Back to December

I took my kids to Yogurtland today. It was actually a bribe because they didn't want to go back to school. There used to be one about 2 minutes from our house, so we took the kids on Fridays to celebrate the end of another week, or Mondays after family night, or other times when we were just craving something super delicious. But two months ago, our Yogurtland closed its doors without any notice at all, and we haven't been since! Today's venture was a twenty-minute drive, and ooooh so worth it!

I sat there in Yogurtland, just watching my children, and I almost couldn't handle it. All four children were sitting together, enjoying their most favorite flavors and toppings, and each offered me a bite of their yogurt. And then they started offering bites to each other, reaching their arms across the table to share mango or peanut butter or "baniwah" with their very best friends: their siblings. "Oooh! Can I try yours?" "Thank you!" And as I watched them, I had this beautiful moment of clarity that I hope to never forget. I choked back my proud mommy tears, and thought----Sheesh. Of all the things I'm doing wrong, I must be doing something right.

This Christmas break, I had three glorious weeks to spend at home with my kids. Usually, I plan a trip or two, but not this year! Instead, we played at local parks, performed Science experiments, went to museums, built forts, read books, cooked delicious meals together, cuddled A LOT, and said a tearful goodbye to my sweet great-grandmother. She was 95.

And when it was all over, my kids BEGGED me to home school them.

London- "Mom, please! You're so smart! You can teach us all the things you know, and then we can be together all the time!"

Elle- "Yeah, Mom! We like being with you! It's so fun!"

Henry- "Yes, and we can see all the dinosaurs togever!"

Juliette- (screaming/laughing, running through the house, while Charlie barks and chases her)

I love being loved by my kids. I have decided that there is nothing better than being with them. Am I slightly crazy?
Okay, don't answer that.
But really, my fellow moms--- please tell me I'm not alone????!

London holding our homemade donuts. Holy delicious!
We filled the insides with marshmallows, which melted into the centers
and made them oh so sweet! 

The kids made this volcano from clay, painted it, and watched it erupt.
They got a whole Science Experiment Kit for Christmas from their cousin
 Layla, so we did an experiment almost every day.

Juliette is obsessed with plate tectonics. She asks me to tell her about it daily.
This room at the Natural History Museum was her favorite!

The only thing I wanted for Christmas was this pasta maker.
This is London and Elle making fusilli for chicken noodle soup.
 Chefs in the making!

Grandma Hollie came to visit for a few days, and we showed her all around Coronado
and Balboa Park. The kids were so happy to have her with us!

Homemade spaghetti and meatballs. The twins actually made this batch of pasta!
They stand on little white chairs they carry in from the toy room. Henry always sneaks
 and puts too much dough in, and then laughs hysterically when I catch him!

Grumpy Mary. 

Here, my kids are watching the sunset from a home my dad just finished building.
He threw a gingerbread-house-making party there to show off his beautiful work.
Somehow, I didn't get a single picture of a gingerbread house, or the house itself...

This is me and and Gramma, at her 90th birthday. Here, I'm pregnant with Elle.
 This is when I told Gramma (Eleanor) that we had chosen to name our daughter
 after her. Her response? "How 'bout that!"

We feel so lucky to have had her in our lives for as long as we
 did. How many people get to know their great-great-grandchildren?! We love her
 dearly and we will see her again.

When I look at these pictures, I don't want to forget how many times Juliette told her siblings that they were getting coal for Christmas because they were "being mean on purpose!", or how the twins asked to sleep with the girls in their beds almost every night, and they cuddled together under those light pink covers with the happiest smiles on their faces, or how by magic (insert wink), a piano appeared in our front room on Christmas morning. I wish I could go back to December, and relive our precious memories over and over and over again.