So Long Ordinary

This has been quite the week. Desktop computer crashed. Internet wonky. Sean's camera broken. And a zillion other little things just not working out quite right. On top of it all, tears, sadness, and mourning for a lost loved one. It's just been a rough week. We'll be heading down to Oklahoma early this next week for Sean's grandma's funeral. When we get home, we'll be heading back out of town for a family reunion (my side). Another full week - with both grief and laughter sure to leave us exhausted. It's time for a little break from blogging. Besides, I'll be seeing pretty much everyone who reads this blog in the next week or so! When things calm down (and if we can figure out our computer problem) I'll be back with plenty to say, I'm sure! See you in a week or two!

This has been a busy, busy summer. And there are no signs of things slowing down. Maddie continues to be our little morning person. She's at her cutest, cheeriest, most talkative, and loudest state between 6:00 and 10:00 a.m. Paige is beginning to become more vocal about her needs. And she hates to be put down for any length of time. It makes getting things done doubly hard for Mama...but I don't really mind the chances to snuggle my baby. Forgot to close the door to the chickens' pen last night and woke up to them pecking around right by the house. I know they still spent the night tucked away in the coop but they were out early looking for goodies. I'm not worried about them running away (they don't seem to stray too far from their coop) but I am worried about the many creatures that could have gotten them. Guess we lucked out! This morning I went into the girls' room to find Brooklyn propped up in her bed, "reading" her children's Bible. ...

June 2004, San Juan Mountains, Brooklyn at 10 months June 2007, Hola Vida, Ecuador, Madison at 8 months July 2009, Sangre de Cristo Wilderness, Paige at 7 months.

On Saturday, we took a little family hike. It was more or less an experiment to see how our family of five would do in the mountains. The girls each did great. Brooklyn's our little trooper and led the way with Duke. Maddie really impressed us considering she's only two and a half. Every once in a while she'd stop and say she couldn't go any further. But we'd entice her with lunch and a cookie if she went just a little farther up the hill and she found the strength to keep truckin'! Paige really did great in the backpack. She fell asleep on Daddy's neck by the end of the ordeal. It was a hot day, with lots of sun, and lots of bugs. It was also just really, really nice to be up in the mountains, enjoying nature. We even saw bear scat. We think. We didn't stick around to verify that. Actually, I'm sure we were plenty loud enough to scare any bears or other wildlife off! If you've been around our family, you understand what I mean. Just starting ou...

Sean got these pictures of Paige last week at the park. Oh. My. We've been really terrible at getting our Sunday baby pictures taken every week. It's been months since we've managed that. Oh well. Suffice it to say, she's growing and changing plenty fast. I can't believe she's already 7 months old! My baby ! She could stay this size as long as she wants. I'm in no hurry to see her grow up. I suppose most parents are this way when they know it's their last baby. Well, and Paige is so doggone sweet and easygoing - she really makes my job easy. Okay, easier . We all know that being mom to three little girls under 6 is a HUGE job. I'm beginning to feel just a tad bit underpaid. And just in case you wondered, yes, those cheeks really are as soft and sweet and kissable as they look in the pictures :-)

We've had some sort of plague of frogs lately here at our house. Literally hundreds of thousands of frogs hopping all over - and those are the ones we can see! Well, maybe they're toads. Honestly, I don't care. They're pretty cute little guys and my girls have been having a blast catching them. They caught over 30 the other night in just a few minutes. If we'd gone out to the road they could have caught twice that in half the time. It does stink where they've been run over on the road. And it's kinda hard to go for a walk without stepping on any of them. Ick. My guess is that they must be hopping out of the pond in a field not far from our house. Nobody in the neighborhood has ever seen them so thick and, in fact, until last year there weren't any frogs in this area at all. Wonder what happened in the balance of things to make these guys become so prolific around here? Like I said, the girls have had fun catching them and then releasing them. ...

I love the Simple Woman's Daybook . It really helps you appreciate the small details of life when you are taking the time to notice and record them. Outside my window... a bright green, lush backyard that we planted just this spring. Yay! I am thinking... too much. Sometimes it would be nice to turn off my brain. I am hearing... the sound of the fan and happy mumblings of children lost in their own little worlds. I am thankful for... a mom who listens so well. I am also thankful for... The help my 15-year-old niece was while she was visiting over the past week or so (we really miss her already). From the kitchen... dinner of Arroz con Pollo. A standard Ecuadorian/Latin American dish that is simple, quick, and satisfying. Maybe some pudding or a chocolate cake for dessert? I am wearing...a long black skirt (everything else was dirty) and a purple tee I am reading... Faith of My Fathers by Lynn Austin - a nice, easy fiction. I am hoping... that we can go for another walk...