As the leaves fall!!!

Strange to look back and see that the year that seemed to be just beginning is now almost just ending! So many wonderful things have come and gone in this year. And yet here I sit and think "WAIT ONE SECOND WHERE DID THIS YEAR GO?" It seems just like yesterday I welcomed Prince#5 in to my life and Summer just started. But here it is the first of October the start of fall. I guess instead of blabbing about what happened to our summer I could just recap some of it for you or just keep blabbing? Nah I will just recap for ya'll! I think I left off at the 8th grade graduation.
We had a Graduation for Prince#1 at the end of May. Then in June we had a fun Graduation party for him and a few of our other friends. There were 4 graduates in all, 2 for 8th grade and 2 for High School. Crazy how fast these kids grow up.

Yummy Cake!

 Then as summer went on we had fun in the yard and some days we packed up and went to the lake. We are privileged to have a small lake just down the road. The boys love the water and this year Prince#3 was more into "swimming" than he was before.

Fun at the lake with Auntie!

 And of course no summer is complete without a trip to the zoo! Prince#3 had been begging since the first trip to San Diego Zoo to go back to the zoo....but we told him we had to wait until his little brother got here. So of course what was the first thing to come out of his mouth the very morning they came to see Prince#5 in the hospital? Oh yeah that's right "Can we go to the zoo now?!" Well we had to tell him we had to wait a little bit longer just until Prince#5 was a little bit bigger.......so we took him to the Sacramento Zoo when little brother got a little bigger!

Fun at the zoo!

 The summer seemed to fly by and pretty soon the threat of school began to approach! We wanted to go to the Beach again but it just didn't seem to be in the picture this year. So we decided to try something different. Now I am not nor have I ever been a CAMPER! But this year I sucked it up and decided for my Princes I would do what I hated most.....CAMP! And boy am I glad I did! The boys had the best time (expect for Prince#1 but that is only if you ask him)!

Going on an adventure hike!

See the future Movie Maker! He loves to make movies with his friends and I told him to make a movie about our first camping trip. Well he said he would rather make it into a horror movie! The kid is such a character. He has yet to make this "horror movie" as his computer is....well dead! He will have to wait until it is functional once again.
Everyone enjoyed their new adventure in camping. So much so Prince#3 has done nothing but talk about going camping again with his favorite person in the world......my cousin! She is the best with kids and they love her to death!

Helping set up the tent!

So summer came and summer went. And the new school year came. SIGH.....I was not ready for it...I protested in fact! But it came anyway despite what I wanted! So I prepared to send my oldest one to high school and and my second oldest one to Kindergarten. WHAT HAPPENED TO MY BABIES?!

Prince#2 1st day of Kindergarten!

 Prince#2 was so very ready and so very excited. He loves school so much so he cried one day he had to stay home sick! Now Prince#1 was not so excited about school. He has been home schooled for a few years and was a little scared to go back. He wasn't sure he would have anyone he would know to hang out with. But the first day was freshman orientation and as he got off the bus that day he was followed by a tall young teenage boy that reminded me of one of his other friends. As he approached the car he said "Mom do you remember Alex?" And I did. He was a lot shorter in 5th grade but he and Prince#1 were the best of friends in school. And of course 95% of the kids he knew in 5th grade are now freshmen with him.....so he is doing just fine.

So here we are the first of October the first of fall....sigh.....I have recounted our summer of fun. But now I sit and think of the fact that my princes yet again are growing to fast for me. Prince#1 has turned 14! Yes I said 14. I cried that day.....I was sad but only because I will always remember that little face of my 1st born prince. He is becoming a young man but he will always be my baby boy!

Where is that little boy?

Prince#3 is no different in that he turned 3 in July. He is my Prince of Tales and he should be dubbed "Gabby"! He talks until your head hurts......and what is more the kid has logic like crazy! The tales he tells are crazy yes but when you try to reason then out he does it for you!

I see the wheels a turning in his head!

September seemed to be a super busy and crazy month for my family. So busy in fact that we didn't get to really celebrate our 7 year Anniversary! Oh we did dinner and some shopping....but we haven't been anywhere special for our Anniversary in about 6 years I do believe! But there was so much going on that we decided to postpone it. We hope to take a drive down the coast from Half Moon Bay to Santa Cruz. We have lived in California our wholes lives and there are many things we have yet to do or try. So we would like to make a memory of this for ourselves!

And so again here we are back in October and the season called fall. October does hold a very special day. October 2nd...5 years ago.....a little boy was welcomed into our family. He was very sick and almost died. He is a very special little boy. Prince#2 will always be special in my heart. Now I am not saying I have a favorite child because all my boys are my favorite in different ways. But Prince#2 was very much wanted and it took over a year for him to come to us. And of course for us to almost lose him well that was not fun. So tomorrow my special little boy will be 5 years old. I will most likely cry a little bit.....but HEY I am entitled I am his mother!!

He is such a little man!

And of course how can I post all about Summer fun, Family fun and all the Princes and them growing up without a post about Prince#5! Prince#5 has been our biggest blessing yet.....I watch him grow and of course he has the best smile ever! I look at him and I am reminded of what could have been had we not lost Prince#4.....but I don't regret what I can not change. I have come to realize that I can grieve and love all in the same heart. I can dream and live in reality. And I believe that Prince#4 wasn't ready to be part of our family.......and that Prince#5 was! He brings light to my darkness and happiness to my sadness. He was my savior from myself........He will always be my band aid to the open wound that will never truly close in my life. I will always love and miss my Prince#4 but I am thankful for Prince#5!

Prince#5 4months old

Don't tell me that smile isn't the best medicine ever!!