Our Adventure called Life

Paisley and Mr. Snow The snow has melted (hooray), we've begun wearing shorts (a little early, but we couldn't wait), and we have jumped head first in to outdoor activities and various celebrations!  It's been a great winter but we are ready for spring! Pappaw joined us for snow cream Our final snow day didn't disappoint!  We rode the 4-wheeler, pulled the kids on the sled, whipped up some snow cream and made our first snowman.   As much as we enjoyed the snow, when it quickly melted a few days later we were not sad to see it go (although the muddy mess that temporarily took its spot was not a welcome replacement).  My entryway rugs will never be the same. I can't even put in to words my love for this boy... March 14 (pi day) meant I needed to make some cherry delight (pie).  The kids helped by licking the beaters.  I appreciated the help.  :) I have so many memories of licking the beaters while my mom and grandma cooked, I am happy to...

1985-ish, fishing in Florida Growing up I saw a lot of states from the back of my parents Oldsmobile.  We drove everywhere, every which direction, and my sister and I loved it.  I didn't catch my first flight until I was 15 years old.  Road trips were the norm and I was lucky to marry a man who agreed! We have had several small road trips with the kids; Kentucky Lake, Louisville, St. Louis, Indianapolis, etc.  So when our annual ski trip was on the horizon, I didn't bat an eye when Scott said, "What do you think about driving?" Disney 1986-ish I scoured Pinterest for tips on road tripping with toddlers.  There were great ideas such as giving them a cookie sheet to snack/play/color on.  I glued fleece on the back of each childs cookie sheet so it had some cushion and wouldn't slide off their little legs.  Both kids enjoyed and utilized their sheet (Lila mostly used hers to kick and produce noise, but whatever).  I also visited the dol...

Neither does mommy... She went down at 7pm just like every other night.  I knew her teeth were bothering her as she has white caps poking up through every bare space of gum.  The nightmare (for me) began around mid-night.  I had been asleep for roughly 2 hours and I hear her fussing.  I gave it a minute because it's not unusual to hear a little fuss out of her, then she goes right back to sleep.  This time, she fussed for a few minutes before she began hollering "mommy."  I knew this was not a good sign. I went in her room and kissed her head (no fever, thank goodness).  I gave her a drink a water and tucked her back in.  I told her it was "night night" and she needed to sleep.  She responded with a "Uh-huh" and I slipped out of her room.  All was quiet as I slipped back in bed. I fell asleep quickly thinking all was well. At 1am the screaming started again.  My brain was immediately thrust back to when I was woken every fe...

"You can do hard things." A little rainbow baby It's such a simple phrase that I heard while I was pregnant with Paisley.  We were roughly 4 months past losing our honeymoon baby and here we were expecting.  Could we go through the worst case scenario again?  Were we mentally ready to handle this?  We wanted so desperately to be excited and dream about the little person I was carrying, but we knew the possibility of this dream being shattered like fine china falling onto a tile floor.  The reality of everything was hard. Mid-way through the pregnancy is when we received the diagnosis of vasa previa, 100% fatal if not caught before birth.  It was a hard diagnosis to hear, but we caught it.  We were prepared.  We were armed with information and a plan.  It was hard to take it all in, but someone said, "You can do hard things."  With that mind-set we continued on. While my pregnancy continued I had a conversation with a close fri...

We can't forget her... On Feb. 3 we began the long drive from Indiana to Colorado.  The vehicle was loaded with the Fish4 and the Nana.  We also hauled our smoker out there, a decision my husband solely made.  We had bags of snacks, toys, movies, and anything else we could think of that could possibly entertain the smallest of travelers.   We began our journey at 5:50pm.  The following are the hours that followed: 5:57pm - "Mom I need a snack." - Paisley 6:20pm - Lila begins screaming "Out!" from her carseat. 6:45pm - Paisley falls asleep. 6:55pm - Lila screams and wakes Paisley up.  They both begin fussing.  Scott puts on his noise canceling headphones. 7:00pm - Nana begins passing out snacks.  On the road 7:15pm - I am positive I didn't turn off the crockpot. 7:38pm - After watching me chew off 3 Jamberrys worrying about the crockpot, Scott promises that HE turned off the crockpot.  I don't believe him....

I'm getting a jump start on the Valentine holiday and letting the sap pour out in this post.  I'd blame it on hormones, but I don't think that's it...instead, just a mixture of immersion in life and its fleetingness. My grandparents, Florence & Vic Last night I dreamt of my Grandma Florence.  She passed away this past November.  In my dream we were talking and laughing and it was as real as a dream could be.  When I woke up I thought "we'll visit her today!"  Within that same minute I remembered she had passed and my heart became heavy.  I snuggled in closer to my husband who quickly replaced my sadness with his warmth. In the typical morning fashion, fruit was washed and peeled, Scott headed out the door to work, and I caught a glimpse of the morning news over the sleep tousled hair of my wee ones.  The sun was throwing beams through the blinds and the blue skies promised a beautiful (albeit cold) day. After the Cheerios and fruit had b...

Hello there little guy So there's this 32 lb. boy that wakes me up each morning.  Typically he goes to his daddy's side of the bed, but if he doesn't feel good or he's had an accident, he'll come to my side.  He typically says something like "The sun is up!" or "Is it time to get up?"  He likes everyone to be out of bed and the blinds to be opened.  This happens between 6:30-7 each morning. He appears with groggy blue eyes that despite showing sleepiness still hold a hint of mischievous.  His hair is a disheveled mess of light brown with a sprinkle of golden hairs that look like spun silk.  His dinosaur jammies are getting shorter on his long legs each day, showing just how quickly this little guy is growing. Snuggles This sweet little boy has eyes that are bigger then his stomach.  He likes to fill his bowl with cereal or oatmeal, but has a hard time eating everything he "thinks" he needs.  He has his picky days where no...