from 46 inches

 My phone is running out of memory space.
Because every few days, Nicholas likes to take it and spend the afternoon taking pictures.

I have to delete about 300 of them each time, 
but I keep a few,
because it's kinda fun to see what our world looks like 
when you're 46 inches tall and 6 years old.

I thought this picture of Ellie through the window was pretty cool.

 Another fun play with reflections in the back window.

And just us, hanging out.
Sometimes I wonder why we even need such a big house,
when most of the time, all five of us are smushed together within about ten square feet of it.

And finally, a self portrait of my milk mustachioed favorite six-year-old.
Thanks for the pictures, Bud.

cardboard

 Our new sofa set came in boxes. Great big boxes.
The kids tried sleeping in the boxes one night,
but after about twelve wake-ups and getting-out-of-bed incidents 
(one of which involved Ellie riding the rocking horse in the middle of the night,)
Mom and Dad put an end to that activity.

On Thursday morning, though, I brought out the markers, set out all five boxes,
and suggested they draw spaceships.

 They chose to make GUP's, a sort of submarine, from their favorite cartoon, The Octonauts.

 Coloring and playing with the GUP's kept them busy for about six hours.
I need to help them be creative like this more often. 
Six hours of happy, fight-free imaginative play? 
Super awesome.

 I just loved Christian's little eyes peeking over the edge of Nick's box.

 And my mommy heart just loves the way they draw.

 Nick's steering wheel

 He called this the "Snack Shooter." Adorable! Look at that carrot!

 And Ellie's letter "E" only has three lines this time! Usually it has about twelve.

A friend remarked tonight that it seems like my kids are getting so much more grown up.
And she's right. They are changing and growing,
and while I know that new good things come with each new stage,
I hope I will always remember these times,
 like them sprawled on the tile, creating "GUP's" and exploring the deep ocean, saving fishes,
out of cardboard boxes.

scenes from our August

 Peanut Butter Cup rice krispy treats. Oh man. These are way too delicious. 
And I wonder why I'm having such a hard time losing the baby weight this time....

 We were meaning to make these for Nick's birthday party, but it didn't get done until the next week. Homemade lego fruit snacks--very fun, but very sticky. Like, tear the skin off your lips sticky. Definitely going to have to try these again and figure out what I did wrong.

 It's a rhinoceros. Out of pretzels. 
Just because little boys are the coolest.

My sweet baby modeling the adorable tie sent to us by the ever lovely Katie of Chintz Petite. He was oh so cute, and I just couldn't help but laugh every time I looked at him....he did sort of remind me of a used car salesman with the blue polo and tie combo...

 I got to help my brother by taking a few newborn shots of his sweet Avery. 

 This boy looooves bathtime. And I wish I'd worn a poncho every single time. 
He splashes. I'm pretty sure I end up more wet than him.

 

 Took the kids to the Museum of Natural Curiosity last week (hooray for school being back in session! The museum was practically empty!)
I'm always surprised at how exhausting it is to follow them around the museum. I kept looking at my phone, thinking, surely it's been like three hours, only to find we'd been there for merely 45 minutes.  By the time we were done, we were all more than a little tired. (aka the three-year-old screamed at me the whole drive home)
But my favorite moment? Watching Nick be brave enough to creep across the rope bridge for the first time and hearing him stop in the middle and shout to no one in particular,
"I'm a BIG boy!"
So awesome.

 We held a Back-to-School feast for the kids.
I kept it simple, but we ate by candlelight and talked about learning and making friends and being brave and kind.
Then we finished with brownies and ice cream with a beautiful rainbow backdrop.

And finally, we've grown up and bought our own sofa set. For the new house, but we (mostly just me) were too excited to wait until we move. I'm in love with them.
And wishing we'd gotten rid of that behemoth microfiber sectional sooner. 

I can't believe we're into September already.
The leaves are starting to change up high on the mountains, and oh I just can't wait--fall is the best!