Catching up once again

Let’s call this first group of pictures "Ascending Together".

Our local mountains are just beautiful and yes, it took all of us to ascend and descend together.  Just FYI on this "hike" we climbed 4300 feet in 4.5 miles.  That's approximately 1000 feet per mile and yes, the ascent was a physical challenge.  Worse yet, the descent was painful for these old knees but Brad brought me to one of his favorite places to be in the winter.  I loved it and will cherish this memory of ascending together forever...even if we never hike it again.

These next two pictures let's name "The reality of living with others".

1.  Yes, in big families there is resource guarding...especially after a long, tiring, hot day at work.

This resource guarding (Kenzie guarding her food from Ben) resulted in a broken bowl, a mess and a text to mom to which I responded, "Please have the mess picked up before I get home." *sigh

2.  In big families, when you are texting a cute girl and your family gets your phone (like Kenzie and Dad) some crazy texts get sent out and you have to explain (although Dad did play a major part along with Kenzie but got none of the blame from Ben).

Next picture let's call this "Meet George Jetson".

And Rosie.  That's what I named my Roomba and I love it!  Really.

This one is "Long day at work and cool treats".

I think these are sufficient in and of themselves.  They need no explanation.  Landscaping can be tiring.

This one is "I'm so cool I take selfies on mom's phone with sunglasses on".

Also, no explanation needed.

Next, this one is entitled "I just can't pull the trigger".

Living in a small town requires a lot of online shopping.  This time I'm looking for new living room decor and I just can't bring myself to pull the trigger.  Mostly because I have to assemble it all myself and then if it doesn't work, ship it back.  Ugh!

This next one is entitled "We really don't fight on the lake".  

Jordan:

Kenzie:

Riles:

Kenzie and Riles:

Ben:

(My Kids are going to say I love Benny more because there's more pictures of him and rather than deny I'll just tell the truth:  I do love Benny more.)

Jake:

And finally all four boys playing tube wars:

Now I won't go as far as to claim we don't have fights before and after the lake but when we are on the lake all differences melt away and we enjoy the fun, the sun and each other.  It's my favorite place to be as mom.

Finally, this last sets I will call "I'm obsessed with So I married an Axe Murderer poems".

It started with this one while cleaning the kitchen:

In case you cannot read it it says:

Mom

Mo-om

Moooooooo-om

Why are you sad?

We work so hard.

Please do not yell about dishes.

Kenzie thought that was so clever she continued:

Ben

Be-en

Beeeeeee-en

You have big hair.

Really swole muscles.

You neck's as big as your head.

Huge.

Then she thought she'd make one for everyone in the family, yes.

Jordan

Jor-dan

Jooooooooor-dan

You are big boy.

You have no kids.

You still pretend to be my dad.

I still love you.

Dad

Da-ad

Daaaaaaaa-ad

You are my dad.

You don't like the office.

I still love you anyways.

I guess.

Riley

Ri-ley

Riiiiiiiiii-ley

You were once fat.

Now you are small.

One day you too will be huge.

We hope.

Jake

Ja-ake

Jaaaaaaaaaaa-ake

You are still young.

Someday you'll grow.

Until then please just chill out.

Please.

Did I mention we watched So I married an axe murderer the night before?

On a final note I feel it would be remiss to not mention that coronavirus hasn't dissapeared, we're still wearing masks and on very high alert.  In addition to all that there are racial tensions and riots everywhere.  Freedom of speech seems very limited right now.  It makes me sad to see the direction our country is headed.  I hope we can be better and heal.  I hope we can connect again as humans.  I would write a long blog about this but suffice it to say I'm tired, mentally tired and I don't have the heart of the wits to do this right now.  Let me state one more time that I just hope that wounds are healed, that we build bridges to each other and that our nation can pull together once again.