The timing of the strawberries seem to vary quite a bit every year. I remember 4 years ago, we were picking strawberries in July (Maeve wore a bonnet and Enoch was brand new to our family!). This year it's mid-June. We picked a stormy Saturday to drive to a u-pick farm and despite the weather, I'd say we did alright! And I got these cute pictures so that's a win in my books!

We're solidly in the phase of life where sometimes one older kid is doing something away from us and so it's not always the entire family. I'm trying to lean in to their independence and relationships, but I missed Greta.

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All my brown-eyed boy wanted for his birthday was a big, red fire truck. He was thrilled and so were his siblings. What a joy Enoch is. I just love when he sits on my lap to read a book and his little ear is against my cheek. Every time he calls me, "mom," my heart catches. I love being his mother.

We celebrated his birthday with lots of things! Waffles for breakfast, treats for his class, lunch in a train car with grandpa and finally cake with friends. What a guy!

Sometimes I feel kind of blue after Christmas, but not this year. We had some of the best quality time together and we just slowed down and spent time together. It was pretty special. Family life can be so busy and it was so refreshing to soak each other up. We played lots of games and we went swimming. Conor and I exercised together and went for walks.

And then we got sick.

This may have been the best Christmas ever. We had such a great day! Everyone was so pleased with what they received and happy to play and be together. Maeve built her lego set with very little help. If she asked for help, she didn't want anyone to give anything beyond what she specifically asked for, which honestly was mostly limited to finding pieces. She was quite determined! It was cute to see the girls exchange gifts. They really took the wheel on that and they were so excited. What a perfect day!

Oh, the magic of Christmas! We had a lovely, simple Christmas Eve with Grandma and Grandpa and Enoch's sister, Kayla. The kids loved opening up gifts and were thrilled to play with their new things. Conor was so excited for the family gift he had picked out - a Nintendo switch. And we managed to get the little ones tucked into bed at a reasonable time!