These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

Isn't this time of year fantastic. I love the leaves falling, the beautiful bright colors of orange, yellow and red, the 70 degree weather, and the feel of the cool breeze on your skin. I love baking fun treats, watching the sun set on long walks, and listening to the kids giggle as they run in the rain.

Alright, I realize the above sounds as though I'm submitting an add to the "singles" section of a newspaper, but seriously, it's the time of year when your reminded daily how truly beautiful this earth is and how very lucky we are to be here.

It's so fun to sit outside while the kids play for hours on end. I love watching them play kick the can with neighborhood friends or fly down the hill in front of our house on their big wheels. I'm taken back to my own childhood when my only worry was completing the sharp turn into our drive way on my smurf big wheel or making sure I headed in when the lamp post began to flicker on. I think back to those wonderful memories and pray each day that we can be tools in offering our own children similar experiences of discovery and nostalgic moments to look back on.

While parenting is not quiet as footloose and fancy free, I think the joy of these moments are as equal, as you now have the pleasure of becoming the "spectator" and watching your own children experience all the wonders of childhood. How awesome is that - I'm not sure it could get any better!

SNL and Financial Advice?

One of my friends posted the following on her blog and I thought it was hilarious! I haven't actually seen a SNL since about middle school, and maybe they have come along ways since then, however, I'm pretty sure it's not known for offering such amazing insight!

I can't find a way to mute the side music bar so you'll have to mute it prior to watching. Enjoy.

Family Farewells

The last of my help left this morning. I walked in the door after dropping my Mom at the airport and burst into tears. Steven sat me in his lap and reminded me that with each new child we just need a little more family organization. It's not that I'm not ready to juggle things on my own, I mean, we've done it for the last seven years and everything falls back into place and works well. It's that feeling you get though after returning from a relaxing vacation or starting back into your "normal" routine after Christmas break. You're excited to jump back into the swing of things but there's a sadness somehow about the previous experience being over.

The fact that my mother was an absolute angel, with her help being above and beyond anything we could have imagined (thanks Mom for coming) increased that sadness a bit beyond what my emotions were able to handle at the moment. After taking a few deep breaths however, I hopped up, fed Haley, got the kids situated next to me playing in the toy room and jumped on my Elliptical for a two mile run. Nothing like sweat and some good old fashion endorphins to put the world back in perspective again!

After playing with the kids, feeding them and tidying up a bit, I am now able to enjoy their quiet time with a short nap and a quick blog on our past few weeks. Hey, maybe I can do this!

We have had a wonderful time enjoying Haley J here in our home. We already can't imagine our family without her and continue to enjoy her little spirit each day. Ryley, Kadyn, and Thatch continue to love on her and watch over her. With Mom here we took the opportunity daily to enjoy the beautiful weather at our favorite parks and spent some quality time going to places that I'm not entirely sure I will be able to attempt in the next few months with all four kiddos. We were also lucky enough to have Mom and Dad Ballard come through to visit. We had a great time with them and were able to bless little Haley during that time. We feel grateful, even with our many distant moves, that Dad Ballard has been able to be in the blessing circle with Steven for three of our children (thanks Mom and Dad for coming). It was a special weekend and a wonderful way to complete these past few memorable weeks for our family.