Crazy rain

What started out an early morning heading to the lake to take the jetski out, quickly turned us around and brought us back home to experience end of July, summer thunderstorms. I wanted to crawl back into bed since it was still only 8:15, but my kids had other ideas. Rick and Loudoun headed straight for the xbox in the living room for double experience points in Call of Duty. Yes, Rick is one of the kids.

Avalon, however, not into video games and definitely not old enough for Call of Duty, wanted to put all of her rain gear on to stand out in the middle of the pouring rain.

And now the sun is out, the clouds have cleared and it is extremely humid, so we're on our way out to jump in the pool, before the weekend is over. 

five

He surprised me with me with his out-of-the-blue apology this week. 

He reminded me of his ability to soothe the broken-heart of a child. 

His gentle actions reaffirm that while we are not perfect and marriage is hard work, 

he is perfect for me and we were put together for a purpose. 

To love each other when times are joyful, and most importantly when they are not. 

To listen to each other when the pain is calling out. 

To support each other when we question. 

To delight in the successes of life and celebrate with passion.

To see the beauty in the small occurrences and make them big events. 

To lift each other up. To lift our family up. 

His ability to relate and comfort is nothing short of amazing. The trust I find in our 

hearts grounds me, having established our foundation from day one. And five 

years later, that trust is my rock. 

Happy anniversary, baby.

BFF's

Playdates have become fun. They are no longer work to get everyone to get along and play nicely. They are about best friends and quality time together and enjoying each other's company. 

And getting to witness their interactions and share their special time together, 

well, 

that's a treasure for me, too. 

These photos are from a playdate last week, but tonight the other mom will get to enjoy Avalon's company, and Loudoun has Vacation Bible Study all nights this week. So, for the first time, Rick and I have free time for a date...without asking for a babysitter. 

We have entered a new era. 

What could make a weekend even better?

Starting it the minute I leave work on Friday, that's what. 

Soaking up the last rays of the evening. 

hanging out with the family I adore and love. 

Eating take-out dinner

and enjoying nature, 

until the sun goes down. 

The breeze was cool

and the sun was warm. 

And my kids were goofy. 

And Saturday and Sunday got even better. 

Bigger Picture Moment: Seeking Wisdom

My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, 
turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding— 
indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, 
and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, 
then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. ~ Proverbs 2: 1-5

I'm pretty sure that for the rest of my life, I will be amazed when I ask for wisdom from God and receive it and see it manifest in my life. It never gets old to witness that supernatural act that takes place, for it proves that He is listening, He loves, and prayer works. 

Ever since Sunday's service, I have been praying for wisdom hard (we are studying Proverbs). Praying mostly in a general sense, to let God know I was serious about gaining His wisdom in my life. For I learned that we all can ask for more wisdom, and it is not like DNA or genetics where you're as athletic or gifted as you are going to be...wisdom can be increased throughout all of your life, just by seeking. 

Shortly after beginning my prayers for wisdom, I read my weekly reading assignment for my Bible study (Learning to love people like Jesus loves). But something about this reading topic just really sunk in mores than other weeks, and I had about 4 huge defining moments that just left me shocked. The topic was empathetic listening (first seeking to understand, then to be understood), and how to listen better so that the person you are speaking with feels more loved and willing to open up and trust you. 

Like a naive little child, I wondered if this could possibly the wisdom I had been seeking already! I mean, 4 A-HA moments…could it be from God?

The next morning, a friend forwarded me this daily devotional he received, out of the blue:

He that getteth wisdom loveth his own soul: he that keepeth understanding shall find good. ~ Proverbs 19.8. 

It was like God was waving His hands in front of me saying, "Hello? Do you hear me?"

So, I accepted this information as Wisdom, and was so excited to put it to good use immediately. I mean, we can all be better listeners, right? We can all show others we love them by paying attention when they talk, right? Little did I know this wisdom would be needed for a very specific use…immediately.  

Loudoun has been having a hard time at summer camp. There aren’t many details to share (and if there were, I still wouldn’t to protect his privacy) other than he is shy and finds it tough to walk up to a group of kids at camp and start mingling. So much so, that sitting by himself seems easier than approaching kids some days (talk about breaking a mama’s heart, to know your kid sat by himself all day…I get teary-eyed just thinking about it).

I soooo get this. Shoot, I’m still like this as an adult.

He came home in tears on Tuesday, but wasn't ready to say much or open up. Rick and I put our new wisdom into motion. And sure enough, slowly but surely, the suggested skills and tactics we were using helped Loudoun understand we wanted to help, nothing he could say would be embarrassing, and he was free to trust us with all of his feelings.

We have a good relationship with our kids, sure. But I think this week's wisdom really helped with specifics when it came to reading his body language, sensing his fear, and helping him open up in a loving environment. We spent all night talking about how we as individuals deal with interaction and socialization, what could make it easier for him, what some of the kids' interests are, and how about scheduling a pool party to invite them all over to get to know them better?

And the next day was so much better for him!

It is so hard to see your kids hurt, and emotional hurt is by far the hardest. Before I know it, both of my kids will be in the childhood years...a time of self-awareness, recognition and critical development, and I am so grateful God has provided some more tools for me to get through these years, supporting my kids to the best of my ability. I look forward to many more tools to come, as I seek wisdom continuously in my life.

With all my efforts but really the sustaining power of the Holy Spirit, I will forever do my best to make my kids feel the love in my heart, striving every day to love more like Jesus loves.  

(going out for frozen yogurt always fixes a bad day)

This was my Bigger Picture Moment for the week. It actually spread out over 3 days, thus making it even even bigger moment! Head over to Hyacynth's site today to see all of the BPMs, or to add your own. 

a-HA!

I found a flower on my hibiscus bush!

Oh, wait...nevermind. 

45 seconds, I kid you not. 

Bigger Picture Moment: red hibiscus blooms...to be or not to be?

We took out the Bougainvillea plant in our backyard. It was a tough job, but we were so proud when we replaced the overgrown death bush with beautiful, tropical plants by our pool. With a bench. And a fountain.

We planted typical palm trees, birds of paradise and tropicana canna, but I think my favorite is the hibiscus plant that produces beautiful, sweet red flowers.

photo courtesy of en.wikipedia.org

Flowers that my dog, Barkley LOVES.

The plant would have about 50 blooms on it right now - I can see where the flowers should be. Except Barkley has eaten every.single.one of the flowers.

A few mornings ago, as I stood in my bathroom straightening my hair with both kids and my husband sleeping in our bed a mere 2 feet away outside the bathroom door, I spotted Barkley in the garden amongst the tropical plants. As he bit off the one hibiscus bloom that seemed to have appeared overnight, he meandered across the backyard ever so slowly, right by the bathroom window, smirking at me as he passed by. Oh how I wanted to scold him and yank the flower from his mouth! But to wake my babies up at 6:15am would not be worth it.

Not like scolding him over that one flower would ever change his future flower stealing behavior.

He loves them. He's an evil thief. And I have learned to love the plant with only its green leaves. I dream about the red sweet blooms it is capable of having. And I laugh at the dog we have named Barkley.

Every Thursday we come together to share the harvest of intentional living by capturing a glimpse of the bigger picture through a simple moment.

quality mama time

This week Loudoun is going to science camp everyday. Making Robots!!! The camp is close to Rick's work, so he is in charge of picking him up every afternoon. While it makes me sad to miss picking him up, hearing about his day and spending the afternoon with him, it does create a handful of afternoons to have alone "girl time" with Avalon. As the second born child, I feel she deserves some quality mama time.

Normally, I'm not the hugest "park" fan, what with the stress of leaving when it's over and done with. If you've spent any time reading my blog, you will know that Avalon doesn't have the best track record with leaving the park.

But Avalon brought me 2 roses from our garden when we got home today and asked if we could take them on a picnic, so I had a change of heart about the park and we set off to have a girls' evening together.

My only mission was to push her on the swing, over and over, tickle her as she came down the slide, and carry her across the monkey bars. 

Except when we stopped to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

I told her to wait and sit on the step while I took a picture, 

but before I knew it she was already up on the top!

Here's to 4 more girls' days this week with my petunia.

family update

Avalon has gone into her own bed every night on her own, without drama, since her birthday party on July 1st. Rick and I have been so relieved.
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Loudoun has decided all of a sudden if there are leaves in the pool, he doesn't want to swim.
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Luckily, we don't mind skimming the pool for him, because in the last week alone, he has learned to do front and back flips under water, grab items from the deepest part of the pool and dive from the side of the pool and off daddy's shoulders. Now that's progress!
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Barkley hates the water, but that doesn't stop Loudoun from trying to coax him in the pool.

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We have gone out every night in the past week as a family on evening walks....Rick and I walk the dog, and Loudoun and Avalon take turns driving her new car. It's so nice to get out together.

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I made cake balls this weekend (minus the chocolate covering, they are already sweet enough), and they were a huge hit with everyone in our family. Especially me.

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Because of the cake balls, and a new friend I met on the internet, I am back to working out to Jillian Michaels again. It feels good, even though I cannot move and have needed advil the past 2 days straight.

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The kids sleep in the playroom for "movie night" every weekend. And sometimes, they fall asleep in funny positions.

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Rick and I are both counting every single dollar between now and payday, so we got really creative with all of our meals this weekend, and they ended up better than normal!
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Avalon had her 4 year check up on Thursday. She weighed in at a whopping 28.25 pounds and 38 inches. Maybe one of these days she'll be able to switch to a booster seat in the car....maybe before she turns 16.

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I bought this print from another blogger's website, and Rick and I just love it on our mantle.

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Loudoun starts robot camp tomorrow for a week, and he couldn't be more excited. Yay!
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Maybe it's all the sun this weekend, but I am exhausted and can't seem to stay awake...so I'm off to bed!

Have a great week!

ripped open and raw

I pulled into the parking garage ready to donate and wishing I had some extra time to pass out stickers to the sick children...anything to brighten their day.

But the second I walked into the lobby, I was struck in the gut with intense pain, fear and anxiety. The sirens outside, the wheelchairs, the oxygen tubes, the parents tending to their sick little ones, Children's Hospital was more than I could handle.

But I was there on a mission...to donate blood for a friend whose daughter is having heart surgery on the 13th, and I was determined to push forward.

Sitting in the waiting room, reading my study material for my church's life group (learning how to tear down all of my walls, be radically honest with myself and tear open my heart for God to look at and work on), it was there that the tears started to pool up. Several donors around me answered questions of why they were there to other inquisitive donors...

my best friend's niece has brain tumors, and she isn't doing great.
My sister's kid is having issues. I'll do anything I can to help. 


And I think, I am so lucky. My kids are so healthy. I get so impatient sometimes but they are perfect. I do my best never to take them for granted, but when this despair is around you, it's impossible not to bow down to God in humility and gratitude.


It's my turn to go in and I know I have the same blood type, but only wonder if I have the right matching antibodies. Little do I know going in that my iron count has to be 12, and it falls short with an 11. She thanks me for coming all this way, but it wasn't meant to be.

I hold all of the emotion in until I get to my car, where the tears come rushing down. It's there in the hospital parking lot that I feel free to cry, face buried in my hands, knowing there have been many others who broke down in that very space. I wish I could help. I wish I could do more. If not for my friend's daughter, then for any kid in that hospital.

I pulled myself together so that the tears didn't blur my vision while driving, and as I left the parking lot, a medical transport helicopter was landing on the hospital roof. I wondered about the parent who is facing the heartbreak of their lifetime right now, and I felt such agony for that stranger. I cried all the way back to work.

I feel ripped open and raw. It hurts.

fairies stopped by our house on Saturday

And now my baby is all grown up.