I'm building a museum

I cannot stand clutter and overflowing bins and dresser drawers.  I have too many bins to count that hold clothes from size 2T to 12 for the girls.  Obviously I keep them all to pass down to the next child as one outgrows them.  We have kept almost all of our baby items as Sierra and Laurel got older anticipating that we might have another child.  I have to say that I have been relieved to know that once Cadence is done with these things it will be time to get rid of them altogether.  No more sorting through what is in good enough shape to keep vs. too stained or broken or outdated to bother packing away.  We may actually start to clear off some storage shelves and I have felt very ready to do this.  Until I actually have to do it.  Coupled with going through old photos that I want to sort into albums (note to self: don't let a toddler "look" at 5 years worth of pictures if you plan to keep them in order!) and I've been an emotional trainwreck today!

I know it's time. I know that our family is done growing and I'm very ready for all of that.  I just need the kids that we have to not grow so fast.  I've never had a problem with each birthday I've had (remind of that in 2 years!) I just have a problem that it goes by so heartbreakingly fast. 

So, I've decided to build a museum.  There I can keep everything that reminds me of the girls growing up. You will walk down halls with life size photos of the girls as they grow.  Or maybe wax figures of them in my favorite outfits that I can't part with.  I'll put the ghetto-fab bike that Sierra and Laurel both learned to ride without training wheels up on a platform.  Maybe I can start storing our annual gingerbread houses there?  I'll line the walls with their artwork and maybe pipe in their recorded voices that we have on video.  We can play continuous home movies on a theatre size screen.  Of course, once Cadence moves into a big girl room we will have a mock nursery since all 3 girls have used the same crib, changing table, and glider.  As I reread I realize it might sound totally creepy... unless it's your kids, right?  I guess I won't charge admission!

The sleeper that Cadence used in China.  She did not like the feet!

Ghetto-fab bike

Where did the time go?  Sierra was only 2 years old with best buddy, Hannah.

Laurel was just shy of 3... the same age as Cadence now

Five and three years old

Sierra learning to ride.  Before we upgraded to one white tire and one black!

Spring Break

For some reason, when all 3 kids are home, the volume in our house increases 10 fold! If one is gone, it doesn't matter which one, the noise level is reasonable. For this reason, I've been slightly dreading the summer. I love summer, pool time, relaxing with the kids. But thinking about everyday, all day, being overfilled with noise, I was feeling a little overwhelmed. Sierra and Laurel had spring break last week so I got a little taste of what summer will be like... and it wasn't too bad! I'm sure we'll be outside a lot, but I think as the novelty of all of them being together wears off a bit, so does the noise level. Yay!! We did manage to do a few fun things. A friend from work has a sheep farm and has recently lambed almost 100 babies! Wow! We were able to make it out to her beautiful property and bottle feed a couple of the babies. We explored the ground, petted the horse and dogs, and fed the mama lambs gingersnaps. Yes, gingersnaps... who knew!

Brad was off one day and we took the kids to Bounce and Play. Of course the big girls loved it and not surprisingly, so did Cadence! Once we went down the big slide with her she was ready to do it all by herself. She is a daredevil! On a more subdued note, Sierra, Laurel, and I went to a friend's pottery studio. The girls had been there before and started a project. Unfortunately our friend was called away and they weren't able to finish... so they finally completed their plates. More exciting, they were able to use the pottery wheel. Wow, much more challenging than I anticipated, but we all had a lot of fun!

Maybe summer won't be so bad after all!

Great Wolf Lodge

For Christmas we gave ourselves the gift of an overnight trip to Great Wolf Lodge. It was a two-fold gift... I've been DYING to go there & we got the kids fewer individual items which equates to less stuff piling up in our house! If you haven't ever been you absolutely must go!! They are all around the US. For those who don't know it's an indoor water park & lodge. The park is "free" with your purchase of an overnight stay and because you can go both the day you arrive AND the whole day that you are checking out, it's actually a pretty good deal. There are themed rooms, so Sierra & Laurel had their own little bunk nook with a TV & all (not that they ever watched it!). Cadence actually slept well in her pack-n-play and we were thankful for that. Brad and I took turns hangin' with Cadence and going on the slides with the big girls. Now that I think about it, I don't think he and I ever swam in the same pool at the same time! But everyone had a blast! Cadence loves the water, waterslide, and all of the fountains. It bodes well for a summer filled with pool time! Of course, Sierra & Laurel always have been waterbabies!

Cadence ventures down the slide - with a little help from Laurel!

Bunk beds

Cool picture of the girls under a waterfall at night



The fam... is Sierra already reaching that age where she's going to looked pained everytime we bust the camera out?!