The best things are free!

Life has escaped my grip. I can remember a time when I swore I would never get too busy or make excuses or put off staying on top of blogging, updating pictures of the kids, making memory books and writing in the kids journals. I'm laughing at myself now for having such a foolish thought! Seriously... just thinking of organizing 7 years worth the accumulated pictures, moments and memories spread over three very active and funny kids pains me. (in a good way of course).

The cliff note version of life lately -

This past Saturday (2/19) Grace said the most amazing thing ever to me! We'd spent the day working in the yard, all 4 of us, planting flowers and playing around. When we were done that afternoon we swam for a bit then Todd and Cam went to pick up dinner for us. Grace and I were getting to bath and I was sitting on the side of the tub running the water and she walked up and put her arm around my waist and said "Momma, I'm glad I'm glad I'm your kid." Just like that, matter of factly with a hint of sweetness. My eyes watered up as I hugged her and told her that that was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to me. That moment is forever engrained in my soul. (Thank you, God, for that moment.)

Maddie is almost as big as me. I swear she's going to pass me up soon. Smart as can be. She's reading more and more these days. I love that she likes to read, it makes me feel like she has a little part of me in her. I bought her a really cool kid dictionary the other day and while that seems boring, it's actually a pretty cool book if you think about! (my thoughts will need to follow in a separate post or I'll get way too side tracked). Maddie is doing great at St. George and just got accepted to play city soccer. Watching her play this year was so fun, she's competitive yet so graceful. She scored the most goals in every game but never once was she boastful. I can honestly say that I don't think I have ever met a more rounded child that Maddie. Her heart is the size of the moon!

Cam is a walking, talking, climbing ball of fire. He's grown so quickly and he's so smart. He can count to 13 and say his ABC's and you'd better watch your every word because he can and he WILL repeat whatever you say! He climbs on everything. Thankfully I'm used to it now and he's sort of gotten over the newness of the whole idea because for a while there I had to keep all barstools and chairs picked up or he'd push and climb on everything. I gave him his first big haircut two weeks ago. His curls were out of control and getting really long and while I don't mind the shaggy look the front was a bit too long. I figured if Todd took him to the barber they'd cut his curls off and if anyone was doing that, for better or for worse, it was going to be me. I bathed him and washed his hair and sat in the leather chair watching TV and stood behind and just pulled and cut randomly while praying for the best! Thankfully for me, it came out pretty good but I did promise that that would be the last time I'd cut his hair. With his curls and big cheeks and animated personality, he does have direct access to my heart. It's funny how different it is with a boy. The mom/son relationship is so different, it's like we depend on each other for the exact opposite things creating the perfect balance.