Time to dust off the blog . . .

Here we are again.

See, here's the thing. I don't have time to be on the computer. I get it now. And I apologize to all of my friends who I may have mocked for not checking their email more or updated their blogs more or whatever. Two kids ages 2 and under makes that pretty stinking difficult. So, here it is:

I am very sorry.

There is way too much to update on, but I will do my best to start adding some fun back to this dusty, old, forgotten corner of the internet.

It will come as no surprise to you if I say that all of my children are growing like weeds. But I said it anyway. Ha!

Soren has most definitely passed me up in height. He seems to have flung full force into a growth spurt that can't be stopped. This year was the start of 8th grade for him and, loser that I am, I missed that "first day of school" picture. I suppose he is getting too old to be bothered by them anymore, but I am sad I missed it. Bad mommy! The school schedule this year was adjusted a bit, 5 periods instead of 6, so that threw us for a day or two. He is working hard already and I expect that trend will continue. Two of his classes qualify for high school credits, so he only has a little bit of stress to get awesome grades. . . . haha! This year he is doing wrestling for the first time and has plans to participate in basketball, and track. I'm also attempting to find some soccer team for him. Piano lessons started in October as well as Jazz band. This is where I would toss in a picture of him, but unfortunately they are on my phone and . . . yeah, I am not smart enough to get them onto the computer right now. Let it be noted that he grows more handsome and grown up every day but I still can see that mischievous twinkle in his eye that he's had since the day he was born. LOVE THIS KID! Erm, I mean . . . young man.

Caroline . . . where do I start with this girl. WOW did the Lord ... erm... bless me... with ... her? She is my challenge. Every. single. day. I love her to bits, but she and I definitely butt heads. Frequently. I am learning to choose my battles and yet still teach her valuable lessons (like that mom is the boss! haha!) every time we have a struggle. We still have a few issues now and then with the potty, but we really are through the tough part (I hope)! My princess will be three years old on Friday and that pretty much freaks me out. I can't believe how fast (sometimes) it has gone. It is fun to see her really begin to embrace pretending and playing. She also is in a pre-ballet class, which is like heaven for her. It seems like she has a smile on her face the entire time she is dancing. LOVE IT!

My baby boy, Henry, is just an absolute joy and his smile is the sunshine that starts my day (usually earlier than I want to be up, but that smile seriously saves him - and me!). He is huge - just over 20lbs, and loves people. The kid smiles at anyone and tries desperately to catch the eyes of strangers at the store so he can give him a grin. He is working on cutting tooth number 4 (so close!) so we've had lots of tears and even more drool!! Henry is very aware of all the people in the house - he knows daddy and will almost leap out of my arms while saying "dadadada" if Alan is in the room. Soren is bababa (brother) and they adore each other. Caroline is not an easy word to say and neither is sister, but he knows who she is and I can see his little brain calculating ways to outsmart her so he can get his hands on the many toys she tries to hide/take from him. I think he is plotting a takeover and it will begin the minute he is a stable walker, but maybe before! I figure he will outweigh her in 3-6 months easily, so that will help in his battle. Crawling is just around the corner, but for now he is scooting around, rolling around, and rocking around on his knees/hands while he tries to figure out the coordination that crawling will involve. LOVE my Henry!!!

So that is a quick run down of the kiddos. Alan and I both are working hard to keep things running as smoothly as possible here at home. Our house was hit with various illnesses for pretty much all of October, but I think we're all on the mend now and hope to be able to fight off the sickies for the holiday season.

I did have an interesting (to me anyway) thought today as I sat on the floor, Caroline in my lap and Henry crawling around me. Caroline was watching Toy Story and I was contemplating how much laundry I needed to do, how badly the floors need to be swept/washed, and how desperate I was to get the laundry room organized (again) when it hit me . . . 100 years ago - even 50 years ago - the day to day responsibilities in taking care of a home were much more complex. There weren't nearly as many conveniences to help with things like laundry, dishes, cooking, etc. I believe that one of the reasons we have the many time savers that we do today is to allow us to spend quality time with our children. They need us more now than ever. The world is a scary place with so many twists and turns that will pull our children down paths that no one should be on! It is so important for them to get the guidance, love, and care that they need in order to arm them before they walk out the door - either each morning or when they leave our homes to live on their own. I'm grateful the dishwasher is washing the dishes this morning so that I was able to love on my kiddos. I am so happy to have a washer and dryer to do laundry while I put puzzles together and play peek a boo. I love my crock pot because it makes the hours after 4pm a little more bearable on the days I remember to load it up and plug it in.

Anyway, those are my thoughts this morning! :) Hopefully next time I update I will have lots of pictures to throw on here, too! Today, however, words will have to have to suffice!