Wordless Wednesday

Summer Nights

Summer nights are kickball games in the yard in your swimming suit.

Summer nights are neighbors and friends in the pool.

Summer nights are big splashes.

Summer nights are making a whirlpool.

Summer nights are a game of shark in the pool.

One of my favorite things about summer nights... fresh cut grass.

One of my least favorite things... weeds in my flower bed.

I love the way the sun shines in the windows of my Bethie's windows in the evening. I love cool summer nights like tonight. When we can shut off the air, open the windows and sleep in the coolness of the night. I love sitting on my front porch swing watching the traffic go by. I love the smell of fresh cut grass and the way it clings to the feet of my babies as they play kick ball in the yard. I love baseball/softball, but I love when it's over and we can spend our nights at home...loving summer nights.

Summertime

Summertime is definitely here! I think the kids may be having their best summer yet! But... I don't think that I have had all of my little chickens under my roof all at once yet this summer!! Khloe spent a week with Aunt Misty,
then Khloe & Drew spent a week with my mom. Grandma Jaeda cut Khloe's hair. So cute!!

This week Kait is at camp!

Baseball/softball has finally come to an end. All three kids played this year, which meant games 5-6 nights a week. I am looking forward to some down time in the evenings!

Kait

Khloe

Drew

We have managed a few trips so far this summer. We went to Six Flags to celebrate Kait's 13th birthday (that post will be coming soon) and last weekend we took a trip down to Meramec State Park for some camping and rafting.

What signifies summer more than ice cream trucks and slip and slides?? Nothing!

The kids are going to a Christian Day Camp this year instead of the fight to find a summer sitter. This is working out really well and I think they are liking the structured days!

As you can see from this HUGE post full of fun times...we are LOVING our summer!

A Memorable Memorial Weekend

The Memorial Day weekend was filled with baseball games played in the yard in your swimsuit with your cousins and your grandpa. Ribs on the grill. Deviled eggs. Pasta salad and bonfires. Late night Jeep riding with teenagers singing at the top of your lungs, even if you don't know the words. Sleeping in. Extra snuggles with your honey. Opening the notorious pool. Buying sunscreen for the first time of the season. Planting flowers. A shower that washes away lake water, worm guts and sunscreen. Cool sheets after a hot day.

Drew has been keeping some frogs in a rubbermaid tote. He had four. We are trying to learn a bit about frog watching. It's kinda like bird watching. There are different kinds of frogs and they make different sounds. I hope to learn more this summer. So he found this frog this weekend. I think this little guy is the chorus frog that serenades me every night. He's cute, and so is my boy.

Sunday we went down to my Aunt's on Spring Lake. I took my camera, but forgot the card. Grrrr. It was a great time. The kids swam in the lake, they fished. Little Diva Kait fished for four hours straight!! Granted she wouldn't put the bait on the hook, and she "EEEKKED!!!" When Drew threw a worm at her! LOL I was trying to teach her how to jerk the line to set the hook when you get a bite, and the first few times she jerked the whole line out of the water! LOL She also wouldn't take the fish off of the line. Grandma had to do that for her. She caught four fish. They went out in the canoe a few times. Threw the stick into the water for the dog about a thousand times. The sun on my face...happy shrieks from the kids...the splash of the water...loved it!

Today we went to my Dad & Penny's for a cookout/early birthday party for Kait. I love getting together with family! Even if the brothers give me a hard time!

Chef Khloe helping Grandma on the grill.

Uncle Andy chillin.

An early birthday celebration for Kait.

We fight our pool every year. This year we took our cover off to find water that looked like sewer water. There were things swimming. Big things and little things...ewwwww. So we decided to drain the whole thing and fill it with fresh water. It has been filling for two days. The. water. is. green. Already. It's still filling and it's green. We threw our chemicals in, hopefully it will clear up soon.

Another beautiful sunset to finish off a beautiful weekend.

I hope that everyone had a safe & happy holiday weekend. A friend posted this today...

through out history only 2 defined forces have offered to die for you, the Lord Jesus Christ and the American Soldier.... Thank them both today!

Love that! So true.

Funerals & Ice Cream

This was a devotion I read from this week. It spoke to me. I am a worrier by nature. I don't do well at handing my trouble to the Lord. I am one that wants to control. I am one that wants to keep my babies tucked inside our home so that harm never finds them. I struggle with "letting go and letting God." Perhaps this devotion will speak to you...

Planning Funerals that Won't Happen Today

Lysa TerKeurst

"And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?" Matthew 6:27 (NIV)

A couple of years ago my teenage son came to me and asked if he could take his brother and sisters to go get ice cream. How fun! How thoughtful! "Sure," I said, "Let me grab my keys and we'll go.""No, Mom ... we sort of want to go just us kids," he quickly replied."Oh," and that's about all I could get my mouth to say as my brain started racing and reeling.

In my mind's eye pictures started flashing of a terrible accident, a phone call from the police, planning a funeral, and then thinking back to this moment when I could have said no.And it was that strange sense that everything depended on me and my decisions that made me want to say no. Absolutely not. You will stay home today. You will all stay home forever. I have to keep you safe.Why do we moms do that?

Most of us live with this gnawing, aching, terrifying fear that something will happen to one of our children. We carry the pressure that ultimately everything rises and falls on whether or not we can control things. And mentally, too often we plan funerals that won't happen today.We do it because we know the realities of living in a broken world where car accidents do happen. Tragedy strikes old and young alike. We have no guarantees for tomorrow. And that's really hard on a mama's heart.

I stood at the front window of my house chewing my nails and watching as the entire contents of my mama heart piled into one car.And I realized I had a choice.I could run myself ragged creating a false sense of control that can't really protect them. Or, I could ask God to help me make wise decisions and choose to park my mind on the truth.The truth is:God has assigned each of my kids a certain number of days.

My choices can add to the quality of their life, but not the quantity. They could be at home tucked underneath my wings and if it's their day to go be with Jesus, they will go."When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." (Psalm 139:15-16)

Jesus conquered death so we don't have to be afraid of it any longer.Of course, the death of anyone I love would make me incredibly sad, heart-broken and dazed with grief. But I don't have to be held captive by the fear of death."Since the children have flesh and blood, he (Jesus) too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is, the devil - and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fe ar of death." (Hebrews 2:14-15).

Death is only a temporary separation. We will be reunited again.In 2 Samuel 12, when David's infant child died, he confidently said, "I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me" (v. 23). David knew he would see his child again--not just a faceless soul without an identity, but this child for whom he was longing. He would know him, hold him, kiss him, and the separation death caused would be over.

I know these are heavy things to process on a Thursday morning. And I certainly don't claim that these truths will help you never ever fear again. But I do hope these truths will settle your heart into a better place.And the next time my kids go get ice cream together, instead of chewing my nails I'll only pick at them while awaiting their return. See progress? It's good.

Dear Lord, the fear of something happening to one of my children is so raw. And I guess the thing that makes it so hard is I know we live in a broken world and awful things happen to kids. But if I focus on this fear, it will consume me. Instead help me focus on You so I'll only be consumed with Your truth, Your love, Your insights, and Your power. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

© 2010 by Lysa TerKeurst. All rights reserved.

Wordless Wednesday

A Perfect Summer Day

Drew has been wanting to have a lemon-aid stand for about a month now. He has made some signs at school and he and some of his friends had big plans for a front yard stand.

Today I read this post http://www.kellehampton.com/2010/05/almost-here.html
I am in love with Kelle Hanpton's blog!
She is an amazing photographer (inspired me to buy my camera and go for it!).
She is an amazing mom to two cute cute cute little girls.
Her writing is inspiring. It makes me what to live my life to the fullest and
"Enjoy the Small Things"
which I'm not always good at.
So when I read this post today, I made my list.

This Summer I will...
Learn "Frog Watching" with my son
Spend one on one time gardening and sitting on the porch with my middle daughter
Have cookies & milk with my oldest daughter when the little kids are in bed
Keep the weeds out of my garden
Take Jeep rides with the top off with my man
Have friends over for porch parties
Take the kids to the drive in movies
Go to the zoo
Camp
Take more walks with the kids
Blog more
Take more pictures
and
have lemon-aide stands

Blue skies and ice cold lemon-aide

Signs that Drew made at school.

Our first customers!

Cheers!!

Neighbors came by to have a refreshing drink.

They had drive up customers...

Friends came by too.

They sold fourteen glasses in about an hour.
I think that is a Dixon Lemon-aide stand record! I think it was the signs!

Summer is upon us. Next week is the last week of school and the kids will be free to enjoy their summer. I used to look forward to summers. The sun on my face, little brown babies kissed by the sun sliding their fresh skin into cool sheets... but it seems I dread summer more and more each year. I used to be a stay at home mom. When my husband lost his job 7 years ago I went back to work. I love my job, I really do, but I miss summers with my kids. I dread having to find a summer sitter. I dread working so hard just to pay the sitter. I feel so guilty for being at work all day when I could be home entertaining the kids. I feel like I miss so much. But after reading Kelle's post today... I decided that this summer I am going to focus on the time that I CAN spend with the kids. I'm going to make the most of the time that I do have with them. It's going to be a crazy summer. All three kids are playing ball...looks like we will have games five days a week. When I feel overwhelmed, I'm going to come back to this post and look at this list and remember to stop and take the time to "Enjoy the Small Things" in life.

And drink more lemon-aide.

What a beautiful ending to a beautiful day...

Do you have a summer list?