It began like any other dinner...

Overwhelming

God, I love my kids. There are times when I look at them, think about them, or see pictures of them after they have gone to bed and, I think, "You two overwhelm me with joy".
Not the kind of joy that makes you jump up and down screaming like Ed MacMahon just showed up, rang your doorbell, and handed you a ginormous cardboard check, but the kind that drops your heart down into your stomach and physically overwhelms you.
The kind of joy that makes me wonder how I ever knew joy before those two.
And seeing them laugh together...it takes my breath away.

Tonight, the four of us were in Qdoba for dinner after Charlie's last soccer practice, and somehow the kids got into this role where they would take turns screaming oh ooh oh ooh oh ohh (think Tarzan after a few margaritas) back and forth across the table. And, while Will and I did the etiquettely-correct thing to do, and reminded them that screaming in a restaurant while people were eating was rude, my heart wanted to explode with joy.
They would stop for a minute and then the rebel of the two (if you don't know who that is by now, you've never read a word...) would cut her eyes across the table, stand on the bar of the highchair, and start the whole show over again, both of them cackling at their delinquence.
I never could have imagined how much joy seeing their relationship would bring me.

I really, really, really love those kids.

The Independent Nudist

Not long ago, I posted about Anna's tendency to remove her diaper, run around naked, and pee on the floor. Seeing as how my first child would never dream of such disobedient, naked mess-making, this threw me a little.
Will and I were very excited a few short months ago when Charlie (at the age of 3 1/2) began removing his own clothes for bath time.
Today, I walked into the kitchen to find "Ms. Independent Nudist" involved in this task...

Check Out the Latest!!

Hey everyone, I don't know how many of you check in now that I have become such a slacker, but if you are still hanging in there, please check out my latest cake venture at cakecreationsbyelizabethcoles.blogspot.com!

I Know, I Know

I am a complete blogging slacker. I honestly don't know how so much time has gotten away from me since my last post! I've been really busy with cakes the past few weeks, Anna is a complete Wild Woman, Charlie has school three days a week and soccer two days a week, and I am training for a half-marathon. Well, I guess I can see how so much time has gotten away from me since my last post, when I put it all in writing!

We've had so many wonderful things that I have missed taking pictures of, and that I deeply regret. I am going to try to get things back on track, so here are a few pictures I took before my photo hiatus...

Charlie on his first day of school...


Charlie and his partner-in-crime, Caleb, on the first day of soccer...




Wild Woman and Charlie out riding after dinner with no shirts. (I let them have Hershey Kisses for dessert. I don't even try to mess with chocolate stains anymore...)





And, finally, my personal favorite, a quick session of Hop-Scotch 101...