Time Flies

You know, in a lot of ways, it really does seem like just yesterday that I was a kid.  I've always had a decent memory - I can recall a lot of details from my childhood.  My siblings used to tease me by asking me what underwear I was wearing during a particular memory because I was often able to recall what people were wearing.  And I still have lots of vivid memories from childhood...  Playing with blocks on cookie sheets when Grandma Sakis came over and asked if we wanted to go to Talarico's Pizza for lunch - I was building telephone poles...  Pushing my little sister up and down the street in her grey stroller (by myself!) and wondering if people that drove by thought I was her mom (ha! - I was so dumb as a kid)... Checking out the window at bedtime to make sure that the house behind us wasn't on fire because my sister was scared to death that it would be... Drinking the mist from the humidifier when we were thirsty after we'd gone to bed - such a musty flavor... Sneaking into the kitchen while mom and dad were watching TV to get a snack out of the cabinets on the west wall...  And these are all things that happened before I was 7 years old!

So it is hard for me to believe sometimes that my siblings and I are all grown up now.  All of us very happily married.  All of us blessed with beautiful children - who are not even babies anymore!  Full-fledged kids, we have!  We all live relatively close to each other and are all able to get together once a week.  It is time I cherish, first of all because I love my siblings and consider them some of my closest friends, and secondly because I know not every family gets that.  It's so awesome to be able to "talk shop" with my siblings about the joys (and let's be honest, the frustrations and difficulties) of parenting - 'cause we're all right there in the trenches right now.  I wouldn't want it any other way!

Tonight we got together to celebrate my brother's sweet little boy's THIRD birthday.  THREE!  I can't even believe that's possible.  Time. flies.  He is taller than Ruby by a couple inches and has just recently taken off in the talking department.  Tonight he was singing the Veggie Tales theme song during dinner.  It was adorable!  One of my favorite parts was when he said "brockolocki."  Pretty sure I'm going to have to start calling it that!

Anyway, here are some pictures I grabbed tonight:

Happy (almost) Birthday sweet nephew!