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I was looking back through pictures from Meg's birthday last year, and when I saw these it made me smile.  I remember that time of my life being super stressful, trying (without success) to sell our house, getting ready to move, etc.  But even in the middle of that, there were great times!  

I had taken Meg and Carter to visit Nate at work that day, since it was not great weather and I thought Meg would love to run around a little for her birthday in the halls of the clinic.  After visiting Nate, the weather seemed okay, so before heading to the car we walked around the grounds for a minute.  Not a minute after we decided to head home (parked a ways away on the street, of course) it started to POUR.  Sheets and sheets of rain.  We made it to an overhang of the Mayo building, and stood in the dry (although Meg wanted to be out in it!) and laughed and laughed and watched the rain until it let up enough for us to make a run for the car.  I remember being so happy.  

I am grateful for phones with cameras to capture fleeting joys like this!  

I promised a walk before the rain hit… and then the rain came a little too quickly.  Luckily, the umbrellas only made the walk more exciting.  

And, while we were watching a friend that afternoon, she and carter came up with this crazy game where, after emptying all the contents of the clear storage bin, someone climbs under it while the other person pummels it with bean bags.  They were laughing so hard and having so much fun.  :)

I know I keep mentioning it, but it is so fun living by my grandma!  

We were at a wedding shower for my cousin, and it was so fun to watch my grandma and her cute sister… they have lived next door to each other practically their whole married lives and are both just such fun and happy people.  

And, since we weren't able to make it to her birthday celebration, we got to have her over for lunch on her actual birthday.  I love that while she was showing the kids the fabric for her latest humanitarian quilt (she has made more than 800!) they were both trying to be the closest to her.  :)

   

   

(Which, incidentally, is any day that you make something out of tinfoil.)

I am sure I've mentioned before how much we love Dr. Seuss.  I think the guy was hilarious, creative, brilliant, and wise.  

We celebrated his birthday with lots of Seuss books and with green eggs (and lots of requests for "pink ink", like last year… although unfortunately I had forgotten to get some.)  Meg and Carter loved the green eggs.  Our little visiting friend… not so much.  But I loved that (since we had just read Green Eggs and Ham) the kids kept telling her, "try it, and you may!"

And I loved this quote from Dr. Seuss that I just discovered this year – I swear, it is how I feel most of the time:  

"How did it get so late so soon? Its night before its afternoon. December is here before its June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?"

Since the snow was melting and the day was supposed to be in the 50's, we decided to head to the park with the least amount of snow (the one they made in the spot where my elementary school used to stand)… not really thinking about the fact that the wind was howling MN style, and that the high temp of the day (those 50's we were thinking about) does not happen at 10 am.  Still, although we were cold, it was so great to play outside and for the kids to run and run.  Also, for memory's sake, the grass near the fence in the top picture is where my friends and I used to play with our imaginary horses in elementary school.  (sure, I know now that sounds kind of lame, but back then it was awesome, I swear.  Her name was Snow Puff, by the way.  :)

 

  

Yes, that red dot out there is Zach.  And these were both on the same day.  Both of them have attempted the climbs again.  And neither of them can figure out why on earth I have a problem with it. 

When Meg came to show me her "outfit" (which included a dress we found in the 2T clothes we were going through, a ballet skirt, and some random outerwear) it reminded me so much of a picture of me about her age I had to take one myself.  

Also, she has started saying "because", and ends many sentences with it.  Not at all grammatically correct, but super cute.  Also she is constantly singing songs from Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, and wants to "stop! and go potty right away!" thanks to the show… I should probably run with that… we'll see.  :)

And, whenever she is doing something that she realizes she likes, she'll say over and over: "This is FUN!  This is GREAT!  This is really FUN!"   sometimes the things she says it about totally surprise me. 

And, you can definitely tell she is almost 2.  Why?  Oh, the screaming just to scream, the going limp when I pick her up when she refuses to move, and the tantrums… yes, this is a good year coming up.  :)

Words of wisdom from Elder M. Russell Ballard "…recognize that the joy of motherhood comes in moments. There will be hard times and frustrating times. But amid the challenges, there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction."

To that end, here are some of the "moments" - 

Emma and Zach "observing animals during a late winter storm".  

  

visiting the "zoo" (which obviously was constructed and enjoyed before anyone's hair was combed…) – also, I loved being just in time to see Carter feed the animals.  

  

Meg in her "chicky one" (apron that she loves) and 3 kids sharing the office chair without fighting while they watched vidoes on the Friend.

  

Carter and Emma (at school) and Meg cashing in on their McDonald's lunch coupon from valentines day (the last minute coupon books were a huge hit and have been so fun!)

Zach's box shelves for baseball gear in the baseball room, "because I couldn't get enough lumber, Mom."   

and, his willingness to let all of the siblings in for a pic before he got one of his own.  (Does this happen at your house – one kid wants a pic of something and all of a sudden everyone else insists on being in it?  This time ended better than most…)

And we should just randomly get out plastic eggs throughout the year… these guys had "egg hunts" all day long, and had the best time ever.  

I think recording the "moments" helps you recognize that they are, in fact, there – and are a blessing to look back on when you are in the middle of the rest of the time.  :)

 

When Meg wanted to join the Sunday afternoon watercolors, and I didn't want the mess, I was pretty proud of my idea to let her paint on construction paper with plain water… since it darkens the paper, she felt like she was painting, and she was mess-free.  Win-win!