live this moment

arriving home to a bit of a heat wave was rough, but we settled back into so. cal life quickly.

elia cleans up well, don't you think! (her pony tail isn't crooked, there are two of them, you just can only see one...i promise!)

on go the days...minutes become months.

we are nearing our two year mark here, and good news...we DON'T have to move at the end of May as has been our "tradition" for the past two years!

some of our people actually think that is what we do every May, and so have been asking if we should start packing, and can the next place please have three swings instead of just one. (as long as we are making requests, mine would be for the next place to have more bathrooms...one toilet for 6 people is killin me!!)

here's hoping i do this a tiny bit more often than once every three months!

if you need more frequent updates, i am sure you can get them on dan's facebook page...i think he is on it nearly daily!

i have as yet refused to succumb to the pressure many of you have put on me to start doing that wretchedly trendy form of staying in touch. serioulsy, this blogging stuff is more than i can handle as it is! (obviously!!)

plus, as you can see from the photos, i have loads of laundry waiting for me!!

peace and love to you from our 6!

April 09

best part of the past three months you ask??? getting to spend 10 days in northern california visiting with family in fresno and sacramento!

we had a great time and enjoyed every second with you all!!!

march 09

the dog...it's "roco", our sometimes family pet...really owned by dan's med school buddy-Alon. we get to pretend we have a dog whenever Alon goes out of town! as you can see, roco is well loved!

the faces are the result of insisting that limes really are a good dessert snack!

not only are our people cute, but also hygienic!
Question: what is most often asked to us by strangers?
Answer:"are they related?"

February 09

don't worry, we have not adopted a fifth child...the little boy in the box with our four is our neighbor..."PJ"

and yes, elia is incredibly talented! at just 15 months she can put on her own shoes (well, at least one!) and play the harmonica!!

Three months?? Really!?

blogger extraordinaire i am not (nor can i spell, as i had to allow the computer to spell that word for me!)!

as evidenced by my complete lack of posting anything new since January (my husband reminds me of this daily!!) i will never be one of those moms who has become so amazing at "blogging" (makes me think of trees and forests and running through mud!) that they now single-handedly support their families from all the money brought in by advertisers wanting to run ads on their blogs.

what i do have going for me are four totally cute, busy and awesome kids! and what i am for sure, is a mom who loves an excuse to show off just how cute i think they are to all of you!

you...are our sweet family who live far from us (or do we live far from you?) and rarely get to see each of them in all their cuteness!

so, with no shame at all (well, very little at least!) here is a quick-ish recap of life...cortez6 style... over the past three months!

( i have not quite figured out how to get things in the right order...so i will do my best to have this be chronological(phew, another hard word to spell!)!!

slammin sammy is FIVE!!!!

if i close my eyes, i can see his tiny little newborn body in my arms. squishy and pale, tons of wet black hair, and slanty dark brown eyes...







feels like it was yesterday. instead, it was five years ago!

amazing.

samuel's special day started with him getting to pick breakfast:eggs, sausage and waffles. (pretty much what he eats every single morning!)

tonight we had yummy cupcakes and sang happy birthday for the 100th time...we try to sing it as many times as possible in one day!

our family tradition is that the special birthday person gets to pick one friend to come over and enjoy whatever dinner and dessert the birthday person picks. well, this year, samuel picked his cousin benjamin as his one special friend...so thanks to Gram and Papa, benjamin and our sweet sister in law, rebecca, are flying down in a couple weeks to stay a few days and celebrate samuel with us! samuel is very excited and has many plans already set in his mind!

here are some pics of samuel on his special day...as well as a few of him doing his favorite things: being BatMan and pretending to be SurvivorMan...making a "fire" out front in our yard!

on being candid

i read recently that candid means being honest with someone while keeping in the forefront the feelings and respect of that person.

Grace Based Parenting...it's a book by Dr. Tim Kimmel. in it he speaks of how a "grace based home" is one where people have the freedom to be candid...without fear of retaliation.

He also speaks of how this same home is one where you are free to make mistakes, without fear of judgment or condemnation...sounds so good in my mind, but hard to live out. not the mistake part i mean, we've got plenty of those to go around...it's the "freedom to make 'em part" that i find hard to swallow.

Each time i find myself wanting to freak out over a mistake (usually just the ones that get made over and over and over!), i am gently reminded of how patient God is with me. He continually gives me the freedom to be candid, and the freedom to make mistakes. His love never changes, His grace never fails. He never thinks me an idiot, nor does He wap me upside my head(which i would justly deserve of course!).

The sweet grace of God...how truly amazing it is indeed.