2022,
we t h o r o u g h l y enjoyed you!
After ringing in the
New Year, we only had a few sleeps before celebrating a birthday! The night before her big day, Scarlett stood in front of the mirror and said,
“Hmmmm, I still look ‘da same! But I
don’t fink [think] I look AS wittle [little] as I oo-sed [used] to… Wait a second, am I gonna turn
free [three] eva’ eva’ again, Mommy?” We woke up to a 4-year-old standing at our bedside the next morning, and I wallowed
around in #allthefeels for the rest of the weekend as we prepped for her Doc
McStuffins party. Though the days are
sometimes long, the years are always short; this year I really reflected on how crucial it is to not
count the days, but to MAKE THE DAYS COUNT!
In mid-March, Harper
excitedly rung in #7 with a gymnastics party!
She bought a recorder with some of her birthday cash and spent a large
chunk of the spring serenading anyone who would listen. The most frequented front-porch listener [the Amazon delivery man] notoriously sped off before her concerts concluded,
but he did say once that he “loved himself a good rendition of ‘Hot Cross Buns,’” and our girl’s DAY. WAS.
MADE. One afternoon in April, same said Amazon man delivered five v. v. hungry “cata-piddas” to our doorstep,
and we spent the rest of the spring feeding/growing/raising them into beautiful
butterflies! The kids immensely enjoyed
round two of vlogging the journey for family and friends. Then! A
few weeks after the butterfly release, I found a large family/colony of snails residing
inside a Tupperware container [sans lid] that the older girls had been “raising” in
their closet, and that was the moment I decided to call it quits with promoting/procuring wildlife experiences inside
our home.
In the blink of an
eye came July, which was filled with life, liberty, and
the pursuit of [SO MUCH] happiness! We celebrated the 4th in traditional Fleming family style
[IYKYK] and then immediately jetted off for a family vacation to sunny Florida! Amidst pools and water
parks and more pools, we also squeezed in one super magical day at Magic
Kingdom which was, well, *magical* to say the least! We were grateful for the rest and relaxation we
enjoyed over the summer, because it wasn’t long until the older girls returned
to St. Boniface Catholic School in August [Harper – 2nd grade,
Scarlett – Pre-K 4]. Soon after settling
into the new school year, Juliette had her “Wild and ONEderful” themed 1st
birthday party! We celebrated our girl at the zoo as well as with a family party at our home. Undeniably, we are all still in shock that our “baby” is one… Moral of the
story? #dontblink #EVER and, of course, #makethedayscount!
All.of.a.sudden, it
was fall, y’all! September was composed
of Harper and Scarlett’s first soccer seasons, Juliette’s first Cardinal’s
game, and our first visit to the E.R. in 7.5 years of parenting [thanks to a
very serious allergic reaction to amoxicillin that even panicked the mom-nurse!]. We are hoping to repeat the first two events
frequently and never ever revisit the third event! ;) :) October
highlights included Harper’s artwork being featured in the local art gallery,
Scarlett’s school field trip to the apple orchard, and Juliette’s sprinting behind her walker but
refusing to let it go and walk on her own.
We also had *3* beautiful princesses for Halloween and royally enjoyed escorting
them around the subdivision to trick-or-treat!
November brought our 10-year anniversary, and we took the kids to Mass
at SLU College Church to show them where it all began! Brian and I recently returned from a trip to
Florida where we celebrated our “once in a lifetime” love and soaked up lots of
time for JUST US [for literally the first extended period of time ever
since having kids, wowza!]. We had a
fantastic trip but were excited to return home to our girls, as the time away
confirmed that “Mommy” and “Daddy” are still our favorite titles!
With
a very exciting Christmas season on the horizon, we look forward to all of the
merriment and blessings that await! To all of you, we send this
cheer: MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW
YEAR! <3
May
the love of the newborn Christ fill your homes with light and life!
