6.28.2010


More camping up north this weekend! 




Spent some time at a super cool zoo where many animals roam free for the petting and feeding. 


These monkeys were just hanging wild on this tree! 







These baby bunnies just about killed every one of us...and they were FOR SALE!  How we all left without a single bunny is beyond me...they were cuuuuuuuute!



...and if the baby bunnies weren't enough standing upright, they roll over and expose THESE little feet!!!  Is that not the cutest thing you've ever seen?!?!? 



My baby bear feeding a baby bear. 











grrrrrrr...!



Our good friends joined us on this trip, and it was so awesome to have them there.  Between their family, our family and my sister's family, there were SEVEN kiddos ages 8 and under (there's one missing in this picture), so it was a busy (and noisy!) camp! 



The next day we drove about an hour north to see a waterfall and spend some time on the beach of Lake Superior.  Since we were only about a block away from the Michigan border, we crossed the state line to have some lunch! 



Luca and the twins are close in age, while Brenin is close in age to our friends' older girl.  We always joke that Brenin's going to need therapy because she wasn't adopted (between our families, 4 out of 5 of our kids are adopted)! 



The beautiful walk back to the waterfall.










GREAT soft sand on the beach of Lake Superior...the kids (and their mommies) had a great time finding polished stones along the shore. 







Spending time in the midst of nature makes me stand in awe of God's creation...that he would take the time to plant a tiny bloom on the shores of such an immense body of water...for that moment, the beauty of one could not exist without the other, and one was not more beautiful than the other.  It was perfect balance and just an inkling of God's masterpiece. 









"See how the lillies of the field grow.  They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?"  Matthew 6:28-30 (New International Version)



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Finally, I'm excited to be joining the "Gratitude Community."  Each week I'll pick 10 things I'm grateful for and name them in a list, eventually naming 1000 gifts.  Every day, even the hard ones (and there ARE hard ones), I'm overwhelmed by God's goodness, and I'm excited to recognize these gifts in worship to the One who granted them through magnificant and amazing grace.  

1.  Tiny blooms and a BIG GOD. 
2.  Toes squishing deep in soft, warm sand.
3.  Little girls holding hands.
4.  A friend who knows my heart and laughs and cries with me.
5.  The soft green glow of a fern-carpeted forest. 
6.  Unbridled running on an open beach.
7.  Exhausted kids and a setting sun. 
8.  Baby bunnies and tiny hands that hold them. 
9.  Photography.
10.  The freedom of getting away and the comfort of coming home.







holy experience

6.22.2010


Lord, let this be true of me...


"Your very lives are a letter that anyone can read by just looking at you.  Christ himself wrote it - not with ink, but with God's living spirit; not chiseled into stone, but carved into human lives."  2 Corinthians 3:2-3 (The Message)


(Quote by Shane Claiborne, "Follow Me To Freedom")

6.21.2010

Foam Fun


Okay, FINAL post of the day!  I decided to break up the weekend activities into separate posts so it wasn't so overwhelming. 

After the parade, we were driving by the park and saw this huge white cloud.  Upon further inspection, we discovered it was a FOAM PARTY!!  I had heard about them, but only happening at parties involving wet t-shirts and drunkeness (not exactly my cup 'o tea and certainly not a great kid event!), so we were thrilled to see kids running from all directions towards the giant ball of suds in the middle of the park! 

The girls jumped out of the truck fast as lightening and dove in with sheer elation!  I couldn't stop smiling the entire time because it literally made them SO HAPPY!  It was loud music, a 15 foot wall of bubbles and pure joy! 








The girls would fully disppear under the bubbles (while standing!), and I would have a brief freak out moment of "can they drown in this??), and then they'd come running out like a scene in Backdraft, beaming smiles on their faces.





This little turkey decided it was too slippery with her shoes on, so took them off IN THE MIDDLE of the foam!  I thought we were going home without them because there was so much foam, but eventually we did somehow manage to find them. 


There was a slight breeze, and when the wind would come through, the air was filled with big poofs of foam.  It was magical! 

Then finally the foam stopped and the truck pulled away and it was like it never happened...such a strange thing to see and SO F-U-N! 

Queen of Alfalfa

My hubby roped me into riding in his work truck for the town's parade on Saturday (he literally roped me into it...he's in agriculture now, after all).  I was severely against the idea, but his puppy dog eyes and guilt trips finally did me in.  Plus my girls were beyond excited to be in the parade and passing out candy, so I wanted to keep a close eye on them too.  So, I put on my big girl pants and one of Danny's work shirts and crowned myself Queen of Alfalfa.  I tossed.  I waved.  It was a moment. 




This is the rig the boys fixed up...next year I decided it needs a little more of a woman's touch.  I am, after all, the Queen of Alfalfa and able to make these types of decisions.  


Gorgeousness (of course it's a word!).


My girl strapping on the ol' feed bag!  It's candy throwin' farm style! 


Waiting for the parade to start...really I just LOVE pictures of kids and flags...not sure what it is, but it just works! 


That little peanut behind my girl belongs to one of Danny's co-workers and is key-yute!  This picture reminds me of a children's adventure book.  :-) 


These are super blurry because they're on zoom AND through the truck window, but I wanted a shot of my girls tossing candy to the crowd! 






p.s.  We may or may not have almost run over certain members of a certain basketball team along the parade route...If you didn't see it, neither did I.

Little Miss T-Ball

Luca started a weekly t-ball league on Thursday.  I have to say (and this is NOT just the mommy in me talking) that she was the cutest little button out there on that field.  She was one of only TWO girls on the league and was the only one with poofy sleeves and pink shorts and stood out like a little puff ball on the diamond.  (Not to mention she was blowing me kisses and megawatt smiles from the bases...pitter pat goes my heart!) 




They call me heartbreaker.


Taking a break in the dugout.


After a little instruction...


...CONTACT!  She was great at batting!


Not so great in the outfield though...I think someone forgot to tell her you're supposed to RUN for the ball.  At one point Brenin told her she's supposed to go after it, and she said "It's too rough," meaning all the boys were going after it and she really didn't see the point.  ;-) 


After the practice, the coach asked all the kids to run the bases and Luca wasn't interested.  I made her run them anyways (which ended in tears), but afterwards I realized that she's NEVER seen a game of baseball/t-ball!  We're not big sports fans, so it's never on TV and we don't ever play it, so I think she may have been a little confused about the whole idea.  It's funny the things I assume she knows because I forget she hasn't always been here.  Then I have these little lightbulb moments like, "Oh, you have no idea what I'm talking about, do you??"  :-)  Live and learn!  We're going to practice some of the things she did last week, and she's excited to go back! 


6.16.2010

Fast Paced Life of a 7-Year-Old


Yesterday proved a grand reminder of why I don't over-schedule my kids.  The girls' summer programs have begun this week as well as our regular activities overlapping (like work and music lessons), and it turned out that Brenin had soccer, a library discussion group and guitar lessons on the same day along with me working which made for a busy day of in and out of the house.  It was a good reminder not to over-commit, because while heading out for guitar in the afternoon, Brenin said she just wanted some time to sit and read her new library books and relax.  Of course I felt that familiar pang of "mama guilt" that I had over-booked her, the same pang, ironically, that I feel when I under-book her (keeping her locked up in the house with nowhere to go).  I guess a girl could die trying to acheive that perfect balance, but for today that pile of books and pitcher of lemonade on the back patio looks like home!
























Thankfully the soccer clinic is only for this week and the
rest of our summer activities are better spread out.

p.s.  (She's LOVING the soccer!)