Top 5

The past two months have been a bit of a whirlwind.

No, I take that back.

The past two months have been excruciatingly slow while at the same time moving so fast I can hardly keep up.

Here are the Top 5 things that have happened since my last post...

1. Miss Banana turned FOUR. Four crazy-wild-stressful-amazing-stretching years old. My girl is growing up. No longer a baby. Four years old is knocking on the door of elementary school and shaking off the last of the baby-pudge.

I'm not sure if I'm ready for it...but my girl doesn't care. She is growing up and asserting her independence whether I like it or not. I don't know how she does it; but, she can push my buttons and then have me turned into sappy mush faster than I can blink.

My girl's got skills, y'all.

2. Late in the evening after the birthday cupcakes were put away and the presents had all been opened and Miss B and the boys were tucked into bed; we got the call that my Granddad passed away.

We rushed back out to Utah--through a crazy snowstorm with whiteout conditions and the freeway being closed behind us and taking two-and-a-half hours to make it a measly 13 miles and finally having to stop at a hotel 2 hours away from our destination because we simply could go no farther. During this lovely white-knuckle-we-are-all-going-to-die drive, Fearless came down with a stomach bug that involved lots of garbage bags. So in the midst of sub-zero temperatures and swirling snow, we drove with the windows down to let us all breathe some fresh air.

Fun times.

But we made it...and I'm so glad that we did. It was one last way for us to honor my Granddad--to show him how much we love him. He was an amazing man--a rancher, a World War II veteran, a BYU professor, a faithful follower of Christ.

He always said that you should eat dessert first because you never knew if you were going to have room for it after dinner. I think he was right.

I am proud to be his granddaughter.

3. Soccer season is in full swing. There are moments when I laugh at how much of a soccer-mom I have become--I drive a mini-van with the back full of soccer balls and cleats and camp chairs and shin-guards and water bottles--but I love it. I love the look of confidence on the boys' faces when they score a goal. I love they way they do a post-game analysis of their moves with a bit of exaggeration. I love that they are realizing that if they want to be good at it, they have to work hard.

4. School is out for the summer. Miss B finished her second year of preschool. Fearless finished 1st grade. T-Man finished 3rd grade. And while I missed taking the end-of-the-school year pictures this year, I know that they have grown. I don't need the side-by-side to show me that. They have added some inches, but they also have endured and matured their mothering going through brain surgery and recovery, a wedding, a funeral, plus the regular elementary school coming-of-age type stuff. Fearless reads like a pro. T-Man knows all the parts of a crayfish and his multiplication facts. Miss B talks and talks and talks--with some words so clear no one could misunderstand her. I know it's so cliché, but it really is amazing the difference one school year can make.

5. And last of all...

(This is the biggest reason of all that I have not been posting on here.)

I have been sick as a dog and clinging to the couch pretty much since the moment we got back from my Granddad's funeral on April 14th.

No need to panic...Dr. Brains says everything in my head looks good.

Nope, this time it's that Baby #4 is joining our family in December and apparently is already attempting to make his or her place known by pretty much taking me down for the count. No other child of mine has made me this sick before...so who knows what we are in for this go around?!?