when it rains i feel totally at peace with our ‘accomplish nothing today’ attitude.
this desk is calling to me to work on it.. but then that would mean i actually have to clean it. not today, i say!

have a nice weekend. 🙂

last sunday was kick off sunday at church- where we celebrate the new school year and some of the kids "graduate" to the next grade level in sunday school. caleb had already been going up with the older kids because he likes to be with his brother cam… but he was presented with a new bible on stage anyways. i could not believe what a little ham he was being!! 🙂

every time they said his name, he would smile real big and wave like he was a movie star or something! ha! that is SO him. class clown but obedient rule follower at the same time. 🙂 the kids have been quite the little dessert preparers lately too– chopping up fruit (i’m so sad our summer fruit is nearing it’s end.. it’s been so eh lately!) and putting them in yogurt. did you know that kira wants to be a chef and take over food network? i totally believe she can do it! 🙂

and one of cam… who was looking through the blog the other day and noticing that it was very heavy on the elsie side. 🙂 he turns 9 in almost 2 months from now. cannot believe that. my last single digit year with him! 😦 i’m getting old! ha!

and my girls from the last week of summer. hate that this seems SO long ago. they definitely grew closer over the summer and kira’s feeling the brunt of being gone all day… she comes home and wants to kiss and snuggle els but els wants no part of it. lol. sigh. she’d much rather dump all of kira’s things out of her book bag and draw with all her cool mechanical pencils. girls.

something i made for the work in progress kits.
i am not a huge mini book person so i need little kits like this to jump start me.

back to school night was tonight. even though we’ve heard the teacher schpeels many times before.. i can’t help but get excited for the new year. being the total teacher’s pet that i am… i love school! lol 🙂

during this little outing, els picked up a bug of some sort and has a cold. i told the other kids she had a cold and cam said, ’bout time! it’s crazy! the other kids had SO MANY colds and ear infections when they were little– els hasn’t had one. she’s had about 2 or 3 other colds…and one really bad stomach flu. but that’s it. we’ve been incredibly blessed! totally amazing. hoping it passes soon. 🙂

once again, i didn’t take a single photo at my class at the oasis!  (there are a few on their site) kira and i had such a blast. i am so amazed, grateful, in awe …and a bit jealous of their proximity! :)… of all the generous women who call this store their LSS. and the wonderful women who traveled to get there— 3+ hours of driving! unbelievable. i am so thankful for your friendship and your support. to those who inquired about leftover kits- i am sorry- they are all gone! 😦

seems i left the camera back home in good hands. dad went on a mega walk with the kids and had these pics waiting for me when i got home. 🙂

and my favorite:

have a great, great weekend!

this is how i found her yesterday morning. she has a thing with blankets. not only does she like to fiddle with them, but she has to tuck herself in, too. and the orange pillow is her boppy pillow. she uses it like a chair. perfect!

ANYWAYS. i’m trying to get her back on track with our school schedule, which means naps should be between 12-3. unfortunately, school pick up time is right in the middle of that. which sucks.

but yesterday i had the most fantastic morning with her. we went to a local bookstore that i totally forgot had the most awesome kids section. she was in heaven. we read.. she played… and we talked to other moms and babies her age. (how social of me!) but i don’t know what it was– maybe that i didn’t ‘half-read, have one eye on her’ while i read my magazines (hahaha- you know you do it, too) or maybe it was because i talked to other moms who were alone with their one child (and i could hear that lonely, ‘i-need-to-connect-because-i-am-a -SAHM’ tone in their voice) and it made me remember when i felt that way… or maybe because it made me think of when i used to spend my entire days reading board book after pop up book to the big kids..finding sooo many ways to entertain them and keep them busy.. when they were little. that was wordy. i’m emotional. missing those days— when i had 3 kids age 5 and under— the toughest stage of my life. i remember rejoicing when they started to grow…. when their clinginess started to fade.. when they would play for longer periods of time without needing me right there…and now they are gone all day. and those days when my KCC were so wittle are SO LONG AGO. how funny to crave that toughest stage…but i know why…that would be because it has been the most rewarding.

caleb- kira- cameron…. so little. 😦

so now after so many years, i’m back to dealing with tantrums and
clinginess and surrounding myself around other toddlers and social
activities that keep her busy …and i welcome it all. i am honored to be
there with her as i was with KCC. i truly
cannot imagine a better way to spend my days.

trying to adjust to just the girl and her pet.

instead of going places with 4 kids in tow, it’s me, els and pablo. 🙂 she’s in the phase where she has to take him with her.. or 5 million books, a ball, her toothbrush, crayons, etc. 🙂 i vote for pablo.

it hasn’t really set in that the guys will be gone everyday yet, but it will. sometimes, she’ll run into kira’s room and call her– sisay? sisay? and wonder where she is… but then that’s it. looks like i will be joining a gymboree or something to keep her busy. and social.

and this guy. he’s trying to adjust, but in his words, "it’s just sooooooo long. i just want to stay home with you. all we do is work." poor dude! ha!
i thought this was SOOOO funny- taken on the first day of school…. there’s dad with his camera again.

so i thought i would share some of our random and blurry photos from last weekend too. 🙂 i love that i held the camera behind and above my head and shot this randomly to find that he stopped to smile and that i actually got him in the frame. 🙂

me and the crew. this is how we look walking around– it’s either this or the boys running around me in circles shooting each other or having pokemon battles as i try to push the stroller. kira, people watching.  els on dog watch. and me watching her, hoping she doesn’t try and maneuver her way out of the stroller. but children.. all around me.. i’m surrounded! and yes! kira iS JUST about as tall as me! she’s almost there! eeeek!

this series of pictures craaaaaaaack me up. this is elsie unsure of the birds. (glad she was unsure of those dirty birds- that’s my girl!) this little mannerism of hers is sooo cute. the arms clutched to her chest and neck… then waving for someone to come save her.

sisters sharing the ipod briefly.. this was before kira got tired of listening to the backyardigans and els pitched a fit. 🙂

this isn’t blurry, but random. 🙂 yes- i make my kids try things on in stores so i can take a picture…or i mean, i make chris take a picture because i am embarrassed to. 🙂

els has major shoe fetish. the other day i was talking to a mom who had polka dotted flats on.. and she was maybe 5 words into a sentence when she realized els was totally checking out her shoes. SO funny!

this one reminds me of a photo from summer boden catalog — just her outfit and the whole beachy thing. ha!

after all those, i have to share my fave fave from the day!
i turned around and just happened to get this. i LOVE the light. soooo very  much.

i don’t know what our obsession is with A) chris throwing the kids in the air B) me photographing it even though it gives me the heebie jeebies C) me printing, enlarging and framing them all over the house. 🙂

thankfully it cooled off for the first day! we even broke out the sweaters! 🙂
oh yeah! australia and the philippines! 🙂

the day was a huge success… they all had a great time. i couldn’t help but get teary when we left caleb. he’s my little buddy. he’s been home with me so long- even last year was just a few hours of afternoon kindergarten. 😦

i thought for sure she would be missing them.. but i had to go to the dentist so daddy took her to the playground for a good time. we did the traditional breakfast out (like we used to do with caleb- waaaaaaaaaah!). something is wrong with my card though and not letting me download those.. will do so soon. 🙂

we had to wake up miss sleepyhead.. it’ll be a few days till we get back in school schedule. 🙂
despite the craziness of summer… it was for sure our best yet.. i know i’m gonna miss the rugrats. 🙂

for the last week it has been miserably hot here! thankfully we have AC but that means we sit inside all day, watch movies and take lots of naps. 🙂 so for the holiday, we decided to have one more special family day before school starts… we trekked north to santa barbara where instead of 105 it was a nice 78 🙂 ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

ok, so it wasn’t initially our idea… we can’t get enough of grammies and grampies. they said they were going and we followed. LOL little did they know their romantic getaway would be bombarded by the Waters!!! 🙂 caleb noticed them walking by and ran after them!

haha- we left them in peace and wandered around. had lunch. did some window shopping– she realllllly wanted these. 🙂

then we hit the beach and rented one of these. we haven’t done this in YEARS and it is such a great family memory.. our first time with els. 🙂

yeah you need to see a closeup with her in her helmet. 🙂

then we stopped by chris’ old school. UCSB. kira is in college mode after we visited Uncle Tuds at college on sunday. she loved walking around campus. they even got to see chris’ old dorm room! ha!

of course, the campus is walking distance to the beach.

i can’t help but be sentimental whenever we go back to santa barbara. this is the place where we began.. where our family started..  we visited our first home… we let the kids play in the playground where we used to hang out… we walked the neighborhood where i used to push my baby cameron in a stroller MANY hours a day. sigh. when there were just four of us. crazy. such a wonderful place. 🙂

(popping in really quick to say look to the right- new class info added!)————>

Eighteen years ago a small oddity entered my life.  He had big blue eyes and porcelain skin punctuated by a little dimpled chin.  He was my new brother.  I regarded him with only partial interest, at thirteen I was too old to play with him but not old enough to appreciate what a significant part of my life he would become.

Eighteen years later, there’s no mistaking what he means to me.  He is my best mate.  I suppose Tudor Robb became a real person to me about 7 years ago, the first time I saw him perform on stage.  He burst onto the scene and I was blown away.  The kid had presense and plenty of talent.  My chest burst with pride, and that pride has never wavered.  He gets it.  He’s classy, respectful, honest and loyal.  He’ll make a hell of a husband one day, and a fine father to boot.  But that is then and this is now.  Now, I’m happy to call him my brother and friend.

Tomorrow he leaves for college, and his life, and ours will never be the same.  I’ll miss the cheerful greetings he gives from the balcony when I visit home, or the ten o’clock knock on my door for a brotherly chat.  My parents will no doubt miss his daily acoustic concerts, the way he serenades them with song and laughter, the afternoon water polo games, and the constant bustle of energy that hovers about their baby boy.  For thirty-three years my mom has had a child in the house, I imagine the last is the hardest to let go.

But the boy must become a man.  So we bid you farewell, Tudor and pray that God will keep you in all his ways.  We send a person of great character and charity out into a world that is often lacking both.  God bless you little brother, no matter where you go, I’m right there with you!