Family Pictures

For the first time since 2007, we went and got professional family portraits taken.  I was impressed with the place we went, Fotofly.  They did a great job, especially with all the kids, and the price was right ($79 for ALL the pics they took on a CD, which was about fifty) and then if we printed the pictures with them, it was $3 a sheet.  We will probably go there again.

Westley's Crash

On Saturday May 19th, it was supposed to be "National Take Your Kids to the Park and Leave Them There" Day. Explanation here: I am enthusiastic about a movement called "Free Range Kids" which is all about letting your kids have some reasonable freedom that is age appropriate and allowing them to develop some independence. On that day, I decided to let the three older boys ride their bikes to a nearby park, which is only about two blocks away, but not real blocks because they have to cut through the apartment complex on the bike path through there in order to get to it from our house. So I sent them over on their bikes and then I got Eliza and Jonah ready to go and went over with them, Eliza on her bike with training wheels and Jonah in the bike trailer with me pulling. Corey was working, so he didn't get to come with us. The plan was to play for a little while at the park and then head home after about 30 minutes to have lunch.

The park has a bike path that goes around it and since it is a hilly park, there are sections of bike path that is uphill and a few that are downhill. My boys (and I admit, I like it also) like to go up to the top and then cruise as fast as they can down the hills. On this day, Westley had gone to one of the crests and was starting his downhill cruise when his foot slipped from his pedal and he went crashing down at the bottom of the hill. He mostly got scraped up pretty badly--both knees, one elbow, and his face. But the worst part of his injury was hitting his face, I think on his bike handlebars, right in the old kisser. He broke a tooth and dislocated another. Unfortunately, the teeth that he damaged were permanent teeth.

I spent the rest of the day Saturday carting the kids to stay at my cousin's house while I took Westley to the Urgent Care to take a closer look at his damaged knees and elbow and make sure no stitches were required, and to the dentist to fix his broken tooth and repair the dislocated one. We were lucky that he didn't need a root canal on the broken tooth (yet) but he had to have the dislocated tooth cemented to the tooth next to it (the broken tooth). This was two days after he saw the orthodontist who said his teeth were coming in beautifully. Now, though, he has to see the orthodontist again because of that right front tooth that got moved out of place. I think everything will turn out okay and I'm sure he's not the first kid ever to deal with a broken tooth!

He was pretty miserable right after the crash.  This is in the car right as we got to my cousin's house to drop off the other kids.

This is as we were leaving my cousin's house to go to Urgent Care.  You can see his broken tooth there in front.

At the Urgent Care after he was all patched up.  For the first few days, he had a hard time getting around because of the injury to his left knee, which was worse than his right knee.

This is the picture of his mouth that I texted to the dentist right after it happened.  

Waiting while his scrapes are being numbed before the nurse cleaned them out.

Scraped up face

Warm Spring Days

I love warm spring days when we can go to the park and play outside. The kids loved this first warm day, back in April, where we went park-hopping (to a few different parks) and just played and enjoyed the sunshine.

Lego Creation

One Sunday afternoon Westley decided he wanted to build a temple out of Legos. We collected all the white Legos we could find, but unfortunately it wasn't enough. It still turned out pretty good.

Westley is NINE!

Westley turned nine.  He got a bike and a helmet for his birthday.  We took treats over to his school to share with his class and we surprised him at lunch by bringing In-N-Out with us to the school and eating with him there.

For his cake, he designed a "Wonder Westley" cake.  Wonder Westley is his own superhero that he plays all the time with his brothers.  He has even written a Wonder Westley comic book and put together his own Wonder Westley costume.

We enjoyed his birthday and he was excited to turn nine.  We sure love having him in our family.  He's a great big brother and a very loving child.

Another Fun Conversation

Travis:  I just figured out that kids CAN drink soda!

Mommy:  Of course they can.  They just shouldn't drink very much soda because it's not good for you.  Kids' bodies are still growing and soda doesn't give their bodies good enough nutrition to grow up healthy.

Travis:  Daddy drinks a lot of soda.

Mommy:  Yes, he does.  But he's a grownup and his body isn't growing anymore.  But he probably could drink less soda and be healthier.

Travis:  If Daddy stopped drinking soda, he'd go back to normal.

Those Moments

You know those moments?  The ones that you want to catalog in your memory forever and ever?  The ones that even a photograph won't do justice?

I have so many moments throughout the day that I know I will forget in five years.  Ten years.  Twenty...and so on.  Moments that I won't be able to conjure up perfectly, but that I want to remember exactly as they are.

You little girl climbs into your lap and puts her arms around your neck, giving you a kiss, whispering, "I love you, Mommy."  She bats her big brown eyes and her golden brown hair is flying all around, slightly messed, but beautiful.

Your baby boy tries to lick your ice cream cone from two feet away.  He sticks his little tongue out, tips his face upward, and leans forward, hoping to get just a little lick, so adorable that you can't help but give him one.

The moments where they say the funniest, most random things as they try to sort out how they fit into the world and to understand the world around them.

Even though I can take pictures and video, I still can't capture the touch of their hands on my hair while I read them a book or the warmth of their breath on my cheek as they lean in to give me a kiss.

Those are the moments I want to capture in my mind forever, the moments I want to relish and remember as I look back on raising my little ones.