Merry Christmas 2013!

It's the end of another year. Which means I get to try thirty different passwords and hack into my blogger account! This year has been full of its ups and downs, but let's jump to the present. When taking this year's picture I was worried that, now we are older, we might not have enough outtakes. Never fear! My shiny earrings produced a Glisten that I seemed to find very appealing.

At first, the pictures weren't so bad.

But then a mystical little dot appeared, as if sent from heaven.

Look at the pretty Glisten. It makes me feel so happy inside! Gracie, isn't it pretty!

*Note Rory's concern

You guys! I just feel so happy. Look! The Glisten left a tiny Glisten on my face!

*note Rory looking for Glisten

Maybe if I smile hard enough, the Glisten will come back. Gracie, look pretty. Jared do your big eyes thing. Glisten come back!

*Note Rory's concern.

No. No. No. I mustn't look for it. I love my family. I need to stay with my family. My family NEEDS me.

*Rory is unsure and worried.

What was that sweet, sparkly voice inside my head? Try and smash my youngest child? Well, okay then.

*Note Rory's concern

I know. I'll put myself out there. Let the Glisten know I'm ready. Gracie! The Glisten! I can see it in your glasses! 

*So, what does one do with arms and toes when taking pictures?

 *Now Jared's starting to worry.

Sweet, merciful heavens! It's back!

Hey...Autumn. Stop looking at the glisten.You're starting to scare me. Think of our children.

But it's so pretty and sparkly. It's like a little dot full of magic. Come closer! Come closer!

 *Note Rory's concern.

You guys. It's above your dad's hat! If I smile hard enough I think it will land on my face and all will be complete!

*Note Rory's EXTREME concern.

Oh man. You guys, I have a headache. Let's get this picture taking thing over with. Why does Rory look so triumphantly fierce?

Merry Christmas!

Love, 

The Gublers

and the Glisten...

 

Happy, Happy Birthday!!!

Dear Jazzy, they say it's your birthday! Da-da-da-da. They say it's your birthday! Da-da-da-da. 

So, find someplace cozy, relax, read a book, and ponder on the wonder that is you and how old you're getting. And please remember it's not that you're getting older, you're becoming that much more amazing.

Just ask this trucker person. She thinks you're awesome. Really. Have I told you that I call Gracie, "Jazzy" at least once a week? Well I do. Especially now she has a guitar that she totes all over the house. She knows E minor. We've made up some dramatic songs. They usually involve something about horses and fields.

Since you are five days ahead of me, I hope you enjoyed at least three of these.

This lady hopes you did as well.

I also hope you relaxed and watched whatever it is that Australians watch. With a big remote. I believe big remotes make life better.

I feel good birthday vibes coming from our ancestors. Which makes sense as you have a lot in common: venerability, yet strength.

I hope you ate some more of these. Because really, its time for a celebration!

I also hope that Phil dressed up like this. Talk about a birthday present!

Eat some more cake!

I also hope that you planted a seed deep in your heart so it will grow and remind you of your awesomeness.

You get this ribbon! Just like at the fair!

And remember to party on, have an excellent year, and if you were a president, you would be Babe-raham Lincoln.  

Merry Christmas 2012!

Farewell 2012! It was good, but it couldn't last. So let's look at some pictures.

Here we are. All excited. Sean is setting up the camera, I'm smoothing my sweater as I look lovingly at my wee birds. We even brought some chairs out. It's going to be a great time!

 

Not that we expect every picture to be perfect. Those red hats, while at the height of Christmas fashion, are tricky.
Jared is doing his best.
*Note Sweet Gracie.

Moving along...Who's excited for Christmas!? Rory's not sure, Sean has an itch, but I can't wait!
Jared might be a little annoyed, but he's hanging in there.
*Sweet Gracie.

Let's try again...Rory may or may not have lost her skirt.
Sean's appropriately horrified.
I'm apparently okay with it.
Jared's annoyance might be growing.
*Sweet Gracie.

This is where I remember that I'm supposed to have my hand on my hip and my chin out. You know, so I can look thinner.  I look like I'm doing my best to stay positive. Rory and Jared dare you to mock me.
*Sweet Gracie. 

 So...If Jared closes his eyes, he won't really be there.
I'm thinking about lunch.
Rory has a new pet.
*Sweet Gracie.

This is where I try to get a little snuggle buggly with Sean. He seems to be okay with it.
Jared really is trying.
*Sweet Gracie.

This might be one photo too many for the middle child.

*Sweet Gracie.

 

He's done! That's it folks! Thanks for playing!
In the three seconds after Sean set the camera: Jared ran away; Sean goosed himself on the mantel AND gave an awesome stink eye; I was alarmed; and Rory was mildly amused.
*Sweet Gracie.

This was the winner! At least I think. No one looks too tortured, amused, or horrified. So we liked it.
Yes. My feet were photo shopped out.
Merry, Merry Christmas!
Love, The Gublers

And just like that...she's back.

I figured taking a nine month break from blogging would make me appear mysterious. Who was that blogging lady with the kids? Where did she go? Did she vanish? I miss her sleepy, tired eyes.
Don't worry. You can still your beating hearts. I'm still here.

I must mention that a dear friend passed away this week. I was her visiting teach for as long as I can remember. I grew to love her. My week has been sad. I find myself puttering about the house finding ways to deal with my sadness. To keep my mind occupied. I made a long, complicated dinner (Sean liked it), placed an Amazon order for books, ate some chocolate chips.

I'm hoping to use my sadness as a reminder that life is fragile, to be grateful, and  enjoy each day.

Below is a brief summary of the past little while. Most of my photos are hanging out on my phone, but I found some of the good ones. 

Jared's first day of preschool.

Gracie realized everyone was wearing the same color. This was terribly exciting and required a picture.

Gracie's first day of first grade. Notice her pose. Knee turned in, toe pointed, hand flexed. She's good at stuff like that.

Rory thinking her mom has officially lost her mind.

This might just be my favorite picture of all time. It pretty much sums up my feelings about competitive sports. The apple didn't fall far from the tree, my friends. Wouldn't we all rather be home eating a fruit snack and watching Star Wars? Needless to say, Jared wasn't on the most winning team.

The thing is...

I haven't posted since, oh the end of February. I did a little family update, fully expecting to do another one. But then I didn't. And I didn't really want to. Not sure what happened. Maybe I felt overwhelmed by the millions and billions of voices already on the Internet. Surely, mine wasn't important and no one cared. Maybe it was because motherhood was taking every ounce of spare energy I had, because it was. Or maybe I was simply over blogging.

Also, I'm a very private person. I keep most of my opinions to myself. I find I would much rather listen to someone and get their opinions then make sure mine are heard. I've always been that way. I find it serves me well. I can leave a conversation knowing  a lot about a new friend. But when I blog I have to talk about myself and my family and I find I'm not good at it.

But then, my cute sister asked me to blog again. She likes what I have to say. Even if it's usually about my kids. Because they are always on my mind.

So, here I am, because someone asked. Maybe that's all I needed, or maybe I needed a break. Don't we all need breaks?

I'm horrible at taking and posting pictures.

And I spend all my free time either working on my novels or stitching. So that might be a bore as well. But I am going to start trying to keep those who care up to date about the comings and going of my tiny world.

So, I will now post pictures of my darling kiddos. They have grown quite a bit. :)
Um...turns out, all our best photos are still hanging out on our phones. Better not lose those!

Until next time - Autumn

Family Update

So. I've go through phrase phases. A lot. Right now I can't stop saying "it what it is" and "truth". It's almost an addiction. Truth! It's odd how life can be incredibly busy when not much is happening, but that is how things are around here. It is what it is. Except for... Jared is four! Holy smoly moly. When did that happen? He's gone on a growth spurt and now I make funny noises when I hoist him into a shopping cart so he can finish napping.

And this little Pookie. I pretty much follow her around All. Day. Long. Truth! I pick her up from the stairs, feed her Cheerios, play music and watch her dance. My word, she is a sweet little thing.

I love this picture, because of the beatiful dancer, and the goofy mother. So the following story deserves a post in and of itself, but seeing how I blog, it is what it is. - We were at the ice cream store today. There was some pop music playing and a tween girl was dancing to it. Gracie watched her and looked away. After a minute, Gracie looked around. No one was looking at her (except for me, because I'm ALWAYS watching). So, she busted out one of the hippest, funkiest dance moves I've ever seen, then went right back to normal, staring at the different flavors of ice cream. She is shy so I had the hard job of pretending I didn't see, as she would've been mortified. This girl is everything that is good.

Jared and I may have developed a nasty habit of eating sweets while Gracie is at school and Rory is napping. By nasty I mean delightful, fun, tasty, and wonderful. That boy loves his chocolate. And his mother. I buy his love in the form of chocolate chips and am not ashamed.This is what I stare at all day long, and sometimes all night long. It's so hard to ignore her when rocking her for a nap. Today I failed and flirted with her briefly. After that she was all giggles and hair pulling. She's like chocolate, or a bread basket. Just try to resist!
My crew after getting their hair cut. I always take a picture becasue I think they look so snappy. Finally, for the biggest news....I got leopard print pajamas! Boy did they cause a stir. Jared followed me around house, patting my bum asking me if a cheetah died for my clothes. No. A cheeteh did NOT die. And then when I put Rory in her zebra get up, everyone almost had a heart attack.

Best eighteen bucks I ever spent.

It's that time of year...

Merry Christmas! Let's get festive!
Where's the mistletoe?
Let's eat more cake!
Ring those silver bells!
Let's eat more cake!

It's Christmas! And some body's excited! Holla!
To start the outtakes this year, I'd like to state upfront that it was my idea for Gracie and I to wear dresses that matched our couch. Exactly. I like a challenge (have you seen her around?).

Before the fun starts, I'd thought I'd show you a "behind the scenes" shot. Notice the blocks, the piles of never played with toys, my apprehensive face.
The apprehensive face can be hard to shrug off. On the other hand, the flashing baby toy we hooked below the camera to catch Rory's attention...worked great. Sean especially liked it. It played music.

Presenting Autumn, the mother with the ten foot arm. Her boy never gets away.

"Gracie? Gracie? Sean, where's Gracie?"

I believe I've mentioned before that Sean likes himself a good lean. Maybe a bit too much.

"Sean, does my dress make me look ploofy?"
"What does ploofy mean?"
"Big."
"Of course not. Tell Jared to stop licking his wrist."

"Jared? Jared? Are you sure I don't look ploofy?"

I like this photo. We can almost see Gracie, but Jared seems to be lost in a world of deep thoughts. No deep thoughts here, only bright, happy smiles, so we...

Photoshopped Jared!
Merry Christmas! Again! 2011!
P.S. Rory wants you to know that she has developed an awesome pincer grip. Way to go baby girl, keep grabbing small things. Please no more choking pointed sticker stars (long, unfestive story).