Driftwood Beach Frolic in pictues

                                                 

                                                 

Aug 26th: Sunshine

The boys did a LOT of this in the hot summer sun. Mama got in a time or two as well. After many a packing tape repair, it was the best $14 I spent all year! I'm really not sure how to store this bad boy, but I have lots of faith it will make two summers joyful and waterful fun!

  

Aug 18th: Plate

I know most would think, wow, that's an old plate! And they'd be right. This is the pattern of Correlle that my grand parents had. I realized our plates were being sacrificed by a 4 and 2 year old, thus I was in the market. All the sudden I was taken with nostalgia and decided I wanted to remember my "Mama and Daddy" more than every once in a while, and now I do. Multiple times a day. You see my grandparents on my mothers side, were very special to me. They weren't perfect, but it seemed that their foibles were much more forgivable than other peoples. My grandmother was organized, well versed in the kitchen, caustic and quite creative. My grandfather was sweet, silly, stern and very special to me. We named our first after him. They made up a world that was good, balanced and stable, when my world wasn't those things. I knew where they stood- and they loved me unconditionally.  I love these plates. I love the memories they bring back. And Yahweh knew the right time and price to bring them into our home. I found a kickin' deal at a thrift store. 5$ for the lot. And that makes it even sweeter. Sidenote: When I brought them home my husband enjoyed the nostalgia with me, and also apparently had foggy memories as using this plate when he was a boy. See, we were meant to be together!

Aug 17th: Your Addiction

As a Midwife, babies are my addiction...

 These are two from Summer 2012. I was pleased to photograph them, 

that's my other addiction. 

:)

Aug 16th: Sign

Aug 15th: Finger

Two year old finger and a superhero.

In the Meanwhile....

Uh... WELL, you were right. I didn't make it, but lest you think we all fell off the side of a mountain somewhere here is proof we're alive and kicking. We learned about Day 4 of creation at our homeschool co-op thus we were talking planets this last week. To be exact, Aug 6th, we made play dough planets. It was fun.  

And the rest of the time... where were we?
-Four people suffered from a *mean* stomach bug, not all at once-- no that would be too easy.. but over the course of a whole week. (Yes. All week long, someone was either puking or- the other thing.)
-I attended a lovely birth, and thus spent lots of brain power on the postpartum things a Midwife must think about.
-Steve taught at Friday night Bible Study. It was really good, the Trial of Faith! (available for your enjoyment online... just ask me how!)
-I'm sure there were lots of other bits of life that happened while i was MIA... alas I can't recall.

 Now you can breathe a sigh of relief because I have devised a plan to seamlessly continue my photo-journal of my kids and our life... Following July 14th... is naturally Aug 15th... see!?!
I'm brilliant.

Until then... don't forget how cute my kids are! 

L. has an unending need to catch frogs! 

It usually doesn't end very well for the frog.

July 14th: Building

I know you're wondering why did I post the *cutest* pic of the kids on a day labeled building. Well, I'm glad you asked, and the answer is...
We are re-building the bathroom! ta-da! The boys first bath (insert here an aside that they have in fact bathed, just in the shower- Thank heavens for two bathrooms!!) since we started this project. See the bath was full of, er, stuff. i.e. scraps of cement board, random nails and screws and pieces of old flooring. So after a rousing game of wrestling and a quick clean-up job, I deemed the bathroom safe enough to use the bath. Viola. Building. (i knew it would come together in the end. ha. and aren't they cute with glo-sticks!)

July 13th: Open

(insert picture of the kids so sweeting opening a box of goodies from their Great Aunt Connie.)

Parenting fail.
No picture available.

They did so sweetly open their package. They did love and look at the books and workbooks and planters. Do I have proof? nope. Do I feel sad? yup.

July 12th: Texture

This is texture you can eat, my friend! We prefer ours with butter and warm from the oven. Drooling yet?

July 11th: Letter

Yes, L3vi can write his name. There's a letter for ya!

July 10th: Your favorite color

Just because I should be talking about my kids doesn't' mean I have to.
Aren't these the best colors *ever*.

Ok, here's a snippet of our day:
Trip to Target:
No, children we aren't getting any legos,
shoe section,
me containing kids in buggie,
plastic baggie section,
no, we aren't getting those horribly unhealthy fruit imitation thingies- no i don't care they're shaped like transformers....,
shampoo section,
N., Sit down now!,
mascara section,
L., Stay on this aisle!
*ahhhh, polish section!*
check out line,
shampoo hitting the floor...
Please, dear Lord, don't let me throttle my kids in front of anyone!
:)

July 9th: Big

They are getting big.
Reading. Together.
Big.
Sniff.

July 8th: Lunch

Fit for construction workers and health nuts alike!

July 7th: Garden

My garden of recycled plants. Yes. You read that correctly. I have learned over the years I cannot seems to create an atmosphere for thriving in a dirt garden. (i.e. I forget to water it....) So i have come across a few ideas via Pinterest (yes, i like to pin things.)  I found that your green onions will regenerate if they are kept in water, near sunlight. I can do that!  ANd they i read you can regrow celery if you stick the end in a pot of soil. Well, I thought to myself the soil and I can never agree, so why not try the water idea. It worked. Now the running joke is that 'we'll have 15 calories in 3 weeks'. And I say, slow and steady wins the race.

July 6th: Chair

Sigh.
This chair is a sad representation of my home upon returning from our mini-vaca to the mountains. Long story, ending in a flooded bathroom, hallway and kitchen. Thus you are looking at my kitchen chair holding some of my cooking notes and magazines that experienced baptism by immersion.
Sigh.
The silver lining? We get to gut our bathroom and get a new one, replace the floor in the hallway and kitchen. Now, please know, I did really want all this done, however, I did not pray for an inconvenient flood.

July 5th: On the Floor

This morning, this was on the floor. Bare Feet. I love sweet, soft, squishy, and stinky little boy feet! And they met all the requirements. At the cabin in the woods, these little feet were sometimes bare and sometimes shod. They explored the beautiful wrap around deck, blowing bubbles and jumping and down through the weeds to the fire ring where the bow and arrows abound. (poke) The rustic wooden seats and log beams made their imaginations run wild! Childhood fun at its finest!  A wonderful mini-vacation, so sad to leave family and fresh mountain air behind!

July 4th: Fun

July 4th was spent with family:
1 Late morning meal at Cracker barrel
1 spilled cup of ice water
2 napping boys
2 romps on playgrounds
2 happy meals (ack)
40 beautiful fireworks explosions
hundreds of sweet kiddo giggles and long talks with family!

July 3rd: Best part of my day

Today we ventured out of our four walls. As spontaneity would have it, we jumped in the van with little planning to go to A'ville for a few days. My aunt and cousins were vacationing in the mountains and it was a great and rare opportunity to visit. It has been years. I mean YEARS. See, they live in Florida and I in SC.  The drive up was smooth enough. Lots of new-again toys and books to pass the time. Upon arrival we hit up moms favorite discount store. The really fun part started when I realized the 'hide-a-key' was not there. or anywhere. With the thoughts of sleeping in the van, I texted said cousin and just let them know our little predicament. Then, the heavens broke open, in quite literally a providential meeting. We were invited to join them at their cabin! Praise YHWH a real bed and bathroom! And sweet fellowship and lots of laughs to share! But as you can see, the best part of my day were those two little rascals. They did a super job in the car and I love them!

July 2nd: Busy

This photo depicts my family schedule. It's a rocking good time around here, there is always something amuck. Not only have I limited our kid related outings (as best I can) to one day a week, but I mixed it up with throwing in more and more work related/ prenatal visits and a birth here or there. But time does fly. Here we are in the middle of the summer and the boys are growing like weeds, loving life together and keeping me on my toes. I am pleased to add we're beginning a Home School Co-op next wednesday. That will be fun! Mommy has become more and more focused on educating the boys and L more and more curious about life and surroundings. Cause I know you want to see their gorgeous faces, I'll post some pics of them soon! 

July 1st: Self Portrait

Only those with keen eyesight would notice the turtleneck. and yes, i cheated. However I do solemnly swear to henceforth take pictures every day. Amen. Also, you won't have to look at this mug very often, I hope to make this more about the boys than me! You're welcome!

July: 2012

This should be stimulating and very interesting! Wish me luck!

My Boys This Summer

A New Neighbor

He just came strolling up the road, made a left hand turn under our van, pulled a U-ey passing under the truck and a sharp Right up the hill.. you know, the usual route. He got personally placed back into nature by our friendly 9 year old neighborhood biologist, after a thorough inspection. 

Somebody likes Nutella!

Uh, yeah. Caught red handed, friend!

Pesach 2012

This Spring...

This spring we have focused on ways of expressing energy... I mean come now, a bottled up 4 year old is lethal. :) The boys are loving the outdoors especially because their ages are that of acceptable to go to the yard without direct supervision. They mostly stay put, and although L. sometimes wonders, it's only ever across the street to the park, and usually its when there are other kids down there. High five, for not getting hit in the street on the way back and forth (maybe, just maybe, looking both ways has stuck!) He's also been busy growing.. (make that stop, please!) However, he's not getting any thicker around!

Little N. has begun to really rattle off words. He's very judicious with his words. You have to really earn the privilege to hear him talk. Though the season of 'Utz' has passed, it's still not full bloom conversation, but he answers questions appropriately so no one is worried!

He's a live wire still, learning to have more and more self-control and tolerance for big brother. His other favorite thing to do is to play in the van, and by play i mean mess up all my buttons! Last Sunday, the boy plugged the microwave cord (yard sale item) into L. bicycle handle. yup.

Today with friends we walked in the woods, stopping to play in the creek. This was a fun and relaxing day. Most days are spent running and going, even to 'play dates' but nothing beats a day home. Lots of digging in the sand in our yard, hanging around on the hammocks and the never fail caterpillar catching! Yes, we are smack dab in the middle of that season... poor caterpillars....

And because I'm a mean mom, and simply can't resist, you must know that in the above picture: L.s hand is enveloping a squished caterpillar. And N. is only wearing a teeshirt. :)

These are my boys! And I love them dearly!

Catterpillar Season