Lifelines

We had a good time in Australia.
The kids checked out the Outback menu.
And then I added them to it :)

The kangaroos were annoyingly lazy so there was nothing to see.
Luxe made it up it though with her marathon sprint through their compound.

(And the rest of the zoo, for that matter!)

Animal I envied most at the zoo: (though I certainly would have preferred a cushier napping spot)

We found some monkeys (and I finally caught up with my own):

I joked on this photo that I posted on Facebook that I needed my own monkey moat in the backyard.
Really though I wasn’t joking.

The funny thing about pictures like the one below is that I capture the smiles and post them for the world to see…

…and no one is any wiser that my darling children literally came to blows over that stupid telescope thingy.
I need to start videoing snippets of my life more than I do.
We’ll either truly end up with our own tv show or with our children in foster care.

Doesn’t she almost look like a little pig-tailed bruiser here?
She is.
Luxie doesn’t take anybody’s crap and I love that about her; it’s just how Greer is too.
The best thing about my girls is that they’re super girly…but they can hold their own when push comes to shove.
And if they can’t, luckily they’ll always have Creux around :)

Welp.

I have half of a blathering on type post ready to go…half written here on my computer and half written on my phone but for some reason, my phone and computer aren’t synching and I’m too darn tired to mess with it.

So instead of my “here’s what’s been going on” post, you get the zoo!
Yay!

And by the way, in case you missed the announcement on Facebook…Charlie went and got me pregnant again, making this our third baby due in October.
Apparently, we can’t handle long, cold dismal winters together in the same bedroom :)

You are definitely want to stay connected to me in some way, shape or form over the holidays this year because I can almost promise you that I will lose my ever-loving mind.
It might be fun to watch, really!
Honestly, I think most people just want to know how we’re going to manage this big family and all of it’s trimmings and trappings and maybe someone observing can fill me in as well because, folks, I am winging it at this point.
All bets are off.
Last man (or woman) standing wins.
(Wins what? Heck if I know. Sanity? A conversion van? An iPad 3? Ooooh, I vote for the iPad 3.)

Anyway, I’m being facetious—we’re over the moon excited and I feel like I can play with the announcement here since I left my heartfelt one on Facebook.
(That sounds like an oxymoron if I’ve ever heard one…heartfelt & Facebook? But that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.)

On Thursday of last week, I peeked at this week’s forecast and groaned.
Rainy all weekend, a near 20 degree drop in temps.
Nothing even remotely warm until the end of THIS week.
But last Friday was gorgeous, almost 80 and sunny.
I begged my husband to take the day off, I gathered what children weren’t absolutely grousing about going to the zoo “again” (I swear to God…) and we were off.

Self-note: (don’t mind me, I’m just going to start talking to myself here and there as I ride the crazy train)
“Carpe diem” wasn’t created for the fun of it.
When you see a great opportunity, take it—literally, seize the day!
I don’t think that’s ever been anyone’s biggest regret.

Here’s some of our best seizing!

Charlie took so dang long getting home that by the time we arrived at the zoo, we only had about two hours until closing.
Mama was displeased BUT still in the seizing frame of mind so I went with it.
Grrrrrr.
Since we were short on time, we headed to our favorite section of the zoo: NOT North America!

PIGGIES!!!
(Holy cow, these things killed me all day long. So cute. And bouncy! Wait till you see them in action!)

We were largely ignored by the penguins.
Which was fine by me.
Smelly little birds.
Bleck.

We found one that liked us though!
My kids, ever the photo hams, climbed up and begged for these shots.
I swear.
I’m not lying.
It’s really true.

Funny how they’ll do this with a wooden freaking penguin but if I want one under the Christmas tree when we’re all decked to the nines, FORGET ABOUT IT.

I thought these tulips were beautiful—but nothing compared to the sweetness in front of them.

Yes, I took this in a bathroom.
Yes, I know that’s tacky.
But just look at that place—a loo under the sea! We loved it!

Oh, there’s more….flying piggies and a trip on the carousel off the top of my head but this mama needs some rest.

Okay, fine, so I taped the whole last season of The Real Housewives of New Jersey and I’m glued to my tv.
Whatever.
(But such trash! I love it! Swoon!!)

It’s that time of year again: the time where this mother of five is most likely to lose her damn mind.
Soccer, soccer, soccer.
Run, run, run.
Only three playing this spring so I lightened my load.
(Please read that with the heavy dose of sarcasm with which it was meant to be read.)

We ran the kids for three hours last night, Charlie and I both, shuffling our three players to their various games and practices.
By the time we were supposed to hit Greer’s 7:30 jazz class, I was too far done.
DONE!!!

But that’s not really what this post is supposed to be about.
I just got all carried away complaining.
It feels nice to have a captive audience to that again! Wow!

What I wanted to tell you was this: I love Once Upon A Child.
I swear by it, have been a faithful customer since Chas was little and we had two pennies to live off of.
Sure, sometimes it’s hit or miss in there and I can’t always get what I want but when I do, I’m STOKED.
Because I can get my girl brand-new, hot pink, @$$-kicking soccer shoes…

…for THIS much!!!

I actually had to still go to the soccer store to pick up a new ball and when I peeked at the shoes there, the cheapest were between $20-24 so this was a huge savings for us!

Er, or would have been.

If I hadn’t then decided to “pick up a few more items.” :)

I missed my blog this morning and felt compelled to pop on and deposit something.
I haven’t really felt compelled to do this in a long time.
And I welcome the feeling…with hesitation.
Because you see, I’ve lost the ties-that-bind tether to my computer at night.
I’ve lost the desire to sit here for extended periods of time, editing photos and writing tales of our days.
I climb into bed around 9 or 9:30 most nights now and watch crappy tv.
Things like “Dance Moms” and “Worst Cooks in America.”
No judging, people. (So I like crappy tv–it could be worse. I could be out drowning kittens in my free time but I’m not, I’m only playing pro bed potato and loving it.)

I do miss having a regular brain dump though.
And while I’m still editing photos and posting them via Facebook, it does make me sad to have missing “pages” over here.

Not to mention, I’m much more private on Facebook.
Facebook is not the forum where I am comfortable sharing my innermost thoughts and feelings.
Here is different for me.
Here feels like a confessional of sorts and a place that I know is filled with the people who truly care to be in-the-know in regards to our goings-on.
Here is where I write for myself and for my family; yes, to also share with others but mostly, this space is mine and for my most cherished.

So today I thought I’d take a dip in this favorite old pond of mine.

Yesterday the girls wanted to paint their toenails and I decided that we should go hog-wild with the Easter palette.
And they loved those jellybean piggies!

Almost as much as I love THEM!

60 degrees in January.

WEIRD.

And before I even knew the temperature, I had woken up to a very swollen and very UNFROZEN creek out my bedroom window.

WEIRD.

But you know what?
I love it!!
I’m not complaining about these freaky little balmy days because you know why?

Because January is almost over.

Which leaves us with cold old February and psychotic new March.

And then it’s SPRING!

And though we’re a ways away still, my kids thoroughly enjoyed the hint of what’s to come…

(This was the first time I picked up my camera in weeks and I was reminded too just how much I love photographing these special moments at home.)

What a weird, warm January we’ve had!
I’m certainly not complaining, I like weird and I like warm and if it sortens my winter sentence by several weeks, then so be it I say!

My kids were so excited to see this weekend’s snow though.

Me, ah, not so much—I’m sure glad that we will be able to use our ski passes this week but with that snow has come the frigid cold and THAT I can definitely do without.
FOREVER!!!

My kids were begging to go outside and play in the snow and after a long catch-up day of schoolwork, I finally let them and I made sure to bring my camera along!

(I’ll tell you, I paid dearly for that decision too because I could not wear gloves AND manipulate my camera at the same time. Camera won. Fingers froze. By the time I went back in, I thought they were going to fall off and I think for a little while I would have preferred that.)

There’s way more fun to come for these kids, a whole season long bit of winter wonderlandy play!
(Yay.)
(Hopefully my “enthusiasm” isn’t catching ;))

Wow, it’s been awhile, huh?
An unprecedented slice of bloggery silence.
My excuses run the gamut…I’m busy, I’m still recovering from Christmas, blah, blah, blah but ultimately, I just wasn’t feeling it.

Weird, right?

Honestly, I blame Pinterest and Words with Friends (though the second is far worse right now) for sucking up any available time I have.
Which is practically none as it is.
And even now, I should be doing about thirteen other things but I’m not.

Hopefully I’ll get my groove back but I wanted to say to those of you who did, thanks for checking in on me! If one (or three) of the kids had tied me up and left me for dead in the basement, I’m happy to know that eventually, my friends will come looking for me.

First one there gets my Tiffany’s bracelet! :)