A picture is worth...

I love their expressions here.

Selah's getting some kind of comfortable in the back, like she's prepping herself for the teen years. Charis is trying her hardest to figure out how to make the beasty move. And Raegan's looking all shocked and appalled that they're even sitting atop The Machine of Death (ie. Granddaddy's motorcycle).

Oh, the personality a snapshot can capture.

Simple Summer traditions

It's the simple things that bring the most pleasure in life.

And in a day when we, as responsible adults, much watch every penny that we spend, finding something inexpensive that brings daily pleasure to our children...well, that's irreplaceable.

Last year we bought this hummingbird feeder, hung it outside the bay windows in our dining room, and spent evening after evening at our own private dinner theatre of sorts.

One where we got to see these small creatures up close and personal. fighting each other off. greedily hoarding the sweet nectar. It was amazing.

Thus far this year, only one little guy has located our free buffet, though I expect more to come. Can you see him?


He's tiny, but hungry. having finished off that much nectar, BY HIMSELF, in a few days time.


We got both the feeder and the "juice" at Walmart for under $15 last year. Not bad considering the entire family has learned a lot watching these sweet, little guys.

The only thing you have to take note of is the NEED of taking the feeder down once the weather turns.

For as long as the free food remains, so do they. ignoring the impulse to fly South. ultimately dying here when the frost comes.

Frozen in Time

There's just something magical about taking a moment and freezing time.

Movies have been made about it. books written. conversations spent over how much more we'd get done if only we could stop time for a bit.

But in the middle of this *unseasonably cool* summer days, I very well may have figured out the formula.

For yesterday, I could have sworn time stood still, even if for just a moment or two.

Step One:
Take one front porch aptly decorated with enough seating room for me and oldest daughters.





Step Two:
Take advantage of cool breezes and summer rain, filling those seats with the cutest little girls you ever did see, disheveled hair and all.


Step Three:
Sit back, making sure you are nice and comfy. Note: comfortable part is a must.


Step Four:
Grab a blanket to help ward off the chilly, rainy air (love it!)


Step Five:
Hire a caterer (this one happens to be the self-appointed, pro-bono kind. running back and forth to the kitchen, sneaking graham crackers to smuggle to her sisters...See behind her back?)

Step Six:
Combine all the above steps and enjoy (her blanket only lasted for 2.1 seconds, as another undercover trek to the kitchen was in order)


And you have a recipe for conversations that would never have happened otherwise.

During our Summer Porch Times, the girls have randomly asked how to hear the Voice of God....what it felt like to have a baby and how they were feeling about having children themselves...what my first impressions of them as babies were....what they want to be when they grow up...

The list of topics is endless. all sparked from my daughter's hearts as they've had a moment of relaxation and rest with me.

I admit, as I sat on the front porch yesterday, listening to my girls naturally share their heart, I wanted so much to freeze that moment.

But then I realized, these are the moments that are frozen in time.

making for lasting memories. building unshakable, necessary foundations of trust for the coming teen years. and creating a lasting, deep relationship between family that can never be taken.

Even long after the rain stops, the chairs are empty, and the graham crackers have all been hidden eaten.

Mom, can we go to the pool?

We've been looking into above ground pools for a while now. asking around. researching. trying out my parent's neighbor's pool.

And finally...drum roll please... we bought one!! Well, we did...along with my parents who wanted to add Raegan's, Selah's, and Charis's birthday money to the pot.

So what do you do when you have a pool, folded up nicely in a rather large box, sitting in your side yard?

Well, first we chose the most level part of our yard (a huge must!). put down some sand and topsoil to pad the small rocks underneath (to avoid a pool puncture "wound"). and then, went to setting up the beastie.

And when I say "we", obviously I mean Jet. Just to be clear.


We got the kind that doesn't blow up. It's proven much sturdier than the blow up/soft-sided one we tried out, which partially collapsed with us in it. spilling gallons of costly water over its edge in a matter of seconds.

It's also bigger than the one we tried out...4ft tall. Selah can see over it, IF she jumps up. ;)


But being that we're in the "learning how to swim" phase with the girls, we just chose to fill it 'er half-way.


This way they're getting comfortable with the water (while being heavily suited in floaties). more confident in their abilities. and thus, more willing to try out the particulars of swimming.

Like holding your breath and going underwater!! This is HUGE!! It took all of one day for Charis to catch on! The girl continues to amaze me with her hidden athletic abilities.

It's proven to be THE best investment for us! We can take the girls swimming whenever we want. not worry about the crowds or rowdy children that may inadvertently dunk one of our inexperienced kidlets OR give a second thought to the pee to water ratio. *ick*

Over and over, Jet and I will just look at each other and say "Man, this was a great buy!" Seriously, I'd tell anyone thinking about it, to go for it!

Because, in all honesty, I really didn't expect to think this highly of it. It was for practical reasons: to teach the girls to swim. But it's been so much more than that.

For the amount of money that we paid, it'll pay for itself by the end of summer. with my not having to shell out for swimming lessons this year. or for the gas money that it would have taken getting to and from town every day.

And the results have been sincerely priceless!


You just can't put a value on the memories that are being created. right in our side yard.

The Girls and the Boys

We have the girls. Jet's sister has the boys.

Take note of the dog licking baby John's mouth (above). I love the outtakes of kids' pictures.


These kids love being together. It's like built-in brothers and sisters. Close relationships that discuss the more personal issues in life.

The scene: The kids are all sitting in the floor. A puppy ran around frantically trying to dodge the pudgy little hands grabbing for it.

Charis: I know how to tell the difference between boy and girl dog. Do you, Mommy?

Me: (deciding now wasn't the time to go into details) "Uh-huh. How do you know?"

Charis: "Chris (8 year old cousin) told me.

Me: "Huh. That's good." (thoughts inwardly spinning over the car conversation yet to come)


TWENTY MINUTES LATER as we prepare to leave...


Charis: "See that brown spot on the ear, Mommy? That's how you can tell if it's a boy. Did you know that?!"

This is me sighing a huge sigh of relief, as Aunt Joanna and I look at each other and smile over their heads.

Love it.

An update...quickie style.

It's usually when life is the busiest, full of the a million things that I want to document...that I need to emotionally flush out and process...that I don't blog.

And for me, that's a bit hard because I don't journal anymore. I document the large majority of it here...for my daughters.

So I'm in the process of going back and filling in the blanks. trying to blog about all the many things we've been doing this summer.

But I'll leave this bit of information in hopes of giving some explanation if the "blanks" continue to keep on comin'.

For starters, I'm 4 months pregnant. :) Surprise! So the last few months have been spent rotating back and forth between being horribly sick and watching as my girls all caught some sort of spring flu. Yippee skippy.

AND

though I'm done with the majority of redecorating the downstairs (due to the amazing dining room set my parents bought us for an early Christmas present), I continue to try and go at my house hardcore. determined to prepare my house for another human being to comfortably occupy.

Have I mentioned I nest even when I'm NOT pregnant? So add a few pregnancy hormones or two and you have one powerful instinct a-happenin' ;)

AND

My free time...what little there is...really needs to be focused on a rather large project, one that requires a lot of writing on my part. And I need to focus and get my booty in gear.

AND

Blogger continues to take 30+ minutes to download 5 of my pictures. So frustrating. and completely demotivating to actually sit down and tackle documenting.


So there you have it. In a nutshell. My life in the midst of Blogdom Blanks. :)

Watching and waiting

Picture taken January 2008 ...when the girls were waiting for Daddy to come home from work.

Charis (5), Raegan (10 months), and Selah (3.5)


Some things never change...

Charis (6.5), Raegan (2), and Selah (almost 5)

Raindrops keep falling on my head

It finally rained. take note of the yellow, dead grass.

Whenever it rains, I love to sit on the front porch with the girls and chat...only today, with it being the first rain in a long time, the girls had a hard time sitting still. and remaining dry.

So out came the raincoats...


and umbrellas...

and imaginations.

The ran around, splashed, climbed the tree, and rescued moths too wet to fly.


It's the simple things that make a child's day. and melt a mom's heart.

Our bird

This unfortunate young bird made its debut into our lives with a loud *bang*...when he flew straight into our front bay window. hard enough to render him useless for a while.



At least as far as all things birds consider useful. like the ability to fly away from a houseful of girls who want to examine him.


Jet, with his gentle gloved hand, took the shocked bird and placed him up in our front tree. low enough for the girls to see him. high enough to give him the illusion (albeit dazed-and-confused) of beingl safe.


The bird didn't perk up until Brilliant One (tha'da'be Jet) went inside and got a child's medicine despenser to act as a bottle.


Doesn't Jet look like he knows what he's doing? I guess it was all those years of raising sheep and...all the other animals he had growing up.


The girls loved being able to see a bird up close and personal. Of course, Raegan wasn't satisfied just looking. ;)

And what was Lani doing while the Big Girls were getting a firsthand lesson on birds, you ask?

Chillin' on the sidewalk....


...watching the girls say goodbye to the bird that suddenly got the strength (and wisdom) to fly away.


I love it when God provides little learning opportunities. even if it was at the bird's expense :)

*Addendum: Since our little visitor, Charis has decided that she wants to be a birdwatcher when she grows up. AND that she wants to save up for a pet canary...or parakeet. depending on which is cheaper.

Family time

You'd think by the look on their faces that they were getting ready for something rather serious. Like a stick fight. or yard work. or some other torturous activity like that.

But no, those serious faces were due to the fact that they were on a mission....to find the most perfect marshmallow roasting stick possible.

Very serious business, this smore-making stuff.

So there I was innocently taking pictures of my rather stoned-faced girls prepping for a night of crazy family fun, when I turned around and saw this atrocity:



A random fire pit in the middle of the grass. with flames going every which way. and branches hanging overhead.

Rumor has it this nonsensical FirePit location was made by this man:

*faces have been blocked out to protect the stupid innocent

Take note of the water hose in Anonymous's hand. It was due to the fact that Mama Paparazzi had a little sumpin-sumpin to say when the wind started blowing. and the flames started spazzing, coming dangerously close to everything green.

But these brave little girls weren't concerned, standing near by to watch Flaming Family Fun.

Though if you take note, Selah was making sure to keep the precious marshmallows behind her back. Just in case. ;)

But what got me was this...


the fact that inches away was a completely logical and ...hello!....non-green, safe place to have a fire.

When the above Anonymous Fire Starter was first questioned about the obvious lack of intelligence concerning the fire pit locale, he calmly went on to state:

"You can't burn anything over this. Because it's tar...and it'll emit toxic fumes."

Oh. Huh. Okay. I, uh, knew that.

Name and image of the person originally questioning Jet's keen sense of wisdom has been withheld to protect the innocent stupid. *cough cough*


Raegan loved everything about it.


I mean, what's not to love? There's fire (danger), Daddy (favorite person), and snacks (duh!).


I tried to get a picture of them...but they were too busy inhaling to notice me.


though Lani, right behind the girls, was all over hamming it up.


Can't you HEAR the snort by just looking at that picture? ;)

Lani's view of the whole situation:


See how serious Charis is? Eating is even more serious than stick collecting. Really, they were having a good time.


Afterwards the girls ran, high on sugar, to their tire swing.


Daddy and Lani got in on the action for a while.


But when they left, Charis was on her own to push...


or kick.


or whatever it took to get the sucker moving.

It doesn't take much to have a fun family night around here. I mean, we got a resident Pyromaniac. An every-day mommy maniac. A snorting sister. and three rather serious sisters who just like living.

And really, how could you not have fun with that group? ;)

My front porch

I used to feel sorry for the elderly people that I'd see idly sitting on their front porch rocker. watching traffic. or flies. or anything else that moves, as they stare into oblivion. You know, obviously allowing life to pass them by...

These past few weeks have been crazy for me. eye-opening in some ways. thought-provoking in others. hurtful. maddening. challenging. ridiculous. You name it, I'm sure the emotion was present in my household.

And so last night, after the girls were in bed and Jet had gone to 7-11 to get his free Slurpee (hee hee), I did the unthinkable and *gasp* sat on my front porch...ALONE... and thought.

Admittedly, it was a little awkward at first as I did nothing but sit. and think. and stare at the road, wondering if I was becoming one of those geriatric porch fixtures. But honestly...the whole experience was just amazing.

I know. it's the small things in life that give me pleasure. Just tattoo "Low Maintenance" across my forehead. (Oh, hush up, Husband-o-mine)

Being "one with the porch", I just sat and listened to the sound of my own thinking. flushing out my thoughts. trying to grab ahold of God's thoughts on "it all" as well. Ah, the Glory of those 10 minutes!

Seriously, in a house full of little bitties, my thoughts get drowned out all too easily. as well, as His Voice, I'm sure.

And as I sat there, waiting for Jet to return (knowing full well that I'd take that free Slurpee off his hands for him. I'm sacrificial like that), I had to smile.

Because suddenly that old man sitting on his front porch rocker didn't seem so boring. no longer requiring my pity. and most assuredly not letting life pass him by.

He's just learned to actually slow down.

I'm thinking next time I drive by a man/woman who's obviously been sitting on his porch rocker for days an undisclosed amount of time, I'll smile. And hope that I can become more like that.

The birthday celebration continues!

With Selah feeling better, we've been able to get out and do some of the birthday things we've been planning for a while now. And being that Jet worked REALLLLY late last night, he was able to have off at noon today!!

Perfect!

He came home just after the girls had gotten a morning nap and eaten lunch (ie. were content and happy) and took us to the 2:30 showing of Pixar's Up.

Mom met us at the theatre to take Lani with her to an auction. Lovely! And the rest of us went on our merry way... inside to buy tickets, popcorn, and priceless family time.

The only thing that I was worried about, going into the movie, was the insane noise level. Raegan has a thing against high decibels. And as we all know, theatres seem to be geared towards the clinically deaf.

But she acclimated...eventually. having Bucky (her beloved blanket) and snacks helped tremendously.

A great time was had by all!!!

And then off we went to Chic-Fil-A for their annual Cow Appreciation Day, where you dress like a cow and they treat you like a king...giving a free meal to every bovine-doned customer.


My mooing beauties.

Unfortunately, after movie theatre popcorn, we weren't really hungry. but we sacrificed and ate anyway. :)

Hand's down, the day was *amazing*! Alana did so well with my parents...didn't even fuss once. Have I mentioned she loves them? And my older girls got to have special Mommy and Daddy time doing crazy things.

I love days like this. especially when it means making Selah's birthday..which is turning into a Birthday WEEK...into something memorable.

Baby meet Selah...

After we got home from telling the girls we were pregnant, Selah came over, sat on my lap, and began introducing herself (and the family) to the baby in my belly.

It doesn't get more precious than that.