Recently..

Let's start with the most important thing:

Piper turned SIX!



We had a party with some of her friends. She planned the whole thing. It consisted of these things:
-a pajama party
-a teddy bear camp out
-Indian face painting
-Indian hat making
-home made pizza
-musical chairs
-presents, of course.

I have some cute pictures of all the kids with their faces painted and Indian decorated hats in the tent in our living room, but contacting all those parents to see if they mind their child being posted on the internet isn't worth showing you all the cute pictures. But you can imagine, right? So here is one picture of a kid that I have consented to be put on the internet.



We had a little family party with soup and bread bowls.



Before that was Halloween. We had a nice little soup and chili party with some friends and my mom came out for trick or treating.
Piper was Dorthy, with Toto of course.


Miss Lou was a unicorn, for about ten minutes.

Something

This child is such a little stinker. This is what I do with her a lot of the time when I need to get something done, stick her somewhere she can't get down. And she proceeds to say "stuck" it's pretty funny.

She definitely continues to be our most difficult child. She rampidly runs around the house destroying stuff and getting into stuff, consistently challenging me to not be complacent. It would be so much easier to give her what she wants. Teaching her is and I have a feeling is going to continue to be a really big challenge. Whew. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.

Jake and I both go to bed reading parenting books. No joke.

And it remains to be seen if they are helping.

But at least we feel smart.

And at least we are trying... Right? And I'm sure I have got to be doing something right because there are some pretty intoxicating moments in there.

Kindergarten Picture

This is Piper's first school picture. She is absolutely loving kindergarten. She is so curious and soaks up everything she can. I wish I had the drive and thirst for knowledge that she does right now. It's really fun to see her learn and grow and read and try to spell EVERYTHING (this may or may not get old when in the car). But she's a little smarty pants who comes home everyday with a full report on what she learned, who she played with, who she sat by on the bus and how when her teacher sneezes the whole class says "bless you". I love it, it's pretty fun.



Oh and might I just add that this is the month I turn 30. *WHEW*
How am I supposed to feel about this? I feel like it should be monumentous, but it's not. I guess when you hang out with mostly 30+ year olds and have three kids it's really not that big of a deal? Don't mark my words though as the month goes on and it gets official, I might have some thirds life crisis or something.

A Year And A Half Today

My little Lou Lou is a year and half today. How quickly time with little kids goes by. I feel like it's almost impossible to slow down and enjoy it. No matter how much I try it just keeps going by quicker and quicker.
Indie is such a character. She has the most colorful personality. She still follows me around all day crying and wanting to be held and wanting to be given attention almost every minute she's awake. She so so sweet and kind and tender hearted though. A perfect balance between the older two. I love the way she smells, I love her sweet feet. I love the way she holds the silky part of her blanket and makes sucking moaning sounds when she's really tired and her binky is in her mouth. I love the way she wraps both her arms around your neck and squeezes you so tight. I even love how she walks around the house yelling "MAMA" so aggresively. She loves Jake. She loves her papa. She loves my brother and calls them all dad. She loves dogs, especially our cute neighbor's big dog she'll run right up to. She has the cutest run. I love the way she says "string cheese". Its hilarious. Oh, and "hot dog". That's funny too. If she wants something she stomps her feet while screaming. Or she'll push your legs as hard as she can to move you back so you can pick her up.

She's just so deliciously sweet (and sour) I just want to eat her up all day long. And I do.

Another Set Of Pigtails

I gave Indie her first official pigtails last week. Which is absurd because she's had so much hair for so long she couldn't had them months ago. But all day it was like deja vu. Circa 2007 when Piper was 18 months old. I pretty much only did her hair like this.

Think they look alike?

Miss Lou








Piper

Xterra and A Celebrity Sighting

This was an extra exciting Xterra with Lance there. So that was a big deal. Jake did amazing, as always. The last few years he has taken first in his age group and this year he took second but moved up to 3rd overall. (Lance competed with the pros). It was seriously awesome seeing him in person. I even stood right in front of him for like 5 minutes while I got his autograph and he signed for other people. I got really good pictures of his first transition, but in transition up to see Jake I didn't get his second or a good spot for the finish but I had fun taking his pictures. And my lover boy is insanely fit and fast. I am really proud of him. He's awesome. Love his guts.

Cool and Quiet Fish. That's me.

My Many Colored Days.. By Dr. Seuss

Some days are yellow.
Some are blue.
On different days I'm different too.
You'd be surprised how many ways
I change on Different Colored Days.

On Bright Red Days how good it feels
to be a horse and kick my heels!

On other days I'm other things.
On Bright Blue Days I flap my wings.

Some days, of course, feel sort of Brown.
Then I feel slow and low, low down.

Then comes a Yellow Day and Wheeee!
I am a busy, buzzy bee.

Gray Day....Everything is gray.
I watch. But nothing moves today.

Then all of a sudden I'm a circus seal!
On my Orange Days that's how I feel.

Green Days. Deep deep in the sea.
Cool and quiet fish. That's me.

On Purple Days I'm sad. I groan.
I drag my tail. I walk alone.

But when my days are Happy Pink
it's great to jump and just not think.

Then come my Black Days. MAD. And loud.

I howl. I growl at every cloud.

Then comes a Mixed-Up Day. And WHAM!

I don't know who or what I am!

But it all turns out all right, you see.

And I go back to being...me.

I read this with my kids last night. It's one of my favorite books, but last night, for some reason I had to read it a few times. I have found in life you can go through the motions and put on a sugar coated smile and life is great. I mean, it's great anyway, but I try really hard to be in tune with how I am feeling. To be present. And honestly everyday is different. Sometimes every hour. Being a mother is part of that. The moods of each person in the family attribute to that and how much you all slept, or didn't sleep. I try to address emotions and circumstances individually. To not let the hustle and bustle numb me to life and moments and feelings. To be fluid with each experience. It's very hard though and I know many people that are much better at it than I, those are people I find myself drawn to. Finding center is part of my journey. To be the opposite of numb. I want to teach my kids to not push aside their experiences and to be in tune with their body and minds and to fully feel life. To have the spirit touch them and feel highs and lows and inspiration. To be comfortable with that.

Well anyway~ Here are some recent pictures I took of Miss Lou when she was being particularly colorful one day. Can you believe she's 18 months old this month? Um, I can't.

Trying To Be A Good Example

My grandma died this past week and in thinking about her and what she brought to those around her I learned a lot. And I wanted to document some of it and some of the ever changing things I am going through at this point in my life. Here are a few things I wish I could engrave upon my children's souls and personalities not to mention my own. Things I hope my kids find important in their own lives because of my example. Things that I am working on so that I can pass on a better legacy like my grandma did. Maybe by putting them out into the world I will be more accountable for them :) So go ahead and call me on any of these things you don't see me doing. Um, actually don't really.... I'd get sick of hearing it after about a day.

~Have a testimony of the gospel and use the spirit.
~Upon this most great qualities and desires of the heart will follow
~Be good to your spouse, but choose wisely and then treat kindly.
~Treat others as though you would want to be treated.
~Put your family first. Put the well being of them first. No matter what other people think. Mother knows best. Protect your family. There will be many times when you are their only advocate. And heaven knows we all know that there are days we have none.
~Serve.
~Learn hard work.
~Be organized. This makes life easier.
~Be responsible. This too makes life easier.
~Be a good friend. They are hard to come by.
~Choose your friends wisely. Girls are so impressionable. Mean girls suck and you will encounter them your whole life, and they are enticing and powerful. But pathetic and unhappy and will bring you down with them.
~Spend your life with who makes you happy. Not who you have to impress.
~Think before you speak.
~Be your own person not a chameleon. You will never live someone else's life very well. Just live yours the best you can.
~Be active it keeps you happy and is cheaper than therapy. Also it deals with those pesty body issues.
~ A mom is the best friend you can have. (I'll brain wash them). Aside from your spouse of course.
~A brother is pretty great too.. and I am sure a sister is, although I don't know this from experience.
~Food brings people together. So cook :)
~Look at the positive in things- unlike your mom taught you (hopefully I'll be better at that by the time they can read this.)
~Don't be naive, but at the same time, what you don't know can't hurt you. Sometimes it's nice to be naive.
~Be confidently happy.
~ Be. Brave.

What's Going On..

Hello bliggity blog. And bliggity bloggity folks.
So not much is going on at the Carroll casa. Piper and Beck fight a lot. I clean a lot and Indie is still a handful most days. We are in transition mode for sure, getting adjusted to kindergarten everyday. That is insane.. having something we have to do everything. Huge adjustment. But I like it cause I like order and am a homebody so it suits me fine. Piper loves school and can't wait to go everyday, counting down the minutes until it's time. Which is one bad thing about afternoon~the waiting. She comes home everyday with a full report on what she did and most importantly who she played with at recess and who she sat by on the bus (Maddie and Eli, both times, everyday.)
Beckett likes preschool and has a couple of neighborhood friends in it he seems to like.
I have learned the sweet sweet bliss of carpooling. Que angels, "hallelujah". It is heavenly and makes my life soo much easier.
So other than that.. not much going on here. Just keeping on keeping on. Trying and trying and changing and growing~ that's us.

And because no post is complete without photos: here's my sass ball.


Getting caught trying to climb into the car.
She seriously loves when I let her hang out in the garage. She just runs around with a different pair of shoes each lap she takes, spreading shoes from the shoe basket all around the car. It's cute.

Kindergarten.

My little munchkin started kindergarten on Monday. Kindergarten. I have a kid in school. Not only do I have three kids, but I have a kid in school. If you know Piper you know she has been a bit timid to go to some new things like dance, nursery, primary, preschool.. takes her a few times to warm up. Not kindergarten! She was a rockstar! Her cute teacher had them wave to mom and dad say, "I'll be just fine" and blow us a kiss and walk into their school.


"Blow mom a kiss and say, 'I'll be just fine'...."


Bye.. Pipe. Don't get lost. Don't be scared. Don't miss your bus. Don't miss me too much. Don't get stolen. Boo hoo....








Such a big girl.