Found this

I found these random pics on my computer. These children make me laugh.

Looking crazy. As usual.

Thanksgiving Part III

Thanksgiving with four kids ages 2 to 4 is an interesting undertaking. The kids don't get excited about Thanksgiving food and they won't sit at the table long enough for the adults to eat the food (food that, by the way, the adults are very excited to eat).

So we have started a tradition of serving the kids a Thanksgiving-type meal. Insert dino-shaped chicken nuggets for turkey and you have a success!

Thanksgiving Part II

Since our children won't just sit and watch football all day (sigh), we got out of the house and headed into DC. We went to the Museum of Natural History and had a great time!

On the way back to the train we headed out to the carousel for a little fun.

Not a bad way to spend the day before heading home to eat ourselves sick!

Thanksgiving Revisited

This Thanksgiving we took our annual trip to Annapolis to stay with Auntie Emily, Uncle Bert, Cousin Cate, and Cousin Cooper.

We did lots of fun things during this trip (more posts to come!), and this trip is always something I look forward to.

On our first full day in Maryland we headed to the playground to burn off some energy:

One of my favorite pictures - this girl loves
her horses

What's going on here?

So, Blogger told me that I could no longer post pictures because I had spent all of my free data space.

I stopped posting because I was annoyed (read: I was too cheap to pay for the extra space). Now it appears that Blogger is going to let me post pictures now ... even though I have paid no money. Weird.

Anyone know why this is?

In any case, I will now post pictures from Thanksgiving. 

Funny Face

I'm back, but not for a good reason

I have been away for a while. Life gets crazy, jobs get more involved, the kids require more time. All of this allows you to sink inside of your own bubble. You think the world begins and ends with your own personal tragedies.

Then you take a moment from your complaints and decide to look on the internet. You immediately see that your issues are really quite small.

27 dead.

20 children dead.

Gunned down.

All of a sudden, all you want to do is hug your kids and see them smile.

I tried to stay current and read the reports this afternoon, but I found that my only reaction was to cry. The girls were eating dinner tonight and I was sobbing by my computer.

I cry when I think about those poor kids who died. I cry when I think about the kids who witnessed their friends being taken away.

I cry when I think of the parents rushing to the school and praying to see their child's face in the crowd. I can't even imagine. I lose it when I even begin to comprehend the emotions they felt. 

I cry when I think of the teachers who will spend the months ahead consoling themselves, their colleagues, and their students after the atrocities they have witnessed.

And I cry for anyone who lives in a world where it is a real possibility to watch children die.

My heart hurts.

I pray that no one in the world, whether I know them or not, whether they are important to me or not, has to feel that kind of loss - a loss of a loved one, a loss of innocence.

I hurt. And I cry. And I hug my loved ones tighter than ever before.