Farewell, summer vacation!

The last day of summer vacation is meant to be a fun one.  Today we had waffles for breakfast, rode our bikes (a very long way) to a park, pizza for lunch, a visit to our good friends' lemonade stand and oreos for a snack.  Up next?  I'm not sure yet, but we're working on making this last day of summer a full one!
Perhaps some swimming or another bike ride (easily our favorite summer pastime)?

And of all the pictures I took this summer, the ones I caught this morning are some of my favorite.  I think the friendship between my kids was captured well - with one good fight in between that was also, hilariously, captured.  :)

I hope you also had a fantastic summer break, enjoyed your last day of "freedom" (whenever that actually was), and good luck in the upcoming school year!  It seems these first days after summer vacation affect everyone somehow - there's a buzz of excitement and a renewed energy floating around.   I welcome it in.

Farewell summer, we hope we ushered you out well!  Welcome fall and new school adventures.  We're excited to see you!

Does it make me a bad mom if I find this quite hilarious!  Ha!

 

I'm not sure what the topic of discussion was, but they were both very involved!  :)

Toot-a-bop

I had the honor of taking my first family photos of a family other than my own a few days ago.  They are a beautiful family.  A mom and dad with their two boys who are 15 and 18.  The 18 year old leaves tomorrow to move six states away for college.  His mom has been anticipating this day:  driving her son to the airport, squeezing him one last time and then waving goodbye, sending him into the world on his own.  She knows that he'll come home again soon, he'll be ok, but as she put it - it's the end of an era.

Hearing her words made my heart ache for her - and rejoice with her - as she bravely lets go of her little boy, knowing that God has brought him and their family and her job as mom to this point.

It brings tears to my eyes.  Soon I'll be dreaming of the days my kids looked up at me and said, " I luf you berry much, Mommy" and I'll waving goodbye, wishing I could go back and do it all again - just one more time.

(Emerson snapped this one!)

I'm holding on.  Breathing in these fleeting moments!

In only two days, I'll be sending Emerson to her first day of first grade and Braeden to his first day at his new preschool.  And then off we go into our second busy year of drop off's and pick up's and weekly activities.  The days will fly.

It goes by so, so quickly!

Landen has been cracking himself up.  His new made up word is "toot-a-bop."  It means nothing and comes up in the most random of times.  Today after his nap I asked if he wanted some cheese for a snack.  "I have some... toot-a bop!" And he giggles and giggles at himself.  Which in turn makes me giggle, which then encourages the use of this silly word because he knows it'll make us both laugh.

I hope I can remember these silly random things ten years from now.

And check him out copying his sister.  Practicing cartwheels has been Emerson's favorite pastime lately (she's getting pretty good!) and so Landen took a try this afternoon.  He raised his arms and lifted his leg just like Sister and then bent over and landed straight on his head!  He jumped right back up and did it again!  Just watching the process was hilarious.



Sorry about the funky focusing.  I couldn't seem to get my camera to auto-focus while I was taking the video (I'm sure I'm doing something wrong!)

(And right after this a fight ensued between the boys about who could cartwheel first.  Cartwheel fun was then suspended for a little bit.)

This morning we found out Jon's grandma, whom I genuinely love as my own grandma, and whom we affectionately call Granny, went to the Emergency Room this morning with trouble breathing and pain.  The doctors discovered she may have a blood clot in her lungs and believe she also has pneumonia.  As soon as I heard the news, I gathered the kids in our living room and we lifted her up in prayer.  Normally I ask if either of the older two want to pray and most of the time they only want me to pray.  Today, however, they both volunteered.

I can't tell you how the innocent words of their 4 and 6 year old prayers told so much of their love for Granny.  It was beautiful to hear them boldly ask for healing and for their Granny to "have fun in the hospital instead of being scared."  I pray the same.

Will you pray for her, too?  She is so deeply loved and loves her family deeply as well - and treats me like I'm one of her own grandchildren.  We love her and want her well again.

Thank you so much!

I know my thoughts (and pictures) were pretty random today, but I was pouring my heart out anyway and linking up with Shell at Things I Can't Say!

Happy Wednesday!

If I could go back and do it again...

I was standing outside with my friend, Shelly, tonight just talking about our kids and how we both wish we could go back and do all this mommy-ing thing all over again - not because we want to necessarily change anything (though I'm sure there are a few moments I'd like to take back), but because we want to take it all in once more - to more appreciate my time with just one sweet baby, to take my time with her and take in every moment.  I did back then, but now that I know that along with more kids comes more tasks and more responsibility as they get older, I'd enjoy every small moment just a little more, seeing it as a little bit sweeter.  Know what I mean?

With three kiddos now, I sometimes find it harder to slow down and just take it in, breathe in my kids and the little things they do.  One of the harder things for me to do is to sit down and just pretend - particularly with Braeden, since that's what he always wants to do.  I don't know why that's hard for me - I get a little bored and start thinking about all the things I should be getting done and I just don't get INTO it.  But tomorrow I am promising myself to sit down and pretend whatever it is he wants to pretend - that I'm his baby, or that we're camping in a tent, or that he's spiderman and he's here to save me... whatever it is.... and I will play my part well. 

You see, my kids aren't going to remember that the house was spotless or that my fridge was organized, but they WILL remember Mommy playing on the floor with them, pretending, or painting, or reading books, or riding bikes.  Those are the memories that stick. 

SLOW DOWN.  Just be with my kids - which includes no computer, no phone, no facebook, ouch!  Are you guilty of this, too? 

Some of the fun we DID have today:

An extra one I decided to throw in because they looked so cute.  The little one in the middle is my friend, Shelly's little boy, who is best buds with my kiddos. 

The heart of my girl...

She is beautiful.  God has given her a soft spirit.  A deeply caring, passionately loving, very discerning spirit.  Sometimes it's hard to treat her like the 6 year old she is, expecting so much from her because she demonstrates so much for us.  She is full of love and compassion and gives it freely to all who is around her, especially if she senses or understands if something isn't quite right.

I can be biased, I know, I AM her mom.  :)  And she still sometimes has her normal six-year-old moments, for sure, but I sure do love this girl and how God has made her.

As I mentioned earlier, I began watching a sweet little boy and his baby sister yesterday.  It's very part time, which is nice, but we love spending time with these kiddos.  Anyway, Emerson was my designated helper yesterday, their first day back, and I'm so glad she was designated!  :)  She searched for things to do with the sweet boy when he was sad his mom left, she held the teeny baby while I got her bed ready, and offered to pull the boys in the wagon and on bikes when it was time to go outside.  She even helps contain my littlest while I'm making dinner (which is a hard job) and loves a clean room (a girl after my own heart!).

I'm so thankful to have her!  Not because of all she does, but because of who she is - the substance of her containing what words can't completely describe, but the words compassion, kindness, and sensitivity hold their places in there somewhere.  She's not perfect, by any means, nor did our parenting have much to do with it, but we do pray over her daily with hopes she becomes someone who loves and serves and strives to understand the heart of God.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Braeden, the early riser, was up with me at 5 this morning (I don't normally choose to be up at 5, but had to this morning for an early appointment in a town about an hour or so away), so while I was just getting ready to head out, Jon quickly got him dressed.  He accompanied me to my appointment, which lasted so much longer than it was scheduled to, but Braeden sat so still while we were there!  This warranted donuts for the drive home.  His choice?  The powdered ones, which, of course, made for a fun clean up when we got home!  It was fun, though, to have him to myself.  He filled up our time in the car with adventurous stories of foxes and wolves and the train moving along slowly next to us. 
Then as another treat, both because I didn't take the other two with me and because Braeden did so well, we made a quick trip to the park before we had to be home for lunch.  And it was HOT out there!  I'm not complaining, though, AT ALL! (P.S.  A shout out to Jon who had the house completely clean when I got back from my appointment today.  He sure knows my love language!  :) )

(Don't you love the ears on that hat?!  Ha!)

Hope you are enjoying your summer day, as well, and get a chance to get outside and soak up some sun!

Yep, I'm quite alright

1.  Father's Day weekend was wonderful (click here).  Celebrating my husband and dad was great, but Jon and I also celebrated our 9th anniversary (a few days early) by eating at one of our favorite restaurants and then a movie together and staying at my sister's house for the night - all without kids (a shout out to Jon's mom and sister for watching our kiddos!  Thanks again, guys!)

(This is a repeat post of this picture because I love it so much!)

 2.  Experimenting with my camera and the settings have been a major time suck for me lately because I'm LOVING it!  Posing my kids,learning about light, reading and reading and reading about aperture, exposure, ISO and film speed, and taking good pictures has become a new hobby for me and I am THOROUGHLY enjoying it.

 

3.  Savoring my time with my kiddos has become a priority (it always is, but even it's even more intentional lately) as I'm anticipating leaving them in August (I know, still a ways away!) for 2 and a half weeks - the longest I have ever, and ever plan on, leaving my kiddos.  Unfortunately it's not by choice, but by necessity, and so I'm soaking in the fun things we're doing and capturing the moments so they can refer back to these memories in a book I'm creating for when we're gone.

Soon, those teeth of mine will be very different!  And to be honest, I'm looking forward to it!

4.  Today I begin watching a sweet little boy again, whom I've been watching for about a year except for a quick three month break while his mommy had a brand new sweet little girl!  We're lucky to be watching her, too, as my kiddos are SO, so excited to help me with this new sweet little one and I can get my baby fix by holding her and loving her every day.

5.  Learning to ride a big boy bike can be tough and discouraging at times, but with the help of a great daddy and big sister, one can make big strides and gain the confidence they need to do it on our own!  My big boy, Braeden, doesn't quite have it down, yet, but he's getting close - and definitely before the end of the summer.  Learning to ride a bike with two wheels is a big deal around here!

I'm linking up today with Carissa at lowercase letters for Miscellany Monday.  Click on the link below to check out her Miscellany and many others.

Have a great day, friends!

Sweet Summer Days

Childhood summers are built for the fun, laid back, the whimsical, and the spontaneous.

 They're built for playdates and the kind of play that requires baths every night that leave the water slightly cloudy from all the dust and dirt and chalk and grass picked up from adventures outside.  THAT'S the sign of a good summer day.

And the kind of day I wish for my kids each morning as we list what fun adventures we plan to have that day and hope for some unplanned ones, as well.  And they come, and it's fun and beautiful.

With it also comes sunburns and scrapes and that darn nap time each afternoon (which I will not be giving up any day soon!), but I hope that the thoughts of my days at home with my kids over summer vacation dominate their memories when they get older because of the careless and free fun we had over each one.

Home made popsicles!

It's kind of sad, actually, to think that 13 summers total with all three of my kids at home with me.  And really, there are only a few when they'll want and desire to spend these sunny days playing with me.

So we're taking it in now.  I'm so thankful for these sweet summer days with my babies and plan to not take even one for granted.

I'm filled with gratitude to have more visits to the pool, bike rides to the park, cartwheels in the grass and picnics outside to fill our days. 

What fun summer adventures are you taking with your kiddos this summer? 

I'm linking up with Carissa at Lowercase Letters to share my miscillaneious!  Stop by by clicking the link below to enjoy hers and other fun and miscillanious blogs.

Have a happy summer day today!