Lately......

I wake up to this little man every morning. Happy smiling & ready for adventure! He's learning to unzip his pajamas. Very pleased with himself too in case you couldn't tell. This morning I walked in his room & what should I see but a cute little boy sitting & jibbering away when all the sudden he opens up his jammie shirt super fast & shows his chest, lol! I couldn't help but laugh & laugh! He knew he was being funny too! He's such a happy little guy that sometimes he will wake up in the middle of the night & laugh for a few minutes while he babbles about something & then fall back to sleep. I love it & I love him more than I can even put into words.

I had a chance to buy a huge amount of vintage Fisher Price toys this past week. I found them on Craigslist & when I called Tim (the Fisher Price guy) he already had someone coming to look at them. They were a little more than I could afford to spend by myself. So I told my neighbor about the deal & she was interested in splitting them if I could get them. He had some things that I wanted & some things she had been looking for also. However things fell through & I was heartbroken. Tim, the Fisher Price guy, knew I really wanted them but his brother had come over to his house after I called & freaked out when he found out he was selling them. Tim told me he'd try to convince his brother to change his mind & I told him to call me.....even if it was 6 months down the road. We really wanted these toys. I know they are just toys but I've been trying to find some of them for years. Years! So you can imagine my surprise when Tim called me a few days later to ask if we still wanted to come & pick the toys up. I went while the kids were taking naps. Tim ended up being the nicest guy. He works for ADT security, so if you ever are in need of a security system in your home let me know, I'll send you his number. Nicest guy ever & I'm not just saying that because we got they toys :) He was glad the toys were going to a good home.

His mom had taken impeccable care of all of them. She even saved pieces of some of the boxes. The lithographs had come off of the airport but she had saved them & I was able to place them all back on. It looks amazing. Melanie & I had a fun time splitting the toys up. I wanted to make sure she felt everything was fair even though I feel I ended up with a little more than she did. Mostly due to the size of some of the vintage trucks I picked for Oblio. She didn't want the trucks (my Oblio loves them!) I did pout a little over a gurney & the hospital scale, lol, & she let me keep them even though she picked the hospital. I told her I'd make her little E. a baby doll blankie in exchange. It all was so silly & it made me feel like I was a kid again. The girls spent the better part of the weekend playing with all of their "new" toys. I'm already on the lookout for other Fisher Price things to add to our slowly growing town. Right now everything sits in neat little rows on top of our piano & computer desk. Ready to play with whenever they want. Eventually the toys will find a home on our bookshelves when they finally get built (hopefully sooner than later ;). 

Sweet little Sloan is almost off her crutches. She still needs them every once in a while but is trying to walk on her foot as much as she is able. She still has a couple of weeks left before the pain will completely go away but we are thankful she didn't break it. She's growing up so quickly! I've promised to show her how to shave her legs this week. Shhhhhh! Don't tell her I told you ;) I'm in a bittersweet stage with her right now. That in between stage, but we are finding our way. Sometimes she needs me, sometimes she doesn't. So the times that she comes to me to talk or confide I hold on & really try to listen. It's a new path for me as a parent. A road I've never gone down before & I often feel a little out of sorts, but I feel like we are setting the stones on this new path together. Sometimes I trip, sometimes she stumbles but more or less we are figuring it out together. We're paving the way for her sisters & eventually her brother. This path is such an important one. It's what will take her & them to all thier new adventures later on in life. My job is to make sure I help her set the stones properly & then we maintain it together. By doing these things my hope is they will have a smoother journey along the way. I have so much to learn as a parent but I couldn't think of a better preteen to do it with. She is so brave & confident. I'm so blessed to be her momma!

We planted our potatoes! Also planted the onions & peas. Really working hard on getting things going this year in our garden. The greenhouse is full of Kale & spinach, lettuce & onions. We have been able to have fresh salads from it all winter long! 

The girls love helping this year too. They are really starting to understand how things grow & how this all works. We are trying to get everything dialed in so we can get bees this year too. Dean & I spent the better part of Saturday taking down half of the carport near our garden. We never used it & now we have so much more room to get some more beds started. It felt so good to get outside & get my hands dirty. I even got a little sunburn on my shoulders & cheeks. The fresh air did me good this weekend. I'm thinking that I may try to work out in the yard a little each day when Dean is at work. He was so happy that I helped him. I know it motivates him to get things done when I take an interest in the projects he's working on. I've just got to find a way to balance it all. There are so many things I want to do & never enough hours in the day. I'm sure I'll find a way though. Three more weeks til school starts again & I want to fit as much fun in as possible!