Backyard Shenanigans!

Our backyard is my saving grace. The key to peace in our home. 
A frequent phrase of mine- "GO PLAY OUTSIDE!"
Outside is the best.

Fall in Texas is pretty much perfect. 
Luke loves to be outside. All babies do. 
I won't let him go outside by himself like I will the girls. He is constantly crying at the back door waiting for me to let him out. It's the cutest thing!
His favorite spot- the slide!

Climb up, slide down... repeat a zillion times!
I love everything about this picture! The chubs, the expression, the determined face... everything!

There's no hope for me. He hits every soft spot of mine. Wrapped around his finger.

heehee...

This picture makes me realize just how blessed I am. Look at that healthy baby boy smack dab in the middle of our very own backyard. Life is good. 

HI LUKE!!! 

Okay, don't get too scared now at the following pictures.
We've actually had neighbors call us... "Just wanted to let you know that you're kid is on the roof!"...
"Yes yes, this is quite normal. Thanks for your concern."
BahahahahaHA!

I would say that this is all Tyler's doing, but my kids have been dare devils since the beginning. 
The bigger they get, the higher and crazier it gets. I just pray for no broken bones. 
Seriously though.

Maggie hasn't graduated to the roof yet... she sticks to the railing... haha!

This Daddy of ours... it almost gets me teary eyed thinking about it- 
Every day without fail he comes home from a long day of work and plays for hours with our children.  They play and play and play. I don't think he know's how much it means to me... not just to get dinner finished but how much he loves being a Daddy. And boy, is he an amazing one.

One of the many games they play... the kids call it "BRAINS!!!!" 
It's where Tyler and Luke are zombies and they run around screaming BRAINS eating and tackling the girls and Dixie. haha! It's Luke's favorite game! 
And if the expression doesn't give it away, Tyler gets into it too! hahaha!

GET THEM!!!! 
BRAINSSSS!!!!!!!!!

Love this one! Luke is beside himself! hahaha! 
I love this crazy little thing called LIFE!!!! 

Halloween 2014

It's 7am the morning after Halloween. Clearly, my kids don't sleep in. EVER. 
So why not do a little blogging? 
Yes ma'am! I said blogging!!!

The mermaid and the witch... 

I think the make-up I let Rachel wear took her sassiness to another level! haha! 
I didn't even know it was possible! 

Luke the baby dragon! 
So, I took Luke out for one year old shots a week ago and it was the hardest thing ever! 
My baby is growing up! No more looking and smiling at the camera- he's got more important things to do!

My little witch!
"Maggie, are you a good witch or a bad witch?"
"I'm a GOOD witch Mom!" 
hehe...

Drop dead gorgeous Rachel "mermaid" eyes!

The dragon on a mission... such curious eyes... 

First stop- the Bonners! Our neighbors are members of the church too! 
The are kind of like our Grandma and Grandpa neighbors. The girls adore them!

This was the slowest the girls went all night. 
They were seriously running so fast it was hard to catch them!

Oh, and this house slowed them down too... That's as far as they would go... hahaha! 
I don't blame them one bit! Looks pretty creepy to me!

Happy HALLOWEEN!!!!

School Girl

Well, it happened. Rachel started kindergarten. She is officially a school girl now. 

The transition was rough on everyone! Getting used to school schedule, dealing with an overtired 5 yr. old, and of course, Mommy emotions. It was hard to let her go. But even with all the hard transitions, Rachel absolutely loves school!

So BIG! I can't believe it!

I asked her what she wants to be when she grows up... 
She said, "I want to be a Mommy."
And then my heart melted.

Maggie sure misses her big sister! She loves waiting at the bus stop for Miss Rachel. And she's constantly saying that when her tooth falls out she'll get to go to kindergarten too! Rachel lost a tooth right before kindergarten, so now Maggie uses it as a measurement of school readiness. haha! 
Seriously guys, I feel old. I have a kid in school. When did this happen!?!

Luke and Danger! - Part 1

Since Luke has been 7 months old, his favorite place has been right here at the baby gate.
I've often pondered how much of a child's personality is attributed to their parents. Whether environment plays a role or whether it's simply how they were before coming to earth.
After three babies I've come to the conclusion that much of it is genetic.
Genetics has just got to play a role in our personalities and how we became families in the pre-earth life. It's just got to. There's no other explanation for why Tyler and I have such crazy kids!
hahahaha!
It's just what I think- you don't have to agree! haha.

Figuring it out... That little mind is churning...

Talking to the danger...
"Hey Danger, how you doing today?"

Can you tell that this is his very favorite spot in the whole house?

Shake that danger!!! 
haha!

Every time the gate gets left open he's there quicker than lightning! 
In fact, sometimes he waits at the bottom of the stairs. When someone opens it, 
he'll make his move.

And well, this picture has nothing to do with danger, but I ADORE it. 
It's SOC (straight out of camera-no editing), and I think it's perfect.
I just love the light and the softness!

And if you're wondering if he has fallen---
Yes he has.
Several times! And there's tile at the bottom. He cries. A lot.
And he just keeps climbing and playing with danger.
Genetics.
It's just gotta be the genetics! Danger is a dominant gene and Tyler and I must both have it.
Just a theory. ;)

8 years!

This week we are celebrating EIGHT years of marriage! Holy Smokes! 

When I say it out loud it seems like such a long time, but in my heart it was only a moment ago.

I'm not sure if this will make sense to anyone reading it, but this year we've learned that we are much better at being awesome when things are hard than when things are good. hahaha!

Yeah, I'm pretty sure no one understood that. But it's true.

This year we've been learning how to be consistent, support each other while not keeping score, and putting the other ones needs ahead of ourselves.

For us, this is sometimes much harder than the BIG unpleasant trials. Because instead of putting our head down and plowing through (what we're good at), we have to make small, diligent, sometimes monotonous choices to be better than the day before. 

I love this picture of my man! It's so candid and it's right after when walked out of the temple.

He's so happy!

This is one of my favorites...
I love that I choose bright, happy colors for our wedding. 

I love being married to this man! He makes me happier than I ever thought imaginable.

I can't think of anyone else I'd rather wrestle through this life with. 
Because wrestling through is far better than walking.
It's how we roll. haha!

Happy 8 YEARS! 

My Lunch Date

My days are ordinary. 
Clean up, get kiddos ready, run errands, eat lunch, naptime... you know, the usual.
There's nothing grand or fancy about my life when you look on it from the outside.
But I say- Grand is in the eye of the beholder.
Nothing is grander than spending my days with my babies. 
Bread, apple slices, and yogurt melts... Sounds like a fancy lunch to Luke! haha!

Let's see if I can get a smile outta this boy!

A-ha! There it is! 
He is my JOY! Oh how I love being his Momma!

Baby profile shots steal away my heart... that fuzz head... I can't handle it!

Those baby blues... how did we manage to have blue-eyed babies?
Maggie's used to be this blue... they are a hazy blue/yellow/green now... time will tell what happens to Luke's...

Bright eyed and bushy tailed...

This is how my boy eats... always with those toes up on the tray...

I love you son.
Thanks for the fancy lunch date. 
Let's do it again tomorrow.

Dixie Gets a Bath

That look!!! hahaha!
Momma save me!!! 
And yep, we used baby wash--- the book I read (yes, I read a book! haha!) said it works well.

I know you hate this Dixie, but you STINK!

We love our puppy!

Drying time... Dixie liked this part...

As soon as we let her go, she went a hid under the slide. 
In case you're wondering... Do I still like the dog?
Yes I do! 
She's a good puppy and I'm excited to take a Dog Manners 101 class with her! Should be interesting!
And boy she is getting big fast!!! WOOOooooo!

Pool Days

THE POOL! 
We love love love the pool. And quite frankly, I don't know what we'd do without it.
Hahaha- here is Luke with sunscreen smeared all into his hair and giving that "this is amazing!" expression---

Slides are the best.
Must go to the pool with the nice slide!

Maggie has been deathly afraid to get her head under the water this year.
This is until yesterday. Of course.
She finally did it and must have made us watch her 100 times put her head under the water.
It was priceless! She was so so proud of herself.

Water baby...

Water babies make my heart swoon---

Nothing like sunshiny pool days! 
happiness...

Every year I am totally tempted to take pictures of the kiddos bare naked booties and sweet tan lines! 
They are mighty cute and super impressive.
But I refrain. Not appropiate, I know. But so so so so SO cute!
I think I'll take one just for me. ;)