a stitch in time...or 3

picture this...getting three kids out of the car at pre-school in a sprinkle (4th is already at school :)... try reasoning with a 3 year old that it isn't raining hard enough for him to fuss with his umbrella...(why am i trying to reason with a 3 year old in the first place? i don't know)...we head into school (with the umbrella), drop off 5 year old (1 year old is on my hip in a sling), head down the hall to the door so that we can make the most of our morning and get a few things done while the older 2 are at school...didn't get to the door though...3 year old is running with his umbrella in his crocs, the crocs and the carpet don't work together so well... he falls on the handle of his speed racer umbrella...(speedracer is a car with a pointy/sporty backside) who knows what the manufacturers were thinking when they designed it?! he falls on the point of his umbrella handle and punctures his forehead about an inch above his eye (thank you Lord that it wasn't one inch lower)...blood is pouring out of his forehead, i try to cover it with my hand, but the blood is pouring through my fingers...2 friends come to my rescue, take 1 year old out of my sling and i briskly go to the restroom with him. a mom who is a nurse sees what is happening and joins me in the bathroom, calmly saying you need to go straight to the ER. sometimes when my boys get hurt i wonder do we need to go to the ER or not...this was not one of those moments. a sweet friend takes sydney for me and i head to the ER with griffin...the brave little guy had to get 3 stitches that morning...there were no tears during the process. proud to say that is our first set of stitches...3 boys, oldest is 7....not too bad. :) i'm sure there are more to come. God totally orchestrated that morning to make it a calm crazy if that makes sense. It definitely was not the way I thought my day was going to go, but he had every step covered and it was amazing how he provided people and help for us at just the right time. Here he is a few days later playing in the snow with his cool band aid covering his stitches!

our much anticipated annual family valentine's dinner was a special time with the kids... it included heart shaped pasta, salad, bread & strawberry cake with valentine's sprinkles. the boys' favorite part each year is opening the valentine's box. inside the box is a gift for each family member tied to a ribbon that extends to that person's plate. there is much discussion throughout dinner as to what is tied to their ribbon...oh the suspense. :) this year I made t-shirts with the kids names on them. recently i made some for a friend and my boys saw them, commenting that they didn't "have one of those"...now they do. we ended the dinner sharing what we love about each person in our family, it was a precious conversation. love those moments....all the hard work to make life happen with 4 kids seems to fade away when we have times together like this one! so we enjoy themed family dinners...hmmmmm....maybe I should create them more often...something to ponder.

One of a Kind....

my precious kids cause me to feel so many emotions within a day it is unbelievable! this sweet boy in particular causes me to span the emotional spectrum! I came downstairs today from doing laundry (a daily ritual), to Logan in his ironman costume pretending to snowboard on his daddy's snowboard (that hadn't made its way back to the attic from a recent ski trip). He had the full get-up on...gloves, boots, goggles, helmet, etc. I smiled and giggled to myself, then quickly turned the corner. He is his daddy's boy! I love how God gives me moments like these throughout my day to make me smile and remember that I have the most important job in the world!

just maybe....

So...our family is finally joining the blogging world, after much procrastination, deliberation and two years of it being my New Year's Resolution! I've finally decided to take the plunge! With four kids, my perfectionism has often gotten the best of me and I've been intimidated to even set up a blog for fear of failure to keep it updated! However, it will be fun to share funny stories and pictures, especially with our dear family and friends far-away! So...I will give it my best shot and maybe, just maybe you will get updates more than once a month and some pictures along the way.