Life Is Precious

I have been reading a blog called the Nie Nie Dialogues. I am sure that many of you have heard of this blog and may know what I am referring to, but if you don't, I strongly encourage you to check it out. I am not even going to try to paraphrase because I am sure that I would do the whole thing a severe injustice. However, I do want to share this. . . . life is precious. I know that I don't say it, show it, or realize it enough. I truly am so thankful for every moment that I get to spend with my wild and crazy children and my knight in shining armor.
I love Luke's obsession with coloring and drawing. I love how he uses big words even when he doesn't know what they mean. I love that he comes up to me often with a big hug and an "I love you mom" (He really does that!). I love how "devastated" he seems when he reports to me that he was "a little wild" in preschool. I love his big brown eyes and his eyelashes that go on for days. I love that he knows that when he is scared or when he has lost something, he can turn to his Heavenly Father in prayer and his problem will be solved. I love his faith and his knowledge. I love how much he loves cars and his desire to know every little thing about every little aspect of them. I love that he worships his daddy. He is a good boy and I am so thankful for everyday that I get to have the opportunity to be his mother. I love you big guy!
I love Tanner's cute little chipmunk voice and his lisp that accompanies it. I love that he calls Launey "Da" because he is too lazy to say dad. I love that when we try to teach him how to pedal on his bike he is far to content simply ringing the bell to even give pedalling a go. I love his adorable smile. He truly has the sweetest smile in the world! I love his intensity (some people would call it his temper, but I think intensity describes it better). I love his towers made from soup cans. I love that he is constantly telling us that Wow Wow Wubbzy is his favorite. I love that he feels that it is necessary to remind us multiple times throughout the day that "I Tanner, I 2 and a half!" I love his wild hair and that he has to jump or run everywhere he goes. I love that he wants to be just like his big brother, and I love his big bear hugs. I love you little guy!
I love Brielle's wrinkled nose. She makes the funniest faces! I love that she laughs out loud when I smile at her. I love how she is so content to entertain herself with a flip flop and a little car. I love how it feels to hold her. I love love love rocking her to sleep when she wakes up at night (even though I really don't like getting out of bed to do it). I love it when she snuggles. I love to see how happy she is when she gets in the "tubbies." I love all of the pink and the flowers and the absolute sweetness that seems to surround her. I love how she waves. I love how her smile melts Launey's heart. I love her slobbery kisses. I love you my tiniest princess.
I love my husband! He is my prince. He is my sanity and my rock. He is my source of optimism. He is the father of my children. He keeps my life exciting. He is my eternal companion. I love how he respects me. I love that he treats me like his princess. I am not complete without him. I love you Mr. Ivers!
I am so thankful for Stephanie, and her sister Courntey's blogs. Because of them when Tanner refused to take his nap today, I hugged him and I held him. I didn't scold him and scare him into bed by threatening to take away his little blankie if he didn't sleep. I just loved him. It is also because of their blogs that I realized at about 10 o'clock last night that I hadn't given Luke a real true "you are so loved" type of hug all day. I had given him a quick kiss when I sent him off to preschool, but I am pretty sure that is all. So, because their blogs really got me thinking about what was important in life, at 10 o'clock at night, long after my kids had been tucked in tight, I hugged him tight, and I told him how much I adored and loved him. Life is precious. I am thankful for everyday I have to live it!

Happy Fall!

I am going to have to admit that I have been suffering from a severe case of blog burnout. I don't know why but I would think about posting on a daily basis, but I could just never bring myself to do it. I think the problem may be that I can never seem to simply post a message, I always feel like I have to change the background, design a header, change the font color, then post on Luke's Colorful World. My computer is painfully slow, so the whole process tends to take the entire morning. Finally today, Brielle decided to take an unprecedented morning nap and the boys have been drawing for hours, so I am finally doing it, I am POSTING!

We took the kids to the petting zoo at Thanksgiving point a while ago, so some of the pictures will be from that exciting adventure. That day marked a major milestone in little Ellie's life, she had her first pony tail! Not the tail of an actual pony found at the petting zoo, rather I gathered every tiny little whispy baby hair I could find on top of her little head and stuck an elastic around it. So, while you are gazing upon the lovely photos of our petting zoo adventure, take time to notice the cutest, and tiniest, pony tail in the world.

The kids loved the petting zoo. They could have stayed there for hours! It was a fun little outing and it was quite inexpensive too. That is always a plus! Tanner said the his pony's name was, Tanner Horse. What a coincidence that Tanner boy just happened to ride on Tanner Horse. And yes, I did let Luke wear the dreaded red cowboy hat! It had been tucked away under his bed for a couple of months, but "luckily" he found it and he hasn't taken it off since. I resigned to the fact that I need to choose my battles, so the red hat is a permanent fixture in our lives! At the end of the adventure Tanner grabbed my hand and said "it's a good day mom," and it was.

The aftermath of the ponytail