Waldkindergarten, Germany

“It’s harder to talk about, but what I really, really, really want for Christmas is just this: I want to be 5 years old again for an hour...I want my childhood back.” 

― Robert Fulghum, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

I have been thinking a lot about this year- this year when my oldest would go off to Kindergarten and that piece of me who had hardly ever left my side would be off experiencing new and exciting things...all on his own.  Would he suddenly lose his childhood and be forced to grow up too quickly? Would he remember to be kind, even when he's picked on?  Would he easily make new friends, or would he struggle at times to feel confident and likable?  Would he remember when he's having a hard day that he is loved so much it makes his mother's heart ache?  Not to mention....Would he be alright in a class where everyone speaks German?  Would he feel embarrassed and frustrated, or would he be excited about making new friends and experiencing new things?  

The past few weeks have been a bit bumpy.  There are certainly good days and bad days- for all of us. It's hard to be in a situation where you can't express what you'd like to say because you don't know the language. It's hard to get used to doing things differently. It's just hard. But one of the most positive things I have seen come out of this transition, is the love he has for his younger brother, who also attends the Waldkindergarten (Forest Kindergarten). They are inseparable. Of course they still fight and wrestle....all the time. But they have each other.  And that makes it easier to tackle their 4 and 5 year-old challenges each day.   Today when I was trying to separate them from a fight and make them sit on separate couches, the younger cried out: "But I love my brother. I always want to be with my brother." 

Yo, Ho, Happy Halloween! (Only a few days late)

Oh Halloween.  You are just way too much fun!!  My boys have been quite obsessed with Jake and the Never Land Pirates recently, so I knew this is what we had to do for our costumes this year.  The boys got SO into it!  They helped me make their costumes (because I couldn't find a large enough Jake costume, or a Cubby costume ANYWHERE) and they were into every single detail.  In fact I got scolded when we tried to leave the house without the little J's on Jake's boots.  Such treasured memories (no pun intended). :)

 And here's a shot of the entire crew.  Happy Halloween everyone!

“I am not pretty. I am not beautiful. I am as radiant as the sun.” {The Hunger Games}

My sisters and Mom recently made a trip out from Utah to see us and help with the new baby.  I don't get to see them very often so I was ecstatic to have them here!  Before Caryn went home, we celebrated her birthday by doing something I will never forget.  She told me all she wanted for a gift was a Hunger Games-themed photo shoot.  How cool, right?!  We literally walked a few feet past our backyard to do the shoot.  I love where we live!  And as pesky as the deer are, it's pretty cool to see them walking through our yard every day.  My favorite part of the shoot was finding things around the house to make the props.  The arrows were made out of old curtain rods and feathers from an old duster.  (We have been renovating our house).  The quiver was made from a cardboard tube we had laying around.  The bow was made from a stick and twine.

Caryn and Lisa, you girls are gorgeous and I love you so much!  May the odds be ever in your favor... :)

"Adventure is out there!"

I think it was more than a year ago when my friend Song and I started dreaming up an engagement shoot based off the Pixar movie, Up.  She sadly moved away soon after and we didn't get a chance to make it happen.  I absolutely love the movie, and one day as I was watching it, I noticed that my youngest son, Josiah, looks an awful lot like Carl as a young boy.  And so the obsessiveness with finding aviator hats, making Adventure books and grape soda pins, and buying lots and lots of balloons started.  :)  I have to say it was quite the adventure even taking these photos with a baby, a toddler, and 48 balloons (most of which popped by the time we got to our location).  Last summer I enlisted the help of some family members and we took these photos to use for our Christmas card.  I am finally getting around to posting them on the blog, and I am happy for the reminder that I always need to keep a "spirit of adventure,"no matter how crazy things seem at times.

After moving, getting out of the Army, changing employment, and renovating our house, we now have an even bigger adventure ahead of us!  A new baby!