Around the Block!

Dear T, A, and H,

My favorite time of day is our evening walk around the block. It is such a great chance for all of us to change gears- homework is done, dinner and dishes our done, we can just relax and take a moment to be grateful.

Buddy, you are loving basketballs, soccer balls, and anything else you can throw or kick!

Look!  One leg!

This picture does not due everyone's happiness justice.

Nothing better than watching the three of you!

Xoxo

Mom

Crackin' me up!

Dear Hudson,

You have been cracking me up lately! You are such a funny little guy. You talk on the phone, hide snacks all over the house, and show me your "mad" face:)

Lord knows how long this granola bar has been hiding in this pot, but love it!

You have such a fierce mad face.  I think you are taking lessons from those sassy sisters of yours.

Love you so much buddy!

Memories.....

Dear kids,

Before the three of you, I had the best memory. Daddy called it the steel trap. Today, I would say a pasta strainer or cheese grader would be far more accurate. Luckily, I have technology to remind me about the things i want to remember and the three of you for the things I would be happy to forget. (Daddy feels the same way about wishing you would forget sometimes).

So, now when I am out and about and want to remember to buy a book for my kindle, I take a picture! These three are on my list right now.

My iPhone camera roll is full of pictures of books, magazines, recipe ideas, pictures of restaurant reviews- you name it!

For the rest..... You girls always kindly remind me in excruciating detail when I have done something wrong. I would like to suggest you channel that energy into remembering to make the bed, or flush, or finish chores- all things that will lead to happiness for everyone!

Xoxo
Mom

Order!

Dear Taylor, Anna and Hudson,

As the three of you know from my weeks of crazy, nothing makes me happier on this earth than planning, order and organization.  Really, ask your dad, when I am absolutely about to have a melt down at almost 11pm, I start cleaning and organizing, and I instantly feel better.  I am sure Hubbie could tell you that for most of my life, I have been a midnight cleaner.  I would paint my room, move furniture, clean out closets, you name it.  So, today, Daddy took the three of you off my hands for an adventure.  I, with a full day to myself, returned some clothes at Nordstrom, went grocery shopping, and then cleaned and organized the kitchen including the fridge.  (Super sad when I type that..... who does that with a free day).

We have a week of chaos coming up, with a virtually impossible pick-up, drop-off schedule, and on top of that, I am responsible for a massive event celebrating the groundbreaking of a massive hospital.  Good times.  So, with that in mind- we need order, planning, and most of all, supplies!  As i type this I realize that I totally forgot to buy sunscreen.  Did I mention that on top of this, we no Daddy all week.  None.  He is gone from Sunday to Friday.

So, our meet and cheese drawer is ready.  Snacks, sandwiches, quesadillas, pizza muffins.  This drawer is a bunch of possibilities and it is organized. :)

Anyone need a school snack?  After school, but before PT, dance or swim practice snack?  No problem!  We have something for everyone.

 For our pickier eater (hey Hudson, I am talking to you!)  We have blueberry muffins!  The best thing is that Taylor, you can make these in a few minutes.  One pouch, 1/2 c water and the muffin maker.  

 And of course, fruit for everyone, which Hudson, you will not eat.  Isn't everyone happier just seeing these pictures.  

Loves!

Dear Kids,

You three are obviously great loves of my life, but there are some other loves in my life.

Obviously the first is Daddy:)  We are SO lucky that he is ours.

Clearly this is a silly thing to love, but boy oh boy, do I love a large ice cold fountain diet coke.  YUM!

Fresh flowers!  I have said it before, but one of the best perks of my job is bringing home flowers from events.  Love!  How incredible are the green centers to these?

 Love this combination- so unexpected.

 These tulips are some of my faves.

xoxo
mom

Buddy

Dear Hudson,

You are just growing before our eyes buddy!  You have found your voice- they say.  What I mean by that is you tend to scream for what you want/need.  "MAMA!!!!"  Is a pretty common thing around here.  We also get, "WAFFLES!" "BABA!" "BLANKIE!" 

I can't get enough of your little face and those very long eyelashes.  Every morning you snuggle up on the couch with your blankie and baba to get ready for the day.

You LOVE your cars, trains, sisters, and constant attention.  You don't think it is funny when anyone tries to multi-task.   You hide in my closet with your cars while I get dressed- we can't possibly be more than a few feet apart sometimes:)

The train table provides constant entertainment around here.

Buddy, you are so much fun to have around and feel less like a baby and more like a little guy.  You love to talk about your body parts and know your clavicle, knee, elbow, ankle, teeth, mouth, ears, etc.

xoxo

mom

Stylin

Anna,

A perfect outfit for a perfect afternoon outside.  We love your style baby girl!

Xoxox

Scootering at Stanford!

Kids,

We had such a great day! Anna had a play date, we had gorgeous weather, and everyone wanted to scooter! The quad has the best smooth hallways to cruise around.

Hoover Tower was open too! Such a great day with beautiful views as far as the eye can see!

Anna and her cute friend!

What an amazing day!

Caterpillars!

Thanks for such a fun day!
xoxo
Mom

Sales and Seeds

Taylor and Anna,

What a school week! Taylor, you and two of your brilliant sales colleagues (cute friends) sold brownies at school to raise money for your class chickens (50% tax went toward the cage, incubator, and other supplies). You each made a whopping $3.00. We paid $2.99 for the blondie mix, but had to buy two boxes since the first had to be trashed. So, all told, we lost a few dollars but it was a great experience;)

Anna, on Friday, Daddy came to your class to teach seed school! You learned all about seed dissemination, and germination. Each one of your classmates got to plant a seed and take home some flowers. Such a fun day!

Wacky Day in a Wacky Week

Girls,

This weeks is absolutely NUTS! We have three doctors appointments, two hip hop classes, two swim practices, art class, two class projects (one is a huge baking project, one is building models of our house and a grocery store), two full time jobs, a birthday, a birthday party, a play date, AYSO registration, dinner plans, Daddy doing seed school in both the AM and PM K classes, and of course- this week would have wacky Wednesday.

I sorta forgot that we had this wacky day coming. Forgot to buy the spray hair color, couldn't find the wild socks and was tired, but we pulled it together! It was 1/2 as%ed at best, but not entirely horrible:(

Some coathanger wires that Daddy cut and I shoved into braids:)  Perfect Pipi and they stayed through lunch!!  Victory!

Anna, your socks are wacky, only because they don't match, and because they are Japanese with toe slots.  Thank goodness the boot exposes the slots.

FLOWERS!  So many flowers for seed school!

Our grocery store model.  Yep, a doll and monster truck really make the scene.  Anna, you were an awesome partner for Daddy and me on this thing.

Cast on. Cast off!

Anna,

You are the best sales person I have ever seen.  You went to Dr. G last week and we really thought you would need another round with casts.  You told Dr. G that you needed a break- you wanted to ride our bike, you wanted to take a bath and you were over this whole situation- so I was almost shocked when he said, "ok, let's take the week off and see how it goes."  What?

So, you are in the boot and working so so hard to walk with your heel first, and follow dr's orders.  If you are not in the tub taking a long bubble bath, you are riding around the block for as long as you can after school.  You are such a rock star Anna Davis!  We are so so proud of you.

 A little atrophy on the left:)

You have been fascinated by the incision markers.

Obviously not for the faint at heart, but kinda cool.

xoxo
mom

Eight is Great!!!

Dear Taylor,

You are the greatest eight year old ever! You are brilliant, clever, sweet, kind, loving, and gorgeous outside and in!!!

We have loved celebrating this milestone with you three times!!! You had a friend party on Saturday night, Daddy's family Sunday night and a day of activities today!

We finished the day with a very special treat- you got your ears pierced!!

We love you so much baby girl!!!
Xoxo
Mom and Dad