all smiles, all the time.

and...
in keeping my promise to never, ever, (ever!) again
post pictures of other people's grandchildren
without also posting at least one of hers:
here's one more from the farm for mary. xo

brand new.

first bus ride. first field trip.
love at first sight with these new baby "lambies".

have vans, will skate.

for the record, i would have made him wear
any and every other pad ever invented.
how in the world has he grown up so fast?

(his vans are truly a one-of-a-kind design. his.)

bookworm.

despite our best parenting efforts, hayden has always
thought of reading as a homework assignment.
something that we make him do every night
because we're horribly mean parents
who love to torture him with literature.
until he found a book he LOVED.
and then we found him reading at the breakfast table.
and while he was eating lunch.
after dinner. before bed. almost every waking second.
he finished number one. checked number two out
from the library the very next day.
borrowed number three from a classmate.
(i just ordered him the rest of the series.)
we promised he could see the movie if he finished the book first.
so he did.
and he liked the book better.

(i know his librarian grandma has a huge smile on her face right now. xo)

this little piggy.

some of my favorites from tracy's session last week...
thirty seconds of perfectly spontaneous, unplanned laughter
between a mama and her little (almost-the-big-sister) girl.

oh happy day.

sunshine, fresh air and room to ride.

doug.

"my name is jane.
i have just met you and i love you.
SQUIRREL!"

if you know jane and have seen the movie "UP",
this makes all the sense in the world.
she may even be more doug than doug is.

baby kitchen... etc.

court recently discovered her inner-mommy.
tucking her babies in, randomly throughout the house.
she talks to them as she covers them with their mankies
and then when we walk by a half hour later,
she's still talking.
i'm pretty sure i should claim this trait.

not smooth.

this hula-hooping, mohawk sporting kid
was super excited for crazy hair day at school.
for as long as i can remember, he's asked me to
help him make his hair "smooth, not funky!"
today was quite a treat. gel. hairspray. the works.
(i know, you're thinking "tracy HAD hairspray??")

please pardon the noise...
it's no secret that i almost always
prefer a bit of noise to a flashy shot.

scooter, meet sidewalk.

she's been waiting exactly 75 days since christmas to take her scooter outside...
although we'll miss the sound it makes crossing the kitchen floor,
it's probably for the best.
there shouldn't be any recliners to run into and split her lip on anymore.
yesterday, she declared "today's the day!"
and it was. so fun.



layla. so sweet. so happy.
(out and about with her dad and her dog)

welcome back, mud.

i took this a while ago, but it seems perfect for today.
a foggy, drizzly, storytime at the library, soup for lunch,
browsing the internet for baby shower invitations all afternoon,
drink hot chocolate from your favorite bunny teacup kind of day.
this morning, court piped in from the backseat with this:
"welcome back mud!"
if mud = spring,
then i agree.

revelations.

rev·ela·tion (rev′ə lā′s̸hən)
noun
a revealing, or disclosing, of something
something disclosed; disclosure; esp., a striking disclosure, as of something not previously known or realized

1. i am just as likely to fall trying to stand on skis in one place as i am going down the hill.

2. if i leave my camera at the chalet because i'm afraid to fall and jam it into my once broken rib again, i will certainly miss capturing the most amazing blue skies i think i may have ever seen. and the way the sunlight came down through the trees.

3. i should worry less about the kids while we are away from them and more when i am in the next room making dinner.

4. i am lucky to not have sustained a knee injury from riding the chairlift with missy during the "binotto incident".

5. i should always tell someone if they have coconut on their nose. especially right before she gets on the chairlift with our ski instructor.

6. i'm always claiming to have a horrible memory, yet i was able to pull answers like "imelda marcos" and "somalia" out of some dark corner of my mind where the 1990's live.

7. i am even awesomer after a single bloody mary.

8. watching the late afternoon light while riding in the truck with my husband and listening to music is a much better way to pass the time than reading a book i've been waiting an entire year for. i figured the book could wait, and i was right.




i loved this weekend. and sharing it with you all.
can't wait til next year, when i can put all of these new revelations to use.

xo, t

lovey.

"hey mom. do you bemember lasterday when (shall remain nameless) called me a lovey?"
seriously. her funny little four year old speak gets me "every the time".
note to self: make a recording before she grows out of this.

as a side note, court squashed her poor brother's dirty snow tunnel about 20 seconds
after this bright and shiny picture was taken. figures.

little birdie mouth.

one of my favorite newborn expressions is the little birdie mouth...
so sweet and sleepy and hungry(!) while they grow from tiny little newborn babies
into just barely bigger versions of themselves.

shaken, not stirred.

being a brand new baby is exhausting.

catching up.

after a busy month of

packing,
traveling,
unpacking,
working,
sniffling
and
recovering,

i find myself a bit behind in blogging.

pizza & playtime with miss & the boys...
perfect cure for a school-free friday.