Finally pulled this beloved pink dress out for Carma to wear - complete with the pink and white hat that I wore with it when I was little. Jack and Will were dressed similarly enough to Sam and Cody so we did a little photo recreation in the front yard before church. I was a pretty lucky little girl to have two big brothers to love and idolize and Carma is even luckier that she has three!
And let's not forget my fantastic little brother. I posted this on social media in early February: Today - in between loads of laundry, hiding under blankets to read, and giving my children helpful directions like “find yourself something to eat” - I’m pondering the awesomeness that is (are?) siblings. Because I’m the only girl and I’m also sappy, I tell my brothers pretty often how much I love them and because I’m imaginative and self-assured, I tell myself pretty often that they love me too 😏💁🏻♀️🤗. I found this screenshot today of Quinn, and it brought me as much joy as it did last summer when I handed him my phone to take a picture and he also gifted me with all these selfies. I always wanted a little sister but Quinn was even better: he was my best little buddy and confidante but never stole my clothes or had a crush on my boyfriend (although who would have blamed him, Chuck is 🔥). Quinner, I think you’re a swell guy. Just FYI.
A lot of my thoughts about family and siblings at the beginning of February were prompted by the loss of my Uncle Terry, seen here with his beautiful daughter Lindsey. She's holding baby Jack; this was from my cousin Cory's wedding open house a few years ago.
And here's Lindsey's beautiful post about her dad, complete with this darling picture from when she was a baby. Lindsey is the youngest of five, and I love that Uncle Terry looks just as in love and joyful about his fifth child as he did the previous four. I loved watching him joke around and interact with his kids. Terry's memorial service was really lovely; we stood together to escape the rain and listened to incredibly sweet and funny memories of him as a young boy, as a skier and fisherman, as a brother and dad, and eventually as a very beloved and attentive and involved grandfather. It meant a lot to me to be there and hear those stories.
This is another picture from the same wedding open house, featuring my Grandpa with four of his children (just missing my Uncle Lon). My aunt Diane and I always joke that Braden girls are strong and can handle anything because they survived growing up with only brothers.
A sweet part of all of this was some cousin time! Quinn hitched a ride with Sam and Terri and their kids to be in Boise for the memorial service. Carma was in heaven with girl cousins to paint fingernails with!
Not a ton of snow this winter, but Jack was always ready to shovel when we got a bit. Pretty cute helper:
I don't remember where we were going when I made these four line up for a picture before getting in the car... I just remember thinking how cute and big they all are and wanting to capture them in these moments of silliness and fun and adventure.
Jack and Carma created this ... play? musical? something? and we were delighted to sit and watch... for the first few minutes. Pretty sure it turned into improv after about ten minutes and we clapped it over :).
Harry Potter themed Scout night? Don't mind if we do!
Ahhhh Valentine's Day prep. Love it. (sigh)
President's Day means no school, so we packed up a couple friends and met up with Grandpa in Boise for some fun! First a trip to the Discovery Center...
then up to our newest favorite spot off Federal Way, Terry Day Park! The kids zip lined and swung and played tennis and ran around and had a blast:
And we finished the day with a trip to the car wash, so couldn't have gotten better.
Oh, this kid is the sweetest thing ever. Especially when he's asleep ;).
Cookie Wednesday at Janell's! Today included some piano from Jack and some Mickey snuggling from Carma.
I have no idea why/where Will drew these pictures of our family but they bring me joy:
There's a slight chance that Carma is a daddy's girl. Pretty sure Chuck's a-okay with that.
Found this on insta one day, and it really struck both Chuck and me. Trying to help our kids figure this out - hard things won't be taken away, but you'll be strengthened and buoyed to get through them.
Um, this is slightly terrible but made me laugh SO MUCH. Carma likes to use 'talk to text' and predictive text to send me messages from my mom's phone while she's with Grandma. I'm not sure which one gets the blame/credit for this lengthy text but "b!tc# I want to speak with grandma" pretty much killed me... especially right after "Hey mommy I love you so much" hahahaha.
Movie night with popcorn, ice cream, and a friend? Lucky kids.
I have never regretted banning Fortnite from our house approximately ten minutes after it started being a thing back in the day. We like our Minecraft addiction juuuust fiiiine, thank you.
Every day of elementary school, yo.
This was a very blessed day in my life:
THIS IS ALL OF MY CHILDREN. Holy moly guys. Keep it on the freaking dl.
Reminiscing about the times I unroll the window and make Clyde hang his nasty feet outside as we drive home...
Things got pretty real on social media one day haha:
Instagram caption: SO much love in this car 💓☺️. Real life caption: SO much love in this car... also lots of passive aggression 🙃, infringed upon space 👀, lingering resentment from earlier scuffles 🤜🏼🤛🏼, one kid 20mins late to school 🕗😬, two kids 20mins early to school 🕗😅, two kids overdue for baths (jack’s disheveled hair has been disheveled in the exact same spots for multiple days now 😳🤦🏻♀️), a radio playing slightly louder than necessary to drown out whining 🙉🎶🎵, and mom-ordered smiles at a stoplight to capture this fleeting moment 📸😍😂. Next up was a quick pep talk about how rough mornings leave nowhere to go but up, we can choose good attitudes and happiness, and a quick family prayer before we parted ways 👋🏼✌🏼. I really love these yahoos and I’m really okay not seeing them for a few hours 😂😂
I think that was my takeaway from this month in general - family is where it's at. It's hard and it's work but those relationships are so worthwhile. I'm grateful for that reminder.
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