Cleaning and scrubbing will wait ’till tomorrow, but children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow. So quiet down cobwebs! Dust go to sleep! I’m rocking my baby. Babies don’t keep. – Ruth Hamilton

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Making a Splash

Ahhh to be young and care free as little ones are! I remember the days when freezing cold water out of the hose wasn't cold...

These two don't seem to mind either.  Mack just jumped in with his clothes on.  They can spend hours outside together and be completely content.  This was a Friday night and we decided to make pizzas on the grill.  Mark and I blew up their pool and let them have at it.  It was really hard to get them inside.  This night was made for making a splash and hopefully a memory for them!
Mark taught them how to drink from the hose!



Wednesday, May 30, 2012

First Kick Off To Summer

There is so much I want to say about this past weekend. First, I didn't realize the amazing memories we were creating for our kids until I sat back and looked through these pictures. I am a stress ball constantly! It stresses me out that I stress! And when I stress and worry about the little things I am missing the great things.

I always write about how special family is to Mark and I and sometimes we don't always feel we get to spend time with all our family. Everyone is different and everyone feels family is different, but to Mark and I family is each other, our children, our parents, brothers, sisters, cousins and Aunts and Uncles. Yes close friends are amazing and we couldn't be who we are without them, but your family is something that should be cherished. We are probably the luckiest because we have both sides close to us and we get to balance our time with both.  As I stated in a previous post, this summer is about slowing down and being with our family.

The lake is a place to do this.  This past weekend we stayed at my parents place.  I went down early Friday morning, so my kids could see their cousins... 
Now looking at these pictures all I could think about were the times at the lake with my cousins.  It was always crazy and someone usually got hurt (Avery dropped a weight on her toe and smashed it), but we always had so much fun.  These four (and soon to be six-when Gretchen and Lincoln get bigger) are making memories together!
On Sunday we took them on their first boat ride of the year.  Lincoln was asleep below so I only got these two.
The water was really rough and people were really rude, so we took them to my parent's pool.  I don't have pictures from that, but we didn't even leave the pool until about 2:00.  They were having so much fun and didn't care about how tired they were.
Then we had a dinner outside-might have been a bit too hot, but as you can see no one cared!



This little face says, "Aunt Sarah, stop taking my picture!"
Then it was time to have a dance party!
Uncle Mark entertained them for hours that day.  He was having fun and letting off some steem!

Lucie told my mom a secret at the end of the weekend and said, "Uncle Mark is a rock star!"  I may not agree all the time, but realizing how much he does I might have to agree with my niece this time:).
I'm pretty sure I should enter this picutre somewhere!  He was trying to put his head with the girls!

I looked over and without any prompting or anyone watching, Lucie had gotten Avery on her lap and they were snuggling together.
There were some not so fun times this weekend-like the toilet overflowing, the lift not working correctly, and maybe the boat acting up, but what was crazy to see was how everyone came together to fix it.  I just received an email from my dad stating the same things I am saying here and even though he threatens to get rid of the lake place when things go wrong, there is no way he would get rid of these times!
I wish everyone saw family as important and we do, but I guess they are missing out!  We can't wait for more adventures at the lake this summer!

It's a First

Avery has loved having a real baby around, but never wanted to hold him.  The other day she finally showed interest and wanted to hold him.  She did great a was really sweet with him!



Tuesday, May 29, 2012

School's Out For Summer!

Summers are always very exciting around our house. This means I can be a stay at home mom for a few months. I can't wait to enjoy some time with my family and not stress about anything else! This will be the first summer in three years that I'm not pregnant (It's not going to happen again!).

Last Thursday was my last day of work, so I decided to bring Avery with me and let her have a feel of what it will be like going to school next year.  Here she is ready to go with her pack back-which consisted of food and her blanket.  I know it's pretty sad to see Mack in the background watching her.  It was worse in person because he was trying to get ready and leave with us.  There was no way I could have gotten any work done with both.  Mack will get his special day this Thursday with his cousin Cohan.

Avery did great, she sat with all the big girls and let them drag her around the playground.  She didn't care if I was around.  This is amazing to see with her since she is always so shy and sticks to me.  This day she was the opposite.  She even refused to leave with Miss Emily after lunch.  I can't wait to have her in the preschool right across the street from me a few days a week next year.

After a long weekend at the lake, today was our first real day of vacation.  It has been great to relax around home and catch up.  I was trying to clean, but every time I turned around there was another mess.  It made me re-think my priorities (like the quote on top of my blog) the cleaning will always be there.  I have to admit it's easy to get preoccupied with "choirs" around the house and I am not one to "let" the cleaning go...
How could I resist taking these three outside for some pool time?  We ate outside and I made myself sit down to just be with them!  My family is big on saying, "this too shall pass."  Yes some days I want it to pass, but when it passes I will miss it so much.  My mom and I were talking about that this past weekend.  I don't want to not remember-I want this time to stop!

For now School's out for Summer and I am going to do my best and focus on them!  Oh and that annoying thing called working out!

Monday, May 28, 2012

More of Cooper!

Mack thought Cooper was a great babysitter for his bear!


Sunday, May 20, 2012

Making Friends

One of the great things about working part time, is I have Fridays off! I love these days because there is no interruption with my kids. We usually stay home and catch up, but the last few Fridays have been spent taking them to the park. It is a lot of work, but great to get out of the house!

Since they don't go to daycare they are not around many other kids. It's my job to make sure they are socialized. Little Gyms has really helped with this and they seem to be branching out a little. Last Friday we met some friends at the park and Avery made it very clear they were her friends not mommy's (I always say we are going to meet mommy's friends). She packed them snacks and made sure to have lots of toys for the sand box. It made me realize they will be fine when put in social situations-in fact, they probably will love getting away from each other time to time.  For right now I love getting them out there, but I love that they depend on each other!



Friday, May 18, 2012

Giving a Little Thanks

I have to give thanks to my sweet friend Lindsey! Once again she has given her time to come over and cut my kiddos hair. She doesn't understand how great this is for us-no salons and no mom and dad haircuts:)!  Lindsey is a teacher with me and just loves to cut hair-we are lucky for that!

It was a fun evening after work-we were able to have some wine with our other friend Leslie and have a little adult talk (there is always someone wanting your attention).  

Both kids sat on the stool with their suckers and let her cut away. Mind you this was Avery's first hair cut (she will be three this August). There was no better person to do it! Avery watched the last time Lindsey cut Mack's hair and took it all in. This time we had to build it up for about two weeks before I could tell she was ready. I know it sounds silly, but I didn't want it to be a fight.

Thankfully, Mack was an old pro. He did get a little edgy towards the end and wanted to get up, but that was expected for a 1 1/2 year old.

(our camera was out of BATTERIES!!! REALLY? So these are from Mark's phone)


I wanted to cut it shorter, but I think Mark was a little hesitant-maybe next time.  The curls bounced right up!


So the Watson family would like to give a whole lot of thanks to our wonderful friend Lindsey!!!!!

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

"Happy Mama's Day!"

As Soon as I woke up on Sunday, my sweet Avery said to me, "Happy Mama's Day!  It was a great mama's day filled with my three little munchkins.  As much as this day is a "card" holiday, I will take it!  Three years of pregnancy will do that to you!
We ended up spending the weekend in St. Louis with my parents because my mom and I were attending my cousin's wedding shower.  When we got there on Saturday Avery was happy to work on some drawings.  Mark and I took advantage of the time and took a nice run downtown-what a great way to run.
Then my mom and I took off for the shower.  It was a long drive, but such a nice time to really get to talk to my mom-seems rare these days.  Of course we also enjoyed some time with my cousin at a winery.  When we got back, my dad had made a huge pasta dinner (with my fresh noodles from my bounty box) and my brother's family was over.  Our two played so hard (not to mention they played hard the night before).  Here they are having a dance party!
The next morning we took our time and then headed over to my brother's house for a brunch cooked by the men.  Again, our kids had a blast playing with all new toys and their cousins.


Uncle Matt got some snuggle time in with baby Gretch.  She is such a cute little girl and climbs everywhere!

I'm pretty shocked we got all four girls.  Avery loves being with all girls (it's going to be the opposite at her house).  You can see their personalities in these pictures.
The kids couldn't wait to eat!  The pancakes were probably the best things I have ever eaten and I'm pretty sure they thought so too!

After bunch it was nap time, but of course they were all about playing first. 
Lincoln was a little sleepy
These pictures turned out great.  This truck was not out-Mack sought it out.  I like looking at these pictures because this truck was my brothers when he was a little boy.

I also think it's cool to see papa looking down over his grand babies!
This is pretty much the view all day while we got to sit down and chat.  After all this we packed the kids in the car and headed back to COMO.  Not even ten minutes into the ride and they were all asleep (even me!)

When we got home Mark's parents came over and brought an entire dinner with steaks.  I am very embarrassed to say that Mark and I didn't take one single photo!  I found this picture...which is what they were doing (minus Cohan) and plus a whole lot of wagon riding.  It was nice to be with both sides of the family in one day.  We were all pretty exhausted from the weekend, but glad to have had the fun.

I hope all the Moms had a wonderful Mama's Day!