I.D.A.H.O

Pig xing

 Summer is finally here...it almost July.  It was worth the wait.

Everest, my little singer.

Princesses, tournaments, and dads

Princess camp day 2

 Day 3, Jade and Lila Bone, daughter of my college dance director and good friend Wendy.  Wouldn't it be fun and crazy if these 2 danced together in college?? 

 Fourth and final day

 We left straight from princess camp to support Aaron in his basketball tournament.  I don't know much about basketball, but I know that beating a team by more than 50 points is good.  Right?  Good job Aaron.

 It was Everest and Calder's first basketball games.  And probably not the last.

 Aaron played on a team with 2 of his 3 brothers.  They won 3 out of 4 games! 

Great job guys.  We missed you Lohn.  And speaking of Lohn...I am ecstatic that their family will be coming to stay close to us for the summer...probably...maybe?  I hope so.

And finally, happy day after father's day, to the 2 most amazing men in my life.  Dad and Aaron, most of the time I think I do not deserve you both.  Thank you for getting me through each day of the last 5-28 years!

Princess Dance Camp: Day 1

Two? Really?

Remember how we have TWO babies?? Its really not hard to forget, but having two highchairs at the table is...interesting.  We just got these.  They will be a life-saver once the boys are actually eating food with us.

Get ready, this video is pretty exciting.

 

Ok well its exciting for me.  

 

They can play in the exersaucer now but we only have one.  They're learning to share pretty quick.

And lets not forget about this [not so] little one

 

She and I went to see Balance Studio's "Little Red Riding Hood".  She loved it so much she peed her pants...literally...thanks Jade.

 We have sprinklers!  Which means grass is coming soon :) My husband is SO TALENTED!

It's here!

Happy snapshots

"You never see the hard days in a photo album, but those are the ones that get you from one happy snap shot to the next."
- Mr. Leezak in Just Married

Thank you Brigitte for reminding me about this quote.  You're amazing, because I was thinking this exact same thing yesterday as I wrote the post about expectations but didn't know quite how to word it.  I wanted to share it because it is so true.

Expectations vs. Reality

Expectation: Beautiful children who I love and who love me so much that they do nothing but give me hugs and smiles and make me laugh.  We go on lots of family vacations and have wonderful experiences and when they're in their 20's we have conversations about what a perfect childhood they had and how grateful they are to me and dad for their wonderful life :)

Reality: Beautiful children who I love and who love me so much...but really test my patience.  And sometimes I think they hate me.  Maybe next year we'll have wonderful experiences...or maybe after they graduate.

Really life is great, just not like what I see in my imagination.  You'd never know it from the pictures right?  But on a day like today or yesterday, when all 3 kids are crying at once, Jade is peeing on the floor or coloring on the walls, or telling me "You're making me have a really hard time today",  I think I've got to be doing something wrong.  I am not creating the kinds of experiences and memories that I see happening for my family in my mind.  How do you do it--make reality meet your expectations?? I've got to be doing something right, because look how cute my kids are :)

Anyway, I think about this clip from "500 Days of Summer" a lot.  And no, my life is not as dramatic as all this.  But it gets the point across.  I think this is such a cool scene.  And sorry about the german or whatever subtitles at the bottom...