My youngest child is fearless. FEARLESS When we go to the playground she’s off and running, climbing to the top of the big slide, coming and going without looking back. She’ll slide down the stairs of my house with the speed of a bob sled racer. She tries very hard to keep up with her older siblings and she does it well. The other day we were at a cookout and the kids were clamoring around a tree stump catching toads.

I am an old fashioned girl. If you want to get a hold of me, your best bet is calling my land line. Yes, we have an actual land line (b/c my cell phone is typically buried at the bottom of my purse and the battery is quite often dead). My cell plan is simply that - a cell phone. While I can send and receive texts it costs a pretty penny.

My kids made an important decision this week. After much deliberation, they’ve finally figured out their Halloween costumes for next fall. And really, not a moment too soon… what with 146 days till Halloween, it’s a good thing we’ve got it settled. My son will be Luke Skywalker (he told me this week that he wished when he was a baby we had name him Luke Skywalker). My 3 year old will be Princess Leia.

Looking forward to seeing how things improve at the circus after she finishes with her quiet reading time. Visit 5M4M or 7 Clown Circus for more fun with pictures!

I knew being a mom wouldn’t be easy. And I’ve survived the middle of the night feedings, the tantrums of the terrible twos, the struggle for independence…but that all feels like child play compared to the task of this week. This week I was reminded of the fact that sometimes there is very little a mom can do to protect her young from getting hurt. Sending your children off into the world, is like sending your heart out there, exposed for the world to trample on.

There is something alluring, almost magical about the buttons on an elevator. My kids enthusiastically clamor for the opportunity to press the shiny buttons both outside and inside of the elevator. We have a routine when entering elevators which typically works flawlessly. One child pushes the button on the outside. The second child then pushes the same button. Once inside they each get a turn pushing the button for the floor we want to go on.

My friend and I were riding in the car one day when the song “Creed” by Third Day came on. I told my friend something to the effect of, “I love this song, it’s like everything I believe.” To which she laughed (not exactly the response I was expecting) and said, “Your kidding right? You know this is the Apostles Creed.” No wonder I was so impressed with the statement of faith.

Pigtails on toddlers Polish on toenails Dirt covered faces Band aid mustaches

While you might think that the potential pink eye, multiple ear infections, and laryngitis would scare me away from ever taking the circus crew on another national park vacation, it doesn’t. Just call me crazy! I’ll admit, parts of our Texas vacation wasn’t all we hoped and dreamed it would be. But, I am glad we went and eager to visit some more national parks. So this afternoon I sat down to map out a potential trip to Florida.

I put together a short video for our anniversary (I promise it’s only 2 min 10 secs) of my hubby and me over the past 8 years. Those of you who have read our story, see if you can tell why I picked the song I did. Also, for fun see if you can pick out the 3 shots taken by my son in this 2 minute video montage. As I look back over the past 8 years I see lots of national parks and newborn babies…what a great time we’ve had!