so hello little blog! i feel like i have neglected this area of my life and i have so missed it! i have a running commentary in my head all day long but the end of the day is not conducive to sitting down and typing it all out for an hour. i read other  peoples' blogs--like really good stuff...my favorites are here and here and also here. ironically, one is a mormon and the other loves jesus but cusses like a sailor...but they're mighty good reading. perhaps you are coming here looking for something similar (minus the mormonism and language)? i can only promise reality--a slice of what's going on--a stream-of-conscience meandering through the journey that is my life...

 so let's see...what can i tell you about life lately? we visited v-town while todd was away in guatemala digging a well for the village of santa ines near champerico on the west coast. our visit was quick and utilitarian, as i had to pick up the twinnies from my folks' house. having only my older two whilst todd was away was a godsend...my heartiest props and kudos to you if you are a single mom! i would be in the looney bin if that were me...

 this visit to the beach was under wretched conditions--do not let the sun and sand fool you...there was a no-swim advisory because the surf was so rough (although the 50 surfers we saw didn't seem to mind), it was approximately 60 degrees (yes my kids were in swimsuits), the wind was blowing hard, and i was alone with all four of them...we lasted about an hour and then finally retreated to the warmth of my car. but if you asked the kids, they will tell you it was "awesome"

 i'm campaigning for a new camera...mine is a nikon d60--not a bad little dslr camera, but my lens has issues and blurs in certain spots where it shouldn't. never mind that the camera has been carried around BY the lens, has been in my purse (this alone could explain any issues), has been dropped (slightly), has had sand and chlorine and greasy fingers touching it... so i am going to start pinching my pennies to save up for a whiz-bang camera (TBD later and revealed on this blog :))

 my best friend from college, mk, is visiting this week with her two boys--one 2 and a half and one 6 months (pictured below is G, the stinking cute and almost always smiling 6 monther)...

 what a heart-breaker! so is his big brother. i had forgotten what toddlers were like...i think that we were so ready to have that season in the rear-view mirror that we un-baby-proofed as soon as it was ending...and now i am remembering that four year old twins are not the same as a two and a half year old... makes me miss when they were smaller and tells me just how far we've come!

 but we are all loving mk's visit and i especially like getting to have company during my every day stuff--errands, laundry, hanging around the house etc. and lily adores L, who is sitting with her here (he moved so fast he blurred...imagine if i had a new camera???).

 we love the retirement home for horses in alachua...my folks were able to go there with us when they visited a few weeks ago

and, as always happens, i sit down ready to wax poetic and i feel like i got nuthin...one thing i do have in large supply is love for my husband and children. lots of good perspective changers lately to remind me to really cherish them each day (even in the thick of things when i am not exactly loving each moment). i am still trying to look into their big blue eyes (or green) each day and just imprint on my brain and heart the look, sound, and feel of them at their current ages...i can't appreciate each moment and many times i am frustrated or overwhelmed or just plain worn out...but i am really making a solid effort to just xerox their psyches and file them away in the recesses of my own and just love them well while they are small. and with that, cheers and peace out :)