Six Years Strong

Happy Anniversary to us!!

This past weekend marked 6 years that we have been married now. 

And for the first time in 6 years, we finally really celebrated by doing something special.

We went AWAY.... For an ENTIRE night..... With NO kids. 

It. Was. Awesome.

Jared's Mom and Dad kept the boys for the whole night. And we went to Landoll's Mohican Castle. Just us two. 

We stayed in the one small cabin they have, more secluded, and not attached to the actual main castle. 

And we relaxed. We walked around. We ate. We drank. We sat still. We talked without yelling over noise or being interrupted.  We looked up at the stars. We listened to the sound of nothing. We missed the boys. We slept for 8 solid hours. (!) We had coffee. And we just took our time.

It was the best 24 hours we have had in a very, very long time.

 And we got to remember how we all started. With love and dreams and hope. Once upon a time, when it was just us.♥

 6 years! (Photo by Holden!)

 And a Flashback... for measure...

 .... oh BOY how we've changed ;)

 

 ♥

And off to the Castle!

♥

 It was so pretty there.

 And then we decided to climb the tower to look out....

 We were on the highest of the square decks (the one right above our heads in the previous photo)

 It was REALLY high.

 See those ant-like people on that bench down there!?

 I don't like heights.... I look totally relaxed though, right? Haha

  Terrified. Ready to be done.

  He still loves me♥

 

 And a silly picture of the Monster/T-Rex guy... to show the boys :)

 Going to check out the cabin!

 I dig this guy.

 Ah... peaceful....

 And the next morning. 

Enjoying a quiet, little breakfast in the Castle before heading back from our lovely, lovely getaway♥

Little Biker Dude

For his birthday last year, Holden got his first "big boy" bike. Buuuut... since his birthday is in November... (and we live in Ohio where Spring didn't decide to really show up until a few days ago)... he hasn't really had a whole lot of opportunities to really use it that much yet.

But Daddy's off playing the drums at a concert tonight and Mommy didn't feel like having her house trashed for 4 hours until bedtime... so off to the bike trail it was!!

This was Holden's first time to ride his bike there and he did so GREAT! This mommy was very happy. 

And then it was cheeseburgers for dinner (chicken nuggets for Bridger... ever the opposition around here...), the circus that is bath time, a snack and a show, and off to bed! Ah, sunshine and fresh air... how I love the way you wear my children out ;)

 I said, "Holden! It's your first time on the trail with your new bike! We should probably take a picture, right?!" You can see everyone's enthusiasm with my idea..

 There he goes! He just did great!

 And a brief pause on the bridge for some cow watchin'

 

Little Biker Dude!

(Also? Highlight of the whole thing?... Well, I was in the lead, and I kept asking him is he was doing ok back there, if he was getting tired, telling him to "work those little legs!", etc... so we're nearing the end and he yells from behind me: 

"Work that body, Mommy! I could do this alllllll day!"

Baaaahahahahhaa!! Just who in the world does this kid think he is!?♥ 

     

Did everyone get their tickets?....

 ...... to the "GUN SHOW" ?!?

Haaahhahaha! 

So, as part of a LONG RUNNING joke between the Jared and his mom, this was the photo inside her Mother's Day card yesterday. But this year we kicked it up a notch by getting all the Himes boys in on the joke. (Graham couldn't really be bothered to participate... but at least he's in there. I mean, 3 out of 4? Trying?  In one photo? I'll take it.)

 

And even though we couldn't all be together with my own mom on her special day, maybe for half a second it felt like it.. since we were all together on her card. We all snapped a photo of ourselves and spelled out M-O-M for the front of her card this year...

 

(And on a completely related note: I HATE that I never get to see my sister. And I miss her more than I can even explain.)

And then as for my own Mother's Day... well, to be quite honest, the first part of the day felt pretty much doomed... and I would have much preferred to return these heathen children to their REAL mother (she's gotta be hiding somewhere, right?)...  :/  

...BUT... 

After the minor disasters that were the morning, church, lunch, and nap time... I got to see MY mom. And I cried. And she hugged me. And we drank Sangria. And my boys were GOOD for a few hours. And Jared gave me a really really sweet homemade card and completely surprised me with a brand new iPhone.

And then it was bedtime. And it was quiet. And I got to just sit down. 

And I was happy.

 

So even though it started off rocky, at the end of the day, we were all still together. And we all still hugged. And smiled. And high-fived.

And I think that's pretty much the only thing that really matters in the end.

Silly Daddy caught us all off guard :)

My Reason. My Purpose. My Life.

Roses are red, violets are blue...

.....I have a LEECH on me,

     Do you have one, too?

 He does this to me constantly.

He'll push my legs, pull my legs, ride on my feet (complete with horsey noises), or just wedge his body between my legs and plant himself there while I stand in the kitchen and work.

We must always be touching.

 "Hi"

 Mm hmm.

Some day I'm gonna miss this, right? haha....

New Neighbors

Well... I knew we had one bunny living under our shed...

But apparently, there are, in fact, two.


I (and my garden) are kind of praying they're sisters...


But at least the boys love them.

                        Oh yea.. there they are.

 And they are definitely well-fed. 

Jared thought they looked like pet bunnies at first, they are so big. Ha.

The big boys have spotted the one before, but it's only recently that they've been out and about - close enough to a window - for Graham to see them. And oh man, does he love it. He just points and rattles on in total excitement...

"Buh-neee! Buh-neee! See it! See it! Buh-neee! I-see-see-I-see-see... Buh-neeeee!"

 

Easiest way to get 3 rowdy boys to stand still and quiet, though ;)