Some pics

A super quick visit with the Watson clan. Thanks for staying up so late with us and letting us crash. Hope Sunday wasn't too brutal.





Road entertainment, braiding her own hair, making up new hairstyles. We also told stories, Joe's about a horse named Petal. Abby's about kitten's she got from her friend Zoe's house, and mine about Zulu and Zeke and their love of donkeys.









Super smiley man, just waking up, really mom we're still driving, i'm still in this seat??

The lovely Mt. Shasta

Lake shasta where we stayed the night, wanted to get farther but Wes was DONE!

A pitstop in vacaville, we're close!

Part 1- Road Trip

It seems there is tech difficulty at the moment with uploading pics so those are to come soon.
We made it down to San Francisco to Michael and Celeste's after 2 days driving. It is so nice to be here as we haven't been down for 4 years we figured out. Their house is lovely, all the plants have grown and look so amazing, lemons and oranges growing in their yard, fresh lemonade from tree ripened lemons, the big kids laughing and screaming having all sorts of fun. It's so relaxed, no pressure to do things, just to be. aaahhhh...

A thought from the car ride down.
We, as mothers, spend so much time wondering what we could have done differently as our kids are doing some ungodly behavior that makes us want to crawl away or explain somehow,
i should have been more consistent, i should i have been more mellow, i should have been stricter, more lenient, more. more. more.
And then there are times that you just look at your kids and it hits you how really perfect and beautiful they are, how they are really, really good kids and you get to think that maybe, just maybe you are doing it all right.

Another 1/2

Alright, here we go. Now we have to kick it in gear!! Go Cassie! Where are you Tessa......????
http://seattle.competitor.com/

Today

Today seemed so long but in the best sense.
Got some work done but was able to be in the sunshine and hold sweet bubba's hand while we looked at tractors, listening to him talk and talk.
Got to have tea in the middle of the day, sit in the grass, talk and eat Kale from the garden.
Saw a fantastic report card from Abs, so proud of her.
Took a walk down the road with Abby and Wes, Abby saved 3 salamanders- the kind with the bright orange bellies, one of them we think was pregnant her belly was BIG!
Then a little fire in the yard and marshmellows with Joe.
Abby pulled her hanging tooth out tonight so brave.
And now Wes is asleep, the house all quiet listening to Joe's voice reading a libary book to his girl.

Wes watching me weed...

Yeah... Joe getting the garden ready!

Kali and Wes soaking up some sunshine.

Had my first sailing lesson, was a total blast.

time...time..time

There are so many moments that you want to never forget
and sooo many moments you can't wait until you do forget. I wish there was
more time to write on here, that i could record more because i will forget when they are big these days when Wes is crawling around- his main goal to get anywhere he can stand up to. Right now he is crawling across the wood floor with a rice biscuit in his hand, it crunching a little as he motors across the floor and then stops to wave his arms around like he does when he's really happy and takes a few bites.
So Fridays are rough here, we all ended up going to sleep very early last night. Its the end of the week of school so abs is worn out, my full day of work at the hospital which for the last month has been slammed, often i'm the only nurse on and Joe is wiped from working like crazy. Last night my 7 yr old looked at me and told me how "annoying" i was when i didn't let her eat a granola bar right before dinner in which she promptly had to go to her room, her in a total meltdown, she ended up just going to sleep she was so tired. As pissed as i am in those moments i also think about how little she is still even though in comparison to Wes she is huge. In her tiredness when i asked really what was going on she said she misses us, that she doesn't know why she can't go to school for 1/2 day and be home for 1/2 day, that she loves recess but couldn't she just come home instead? This kiddo has a great day at school everyday when i pick her up and has some really good buddies it seems but still something is super tough about school for her. So after she apologizes through her tears she says, I just want to go lay down with you, so we do and she starts to calm down, her breathing gets more steady, she turns to me and we say, "i love you" and she falls asleep in all of her clothes at 6:30 at night, for the whole night.