Magic Moments

It's the beginning of Summer here, or at least it feels like it. It's been warm (finally) and we've been soaking in this time with nothing all that pressing to fill our time. I'll admit, after the school year ended for us I was TIRED! I think I went a week with no real plan, with my house a mess, and spent most of the day still in my pajamas. I'm telling myself that even public school teachers are tired at this time of year so it's normal, right? By September I'll be ready for routine, but right now I'm just holding onto Summer with two hands so it doesn't go too fast. This week I ran the boys ragged at parks. :) After spending Wednesday morning at the Lake, we met friends at a park both Thursday and Friday. It was wonderful. It's been so warm the boys have already been in the sprinkler. Summer is good. It's also the beginning of recruiting some help around here. Did I mention how tired I was after school ended? I decided that I can ...

Week 21: Color! Aiden: Go Yellow Team!!! (and my first attempt at motion blur. :)) Sage: So much to say. This merry-go-round is part of the cabin's heart and soul. It has been played with for generations. It has been welded and painted, and painted and welded. Honestly, it's more of a hazard than anything else. But, each child has loved it and now it's Sage's turn to love it just like his cousins, aunties, uncles and Daddy have before him. I chose this picture for "Color" because since riding this Merry-go-round last week Sage's prayers have included this phrase, "Deek (thank) you, Jesus for the wewwow (yellow) merry-round."

This article made me cry. I breathed a huge sigh of relief. I began looking forward to the future. http://jenhatmaker.com/blog/2014/05/27/on-parenting-teens

Pure Joy. Right here. That's what it looks like. A little two year old heart full of trust and happiness and love and potential and Jesus. Add to it a little sunshine and cabin magic and that's what you get....Pure Joy. This is what Sage did ALL. WEEKEND. Breakfast with Marme in our favorite place which we call "The Nest." The swinging bed. Quite arguably the coziest place on earth. I keep looking at this picture and singing that old Sunday School Song, "I've got peace like a river, I've got peace like a river, I've got peace like a river in my soul...."   More motorcycles. You get the idea. Cousins 4 life. The weekend was full...motorcycles, camp fires, fishing, friends, family, work, cleaning, chasing the boys, cooking...the list goes on. Cabin Magic is in our hearts and souls. I just may post about every trip we take to the cabin this Summer, so be warned. It's our happy place.

It's Soccer Season and Aiden has taken the bull by the horns. He's faster this year, he's smarter this year, and you can tell this in his defensive and offensive playing. I would like to go on and on about how cute 4-6 year old soccer is, but it's little more than organized chaos. In reality, 4-6 year old soccer is a mess because... -4 year olds are too little to play with 5 and 6 year olds -6 year olds are way bigger and faster than the littles and it creates an awkward skill gap -some kids are ball hogs -some kids refuse to play -lots of kids are cry babies -LOTS of parents are cry babies -lots of parents cheer way too loudly when their kids do little more than stand on the field and breathe. I hate to be a Debbie Downer but most of the kids on the team probably aren't going to be playing in the World Cup. I'm pretty proud of Aiden. He's willing to play, do his best, he tries really hard to pass the ball and even block the other team. In a coupl...

We celebrated Mother's Day a week late since Tom worked on Mother's Day. So on Saturday I had breakfast in bed :) and per my request we bought my flowers for the yard and planted them all together as a family. Tom has sweetly made it his goal to rid my yard of the dandelions I hate so much and once my yard is weed free I've been promised a hedge of Cranberry Vanilla Honeysuckle bushes. On Sunday we hopped in the car and headed to the cabin for the day. The weather, although a bit windy, was one of the better days we've had. We got to see Grandmommy and Grandpa for the first time since Thanksgiving so the day was extra nice. We are more than ready to spend many a day at our dear sweet cabin on the lake. It's hard to believe by looking at this picture that these two exasperate me more than words can say. I'm either a glutton for punishment or a mother because there are no two boys I'd rather be with. Love them with all my heart!

Albert Einstein once said, "The greatest form of research is play." I love that. I always tell my kids that their job or their work is to play. I think it's vital to development. As you know from the last post, we played at the Science Museum this week. Like always, my boys couldn't touch everything fast enough. Aiden has been talking about microscopes lately so this was a fun picture to catch. And I love that Sage is beneath an "Early Explorer" sign that was part of a baby/child development exhibit. Early Explorer describes Sage to a "T."

The boys picked the Science Museum for Fun Friday today. It's Summer vacation so really everyday is like fun Friday, but after the busy week we had I welcomed Friday with open arms. Our first stop at the museum was the Omni Theater. We hadn't yet seen their movie on Dinosaurs. I had low expectations because I figured the movie would be full of half truths and the boys would be scared to death. However, the movie was more truthful than I though it would be and the boys weren't scared at all. The screen made me dizzy so I saw most of the movie with my eyes closed, but all in all it was really fun. :) After that I turned the boys loose to play and when we left I promised we'd come back really soon. A lot of the stuff at the Science Museum is over the boys' heads. But they love it and I figure eventually all the dots will start to connect and as they learn more scientific concepts they'll hopefully remember seeing the displays at the museum. This picture was take...

 Aiden spent the school year building a TIME line that started "In the beginning" and stretched through present day and ended with a question mark with a new heaven and a new earth. This year we recorded all major Old Testament and some New Testament events. As we progress in years we'll add U.S. History, Creation to the Greeks, Rome to the Reformation, Exploration to 1850, and 1850 to Modern Times. I'm overwhelmed and excited just thinking about it. Sage: Nap time. I love nap time because Sage is so snuggly and sleepy at nap time and he still lets me rock him to sleep. He is nowhere close to giving up his naps and it's time I cherish. I desperately want time to stand still right now. Everyday brings challenges, but 6 and 2 have got to be the perfect ages.

The last night of AWANA was this past Tuesday night. Tom, Sage, and I all sat in the front row waiting to see Aiden walk across the stage and receive his award. He worked so hard this year! He managed to complete his WHOLE book and get his review patch for also completing his entire book review. Is there a cuter Spark in this whole world? Below I took a picture of Aiden and the two friends he has mentioned by name, Una (the cute little blond girl) and Levi. Una is a relatively new friend whom Aiden became acquainted with when he injured his knee at AWANA. I'm told the entire episode was quite dramatic and I don't doubt it. Una, I'm told, was instrumental in calming Aiden down from his hysterics after his knee met up with some kind of scooter. Anyway, he's talked about her a lot and made it a point to show me who she was. I think it's super cute, especially because Una really is honestly and truly his friend. No one has corrupted their friendship or their thi...

If this doesn't make you smile on this Monday morning then I don't know what will. :) 20140501_181705.mp4 from Jenny on Vimeo . And what can I say? It's just all sunshine and roses over here. ;) 20140408_083635.mp4 from Jenny on Vimeo .

e·mo·tive iˈmōtiv/ adjective adjective: emotive arousing or able to arouse intense feeling. I loved this week's theme (as always) and I had really high hopes for my photos. I kept looking back over the past few weeks thinking of memories and perfect photo opportunities that I wish I had taken advantage of, as they fit this week perfectly. But, I figured for sure this week would bring some of the same sweet and powerful moments of it's own. Not so. At least not the moments I had imagined. Plus, emtional moments happen so spontaneously that I don't always have time to reach for the camera. This morning at church I was very much wishing that I could do gymnastics in the aisle with my camera to perfectly capture all three of my boys in worship together at the perfect angle. But, I figured that wasn't appropriate. So, I enjoyed the moment, tucked it in my heart, and settled on these pictures instead. Not quite the impact or scope I had hoped for, but still sweet,...

Don't let this picture fool you. We haven't exactly been lounging around in our jammies reading books. We're on the down hill slide of finishing up school and all our school year commitments and no one is more excited for Summer break than I am. If you don't hear from us until we throw back our heads and give our victory cry, you know why. We're taking advantage of this rainy weather to work hard so when the weather hits 70 you'll be able to find us living at the park. :)