Summer, Slowly.

Simple. Slow. Ordinary days.  I've been loving home lately. This afternoon in particular. Both girls are napping. the house has that afternoon glow and with the sound of many different bird calls outside streaming through open windows. (probably yelling at me to refill the feeder) It's beginning to feel like summer time. I like it. I really do. 

And the little park just minutes away from home, Just two rights & one left.
It's the perfect place to be.
A shallow flowing creek complete with pebbles for throwing. Little grassy hills and a short walking loop. There are flowers for sniffin & pickin. The place sits down off the main road with a pavilion and  2 different parks to play on, not to mention a great surface for chalk masterpieces!  I foresee picnics here very soon.
We are happy here.

A Blog Post

Not a whole lot going on here lately.. mostly because I haven't really felt like doing much. I try, as many days as possible, to wake up and slowly make our way outside to catch those gentle morning rays of sunshine on our skin, while listening to the early birds sing. To drink the lasting bits of cool air into our lungs and wet our feet amongst the dew sprinkled grass. If it wasn't for the lingering thought of the quickly approaching mosquito stampede  and dying of west nile or some other mosquito transmitted disease - (yes that's a huge irrational fear of mine), I'd get all giddy at the thought of spending entire days on the back deck.  I seriously need to get them under some kind of control this year because I cannot and WILL NOT be held prisoner in my own home all summer long with 2 babies because the blood suckers are out. whyyyy mosquitos God whyyyy???? they suuuuck. - no pun intended.

anywho, tomorrow is Earth Day and I have a fun play date at the park planned for us and some friends! Praying for sunshine!!!! It felt good to really dive into my resources and find all that creativity just dying to flow from my fingers. I really enjoyed brainstorming ideas for the kiddos like snacks, activities and such.. they are still all preschool aged kids so I don't want to overwhelm the afternoon (or myself) with too much structure. Keep expectations low and disappointment will be less likely to ride home with ya, if you know what I mean.  Just gets me that much more excited about embarking on a homeschooling journey with my girls. Liberty and I do little things here and there, but I'm looking to soon introduce more structured "play" for her. Sometimes I shy away from doing things with her for fear it will be above her comprehension or that she'll ignore the directions all together (because the girl listens to almost nothing I say these days) When I do decided to throw a new activity into the days mix, I'm always so surprised and proud at not only how much she enjoyed it, but also at how attentive she was, how eager to learn and do it herself!

before the first cut of the season......

after..

Bursts of Energy.

"mom. mom. mom. mooom. MOM. mom. mommy. moom. mom" I hear before my eyes even open. It flows in from the other room along with the first bits of morning light  

Rise and shine to the sweet sound of toddler at the peak of dawn. kid why can't you just get out of bed and do your thing. give me a few more minutes! You have two working legs! Like, I wonder sometimes how long would she actually sit there call me. She may start to get hysterical at some point, but I think the girl would sit there all day just calling out "mom" in various forms. Just a Few More Minutes! ok, ok. wake up. choose joy. Do the day a favor, CHOOSE JOY. 

"good moorning mama. i just woke up today."
 "i want a peanutbutta waffle"

Push back the curtains. Brew a pot of coffee, Make peanut butter waffle. This has become routine.
I've been getting better at routine devotional time. I Bible and journal and make lists and tune into my podcast. Man! I LOVE these podcasts, sermons from Fearless, planted in downtown L.A. :warning: some of these sermons will wreck you and put you back together, better. So much better. anyways, today we watered the plants and missed the recycle for the THIRD week in a row. but, the wonderful thing about lately is that we can spend it outside. today was actually hot! just about 80! felt good on the skin.  I'm going to try to blog a bit more frequently  Maybe highlighting different weekly topics. I have so many ideas, I'm just trying to figure out how to start. That creativity is stirring. the sunshine is like power. it energizes me, like it does a tiny little seed into growing and blossoming into all its glorious potential. That's how all things start out right? little bursts of energy, just looking for somewhere to go. a direction to travel in. My problem is, I've been moving in the same direction, doing the same thing basically always that I'm just stuck doing it. I keep putting along while lugging around the heaviest convictions and they only get heavier. more obvious, louder and louder. relying on prayer and forgiveness to get me through at the end of each day. And when I say Every. Single. Day I'm starting new, I am not kidding around. Thank the Lord for his mercy and each new day. An extra special thanks for the sunny days and the days full of little bursts of energy. I'm trying hard to travel in the right direction.

I love these warm sunny evening hours most. the ones just before the sun checks out for the day. 

looking for more worms. and my poor perennials waiting to be planted.

right after she threw all her brand new chalk off the steps because, in her words " it was fun"

she's telling me there's poop on a stick she found. 

I wish I had more pictures of Loretta and myself. or even all three of us. but I'm always holding or wearing bean and beeb is always off doing something photogenic or saying something notable. So for now, I'll just keep taking her picture and writing down the "shit she says".