A girl can dream...

I may or may not have sent this picture I stumbled on to Travis with the subject:  My dream garden.  Isn't it adorable?  I mean, we do need a strawberry patch...

Our fourth.  And our final...at least he is supposed to be our final.  No really, he's our final.  Totally.  I think.  ;)

From Roman's view

I am pretty sure this is what happened in the mind of my toddler last night:

...ooooh, momma took down the gate!  I am FREEEEEE!  I can run around the kitchen!  (thump thump thump thump thump)  Hey, why aren't the cupboards opening?  Maybe I will pull harder!  WHY IS THIS NOT WORKING?!?!  And what are these new white latchy thingies?  These weren't here before?  Oh, look, a shoe.  Hi shoe.  I like you shoe.  Oh, there is the antique cupboard momma yells at the big boys a lot about not being gentle and...OOOH!  No white latchy thingie!  I'll just yank that and...  AWWW MOMMMA!  I was having FUN!!!

Oh hey, there is a chair.  Daddy's chair.  Way better than my chair.  I'm going to push push push that chair and...what's that?  That shiny thing?  Maybe if I- stand tall- up on the chair- tippy toes- YES!  Got them.  Daddy!  There is a picture of daddy on a card attached to the shiny things.  Jingle Jingle Jingle.  I think these go to the car.  Jingle Jingle Jingle.  I like cars.  I wonder where my cars are.  I'm going to go find my cars.  I'll just leave these keys tucked here under the heater in the furthest possible corner so I can find them later.

(12 hours later...)

"Honey, have you seen my keys?"

Flash from my past

Is it odd to have a New Years Resolution begin in April? When last I left this blog, I had two itty bitty boys. We now have two big boys, one itty boy, and a baby boy on the way. We've since bought a house. And changed jobs. And even more change awaits, I am very sure. Possible big big stuff. (How is that for a cliff hanger?) I'd like to resurrect this blog as a "dear Diary" sort of therapy. In the age of facebook, I'm not sure many will even stumble on this. Now if only I can remember the sign in for more than a day ;) Time to update the site.

Just rediscovered this blog

Will put some work into it shortly, lol. I'm just happy I remembered the stinking password.

I suck at this blogging thing

It's ok. You can say it. I just did.

Must figure out some new posts.

Just saying it.

Do you ever need to say something to others so you'll actually follow through with it?

I do.

Often.

So, I'm going to finish a 5K race in the next year. I can come in last, that is fine. But I am going to finish the dang thing.

There said it.

Off to do it now.

Nothing opens the world...

Nothing expands the imagination and opens the world,

Like a boy and his bike.

Pedal on my son, dream big.

Back Seat Driver

Little man likes to think he already has his drivers license.

"Momma, watch out for that broken bridge"

"Mommy, be careful not to bump other cars"

"Mommy, go faster"

"Mommy, go slow or po-wiceman give you ticket"

"Mommy red light"

"Mommy green light"

I only hope he is this careful when he gets his own license.

7 years ago today

7 years ago today...

two doors opened, and I didn't see a single guest.

7 years ago today...

I thought I knew what love was. I had no idea how much better it would get.

7 years ago today...

I was naive, and stubborn. and hotheaded. (ok, so I still am).

7 years ago today...

We began this journey.

Happy Anniversary to my best friend. I love you.

We're on day

101 of rain. Well, not really. However, most of the last two weeks has been rain. Eight of the next ten days is forcasted for rain. That means 3 weeks of my month off will be...rain.

So, we are filling our days with what we can.
-childrens museum
-playplace
-running wild at the mall
-finger painting
-lunch sack puppets
-painting wooden crafts
-coloring
-more coloring
-trains, everyday trains
-building "libraries" aka, playing with wooden blocks
-reading stories
-watching entirely too much television
-playing in the mud (see last post)
-hiking in the rain* I don't recommend. Being the paths are now washed out and little brooks are raging rivers.

And yet, that is all not enough.
I love Koda. More than life. The.child.is.driving.me.insane.

Did I mention my amazing, wonderful, sister in law is coming on Friday to hang out with the kids for the whole day? The WHOLE day?

How many hours away??

:)

Rainy Days

Rain, Rain


Go Away.


Come Again some other day


Never mind...we'll play anyway

A party to a train wreck

We just finished watching a certain reality show about a family with a set of sextuplets and twins. You know what I'm talking about.

When all was said and done, Travis and I agreed. WE felt like crap. I remember catching their show on Discovery Health long before their regular show was picked up. It was a one time glimpse into their lives. The sextuplets were still little babies. I was fascinated. I wanted to know how two people could possible juggle this family.

Five years later, we were a party to a train wreck as it played out before our eyes on television. We tuned in. Our fascination played a role in this mess those poor children now face.

Did those parents CHOOSE to make a regular show? Yes. Did they CHOOSE to continue when it was plain to the world it was destroying the husband/wife relationship? Yes. Would they have found themselves divorcing regardless? Perhaps.

But, I also made a choice. I made a choice to watch. I made a choice to buy a magazine that featured them with photos probably taken by some creepy paparazzi. And for MY choices, at the end of the show, I felt sick.

Regardless of that families choices, I've now made mine. I won't be party to such a gross tragedy. I pray for the best for all of them.

A Moment..

A moment, a snapshot, combined to make a lifetime.

"Take my hand and you will see the best is yet to come" ~author unknown

Photographer Wannabe

I have a confession.

I REALLY want to be good at taking pictures. It is a big dream of mine. I drool at other people's blogs that have exceptional shots. I don't REALLY have a natural eye for taking pictures, hence the wannabe, and I'm not looking to go pro, but it is a hobby I hope to develop. That hobby for a huge boost on my last birthday when my wonderful husband bought me the Nikon D40 I had been daydreaming about forever. It was considered my birthday-anniversary-christmas-valentines gift. (PS honey, your year of holiday coversage from that camera is now up...hint hint).

So, in addition to the shots of the kids, here is one from our front lawn. Nothing fancy, but I like how it came out.

Photographer wannabe extrordinaire ;)

Vacation- Allen Style!

Four Days.

1 large suitcase. 2 backpackpacks. 3 canvas bags. 1 laundry basket full. Several grocery bags of food. 1 Pack and Play. 2 stuffed animals. 1 Bucket of sand toys. 4 VHS movies for the road.

And a partridge in a pear tree.

Stuffed into our mini-van along with the 4 Kia winter tires to go into storage until first snow next fall.

Thus began our adventures. Into four short days we fit boat rides, lots of playing in the sand, a trip to Story Land amusement park, and endless hugs from Grampy Allen and Granny Annie.

The stress, the bug bites, the broken routines...all worth it to create these memories. Koda is finally to an age that he will begin to remember these moments. And I'm confident he won't remember us playing tetris to jam everything into the van, but he will remember being a big boy who road the rollar coaster, or drove the boat with this grandfather. Those moments, those memories. That is why we vacation :)

A Picture is Worth...

My rock, the love of my life, and the best father I could have ever found for our sons. My new favorite picture from our recent vacation.



Much more about our incredible vacation to come.

When did we forget?

(Click image for full size, not sure what I did wrong)

Facebook has become my lazy way to keep up with friends. Or "friends". Facebook defines them the same, but the person I haven't seen or spoken to since I was 11 probably hardly qualifies as "friend". Wait, that is a whole other post. Fast forward to my original thought for a post, while reading the billion status updates today, I became struck at the consistent comments.
"Off for the weekend!"
"Drinking it up with the family!"
"Can't wait for the BBQ!"

Don't get me wrong. I don't find these WRONG, my own isn't so far away form the above.

I'm just struck that somewhere along the way we began to take this holiday for granted. The very fact we get to enjoy this long weekend, the BBQs, the time with friends and family, is all due to the sacrifice so many before us made by defending our freedom. When did we forget? When did it become an after-thought?

As we plan this weekend, we leave tomorrow for four days of family time. I'm thinking a lot about how to introduce the boys to this (and many holidays). Perhaps we will make cards on Monday for the troops still with us, still fighting. I'm still thinking on that one.

For the men and women who gave so much, I don't want to forget. Thank you, we honor you. I pray my boys grow to understand your sacrifice, and that they remember that this long weekend is about far more than roasting hotdogs.

Daddy Daycare

One of the many blessings of living on campus while Travis completes his doctoral program (and my having a very flexible job) is that we can limit the number of babysitters we have to hire. Once that last final is in, summer becomes full time daddy daycare. While I will join the family for the month of June since I am only an 11-month employee, for now, it is all dad, all the time.

Daddy daycare is far less glamourous than that movie that came out a few years back. No mission statement, no fancy digs. Travis's philosophy is simple. Run them until they fall asleep.

Sometimes, literally.

Below was our poor 3 year old after a four mile hike. Kiddo fell asleep on the potty. After this nap it was back out for more adventures.

Jenn Recommends!

I'm back to trying to blog. With summer upon us, I'm hoping it becomes more of a habit.

I wanted to take a moment to pull a total mommy-brag. Tristen, our 22 month old knows all his letters, and his numbers up to ten. He amazes me. I would love to take credit, but I can't. all the credit goes to Meet the Letters and Meet the Numbers DVDs by a company called preschool prep. They are geared to children just learning to talk. I can't say enough about the series. If you know of anyone with wee little ones, I whole heartedly recommend them. They make a perfect first birthday gift!