summer with the kids

I just love this time of year.  Popsicles and sticky hands, corn dogs and dinner outside, picking warm breakfast blueberries right off of the bushes first thing in the morning, and staying up until after 9 so the kids can catch fireflies in a jar.  Summer in the south is pretty magical.  I've been so exhausted lately and it has affected my mothering.  I sure hope I can get a better handle on my schedule so I can give the best I have to my kids during the day. Our days may be crazy and filled with screams and not a whole lot of listening but they are also filled with love, kisses, dancing, and always a lot of music.  They may be hard times but they are such good days and days I know I'll miss. 

family pictures

It has been forever since I have had the time to blog!  To be honest I miss it a lot. I really miss writing. 

This year has been one that I think we will look back on and wonder how we ever survived. We've never been so busy. Between John having full-time school and a job and me with seminary and two little kids to take care of we've hardly seen each other. But it's made the moments that we do have time together even more special. 

This year has been a year of growth for all of our family. I have really loved teaching my early morning seminary class and getting to know all of the seminary youth in our ward. I love many of them like my own and I love learning about the gospel together every morning.

Evaleigh will be three next month and I can hardly believe it. She is such a sassy responsible and joyful little girl.  She walks around saying sweet things to us like "Merry Christmas!" And "I love you mommy you are beautiful!". She is such a sensitive sweet little soul.  

Avett is our little explorer.  He climbs all over the place and especially all over us. I've never seen a little boy love his mother so much and I love that about him.

 John is trucking along with school and doing a great job at it. He is a very good student and studies a lot. He also works with the men at church. We are both loving what we are doing and even though we are busy we are happy and very blessed.

My kids are growing so fast.  I know that when I was younger I always heard that time would speed up the older you got.  Being in the throws of young motherhood is sometimes a blur for me.  It's filled with all sorts of mundane tasks...mealtimes, diapers, toddler breakdowns, naptimes...rinse repeat.  Sometimes I wish the clothes didn't have to be clean and that we never had to eat so I could sit back and take in the view of my little ones growing. Or better yet climb into an indistinguishable mound of bodies with them and giggle on the living room floor until it was bed time without a thought of to do's.

I love them both fiercely.  I can't put in to words how Avett makes me feel when he spots me from across the room and a smile displaying his gappy toothed grin spreads across his face and he walks over and fumbles to me and forces his body straight in to mine from a standing position with the most innocent trust that I'll always catch him.  We hug for the grand total of 2 seconds if I'm lucky and then he squirms to get loose because everything must be explored.  He's just starting to babble nonsense and when he does John and I look at each other as if it's the best inside joke we share and then we laugh about it.

Evaleigh gets smarter everyday.  She will correct me if I'm wrong and will say things that I had no clue she even knew.  She loves to make us laugh and the other day at the dinner table she called me a "plate of cookies" and told everyone to eat me up.  She is getting more and more beautiful and is finally getting some hair to speak of, it's a big deal for us. 

Kids are just really really fun.  A lot of work and a lot of messes.  But all around just pretty fantastic little people to share your life with, even when it's a blur.