a forevers worth of pictures to prove we're still here.

being as neglectful as i have been with this lil' ol' blog, i failed to post some pictures from some of this winter and spring's most important days...so i'm making up for it now...better late than never eh? loved remembering all these fun and blessing filled days.

**my disclaimer is that i may have already posted some of these, but such is life. :)**

ellee turned 4 in style! to celebrate all that is ellee, we held a gala...everyone dressed to the nines and we had a super fun party!

my four year old ellee and five year old sophie.

here's the fam...all dressed up.

grandma and grandpa farbelow...they really got into the partee theme :).

this is sophie's SIXTH birthday and nora's FIRST! they share one...remember? yep...my bookends. love them.

this year we made cake balls. mmmm.....cake balls. casey preferred to just eat the pink sprinkles.

sophie was, as she always is, very meticulous about decorating.

ellee did a great job and loved making faces with the big candy pieces...not quite what i had in mind, but still delicious.

sophie got a princess game for her birthday...and played it with superdad. he won.

while we slaved away making cake balls for her party, nora had the nerve to stiff me on the bill. she took my money instead.

our creation!

the birthday girls! ONE and SIX!

happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear sophie....

and nora.....
happy birthday to you!

casey's big day! he turned three!

sophie and dad at casey's party!

mmmm,,,the cake.

me and the kid...such a big guy now...

presents!

spring time never came, but we still managed to get outside.

dad and the big girls.

mama t cookin' her world famous breakfast to celebrate my sister's birthday!

what a spread!

this spring was the season that never was...this is april 1. ugh.
sophie, ellee and casey at the lake.

and nora too!

ellee's preschool program where she played a butterfly...see her? she the last on the left.

superdad with two of the girlies. we were to eat which is a big deal to this fam.

me and ma.

us at the mall...waiting to ride the train.

there they go!

easter.

mom and soph...

mom and ellee...

pops and his princess posse.

casey the morning of the royal wedding!

ellee just chillin.

nor and pops.

easter 2011!

a picnic in the backyard.

sophie and ellee's very first dance recital...they danced to snow white.

miss meg and her two best students!

the entourage.


one last one...superdad gets this summer started!

here's to being more 'in touch' this summer!

what's new?

i hate when someone asks me 'what's new?' it makes me feel like i need to wow them with an answer that includes all kinds of special new adventures of the super six when in fact, most days the biggest news is whether or not all of my children are pooping regularly. my answer inevitably makes me feel boring. so...yeah...i hate that question.

the truth is, not much is 'new', but since it's been two months since i posted, i figured an update was in order!

sophie is rockin' it kindergarten style and loving life. i think this half of the school year she has really come into her own as far as what this whole school thing is all about. it turns out that she is super smart, social and chatty. she loves to read, and draw and chat. did i mention she loves to chat? she's chatty. but glorious. we are coming up on our five year gotcha day and i could not feel more blessed to be her parent. sophie will wrap up school for the summer in june and i am looking so forward to seeing her chat her way through tee-ball this summer, boss her siblings around the backyard and fill this house up all day with her fun lil' self. she is such a gift.

speaking of coming into her own...ellee has blossomed into quite a social butterfly as well. speaking of butterflies, she loves them too...but not more than she digs dinosaurs. i mean love. she looooovvvveees them and i love that she loves them. she is doing really well in preschool and passed her kindergarten assessment with flying colors. phew. ellee is funny, emotional, beautiful and all around sparkly. we adore her and feel blessed by our second miracle.

speaking of miracles (do you like how i frequent the phrase 'speaking of? i thought you would.) casey is talking up a storm! seriously, the kid chats and chats...he has great role models (see 'sophie') and is just flourishing in school. he goes two times per week in the mornings and i can't tell you what a difference it has made for him. his vocabulary has shot through the roof and although his articulation is still a bit of a struggle, he has started talking in a conversation manner. this opposed to his former ability to simply direct demands and immediate needs like 'water' or 'no'. it's a remarkable shift and more and more we see such a loving and kind little man emerge from what was a frustrated and sometimes sad boy. our lesson here has been that no child is perfect and no road to a positive outcome is straight. he has worked hard and will continue to do so...but he's not alone and we're so confident that his future's so bright, he'll have to wear shades. our third miracle keeps us on our toes, but what fun is standing still on two feet?

speaking of shades, nora refuses to walk. ok, so they have nothing to do with each other, who cares? nora is a bright and funny and energetic little 13 month old (how is that possible?) who fits right into her house of crazy. she lets us know when she needs us, but is a really content baby who often just watches and laughs at the world around her. turns out she's pretty stubborn too as exemplified but her sheer disinterest in walking. like all things, it will come with time, i'm sure. in any case, M4 (that's 'miracle four' for those not seeing my theme) completes our nest and we're grateful for her everyday.

matt and i are busy keeping these little people fed, clothed, entertained and educated. it's becoming more and more obvious that we won't have any real time together until about about september of 2018 so we try and make the most of our moments spent in the same room. everyday, though, i am reminded of what a good choice i made in marring matt. he is everything to me and i adore him. we're coming up on our ten year wedding anniversary and i'm confident that the best is yet to come. at least that's what he tells me.

i continue to stay at home almost full time. i put in about 8 hours a week at the local coffee shop but other than that, i'm here. it's kind of crazy. and good. and hard. sometimes i think of blog titles (which, in recent history, have never been actually written) and one that came to mind recently was 'the real reality of having everything you ever wanted'. trust me, i have everything i ever wanted and more but there are some days when all i want to do is change everything. i think about working full time again. an image of me stepping out in my pretty shoes with my dusty briefcase heading off to an office somewhere can be a powerful thing. but the reality is, i love my kids and me being with them is the best for all of us. and so it shall remain. i will continue to learn how to be the best wife and mom i can be and on the days when it seems to hard or insignificant or loud, i will take a deep breath and remember that this too shall pass. and when it does, i'll miss it. and while i have the time (but i really don't), i am still going to dream about that book i want to write and those degrees i want to attain...

so that's us. in a nutshell. did you miss us? i missed you and i missed blogging! but rest assured, like the spider colony living in my basement, i may go away for a while, but i'll always come back.

and now the real question is, what's new with you?

just a couple of a couple...in reverse.

i uploaded these pictures in reverse by accident...so...whatever. here is casey AFTER his haircut.

sporting a scott disick look...before the battle of the haircut began. i had to play hardball and so did he. in the end, he got to watch chugginton if he allowed me to trim his hair.

the before...wild man hair.

ugh...she is getting so stinking big. but she's cute, right? :)

just a shot to highlight these curls that three of the kiddos have. i have NO IDEA where they come from as matt and i both have crazy straight hair. so crazy. and so cute.

soooo...that's it. until next time...when i may actually include some words with actual thoughts and stories and purpose. maybe.

chad, sara, and miranda.

lately, i have been overwhelmed with all the day to day things that keep me busy. i have felt frustrated because so many of the things i am responsible for are tasks that feel mundane to me. my days are filled with ordinary, thankless jobs. dishes, laundry, cleaning.

last night, i became familiar with this family and cannot stop praying for chad. i also can't stop thinking about how he would give anything for even one minute of my ordinary day. over the weekend, he lost his wife of 15 years in a car accident. to make things even worse, she was pregnant with their first child who was due later this month. the baby, a girl that he named miranda, was born via c-section 45 minutes after her momma had died. miranda lived for 3 days on life-support. yesterday, she died as well.

you would think that he would be a total wreck, right? wrong. he has a blog that he has been keeping since discovering that after a long struggle with infertility, they were expecting their first baby. since the tragedies have occurred, he has updated a couple of times. he is filled, it seems, with hope and thankfulness and love for his family. i expect that in the days to come, as the shock wears off, he will mourn outwardly, but the grace he has shown in the confidence that that he is being held up by the Lord is astounding. he knows that his wife and their baby are waiting for him in heaven...and he is comforted.

so as i sit here, wanting to whine about doing the dishes of my giant family of loud messy eaters, i will shut my mouth and wash. i hope that i can remember that some people have tragedy and i simply have everything i ever prayed for. so...yeah. sometimes life is hard, but c'mon. for me, it's a cake walk compared with some folks.

so today, i am going to shut it, i'm going to hug my family, and i'm going to pray for a family who needs it more.

chad and sara's blog is below...check it out and say a prayer.

http://sadandchara.blogspot.com/

birthdays and balerinas.

ellee turned four! don't even get me started on the emotional wreckage that sentence leaves behind (how can she possibly be four? where have the years gone?!) but in the midst of such an exciting weekend, we made some lovely lil' memories and i thought i would share...

for her fourth birthday, we had a princess gala. we all dressed up in our best and ate ellee's dinner of choice...chili. it was magical!

ellee got to blow out the birthday cupcakes! (don't judge me for the store bought treats...i totally ran out of time what with making the chili and getting all dressed up.)

ellee told me that even though she is now four, i am still allowed to pick her up and twirl her. so there's that anyway.

isn't she lovely?

amidst all the birthday bashes, there was ballet...here are my two lil' ballerinas

and my linebacker.

the three bigs. three of the four reasons i have had no time to really blog lately...you can't blame me though, right?

the four. love love love love them.

here's what the first 64 tries looked like.

first position...i think.

yep...first position.

aaaand first position.

what a momma's boy. :)