Vida. Risa. Amor.

I have four kids and it's funny how I tend to get more overwhelmed with issues with my 1st and 4th....my oldest and youngest. But I have 2 middle kids, Aydan age 7 and Lanie at age 10, that are just as amazing. Lanie makes me laugh every single day. I'm not very good at describing her humor, but she is absolutely hilarious. She could literally win an award for it I think. I had her washing the dinner dishes last night and she seemed to want to drain the whole salt river, so I took over while she dried. When she get's in her "coconine voice"....(it's a mix of what Mrs. Kowalski from Monster's Inc. sounds like....and for a lack of better description...a special needs kid). She likes to repeat things over and over and anything I tell her to do, she's like, "nope, sorry, Mom....uh-uh....no way...can't do it..."...it can just go on and on. She ended it last night by making herself laugh super hard by shouting...."I'm goin to a western town....hoooo-eeey!!" And it's not just her voice that's hilarious, it's her face. I need to get it on video soon. She's my best companion for a romantic comedy movie and loves to keep me thinking hard about how to answer questions like, "How do we know that God is really real?" She's so beautiful and I love how she can joke about her eye-brows....her doctor even told her they're "fancy"...I miss the days of braiding her hair in matching barrettes and bows, but I know she'll be giving me tips on how to style my own hair soon.

My second middle man, is my first-born boy Aydan who just turned 7 this week. He just started learning football with his buddies and since his team was "the Cardinal's", and because we've recently become a fan of the AZ Cardinal's out here, that was the theme of his party. (I love easy themes!) We rented a jumpy thing for his party, bought hot-dogs and 30 Cardinal's cupcakes from Sams, had a football pinata, blasted up the music, and that was enough to make a super fun party for 1st graders. I "forgot" to plan games and that was Aydan's only complaint, so I'll have to do better next time I guess...(hello! they wouldn't even listen to me to keep on the grass during the pinata smacking!!) They were also easily entertained by pounding on the teenagers hanging around too. He has some super sweet moments too: like the other night he wanted to watch The Biggest Loser with me and he got really upset for the Mom who fell on her nose during the challenge. He has such a sweet heart and I love when he hugs my legs when I'm doing the dishes, and looks up and says, "I just love you Mom." He would play Indiana Jones Legos Wii all day if I let him, but 1st grade demands a lot of reading practicing so we've gotten to spend a lot of one on one time doing that. He loves to joke, poke, and laugh and he loves to draw it out from me too. I'm challenged each day to try and be the best kind of Mommy I can be for each of them....and laughter is my favorite kind of reminder.