everything summer.

family. the zoo. the museum. popcorn. good friends.= a good july.

need i say more (you can browse through the pictures.)

the end.

on summering.

whew, summer what can i say about you? our recent days have been filled with swimming, backyard play, celebrating ada's "real" birthday", butterfly crafting, garage painting, visits with relatives, a stomach virus, park time, painting pottery, AND we even had a SWAT team visit our little home. scary and real! there is nothing like coming home from a date night with your hubbie to a house surrounded by police. i will spare you the details but tell you that now the neighborhood knows the rahbars.

busy, i tell you. i love summer for so many reasons, especially the fact that there is nowhere we really have to be. no strict time schedule. no rushing around. buuuuuttttttt, i will not sugar coat it. summer is HARD. three tiny little kids suctioned to me all day long. every day. playdates are sparse. the weather is HOT. and my two year old has become a pirate who tends to sneak REAL knives from the kitchen to play with. ada and elias fight and argue. alot. li cannot for the life of him follow rules. 1,2,3 magic does not work it's magic on him. ada whines. and, well, miss hanna is actually quite lovely. but she takes up one full arm all day long.

don't get me wrong. summer, i do love you. i always have. i love the vacations, the beach trips, the cook outs, the summer family fun days at the pool. but on my "work" days, you are hard. one handed breakfast, lunch and dinner making, one handed sunscreen lathering on four separate people, one handed disciplining of a sometimes violent two year old, one handed crafting, fixing boo boos, bathing, swimming, cleaning, laundry folding... you get my drift. it is pretty physically exhausting.

the good thing is, we are making it! the kids are happy. i am happy (most of the time). and aside from a few black eyes, ears (oh, and should i mention again, a visit from a SWAT team) our summer has been wonderfully uneventful, yet exciting all the same. only a week and a half until vacation! HOORAY!

our little peanut.

elias playing with ada's birthday gift. don't worry, she was sleeping (otherwise a fight would have ensued.)

the cake monster.

make a wish.

hot and grumpy.

sick birthday girl.
birthday lunch with nande and auntie shannon.

gooch on the 4th of july

5.

my dearest ada,

five years ago, life as i knew it changed forever. you, my darling girl, came to me. we certainly were made for each other. you have taught me so much about myself, about life, about patience and understanding. your fifth year on this earth has by far been your finest. you have bloomed into the most beautiful young being this world could ask for. your heart is bigger than any person's i have every known. you are independent by nature, not a leader or a follower. you have got your own thing going on. you love dirt, water, and most especially mud. kids flock to you, especially little girls, so interested in all of your songs and stories and games. you are also the tidiest child i have ever met. you are such a good cleaner! and your room is always in such good order! how did i get so lucky.

you are the best role model that elias and hanna could ask for. their eyes light up when you enter a room. elias may torment you to no end, but he is really just seeking all of your attention. you are so patient with him! you are by far goochie's favorite person in the entire universe (should i be jealous?!). i still don't know how you make her laugh so hard. you were such a piece of work as a wee one. i invested so much into you. and now i am so proud. you hugged each and every one of your friends for coming to your birthday party. you smile and say hello to everyone you know as we walk around town. and you have the best skip hop and shimmy shimmy ever.

you are a sparkle. you catch everyone's eye. and you caught mine exactly five years ago when you came into this world kicking and screaming. perfection, it took you a while, but you became it! happy birthday my first born. i love you more than you will ever know.

mama

six months? say it isn't so!

this chick~

turned six months yesterday! yep, her first half-birthday ever. and we take half-birthdays seriously in this neck of the woods. we visited sugarland. pistachio gelato, please! too bad six months is too young to eat it. that didn't stop the rest of us though!
what can i say about miss hanna? she is the smiliest baby, EVER! seriously. she absolutely loves her mama, but will smile and giggle at ANYONE who admires her. she is a crowd pleaser. she is a silly little girl. she has the darkest brown eyes EVER! she loves the water whether is be in the shower, bath, swimming pool or thunderstorm (oh yes, did i tell you my son ran down the street NAKED during a thunderstorm the other day and would NOT stop! don't worry, hanna and i chased him as we studied the booming thunder and big bolts of lightning!) she still has a big wide toothless grin. she has fuzzy white-blond hair growing under the downy brown hair she was born with. she looks much like my first two, but perfect different in every way. we couldn't be more pleased with her. and, have i mentioned that this petite beauty loves to eat! carrots, squash, bananas, raspberries, pears. she doesn't discriminate!

hence all the pictures of her in her high chair!
happy half-birthday miss hanna tait! xoxo.