making a comeback.

Michael Jordan. 

Robert Downey Jr.

Lance Armstrong.  

Neil Patrick Harris.

Betty White.

Andre Agassi.

Drew Barrymore.

What do these folks have in common?

They are known for making a successful comeback.

I've been thinking about making a comeback of my own.  

Rather than continue to commit to a blog comeback in my head, not tell anybody about it, and then not ever do it because I can find 4,000 other things to do, I'm here, publicly committing to this little space again.  

No good comeback can occur without its share of difficulty though.  Mine came 2 minutes into the redesign process this afternoon...

"Mom, I want a chocolate cake."

"Mom, I have to go pee-pee."

* insert crying baby *

* whip up chocolate cake from a box I found in the pantry *

"Mom, look at this lego invention I made!"

(crying) "Mom, why won't you get the cake out of the oven?"

* insert diaper change *

"Mom! Emmett's messing up my track!"

"Mom!  The oven says 2 more minutes!  Get the cake out!"

Blogging is just one more thing to do on a mountain of things already waiting.  

But this IS important.  

It's important because it helps me remember what is so good about my days.  I only have a short time with these little people I've been given.  Keeping up with this blog helps me to remember that the mundane, humdrum, everyday things of my life are the greatest gift I have ever been given.  

And as long as the Internets don't crash and burn (Hello! Have you been watching Revolution?), this little space will be a way for them to look back at their childhood and remember things like...

We made a stinkin' chocolate cake at 3pm on a Thursday just because they wanted one.  And I let them put 40,000 sprinkles of every color on top just because they asked.  

So if you were wondering what happened when I disappeared from here...

I was just setting the stage for my blogging comeback.  

{PS - I cannot stand the gap in time left since October (the last post) so I'll be working backward to fill it.  So much has happened since then!!}

thomas :: the 4th time

We got to see our old friend Thomas this weekend.  This makes our fourth time.  

There was 2008.

2010.

2011.

super fun weekend plans.

We're excited for everything this weekend holds.  

The first cold front of the season, time together, but mostly...

a trip to OKC to ride Thomas the Tank Engine.  

He's been counting down for a year.

Yay for fun weekend plans!

bill nye or britton buss?

Britton was home from work yesterday and got to be a science teacher.

We've been studying weather and he and Miles made a weather vane.

Ella supervised.

 Emmett supervised too.

It actually worked!

Cardboard, tape, dowl, spool, clay and...

The wind was in fact coming from the south!

Bill Nye ain't got nothin' on this guy.  

a little bit country. a little bit pink.

Please know I did not pose the children in this photo shoot.  It took less than 2 minutes and was ALL them.  

Miles got some new cowboy gear, so he got himself all done up from head to toe.   

I had to grab a photo.

As soon as little sister figured out he was dressing up and taking pictures, she threw on this ensemble and met us at the door.

She kept "flying" into the picture.  This is the flying...

Who taught him to stand like this?  Looks pretty legit for a cowboy.

The new pieces to his cowboy ensemble?  

His Dad's spurs...

And belt...

How precious that little Britton wore these a million years ago.  Miles is so proud to have them...

Back to the flying pink sparkle...

 

 

She's so funny.

And she rubs off on us.

chocolate chip banana muffins.

The kids wanted to make chocolate chip muffins.  

I made them add bananas.  

I let them gather the ingredients, mix up the batter and fill the cups basically on their own.  

Mr. 5 Months Old was grabbing at everything!

So I gave him his very own cooking utensil...

which he appreciated very much.

For 10 seconds. 

And then it was back to Grabby McGrabberson.

It goes against my nature to allow this kind of messiness.  
I like things done neatly.  
(Though you would not know this about me based on the current state of my house.)

But the joy and pride that comes from doing things yourself when you're three (and 5)...

It encourages me to chill so she can learn to enjoy baking.  

Cause what fun is it to be clean? And truly, the muffins taste just as good whether you made a mess or not.  

*******

Baby boy slobbered so much while gnawing on his cooking utensil that he had to change out of his soaked clothes...

And he got to spend a few minutes in his high chair for the first time.  

Everyone always says how big he is. 

But really, he's just so tiny.