Bliss & That: August 2009

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Believe!

If anybody doesn't believe that Brigham's really one (it's still hard for me!), just check out this picture. Proof enough, huh!? He hangs around the fireplace approximately half the day. I have to pluck him down from standing on it approximately 400 times a day. I believe that this is classic one-year-old behavior at its best. Maybe it's the genes, or maybe I just have to stop putting that crazy "little monster" pj shirt on him. I think the idea is starting to seep into his brain, and we all know that he's nowhere near a little monster. Quite the opposite really. So, there you have it... Proof. Now please excuse my while I go do some monster plucking off my hearth. No joke.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

To-Do Tuesday

I haven't done a To-Do Tuesday in a long time, so I guess it's time for one! Nothing is really exciting this week, as it's more of the usual. I do really need to get the kids' closets organized, though, so I can pack up some of last season's clothes to make way for fall and winter clothes. I love the freshness of the closets with the new season's clothes but loathe yanking out bins from our old-house-tiny-crazy-shaped closets. This is one of my most dreaded jobs as a mama! Bella and I are also on a mission to get her thank-yous out from her friend party 2 1/2 weeks ago. (I know... tsk, tsk!) Then just some ~~la, la, la, la, la, la not thinking about it...~~ school paperwork to do for the kids. What are you doing this week!?

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Blueberry Birthday

Ah, sweet Brigham... Just like the berries from your morning pancakes today, your love oozes all over us. With a lot of sweet and just the right amount of tart, you've been the perfect addition to our brood since the day you were born.

I don't think words can describe how special of a little boy you are. We all adore you and can't wait to explore, discover, and teach you more new things this year. And just for the record, even though you're technically now a toddler and no longer a baby, you'll always be my Baby Briggs...

Happy 1st Birthday, Brigham Isaac!

{We love you!}

Friday, August 14, 2009

Ingenious

The kids were sporting their ~~bed blankets~~ capes the other day while playing outside, and this is what I found when I peeked out the window to check on them.

Superman's gotta fly, you know!

Leave it to our Lincoln to figure this out. I know that I'm partial, but I dare you to disagree that this is the most imaginative young-three-year-old that you've ever seen! ;) This is our child that weed whips with a stick every.single.day.

{Oh, and check out #2 on the playlist below to see what Lincoln's favorite song is now. How he loves his tractors!}

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Mother of All Forts

The kids wanted me to build a house {Fort} this morning. Yippe! It's been a while since I've built one, as I think they've forgotten just how good mommy is at building them. ;) (I'll have to remember to add "master fort builder" to my mommy resume...)

{Insert chest puffing}

Bella had the request for me to build not only a house, but a school too. I sent the little rascals outside to play so I could surprise them when I was done. "It's huge!", Bella squealed with delight. Yes, yes it is.

{Insert proud head nodding}

Mark and I also have a friendly little competition going on when it comes to constructing forts. He dares to think that he can even keep up with me. Silly. I have just one question... So, Honey, how do you like me now?!

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Not So Snappy

Here I sit at the computer. {11:32 P.M.} I'm tired and want to go to bed but can't. You see I'm uploading as many as I can of my quadzillion old pictures onto Snapfish before 12 midnight to take advantage of the free shipping offer. A quadzillion pictures would cost a lot to ship, you know. I've been meaning to do this for a.long.time. (Remember many, many posts ago??) I'm not very good at keeping my pictures organized. Ahem. It's not going smoothly either to say the least. The computers are freezing up (yes, both the desktop & laptop), the baby's been awake twice in the last ten minutes, and I'm trying to type this now as my last pictures are downloading and the letter "m" is sticking. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm {See.} Ah, Brigham's crying again...

{Insert minimal sleep}

Okay, now it's morning. {9:34 A.M.} As you can see, I didn't get my post done last night when I started it. Long story. When I went to submit my final order of 2102 prints at 11:59 P.M. an error occurred. Needless to say, my cart was messed up, my prepaids messed up, and I now have approximately 0 prints shipping to me at this point. This is after spending hours on this project. {Lovely} I am not happy tosaytheleast. Snapfish, no. Snailfish, better. (I must say that I've never had a problem with them until last night. Just this one minor problem... Rolleyes.)

Off to try again. Pray for me.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Wordless Wednesday

Daddy {Mark}

Both my high school and modern-day sweetheart {he claims he's loved me since seventh grade}, Daddy’s the reason we’re on this awesome journey around the U.S. {Truth be told, the kids and I would happily follow him anywhere. We’re pretty fond of him…} So hardworking, he's always busy putting others to sleep. Huh? You see, he really is quite an interesting and diverse person, it's just that he's now an Army Officer schooling in anesthesia. :) For enjoyment and down-time from school and being at the hospital he loves to cook. {What, Honey? You want to make supper? Uhm... okay!} In addition to cooking, he also enjoys hunting and gardening. {See, diverse...} He’s doing a wonderful job already teaching our young boys what is expected of them to develop into a good man and our only daughter what it takes to avoid those good men for the next 30 years or so.

Mommy {Kate}

I'm Kate, spending day and night molding precious lives and trying to keep up with the laundry and dishes. I'm always wondering how I could do things better at home, trying to learn through grace to be the best wife and mother for OUR family, even if others think I'm off my rocker. :) This is still a big work in progress, though, but I'm just so thankful to be doing the only thing I've always wanted to do- be a wife and mama! My newest label other than Army wife is being a homeschooling mommy. I find being in charge of my children’s education just as daunting as being in charge of their haircuts, and I always joke with Mark that I’ll take care of the English if he’ll help out with the higher level math and science. {He's intensely brainy. Yes, the whole package...} Little by little, I'd like to pretend I'm doing ok with teaching them and figuring it out s-l-o-w-l-y. My will-power is next to nothing when it comes to Dr Pepper, spoonfuls of homemade buttercream frosting, my husband's cooking, and a good home décor magazine. I dream of a little hobby farm with a big garden, clothes line, goats {love!}, pasture, and chickens {again} one day...

{Isabella Grace 8}

Our four little ones keep us busy, happy, frustrated, inspired, tired, and loved. Leading the pack is our first and only daughter, Isabella. We should have known from the start that she'd always be our loud and bubbly one, arriving as a tiny peanut four weeks early, surprising us all. She holds her own quite well to say the least with the boys, and is many times the mastermind behind trouble. Her loves are reading and cooking, but not in that order. Bella is turning into quite the beautiful young lady right before our eyes, and is a natural leader and big sister. It’s wonderful to have a big helper at home now too, as mommies of all little ones know how tough it is without “of-age” helpers. We now also find ourselves calling her "Little Mommy" to the boys very often.

{Lincoln Noah 6}

Next there's oldest of the brothers Lincoln, who makes parenting seem way too easy. :) Lincoln’s a lover of monster trucks and sports, though not in that order either. He also recently got bit by the hunting bug, and just got his first compound bow, much to Daddy's delight. Always counting down the years, he can’t wait until he is old enough to be in charge of mowing and “pooper scooping” on our future farm, which is great, since he's a natural at driving. He's also the most affectionate, soft-spoken little boy, always hugging and kissing us while saying, "I love you in the whole wide world."

{Brigham Isaac 4}

Brigham, Little Brother #2, is just a riot lately, and has Mommy and Daddy wrapped around his little finger. {Part of that may be thanks to the fact that he has possibly the longest eyelashes you will ever find on human or beast. We affectionately call them his face blankets.} There's no possible way that he's four years old already, but with that, he has emerged this year as the "class clown" of the family and is always cracking himself or us up with his antics. He is in love with being a big brother to Little Brother #3, but man, can they argue over toys already! His new love is riding his bike on two wheels after getting rid of those nasty training wheels that slowed him down too much. :)

{Griffin Silas 2}

In September 2010, God blessed us with another little boy in our family, who was born at home- a waterbirth. {Loved it!} Griffin's been such a joy and wonderful fit for our family since the beginning. Riding out the gallons of spit-up and thousands of overnight wakings during the first year have all been worth it, and we are enjoying his full-speed approach to toddlerhood now. He keeps up amazingly well with his older siblings and is still at the cutie-patootie age where nobody can stay mad at him. His fluffy blond curls and perfect kisses may have something to do with that. We are all anxious to see how Finn's personality takes shape, making up the sixth piece of our family puzzle.

Bliss & That