Like Fish to Water

Don't you just love Summertime? All you need is a little bit of water to have a whole lot of fun. The kids are all doing great and having lots of fun this summer. I guess I thought since we weren't taking any trips until September (Rosemary Beach here we come! WooHoo!) that it was going to be a nice slow, quiet summer. (You all know I like slow and quiet.) Toots is loving the summer camp she goes to two days a week. She and Buddy also have swim lessons twice a week and they both go to gymnastics every week too. Whew!

Can you believe Pookers is 8 months old already? Within the last two months he's started sitting up on his own, gotten his first tooth (and is already working on the second one), started crawling, can pull up to standing and will even take little steps while holding your hands. Apparently my kids didn't read my memo about liking things to progress slowly (or quietly!)

Now why doesn't all back fat look this cute? He's just so yummy!

And how 'bout this little bit of brotherly love?

Work in Progress

The warmer months are quickly approaching and our kids really need some more space to play outdoors. Since a weekend home on 50 acres in the country isn't in the budget at the moment, we have decided to add a deck onto the back of our house. It is a relatively small space, but our hope is that it will free up some much needed room for other things on the already over-cluttered patio. (Must get the sandbox out of the flowerbed!)

With the table and chairs up on the deck, I'm envisioning many hot summer days spent sitting on the patio with my toes dangling in the baby pool and being shaded by a giant sun umbrella while I catch up on my reading. HA HA, ok, there may be a baby pool and a sun umbrella, but I doubt there will be much sitting or reading going on for me, with three little ones to chase after. But that's fine by me. I'll probably have plenty of years, God willing, to spend sitting and reading. Which reminds me of one of my favorite quotes by Bob Moawad. "You can't make footprints in the sands of time if you're sitting on your butt. And who wants to make buttprints in the sands of time?"

So anyway, I was looking at this work in progress (our new deck) and I was feeling excited about the additional usable space it will give us. I was also marveling at how quickly the carpenters had built it (one and a half days for what you see here, which includes digging holes and pouring concrete too.) I thought that was pretty good.

Then my thoughts wandered onto another work in progress, (which happened to be dancing and twirling in front of me) so finely crafted by an even more skilled carpenter. I looked at my little girl, who is transforming all too quickly before my eyes into quite a beautiful young lady. I don't just mean physically beautiful. I mean she is a beautiful soul. I marveled at the miraculous design of God, and this time my excitement was for more than just added square footage or even warm summer days. I am excited for every future moment I have to spend getting to know her and I am abundantly grateful to God for choosing little 'ole me to be the mother of such a beautiful soul, who I know will keep us marveling for years to come at her progress.