summertime.

one of the things i have MOST looked forward to since our move is the summertime.

why? 

because we are just down the street from our very favorite summertime activity. the pool.

and this morning we showed up, and so many of our friends were there too!

how much fun did you have going to the pool when you were younger? a girlfriend and i were talking about that the other day. the high dive. teather ball. eating at the screened in grill... we had grilled cheeses, ruffles & a slurpee. loved it.

{on that same note, when you went on long car rides when you were younger, did your parents ever make a pallet in the back of the car? as in - take the back seat out and lay blankets out so you could just hang out back there on a road trip???? nope? just us? okay.... just wanted to throw that out there...}

the boys loved to splash. the girls were going under water... and showing us how 'big' they were.

these water 'guns' were definitely the hot ticket with the kiddos today. might have to go get one of them....

i can't believe she's going to be SEVEN. they had her right after j. and i got married and i was deathly afraid of babies. as in, i thought if i was around one i would get pregnant. for reals. 

but jen told me i still brought them a meal when they had her. hmmm..... i must have been nicer than i remember.... 

and here's my little dare devil. i thought for sure she'd be in the middle of the pool, rockin' the slide by the second minute we were there. but we're probably on our fourth or fifth trip of the summer & she still dips her toes in the edge little by little and has NOT gone past her ankles. 

so much for having a 'brave' child. 

i love this picture of harper. she was so proud of her 'underwater skills'! her face is priceless.

what's your favorite summer activity with your kiddos? we have made summer lists in the past, but this year i've yet to get to the store for poster board. maybe i'll do that this afternoon.... hmm. looking for new ideas, though! that's one reason i love pinterest! there's always something new on that thing!!

y'all have a great day!

tee ball.

somewhere over the past month, my baby boy has become old enough to dress in a baseball uniform and play in a real game.

so precious.

on the way to the first game, he said "mommy... do you think i can be just like david murphy??"

'yes, baby.'

the first game was chaotic. no one really knew what they were doing. we had batters running after their own ball. we had people going from 3rd to 1st. we even had kiddos from our team hanging out in the other team's dugout. 

but four games in, we already have radical improvement. i like to think it's because we have an awesome coach. {see photo below}. 

trying to explain to a four year old that yes, you're supposed to hustle to the ball, but if you aren't the first to get there, please {oh please} do not fight over it... is tough. i had never thought about it before, but baseball is a bit complex - especially for a little boy's mind. 

some games they're ready to go to the playground after the first hit. some games they focus really well. and yet others, they all look like they've never been out there before. nonetheless, they're learning.

and i'm learning how not to be competitive. it's tee ball, for gosh sakes.  sometimes i have to take a deep breath when b. is paying more attention to waving to the stands than keeping his eye on the ball. he's FOUR! :)

runoff.

 ***warning: these pictures have absolutely nothing to do with the content in this post. i just wanted a fun, picture-filled post!***

well.... to say that these past few weeks felt like a 'whirlwind' would be a gross understatement. it's been a wild ride so far. 

i've so often sat down to write (i love to write) and i've never been able to do the thoughts of my heart justice. i thought about just taking pictures, but even that would require efforts of my brain that were just not available at the time.

the election was tuesday. and i feel that i'm just now 'coming to'. my mind has been turned to mush... full of numbers, voter names, polling locations, drop off times and much more. we all poured our hearts and souls into the last two weeks of the campaign that we were (and probably, for most measurements) still are) drained. emotionally. physically. mentally. spiritually.

remember a few weeks ago, i talked about that 10%?? that most of the time i feel like i have a good grip on the reality of a campaign, the reality of God in the midst of this season of life.... but it's that 10% of the time where i really lose it. 

and wednesday afternoon, i lost it.

somehow... i maybe sort of kind of slipped into a bit of a 'depression' for about 48 hours. wednesday morning i felt great. i was so happy with the turnout. praising the Lord for the chance to fight one last time in a runoff. so grateful. please hear me. SO grateful. but wednesday afternoon, i let my mind dwell there. i let myself go back to last summer.... the happy, go lucky, care-free summertime. i let myself think of all that we had going on (and all we didn't have going on) and i stayed there (in my mind) too long. and i could not escape.

i couldn't explain it to the hubbs. i didn't want to explain it to him, for fear that he would misconstrue my thought process as bitter, or resentful. and i'm not, and i so badly do not want him to ever think i regret our decision to go forward in this campaign. because i don't. i know that i know that the Lord told us to RUN... and with, RUN to WIN! so that's not what it was....

and then i read this: 

"I am involved in each moment of your life. I have carefully mapped out every inch of your journey through this day, even though much of it may feel haphazard. Because the world is in a fallen condition, things always seem to be unraveling around the edges. EXPECT to find trouble in this day. At the same time, trust that MY way is perfect, even in the midst of such messy imperfection.... Let the Holy Spirit guide you step by step, protecting you from unnecessary trials and equipping you to get through whatever must be endured..... the Light of My Presence shines on you, giving you Peace and Joy that circumstances cannot touch." {jesus calling by sarah young, june 1}

how beautiful is that? it spoke to me... and rang true for me.

j & i have always said that our 'dreams' don't have to be mutually exclusive. no, i don't have the dream to run for office, but my dream of creating does not exclude his dream of public service. does that make sense? sometimes i lose sight of time... and i think this is how it is going to be always. but that's not true. the Lord could speak tomorrow and we would change our course once again to follow Him... and that is where the hubbs & i find commonality. no, our dreams may not be the same, but our GOAL is.

i'm so thankful that He is our compass, because my ideas and dreams tend to change with the wind. but His is a master plan. intricately woven together for His glory and His Kingdom. and i so badly want to be a part, don't you???

***so, what do you think of my renovated slice of the blogosphere???? fabulous k did an appropriately fabulous job, didn't she??? love her!!! and to celebrate, i might... just might.... be having a fun giveaway on friday! stay tuned!!***

we tried it!

 a while ago, i saw this idea on pinterest.

(i heart pinterest. do you?)

anyway. i thought "that's simple enough."

and it so was. although, i went to do a few times and remembered i didn't have toothpicks. i ran out after my last batch of PW's jalapeno poppers. (yum...)

but i digress.

b. loved it. although, it only took up about 20 minutes. and halfway through i thought.... it's so pretty, but we don't get to keep it??? what kind of 'painting' is that???

you should do it.  we tried it three different times. and it was something different. something to tell daddy that we 'did' that day.

tee ball.

           

as much as it may seem like it at times, life does not stop for the campaign.

yes, we told b. that he could only choose ONE sport to play in the 'spring' - but we would have told him that anyway. especially at this age.

and he chose tee ball. yay. just what i wanted him to choose.

i played softball from age 5 to age 18. i loved every season. every. single. one.

i played every position.... except catcher, i think.

and i hope b. falls in love with a sport like the hubbs & i both did. not necessarily baseball, anything really. i just want him to love sports. i think it's good for most boys... especially active ones like ours!

the first practice was kinda chaotic. most hadn't played tee ball before (on a team). BUT i have to say, we have a great coach.

that's right. the hubbs took on the responsibility of coaching these precious little ones. they are so funny. one little boy would hit the ball & run after it. every. time.

love.

b's best bud is on the team too - despite many protests from mr. justin about playing two sports in a row. i begged. and here they are on the same team! yay!

and it worked out - because i sat with lil' miss, miss "jonana" and "lela" in the shade while mr. justin hung out and helped both of the boys!

sometimes they liked kicking the dirt more than paying attention. and... i have to say... that while they were kicking the dirt, and getting it everywhere, i remembered how much i LOVED the smell of that red stuff. and how, at about april, somehow my car would turn red on the carpets... despite taking off my cleats after practice. 

oh - the love of sports. nostalgia. *sigh*.

lighthearted.

after such a 'heavy' and emotional post yesterday, today let's go for something a little more lighthearted.

and what could be more lighthearted than my little muffins flying down their play side?

especially the littlest one. oh, boy. so cute. fearless, i might add. but cute.

over & over & over & over..... i'm glad she's finally figured out how to do it by herself. she cries when it's time to go inside. every. time.

and my biggest. he has quite the imagination. i have NO idea why he was wearing his helmet on the slide. probably pretending to be 'mike the knight'. 

she looks a bit out of control in some of these pictures. but she's not. i promise... very much in control of sliding down the slide as FAST as she possibly can. 

 

they decided that home plate was best used as a landing pad at the end of the slide.

superman. with dirty dirty boy fingernails that i cut all. the. time. they never seem to stay clean - or short. yuck.

i pray that you have a great day today. i'm supposed to have dinner with my little brother tonight. i couldn't me more thrilled to see him & hear about his life in aspen! we are blessed today.