Life Lately

How is January almost over? No clue. No. Clue. But a new year means we are back to reality and it has seriously smacked me straight in the face. 

First, my littlest boo is almost two. She's funny, sassy, independent and yet doesn't want to let go of the boob. I was hoping she'd self-wean by two but its not looking like that's going to happen, so my plan is to sloooooowly wean her myself. I know it'll take months but I'm already feeling guilty about the process...but its time. I love nursing, I know its best for her nutritionally, I know its amazing for her immunity, I know its mother nature at work, but I also know that while nursing her has luckily been very easy, and natural, and an amazing bonding experience its also been almost TWO YEARS and we plan to have one final kiddo within the next year or two and I'd really like to give my body a break (and have it be MINE again haha) before getting pregnant and then starting this nursing experience with our next kiddo. 

Ari is kicking ass in gymnastics, but then again she kicks ass in everything she chooses to do. She's so happy and bubbly each time I pick her up from gym and that just makes my heart so happy. Also, the kid has researched the housing market in various parts of the United States, selected which University she'd like to attend, and has a 10 year plan. So when she asked when she's getting her driving permit i really shouldn't have been shocked. Its coming and I'm terrified and elated all at once. Avery loves swim class and anytime we do back floats she thinks its time to nap and nurse. Seriously, she's a squealing ball of energy when we are doing jumps off the edge into the pool and then in the next minute when its time to back-float she gets heavy-eyed then asks for "milkies". Like, no baby-boo, we are in the middle of swim class. Ethan is turning 17 in a few weeks. I don't want to talk about it. Moving on. Owen continues to be "the little professor", he loves learning, has an insane memory, and is so witty and funny and I just can never get over it. 

I've got a lot of big things in the works as well and they should all be in full effect within the next few weeks. I've been wanting to do these things for a while but kept putting them off, waiting for "life to slow down" but guess what? Its not gonna slow down; my husband's office is a multi-million dollar fighter jet, I have a toddler, a tween, a teen, and an older teen that will be heading off to college in like 18 months, a house to keep clean, bellies to keep filled, brains to develop, souls to nurture, and my own personal goals and needs so now's as good a time as any, right? I'm so excited for where this New Year takes us, 2016 was pretty awesome, 2017 has a hard act to follow. Much love, friends. Have a happy week.

Life Lately

Oh, ya'll. Can we just talk about how its almost 2017?! Why? Like where did the year go? Seriously, this year zoomed by. And I feel like with every passing year our family has so many huuuuuge life changes that come with it and 2017 is no different. First and foremost my oldest is going to be a senior. Guys, its my LAST year with him living at home. And now I'm about to cry just typing that out. I'm sad, and happy, and downright pissed because I'm like 'DUDE! I just gave birth to you a few months ago and now we are headed to go visit colleges?! Don't leave me!'. All the emotions, man.

Then there's a slew of other things on the docket that could (and will likely) change because that's what happens right? We make plans and then life happens and flips it all around and things work out differently but so far, despite any flips and turns, ups and downs, life has brought me here, to today, and I'm more at peace and happier then I've ever felt in my entire life. 2016 was so, so good to us.

Let's cooly segue to Sammy, shall we? Bitch has been trippin', ya'll! Like, she is the best dog ever, don't get me wrong, but she's been sooooooo BAD. She has started this thing where she digs in the trash when we aren't home. So I've started moving the trash into the laundry room as I leave the house and now she finds other stuff to eat. Like, I left a plate IN...INSIDE OF...not beside...but IN the sink and she licked the sucker clean, I probably wouldn't have noticed but the fork was on the kitchen floor when I arrived home. And last weekend Seth went to get us doughnuts, we ate a few then went about our Saturday, left the closed box on the counter and yep, you guessed it, she pulled the box off the counter and when we arrived home the empty doughnut box was on the floor. THEN! Yesterday I ensure every.little.ounce.of edibleness was out of her reach. I leave the house for the morning, get back a few hours later and she greets me at the garage door with her ears pulled back (usually a sign she did something wrong) I'm like 'what could you have possibly eaten?!' Well, between me and Ari we constantly have something baked and those baked goods typically go in the cake dish on our kitchen island. I scan the kitchen and don't notice anything straight away, as I walk closer I see that the GLASS cake stand is on its side, the heavy glass lid to the cake stand is balancing on the edge of the countertop, and the cake is gone. How she managed to not knock the cake stand to the ground, I don't know, but she knew she was in trouble. I opened the back door and without saying a word she walked outside, turned around to look at me, then laid down on the deck and sadly stared into the house with the saddest eyes. But I'm not fooled by her but face so she sat out there for a good ten minutes. Which to her is like 73 days and nights because she's a diva. 

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My (and probably three-fourths of the Earth's populations) favorite holiday season is right around the corner and I'm totally digging it. Christmas itself I don't so much care about (simmer down) but its the coziness I feel in my house during this time of year that I adore. The chilly weather, the warm food, the house lit mainly by twinkle lights, the baking, the time with family and friends, I just absolutely love it. I think next year will be the first Christmas where the baby truly understands what all is going on but this year she understand bits and pieces. While she was taking a nap the other week I hung garland, lights, and our stockings from our staircase and when she woke to it she stopped halfway down the stairs, put one hand to her cheek, and gasped, "Piiiiiitty!" (pretty) and now each time she walks down the stairs she stops to gasp. It is thee cutest thing. The first few days we had the tree up she squealed, "BALL!" referring to the ornaments and proceeded to rip off as many as she could juggle in her arms. But after a few days of "Can you go put those back on the tree for me?" she stopped taking them off all together. Needless to say, after all the rearranging she did our tree does not look like it belongs in a magazine, but I could care less about that and can't be bothered to rearrange ornaments each time she messed with them. I think she's gonna lose it when it comes to opening gifts.

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We shall see.

Seth's sticking around for a while, at least through the holidays, thank you baby Jesus. In our five-ish months since we've lived in America he's been gone at least half of that due to work. I know its the nature of his work but its still not the ideal arrangement if we're being honest. And I'm not not one to burden him while he's out of town or at work, instead, if pure chaos is going down he'd never know about it and I'd suck it up and put out the fire. So its nice when he's home and can help assist with my Fire Chief duties. 

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Okay, I'm off to bake banana bread because I'm pretty sure today is my last day to use these bananas before we'll all die of some sort of over-ripened banana disease. I'll be back this afternoon with a giveaway with Nuby! So check back in. xx

Life Lately

With our time here in Europe coming to a close it made me stop and think about the chapter ahead. An international move on the horizon for starters along with a slew of other exciting and life changing aspirations 

And it also made me reflect on this past year as well as our years here living abroad. And oh man, it has been one wild, fun, crazy, unpredictable ride. 

For starters, it's the longest Seth and I have ever loved under one roof together consecutively. 

Can you believe that? 

We've been married seven years and this tour overseas was our constant. 

And as funny as it sounds, I think us being stationed apart so much helped us grow to be the strong couple we are today. We spent so much time separated due to us both being in the Air Force and never stationed together until our joint assignment to England that when we were together we cherished it. Because we knew in a few days he'd go back to his house and me to mine.

England meant we were a family under one roof.

It also meant an insane work schedule for both of us. 

Long, 

long, 

long

hours. 

Which meant our kids didn't get a lot of time with us. 

This was one of my biggest challenges. I'm not a career woman at heart. I'm just not. 

I don't desire to be some high-powered exec and work 12 hour days. 

What I long for is to be home with my babies. 

I want to be at home covered in play-doh and helping with science reports. 

And I tried my best while working; I chaperoned countless field trips in uniform, I spent lunch breaks volunteering to read to my youngest's class, I made sure to leave work on time to make it to concerts and plays. I scrambled to make it to drop them off at school dances and practice on time. I tried really hard to still do it all but I never felt like I could be the mom I wanted to be while I was working.

In these last (almost) three years here, we confirmed to each other that when life gets tough we have each other's backs, because at the end of the day who do you have if not your spouse? 

No matter what, we were a team. 

And anything negative we each had to deal with only drew us closer to each other and solidified our bond.

We travelled to countries more beautiful than I ever dreamed they'd be. 

We ate the food, attempted to live as the locals do. 

Our children have seen more cultures in these threes years than most people do in a lifetime.

We've learned to slow down. England has a slower pace of living. 

You can't always be connected to the internet and you can't easily shop at midnight. 

You aren't rushed to finish your meal in a restaurant, and Sundays are for relaxing. For everyone.

I worked long hours outside the home juggling mom and wife roles. 

Then we made the huge decision for me to become a stay at home mom. It's important to me to be in the home with and raise my kids when they are not school-aged yet. It's just what feels right for me. 

When I had Ethan I knew I was meant to be a mom. That it was my purpose.  So when Seth and I decided to have a baby, getting out of the Air Force was the next step. 

Then the babe came along and we fell in love.

We made life plans and they changed. And we were okay with that because if there's one thing I've learned so far in life it's that you just gotta roll with what comes your way.

And I look back on how much our life has changed since getting here. 

I have a high chair and baby toys littering my kitchen floor. 

I no longer have combat boots in my daily wardrobe. 

I turned my hobbies into a business and I get to do it while raising my babies.

We came to England so differently than the way we are leaving. 

England helped bring us to where we are today. 

And it's not where I imagined I'd be, it's even better.  

England was a lot of things to me, if you know me well you know that to be true. 

But mostly, and perhaps most importantly, England was my saving grace. 

Mom(x4)

How is it having four kids? 

That's a question I get asked at least once a week.

The answer? No tougher than three. 

The kitchen floor gets swept like 67 times a day but that's been the norm around here for a while now so...

Everyone's experience as a parent is slightly different, of course. Many issues factor into how tough or easy parenting children ends up being. Not saying that parenting is easy. It's not. It's the most important job I will every do in my entire life. The only job I've willingly stepped into and would choose to do again and again. With that being said, when I say "easy" in this particular post, I'm simply saying I don't feel overwhelmed on a regular basis.

In my experience as a parent, having two kids is much easier than having one. 

It could be because my first two are close in age - 2 years 2 months apart to be precise. But having two was definitely "easier" than having one. Perhaps it's because they had each other as playmates as well as learning things from each other and trying to "keep up" with one another. Had there been an eight year age difference between number one and number two I'm certain my experience would have been different.

Now, with that said, having three is tougher than having two. Again, age difference is likely a big factor. But when number three came along I felt like I became a new parent all over again, as in, I had to find a new system by which I ran my household to keep it running smoothly. When my third was born I had him (newborn), a three year old, and a five year old. That ended up being tough for a bit. Baby three meant I had to stick to more of a schedule in order to have a clean house, clean and non-starving children, and make it to all their activities on time. With three kids I found myself doing laundry at least every other day. The carpets need vacuumed daily. The dishwasher ran twice daily. Some sort of craft being created the second we were cleaning up the previous craft. And the kitchen floor swept what seems like every two hours.  No joke. 

And all that housekeeping wasn't too big of a deal to me because I like to clean. But when it comes to schedules and time-keeping I'm not the best. Nowhere close. Ask those closest to me. I'm more of a goes with the flow, laid back, why-do-we-need-watches type person/mother/wife. So sticking to a schedule doesn't come naturally. It's something I work at every single day. Once I revamped my day-to-day schedule I settled in well as a mom of three. It didn't take long - a few months max to settle into a sweet little groove. And groove we did. For eight years before baby four was in the making. I didn't know what to expect when four came around but to my surprise it's no tougher than life with three.

Obviously there are changes in our daily lives with baby four here - my living areas have baby paraphernalia scattered throughout them. And Curious George is playing in the background each morning because my little girlfriend loves to see the fun colors. The floor needs a daily cleaning (sensing a theme here?), and laundry is going nonstop. I also I tote a diaper bag around now rather than one of my fancy beloved coach purses but it's not tougher, the details are just slightly different.

I also didn't know what to expect with the huge age differences. But I think that's actually been one reason why four isn't tougher than three. My oldest is 15. The one closest in age to the baby is 9. So it's not as if I'm chasing three toddlers in addition to caring for a newborn.

My two teenagers can cook, the three of them all bathe/shower themselves, they help out around the house with chores. So all of that is helpful. If I had four under four I know I'd be singing a different tune. But luckily that's not my reality!

So there's my answer: Life with four is not any more difficult than having three. My theory now is if you can do three, you can do 12. I guess we'll see if that holds true when we eventually add to our clan.

Big families definitely aren't for the faint of heart. It definitely keeps this momma busy. Some people look at me as if I have three heads when they find out I have four kids. Others smile with delight and share their desire to have a big family as well. I feel extremely grateful that I have always wanted a big family and that I've been able to make and raise one with my best friend in the world. I realize that not everyone can have their own children or as many as they desire. So I take this job of raising healthy, happy, productive children with pride, and I happily sweep the kitchen floor. Again.

First and Last

I take photos like their going out of style. So when the first day of school came around I wanted to document it. I don't do the same thing every year. Hell, sometimes it's nothing more than a hurriedly snapped picture as I'm dropping them off in front of the school. Maybe if we lived in the same house the kids' entire lives I'd do something consistent like in front of our door or on our porch, but since we move, move, and move some more, I don't stress myself out with consistency, instead I'm just stoked they are all fed, clothed, clean, and making it to school on time. 

Real talk. So their first day of school photo for this school year was taken as we were about to head out of the door. We always drop them off on their first day. And since Owen went to one school and the older two went to a different school Seth took O and I took E and Ari. So I snapped this photo before we all split ways. Sam even plopped in the pic.

So cute. Then, ten months later. On the last day of school, we snapped another photo, in the same spot. Just look at their faces, they've all grown so much. Sam so much so that her big butt couldn't even fit on the steps anymore so she had to pose on the landing instead. 

Now it's summertime. Time to do fun summer shit.

Ari and Paris

My favorite girl turned 12 recently. Her only request for a gift was a mum and daughter trip to Paris. I could handle that. So before she opens her birthday presents she gets a card. Cool. Everyone had signed it, she read it, finished opening her gifts and was totally ready to dig in to some cake. But first I had one more thing for her.

Another card...

Except this one was telling her we were going to Paris! And go to Paris we did, this is at the Louvre. Why hello, Mona Lisa.

It was a selfie with my phone so the photo is a mirror image. You can't get too close to the painting. Don't get me wrong, I appreciated seeing it in person but I really thought we would be able to, like, get a wee bit closer. But no. 

Funny thing is you can get all up on the painting of Jesus and his posse but get this close to the Mona Lisa and you get tackled by the overweight security guard. 



Oh wait, we aren't in America anymore, the security guard isn't overweight.

When in Paris you have to have crepes. It's a law. And if you're a resident of Twilight House you have to have nutella in your crepe. That is also a law.

We walked all over Paris, saw the coolest sites, did some shopping, and witnessed the dudes that seek trinkets outside the Eiffel Tower run from the cops. It was fabulous.

Here's to my last year of having a tweenage daughter, this kid keeps me on my toes - I dig that. And nutella filled crepes.

Owen's Field Trip

I went on a field trip with Owen's class to an archeological dig. They discovered items from…I don't remember how long ago. Seriously, this field trip happened like two weeks ago so that bit of info was brain-dumped. Before you judge me let's be honest with ourselves, you forget things too. You may not have quite as bad a memory as me but you forget things. Hell, I forgot a grocery bag containing meat in my car overnight and the next day my car smelled like death, so at least the forgetting of these dates won't result in my children riding to school with the windows down in 50 degree weather whilst grumbling, Mum, I think…I might…pass out from the smell. Mummy, can you remember to take the meat in next time? Mummy, why did the cow have to die in vain because of your inability to recall the fact that you purchased meat for our dinner and instead sat out in the car for 12 hours. Mummy…mummy….mummy... 

So at this archeological site they found items from, let's go with a few hundred years ago, yeah? The class was divided into small groups with each parent overseeing the group containing their own child, which means I always end up with a group of rambunctious boys. My group was exceptionally stubborn this go-round. The instructions were to dig evenly and not make holes. I turn my head for one minute and guess what my boys had done? Dug holes. They were also ecstatic and kept proclaiming they "found something big!" Turned out to be a piece of the concrete from the building next door. Atta boys. 

The only picture I was able to grab was of my baby mid-dig. He stood up, turned around, and cheesed for the camera. His classmate? Well, he took one for the team and unknowingly photobombed the only photo I have from that day with his derrière. Oh the things an eight year old will do for archeology... 

Dinner

As I'm cooking dinner Owen walks in, "Mmmm, what's for dinner?" he asked in his cute little voice prior to making it all the way to the stove to see for himself. "Yum," he says, looking at the talapia I'm preparing, "pork!"

Italy in Photos - Part I

I have loads of photos from our October trip to Italy. So I'll break them up into different posts. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and I'd agree, so I'll let the photos do the majority of the talking. I'll just say that I love this European lifestyle of ours - the experiences we have together are unbeatable.  They are memories many people don't get. And we Rumbargers are blessed enough to get them.

Sun-squinted eyes and all, these are the three cutest kids in existence.

I didn't get to focus on her face in time before she flipped off her brother. Imagine him giving her a piggyback ride then her letting go to do a backbend off him. 

The London Eye

The London Eye. Because seeing Parliament and Big Ben from the ground isn't good enough for the five of us. 

And because we are known for taking family selfies, we kept the tradition alive:

I need to compile all our family selfies at some point. It'd be funny to see them all at once, because there are five of us so someone is always partially cut out of the photo. At least I'm not no longer giving my $800 camera to a stranger in Atlanta because I trust them to take a photo. Seriously, it happened. Long story short: This dude offered to take a photo of me and my girlfriend during a trip we were taking and I was all Oh my god that's so nice, yeaaaaah. As I stand up to head over to him to hand him my camera my street-smart girlfriend grabbed my arm and sternly muttered, Lorri. No! Sometimes I can't help it. I'm too friendly. It's like the time I got in trouble when we were driving around DC when I was little and I went to roll down the window for the homeless looking guy selling newspapers. Apparently you're not supposed to do that. Sorry, Daddy! I blame it on the fact that I grew up wanting for nothing and in the country, yall.  I don't know a thing about how to survive these  cold, mean streets of *fill in the blank*. I feel like I everyday my children should remind/tell me the line from the movie Mr. Mom, where the little boy, as he's talking to his mom as she's leaving for work tells her to be careful because, "It's a jungle out there."

Real talk, ya'll.

Owen's First Roller Skating Adventure

Owen recently went roller skating for the first time. Can you believe that? He's seven and he's never been roller skating - have I failed my child? Don't answer that.

He loved ice skating for his birthday a few years back.

If that face doesn't scream EXCITEMENT I don't know what does.

Sissy helped him with his skating skills.

They're so sweet to each other when they want to be. I mean, sometimes I walk in and she is teaching him things as they play 'school' and other times I hear screaming from the hamper he's sitting on and his sister is inside. There is no method to their madness.

Perhaps what he loved more than skating while we were at the rink was the play area. He couldn't get enough of the slides. And he was totally cheesin' for the camera, but what else is new.

Momma and Ana: The Color Run

Ana and I did the Color Run together. Just us girls. It was so. very. fun. We started out pumped, clean, and donning some war paint two cute little girls were putting on everyone. They were rubbing their hands in some chalky type stuff then drawing on everyone.

Ariana is standing on the chalky type stuff to give you a visual, since chalky type stuff isn't a universal term, just a Rumbarger term. I'm tellin' ya, we're gonna write our own family dictionary one day.

Ari spotted one of her friends at the race. So they took off running from jump. But they were haulin' ass so I opted to stay back. Slow and steady wins the race, right? Yes. Nod your head yes.

Finally, my tortise of a self caught up with the two hares because...wait for it...they started walking because they were tired. So we finished it out together.

And let me tell you, it was messy. A fun messy though. Passing by the folks that were throwing the color was always fun. The first time I made the mistake of turning to Ariana and saying, "Keep your mouth closed as you run past them." And what happened? I was running past the color throwing people as I said that so I ended up with color in my mouth. That's what happens when a large man launches a hunk of color at the side of your head. It ends up everywhere. Mouth, nose, toes. Yep, it ended up in places that didn't seem possible. I've said too much.

I forgot to wipe of the camera part of my phone so the photo below is smeared in gunk.

But getting messy was half the fun. The other half was hanging out with my favorite gal. 

And to finish it all up all the runners threw a cup of color in the air, ya know, just in case we weren't messy enough as it was. It was a nice way to wrap up a fun, fun race.