WINTER 2014

This year has gone by so quickly and so full of craziness that I've hardly had time to stop and breath, let alone blog.  Isn't it just the way life goes that the more you have to blog about, the less time you have to do it!  I've got so much to document this year so far.  I'm going to go season by season rather than event by event, so these are bound to be mammoth posts.

JANUARY-MARCH 2014:

This was a winter of record snow days in NWA, and several times church had to be cancelled.  In January we bundled up and walked to our neighbors, the Dragoviches', to meet with a few families who were close enough to travel safely and hold our own meeting.  It was a neat experience.  What a COLD winter!

Spencer took the girls ice-skating as often as he could and Campbell zipped around confidently.  It was so adorable.  so, so so so so adorable.

lovin' life!  Cadence must be busy lapping everybody else on the ice.

Spencer had the real-life opportunity to teach some of his scouts how to respond to a life-threatening accident that you come upon.  

   In February, soccer season started.  It was such a cold season, but the kids did great!

this was one of the rare occasions that Layla didn't wear a skirt with her jersey.  She opted for pink butterfly thermal underwear instead since it was bitter cold that morning.

Oh, yeah, and then I sent Spencer a text at work that changed his life.  

Ezra proves to be the worlds BEST hugger.  Really.

I force myself to take pictures with my little ones.

Ezra tries out the swings for the first time.  He loves it!

"FROZEN" becomes available on DVD and the girls watch it 40 billion times in a row, in one day.

Ezra is tooooooo cute.

Spencer and Mardee get asked to be the emcees at the beloved "Broadway Night" ward talent show (the premier don't-bring-your-kids event).  They accept having no idea what they are going to do.

They are just a teeny tiny bit totally mortified to see that some of these pictures have been blown up and made into posters and put up in the foyers of the Stake Center to advertise the event.  They hope that the mustache and feathers are enough to disguise their identity.

They somehow pull it off and have an absolutely great time as emcees.  In spite of the fact that pregnancy is now hitting Mardee hard.

Rite of childhood, brought to you by an awesome Dad.

SNOW!!! SNOW SNOW SNOW.   Campbell likes to get out and feel the weather.

Sometimes we get out with our babies.  This is obviously before I got pregnant.

Dad helps the girls build a fort one snowy snowy night.


A few fb posts (in lieu of journaling):
1/6/14:  Baby's first bite of rice cereal! He ate ravenously and made many gestures to show he was pleased with this new world of solid foods. And his big sister (cadence) hid under the table, crying in fear of his life, refusing to believe that cereal wouldn't be the end of him
1/17/14: A lesson about reaping what we sew : if we plant carrot seeds, what will we grow? Kids: "carrots!!" If we plant seeds of unkindness, what will we get back? Campbell: "potatoes!" Karma just got a little irish.

1/20/14: Faced my fear today and got on a treadmill. I did not fall down and get sucked into it, after all.
2/8/14: Some things cadence knows about the 1980's: her mom and dad were born, horse-drawn carriages were replaced by cars, there were no tv's, just radios, but no music yet just talk radio, the clothes were modest, andthe US didn't exist yet. We're so old.

2/19/14: Realized this wk that if I want to reach my fitness goals, I need to become fully obsessed with working out. So I hit the gym TWICE in one week AND decided I'd better rid the house of the cookies, brownies, and m&ms. That was a lot to eat at once but I can tell it's gonna be worth it come swimsuit season.

3/27/14: It's NOT opposite day around here and years of being overly sarcastic have NOT prepared me for this. And the four yr old is NOT constantly confused.

3/27/14:  Annual conversion from storage closet to storm shelter: water bottles and snacks check, blankets and flashlights check, atlatl check. Ready.

3/31/14: A child's prayer: "and please bless us with... (looks up with face twisted by confusion)...boobs?"  Uh... (that was Layla)

Up next: Spring 2014-- possibly the most expensive season of our entire lives (knock on wood).  So get ready!