Labor Day Celebration...

... a day early, but it's all good.

It was a really nice day with grilled food,  listening to Dad read his journal, relaxation, and board games.

We used to play a lot of Chinese checkers with Phil's mom and dad.  It had been years since we had pulled out the box, but we sure had fun:

I did remember why I stopped playing, though:

Looks like we now have "Chinese Checkers: The Next Generation":

L.

Whenever Possible...

You should spend the last Saturday before school starts building Lego with your family:

Unless you're me.  Then you might find it more fun to build a bulletin board in your kitchen...  (I did get in on some of the Lego action, though):

L.

Vacations Are My Love Language...

Sometime this summer, I came upon a couple of photos on Facebook that made me chuckle and then caused me to contemplate the art of vacationing.

First:

I have to be honest...  I don't relate all that well to this photo.  But it does make a good point, at least to a certain extent.  This summer, we did a little bit of traveling, but we didn't really take a vacation.  I was feeling particularly crummy about this when a dear friend of mine started posting about the amazing family vacation her family was getting ready to take (read this, jealous)... a road trip out west, which is exactly what I wanted to do this summer.  (Kelly, if you're reading this, keep reading...  I got over it, and I looked forward to all of your vacation pictures and updates!  I loved them, and I can't wait to hear all about your trip, because we are going to take a similar one... someday...)

But here's the funny thing that happened to me.  As the pictures started showing up, I found myself saying things like, "St. Louis!  Oh my goodness, that was one of my favorite trips ever!"  And, "Hey kids, come look at this!  Do you remember when we had a view of Pike's Peak from our apartment in Colorado Springs?" And, "Check out the Grand Canyon!  Hey Seth, did you know dad and I visited the Grand Canyon when I was like 2 days pregnant with you?"  Our friends had an incredible trip.  And I just about fell apart when I realized that, in many ways, we had already lived it!  We have lived that kind of life from which you don't need to escape.  My goodness, the past 17 years have taken us an awful lot of places!  And I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Then, there's the second picture: 

And this is exactly it.  This is why I enjoy vacations so much.  This is why vacations are my love language.  You see, I have rarely seen a vacation as an escape from life.  Instead, I have viewed vacations as an integral part, days and weeks in which we clear our calendar of the mundane, ordinary tasks so we can just be together.  And even though it's not an escape, I do think it makes us all the better when we return to our ordinary lives.  Vacations are something special.  They are celebrations in the midst of struggles.  They are ceremonial.  And, dare I say it, they may even be sacramental.  

Live a life you love.  And let it include memory making in whatever form you can.

L.

It's Almost Time...

... to kick off year ten of our homeschooling adventure!  Where did the time go?

I feel amazingly well organized to start the school year this time around, which is kind of funny.  I have always wanted a "school room", but here I find myself in one of the smallest spaces we have ever inhabited, making it work.  A school hallway will have to do...  And it's doing just fine...

I am so thankful for the opportunity to educate my children at home.  I know it's not for everyone, but I'm glad it's for us. 

Time to learn about the world...  And hopefully make it a better place...

 

L.

Seventeen...

Aren't we cute?

 Oh, wait.  This one might be more realistic:

We dropped the kids off at Grandma and Grandpa's for 24 hours and celebrated.  We saw "The Giver", which was excellent, and had dinner at Texas Roadhouse, which was also excellent, per normal.

I am so blessed to be sharing my life with this man.

Let's start working on 18...

L. 

Such A Nice Day...

My mom had some free time, so we met up with her for lunch, a trip to the park, and some crazy good frozen yogurt! 

 The kids loved the waterfall:

 We hadn't been to this park since Seth was a baby:

 Mom and I actually got to sit and talk while the kids played:

 It helps to have someone big enough to chase Miah!

 Mmmm...  Fro-Yo...  We'll have to come back here again:

One of the best things about coming "home" is that we're close to grandparents now!  I love that my kids get to make memories with them during this stage of life!

L.

Is It Too Much To Ask...

for clothing stores to keep producing the same products for decades?

Because I insist that toddler girls should have the option of sparkly jeans! 

Grace always had sparkly jeans!  It was easy!  I just walked into the store and purchased them, and as long as I didn't inadvertently forget to turn them inside out before washing them, she was sparkly all fall and winter!  For Miah, the process has been a little more difficult.  For the past several years, I have been shopping for the best price on jeans (this year Osk Kosh won out, go figure), and then using permanent glitter fabric paint to make them shine.  Seriously, any children's clothing manufacturer who would just put out glitter jeans would make a killing!  But I do think this year's jeans turned out particularly well!
 

As a side note, a friend of ours gave Miah some clothes a few months ago.  They included two pairs of glitter jeggings.  You should have seen how happy this made me!  I mean, pink and sparkly!  She wore them both into the ground this summer!

As a second side note, Grace wouldn't let me spray her jeans...  That's OK, but I have informed her that next time we make a trip to Disney World, she will have pixie dust jeans... and so will Miah... and so will I.  It's just part of being part of this family.  We both laughed.  But she knows the glitter is coming...

L.