1. When speaking of being a stay-at-home mom, I often say, "The days are long, but the years are short." But with the transition from spring to summer, it has felt more like "The days are short, and the weeks are shorter!" Several Thursdays have passed since my last update. I find it hard to fathom that I've actually skipped posts in the past because I "had nothing to write about." Hardly the case these days. Life has been happening at rapid pace. That awesome kind of free-spirited life where every day is something new, something fun--adventures at every turn. Summer is just so. much. fun! We've already bounced around town to all of the local pools, been to splash pads, skate parks, sprinklers, soccer, concerts you name it. (And my kids are already tanner than I ever dreamed of being. Ever. Lucky ducks, they all have their daddy's gorgeous skin.) I've missed the feeling for the past many years, but the feeling that every child, adolescent and young adult has is back: I
love summer!
2. The boys and I have also embarked on a bit of an educational summer venture: learning to read. For Rudy, it mainly focusing on the early learning process...sounding out words, learning variations of sounds, etc. For Kolbe, he can already do all of that, so we're shooting for the real deal: fluent reading. And we've got quite the sizable carrot dangled in front of the horse. These boys have been begging for skateboards for months and months. (I know.
Skateboards. I'm already getting the heeby-jeebies just thinking about the potential injuries!) So I've committed to them that if they focus on our "smart work" every morning
with no complaining, at the end of the summer we'll go pick out new skateboards. (and knee pads, and elbow pads, and full body pads...just kidding on that last one. Kind of.) We're about three weeks in so far and they're doing great! I think all they really need is some structure and encouragement to keep up the pace. Give me a couple more months and hopefully I'll be posting videos of two little readers. (and hopefully
not two little readers covered in scrapes, bruises, and full body casts...)
3. A few nights ago I had an unexpectedly fun evening. One of those where I'm anticipating a burden and it turns in to a blessing. I got a text around 7:30 from a neighbor saying several of the ladies on the street were going to sit out and enjoy a glass of wine around 8:00. I avoided it, knowing I still had lots of work to finish up and going to socialize would throw everything off. But around 9:00 I decided to "just go say hi" and ended up staying for two hours. (and getting totally devoured by mosquitoes, but that's another story.) The three other ladies and I sat beneath the glow of our street light, sharing stories, laughing, empathizing, and just enjoying the adult company. The thing I keep reflecting on is how different each of us are. At 30, I am the baby. The baby with lots of little babies. And then there's another who is fairly newly married in her late thirties, raising two pre-teen step daughters and her nearly one-year-old while working full time at a nearby hospital. And another who is in her early forties, with three kiddos somewhat older than ours, working on her masters as well as working part time. And another in her early fifties. Single and an empty-nester as of a few weeks ago. Probably wondering "what's next?" All of us at different places in life. With different priorities, different struggles, different beliefs, different personalities (for sure!).... different questions for God. But all of us
moms. And all it takes is that one inexplicable link that can take a group of "unlikely-to-be-friends" and create something unique, enjoyable, and fun. Who knows how often we'll get to have our little "hen meetings" but I'm glad God gave me a little slap in the rear. A little "wake up...it's not about spending all of your time with people who are just like you. In fact, it's the opposite." He gives me blessings when I least expect them.
So you want some evidence that our summer has been rocking so far?....
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| Every now and then you gotta put the scooter down for a sec so you can get a few soccer shots in. |
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| Meanwhile, little brother gets a chance to run off with big brother's scooter! |
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| I can't even handle this picture. Just please get off my computer screen and get onto my wall!!! |
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| Ok, this one too. Don't these just scream SUMMER! |
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| The indication that the Asmussens are nearby. |
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| One of the best parts of the past few weeks...Papa Jeep came to visit!!! We haven't seen Papa Jeep since last Thanksgiving so it was wonderful to have him down for a visit. We had lots of fun, stayed busy non-stop, and even got to squeeze in a little early birthday/ Father's Day celebration for him. |
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| Hanging out at the waterway before the Houston Symphony performed. |
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| Trying to grow up too fast. |
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| Nothing like a perfect night, a great sunset, and a big quilt to sprawl out on. |
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| Happy (early!) Birthday, Papa Jeep! These grand babies sure do love you! |
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| Chillin' at the pool. |
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| We took Papa Jeep to the skate park so he could see the boys ride a bit and this beautiful ray of light seemed to follow Kolbe around the bowl. It was so beautiful and I love that I was able to capture it on camera. |
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| Though we're at the pool in this picture, it overlooks the boys' favorite fishing spot, so during safety breaks they sat and watched all the turtles swim up in hopes of a little snack. Summer fun at a beautiful setting! |
