the Start of Summer

The kids and I spent Memorial Day Weekend at the lake with Grammy and Papa. (Hubby went to the farm to help with cattle, a task easier to do without a bunch of kids under foot.) The weather was absolutely perfect and we took full advantage. After a brutal winter, we all couldn't get enough of the outdoors. To top it off, everything was just turning green or starting to bud, so it felt like there was something "new" to see and explore at every corner. The minute we got there, the kids jumped out and got to work playing. No matter that it was practically bedtime, there was so much to do! So we let them. 

The next day, we headed out to a nearby state park and walked on one of the trails. There were chipmunks a plenty and just enough breeze to keep us from complaining about the heat (the nerve!).  We stopped on the way back and had a picnic before heading into town to devour some ice cream cones.

  

 

I was trying to get a picture of a chipmunk off to the side of this log and when I focused in (zoomed in a bunch) on this face, I literally jumped back. Thankfully, it wasn't that close for real!

On Sunday, we went back to town to go to church, and then continued on with all.the.playing. Church dresses and all.

The rest of the weekend looked pretty much the same. We did eat out at Zorbaz one night, and we stopped (as always) to visit my grandma who wasn't feeling good enough to join us at the lake this time around.

The real show stopper was when we got home. Look what surprised us as we turned the corner!

We looked at this house last year around this time, maybe a few weeks later, and this tree was not this lit up. It looks absolutely amazing in person. Of course, the flowers are already fading to white and falling off, but we feel like it was a special gift to us to discover this 9 months into living in this home. And we were just talking about how we needed curb appeal...

Summer is here! We are ever so glad. You can expect pictures of us frolicking in the sun. :)

Girls weekend at the lake

The girls and I got to go to the lake this weekend and it turned out perfectly because my sister and mom were also there. Did you catch that? No men! A true girls' weekend. We were a bit pumped up for this since it never happens. It did not disappoint either. It was truly fun.

The weather was perfect. It was windy but not to the point where we couldn't enjoy the sunshine and general outdoors. The little girls were just itching to be outside. We hiked, played on the swingset, went for walks, and rode bike (minimally). They just couldn't get enough.

A chair just her size!

"Can I pick it??" Please do, sweetie. Pick all the weeds you want!

My dad put up a fence of sticks to keep the kiddos protected from a bunch of barbed wire that was left in their yard years ago. I think it looks pretty sweet!

We also went to town to see Great Grandma (we try to go visit her every time we go to the lake). I wanted pictures of the girls with my grandma so much but they were being shy and wouldn't sit on her lap long enough to get pictures. I'm stubborn, though, so I did get a few. Their shyness just showed me that we need to see Great Grandma more often. She's really the sweetest lady. No need to be shy, little ladies!

Books are always great motivation to try something new.

Mostly I just love that I am figuring out how to get the aperture juuust right for this blurry background effect.

"What happened?"

My lovely mama and her lovely mama

They could do this for hours. Good thing its only about 50 steps from the house instead of half a mile away like the closet park!

Everybody look to the right...

Everybody look to the left... (the rock couch)

Usually there are too many weeds/plants to get to this tree, so we took advantage of the cold weather and climbed up and down over and over again.

Does Audrey look like she's doubled in age? Man, she's growing up too fast.

We came back late on Saturday night for church and some time with hubby on Sunday. We finished the weekend with some time with hubby's family. It was honestly the perfect Mother's day. To celebrate, the girls picked daisies from their grandma's garden, Josie drew me a pictures in Sunday school, hubby got me salted chocolate bars, and my sister and I got pedicures (gel polish - new to me but I can see why everyone loves it). Seriously, does it get better than that?? I just looove this little family of mine. 

Hand picked just for me. :)

Well, at least we're all looking!

Books I've read, computers, and the good old health train

It's a dreary rainy morning, so why not update this forgotten little blog? 

An old picture that never made it to a published post. A picture of them doing anything is better than no picture at all, right?

I've jumped back on the health train (heard that before? broken record! argggh). This week has been full of weight lifting and healthy food choices over here and generally, I'm feeling good. I do so love the sore feeling after a good workout, so hopefully that will motivate me to continue. Also, I may or may not have bought a pair of pants that are just a little too tight for regular wear. Motivation on a superficial level - but I do find myself putting.down.the.chocolate when I think of wearing them. Whatever works, right?

My computer is getting a makeover! Years ago, when Josie started looking at books on her own, my keyboard became a victim if a thrown story. It happened so quickly that I couldn't stop it, and my 2 button went flying. Ever since then, my keyboard has looked like this:

And notice the N button. It's a little wonky, right? It looks well disguised here, but it is also the victim of a flyaway book. This tragedy happened more recently, but the keyboard is just having a rough life. Along with the cosmetic flaws, my computer (just three years old) moves and functions like a dying turtle. It is soooo slow. I learned that I can buy more memory (three times more!) for a much more affordable price than a new computer, so I ordered the max amount, a new keyboard, and a new battery for good measure since the old one is basically nonfunctional. The total for this little computer makeover? Only $130. That is a whole lot cheaper than a new computer, and it will probably be faster than when I first got it. WINNING.

Will I post more? Maybe. I can promise that there will be more pictures of higher quality since I will be able to edit pictures in less than six hours a post. That will be fabulous.

Man, it is hard to find my blogging mojo lately. My biggest excuse/hiccup is the foster care filter. Not being able to share anything about him/his daily life activities/what he is doing means it's hard to share what we are doing/our daily life activities. I haven't been able to figure out a good balance for that, and it's been a little stifling for the blog. Note: I don't blog to entertain my five or six readers, I blog because I looove to document life and look back on it later. So it's frustrating, not because I may lose one or two readers since I'm not posting as often, but because when I go back to look at this time in our lives, there won't be much to look at. 

Books. I LOVE BOOKS these days. I have missed this part of life lately so it's been awesome to reconnect with this particular hobby. Books I've read as of late (last four months or so):

the Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline (A darker book with some startling realities but fascinating and totally hooked me, The story line was interesting but I also got to understand a part of history I'd never heard of before.)
Little Bee by Chris Cleave (Not at all what I was expecting, but very good. It's about the relationship between an African refugee and an American wife/mother. That's all I can say that won't give something away. Trust me, it's good, just don't judge by the name of the book like I initially did.)

To the End of June: The Intimate Life of American Foster Care by Cris Beam (Very interesting perspective, changed my view and understanding of whether or not it is always good to actually remove kids from a negative situation vs having help for the parents in home while they continue to parent the children as best they can. I won't lie, though, this book left me feeling a little helpless about the foster care systems in the United States. It's so important to know the facts and have understanding about the reality of it, but it's not always cheerful and full of stories with happy endings.)

Something Other than God by Jennifer Fulwiler (I have followed this blogger for years and her writing style is full of humor but also intellect. She's an atheist turned Catholic and this memoir is about how she got here. It's so well written!)

Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis (A memoir of her journey to becoming a full time missionary in Uganda. Absolutely captivated my heart and gave me a wonderful perspective of a culture I'm pretty unfamiliar with.)

Room by Emma Donoghue (It's from the perspective of a five year old who was born and raised exclusively in one room, his mother having been kidnapped and held captive there before he was born. It was sooooo gooood. Obviously, this type of book is a little hard to read at times (life held captive isn't something to gloss over and make pretty) but this perspective was so different and fascinating.)

Divergent series by Veronica Roth (I liked this series a lot. Especially that the ending was a little different than the average utopian style ending. There were some things that frustrated me in the last book, but overall, I enjoyed the series and would rate it right up there with Hunger Games, which I loved.)

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (It started out slow but drew me in about a third of the way through. By the middle, I couldn't put it down. It was fascinating to see such detail into the Afghan culture, a culture I struggle to relate with or understand.)

I look like all I do is read, right? But once I get into a book I like, especially a well written fiction book, I don't watch any TV and stay up into the night reading. It's worth it. :)

I'm always looking for new books to read. Leave a comment if you have a good recommendation please!

That's all for now. Caio, from Josie!\ (sidenote: did you know that is how you spell "chow" in Italian? because I did not. Thank you, google, for keeping me up to speed.)