Memory Making

I really write all of this down to remember.   The details of life are so small, but I know that at this point in life, they are also so unique to the age and stage of our kids.  So, let me catch up a bit.  I am clearly awful at sitting down and writing during a move!  

  The first thing to remember I have no picture of.  We went to the beach for a few days before our move, trying to play as a family before the work ahead.  John Mac loves the beach.  Of all our kids, he loves being outdoors, being messy, and so the sand and surf are just a perfect combination for Mac.  Well, this year we took our bikes.  The first time we told John Mac that he could bike in the edge of the surf he was so excited.  He took off splashing through puddles as he drove down the hard sand of the beach.  And then he kept going. and going. and going.  I suddenly panicked.  He was atleast a mile down the beach before I was able to keep everyone safe and signal Brandon to bike off and rescue him.  Of course, when Brandon did catch up to John Mac, Brandon found him to be completely surprised that he had travelled so far.  He was just delighted to be riding down the beach.  The next day John Mac had a speckled sun burn on his back from the sand that had sprayed across his back while he rode in the surf.

  On to the pictures.  The first picture is from shortly after we made it to our new old house on Long Meadow.  Hannah really hurt her nose on the brick patio.  She fell and cut the bridge of her nose badly.  She was in tears from the pain and it of course bled copiously.  Caroline swooped in without a word.  She found a small Tinkerbell sticker to cover up the last Spiderman bandaid that we had had to use on Hannah's nose.  Then she took Hannah to her room to play dolls and she dressed Hannah up like on of her dolls and then dressed up herself.  It was the perfect cure for this four year old girl.  This picture was taken just an hour after the injury;  immediate improvement!

This is Caroline and William climbing on one of the trees to the side of our new old home.  The best part of our home so far has been the yard.  The kids have loved to explore and play and climb.  We have played wiffleball with all the bases and they have hideouts of mudpies and kitchen tools.  We have found roses and gerber daises and now blooming hydrangeas.  There have been many gifts to our whole family outside.

Caroline turned nine recently and she had her ears pierced.  This is my favorite picture from our time: her friend Sydney taking pictures of Caroline during the piercing.  Sydney and her mom came with us to celebrate and she was as excited as Caroline, maybe more so.  It was a great gift to be with old friends while doing something new and different.

I have to write about Henry and William.  They are so very similar.  I feel like I am having a great big do-over!  But the sweet part is that they have a real common understanding of each other.  Henry can make William laugh and smile when all is lost.  He has given his momma lots of sanity in this!  Here they are just playing around on the sofa.

And finally, I need to remember how friendships with siblings grow and change.  Hannah and William are sharing a room now and they have become fast friends (or double trouble depending on the day!).  They are having a great time playing together and it has been fun to remember how similar they are to Caroline and Henry when they were this age.  Dressing up is always fun and it seems that girls outfits are always more fun as well.