Tightrope

"Mommy, I know what you mean when you say life is a balancing act, that being a mom is a balancing act. Sometimes it's really hard, sometimes it's really fun, you know, sometimes it's puzzling. Sometimes you think you might fall because you feel like you're walking on a tightrope."

I don't remember ever telling him that motherhood is a balancing act, but still, his description is pretty accurate.

Happiness Is...

Five years of playing with the same little buddies!  Today was Delia's 5th birthday, and we got to visit her and play for a bit today.  Can you believe that Jen got this picture of all the kids?  (Jonathan is kneeling, of course!)

Click here to see this crew five years ago, which just consisted of Jonathan, Ella, and brand-new Delia! Happy birthday, Delia!

Ride 'em, Cowboy!

Benjamin loves rocking on the little horse that Ms. Gertrude handed down to us!

Cute?

She is pretty cute.  And when her behavior is anything but cute, it's nice to have some cute pictures to look at to remind me of her cuter times.  :)

Pocket Purse

My mom made a purse for Grace out of a pair of her old jeans.  Just because my mom is a wonderful grandma.  Grace spent a lot of time enjoying the zipper!

Road Trip

We took a short road trip on Saturday to visit our friends Charlie and Paola, and their daughters, Sophia, Antonia, and Camila.  I can't say that all the traveling moments were happy, but here are some on the way that were very happy.  We had a great time with our friends, and hopefully I'll blog about that soon.

From John's Phone

These are pictures from Jeff's dad's phone, taken during his April visit.

Guess who didn't want to have pictures taken.  :)

The Peanut Pool

After skipping last summer, the Peanut Pool is back in business.

What you don't see in these pictures is that Benjamin is too little for the pool.  I put him into it with the other kids, and although he was excited, he quickly lost his balance, fell under, and couldn't get back up.  I grabbed him immediately, but it really freaked him out.  I put him in a pool float (not shown) and swimmies (shown,) but neither did the trick.  He wanted to sit down and play like he can in the bathtub, and it's just too deep to do that very well.  So, we found other things for him to do while the big kids were in the pool.  All three had a great time, and I was hopping, keeping them safe and out of trouble.

 The water table provided lots of fun!

 So did the Cozy Coupe!

 See ya!

We love summer vacation!

Dad Would Be Proud

Jonathan:  Look, Mommy, "seefood."
Me:  I don't really like "seefood."
Jonathan:  Grandpa did.  He showed me.
I'm glad Jonathan remembers him fondly.  Jeff said, and I agree, that my dad would be proud.

Tissue is the Issue

Me, to Benjamin, who likes to wail all evening lately:  Goodness gracious, what is the issue?
Grace, to me:  No, it's tissue!  I have that when I have snot.