well, it's true

We were sitting at the kitchen table the other day, just shooting the breeze, and Ben said to Benson, "I bet you are the smartest kid in your class." (Insert Mom assuring him it's not smartness that counts, but good old fashioned hard work, ahem) To which Benson replied,

"No dad. I'm not. But I AM the best looking."

Bahahahahaha!

We sort of tried not to chuckle and said a few, "Well yes you are. We think you are sooo very handsome," and such and he simply said,

"Well it's true. I'm the only kid who ever has their hair done."

Oh the complicated world of a 1st grader.

Isn't it nuts

 

that no matter how crazy the day has been,

I find my thoughts and heart wandering

toward my sleeping babies  

and I am nearly overcome with intense love for them?

I think that is one of my favorite things about living.

I want to bottle those moments and drink them up whenever I'm feeling down.

Mmmmmm, so delicious.

happy birday romykins

Two.

Too

Old.

Where did the time go?

Goodness sakes I love this little boy.

 I'm pretty sure no one checks this blog any more. I'm pretty fine with that. But, if you happen to be here, welcome! I don't mind a bit if everyone on the planet comes to see my little corner of the internet, but just so I don't have to think about it, I'm turning off the comments. If you really have something to say, feel free to send me an email! I'd love to hear from you if you feel so inclined.

 Anyway.

 Ben and I have lived far away from family for most of our marriage. This, as some of you may know, does not make for a lot of parental away-time. Or any, for that matter. Luckily Ben's mom is living in Albuquerque temporarily so we have been sort of taking advantage of that (sorry! but thank you so much!) and had one night away last year. It was bliss. And so blissful in fact, that we decided to go crazy this year.

 7 days.

 Sun, turquoise water, white sand, way too much food, and no kids.

 Needless to say it was amazing.

Each night as we sailed away from the day's island, we would hold hands in the warm breeze and watch the beautiful sunset over the caribbean ocean. What an incredible gift to be able to get away from dishes, and cleaning, and laundry, and waking up too early to crying people, and just stress in general. And for two days we didn't even mention the children (having the time of their lives at home with Grammy and Uncle Steve). But then little by little we would see things they would like, or other little tots cute and smiling, and by the end of the trip we are holding strangers' too-tired toddlers and finding shells for them to make them happy, and begging to hold every baby we passed. On the plane ride home we watched videos of them, laughing at every little thing like weirdos.

 Time away is good for everyone and I feel so lucky to have had the luxury of being away from my babies long enough to miss them desperately. And to know that when the kids are all grown and gone away, Ben and I will still really really like each other, even with no kid buffer. Yeeeeeesssssssss. B.F.F!

enchanting

In an attempt to find out just exactly what makes New Mexico the "land of enchantment," we headed down yonder south after Thanksgiving to see if we could find anything more enchanting than Albuquerque.

 

Hello, they have a giant pistachio! I made a goal to see it after I read about a bunch of giantized sculptures around Australia. Awesome and enchanting.

 Then onto the best sledding of our lives... in sand. I may never sled in snow again. It was so fast and we didn't start to freeze after ten minutes! Good thing because there was a little bit of this:

 

Roman dramatically plopped down and then raised his head to say, "cheeeeeeeese." hahaha

 It was such a fun trip. Sometimes just getting out of town and staying at a hotel over night is just what is needed to cheer everyone up after all our family leaves after Thanksgiving. And I daresay it was a bit enchanting down there in Alamagordo.

leaves are falling

Our neighbor's tree sheds all its leaves in one go. It's amazing. Yesterday the branches were completely full and this morning it is raining leaves and filling the lawn. I love how there is no warning, as the leaves don't even bother to change colors before their mass descent . So there's really no other choice but to head out on Leaf Shedding Day and have an early morning leaf fight. And the cute thing is that this house is in the middle of us and a family with a four year old and they were already out in their jammies with the same idea.

Ps. My favorite part of this picture is Banks over on the side.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Love,
The Black Swan, a Newsie, Harry Potter, Fire Ninja, and Little Monkey