hello Oregon coast, we love to visit you
hello ocean treasures
hello camp food
hello campers, as happy as kids at a candy store
and hello quiet week, minus three kids who are with Mimi and Grampie for the next two weeks
yes, you read that right-two weeks without kids. of course one of those weeks we’ll be surrounded by awesome teenagers at summer camp. it’s going to be a quiet week followed by a really fun (yet exhausting week)
what’s exciting in your world right now?
my baby turned five. crazy, huh? just yesterday she was crawling around and mashing carrots in her hair…now she rides a two wheeler and can read.
this is not right.
but she sure is cute and wonderful at this stage (although I do miss her as a baby, well I miss all my kids as babies.)
yessiree, a whole handful.
we had a plan to go to the lake for the day, her favorite thing to do. but the weather was awful…really rainy and windy and cold? in july. so not right. so we celebrated by shopping at our favorite local toy store, eating at our favorite ice cream place, watching the winnie the pooh movie and dining at the best place restaurant for a five year old to be for her birthday: red robin.
fun stuff and she was thrilled with it all.
her birthday breakfast was pancakes with whipped cream surrounded by red grapes. she ate the whipped cream and the grapes.
ice cream at goody’s, she only ate the cone.
I think she was on overload by this time, she ate the cherry and the whipped cream. notice a trend here? that girl loves her whipped cream.
yep, she’s a big girl-there’s no denying it. Happy Birthday Miss Aida. and I don’t care how old you are, you’ll always be my baby.
(this is for you mom, we took the last four pictures while she was talking to you on the phone)
visit the local puddle, buckets are required
get your white sundress soaking wet
find some new friends
walk home
stop to visit the neighborhood horses, they always come running when we walk by-I think they must think we have treats
try to find a suitable habitat for your new friends
go to wally mart to buy an appropriate home for four tadpoles.
and then, every morning check on them to see how big their legs are. this is the really fun part…we have one teenie, tiny frog now. he jumps all around in there, I think he must be learning. it’s fun, and educational and that fits the bill for a cheap summer thrill. (I’m going to call this summer school, sound good?)
Okay you all, I’ve got some issues over here….I need some wardrobe help.
My hubby is in a wedding next month, an outdoor wedding-with dancing. He gets to wear a tux. The last time I saw him in a tux I married him…be still my heart. I am so excited to see him all fancy pants and handsome.
The only problem is me…what on earth will I wear?
I’ve got it narrowed down to this dress, from Nation’s Outfitters. Don’t you just looove it? I do. It’s so comfy, and I loved working with the folks there too. They were so helpful, even when there were problems with my order. They fixed everything, and super fast too. I love them. I love this dress. Go check them out. (and they’re not giving me anything to say this, I just think they’re awesome)
Okay, back to the outfit: I wanted to wear the dress with these shoes that I found on eBay. But looking at them together I’m not so sure. They’re super cute and high, which is good for dancing with my six foot six hubby. But I’m not loving them with the dress….what do you think? Would they be better with a different necklace? Or something else?
Cause if I can’t figure anything out I’ll have to resort to my summer standby, flip-flops? Not so super fancy. I’m at a loss.
I was thinking that the red shoes might work if I balanced them on top with a red something, necklace or hair thingy or something. What do you think?
And then there’s the issue of jewelry…which necklace?
Or do I skip it and go with some hair thingy?
What to do? What to do? I need your help gals….what would you wear?
12 years ago today I said yes to the most amazing man.
Well, in all truth-I said yes 12 years and 13 months ago while he looked up at me on one knee, a hopeful expression on his young 21 year old face.
And then I said “I will” to that same man, as handsome as could be in a tuxedo at a small church surrounded by our friends and family.
And today, I still say yes. And I still think he’s as handsome as ever.
Some days I don’t want to say yes, and there have been seasons when saying yes to him and our marriage has been really hard.
But still, I say yes; yes to his needs, yes to his priorities, yes to his leadership. Yes, even when I don’t want to. Yes, even when I don’t feel like being the wife he needs. Yes, even when I’m tired and worn out. Yes, even when there has been distance between us.
And of course I say yes when it’s been fun and easy and we’re feeling blissful in love.
It’s easy to say yes when things are easy and going great. It’s hard to say yes when it’s not. But that’s when yes really counts. I say yes not because I’m so awesome, but because I promised to. 12 years ago I said yes to him, yes to us. In sickness and health and richer and poorer, good times and bad; I promised to say yes. I can say yes because he promised to do the same, I can say yes to him as my husband and friend, leader and lover because I know he’s saying yes to me and most importantly to God. That makes it easier. I wonder where our marriage would be without God’s leadership and love in our lives. Most likely it would not be in a good place.
After all these years I can honestly say that our marriage is better now that it has ever been. Love has grown deeper, affections fonder, and our connection stronger. I think that’s because we regularly say yes to us.
Saying yes at the altar was easy, but it has been saying yes in the every day choices that has really made the difference. It is saying yes to him as I buy his favorite snacks at the grocery store, yes to his needs by taking care of my appearance, yes to his preferences. It means I’m less controlling and more forgiving, not focused on me but always shifting my attention to him. Basically it is placing his needs above my own. And the cool thing about it is that he does the same for me. It’s a win-win when we both say yes.
My answer to him is still the same as it was way back then, I will still say yes. And if given the chance to do it over again, even the hard times, I would still say one thousand times yes.
I adore him and I know that I have found a rare gift in this man I call my own. I know that I’m blessed abundantly because of him in my life. He always says that he married up, but I don’t know about that. The longer we’re together the more I realize what a prize he is. I long for a lifetime of saying to yes to him.
Twelve years, three kids, four homes, seven vehicles, several different jobs, one small business, one dog and immeasurable joys and laughs-that is a lot of yeses. Today, as we celebrate 12 years of being husband and wife I’m praying for thousands and thousands more.
1. let your kids stay up way too late on a summer night so that they’re grumpy and cranky the next morning
2. watch in dismay as your husband gets ready to leave for a long day of work
3. start panicking because you have no idea how to keep these cranky natives from mutiny and a hostile takeover
4. marry the smartest man ever (well, that actually happened first but you get the idea). the smartest man ever makes the smartest suggestion ever…..
5. take cranky natives to the library
6. pick out as many books as you can carry home
7. make three different forts in separate rooms, one for each kid
8. give them half an hour in each fort, then switch
9. sit down and put your feet up, and enjoy the quiet sounds of turning pages and happy kids
now go ahead and try it, it really worked! quiet all day long….blissful quiet. what every mother needs.
hello nice backyard spot, my favorite place to start the day
hello little girl dancing with the most patient dog in the world
hello half marathon completed
hello pedicure
hello smores around the fire pit
hello afternoon at the river
we’ve been busy enjoying summer….bike rides, rests in the hammock, trips to the river and lazy evenings on the patio. it’s been so, so nice but it’s left very little time for anything else…like cleaning house, or paying bills, grocery shopping, and blogging.
so here’s what the fourth looked like at our house:
we always start the day riding on our church’s float in the city parade. it is so much fun, if you’ve never ridden on a float in a small town parade I highly recommend that you figure out how to do so. you won’t regret it. honest.
after that we went home and got into party mode, after a nap in the hammock of course. I think that’s a daily summer requirement.
we had a birthday party bike parade for Aida’s fifth birthday. it was just a small affair but so, so fun.
she had rainbow cake in a jar (I was going to share the recipe, but don’t want to get up and dig out the recipe card…it’s the best cake I’ve ever had. not light and fluffy, but dense and rich. so good, I can stick it another post if you want, m’kay?)
and of course the bike parade
then fizzy fruity soda to cool off afterwards (lots of crushed ice, fruit juice concentrate and club soda, yum!)
what’s a party without the after party?
if was a fun day spent with my favorite peoples. just the way I like it.
(no, there’s nothing wrong with my son-that’s his Nacho Libre smile. you know when he smiles at the end? Levi makes this face all.the.time.)
so what’s up with you friends? hope you’re all having a great summer so far….tomorrow I’m running a half marathon-wish me luck! and I’m sure you’ll hear all about it!)
yes, I know clean homes are not a fourth of July tradition. but it is clean today and since my house usually stays clean for all of about five minutes I thought I’d take some pictures to mark the occasion.
so come on in…….
we are a bit decked out in preparation for tomorrow and a bike parade/birthday party bash at our house….
this is the main (as in only) room downstairs. when you walk in you’re looking straight at the room, not from the stairs like I was. yes, that’s a mohawk. yes, I was surprised. but it’s summer, it’s all okay.
looking from the family/living/main room into the dinning area….
here’s a little close up of the table. the tinker toy container is a vintage treasure from Zac’s dad. the quilt on the table was Levi’s crib bedding. I just can’t bear to part with it.
the view into the kitchen from the table…
and the kitchen…I painted the cabs a few summers ago, it is by far my most favorite thing I’ve done to this house.
the opposite side, and the one that really gets used. we took the doors off the cabinets to make it easier for little kiddos to unload the dishwasher and for guests to be able to find and help themselves to any dishes they need. the basket holds coffee items.
and swinging back around, the view from the coffee maker.
and here’s the ugly…weight bench. but having it right there is effective for me to actually use it, plus it’s handy (although very ugly) extra seating when we have guests over.
and my happy gallery wall, and my favorite snoozing dog.
globes, love them…and always looking for more (even though I have no idea where I’d put them).
and that’s the tour folks. you’ll notice that this is only a downstairs tour. if you dare to come up the stairs you’ll be greeted by unmade beds, stinky laundry and a small toothpaste explosion in the kids bathroom. but I’m guessing that just might be something you’ve seen already at your house (right, I can’t be the only one?)
have a happy (and safe) fourth friends. we’ll begin our day on the parade route with our church’s float, waving and passing out candy and end it watching things explode in the front yard. and in the midst of it all we’ll pause and be grateful for the freedoms we have and the men and women who fought for them.
yay America!
a clean house and a holiday weekend sure make for a lot of lovely....I'm linking up with Heather's Life Made Lovely today.
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