Last Spring...April 2015

Last spring was a very busy time for our family.  I decided to take a trip backwards on this blog to add some pictures of times that made us smile. 

At the end of April, we decided to go to the local County Fair.  It had been raining all day and it was a Wednesday night, which in the South means many folks would be attending church. 

 
There were very few people there.  I think we saw maybe ten other kids! 

 
The first ride for Sassy was the swings.  It was all she talked about on the trip.  At first I didn't see the swings that we normally rode so we began with the "skyscraper" version.  That sucker was tall!

It was crazy high and so much fun.  This picture is from the much lower, much slower swings.  See that smile...still loving it.  See those other seats...empty!

Eric and I separated and he took Bit for a bunch of tot-sized rides...and snacks.

 

Here he is loaded down with everything "I" decided to bring that night, including coats for all of us and a diaper bag.  He has toys purchased at the fair and water bottles all shoved in his pockets, while taking pictures of the kids.  My Hero. <3

Sassy and I landed in the aviary and had tons of fun with those hungry little guys.

Bit wanted the trains first, so that is where she started with Eric.  We ended up seeing those again so she could show her sister.

The traditional Funnel Cake snake before leaving...that we could not finish.  I remember now why we only order that thing once/year.  Sooo sweet.

 

These are two pictures of the last ride that that Sassy and I grabbed on the way out the gates...as Eric carried Bit crying to the car.  She was so worn out.   

 

 Here is another of the two of them together.  Cuties!

 

Bit crashed as soon as Eric buckled her into her seat and didn't wake up until the next morning in her bed...asking when we could go to the Fair again.


Eric and I decided this is the definitely the way to go when planning a night at the local fair...wait for a rainy day.

And so it begins

I kicked off 2016 with a deliberate goal of capturing more of the moments of our lives as they are happening.  I have observed, with the addition of a second child, that the details are often blurred when my husband and I "remember" certain instances.  What was once so certain with the children or the trips or the celebrations are now becoming a little hazy; still there, but not quite so easily grasped.

So for the month of January, I adopted Instagram as my method of journaling: quick blurbs about what happened on a particular day, accompanied by a single collage of photos.  I told myself, worse case scenario...this would really flop, I mean, wouldn't I be rehashing the same update day after day? Best case: I could print out all of the pictures posted and have my journal for the year.  

Instagram posts are working....they are.  They just aren't quit the direction I wanted to go when I thought of daily journaling.  The medium requires me to chop the descriptions of our activities into little blurbs with cute emoticons and hashtags...and while that works, it doesn't leave me the flexibility to include the flippant, witty, and often hilarious comments my kids make.  Neither can I write all the 'he said,' then 'she said,' and 'we were like'....conversations that so often end with laughter in our house.

Therefore, I'm making the jump, biting the bullet, as it were, to blogging...a medium I have considered for several years, basically since we began our homeschooling journey.  I have it on good authority that, like IG, I can print these posts and pictures at the end of a year and have a contained journal displaying all that we felt memorable enough to capture.

While no one but myself and family may see this now, I hope anyone who views this later will know what a huge deal this was for me.  =)