Holiday fun!

These two are all about the holidays this year!  They've been talking about "the Thanksgiving party" for the last few weeks and are obsessed with Christmas.  I'm not sure I've been this excited about it since I was a kid -- the last few years were fun but this year they know all.about.it and it is just downright joyful to share in the excitement with them.  It feels really special to be making our own family traditions.  I have so much more to say and things that I want to write down before I forget ... but tonight is just a night for pictures :) ...

Fall leaves and favorite "sparkle shoes" ... it's the little things

Keeping warm with her daddy

Snuggles!  (And curls!  She has legit curls!)

It's hard to get pictures of here these days so I'll take them when I can!

Happy Thanksgiving!

These two are all.about.Christmas right now.  So fun to see this
season through their almost-four-year-old eyes

Because we could never leave for school without our favorite 29 items!

I know I'm biased as his mom and all but could he BE any cuter?!

The Sunday night dinner crew.  And Aven's pose?!  Too much.

Tucson!

We were both back to work bright and early this morning so I'm having fun looking through pictures and remembering a wonderfully relaxing and sunny week just spent with Grammy, Gramps and GG Edna in Arizona.  The sunshine, downtime and family time were good for the soul!

Butterfly gardens!

The kids are all.about.Clifford right now.  And Luke is always
all about having a lap to snuggle on!

Or shoulders!

Giraffe feeding session!

Fall, Arizona style.

Glorious.

How much does Luke look like Scott did?!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from the three little bears :)

P.S. Addy will be Goldilocks but her costume isn't finished!

Glimpses ...

Some glimpses into our lives over the last weeks ...

Molly holding on for dear life :)

He was so proud he got himself in here!

Girl date.  One of our current goals is to have lots of one-on-one time with our kids.
They soak it up (and so do we).  So simple and wonderful to be with one kid at a time.

This kid.

Date night!

A fall walk with Maryman!

Wheelbarrow races!

Play date with Eden Rose!

Another preschool mom captured this moment.  Love it.

Saturday art class!

The coast!

Other than the six years that I spent in Washington and then Arizona, I've lived all of my life in Oregon.  I wouldn't say I've had any extra special connection to the Oregon coast.  Yes, it's beautiful, but I'd just as soon be in the mountains.  But now?  Oh now, I love the coast.  My kids come alive there and get to be kids -- running, exploring, building, playing ... they are their best versions of themselves.  And so we packed up and heading there last weekend for three nights.  What joy to watch them play.

These two.  

This log was a bulldozer, bus, rocket, roller coaster and more this weekend!
Love their imaginations.

Family retreat :)

Anemones!

Amelia playing chase with the seagulls!

Rainbow at the coast.  Glorious.

I think I can, I think I can ...

Catch me, Papa!

On slowing down ...

"And here’s the thing: Too Busy is a Choice.  And Life is not an emergency — Life is a gift."  Thank you, Ann Voskamp, for doing it, yet again!  Writing in such a way that captures my attention and makes me remember what my priorities are.  Last week my kids were sick, not major sick, just the normal fever, coughs, snot and general crud that go along with being preschoolers.  My kids seem to get sick a lot, like every month.  Maybe because they were preemies?  Maybe just because kids get sick a lot?  I was bummed because we'd only made it through one week of preschool before we got sick.  And I had plans for the time while they were in school!  Plans for "my time" which mamas know doesn't come around very often!  So when they got sick I cancelled my chiropractic appointment and my hair cut and my time with a friend.  And I felt a little sorry for myself.  (This is coming on the tail of just having had to miss my annual college reunion because the kids were sick).  And I heard my love and logic parenting coming out (don't you hate it when it's used on you?!) --  "You have two choices, Katie, this week can be a wash because it isn't what you had planned or you can see this week as a gift!"  It has been a hectic few months with balancing two different jobs/parenting/life and what a chance to spend 4 days with just me and my kids  And so I chose the second one (most of the time :)) and what a great week we had. Despite being sick they were in good moods and I didn't get in my car for 4 days (so amazing) and we just did puzzles and art projects and snuggled.  We took walks around the neighborhood. We turned our two couches into our "pirate ship" and read books and books and more books.  We played dress-up and made cookies and painted our fingernails.  And here's the thing:  the kids didn't care one bit.  At their age they just want their mom or dad around when they don't feel well and they don't mind that their "plans" got changed.  Always has been and always will be a struggle for me to let go of my lists and ideas and planner and agenda.  Thankfully I have two little people who are always distracting me and helping me to realize there are much more important things to do that don't fit onto any list.  I never want my children to feel like I am too busy for them.  Too busy IS a choice.  Living slower is a choice too.  Motherhood is a humbling experience.  There are forever and ever things that we must come to learn about ourselves that aren't  pretty and parenting brings these things into view on a very regular basis.  And then we sing at bedtime, "Amazing grace how sweet the sound ...."  And we start tomorrow fresh and full of grace.

Not sure that "personal space" is part of their vocabulary!
 Maybe why they share so many viruses too?!

Stroller snuggles :)

"Okay, Sissy, here's the plan ..."

My therapy

In her element!

Some glimpses into our life ...

Some glimpses of our life this week ... the kids absolutely loved their new teacher at preschool and have been playing school at home and taking turns being "Teacher Donna" -- so cute.  

We had to raise their bikes up the the highest level which gave me a moment of mommy panic -- who are these old children and what happened to my babies?!  

We got to celebrate the birthdays of our dear friend Aven, who is now four and my mama, who is now 61.   

This age feels so FUN to me.  They are just so inquisitive and curious and interested and engaged. 

I don't think there will be another phase of life where I will feel so pulled and stretched and tired -- that is what parenting and work and relationships and the balance of it all does to you.  But I also don't think I will ever again feel as purposeful or fulfilled ... what a gift to be shaping and shaped by and loving on and loved by these two little people.  Every single night Amelia asks for "the story where me and Lukey were babies in your tummy" and so every night it's part of our ritual that I lay in bed next to her and give her a back rub and sing her her songs ("Jesus loves me" and "You are my sunshine") and then tell her the 3-year old version about how she and Lukey were babies in mommy's tummy.  She hears about how mommy had to lay down for a very long time.  She knows that she was teeny tiny when she was born but she was strong and God took care of her.  She knows that she and her brother are incredible gifts that we didn't deserve but got to parent anyway.  She knows she is loved forever. 

These two will need new big kid bikes soon!

Will miss our after dinner walks when it starts getting dark at 4pm!

Wrestling!

Our dear "Maryman" as the kids call her :)  

Happy birthday, Aven!

Happy birthday, Mama!

Preschool 2014!

End of summer fun!

We're soaking up every last bit of summer around here!  Partly dreading the soon-to-be-rainy-season which means the stir-crazy-mama-of-two-wild-stir-crazy-kids ... but also looking forward to the rhythm and community of their preschool co-op getting going for the year.  The thing I want to remember most about this phase is how imaginative and creative their play has become.  They act out roles and stories and most of their play starts with lines like, "Okay Lukey, you be the daddy bear and I'll be the baby bear ..." or some other version of who will be playing which role for that particular game.  I love it.  There have been parts of having twins that have been just plain hard.  Two newborns, two teething babies, never ever getting enough sleep (which isn't always true but often felt true in the midst of my fatigue) ... but watching them play together?  Pretty sweet.

Baby Eden!

When both of your parents are nurses ...

End of summer day trip!

Love when this girl just gets to run ... and run ... and run ...

My single greatest piece of baby/kid equipment: our ergo! 

None of us are ready to give it up :)

Ballet class!  The tutu girls :)