New

Yesterday we took Jones to be taken away by the Army for 3 whole months. It was a long and wonderful day. We had a quick summer and fall somehow crept up on me. I was lucky and blessed so much that a lot of the things I wanted to happen over the summer did. One of those things being family pics. I lucked out when a good family friend came into town for a family reunion and was able to come spend the day, eat treats and snap some good pics of our little family.

Did I say little? How 'bout 1 more!!

Yes, another blessing this summer brought was another sweet baby to our family, coming spring next year. We are so happy and feel so blessed. Our children are slowly taking over every inch of our hearts. 

And yes I am bias but seriously....

Can they get any cuter??

I was crazy sick right before these pics were taken, I was lucky the kids were dressed at all! but hair cuts did not happen.

Allowing for pictures like this that make me feel like C looks like he is 16 years old. What the?!? back up a bit ok!

I was proud of all the things that I made that naturally made their way into the pictures unintentionally just because they are well used and loved items, like Alfy's blankie.

Tober shocked me with her posing and serious face, again what are you 13!! knock it off!?!

We kept trying to get her to loosen up and give us a smile, instead she turned to the side and gave us a nice over the shoulder :)

not too old for kisses though :)

and there's that smile!!

Jones sold his bike before he left so I am glad we got to get some shots with it. Good memories.

We were lucky enough that we took photos on a Sunday which meant empty parking lot behind buildings where we could take photos alone with a beautiful back drop and space to do some figure eights.

My goofs

                                                                         Tober says Wut!

Can you believe this is us just last year? and this time next year we will have changed a lot too.

So much to look forward to this year. Fall is sweeping in and I am going to embrace all the new in my life right now, be thankful for all that I have, which is a whole heck of a lot. :)

One week

One week 'til Jones heads to Texas for training. These plans we made months and months ago are finally starting to happen. There are a lot of things I am looking forward to over the next few months and it is hard/weird
to imagine he won't be there. I am so excited for him, and our family though and that part has to be what I hold on to. My Tobercakes has reacted pretty strongly to this move. Although she likes being at Grandma's, there are times when she wants to go "home" and then she often will say, to herself mostly, "home is all empty"and tear up. Last night we were playing just dance on the wii and she says, "this is our just dance, we need to take it home, we don't leave it here right.?!" in her, I am smiling so I don't cry, desperate voice.

Alfy is just becoming a handful! He is growing and growing in personality every day. He has found his voice and isn't afraid to use it. I think e s going to be my biggest challenge while Jones is away :)

We don't have any major plans for this week, our car isn't working, we have no money...but that won't stop us from enjoying time as a family together.

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Colt and Pip are on their way!! So excited for them.They left yesterday morning after a delay thanks to being crazy sick! Lucky for me I am sick today! Ugh, moving as little as possible and relying on my sweet husband.

Here's to feeling better, soon!




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A 3rd Birthday for Tober

Yesterday my sweet little girl turned 3. Early this month She had learned that her birthday was "August firtieth" and She would walk around reciting her full name and her birthday. Then as the day approached her big brother helped her daily with the countdown, reminding her it was almost her birthday. When she woke up She knew right away that it was her day and it was going to be special. We started the day with whole wheat pink nesquick pancakes(don't forget the marshmallows!) I had balloons for her and Auntie Pip came by to drop off her boys,(they spent yesterday cleaning because they are leaving today) She gave Tober Jane her first gift of the day which was a Merida doll. Tober hasn't let go of it since :)

As soon as breakfast was over it was downstairs for all the kids while mommy made the cake and finished other prep for the party that would be later in the day.



My mom helped me accomplish the 4 layer pink ombre cake I wanted to make and Jones helped make proper Tea sandwiches (tasty!).



Just before the party Jones and I realized that the Tea pot we are bought for Tober wouldn't hold water. :/ it is surprisingly hard to find a good child's tea pot unless you order one online and I ran out of time. So Jones set out to fix it. As I was placing the last tray of tea biscuits at the table I hear Jones who is right behind me react to what I know has to be a really bad cut because of the way he reacted. He doesn't usually make a big deal about getting hurt so I knew right away it had to be bad.
It was, my mom took him right away to get stitches and the party carried on with out them.
The kids were hesitant at first but once we got into it they all made plenty of cups of "tea" which consisted of mint leaves, lemon, honey and sugar.


They had free reign over the food and just ate and ate, and drank and drank. Eventually they all were done and since we were waiting for Grandma and Daddy still we played outside, got good and muddy, took a group bath, and still the kids were at the table staring at the cake and they still weren't home.



So we dug into the cake and, since it was pushing bedtime, got the kids in bed right as Daddy and Grandma walked through the door. We lit one candle and sang happy birthday(with kids in bed) and Tober cakes opened her presents. It was a crazy but sweet night and I am so glad she was able to have her cousins here.

Settling in

We are nice and moved out of our home and settled in at my Mom's house where we will be until Jones is done with some job training down in Texas. It is bittersweet to have moved yet again, but I am excited to be moving on to a new place and job and life on the East coast.
I am exhausted. The move was long and busy, and directly followed a bad flu weekend, so now that it is over I can fully feel my physical, mental and emotional exhaustion.
I am sad that summer is over, or at least feels like it is, even though I absolutely adore fall, this year fall means Jones will be gone.
So much to do still, as C starts school on Tues. and Tobercakes has a birthday on Thursday, and Colt y Pip are leaving us this week.
The line from a hymn keeps popping in my head
"Gird up your loins, fresh courage take, our God will nev'r us forsake, and soon we'll have this tale to tell, all is well, all is well."
I think Come Come ye Saints will be a new theme for me this year, as I feel I will be in need of "fresh courage"

Church is approaching so I better go and get ready.

Potty time

Now that I am back to blogging, let me share with you our big news, we are potty training, during a move! Brilliant! Tober has been showing signs that it was time for a while but whenever I tried to get her to sit on the toilet it was nothing but stubbornness. I had to remind myself again that I couldn't expect her to be the same as C was( 2 weeks and he was potty trained on a real potty.) and realized that she might be more comfortable using a kid potty, really I just wanted her to get the concept of going potty, because so far She showed no sign that it mattered to her whether she peed on the couch, in a diaper, in her pants....
So to Ikea I went, I knew they had simple potties for $4.99 in lots of colors, I was hoping for a great little black one



Or maybe white




But all they had was the green one, why not.
Bright green :)



this chart had been up for weeks with no stars and a few days after getting the potty Tober is filling it up quick!



2 days accident free! (wearing a diaper to bed and naps) she s now telling me when she needs to go. I love these small and personal triumphs with each kid, they are a growing time for both of us!


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I am back, hopefully

Sorry for the extra long and unexpected absence. I survived summer semester only to jump straight into sick kids and moving! again! We are packing up to start our long and somewhat complicated adventure to Maryland in the Fall. The summer is quickly coming to an end and I am not sure how I feel about it. Lots to take in as we come closer to saying goodbye to family, closer to C starting school(yikes!) and the clock ticking to Jones leaving us for 3 months of job training(sept. 19th)
We are doing great :)
there now you know.