it's really hard to write anymore

If I could write a brain dump, I'd tell you about...

1. How time-consuming and thought-consuming it is to have four kids home all the time. I do NOT know how homeschoolers do this. Or daycare providers. Or...anyone. It's been hard.

2. I'd tell you about how Phoebe changed in her seventh month of life. She was a quiet, immobile, toothless baby with dark, dark hair. Between seven and eight months old, she started crawling and sitting and grew two teeth. Her hair lightened up significantly. (We all knew that was going to happen, right? The blonde eyebrows at birth...) She says "da-da" and makes cute noises. And not so cute noises. Downright scary shrilling noises that make you freeze and drop your fork at dinner sometimes.

3. I'd tell you how Avery's playing little league for the first time this year. He's amazing. So coachable. So focused. When I watch my son play baseball, I'm watching a young man. And when I watch him play, I forget about mortgages and meal planning and failures. That's not why I love his games. It's just something I noticed. I don't want to miss him make a double play or a diving catch. I love watching him do things I can't. And I love watching him pat his fellow players on the back and cheer for them. I love seeing that he does indeed have a passion.

4. I'd tell you how Miles is hands-down the best soccer player I've ever seen. (I didn't watch the World Cup!) No. Really, it's amazing to watch him channel his seemingly endless supply of energy and use his usually annoying skill of weaving in and out of people to totally dominate the field. He isn't timid. He's focused and he charges the ball (and hogs it). He scores lots of goals (and he misses a lot). We encourage him to be a team player and pass, but since he doesn't read this blog, I can say he could pretty much take on the other team by himself.

5. I'd tell you a thousand things about Jillian, too, because her personality just tickles me so. I'm especially fascinated with her different relationships in the family. When she puts on a pretty dress, she announces, "I'm cute," and then immediately runs to Brent for approval. She and Miles play all the time. Avery reads her books and she loves to climb up to his bunk...and steal his gum, which really annoys him! She has about 25 nicknames for Phoebe. I love to hear her say, "Oh Phoeb!" or "Phoby" or "Phlubz".

6. I'd tell you about how I stopped using Twitter and deactivated my Facebook account so that I could think more clearly again. Too. much. information.

7. I'd tell you so many more things. But, in the meantime, I think I'll share pictures that I've just found on my camera. Until tonight, I hadn't uploaded pictures for months. It was interesting. "What I found on my camera" posts to follow...