Wordless Wednesday, brought to you on Tuesday night.

I'm throwing this up tonight,

as I know that my free time is going to be limited tomorrow...

Rubin has another cold, and the situation in his chest is less than desirable.

My. Poor. Baby.

Everyone knows the drill, now. And I have lots of little hands, more than willing to help "tweet" their baby brother.

Feel better, little man!

I've landed the most amazing friends. I have these incredible people about me, who remember the important things from my past just as well (in some cases, better...) than I remember them... (Thank you, Erin. Gosh, I miss you!)

How did I nearly forget that just one year ago this happened? It's a story I've told ten times tenfold, each time I'm asked why (and I'm asked frequently), with two little boys already at home, didn't we ask for a baby girl from Korea? It was a decision that I'd been struggling with the week before our 2008 W.O.W. It was something that Dave, on the other hand, felt very strongly about.

So many things lead us s t r a i g h t to Rubin.

I love to think about the fact that last year, as I played and ate and snuggled and prayed with my female relatives beside Loon Lake, my 3-month-old baby boy lived at the Baby Reception Home in Han Suh Hospital, attached to SWS in Seoul. I couldn't help but think about how I was expecting him last fall as I looked at my cousin Carolyn this past weekend...

...expecting her first baby in April. She's just about as close to meeting her little one as I was to meeting Rubin at last year's W.O.W. Both of us expecting babies, in such different ways.

I can't believe how quickly time passes.

As for my family, we celebrated life this past weekend as we have for the past 7 years. We marveled at the miracle of pregnancy, and the joy of becoming a first time mother, aunt, and grandmother.

We joined forces and shook our fists at cancer: at battles fought and won...

...and at a war that wages on.

We cracked books in preparation for first exams of the year in undergraduate and law school careers.

We anticipated future weddings, in November and then June and then November, once again.

We caught up.

We looked forward.

We looked back.

And not in absolute harmony, not without some discord.

No, we are not perfect, except for in our pride... a trait that I think most of us have inherited genetically.

As each year passes, I step away from the weekend with a prayer in my heart, dually thanking God for these women I'm able to call my family, and asking Him to help us be better than we were the year before. Better wives and sisters and mothers, yes. And better friends to each other, as sometimes it's easiest to hurt the ones we should be loving the most.

We may not have it all together. But together, we have it all.

Home, again...

Have so much blogging to catch up on... just in from my family's annual W.O.W. (Women Only Weekend) event...

To tide you over until I have a bit more time to post, a photo of some of the women I love the most in this world: My mama, my aunties, my cousins and their "little girls", my sisters... all of them my friends.

Hoping to catch up more tomorrow!

A last minute Wordless Wednesday.

Why have I been forgetting about Wordless Wednesday?!

I think this is the third or fourth week in a row, now,

that I've either completely or nearly missed it...

I don't have anything witty or magical to share.

But, I do have the 3 most precious little boys in the entire world.

And, even though they have been testing my patience this week...

I love them more than there are words.

Goodbye, Summer.

It's hard to believe summer is over.

Even when I try to savor every minute, if feels as though we are flying through our days. I'm having a hard time believing that Rubin has been home now for nearly 5 months... that Emmett is counting to 15 (occasionally skipping 11) and a master of the alphabet... and that Theo will have his official school picture taken tomorrow for the very first time.

I am a little nervous about how it is going to turn out, given that his teachers have already sent a few candid photos home that had me laughing so hard, my side ached. Needless to say, I decided tonight that we better practice. This is what we came up with:

And then this:

And finally:

Perhaps we have a winner?! I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

In other news, yesterday marked 16 weeks out from my first full marathon. I began my scheduled training this morning, and have butterflies in my tummy, already. If you look to the right sidebar of my blog, you can follow my progress with the help of my Nike + Mini Me. (Notice my awesome South Korean flag t-shirt!) I've had a little bit of trouble with my Nike + when I first started using it, but I am hoping that I've finally ironed out some of the kinks (most importantly, the inaccurate pace marker. I'm not the quickest, but my pace is much faster than the average 26 minutes per mile suggested?? I realized this morning that back in July I logged a 3 mile run that took me 225 minutes. Hmmmm... must have forgotten to turn off the sensor??)

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the training, and for the mental/emotional/physical/spiritual growth that is certain to come with it.

The B.B.R.C. is back in business. Woot!

Some days call for underwear.

On your head.

When I fall behind with my blog, I always find that the best way to catch up is through my photos.

Unfortunately, my camera was broken and I was without it for a few weeks. I did manage, however, to happen upon a loaner, and so...

This is how life has been, captured as a part of my "Sony Experiment."

Brotherhood, in general, has been good. Three boys. I'm exhausted.

Uncle Dan turned 40. Aunt Sica threw him an awesome party. We were thrilled to be in attendance.

Rubin thought that, in celebration, he'd take up skate boarding.

Check out the awesome cake:

With black frosting.

Speaking of cake, we visited Great Uncle Pete's house for a family reunion. We hung out, looking cute...

we ate MORE cake...

and we ran around in the woods in the name of a scavenger hunt.

Katie found new Crocs for us, on discount, and the first leaves started to fall...

as Autumn draws near, Rubin is growing bigger and stronger with each passing day.

Emmett has moments of tenderness balanced by moments of utter craziness.

This red-headed child keeps me on my toes.

We've spent plenty of time with M.J.

and Piper

and, of course, Nora, Lucy, and Gabe.

I had another family photo session,

and we celebrated Nanny's birthday with our family.

Now that I feel somewhat caught up, sleep...

Confession of a drowning blogger.

I am so far behind right now, I'm not sure where to start in order to catch up.

Maybe tomorrow...

Wordless Wednesday, at the end of the day.

This one really would have gone without words, had I only known how to embed a video from vim*eo onto my blogspot.

Instead, you'll just have to click here.

Beautiful. No words necessary.

Except, "Thank you, B."

Just recess, Mama.

The title of this blog post is the answer that I have been getting to the question, "What did you do at school today, Theo?" for the past two weeks now.

Recess. Just Recess.

I've left it alone mostly, figuring one of two things:

1.) They've only had recess or

2.) Recess has been so wonderful, it's the only thing he remembers.

(I realize that the true answer lies in the fact that he's 4. And a boy. And a little spacey, at times...)

Anyway, my patience has paid off and tonight I got this:

"Mama, we sang a song at school today that goes like this: 'Doom da da doom dee dooom doooooooom.'" (Just envision Theo semi-beatboxing this little diddy.)

Next, he said, "And when we were singing, we balanced bean bags on our shoulders. And then on our heads and on top of our feet."

NOW we're getting somewhere...

We walk.

After dinner, we walk. Usually there is a double stroller (Emmett and Rubin) and a big wheel (Theo) involved.

Sometimes I give them free reign.

Tonight was one of those nights,

and this is what I saw...

Honest Scrap

So, Christine of 12,450 miles recently bestowed upon me the "Honest Scrap" Award (muchas gracias, Christine) and so, I have some work to do here, as a result.

First of all, I need to:

A. Choose 7 blogs that I find brilliant in content or design.

and then:

B. Show the 7 winners’ names and links on your blog, and leave a comment informing them that they have won the Honest Scrap award. [Like Christine, I'm not doing that part... if you are one of my nominees and you want to participate, take this ball and run. If you have other things that you'd prefer to blog about and time is of the essence, I completely understand.]

and so, without further ado, my 7:

1. This is my journey...

2. goin' thrifty for your half pint

3. bubble tea for you and me

4. 24 list

5. I'm a Norbyah

6. A New Type of Nesting

7. Soon to be 5 Pritchards

C. List at least 10 honest things about yourself.

~I've never been on a roller coaster.

~I find myself thinking in Facebook status updates and seeing things as photographs.

~I take gummy vitamins for adults. (Thank you, Vitafu*sion for your multi-vitamin, Omega-3s and calcium. I haven't forgotten to take my vitamins once since I met you this summer.)

~I am afraid of becoming "that mom" of only boys who loses her fashion sense in her mid-forties and doesn't have any daughters to keep her in line.

~I've become so accustomed to going to bed without my husband that I actually have some difficulty falling asleep on his days off, when we get to "retire" at the same time.

~I don't like wine. No matter how hard I've tried. And I'm not a big fan of beer, either. I probably only drink alcohol 4 or 5 times each year.

~I'm most mean to the people who I love the most. When I'm frustrated or I've had a bad day, my husband usually feels it first when he bears the brunt of my grumpiness. It's something I'm constantly working on.

~I have a cleaning disorder. I'm working on that, too. I'm getting better at putting down my mop or my vacuum to play with my boys. I'm learning how to go to bed at night before every last match box car or animal figurine has found it's proper home. (Sometimes, now, I'm even throwing cars and animals in the same bin, which NEVER would have happened one year ago.)

~I've been saying "5 more pounds" for over a year now. I've lost it and gained it back a handful of times over the past 12 months. I am on the heavier end of the equation right now, and I've been working hard through running and yoga to get back down. The harder I work, the hungrier I get. Sigh.

~I officially begin my marathon training on September 20th. I never thought I would say this, but I can't wait.

Wordless Sunday... because I can.

An Official "First Day of School" shot:

Just how time flies...

Exactly four months ago today, this.

Is it possible to say (and truly mean), "It feels like I just met you" and "I feel like I've known you forever, now" in the same breath?

Or, "That seems like so long ago" and "Wasn't that just yesterday?"

_____________________________________________________

I will never forget that van ride, having to wait longer than I thought I would have to, to meet you for the first time. (Good thing your Grandmas were there to keep things light...)

I remember driving through Seoul, trying to take it all in. Writing things down, for you and for me. And I remember hearing this song.

I will never forget the first time I saw you, fast asleep in your stroller, rolling toward me at the hand of your loving foster mother on her 18th story balcony hallway.

I will never forget thinking to myself, somewhat surprised since I felt like I'd already missed so much, too much... "He's still a baby!"

I will never forget loving you. Instantly, fiercely.

How could I not?

(wordless) Wednesday

I've had all things wedding on my mind lately.

I just recently started working, on an extremely part time basis, for a wedding photographer in our area. I shot my first wedding with her this past weekend and... wow. If I'd ever consider a career change, this might be it.

I would love to be able to share some of the photos that I took publicly. However, with the photographer's contract and all of that business-y type stuff that I am not very good with (hence, not quitting my day job), I am restricted to showing only hard copies of my shots

or sharing them privately.

So, a picture that I took of some of my own rings some time ago will have to be the image of this "wordless" Wednesday.

Like I said, weddings on my mind...