Brotherly love. Or something like it.

Summah time.

So, here we are: four weeks into Adam's first round of clinicals. Honestly, I've no idea how this happened...our lives keep speeding up without asking my permission and, most days, I'm amazed that it's already  4pm when I look at the clock! So, I'm playing catch-up. I had excellent intentions of catching up on blogging and 84,000 other things while we were on our 3-week vacation in Colorado; instead, I took naps almost every day and spent time with the people I love most. It was much needed, and very very fun....but not actually restful at all, in hindsight.
     We started out with a great little camping trip, just the five of us, up at Woods Canyon Lake. Our day and night were full of capture the flag in the woods, playing in the lake (and mama almost falling asleep by the lake..due to Dramamine), and reading around the campfire at night (after s'mores, of course). The next day we headed down the mountains mid-morning, on our way to Durango...and our car blew up about 40 miles outside of Gallup, NM. Seriously, what is it about our cars and driving to Durango?? The cool part? We ended up right in front of a home belonging to a neat little old couple-who happened to be Christians. The little old man brought us water, and they ended up taking the littles and I into town when the tow-truck driver (whom dispatch assured us would have space for all of us)-well-didn't. Instead, Pax got to ride up front with Adam in the front of the tow-truck and had an absolutely marvelous time!
           To make a long story short, 3 tow-trucks, a McDonald's, a rental car, over 300 miles and many many hours later; we made it to Durango.

 A few days after that, we made it to Ft. Collins in my mother-in-law's car, actually on schedule (we skipped the 2nd mini-camping trip we'd planned) while the van stayed in Durango to have a new engine put in. The kids were fine with missing the 2nd camping trip because it just so happened that they got to go to an awesome water day event at our old church with all their friends and cousins. B was double thrilled because she just made the age-limit!   
       Our days in Colorado were almost all on the cool side; rainy in the afternoons or evenings, and sometimes all day- we loved it! Although, my usually-crazy-brave littlest did discover that he's not at all a fan of thunder.

Blaise, my mom (Grammy), and niece Evie (1 1/2) playing in the little-kid sprinklers while the Bigs were at a park with Adam one morning...they had a marvelous time!

We spent as much time in the beautiful Colorado outdoors as we could. One day, we took my nephew Ayden (11) and our 3 on a hike up to Horsetooth Falls. We left early, to avoid the thunderstorms, and the kids all had a great time-our kiddos have missed hiking these past few months! Another evening, we took him along with our kids to City Park Pool, where  he and Pax took on the giant slides without even blinking. Most evenings were spent playing "kickball" in the backyard until it was dusk, and one rainy afternoon while the littles napped we even got to go see Planes 2 with almost the whole crew-a bit hit!

Intermission: A word about our youngest son.

This little guy...he's seriously brave. And seriously fierce. And seriously smart, as in he watches EVERYTHING and is pretty sure he can do it all just as well as anyone else-if not better. Which is great- but also gives this mama wrinkles because-let's face it-at 2, that's a combination for disaster!! And so this kid has had more than his fair share of crazy almost-catastrophes since he learned to walk a year and a half ago, let me tell you. Thankfully this wasn't one of them. This rock was much higher than it looks in the picture; he kept telling his daddy, "Don't worry, Daddy-I can do it!" yeah...but we'll hold on anyway, at least for another year or two, littlest buddy!

After 5 days, we headed back down to Durango and spent the rest of our time there. Durango is glorious in July, especially if you're coming from Phoenix...we soaked up every second, once again spending our time outside as much as we could. One wonderful evening was spent eating a picnic dinner at a park with our friends the Danquahs, who recently moved back to Durango. We watched a storm roll in...and then watched the kids-all 6 of them- glory in the rain. We had dinner in the back room (read:the wine room) at my in-laws' bakery with my in-laws several times, as well as my brother-and sister-in law and our nieces; another harrowing experience for the mama of a 2-year old. All those bottles! and the ladder! But-worth it for the delicious treats everyone devoured at the end. (Perks of being the grandchild of a French baker: getting to go behind the counter and pick your own as-big-as-your-face pastry.)
       Add to that the wonderful time we got to spend with the Palmers, the Danquahs, and many more old friends at more parks than I can count; tons of cousin time, Blythe's first sleepover (at Aunt Tiff and Uncle YayYay's house-Pax got to go, too. They had some serious fun! And we felt strangely childless with only one...) friends and family, and, well....it was hard to come back to the hot August desert. Blythe was upset for days; so I taught her the fine art of letter-writing. She then proceeded to write letters to all her Colorado friends and family....and was overjoyed to get an answer from her Grammy and Grandaddy and Evie, just the other day.

(See? Giant!! These are 2 of our nieces-Madi (8) and Violet (6).)

This photo just screams summer in Durango to me!

This was a fun Saturday morning spent at Tiff and Jerome's with cousins and the Palmer kids-Kale (10), Pax (6), Jack (5), and Madi (8). I had the chance to do a few photoshoots again while in town, so I had dropped Adam and the kids off at 7 am on my way to a shoot.

    This is how Blaise spent 75% of the time we were at the bakery. He woke up to the sound of beeping trucks backing up, and ran out the door to watch them dig and grade and lift until it was time to leave for that day's adventure.  They're adding a parking lot across the street for the new pediatric center built in the last year; and therefore there's lots and lots of construction vehicles and workers, too. We spent more than one evening exploring the empty work site, mush to his delight...








...These are the Danquah girls. One of the perks of having my MIL's Seqoia is that it fits 8; so one morning, while Megan did some last-minute packing and cleaning for the move into their new home, I took all the girls with us to meet the other mamas at their Tuesday park day. Loud, crazy, giggling fun! Pax says they were telling ghost stories in the back...I don't really know where any of them have ever heard a ghost story, but, there you go.

Pax (6), Lily (7), Sadie (5), Blythe (4), Ollie (3), and Blaise (2). The stair-step kids. Sadie is convinced that they're all "real cousins", despite Lily's attempts to convince her otherwise; and considering that half the people we know and love in Durango ARE "real cousins" and their mama is my birthday "twin"....I can understand her confusion! It's just allllll part of the family.
       And then there's these two. Pax and Ayden. This summer they had SO much fun together! Here you see evidence of their sand/ water days in my parents' backyard, something I have vivid childhood memories of doing. It's so much fun seeing your kiddos enjoy the same summer thrills you did!
     The end of this story: our van is still in Durango, not quite fixed yet. Thankfully, we had the generostiy of my mother-in-law's Sequoia to get us back home and around until it's done. We had a deadline-Adam started Clinicals on the 6th of August, so we didn't have a lot of wiggle room. But that's another story.....
       let's just say- Summer in Colorado was great!

Adventures of the Cupboard Dweller: and away he goes...

To my Biggest Small Son,

    Last Thursday, you did it. Faced a fear head-on and conquered it. Chose to try, even if it meant failing, instead of balking. You stepped out, and you were ready....
...you learned to ride a two-wheeler.
     To some, that may seem like a child-hood no-brainer, a right of passage for a six year old. No big deal. some kids do it earlier; some later. And there's no denying it IS a right of passage. But for you, my highly-imaginative, I'll-do-it-on-my-own-time son, it's been more than that. It's been a definite process.  You see, you've loved your red and black Lightening McQueen bike since your Grammy and Grandaddy took you to pick it our for your 5th birthday. No problems with the training wheels on; you couldn't WAIT to ride! But taking the trainers off...well.
Here's where your beautifully active imagination (and, perhaps, a few too many reads of your Daddy's old Calvin and Hobbes comic books) got in the way. You were certain that the minute those training wheels were off and the adult nearby let go, you'd crash and break every bone in your body. Or, possibly, that your bike would eat you. So, you refused to try. We had a few go-rounds with the wheels off and the "c'mon, just TRY IT!" from your dad and I, until we had (another) mini-revelation and realized that this is just.how.you.are. You do things in your own way, on your own time, and you always have- whether it's potty training yourself at 18 months or learning to ride a two-wheeler at 6 1/2. So, we backed off and just tried to make bike riding fun. Which it is. We had races and played and took Grandaddy's suggestion about setting the training wheels a bit higher off the ground to start the idea of balance, which helped. Then, a few weeks ago, I remembered your Grammy's suggestion about removing the training wheels and pedals to basically make it a balance bike. I figured it was worth a shot; and within the first day I could see you becoming more comfortable with balancing, racing your bike, feet up, down the driveway.
     Then came Thursday, July 10th, 2014. I knew you were ready. I think you knew, too, but when I suggested putting the pedals back on you still acted a bit unsure. I could see you were nervous, and asked you to try it with me holding on, just once-if you weren't comfortable, we'd take the pedals back off again.  No pressure.
   But, really, I was pretty sure I wouldn't need to.
And sure enough, 10 seconds into your first ride, I let go and jogged alongside you----
and you were off. That was it. All it took, just one try--and you did it! I shouted and cheered, you laughed, so proud! Both of us, you and I-so proud of what you'd accomplished, of the way you'd swallowed hard and climbed on and did it. The next ride, I took a video per request and as soon as it ended, you gave a huge thumbs up and shouted, "Send it to Daddy!"
      Which of course I did. You made his day, buddy. A morning full of testing; he said he's walked out discouraged and then to get that video-the sunshine flooded into his day. He was so proud of you, too!
Because we knew-your daddy and I-that it wasn't just about learning to ride a bike. It was about learning that you can do it. And, perhaps even more importantly, that if you can't do it you sometimes just have to keep trying, and backing up and taking baby steps, until finally, finally, FINALLY you CAN do it--and then the whole world opens up to you. And that's good, too, because we know that "(trials) produce perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope." (Romans 5:5, my paraphrase) Perseverance, my Small Son...Character, Hope...this is what we continually pray for and parent you towards. This is a huge part of what you need to be a man. Especially a man after God's own Heart.
     Perhaps the coolest thing about you learning to ride your bike last week? Just the joy of seeing your self-confidence sky rocket. The next day, we went to a cool pool here in town with some good friends. They had big-kid water slides and a diving well with high- and low-dives; and this summer you are just exactly the right height to go on them. But you were the only kiddo in our group who was tall enough, which meant you'd be on your own, mostly. No sweat to you...you asked if you could go on the big slides, I said yes, and off you went on your own. Bam. Conquered it. No sweat. And THEN, after 10 or so slides down the "fast slide" and a little playtime with your friends, you asked if you could go to the diving well at the other end of the pool. Again, I said yes; but this time I did walk over with you. Honestly, I wasn't sure how you'd do if you decided to go up the high dive-actually, I didn't think you'd even want to do the high dive because you're a bit nervous about heights in general. But after one jump off the low dive (piece of cake-we have a small diving board, so you're pretty used to that) you set your sights on the high dive.
   I was nervous for you, my son. Not sure if you'd get to the top and freeze, or not. Thinking that you looked so small standing with all the tweens and teens, even while wondering how on earth you'd gotten so big so quickly. And then it was your turn...and as I waited to the side I told you not to look down, to just climb up and look out and walk straight off...and you climbed up and walked out...and looked straight down. Now I could see you getting a bit afraid; it was awfully high. You started to walk backwards and I though for sure you'd climb back down the ladder, but  I didn't say anything; sometimes we're just plain not ready for the high dive and Iwanted you to make your own choice. Then-you stopped again. And walked forward again. And crouched waaaaay down....and jumped. I grinned and- honestly, my Small Son-almost cried. Just like that-you decided to be brave, and try, and you did it.
    I think you went off that high dive 5 or 6 more times that day, just to prove to yourself you could do it. I loved watching you, seeing you become even braver, although you were always cautious. Watching you decide on the last jump to swim all the way to the bottom of the 13-foot diving well and touch the bottom before rocketing up, gasping out, "I touched the bottom!!", proud of yourself. Your daddy laughed, surprised and thrilled with your bravery, when I told him the story that night. He went off the high dive?!? That's fantastic!!
    My Pax-boy, don't ever forget the small steps of bravery. Don't ever trivialize the times you depend on God and grab hold of who He is making you to be and just jump. It's the little things that add up to the big things. Character is built in the mundane. And every Warrior fights with a stick, long before he learns to hold a sword.

               We love you, Not-so-Small-Son. We are so proud of you. Now let's go ride our bikes!
                                 Perseverance produces Character, and character, Hope...
                                              and Hope does not disappoint.

Adventures of the Cupboard Dweller: Indecent Exposure.

     My folks came into town for Blaise's birthday at the beginning of April. We had a great visit; and toward the end of their trip, my dad, Adam and I took the kids to a nearby train park to spend a Saturday morning. (note:Saturday=busy) We had tickets to the train and carousel, thanks to my aunt's generosity when they'd come up a week or so before with my cousin's kids; so we got in line for the train first thing. Great! The kids were all thrilled. The train pulled in...and Pax suddenly realized he needed to go to the bathroom. could it wait till after the ride? No. Ok.
     Being that he's six and a half, Adam walked him down the ramp and  then told him to hurry to the bathroom, since the train would be loading very soon and the bathroom was maybe 300 yards away. Pax raced across the small yard towards the bathroom, saw a tree halfway there...and panicked.
    I watched in shocked horror as my not-so-small son ducked behind the tree (in the middle of the park, filled with people all around) and DROPPED HIS PANTS. AND his unders. To his ANKLES.
 Somehow, as I watched the undressing unfold (in what seemed like slow motion, of course)  I  desperately yelled, "ADAM!!", while Adam himself charged across the 200 yards or so to quickly ask Pax to pull his pants back up. And then ushered him to the bathroom door. The poor kid...apparently he just knew his need, saw a tree, didn't want to miss the train, and decided it was his quickest option. Adam and I were all at once horrified, slightly embarrassed-and couldn't help but laugh.
We may need to work on reacting under stress. Especially  in public. But, to the boy who ripped off his clothes, peed on a palm tree, and jumped into the pool in celebration only last year...well, you can see the logic.I had been expecting potty issues that day...only with the potty-training two-year-old. Not my oldest.
Only Pax, people. I love him. He keeps me on my toes constantly. He's one-of-a-kind, that kid!

A tale of teeth.

                     It's funny how in a split second your kids graduate from littles to full-on kids.
    When I took Pax to AWANAS last Wednesday night, he was just as he'd always been. When I picked him up...well, first I ran into the neighbor girl. She told me Pax has showed her his lost tooth-which was news to me, as he'd had all his teeth when I dropped him off. Then the AWANAS director ran up to me with a clipboard..."I'm so sorry, but I need you to fill out this incident report," she says, and I can't help but think uhoh..what did my rambunctious boy do now?
       Turns out what he did was simply goof off with another kid from his class (ie, roughhouse in the gym during gametime) and somehow or other, as the teachers were asking the boys to stop-Pax got the perfect whack to the mouth-and a tooth popped out. A tooth we didn't even know was loose!
      Loose it must have been though, for there was no fat lip, not much blood-so it couldn't have been that hard a hit. Pax? I don't think he even noticed he had been hit, once he realized his tooth had popped out. Apparently there was a moment of teachers scrambling on the ground looking for the tooth (which they found-bless them!); and then just lots of excitement on Pax's part. He was THRILLED!! So we did the whole thing, tooth in a bag under the pillow, and the "ToothFairy" visited and left a glittery note and a doller. Pax found that at 4am, when he reached under his pillow and then proceeded to flip on the light, which woke the baby, who started to cry, which woke Adam and I up (who lived in  The House that Jack Built)...I am admittedly not at my best at 4am. But an excited, gap-toothed Pax was soon tucked sweetly and happily back into bed with his letter; and a very awake one and a half year old wanted nothing to do with sleep. "A'done," he told me.
"A'done nigh-night. A'done,"
         Needless to say, I ended up with a baby in bed, snuggled down sweetly beside me, who kept insisting he was "A'done nigh-night," and patting my face to make sure I was, too.
And just like that, my little boy is officially a KID who looses teeth!
Fast forward 4 days...
Sunday I sang at church, so I was out the door by 7:25, with only Blythe and Adam awake to kiss goodbye. Adam did the whole get-everyone-clean-and-ready-for-church bit, which he's actually quite good at, and I got home right about noon. Blaise came running up to me fussing...unusual for him. Adam commented that he'd been fussy and didn't eat anything that morning or for lunch; I figured he might be teething and so his mouth was hurting. Well, I was half right.
When I asked him if his mouth hurt, he nodded, and I sat down with him in the chair to look for new teeth. What I found was this...

I don't know if you can see it, but his right front tooth is cracked prettymuch right up the center. I gasped, and Adam asked what he'd missed.

Turns out the poor baby had taken a fall in the shower that morning while Adam was getting Blythe and Blaise ready; we have stone-like tile and it's incredibly unforgiving. But at the time, Adam didn't see much blood or a crack-we're pretty sure it started small and then just kept growing, as is evidenced by the next picture. But I was pretty sure as soon as I saw the crack that the tooth would have to be pulled.  We quickly gave him a little ibuprofen (poor baby was hurting so much!) and called the dentist-I called the family dentist here we'd just started seeing, and Adam called a student dentist he has met recently through the dental school at AT Still.
     The clinic is free for students and discounted for family; and since Adam has hole-y teeth, we've been taking advantage of that perk :) It was totally a God-thing that he even had Kelly's number-she'd randomly called him at 8:10 Friday morning to be sure he was coming for his 8:30 appointment, and good think she did! She told us Blaise needed to be seen as soon as possible and personally got in touch  with the pediodontist early Monday morning to set up an appoinment for him, then called me to tell me...seriously such a blessing because I'd called the clinic that morning and left a message, but hadn't known the receptionist was out of the office and wouldn't get my message till 1pm!
    We showed up at 1 with a sleepy, hurting little boy and two big kids who thought they were on an adventure. Blythe had a hard morning with my attention elsewhere and worry for her little brother (which mostly shows itself through tears about other things...she's learning though :) but once we were on the road to "fix" it she was good. Adam wanted to be there to help out (and, honestly, to get out of a long lecture he didn't need to be at...they're all so ready for break!) so, although I had great offers of help from some of the other PA mamas, he came over to take the bigs and I headed in with Blaise. A 3rd-year dental student came down and gave Blaise a sticker (and Pax, and Blythe) to try to "make friends"...he was cautiously friendly, but knew we weren't there for fun. And, boy, was it not fun! Don't get me wrong, the dental students did a great job and the dentist was informative and helpful. But having to help strap your baby down in a "papoose" (basically a straitjacket) so he can have shots and a tooth yanked out is not.fun. He screamed the entire time, and when they waited for a few minutes to let his gums numb after the shots he kept telling them "NAO!!" as in, "Blaise, do you want a lollypop afterwords?" "NAO!!" (vehement head shake) "Blaise, do you want another truck sticker?" "NAO!!" shaking his head even more vehemently. Then he looked at me and pleaded, "A'done! A'done!" and it broke my mama-heart.
    I'm so thankful I was able to be there with him, helping to hold him, talking to him the whole time...I don't know if it helped him at all, but it sure helped me. I would've been a wreak otherwise. Then-yank, yank (the tooth came out in 2 pieces, it had split so much) and it was done. Must have been quite a sight, though, the two dental students, me, the DDS, and the hygienist all crammed in to this teeny room with a screaming toddler! The 4th year student put gaze in his mouth and asked me to hold it down to stop the bleeding, and I was finally, finally able to hold his little head and sing "Baby Mine," and his eyes locked on mine and he started to calm down.

I  snapped this before we headed into the dental clinic

Once they unstrapped him, I held the gauze in a long as possible but the kid is STRONG and after the gushing stopped, I gave up and just let him snuggle me, chest to chest. He grabbed his blankie and me and cried...and cried...and finally, finally after lots of rocking and soothing calmed down. At the end he even smiled at the 3rd year who'd actually done the yanking; although he still wanted nothing to do with the stickers and toy chest gifts they tried to appease him with and just said "NAO!!" and threw the things back at them. I can't say I really blame him, poor baby.
Thankfully, by that evening he was already SO much better-he chowed down two large pieces of chicken pot pie, and then proceeded to terrorize his sister and the Christmas tree.  (a sure sign he was feeling better!) The 3rd or 4th time I found him between the window and the tree, I told him firmly "Blaise, no touch!" his response? A sweet, now-very-gap-toothed smile and "Bye bye, Mama. Shhee ya!"
Although he wasn't planning on going anywhere...
So now our daughter is the only one yet to lose a tooth; and our baby will have one front tooth for many, many years. The dentist wants us to come in for a re-check next month...I'm not holding my breath for a smooth visit then :)
Ahhhh, my gap-toothed boys. How I love them, but this mama is expecting some grey hair soon !

Diary of a P.A. student('s wife): So we had a Monday. (and my baby has a concussion.)

Monday...ahhh, Monday. It started out pretty well; everyone slept,  I had hot coffee and time with God to start my day. Even got a shower...although a certain tiny boy was up at that point. Actually, all 3 of them were up and running, at 6:30. So, that was the beginning of it-well, that and the part where Adam took an extra 20 minutes to study and then still decided he could "fit a run in" before he left. Which made him dash out the door 10 minutes late (I think we said "good morning!" in there somewhere...), not horrible but not good on a quiz day. Ok, we can settle into our day now, right? Until I saw his briefcase. Still sitting on the counter. Ten minutes AFTER he'd left. A quick phone call, a sigh, a car turned around, another phone call to ask if I'd meet him at the end of the driveway, 8 minutes of waiting at the end of the driveway chatting with the construction workers; a quick kiss thru the window, and I thought Monday could settle down.
      After the baby finished breakfast, I set him down and let him run around the house while the others eat, do devotional with me, etc. Then I started the never-ending dish cleaning....
...and quickly discovered that Blaise is now tall enough to see onto the giant island in the middle of our kitchen. Where he spotted his sister's bracelet, full of tiny beads, which I'd confiscated from him sometime last week. He asked (ie, pointed and said, "dat! dat! dat!") if he could have it; I told him that wasn't for Blaise, that it was sister's, and turned back to scrubbing the oatmeal pot (ohh, the oatmeal pot!).
      My children are strong-willed. Have I mentioned that before? ALL of them, chiefs. Which pretty much means that half the time they assume what mom says is just a suggestion, or possibly means, "try harder". So, quietly, he scooted the step stool over to the oven door; then proceeded to climb onto it. I glanced back just in time to see him try to climb up the oven...and too late to save him from falling, hard, onto the unforgiving tile, cracking the back of his head. Thankfully he hit his cloth-diaper covered bum first. But he screamed, I quickly checked and picked him up, he screamed, Blythe stood in front of the freezer deciding which cold pack to get him, I grabbed one out, he screamed....poor baby. He cried and cried for at least 5 minutes, which is a long time in little-kid-injury-cry-time. Then he just lay on my chest, and that was my first clue that something was not right. I mean, other than the fact that he'd just cracked his head on the tile...but kids hit their heads a lot, and B had dance class, so he lay on the couch while I helped her find her tap shoes, a tutu, braided her hair, grabbed sand toys for the boys, and got everyone into the car. Thinking his behavior a bit more unusual than the normal head bonk, I texted Adam and told him what happened, asking him about concussion symptoms. He sent me a check list back, asking if he'd thrown up, how his pupils were, etc. I glanced at him quickly and thought they looked ok and no barfing, so probably he was mostly ok. He was still crying off and on in the car and was quite pale, so I gave him his plug, thinking it would soothe him.
   By the time we'd dropped off the books at the library, he'd fallen asleep. At that point, I was pretty sure we had a mild concussion on our hands...and then he woke up and threw up everywhere.
    Miraculously, I'd managed to arrive at dance class 10 minutes early; which every mom tries to do always because of potential barf or blowout issues but, well, you know how that goes. I was fully prepared to send Pax in to drop off B at class. But, thankfully, I managed to get it all cleaned up in time to get her into class. She met up with her little friend Elizabeth, and Elizabeth's mama walked out to the playground with us.
     I think we made it all of 10 feet before I told her what happened...see, Elizabeth's mama was a pediatric trauma nurse before having her oldest. It's helpful to have these friends...make a note of that :) As I got to the part where Blaise had fallen asleep and then thrown up, I could see her face change. She asked if she could hold him for a minute and gave him a quick check; then explained that while he seemed mostly ok (he recognized her, smiled, no issues there) he most likely had a mild concussion and I needed to keep a close eye on him. That afternoon before naps I also noticed that his right pupil WAS slightly bigger than the left...but they were both reacting to light equally. So, we went the path of close observation and lots of prayer...after another call to Adam, more checking, waking the poor guy up every 30 minutes during naptime to be sure he would wake up easily; a call to my cousin the ex-paramedic for more tests to check for signs of bleeding, coordination, cognition, etc; and one final check by Adam with his cool pen light when he got home. (it IS handy to have someone in the medical field in the house) Verdict? concussed, yes. Mild, yes. Ice? almost impossible with this particular 17 month old, even WITH a head injury...but accomplished with the help of a lollipop and lots of singing and rocking. And other than sleeping more than usual, he's pretty much back to normal now...although we're still supposed to "keep him quite" for the next few days to a week. Not exactly sure how that will work, especially since the kid was back to climbing whatever he could on Tuesday; I think our youngest may be the one to give me my first grey hair. And I'd like to thank the city of Scottsdale for their impeccable timing in ripping up the street right in front of our house with many "mighty machines" for the past 3 days- that was quite seriously the best thing my two boys have watched in a loooong time. Their sister liked it, too. Hey, I liked it! We gave water and caramel cookie bars to the "workers" :)
Despite the craziness and stress of Monday, (I felt like I could sleep for a week by the time the kids went to bed that night...)  I'm SO thankful for the prayers of family and friends and that little buddy is healing quickly. In fact, since Tuesday, the day after his fall, he's had a crazy language explosion-both in vocabulary and in the clarity of his words. Slightly ironic, I know. But I'll take it!

A Glimpse of Fall. WARNING: extremely long and LOTS of pictures...and some rambling.

         This blog is, mainly, my way of digital scrapbooking and journaling. I use it to keep track of our family's events, silly stories, and the things God is teaching me; which means sometimes you get deep profound thoughts and sometimes, well, you just get life :) This past week, we made another lightening-fast trip to Durango; this time, for a very happy occasion. An old student of ours, Sarah Branch-Boyle, was engaged to be married and had asked Adam several months ago if he would perform the ceremony. Of course, Adam told her that if it was at all possible with school, he'd be honored to do it; and as the summer went by we figured that we could make it work. So last Wednesday morning, I packed up the kids, picked up Nicole and Peyton Lobmeyer, and we headed to the cool of September in Colorado. Nicole was going to be a bridesmaid in the wedding of another old student of ours; so carpooling worked out perfectly! Adam and Jason left Phoenix late Thursday evening with their older 3, after Adam was out of class...I was a little nervous about their drive, I'll admit. It was pouring rain, they would be driving very late into the night....I prayed, a lot :)

Blythe the builder. With Blaise and Madi in the
background!

It's so fun when Daddy gets to come!!

 After fresh pain au chocolate for the kids and a croissant with coffee for me (just one of the perks of having inlaws who live over a bakery!), the kids and I spent Thursday morning at the Discovery Center with my sister-in-law and 3 nieces...I couldn't help but laugh at the contrast in their clothing. It was (to us!!) cold and rainy-my kids were dressed for Arizona winter. My nieces all showed up in summer dresses :)

Nina and Blaise "building" together.

 The discovery center is fun for all, and since it's small enough that the kids can roam at will, Tiff and I had a few minutes to talk, which feels like another rare occurance. We decided next time we're in town, we must figure out a way to go get pedicures, just the two of us... it's always fun to see how the middle 4 cousins just pick up where they left off. And Nina, our oldest niece (who, by the way, turned TEN today; which is crazy, since she was born 6 weeks after Adam and I started dating!) loves playing with and looking after Blaise.

Violet

Seriously...the kid was in heaven!

This is the rocket Violet made for herself and Pax :)

 The next day, with Adam safely arrived at about 2 am and a short break in the rain, we went to the "triangle park". See my very tired eyes? That's because someone got sick AND decided  his pack and play was extremely uncomfortable...the only time he slept all night was on me. Which, as all mamas know, means not much sleep for Mama :)

This girl. She's an emoter, that one, and although it can be challenging when she's angry or upset, watching her in full-joy-mode is delightful! Her cute little rain jacket was a gift Grandma brought back from their last trip to Paris, and she wouldn't be parted with it. No matter that the sun was actually shining for a few minutes....

I love the relationship that is already there between our boys. And I love my husband's goofy side (wearing Pax's fleece, which disappeared...now it occurs to me we may have left it at the park that day. I told you-no sleep!)                          

Tiff and the girls came, too-cousins swinging! Yup, now that I look at this picture, I'm convinced we left the fleece at the park. Glad to have that mystery solved, anyway...

Fall colors. Miss this so, so much! And I adored our little taste of fall...it's my favorite season (at least in Colorado); which may or may not have something to do with the fact that I was BORN in the fall. ahem.

We spent the morning climbing, running, playing hide and seek; then in the afternoon Adam and i made one of the most beautiful drives ever up to Silverton for the rehearsal dinner. it rained the whole way up, but cleared for the rehersal. Aside from being incredibly touched at the thoughtfulness of Sarah and Alex towards their family and friends and those involved in the wedding, it was so nice for Adam and I to just talk...and talk...and run through eye disease flashcards...romantic, I'm telling you! Saturday morning I had the opportunity to do 2 photoshoots, both for good friends of ours. In the middle of the first shoot, Jill (the mama) answered her cell phone-it was my sister-in-law, Tiff.
"Oh, sure, he can come. No problem!" she said, and I'm thinking to myself, "Oh no, my son did NOT just invite himself to a birthday party..." but yup. Apparently he literally sobbed when he heard Violet was going to Jack's birthday party (he loves the Palmer kids...Kale introduced him to Star Wars Legos. Pretty sure he's Pax's hero right now) and wouldn't let go of her; so Auntie Tiff of course called and asked if he could come along. (Her exact words to me that night were, "If it had been one of my kids I would have just told them to "suck it up, buttercup" but it was my nephew and I just couldn't....") Thankfully, Jill's pretty much great and so is Mark and so Pax got to go to a Star Wars themed birthday party; and loved every second of it. Blythe was thrilled to go off with Madi and Nina and Blaise to Farmington to watch uncle Yay-Yay coach peewee football; and somehow came home with her first Barbie-like doll: Cinderella. (ahem. Aunt Tiff again.) All in all they had a fabulous day...and so did Adam and I!

It rained, once again, all the way up; but the clouds kissing the tops of the mountians and the waterfalls rushing down in the distance were absolutly spectacular. We even saw the first snow on the mountiantops of Silverton, although it had melted by the time the ceremony was over. The rain stopped literally 5 minutes before they started the ceremony, and the sun came out. It was chilly and majestic and perfect. Adam did a wonderful job with the service; and the personal touches Alex and Sarah added (including washing each others' feet and communion with their parents) made the service one of beautiful worship, as well as a marriage celebration. It truly was an unforgettable wedding!

Below, you can see the view from the gazebo and the mountains with the low-hanging clouds clinging to them...it was spectacular.

                             

Sarah is half Irish, half Hispanic, which meant that both parents walked her down the isle. I couldn't hold it together, watching the three of them walk down the path; proud of the woman Sarah has become and seeing her parents love for her; and, yes, thinking a bit about our own only-daughter.

And the bride and groom :) see? Sun!!

The reception was very nice, although we left a bit early in order to pick up our kiddos and put them to be ourselves that evening. And to pack the car. We actually had everyone in the car and pulled away from the bakery at 6 am; although after gas and a few other errands we didn't actually get out of town until an hour later. But, really, that's how it goes! The drive home was almost-uneventful, with more eye disease flashcards and a little carsick girlie who unfortunately takes after her Mama. Even with a car-full of sick kiddos and very little sleep-I'm so very glad we made the trip happen. There's just something special about watching old students get married...and then, I love hearing Adam share his heart so eloquently...and seeing family was just the icing on the cake! And, a week and umpteen loads of laundry later, I think we're almost recovered. I think.

Diary of a PA student('s wife): the First Term.

 
    Somehow, just like that, it's August. Somehow, the craziness of PA school has made things time-warp...no longer are we in the first month of school. We raced past that milestone without blinking, and the kids and I flew to Ft. Collins to spend they week of midterms with my folks, and half of this past week with great friends up in Flagstaff. You know, so Adam could bury himself in bodyparts (that sounds weird, but it's kinda true) and come out victorious. Or at least still standing.
   Somehow, we are adjusted (for now, at least) to his crazy study schedule and I have learned to balance having my husband home but not available 90% of the time. I'm seeing more and more just what an incredibly beautiful support system of friends and family we have...I've gained insight from sistercousins on how to deal with the days when it's overwhelming...and then the hubby comes home and must go study. I've been reminded by a dear friend and mentor that each minute does not last forever; and that there isn't a limit to how many times you can ask God for the strength and patience to make it through this temper tantrum and not freak out too each day. I see that even in the hard times, in the exhaustion, in the trips by myself with the kids when I throw up on the airplane as we land in a crazy lightening storm; there is still a beauty there to grasp that does not come from me. (My daughter kept singing joyfully, "oh, no, you never let go; through the calm and through the storm..." and the baby bounced up and down and laughed at the turbulence and Pax stared at the lightening flashing just outside the window and exclaimed, "Oh, wow!!" 18,000 times during that landing...)
      Adam and I are both soaking up more than ever the beautiful truth of, "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you," (Matt. 6:33)  Adam has learned to be efficient in his studying; and it has made his time more productive. Like drinking from a fire hydrant. He's been home every night for dinner (when we're in town), been there for bedtime every night; and although sometimes I feel the absence of "us" time more than others; the kids know their Daddy will be there every night. That's HUGE right now with the hours some of the students are keeping-but we knew it was a priority. We're both finding out, again, the importance of true connection with each other every day in some small way. And that good communication is worth its weight in gold. And that love notes are never, ever overrated. And so we press on....
    The kids slept better in Colorado than they ever have at my folks' house. It truly was Grace, because as they sleep all-too-often so goes my day; as was evidenced 2 weeks ago when the baby was cutting his one-year-old molars and up three times a night and then the bigs started getting up (for no reason I can find) several times a night themselves which all added up to a very tired, half-lonely, sleep deprived mama who caught a bad sore throat and may have had a tiny breakdown one morning in which the words "it's not fair!" poured out with my tears....for about 2.5 seconds. Until I realized, again, that there is no guarantee of fair, only of grace.  Having the right priorities, being intentional, meeting the needs of my husband and kids, filling up my heart with the Lord's goodness daily, checking my attitude...these things are essential. Wonderful. But they don't guarantee an "easy" life, only a life rich with goodness. Some days I have to look harder than others to find the richness. But it's always there.
   It was there on my bathroom mirror later that same morning, where my husband had written:
 What to say?
Know that even in struggle you have great purpose.
Your effort...your great work is NOT in vain.
Your Lord God sees and loves you.
He is your strength.
He is your comfort.
Look up and be encouraged.
(yes, I absolutely know how wonderful he is. He knows I think he's wonderful, too.)
  
     And then there's Celine..the grieving we are all going through along with all the craziness of PA school is continual. We think about her often, of course. Some days, the kids come to me and simply say, "I miss aunt C.C."; to which I can only reply, "Oh, honey, so do I,". But we don't ever leave it at that. We talk about where she is, what heaven might be like, what she might be doing. Why she left. Who she's with. We've had more conversations about the what-ifs of heaven in the past 3 months than I ever have before...because they want to know what it's like. Except I don't know what all of what it's like, of course; so I tell them what we do know and sometimes we "maybe its" the rest. But we always, always end these conversations with good memories about times we spent with her...because that's the best way to remember her and celebrate her life. And I want them to remember her.
    It breaks my heart a little, sometimes, when Blythe asks me what she used to do with Aunt C.C. She's three-and even though she's very smart, she's too young to remember some things very long. So I talk about how we were in Paris with her when Blythe was almost two; and when Aunt C.C. was here for her third birthday and played tea party with her new tea set. How Celine loved to carry B around long after she actually needed someone to carry her because B was so tiny.
    I think about the picture I found on my phone (which used to be her phone) just a few weeks ago of Celine and her sushi and I smile even as I tear up a bit; and I am thankful for this chance to teach my children that it's ok to grieve, it's good to let yourself feel the sadness because it means they left an imprint in the softness of our hearts; but that joy-the good memories and the knowledge of what comes next-always comes at the end. I find myself wishing our kids had memories of their Aunt Erica, too; but instead I give them mine, so when they think of both their aunts together they have an idea of who she is, too.
   So tonight, Adam will come home. A bit late, but he will be here. We'll eat breakfast for dinner and play in the pool and put the kids to bed exhausted, since there was no napping  today. And I'll go to my computer, put on my headphones, smile at my studying husband across the room....and remember again how very far we've come to get to this point. How very blessed we are. First term finals almost done. Next week, we will rest and just be together and talk and talk and talk.
I can't wait :)

April in Paris.

This is Notre Dame. It's the one time our camera worked on our morning excursion last Sunday; an ambling walk along the Seine across bridges and around old stone buildings to the huge church on the Pont. The bells were ringing...you could hear them long before we got to the cathedral. Deeply resonating and beautiful. And did you Notre Dame has several play areas, around the back and side? They do. Including a sand box-that's where we were, surrounded by these wide-spreading, blossom-heavy, incredibly gorgeous trees. There was a little old man there, too, sitting in the corner of the sand box with a pile of sand toys. He'd brought them for the kids-whoever they might be-to play with.

In which we go to the Awful Tower.

       Yesterday was an idyllic day. The weather has finally decided, once and for all, that it is spring; there were suddenly women everywhere in dresses and skirts where the day before there were only skinny jeans, scarves and boots. And since it was sunny and warm, we had decided it would be a good day to head to the Tour Eiffel. We went last time we were here, of course. But since Blythe has been asking to go to the "Awful Tower" for, oh, at least 4 months now...we knew we'd be going again.

    We came at it from a different metro station (due to getting an early start and hitting rush hour traffic on the Metro-yikes. A little nerve-wracking with 3 kiddos!) and decided to walk the last half mile or so, from the Ecole Militaire (military academy) up the Champs de Mars. So, after a quick stop at a friendly neighborhood Starbucks.....oh, by the way, if you're ever over here and find yourself in need of an easily accessible  public restroom-find a Starbucks. Seriously. Public restrooms are a bit hard to find here...as are water fountains. And a way to make a return at a store without filling out 8 pages of paperwork. Or get a checkbook or debit card from the bank where you have an account. Actually, a lot of things are just a little more complicated than they need to be.... Don't worry, my husband agrees. As does my French father-in-law, most of the time ;)

      So back to Starbucks. Add in a stroll down another street or two, a stop to take our jackets off, a look at the military school...and we turned onto the Champs de Mars. It's an impressive sight, at least for me; the long, rolling greens broken up by paths leading to the huge tower. And guess what we discovered today? There are two super-great playgrounds, a mini carousel, and a tiny cafe hiding there in the shadow of the tower! We knew there's a big carousel on the other side of the tower; but this was even better. The big kids, of course, wanted to go play; and we were all for. You know there's a certain amount of play-energy that kids need to expel every day, right? Regardless of whatever regular "exercise" they may get, they will be antsy/twerpy if they don't expel enough play-energy. So play they did.

      Adam ran up the mall to see about getting our tickets while I watched the kids play. Sitting on a park bench in the "little kids" playground, the sun streaming through new-budding leaves, I had another moment of surrealism. The sand beneath my feet was beach sand, soft with bits of ground-up shells, brought from some French coastline; my three kiddos played just as they do at every other playground we've ever been to (although, still no swings. What's up with that??)....and the Eiffel Tower is looming to my right. I laughed a little about how blase the mothers (ok, and the nannies....this IS Paris) are about their little playground on the Champs de Mars. But, really, I suppose that's how Chicagoans feel about the Sears tower. Or San Franciscans feel about trolley cars. Or Phoenicians feel about saguaros....

      Then Adam came back, and we headed to the tower. We gave the kids the choice of standing in a super long line to ride the elevator, which stops at the second floor and then continues to the tip top (what we did last time), or standing in a shorter line that moved much faster, but then they would have to climb the stairs to the first floor.

They chose the stairs.

Adam was positive we were headed for disaster.

       But they did great! Better than great...they actually loved climbing all the way up to the first floor. I knew Pax would be fine, but I didn't expect Blythe to like it...she's put up a protest a lot on this trip about walking. But apparently this was like hiking-different and, in her young eyes, an adventure! A chance to prove she could keep up with Pax! and she did brilliantly. At the top, we gazed at the view for a bit, then found a little cafe where they had water and pain au chocolate (chocolate croissants...my children have eaten pain au chocolate at every.single.cafe we've stopped at.). And the baby? He did fine, and was very happy when we let him out of the carrier long enough to have a snack. I've been carrying him like a baby kangaroo all over Paris-he tolerates it for a bit, then is ready to be FREE!!

     The rest of the tower was fun. A little viewing of the city, a browse through the giftshop; then hiking back down the stairs and across the neighborhood to get back on the metro. Pax started falling asleep one stop before ours and I felt horrible about making him stay awake...but he's just getting SO big and with the stroller, Blythe, the baby in his carrier, and all the steps in the metro stations-he just plain has to walk.

       After we'd fed the kids a late lunch, put the littles down for naps, and settled Pax, Adam and I looked at each other with a bit of a sigh of relief. Or thankfulness, really...for several reasons we just felt like God had given us a day of Grace. And we needed it, too-a day with no meltdowns, no flipouts, no arguments or fighting-just spending time together, having fun. Now, we certainly have fun and enjoy our kids every day (or, if we're really being honest, maybe for parts of every day)...but today was just a gold-star day. A day we will always remember. A day when the potential you see in your kids is, in one facet or another, fully on display...and you revel in it. If every day was a gold-star day for me, maybe it would be one for my kids, too-but even that morning (which started early) my husband had to remind me that it's about what attitude you chose to have as much as anything. (Actually, what he said when he got back from the bakery was, "Why don't you just go away for awhile? You're not in any condition to be with us right now," He said it half-jokingly, with a smile...but I made myself a cup of coffee and went into the bathroom to get ready by myself, anyway. He was right. I was a bit cranky.) I'm so thankful for our gold-star day...which ended with a trip across the street to jump on the trampolines, because apparently they didn't get all their play-energy out. And now, I leave you with a little video of the day, because the camera we brought shorted out and it's crazy expensive to get a disposable one. Oh, and they're crazy hard to find, too. Why? Well, it's like we tell the kids sometimes...because this is France, and everything is just a little bit different here. But when that "different" means fresh croissants and bread every morning from the bakery just around the corner, and they just happen to sell the best cafe eclairs ever there too...it's a very good different, indeed.

It is what it is!

Pax and I were looking out our huge windows after lunch today, enjoying the business of a Sunday afternoon in Paris and just talking about this and that...what we might explore next, where we'd been this morning. "you know," I told him as we watched the water shooting high up into the fountains in the Place de la Concorde, "We could walk out to those fountains tomorrow...you guys could throw a penny in, maybe make a wish,"
"And I know just what to wish for," he replied with a satisfied look on his face.
"oh yeah? What's that?" I ask, waiting to hear some little-boy-heart's desire.
"Burritos!"
You can take the kid out of the States, but ya can't take the States out of the kid...
(and for those of you who were wondering, my picky eater is actually doing quite well. Of course, Pain au Chocolate almost every day doesn't hurt, either...but it's no bean burrito!)

In which we are on an Epic Adventure.

                I'm sitting on a low, plush red sofa in a 5th story living room thousands of miles away from my everyday home. A few feet away, a grand piano that my littles love to play on during the day rests quietly. It's old and unused to all the joyful noise three children bring, but beautiful. The ceiling over my head, graced with 18 in. crown mouldings painted with hints of gold trim in places, occasionally creaks as the family above us settles down for the evening. Down on the street, traffic with all its lights and noises won't stop anytime tonight, making me thankful for our quieter back bedroom. It's finally dark, although light and time here are so strange that 7pm looks and feels like 4pm or 9am. The garden on the other side of our street is locked now, quiet after the days' bustle of tourists and Parisians soaking up the April sun. And in the distance the Eiffel Tower is lit up, a yellow glow now where minutes ago it was alive with sparkling lights my two oldest oooed and ahhhed over. This is Paris; this is our home for the next month.

We've been on the road for over two weeks now, an adventure planned to soak up the last bit of time before Adam starts the craziness of P.A. school. He left his job at the hospital where he's worked the past year and a half at the end of March, and we began the journey to see family before we flew away for a bit. Driving from our home to Durango took one 10-hour day (almost one-year-olds require LOTS of stops. So do three year olds who happen to get carsick....), where we spent Easter Sunday celebrating the miracle of Christ's love for us at our "old" church while seeing many, many dear friends. Adam and I got to spend a day away at the Ouray hot springs the next day, thanks to our sister-in-law's bravery in taking on all 6 crazy cousins (thanks again, Tiff!!) and it was a relaxing, beautiful day filled with deliciously hot hamburgers and fries at a local brewery and sun. We'd forgotten just how strong the sun is on top of a mountain...and so we'd forgotten our sunscreen. Needless to say, we got a bit pink at the hot springs! But it was so needed, our time away. Trying to pack for a 6 week, 3 location, intercontinental vacation while getting our house back in some semblance of order (I love to come home to a clean house!) was busy enough. Then there was the car accident my mom was in the Sunday evening before we left (the 3rd of those your-mom/dad-is-in-the-hospital call I've gotten since Thanksgiving....not loving those. Being so far away in crisis leaves you anxious and helpless!) Blythe, especially, had a hard time; although she couldn't verbalize to me WHY. She and my mom are great friends... have I mentioned that my sweet little girl has a really, really hard time when she can't be in complete control of any situation? AND that she's an epic shrieking meltdown-er? And that there was A LOT she couldn't control that week? Ai. What a week. (Mom is going to be fine, by the way...but while the doctors were discovering that the accident had given her Broken Heart Syndrome, they also discovered an artery that is 90% blocked. So in that way, the accident was a blessing in disguise. She just needs rest, now, and physical therapy-the former must heal before they can deal with the latter.)

       By the grace of God, a fantastic daddy/husband (who was willing to let me fly up to Colorado with the baby to be there if I felt I needed to-therefore taking alllll the packing, cleaning, and driving of the 2 bigs to Colorado on himself...he was very thankful when I decided I was needed at home more ;) ), and an incredible friend who came over with her family and brought us dinner Wednesday night, left us ANOTHER dinner for Thursday as well as breakfast one morning, and then came over on Friday loaded up with her 2 girls, a kiddie pool, four cans of shaving cream, and food coloring to let the kids blow off some steam....we made it the end of the week. Community, friends. It's a BIG deal.

      Anyways. Back to Colorado. We spent 3 days in D-town, capping it off with dinner at Mark and Jill's house where Pax discovered the world of StarWars Legos...and then headed up to Ft. Collins early the next day. The kids did beautifully that day (yay for sleeping babies! Yay for no puke!) and we made good time. The NEXT day was spent baking and baking and baking some more and making sure my mom wasn't overdoing it and then decorating cupcakes....because the day after that, Friday, April 5th, was Blaise's first birthday! Which will have to be a post for after we get back, because I left the camera I used for those pictures in Ft. Fun. Too much luggage already. But it was fun and we loved celebrating our smart, funny little guy! Fast forward a few days of slipping away when we could for some time together, seeing family, snuggling our new niece, and more rearranging and packing....and we headed to the airport for the epic journey to France. Which went very well, actually; although I learned why you should never, EVER fly with a sinus infection if you can help it. The rest went pretty much as well as can be expected with 3 kids. Although Pax didn't sleep AT ALL for about 24 hours and so eventually melted down...but that was after we'd already made it to the apartment an Paris and to be expected, after all, with jetlag and kiddos.

         My inlaws were already here, on the tail end of a week's stay, when we arrived. They took me one day to the Carrefour (France's version of walmart, only nicer) and helped us stock up on some essentials. VERY nice, since in the area where the apartment is we walk everywhere and the grocery stores are small and you get only what you can carry home in your small, portable grocery cart. Jetlag makes a blur of the first few days and nights, especially with kids-the baby had the hardest time adjusting, with Blythe a close second. I've actually been extremely impressed with Pax on this trip. His ability to adapt to different situations, try new things, step up and take on even more responsibility, start speaking a little French, etc. has been so fun to watch! So we're here, and settled, and exploring Paris with three kids in tow...very good times. Saturday night Adam and I got to go out to a 2+ hour dinner at a teeny chic place right around the corner from Notre Dame, which meant tromping across Paris in the blowing rain and wind (in heels!). We experienced several of those movie-esq umbrella-blowing-inside-out moments and just had to laugh...and throw away the umbrella once we got home :) But walking  back by Notre Dame at night, across one of the padlock bridges...the grounds still and dark, the arches and towers lit up against the night-I soaked up the beauty and the other-worldness of the evening. Sometimes it still feels surreal, that this is part of my life now-Paris. Adam and I are constantly aware of the blessing of all this even as we seeking the Lord's purpose for this in our lives is,  as well as for others. 

      Sunday, the last day before my inlaws left, we had an epic family dinner with my father-in-law's Uncle (88 and still sharp as a tack!), Aunt, and 2 of his cousins....which started when they arrived at 9pm. We didn't even enter the dining room until 10pm, after a "appetiser" course of champagne and some chocolates they brought with them. It's a different world, for sure! I have to admit that as much fun as they can be, I always half-dread these dinners, because although everyone is very nice and, of course, interested in seeing us; they speak entirely in French. And although I understand quite a lot by this point and speak a bit, I have to concentrate so hard to understand the flow of conversations that I'm exhausted by the end of the evening! Well, that and the fact that it was after midnight before the dinner was over...but I've done it before, both in Brazil and several times with Adam's family (the first dinner I ever had with his family was one of these epic French-speaking marathons) so I just buckle down and try to constantly pay attention so someone doesn't say something to me when I'm not listening because THEN where would we be??

     And now, I've rambled on quite enough and this is much too long to add any of the other stories I already have to it...so we'll save the story of how Adam almost got us arrested on the Metro yesterday for another night. A tout a'lhuere!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I found these in my files as I was searching for something the other day...Sadie (almost 4 at the time) and Blythe (2 1/2), on a hot August day in LA, waiting for their daddies to fill up enough water balloons to have a fight. We stopped to visit the Danquahs on the way home from visiting family up in northern California. And dominated at Chick-fil-A game night, among other things. (oh yes, we did! Get 4 adults from the 80s-2 mamas especially- and some Disney trivia, and we'll rule the resturant. Those little kids never stood a chance.)

 I think they're both pretty darn cute, personally...

...and between the two of them, there's enough fire and passion in this picture to move a mountian. Maybe two :)