Oh, Hi & Four on Friday

Well hellooooooooo there, my little ol' narcissistic corner of the internet.

I've missed you, but I haven't.

But I'm popping in for a little FOUR on Friday.  Because ain't nobody got time for five today.

O N E
About my absence around these parts...
You know how on Thanksgiving, there's all this delicious, incredible food?  And you fill up your plate and push food around to make more room for more food and go back for seconds and even though your pants are about to bust wide open SURE you'll have some pie and ice cream for dessert.
And when you're done, you're stuffed.  Miserable, really.  And it's hard to even remember how good the food was because you just ate too much.
Hang with me here...
Life comes at you fast, ya know.  And sometimes there is just so much on your plate - a lot good, some not so good - but you feel like you can't even take a breath and enjoy what's right in front of you because there's just too much.
Right now, life is kicking my butt in many ways, and I've needed to take a step back - take a few side dishes off of my plate - to take care of some things that matter most to me.  To enjoy what's right in front of me and not be distracted by more, more, more.
This blog means so much to me for many reasons - it documents this precious time with my family, it is therapeutic, and writing truly is one of my passions.
So I hope that as I work to get my life plate to not be too much, but just enough - that I can find a way to fit the ol' Cupcakes and Running Shoes back into the side dishes.

T W O
Can you believe this little nugget is almost 6 months old?!  Y'all, we are all just so smitten with him.  I"ll be back with a full-on Brooksy-poo update next week as he hits the half-year mark.

T H R E E
And oh our Everette - this stinker is an absolute mess.  He is hilarious and challenging, all-boy and such a sweetheart.  He is becoming so inquisitive, and the way he asks questions all day long is just the cutest thing.  He is the perfect little middle sibling, and oh how I love him so!

F O U R
And CK!!  You guys, we spent this morning registering her for kindergarten.  KINDERGARTEN!!  I cannot believe it.  Especially when I think about how this seems like just yesterday:

And it was five years ago, exactly.  And now here we are today:

She is so grown up and just so excited about starting elementary school.  She rocked her registration appointment and left there dancing and singing.  And something else she is excited about?  A new soccer season!

We had her first practice last night, and I don't think the smile left her face for the entire (freezing cold) 45 minutes.  Go Thorns!

With that, I say TGIF and TGI-almost-HAPPY-HOUR!  Have a wonderful weekend, and hopefully I'll be back around here sooner than later. :)