Need. To. Blog.

I have nothing really to write about. But also, so much to say. I feel like I need to catch y'all up on my life, but there are so many details that I can't pick just one. So I'm just going to write and see what comes out. Feel free to move on to something else if this bores you to tears.

Looked at some old videos tonight. Heard my mom's voice again. Then my dad's. And then my grandmother's. The only voice missing was my brother's.

I've been thinking about all four of them the last few days, listening to music that reminds me of them, wondering how happy they are in heaven. It all got me thinking about a project I want to work on to honor my brother's memory. There are at least 15 kids (that I know of) who were named after him. I'd like to figure out a way to tie those boys together and help them learn more about their namesake, so I'm working on contacting those families and piecing something together.

While looking at those old videos tonight, I came across one of Katie when she was about two and a half. Let's see if I can get it to upload here. (You'll have to pause the music on my blog sidebar to hear this.)


Oh, dear God, can time have passed that quickly? That child is absolutely adorable. There is NO way she is the same sassy pants that lives with us now. Right? Uh... wrong. She's still pretty darn adorable (see the photo below), although she is wiser and knows how to turn it off and on. Ha. (And if THAT sense of payback doesn't make my parents happy in heaven, I don't know what will!)

I never mentioned that I took Katie to the City Museum again while she was on cycle break from school. Oh, boy. It was so much fun. We played with clay and cut snowflakes and climbed and drove a bus off the side of the building and jumped through fountains and dove in ball pits and took more than 300 photos. It. Was. Awesome. I just went and looked through all of the photos so I could decide which ones to share with you here. Turns out I can't decide. And since I don't want to write a separate post solely on the City Museum again, I'll pick just this one. It is a perfect representation of our day.

Also took Katie to a nearby pumpkin patch before her break ended. The best part of the visit was this corn box (like a sandbox). I personally could have stayed there all day just playing with corn. It was like a meditation garden.

Two other recent outings with Katie: apple picking and a day camp (both with her Girl Scout troop). I've had lots of one-on-one time with her, which has been great.

Jackson and I have gotten back into our groove now that Katie is back in school. It started out a little rough, though. He got strep last week and it passed on to Dan, but we are all fine now. I've never had strep (that I can remember), and neither have my kids, so this was a new experience for me. I think Jackson also had an ear infection, but the antibiotics seem to have cleared everything up. He's back to being his squirrelly, wily self.

Grandma is taking Katie to see the movie Where the Wild Things Are tomorrow. I'm a bit nervous for her, because I think it might be a little on the dark and scary side. She gets scared when she watches Scooby Doo sometimes. I made both her and Grandma promise that if she gets scared, they will leave the movie. (I don't want to deal with nightmares.)

I'm working on some craft ideas right now, and experimenting to come up with some good Christmas presents. My brain is kind of scattered as I feel my creative side try to tug the rest of me over to full-time crafting.

So... enough rambling for now. I'll end with a photo we took on Wednesday as we were all snuggling in the LoveSac. Yes, I know it's a little blurry. But when you're operating with a remote control and trying to get all four of us smiling at once, this is the best you get. You should have seen the ones from when Dan had the remote and decided to make goofy faces behind our backs.

Have a good weekend.

And to my sister... happy birthday! I am so glad you are in my life. I wish I could be there to celebrate with you. Maybe we'd even go skydiving again. This photo always makes me smile, because you look so great and so happy. I love you!