The Great Outdoors

We are enjoying some incredible weather in Minnesota and it's come at the perfect time.  We were all starting to go a little stir crazy a few weeks ago, when we had a string of cold, rainy days but recenlty the Lord has outdone himself with glorious, summer days and are very thankful!! 

 I am realizing that we are in a great season right now, for being on the go!  My kids love to be outside, love to get in the car and go somewhere, and love some sort of adventure for the day.  It's been 3 summers since I've felt like I could actually be outside a lot, without someone needing to stay cool or be in the shade or be home for multiple naps.  I have to say, I love this extra freedom! 

We've developed a weekly routine that involves lots of playtime, park time, walks around different lakes and friends!! 

 Despite the scowl on Carter's face here, he especially loves the excitement of being out.  This double jogger has been an incredible blessing to have and Travis and I are enjoying many walks/runs with it.  The kids love being in it and it's so easy to push.  Have I told you the story behind it??  It's brand new, a Bob Revolution jogger, and retails for $600.  Crazy.  A sweet friend gifted us with her jogger, which was a few years old and in great shape.  Her kids outgrew it so she passed it on to us.  There was a tear in the inside corner of one of the seats, so I made some calls to try and figure out how to repair it.  To make a long story short, I ended up at REI, which is where they bought it 5 years ago.   I just needed a recommendation for a repair shop, but after they realized it had come from their store, they offered to just replace it.  I assumed they meant the seat fabric, and at some cost to us, but no.  They took the 5 year old stroller, for which we had no receipt and didn't even purchase ourselves and gave us a brand new one.  We paid $30, which was the difference in price over the 5 year span of inflation.  Isn't that amazing??  And a total blessing!!!  The Lord has done so many things like that to take care of us and provide.  Travis has wanted a double jogger for a long time but I kept holding out for a great deal on Craig's List or a garage sale.  This beat any deal, hands down!  We are so grateful everytime we pull it out to use it and we just love it.  He was SO, SO good to us and my friend also received the double joy of giving hers away and then watching the Lord multiply the blessing! 

Is that face cute or what?? 

This kid has some killer lips. 

We're going to have our work cut out for us when the girls notice him someday :)

 I've waged the summer war with my kids over wearing hats and after many days in a row, I think I'm winning!  They both have such fair skin and I just do not want them to burn like their Mommy, so I am a big hat pusher.  We've got several and I'm always on the lookout for cute ones.  It's so much easier that putting sunscreen on their faces and the look so cute in them!  I wasn't sure Carter would ever keep one on, but he's doing pretty well. 

We discovered a new park and the kids love it, mostly because of this swing.  They totally fight over it and I don't blame them.  It's a pretty sweet ride!

Even spiderman needs to take a break and swing, in between adventures of course.

Sometimes Carter forgets to put his legs out and his feet up while he slides.  He ends up just walking down the slide, which makes me laugh beause it sort of defeats the purpose of sliding, but if he's happy about it, whatever!

She has turned into a monkey this summer, doing all the things I said "no" to last summer!  And I've realized she is her mother's daughter because she's a good little climber and she has very little fear.  I definitely passed that down in the gene pool! 

She kills me in that hat.

I ask her everyday if she wants a braid or a pony-tail in her hair and most days she just begs me to leave it down.  It's getting so long and makes her look so old! 

Thankfully, I still have some baby cheeks left to kiss, that is when Carter sits still long enough to let me!

Sleep, eat, park, play, repeat!  We've got a great thing going :)

We have been feeling Daddy's absence a lot more lately, as his schedule has picked up and gotten pretty crazy.  They are starting to notice more and more when he's gone and we're all struggling a little bit with it.  But, I've been trying to think of fun things to distract us aWand ways we can add a little inexpensive excitement when he is not with us.  Dairy Queen is our new pit stop and they love it!

I order them a mini blizzard and ask the workers to split it.  It's the perfect amount of ice-cream and surprisingly, these two do a good job of eating more of it than spilling it.  Warm summer nights and ice-cream are a great combo for everyone!

Finally, because we can't always be at the park and we don't have a back yard that's our own, I've relented a little bit and emptied out our little porch of all it's cuteness to make room for more toys.

When we moved in, this little porch was so darling.  I had great furniture, tons of plants, candles, and a bistro table where we ate dinner lots of nights.  I've always loved this porch. 

But now my kids love it.  They like playing outside and I like that they are enclosed and safe.  They drag tons of things out there and I knew I needed to make more room for them, so I did a clean sweep and got rid of lots of my stuff. I put their bigger, plastic toys out there (mostly what I have having in the house) and they love the extra room.  I left the bench because we still like to sit out there with them and they like to sit on it too.

I got this slide on Craig's List for $5 and so far, it's been the best $5 I've spent this year! 

They love it and I'm happy to have it out of my living room :)

I couldn't quite bear to get rid of my pots, so I am planning on filling them this week with some plants and some herbs.  I've never done that (although I don't have any idea why) and I think they should do great out there.  Anyway, I'm also in a hurry to fill them so Carter will stop playing in all that dirt :)

I thought we'd be outside a lot today, but since I've started this post Ava woke up sick and has thrown up twice.  I just woke Carter up at 10:15, which sounds great but leads me to believe that he's not feeling well either.  So, who knows what this day will bring.   Hopefully this will pass quickly, there is nothing worse than your kids being sick and not being able to do anything about it.  Especially when they are this little and can't understand why I am withholding food :( 

Poor babies...

Hope you have a happy Monday!

iPhone Life

Since I got my iPhone in January, I can't believe how often I use it to take pictures.  I guess because it's very handy and it takes decent photos, I'm always grabbing it for a quick shot...usually of something the kids are doing that I know the grandparents will want to see!  So this post is brought to you, courtesy of my iPhone photo roll.  If you follow me on facebook, twitter, or instagram you may have seen some of them but I pulled out some new ones too to show you.  Consider this my Friday night gift to you :)

Do I even need to explain this?? 

I'm pretty sure the look on his face says it all!  Forbidden fruit :)

I love a little boy in a hoodie!  On a trike!  Juggling a soccer ball and a basketball!

Oh man, I love him.  This is such a great picture of Carter because it's a true reflection of who he is these days.  Bruises on his legs, big boy crocs on his feet, a mischievous look on his face and 2 balls in his arms.  He is all boy and we are constantly on the move, trying to keep him from all sorts of disaster!  But he sure is cute, so I suppose that helps his case when he's up to his elbows in trouble, ha ha!

I love this picture.  This is Ava and her little friend, Callan.  They are great buddies because their Mommies are great friends.  We spend lots of time together, but we have some sad days ahead of us when Callan and his family move to California soon. 

We are thankful that the Lord has a great plan for Callan's family and we know their new Church will LOVE them, but selfishly, I am very, very sad to be saying goodbye to my dearest friend and to Ava's sweet little friend.  Aren't they cute??  They have no idea what's ahead :)  The only silver lining is that Lisa and I see some potential in our master plan to have Callan and Ava get married someday.  The distance between them might help fuel a long distance attraction, as opposed to just growing up together like friends who could never date!  We will be working that angle as much as possible :)

I tweeted about this a few days ago, but it's no secret to anyone by now, that I love me a sharpie pen!!  In fact, I seriously think I should get some kind of cut for all of the un-solicited advertising I give them, right??  When I was in Target the other day, I spotted this package of NEW colors and just about did a happy dance in the aisle.  It's the little things in life that make my day!

Of course when I posted the pic of my new pens, my planner in the background generated a whole host of emails and texts, asking me where I got it.  If you are a twitter girl, you know these were all the rage last year.  I got in on it with a great deal on plum district I think, and I'm so glad I did!!  It's a Life Planner by Erin Condren and I totally LOVE it.  I am a list girl, I'm a planner, and I just love to write everything down so I can see it in front of me.  I've tried to convert to an electronic calendar and I just can't do it.  How would I use my sharpies then??

This is what the inside looks like, minus a million other things that makes it so great!!  The NEW, revised and updated 18 month planners are being released in a few weeks and I can't wait to see it with all the new features.  I snagged another deal a couple of weeks ago so I'm all ready to go. 

My new (summer sorbet) sharpies can't wait either!

My kids have developed a new love for Curious George recently.  We have lots of books and I think Ava got this George when she was born, but thanks to the movie, they are hooked!  Curious Carter is a lot like Curious George, I'm afraid.  So cute, but very mischievous :)

Miss Ava is playing more and more with her dollhouse and after her birthday, she has some more furniture to fill those rooms!  She loves it, but I will honestly admit that I love it just as much as she does :) More than once, when Trav has come out of Ava's room after putting her to bed, he's looked at me and said, "Are you seriously playing with that house right now??"  And because I cannot lie (or hide it) I have to say, "I guess I am!"  I love to "clean it up" at night and put everything where I think it should go.  What can I say, my interior design roots began with a dollhouse when I was a little girl too and I guess they go down deep!

Carty loves that dollhouse too, but mostly just so he can take apart every room and run away laughing.  Do you see the kitchen table next to him??  Case in point :)  But he sure looks innocent, doesn't he??

Here's our big girl with her big sandwich.  We got Jimmy John's on the way to Iowa and she was adamant that I NOT cut her sandwich up.  She wanted a big "samich" and she got it!  Cute girl, she did a great job and ate most of that big thing :)

My little monkeys and my Dad.  They were so happy to see him when he got home from his golf meet.  He's coaching High School golf again, so we missed him for a couple of days, but he was happy to scoop these two up!

Carter and Ava are obsessed with my Mom's dog, Ollie.  They love to pet him, feed him, chase him, see him, etc.  They also love to see and play with Ryley, who always comes over for a visit.  They are definitely dog lovers! 

My Mom, sister and I did a little shopping together while we were home.

We went to this darling vintage/antique market in this tiny little town, in a barn of all places.  It was SO CUTE and there were tons of things to see.  It was fun, I would love to go back there again.

This was the upstairs of the barn, isn't it amazing??  There were lots of vendors selling their stuff and tons of people buying.  Only in Iowa!!

We got lucky and happened to be in town when my cousin Trevor became a Daddy.

This little sweetie, Maxden, was worth the visit to the hospital!  He was so tiny, it's amazing how quickly I forgot what a newborn looks like.   

We could have held him all day! 

This was what I woke up to on Mother's Day.  Travis took the kids to Starbucks very early in the morning, while I slept, and brought me home a treat.  Can't say I've ever had a frappacinno for breakfast, but I wasn't complaining!  That was very sweet of him.

I found this old picture of my sisters and I.  Classic.  I was hoping to look at all my old pics, but my Mom can't find them after they tore their house apart for their big remodel.  I have high hopes she'll find them soon because I'm dying to see them again.  I know Ava looks just like I did as a little girl!

And speaking of Ava, she adores my Dad.  She asked him to read this to her and cuddled right up with him.  Look at her hand, resting on his stomach.  Isn't that funny??

She thrills his heart when she actually sits with him and watches golf.  She'll sit there for a good chunk of time and comment on the players and where they hit the ball.  It's terribly cute.  She just might be a golfer like her Mommy and her aunts!

My parents gifted me with this cookbook for my birthday and I just love it!  I have her first cookbook and I use it all the time, but I kind of forgot she had a new one out, so I was really happy to get it.  I've been pouring through it and can't wait to cook my way from recipe to recipe.  It's packed full of great stuff, totally better than her first one!

When we got home from Iowa, my dress up queen wasted no time getting back in her favorite dress.  The upside is I'm doing far fewer loads of laundry for this princess.  She hardly wears clothes anymore, just ball gowns :)

Finally, because there is no rhyme or reason to this post, I'll leave you with the best picture of all!  I went to a high school synchro swim show this week and it was totally interesting.  I'd never seen one and one of our students is on the team, actually 2 of those legs belong to her :) It was very entertaining and as I told her, I realized that I've got to seriously step up my game for the pool season this summer.  I usually break out some moves to make Ava laugh, but after seeing this, I need new moves!!  So there you go, I hope I made your Friday night a little more exciting.  I've actually managed to bore my own self, so if you'll excuse me, I'm off to bed.  Have a happy weekend!!

Mothering

Happy Tuesday, friends!  I have been waiting to share some sweet pictures from our weekend away.  We took a few days to go to Iowa and see some of my family, not only to celebrate Mother's Day, but also to celebrate some of our birthdays from April.  It was a nice getaway and the Lord gave us perfect weather while we were there.  Our kids are so tired still, which makes for a nice way to start the week!  They played themselves silly and mostly outside, so I've got some late sleepers on my hands, a Mother's Day gift carried over from the weekend :)

I wanted to get on my blog for a few days last week, to write about motherhood and some thoughts on my heart, but the opportunities were exchanged for playdates with friends, time with family and the choice to just be present.  I'm living in tension these days as the Lord reminds me to make the most of this season, while still pressing in me the desire to write and to wrestle through the truths of a daily struggle to be surrendered to Him.  It's frustrating sometimes to lay down the desires of your heart for a better thing, because they are often God-given, and yet to live in tension is not a new thing.  We are repeatedly taught to exercise a faith that walks a tight rope of trust, held up by the tension of obedience to Him over all else.  The Lord instructs us in His Word, to be in this world, but not of it; to let your light shine before men, but to resist temptation and flee from evil; to hate the sin in our life, but always love people, despite sin.  Not easy things to understand or to practice, but I think when we feel the tension of how to really obey Him in everything, we recognize our extreme dependence on Him and our need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit.  Because when we are in relationship with Him, He is faithful to walk with us in the way He wants us to go.  And while our desires may not always be sinful or selfish, He knows what's best for us in every season and stage and we are wise to be slaves to Him and not to our hearts. Which is not the wisdom of this world, or the Disney dream of every princess.  But it's likely that if that desire is there in the first place and it is truly God-given, He will bring it to fruition in His perfect timing, which is almost never my definition of "perfect timing!" 

 Sort of like the fruit of nearly every photoshoot at this stage!  A clear of example of imperfect timing :)

 Motherhood and even Mother's Day itself, can also be flawed when our desires are not held in tension with a deep trust in the Lord.  From as long as I can remember, I have longed to be a Mommy.  My nurturing instincts were in overdrive from birth I think and I've just always known that I treasured the role of taking care of a little one, of loving them and raising them.  But I knew a period of years when that very God-given desire was out of balance and became an idol for me.  When I trusted my own heart over God's and when I despaired in His "imperfect timing." 

 Those were hard years, a season of pain and perseverence while I waited for a future I couldn't seem to grasp or foresee.  Life felt upside down many days over.  How could He give me the desire to be a Mom and then not grant it?  Ever been there or felt that?  I don't know where you find yourself in the world of mothering.  Perhaps you've raised your kids and have moved on to being a Grandparent or maybe you are waiting for the opportunity to carry a child and it seems it may never come.  Maybe you've known the pain of infant loss or a diagnosis that is devestating. Or maybe you are a new Mommy or an experienced one, deep in the trenches of daily training.  No matter where you find yourself,  Motherhood and Mother's Day isn't always rosy for everyone.  Either we long for what we don't have or we set ourselves up with expectations that can't be attained or fulfilled.   

 I think one of our problems is that we long to make Motherhood all about us.  I am as guilty as the  days are long, of viewing everything through the lens of my own selfish heart.  I want to recount how hard the day has been for me, how inconvenient my kids' behavior has been or how I deserve some help to survive!  I catch myself dreaming of days when they'll be out of my hair and in the same dream, weeping over the fact that they are growing up too fast.  Tension...

 Even on Mother's Day, most our efforts to celebrate it, make it all about us.  We long for a day off, for recognition, for a great gift.  And while all of those things aren't inherently wrong and are the very things I have truly enjoyed, I've been thinking over the last few days that none of them are ultimately what I need.  I got breakfast in bed, Travis let me sleep in, I put my feet up after Church and took a nap on the couch.  He gave me a sweet card of thanks, bought me some chocolate and participated in a photoshoot happily :) I was a blessed Mommy on Sunday.  And yet...

 My kids still fought.  They played in a huge puddle and soaked all their clothes.  They whined about all the usual stuff and they didn't obey everytime when I asked them to.  In short, on "my day" they weren't perfect :) Which is why I realized that even on a day when I felt appreciated and served, it still wasn't everything I hoped for...And that's because the thing I really need most as a Mom isn't breakfast in bed or a nice card, although I do love both of those things!

 What I truly need is the same thing my Mom needed when she was raising us and what we both still need today.  We need more of Jesus and we need to live in the power of the Gospel, every day. 

Mothering is a privilege, a calling, and constant dying to self.  It's a job that never really ends, it just changes with the seasons.  No "day off" or special gift will ever satisfy our soul's deepest need, that job belongs to the one who created us and blessed us with our kids in the first place. 

 What I need on Mother's Day and every day is a fresh glimpse of Jesus.  I need the Gospel to penetrate my heart everyday, to remember why He created us, why He died for us, the life of obedience and holiness He calls us to, and how He loves us...loves them...loves me. 

I did have a sweet day and I appreciated all the ways I was served and loved.  But even on the best day, without my heart tuned in to Him and His love meeting my needs and flowing through me, it all falls short of the mark.  Mother's Day is a good thing, it's right to recognize and honor and thank our Moms, but I think it's easy to make that day a selfish one or a disappointing one if we don't look to Jesus for fresh inspiration and vision to live this calling He's placed on our lives.  Not everyone is given the opportunity to be a biological or adoptive Mom.  But I do think we are all called to mother.  To pour God's wisdom and truth into the lives of a younger generation, to lead by example, to love those who need to be loved, to encourage and build up younger hearts, to bless another life out of the resources of our own blessed lives, to teach and live out the Gospel.  We can all mother in our own way, in the life God has chosen for us.  So regardless of how you spent Mother's day or if it was a hard day or a celebratory one, I hope that somehow you managed to catch a fresh vision for mothering, in the role that you've been called to.  Our world has too many kids who are motherless and who need women like you and me to stand in the gaps for them.  But even more than that, I hope you have been reminded anew that Jesus is all the gift you need.  He brings grace and truth to our soul and He is the only One who can satisfy us forever.

I am so grateful for the two precious lives He's entrusted me with and for the equipping that the Gospel provides for every need and every situation.  I'm also incredibly thankful for my own Mom and the way that she still mothers me at 32.  She is often my cheerleader when I'm overwhelmed, lacking patience and in need of a listening ear.  She was faithful from the start of our lives to point us to the Gospel, to teach us the Gospel and to live it out before us, messy as it might be sometimes. 

An that is the same kind of mothering I hope to do for the rest of my life.   

I love being a Mom and I hope you do too. There is a daily tension that calls us to trust Him, to obey Him and to surrender our desires to Him, believing that He knows what's best.  It's not easy, but it's worth it to take Him at His Word and to do what He says.  He never leads us astray, never leaves us alone. 

  I'm praying that your mothering heart is full today, not of leftover thanks and recognition, but of Jesus.  Happy Mothering, friends!