{March}

 ...the month in which it finally snowed enough to make a real snowman!

...and also when Elizabeth made her great acting debut in "Shakespeare Unshackled"

...and Todd turned the mighty 35!

...and last but not least, it was the month that Levi discovered his chuckle.

{Mama's Boys}

Mind bullets. 

(4 1/2 months)

Bath time!

(5 months)

I laid Levi down in the hallway outside of the bathroom door while I did the girls' hair for school.

Big brother didn't want him to get lonely, I guess.

(5 months)

Golly I love my bonus baby!

(next 3 pics 6 months)

My life would be so quiet and boring without my handsome little fellas!

{Caroline. Baptized.}

Caroline was baptized on January 7th, 2012.  We are so proud of her for making this choice and covenant with her Heavenly Father.  She was so excited to get baptized... the month wait was almost more than she could take!  We could feel the Spirit so strongly as her daddy baptized her (he's getting soft when it comes to these big milestones and his little girls!)  I am so thankful for all our friends and family that made special effort and traveled to come and support Caroline!  It touched my heart so much!  Caroline is such a sweet, happy girl  and is trying to hard to do what is right!  

We love you so much, our own Sweet Caroline!

{Mommy's Day}

These are my special little somethings that allow me to celebrate Mother's Day.

...and this little note has a permanent spot on my fridge to remind me who they're on loan from.  It's magical powers make me laugh and give me patience.  

 (It's the mohawks!)

These are the wonderful ladies that loved me up and taught me how to be a mommy (along with so, so many others).

Somehow my kids see the most generous side of me...

...and think I'm beautiful no matter what.

{Bumbomania}

To my dear friend who lent me her Bumbo,

THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!  

For me and my super attached mama's boy, this Bumbo (or 'bum bowl' as it's now known around here) was a life saver.  I'm not exactly sure how I raised three other kids without one...

It helped Levi express his more serious side. (4 months)

To explore his culinary interests. (5 months)

It saw Levi through his "all natural" phase. OK, not really, but Todd got quite a shock when he thought Levi was nakie in there.  (5 months)

It was there when Levi was exploring his own individual style. (5 months)

...and during some silly sibling bonding time. (5 1/2 months)

This bumbo supported him through the good times and the bad. "My bib may say Yummmm, but I beg to differ." (6 months)

It held baby up when preparing for grand celebrations, like making daddy's birthday cake (6 1/2 months).

Until the day came (March 29, 2012) when Levi decided to do it all on his own.   

{I take it all back!}

Oh, karma.  You think you're sooo funny.  I finally get back on the blogging bandwagon with my Today post, and then you decide you'll really show me.  "Crazy?" you say?  "You ain't SEEN crazy yet. I'll show you craaa-zy."

Minutes after I hit that innocent little 'publish' button I find out that Elizabeth has a bloody nose. After a little investigation I find that she was hit by a rake.
Which she, herself stepped on. 
On purpose. 
Turns out her reflexes aren't quite as sharp as she'd planned on. 
Poor girl.  The good news is she didn't get one single drop of blood on her new outfit.  At least she has some skilz.  And thank heavens no permanent damage was done.  No doctors office visit required or anything.

The next day:  The kids are on spring break and we've made plans to meet my mom and go out to lunch.  I pull into my mom's driveway, but hate to honk because her neighbor's house is so close.  So I put the van into park, leaving it running with quick instructions to the kids to hang tight while I run inside to tell my mom we're there.  Mom and I hear a crunch from inside.  She looks out the kitchen window and shouts that the van is gone.  Gone?  GONE?!?  My reaction was to look down the driveway and out onto the street, where THANK HEAVEN I don't see anything.  Instead we find my van sunk into her garage door.  What sound do you type for that gut sinking feeling?  ugh?  blug? bluuu-ahhhh?  urragabluuuck?  Elizabeth had gotten up to get Louis a tissue out of the glove compartment and somehow had bumped the gear shift into drive.  urragabluuuck.

The next day: Todd is smoking a sheep for a neighbor's party.  It's been smoking all night perfectly.  He's pleased as punch and even brings me a sample to try (although, let's be honest, I find it pretty darn hard to eat sheep, especially before I've even managed to sit up in bed).  Next thing we know there's a grease fire and the hoses are frozen.  I run around in crazed unproductive circles while Todd puts it out with snow.  Thank heaven it didn't spread.  I spend almost the entire day trimming up all that meat so it's edible.  If I ever see another sheep it'll be too darn soon.

Sunday.  Thank heaven for a day of rest.

The next day: I get sick.  Sick, sick, sick.  I never get sick.  It was awful.  Awwwwful. Thank heaven I have some wonderful children.  Somehow they all survived 5 days of almost constant neglect while I attempted to sleep it off.  And, knock on wood, nobody else has gotten it. (Karma, be kind to me now!)

Turns out that my Friday the 13th luck extended over an entire week.  Please let it be over.

But it got me thinking.  For every bad thing that happened, there was the "thank heaven" factor.  Thank heavens for no broken bones. Thank heavens there was no major car accident, everyone was safe! Thank heaven the fire was contained, and quickly put out (and the smoker has been through a safety renovation as well).  Thank heaven my kids are smart and helpful and so good to care for each other. 
What a week full of amazing blessings! 
I'm just hoping not to experience another one like it for a long time.  A long, long, looooong time.  Do you hear me karma?!?

{Today}

I could call today a totally crazy day.  But if I did, that would mean that every day for the last 7 months has been a crazy day.  Someday I'll have to accept that the fact that the crazy days of yore are now my regular-everyday-normal-days.  Yikes.  I told myself I'd have it all together when baby turned 3 months old. Fail.

So instead, today I enjoyed the sunshine and cleaned out another little piece of my flowerbeds (little green things are poking up!)
Today I (finally) went to the store.  But only because we're all out of milk AND toilet paper.
Today I'll try not to regret buzzing Lou's head - he looks like a cancer patient!
Today I'm listening to my kids laughing (and screaming) outside with their friends.
Today I did more laundry.
Today I'll change about a hundred diapers and wipe a gallon of drool and treasure a thousand gummy baby smiles.  I secretly love that he's such a mama's boy.
Today I'll untangle Elizabeth's sweet new goat April over, and over, and over again.  They are so in love with each other - it's adorable!
Today I'll reheat leftovers for dinner because Todd will probably work until at least 8 o'clock.  :(
Today I took one extra moment to realize how tall Caroline is getting, and how pretty her baby blue eyes still are and how adorable her little freckled nose is.
Today I found 10 minutes to do a little indexing.  Addicting much?!?
Today I downloaded the pictures off my camera for the first time since before Christmas.
Today I'll be grateful for the noise, and the chaos, and the messes because it means everyone who lives here is happy and healthy and loved.
Today is a good day.