Because the week is filled with hectic schedules and not as much family time as I'd like, I love love LOVE to SAVOR our family togetherness and family moments that I LOVE (through the lens) on the weekends. This is the most special time because we're all together the entire weekend and being with my family (and capturing ONLY what makes me stop with BIG, BIG smiles and fills me with happy tingles) is my number one passion of all.

This weekend, I SLOWED DOWN to SAVOR, through my iphone lens, a moment of sweet, sibling play. Friday night we went birthday party shopping and ended up getting toys for the kiddos. Well, that night, lets just say...the sibling fighting was on!!! They both wanted the same lego pieces. Oh yeah!! Friday night was a PARTAAAAY for all of us!!

A party for keeping the peace!! :):)

So, on Saturday, I walked out into the living and couldn't believe my eyes.They were both playing SO, SO nicely together. And it lasted longer than 30 seconds!! WHOA!!!

Because my dream came true of them playing together in such a nice, calming way, I pulled out my book to read. It's been SO long since I've read Eat Pray Love. I watched Elizabeth Gilbert on Oprah's Super Soul Sunday last weekend and it got me excited to read it again. It's one of my all time favorite books (and movie!!). I can't wait to watch Part 2 from yesterday on Super Soul Sunday. Will do that this week!

But this book...oh wow! I just love everything about it. I went to Europe (Germany, Paris, France and Rome, Italy and London) right after college and ever since, I've been wanting to go back and truly SAVOR it. I have this full-on love affair with Paris and I can't wait to go back. The food...the slowness...just everything about it. I really LOVE the Italy part...especially when they talk about the Art of Doing Nothing!! Aaaahhhhh!! And of course, the food!! Yeah, I wanna go back!

And then India...I LOVE to mediate...but I'm not sure if I'd ever go to Ashram like she did, but mediation is something that I strive to do daily and don't always get to, and that's pretty much why I doodle. It IS my mediation. But, I still love sitting in silence, too! THE BEST!!

And Bali...oh, I LOVE everything about this part of the book, too. I'd LOVE to go to Bali...but, who knows if that would happen...but this is the part of the book that's all about LOVE...and I LOVE, LOVE! :)

So yeah, I LOVE this book!! And I'm SO excited to be reading it again!! :)

My reading didn't last too long because it got really quiet in my house. You may know this, but in our house, when it's super, duper quiet, that's when I know, something is happening that shouldn't be. And, yep...this time it was big sis who was coloring on the window sill. Good times! Good times!

That afternoon, C had a birthday party to go to. It was nice to take her, just her and I, while the boys stayed home. I always LOVE watching her play with her little friends. It's always so hard for me to be home, not seeing her blossom at school, so when I get these moments, I truly savor them!

She was SO excited about the HUGE bounce house and told me she never wanted to leave and wanted to sleep in it. Oh, kids!! ;)

As for me, I'm not a fan. It's the teacher in me, I think. I always have my eye on her, no matter what, when she's in there. Especially when big kids and little kids and medium sized kids are in it with her. Ha! :)

On Sunday, Daddy and C, went out to the store and I got to hang with lil' bro. I really can't believe that at his age he's already learning how to use the computer...well, he knows he can watch Mickey on it, but, he still bangs on the keyboard, takes the batteries out of the mouse and climbs up on the desk to touch the screen.

So, yeah, we still have some time to go before he's stops his banging and climbing. ;)

His little cuteness in the chair always makes me smile and reminds me of when big sis was this size in the chair. Awwwweeee!

When C and Daddy were back, another, and very RARE, sibling moment happened!! She kept reading him, "Where is Baby?" and he was LOVING every bit of it.

Laughing and giggling and smiling BIG.

I came out of the kitchen and just watched them as my heart filled with so much JOY!! These moments make all those sibling conflicts melt away. Every single time!!

Lil' bro left and she stayed comfy and read some more. Awwwweeeee!!! Heart bursting with love!!

She's growing up!!

Lil' bro went down for his nap and D and I started to prep dinner...Ziti! We haven't done this in SO long!! It felt SO good to be back in the kitchen like this...together!! Something we did a lot before kids.

While chopping up onions and garlic for my homemade sauce, I heard a giggling scream. I thought she had gone into her lil' bro's room to wake him so she could play with him.

She's always so sad when he takes his nap and she asks me over and over, "When is Luca going to wake up?" They make each other mad, but at the same time, they don't like it when they're apart. :)

But, I was wrong. I stopped, smiled and just SAVORed her playing with Harry Potter on her bed.

These moments are the best!! Moments I never wanna forget!!

Later on, C wanted to wear pants. We just got her new pants, but they're not 5T. I have to get her 3T pants because of the waist, which means, the length of the pants aren't as long.

Luckily, these new pants we bought, the length was pretty good, or so I thought. She wanted them to touch her feet...like, actually cover her feet. She was SO mad that they weren't...crying and just NOT HAPPY! I tried another pair to see if that was better. Um, nope! She wanted them LONGER!!!

It's funny, because she totally gets this from me...I hate when my paints are above my shoes, too...so I totally understood where she was coming from, but, her crying lasted forever!!

We kept trying to tell her that it's because she's not used to the pants because she's been wearing shorts and dresses and she just has to get used to it. We tried playing with her, tickling her, giving her raspberry kisses. Lil' bro even tried to help her feel better by giving her a hug and Daddy put on his jeans to show her that his pants did the same thing when he stood up to walk around.

NOTHING was working...

Until, finally, D packed her up in his hiking backpack and took her for a ride around the house. I think it might of been that Luca was chasing them saying, "CEECEE...I'll get you!!!" over and over again that snapped her out of her pants dilemma. LOL!

And then he tried to pull her out and save her. LOL!!

And when they're coloring on the walls (and windows!!), that's when you know it's back to normal around here!! Whew!! ;)

Oh, and the pants are still on!! Yep, they sure are!! And, there's no crying to be had. Woohoo! :)

And then it was snack time!! Proof that everyone was back to happy!! Woohoo!!

Until, finally, we were all happy, because our tummies were full from a nice family dinner of Ziti...that my kids only ate a few bites of!! Gotta love the picky stage!