

I leaned down with Addy and asked Tristan for a pose, well guys, the snow was calling, with one eye on me, as soon as he could tell I had snapped he was off.

Nearly an hour later I leaned out the back door and snapped a few more.  His cheeks have pinked up.

"Tristan are you cold?"

BIG head shake, no.

"Do you want to come in?"

BIG head shake, NO!

He absolutely enjoyed eating snow off his coat.

"Tristan are you cold?"

BIG head shake, no.

"Do you want to come in?"

BIG head shake, NO!

I stepped a couple of steps closer to him and he noticed his baby sister standing at the back door.

She was watching her PaPaw and Uncle Haden working on a fort.

I tried to get a better shot of her through the glass but the reflections still interfered.  She noticed her brother and smiled.

Tristan ran back to help with the fort and I went back in the house.   A short time later. . .

"Tristan are you cold?"

BIG head shake, no.

"Do you want to come in?"

BIG head shake, NO!

"I think you should come in. "

It appeared that the boy would never be ready to come in so Uncle Haden scooped him up and carried him.  I was able to shoot this through the window, from the warmth of the kitchen.

His eyes seem to be pleading for more time in the snow.

He quickly forgot about playing outside when he started helping PaPaw with the gingerbread house.