summer time!

We had a fabulous Memorial Day.  It was a beautiful day and I'm thankful to all those that have, do, and will serve so that I can enjoy all my days. 

We started the season off right...at the pool!I purchased season passes so we're sure to see a lot of sun this summer.  :)  Billy has no interest in the pool, not to mention he spent his Memorial Day working, so I was VERY thankful that my mom came with us.

With my mom with us were able to branch out from the {as Raegen calls it} "kitty cat pool" {the kiddie pool. ha} and have some fun in the rest of the park...

{with two older brothers, poor kid gets a hand-me-down boy sunhat, but I don't think she minds ;)}

perfect ending to a fabulous day...

December Snow!

Christmas 2011 came early with a light dusting of snow on December 7th.  Raegen enjoyed it for a moment before heading off to school.

At five months young, this was Ellison first snow.  The youngest age for any of my babies to experience snow.

Lynden got a taste of the white stuff last year, but now at 20 months old it proved to be much more enjoyable.

He LOVED it!!!

He just could not stop grinning...

and he made little tracks all over the yard.  It was precious.

This was my fave pic of the day...captured with my iPhone...

I hope my babies can enjoy a few more snowy days this winter season!

Road Trip!

On our way to the Pumpkin Patch last Saturday, my dad mentioned he wanted to take a drive north to see the pretty leaves changing colors. I said I didn't think they were ready yet, but he insisted his friend had already taken TWO day trips north to see the pretty fall leaves. We ended up leaving the Pumpkin Patch early because the kids were ready for a nap, so as soon as we got on the road I drove north in search of pretty leaves.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Dad asked if I had a state highway map.

My reply?

I'm a Richardson. I have five.

One is good. Five is better. My dad's unoffical motto in life.

But that's another story.

It was a nice, slow drive. No rush to get anywhere. We had a cooler of cokes and plenty of food because we had planned to have that picnic lunch. We made stops at furniture stores, parks...

interesting sights, and of course, Mt. View. It was just the right balance of driving and stopping to keep everyone {including the babies!} happy.

When we finally made our loop back home, mom helped me give the kids a bath, put on their PJs, then we headed back home "home".

Dad enjoyed riding for once and being able to take in everything we passed. It was a fun day of making memories, but dad did admit we were a bit early for the changing colors. ;)

Trying to beat the heat!

The kids and I met up with some friends today for some INDOOR {cool!} fun.

This is how I roll with three...

We first visited the "Tube Room" with our playgroup in March.

Here Lynden is as an almost one year old...

and now as a sixteen month old... {ALWAYS smiling!}

Then I took this picture to show that he actually DID have hair...

and today I wanted to admit that my child has a mullet because I just don't want to cut my baby's hair!! :)

Raegen had SOOOO much fun and I was glad he got to have some lazy day fun before school starts.

Lynden had fun too, but we were there during his normal morning nap so I did lots of holding him on my hip. Which tends to get difficult when I'm already holding a baby. :)

Here he is with his buddy Jonathan... {poor J had a run-in with a table just yesterday...you should see the table!} ;)

Kellen was in our picture too...she was just trying to nap!

We had a great time with our friends INDOORS! Thank the Lord for air conditioning.

Tell me a story

I was so excited to take Ellison to "Mother on Goose on the Loose" storytime at our local library, but I was not so excited about wrangling three little ones! :) When I had Lynden, the age difference between him and Raegen was perfect...three years apart. This time around it's a different story and I just don't have enough hands to successfully handle a four year old, sixteen month old, and a newborn. So I enlisted a little help and we made the venture on Monday. ;)

Between building the house, moving, moving AGAIN, being pregnant, and then having a baby we have not been to the library in a LOOOOONG time! {we didn't go to ANY of the summer programs...boo} I was so excited for Lynden to experience storytime again and he picked "Humpty Dumpty" up and placed him back on the wall like he hadn't missed a week.

While the babies enjoyed storytime, Raegen stayed out in the children's room and picked out a few books to take home.

My little helpers are about to start school again so I'm not sure how many storytime's I'll brave on my own! ;) I'll probably just wrap Ellison on me {she tends to sack out every time I do} and at least I'll have two hands to handle Lynden...though it seems he requires more than TWO!