A year ago today my SIL was due to have her first born, my sweet nephew Eli, who the circus children affectionately call “baby Ewi”. I can’t believe he turns one next week!! He’s in town this week eagerly awaiting the arrival of his daddy from Iraq for his R&R. I am so thankful that I have a SIL who is willing to travel, b/c even though they live in El Paso, we’ve gotten to see them 4 times this past year!

If summer could have a theme song, well then I think this would be mine for the summer of 2010. Slow down, you move too fast. You got to make the morning last. Just kicking down the cobble stones. Looking for fun and feelin' groovy. Ba da, Ba da, Ba da, Ba da…Feelin' Groovy. Hello lamp-post, What cha knowin'? I’ve come to watch your flowers growin'. Ain’t cha got no rhymes for me?

Our third born has literally been on the fast track since birth. I swear she was born holding her head up and eagerly chasing after her older 2 siblings, not wanting to be left out for even a second. She was clearly not meant to be the “baby” of the family. Most of the time when my kids celebrate a birthday, I find myself reflecting on how quickly time passes and marveling at how could they be so old so fast.

Math has never been my strong suit (except in 3rd grade, I did awesome with the multiplication tables and was the class champ at around the world, but that was b/c all I had to do was memorize facts and not understand the process) Anyway, as I was saying… math has never been my gifting… and math at 3 am is certainly not my gifting. So, I calculated the hours again.

While capturing this “precious” Father/Son moment the other day… my mind instantly flashed back to a similar “bonding” moment between father and son which I captured 6 years ago… Seems both my boys enjoy sticking their tongues out at dear old Dad!!

This picture cracks me up every time it pops onto our screen saver. Not only do I look incredibly tired and less than thrilled to have my picture taken, but in the background you see Potty= Privacy. What gives, you ask? Why was this dry erase board in your living room for 3 weeks? Allow me to shed a little light to the back drop of this picture… Scott took a week off from work after our son was born.

Dear Son, When you grow up and notice that every time you talk people kinda take a step back from you… its not your fault. You will have come by these socially awkward close talking tendencies quite naturally. Blame your older sisters for your lack of personal space. Because they can’t seem to talk to you without their face literally centimeters from yours.  Waking or sleeping, car seat, or bassinet or bouncy seat or swing.

Divide and Conquer That would be the name of the game lately at the circus. I’ll take the youngest two to the grocery store while Scott takes the older ones with him to build the new to us play set. Or Scott takes the big 3 to the year end baseball ceremony while I stay home with the babe. At this stage of the game, tag teaming has seemed crucial for surviving and for attempting to keep the household running somewhat smoothly.

This would be why more than one of my children thought chicken came from cows…  Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-Fil-A is a tradition here at the circus. We start them young with our indoctrination!

Because I am used to the chaotic and crazy lifestyle I live, I sometimes forget how it can look to the outsider. It feels normal to me to walk down the street with a gaggle of kids surrounding me, fighting or singing or playing (or all of the above). And when I combine my circus life with that of my close friend (whose blog could also easily be called Life At The Circus as she has 4 boys ages 5, 4, 3 and 3 months) well the chaos only multiplies.