Saturday, December 17, 2016

Days and Moments of 2016

 The many faces of my babies who I love so very much.
Nathan and his bike, riding and learning and gaining more and more independence. And graduating from 8th grade and moving into high school.
Chloe getting Oliver - Smoggy, her deaf Austrialian Cattle Dog; taking many selfies and running in the 5K Bubble Run with her sister and I.
Jillian perfecting selfies, working on her identity as a middle schooler; taking a trip to AstroCamp; enjoying 4th of July and generally growing into a beautiful young woman.
And Wyatt, the many, many faces of Wyatt. His expressions as so adorable. His eyebrows are amazing! 




Enjoying SnapChat filters -- especially the dog! These two girls make me smile every day. They've made me cry a couple times too, but usually because I'm just so proud of them!!!
People ALWAYS tell us we look alike, and I take it as a wonderful compliment. My girls are beautiful -- inside and out. This year has been one where they've been provided many opportunities to show their compassion, patience and empathy. They've been awesome and made me proud.

 Speaking of looking alike - this year was the 5th anniversary of the passing of my mom. I took that opportunity to mash up a picture of the two of us at fairly similar ages -- I was 35 and she was 40. She was only 46 when she died. Next year I'll be 36..... There was a lot of positive feedback from this picture - from the people who knew her, and that made me happy. I wonder what could have been, even now. I no longer wonder what she would think about me, however. I'm beginning to define myself without the approval of others, finally. Maybe letting go of this portion of my relationship with her will allow me peace. And to be more joyful about the times we did have together.

More look alikes... :) I am so in love with this giraffe filter and I am heart broken that they don't have it very often!!! I wish I could buy it and use it every day. I still have quite the obsession with giraffes and my bedroom is covered in them. I have posters of them on my wall and stuffed animals and tchotckes and statues of them all over my room. It is my little giraffe sanctuary. When the kids' friends see it, they often make comments about it, but my kids just laugh and say "That's my mom". It makes me smile that they love me just the crazy way I am and support me in front of their friends.
They really are special kids.




Back to Wyatt... This little ham and his crazy faces! He is loved by his teacher, by his friends, by our friends, and by people in public. He can have an absolutely, insanely strong-willed attitude and can drive me completely up the wall some days!! But then other times, he can be the sweetest, most loving child, and the funniest little performer on the planet! He loves to sing with very specific taste in music. His favorites aren't very age appropriate -- he tends toward AC/DC, Nickelback, GreenDay and others of the same genre. He loves to play the air guitar and is asking for a drumset for Christmas. Heaven help us! :)

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