Trauma & Drama

First, the trauma....
Owen opened the tailgate of the truck by himself and promptly learned that it isn't such a great idea. His head is scraped and bruised, but it could have been much worse. He was super tough when it happened. He cried for a minute and then proceeded to take pictures of his head with my phone over and over so he could inspect his wound. He also asked me if he was "going to get killed from blood," I assured him that his wound, while large, was not fatal.

The Drama.....
Grace performed in the Tavaci concert last Saturday night. She did an incredible job with both her speaking and singing parts. She was all smiles and it was obvious that she loves performing (a trait she did not inherit from me).

Chris even had a little speaking part in the concert.....lucky guy. He was a good sport and did a great job.

Finally!

Hello Sunshine. We've missed you.

We broke out the stroller yesterday and walked to the park. It was lovely......aside from the part where Owen dropped his drawers and peed in front of an entire busload of elementary children. Ya, we're gonna have to work on that. Luckily they were from out of county and were just stopping through on their way home from a field trip, so I'm banking on never seeing any of them again. The bathrooms were locked too, so even if he had told me he needed to go, I'm not sure what I could have done about it aside from moving him out of the play area to a more inconspicuous location.

Ava fell asleep on the way there and on the way home. It totally messed the day's nap, but it was worth it.

She woke up and quietly took it all in for a minute before she was ready to run.

That's not a bruise on her chin, just the stubborn evidence of a morning paint incident.

Owen brought lunch in his backpack.

 As soon as he noticed me with the camera, he began hamming it up. He's very well trained.......just not in the area of public decency.

This picture is kind of funny. It looks as if she's danging off the edge, holding on for dear life. Really she's just standing watching the "big" kids and wishing she could keep up. By summer's end, she'll have that playground mastered.

The difference a day makes

Thank you all so much for the sweet thoughts after my last post. Yesterday I was having a bit of a debbie downer day. Today was lots better. I caught up on a little bit of housework, but mostly it's all about perspective and I'm thankful you all reminded me of that.

I ran across a batch of recent pictures that never made the blog.

In April, we celebrated my grandma's 81st birthday at the ranch. It was a glorious day. We visited, had an egg hunt and watched the kiddies play in the creek.

 A very overexposed picture of Lily. It's been such a long winter, I think I nearly forgot how to take pictures in full sun.

Grandpa fired up the carousel. Onyx loved it, Ava didn't.

Grace panned for gold.

Ava was determined to get in the water even though the creek was frigid. The freezing temps didn't faze her. I have a feeling it's going to be a long summer with her. She is fearless.

In other news....I finished putting our 72 hour kits together. Woot! Woot!

Lily got bored creative one afternoon and transformed herself into the Easter Bunny.

 

Ava entertaining her cousin with a little table dance. She is naughty, he is incredibly cute. Seriously, I would kiss his little cheeks off if he'd let me.

Let the record reflect that since this picture was taken, Ava's nose has been wiped, her chocolate dripped shirt has been changed and her mullet has been trimmed. She no longer looks like a happy little orphan.

Devoid

Lately I've been completely devoid of creativity. I want to blog, but everytime I sit down, the words don't come. Life has been hectic. It wasn't suppose to be hectic after basketball ended. *sigh* Maybe hectic is the new normal. If so, I don't like it. My kids are busy. I am busy. My latest calling in church (food storage specialist) is getting me down. It's a lot of work, and there are some crabby old ladies who don't talk very nice. Maybe they forgot what it's like to be in the trenches with five kids. I've spent 8+ hours this past week helping people can food and I probably have another 8 hours to go this week. I actually really love the whole canning process, it's just that when I start to stretch myself too thin, my house falls apart and I kind of fall apart with it. It'll be ok though, we should finish up this week and then I breathe a big sigh of relief until the next order.
So, here are the pictures from the last couple of weeks. I don't have anything clever or insightful to write along with them. I do have a funny story though....
Tonight when we were helping a lady can, Owen came out to the garage and the lady asked him what his name was. Without stopping to think or skipping a beat, he answered very seriously "Buzz Lightyear."

Lily and Alex have been longtime best friends. At the moment, they are both toothless....and extremely cute.

Ava is into everything right now. I am constantly retrieving her from the counters and table. One year olds are busy.

We've had a few sunny days mixed in with the dreary ones......

Owen gave me an early Mother's Day present. He wrapped it himself and insisted I open it immediately. He told me what it was before I even got it open. He was so excited. It was a Dora book.

Those were my vintage Strawberry Shortcake roller skates from a million years ago. They are classics and all-time favorites at this house.

Owen still reads to himself in the mornings after he wakes up. I still love it.