Memorial Day 2018...

We had a nice little hike. The kids threw logs down the river to see how fast the current was. We had a picnic. It was perfect.

A real haircut...

When Halee visited recently she claimed that Grace and Scarlett were starting to look like pilgrim girls...don’t you just love honesty. Their hair was pretty darn long I must admit so I took matters into my own hands (not literally because I’m a horrible hair cutter) and de pilgrimized them. It’s hard to believe we cut off four inches. And it’s still lovely and long. They haven’t stopped running their fingers through it.

Potential...

Have you ever walked three miles straight up hill? I’m here to tell you that it’s painful and your knees want to fall off and your butt and thighs are on fire and you want to crawl in a hole and sleep there. 

After the first 1.5 miles we came to a peak where it was beautiful. There were lots of sunflowers and the river was lovely. I wanted so much to stop there. We all did...except the naughty Austin who wanted so badly to make it to the top of the mountain. I told him that we shouldn’t bother...it couldn’t get much prettier than this! But I could see in his eyes how much he wanted it so we trudged forward. The last mile was so hard. You were up so high that there was moisture and it was so cold. But near the top the clouds and rain cleared and all of a sudden it was like stepping into munchkin land where you go from black and white to a million beautiful colors. The amount of flowers at the top was exponentially more than that of the lower peak. The view was so much more pristine. It was like stepping into heaven. I thought to myself how easy it is in life to settle for less than our potential. If we just sacrifice a little bit more and endure a little bit more the payoff is worth it. We are worth it.

Planting time...

I’m so thankful for my worker bees. They helped us till and hoe, mow and plant all morning. Soon we’ll have squash and tomatoes (cherry tomatoes are my personal favorite) carrots, cucumbers and corn. And by fall we will have jack o’ lantern style pumpkins. If it weren’t for the kids being so excited and eager for a garden I’d probably be too lazy to make it happen but the delight in their faces when the vegetables start to grow is worth every minute of the hard work.

Worthy memories...

Grace and I pulled out my running medals that I’ve done over the past 8 years. My kids love to admire each one and compare and contrast the colors and quality of each medal. Tonight while looking at them it reminded me of each and every race and the differences between them. Some were much much harder than others. There were a few I felt great in and others where I had such a bad headache afterward I thought I might die. Or where my body hurt so bad that I could barely walk. Or others where I’d literally fantasize about stopping and sitting on a nearby park bench and just give up. But I kept going. I couldn’t help but recognize that my races are like life. Some moments are more difficult than others but you just have to keep going...one step at a time. And looking back (just like life) I wouldn’t change any of the difficulties I endured because it made me stronger. 

My buddies...

I have absolutely loved having halee home for 10 days. She’s been running with me and today we even dragged Austin along. Afterward we went biking which was such a blast. I’m going to miss this girl when she leaves. 

Mother’s Day 2018

I got a super great Mother’s Day present this year. Halee came to visit. I had all 6 children under my roof at once. I couldn’t have asked for anything better.