what are the odds?

tonight, finn was a little on the cranky side and lily and i were buying time until he would be tucked in.

we were all three happily (for the time being) reading books in his room when he slid his hand down his book and let out a wail.

i told lily i thought he had a papercut and then saw quite a bit of blood coming from his finger.

being the caring big sister that she is, she was worried about him and wanted to have a good look at his finger.

after the excitement died down, she went back to enjoying her books.

moments later, lily yelled out, "i have a paker-nut!  i have a paker-nut!"

i hardly batted an eye and said "it's going to be ok, lily." (i mean seriously, i wasn't born yesterday.  i'm not falling for that one.)

she looked at me as if she couldn't believe the attention that finn had gotten in comparison but went on with her reading.

well, after we got finn settled in bed, lily and i were snuggling for a moment when she looked at me and said, "when will my paker-nut be better?"  it was then that i thought maybe i ought to check out her finger.

are you kidding me?  the girl had a huge papercut!  how is that even possible?  two papercuts within about 30 seconds of one another.

oops.  sorry lily.  you better believe that finger got some serious love from me once i realized my error! :)

(and i'm sure whit was thankful that she got to experience the whole drama live via the phone!)

::home sweet home::

i have been working on a project for several weeks now for my kids for christmas.

as with many of my projects, it didn't turn out quite as beautifully as i had envisioned, but luckily, lily and finn aren't too picky!

my sweet ones are happiest when playing in a fort of any kind...under the table, under cushions, under a tree...just that feeling of a shared secret and safety.

however, many of their forts are quite elaborate and often destroyed within minutes by the chief. 

enter, the table tent...

i made a little house that can be quickly thrown over our kitchen table to provide a sweet hideaway for lily and finn.  many parts come off and can be interchanged.  and i am hoping to add more as the time goes on (if they enjoy it!) 

i am very excited to give this to them for christmas!  (maybe i ought to iron it first?)

 the garden

mule!

happy 21st birthday, sammy!!

we so wish we could have celebrated with you, but we are so thankful we had a few days with you right before your birthday!!

i can hardly believe all 5 of us are technically "adults" now.  it feels like only yesterday that i was putting barrettes in sam and duke's hair and we were putting on plays for our parents.

it is such a blessing to be the oldest sister to four amazing siblings and every day i am overwhelmed by the love we all share.  i only hope that lily feels the same way as she gets older.

happy birthday, samuel.  we love you so very much!

::our little garden fairy and gnome::

our kids thoroughly enjoyed halloween this year...and finn was delighted by his first piece of chocolate (note evidence on his beard!)

                                                           

lily and finn were able to trick or treat with ainsley and david and they loved every minute of it!

we waited until the last minute to buy pumpkins and were only able to find these little tiny ones (lame!) but luckily our kids didn't seem to mind one bit!

we hope you had a very happy halloween!

griffin.

 ryan had a conference in denver last week.

and i had the privilege of joining him. 

and that meant lots of time to soak up the cuteness of griff.  (and of course ash and jose!)

 thanks so much for having us, guzmans!!

 and a HUGE thank you to kathy who stayed with our kids and allowed us to have such special time together!  THANK YOU!!

and the weekend was capped off with an awesome visit from sam.  we were so glad you were here, sammy!!