M.I.A.

Family pics by our family friend, Becky Farrell. Love!!

So I've been missing on my favorite little side project for more than a while. At some point, when I'm 35 or 40 or 70 I'll be real pissed that I forgot to write down some of the super fun stuff going on with the kids over this entire period. Just real pissed.

We've done some big stuff over the past three months that I failed to chronicle. Derrick registered Ellie for kindergarten. I can't believe it. She'll be going to the neighborhood school this fall and she's pretty excited. She's doing really well with her numbers and letters recently (thanks iPad) and she's even getting her own version of the cool technology for her birthday. (I'm pretty sure it's just so she stops asking to download apps onto Pope's iPad.)

Ellie turned 5 this week. She's big and smart and amazing. And real sassy. And exactly like me when it comes to controlling and planning everything. EVERYTHING. I have to give her an itinerary for the next day every night at bedtime or she won't go to bed....

Parker is well on his way to actually being potty-trained and real "big boy who wears underpants" if we could actually get anyone in this house healthy enough to work on real potty-training. The kids have been sick on and off since January.  And Pope has been sick for three months straight. Of course moms don't get sick, though. Because if they did who would take care of all the sickies!?!

And Parker is registered for pre-school, too. I don't actually know what I'll do with myself with they are both in school this fall. Madness, I say. Absolute madness. I'll probably just fill up the time with work because I'm cool like that. I like to stuff my self a little full. 5 open minutes in the day? Fill it with something, STAT!! But it will definitely be exciting and I just can't believe how quickly we went from having "babies" to having "kids."

And our kids will be celebrating said birthdays with a big olde family party in the coming weeks. We've booked our family holiday to the coast for this summer. I dusted off the old grill last week to make carne asade. SO GOOD. I'm getting this grilling thing down. Mr. Pope better watch his back. Tonight is blue-cheese macaroni and BBQ chicken. I love cooking in my cute little kitchen with the windows open and the kids playing. Well, Ellie is playing. Parker is sleeping because he's sick...

We're getting back to it. Fun stuff to come for the Popes.

A little country...

Don't judge me. I just got home from Houston. And this song is real purdy...

Our Last Visit to the Christmas Museum....

Merry Christmas!

The Pope Family

Too Much Living, Not Enough Blogging

So I've been remiss in blogging. I blog to remind myself of the awesome things that happen in my day, my life, my world. And yet I've been too busy to write these things down lately. I love to write. And more than that, I love to go back and read what has been. Soon.

Soon, I'll write all about Thanksgiving and how yummy all the food was and how we got to see so much family.  Soon I'll write about the pecan pie I made Pope for his birthday and the awesome lunch we had at Japiox drinking bloodies and eating sushi and laughing our faces off.  Soon I'll write about Eliana and her super-sweet rendition of "Santa Clause is Coming to Town," and how she is refusing to wear the crazy cute plaid dress I got her for her Christmas pageant.  Soon I'll write about how excited I am for Christmas and how all Parker wants is a set of "Spiderman Squinkies" that I had to order off Amazon two weeks ago for $42.00 as they were already sold out in stores and now they are running about $245.00. That's insane.

And soon I'll write about all of the joy and blessings and gifts I have been given in the form or friends and family and opporutnity that keeps me from a regular blog ritual.

Soon.

Date Nights & Girl Parties

As we're back to the whole school season, which I will be "going back to" for the next 20 years,  we've been crazy busy with all of the fun things that school and fall bring.

On one particular Saturday afternoon, with Ellie at a birthday party, I had the pleasure of taking Parker out to dinner. Solo. I don't think Parker and I have ever done something just for fun and just for us. It was awesome. He talked his face off, played with the other kids without the super friend big sister to pave the way for him, and drank my whole milk shake. He's a sweetheart. And an excellent date. I got lots of kisses but all in all he was a perfect gentleman. 

You're welcome future grown-up Parker girlfriends. You're welcome.

Mr. Pope aka Mr. Baby

And as Ellie now goes to school four days a week, one of those being our Monday Funday, Derrick is able to stay home and sleep in with Parker while the girls get up and go to school.  Eliana LOVES the girl time. She calls them our "Girl Parties." And she races out the door to make sure it's just us in the car and she'll get every ounce of my attention. She started a great tradition and now I love Monday mornings, too.

My Litte Miss

I love that my little buddies like each other so much, but I love my time with each of them on their own. They are big, smart, amazing people stuck in tiny little bodies. And they teach me something new everyday.

Funny

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