This is My Forties

The leaves are falling, the madroños are red, the buckeyes are dropping, colors are changing.  Tis the season for photography. We gathered a gallon of unshelled almonds over the weekend, and that was about half of what was on the tree.  Oh what goodies we shall make! We also did some other stuff... like stick our tongues out at each other, roll around outside, show off our new teeth, and make faces in timeout. Guess what else!!! I just mooned you!! hehehe

We had a little party for Elias and Tristan over the weekend.  The house was overrun with testosterone: presents were torn open, football games were watched, wrestling ensued, bikes were raced, a metric ton of tacos were voraciously consumed, cake was destroyed, forks were optional.  What a way to welcome the big 3 (Elias) and 4 (Tristan).  It was a great day. The mothers' ears needed a break so we went outside to play with the camera for some slow shutter speed, tripodded, nighttime photography.  And we planked. FUN TIMES!!! :D

Look at my big boy!!  My how he's changed this year!  He has transitioned from toddler to "kid" and while it seemed to drag on forever, it's as if the "switch" happened overnight.  Moms everywhere warn you it'll be gone before you know it, but you don't really get it until it happens.  That's what this blog is all about.  I will never forget and they will never forget me.  My voice will always be here, telling their stories.  Here is the simple story of Tristan's 4th birthday. We did a little bit of preschool because that's what Tris wanted, especially since his birthday was marked on the calendar with a big cake!  Then we took all the boys to the "pirate ship park" so they could expend some energy.  They climbed and slid and played and picked buckeyes.  When picking buckeyes and sticks turned to picking on each other and hitting with sticks, we left.  Sure sign of hunger! We had some beef stroganoff for lunch, delici...

The time has come for Tristan to say goodbye to the "terrible three's", and make way for the "hilarious four's".  I can't believe we've had him for four whole years now!  It's been quite a ride, right from the beginning.  We were so excited when we found out we were pregnant (and it only took a month long trip to Germany haha).  His birth story was action packed, but awesome. Tristan learned quickly and kept us on the run as soon as he possibly could. He's a troublemaker, a clown, a joy, a pain.  He's everything a little boy should be. We absolutely adore him and can't imagine our family without him!! Happy birthday, Tristan.  We love you!!  You're growing so fast!

It's the 10 year anniversary of September 11th. I figure it's about time I tell my story of where I was ten years ago when tragedy struck. I enlisted into the Army in August of 2001. I had been out of HS for awhile, working the night shift at KMart for pennies. I tried college, but I didn't know what I wanted to do so I wasn't comfortable "wasting the money" while I figured it out. My boyfriend at the time started looking into joining the Army. I was MAD! I was sure recruiters were liars, but when I saw the option to become a linguist, I reconsidered my stance. I'd always been interested in foreign languages, having taken German, Italian, Latin, and French in high school, I was ready for more. I was ready to be a linguist and the big enlistment bonus was just that, a bonus. I said my tearful goodbyes and off I went to Fort Jackson, SC (aka "Camp Snoopy"). I assured my Mom I'd never go to war... like that is something anyone really...

Yesterday and today, despite my constant lectures about the pool and the hose, the boys finally wore me down and I turned a blind eye as they made a river of mud. They scooped up mud and made an "island" on top of the greenhouse wall. They also had a mud fight with the greenhouse and each other. I remember playing with sludge and I can't deny them such a joyful and significant event in ones' childhood. It's practically mandatory! As my Mom used to say "if you didn't get dirty, you didn't have fun". Wise words :) So what else is going on... Every once in awhile Josh and I get creative and get all gourmet with dinner. We send the kids to bed with cheap pizza in their bellies and get to work on our 3 course meal. This time we had pate, grilled cesar salad, steak, white wine potatoes, and grilled asparagus. It was outstanding. The only downside to having a restaurant-style meal at home is that you have to clean up the mess y...

We had our last hurrah of summer over the weekend and went on a trip to Aranjuez with our friends and their boys. It was a lot of fun. We didn't make it over to the palaces or the island garden because it suddenly got HOT and we were done walking at that point (especially since half the kids are sick). The boys all enjoyed the big garden though and we had a picnic in the bamboo. After that we all went back to our house and hung out so the big boys could watch football (the American kind). Their oldest Christopher stayed the night and he and Noah played the wii all morning. They both jump around like crazy and get waaaay too into it haha. Noah's starting 2nd grade tomorrow. I can't believe how quickly the summer flew by... or the last 7 years. Noah's got another loose tooth! Since he turned seven we've been trying to treat him like a "big" kid more often. I let him try his hand out at chopping veggies for our spaghetti the othe...