Seriously, where is everyone? It's been way too long for nobody to blog.

My kids love to sweep and I love that they love it. Is he seriously not the cutest kid? I just LOVE HIM!!!!

Get ready for more hiking pictures. Hope you're not getting sick of these, because we're probably gonna keep posting these! We went back to where we climbed last weekend to do some hiking. We got out sooooo late. We arrived after 3pm.

 B wasn't diggin' the sun shade. He kept sticking his head out the side. It was so weird wearing a new pack. It DID dig into the back of my hips a bit, but my SHOULDERS felt FINE after our hike which was marvelous! I probably should've switched a long time ago.

The first hike we went on was really short. It was SOOOOOOOO pretty. Oh man. The water running by our side. It sounded pretty, it looked pretty. It was just wonderful. But after 20 minutes? Suddenly the path ended and there was no way across the water and you could only hike up the mountain and it was way too hard with the kids on our backs. Bummer. 

Greg was a madman with the camera. He was constantly taking shots. Like nonstop.

The path comes to an end and Greg hikes up to see if we can keep going. I try to get a cool shot with the sun peaking through.

Back again. So much of our hiking are these ROCKS. ROCKS ROCKS EVERYWHERE!!! Rocks make me nervous. You just never know when one will suddenly shift under you. And it's just more awkward footing and takes more concentration! I'm sure I will get better, I'm still not very experienced with hiking and until NOW we've had such long stretches between each hike, it's like I lose all my "skill" and have to begin again. I'm sure I'll get better and more sure footed. I feel so much more responsibility with the kids on my back. It just makes me really nervous to fall. I'm a real klutz  just walking around the house.

Our family shot. I was blown away, again, at how much fun the kids were having! They were in our packs the whole time, but we could see them just smiling and wiggling around all excited. So cool. It would be hard if they didn't like it.

I gotta say, I feel really proud of myself for getting out in the woods this much. I'm only worried about ticks a LITTLE bit. Sometimes I worry we're being reckless, but I just choose to have faith. I worry about all of us getting it. The pain I'd have to see one of them go through, and what if it was me? How could I take care of my family if I got sick?

Then we started UP the mountain, instead of along side it. We were told it was very short and very easy. This was from the person that said the hike we just did was really hard. So we went up, excited to see the mountains from the top. Oh man, were we surprised. It was STEEP. It wasn't stable ground (loose dirt). It was right on a CLIFF. I was still not used to having B on my back. It made me very top heavy and sometimes he would just wiggle around excitedly and it would get me so off balance. I don't like feeling off balance right at the edge of a cliff! But we just kept going, all the while I'd check behind me and think, "Can I make it back down this?" The whole time I felt so uneasy, that should've clued me in. But I'm sort of in this mindset of, "Go for it! No regrets!" so I just kept going. When we got up there, I was pretty disappointed. It wasn't as grand as I'd expected. It was probably more that I was freaking out about how to get back down. I felt so unstable up there so we took a few pics and came down. Oh man. I have never been so nervous and uneasy on a hike in my life. I took the tiniest baby steps and was so TENSE the whole way down. It was the WORST. This is going to sound way dramatic and I'm sure it wasn't as bad as I'm remembering it, but when we finally got to the bottom, it was like my body exhaled and I was thrilled I made it out alive. I am NOT doing that one again! No way.

Yesterday the kids and I were at a park and Scarlet discovered some muddy puddles. I let them run around and they had a blast getting messy. Everyone was giggling around us and staring. I'm pretty sure they were shocked I let my kids play in mud and get disgusting. What can I say? I want them to be kids! At the VERY end, and I mean as I'm saying, "Alright, time to go!" Brighton SITS in one. So I had to strip him down and carry him to the car without and pants or shoes. People were giving me weird looks on the way out. I don't feel like it's that strange. Maybe it was in my head, but I don't think so.

B's gainin' weight, hoorah! He weighed 2 pounds more than a month ago. So, considering his clothes and possibly chugging a bunch of water, or whatever could have POSSIBLY thrown his weight- no matter what, he definitely gained a pound. But I know his clothes didn't weigh a pound more than last time, so I'm sure he gained even more. I'm so relieved.

I pretty much only feed him calorie rich food and crackers. I feed him as much lunch as possible and then let him play and chase after him with a lara bar. Then I'll try a banana. I seriously stuff his face as much as he'll let me. I hope he just gets better at eating on his own, but I don't foresee it. I'm just glad he's gaining. That makes me happy.

This is my witch hat for craft group tomorrow! This one's a bit more complicated to make, but I think it will work out. Then I have a great little book about a witch to read. How perfect!

We made this ghost last week-

It's after midnight. Stayed up way too late. Goodnight!