Thank you

 

 Photo by K at his Grandfather's house.

Today we remember all of those who have died keeping our country safe. 

I don't think that there are any words to express my thoughts on what today represents.

Today we remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

Thank you.

Thank you to our troops.

To those who are serving now.

To those who have served before.

Thank you for the sacrifices that you and your family have made to keep us safe.

Thank you for all that you do.

For the freedoms that you preserve.

For the lives that you save.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

You will all remain in my prayers.

I pray that everyone has a safe and wonderful Memorial Day. 

A Glorious Sunday

We are having a glorious Sunday.

We were supposed to have more thunderstorms and awful weather.

Instead, we were blessed with sunshine, blue skies, a gentle breeze and warm weather.

Glorious I tell you.

We had a really nice morning.

Complete with sleeping in and happy children.

There were smiles, laughter and happiness.

We decided to visit K's parents today.

Two of his uncles were also at their house.

It was a mini-reunion of sorts.

We had an afternoon complete with grilling.

Splashing.

Laughing.

Smiling.

Volleyball.

Baseball.

Card Games.

Yes, folks, we have had a glorious Sunday.

A day to give thanks and relish in the beauty of today.

This was a day for magical childhood memory making.

I am grateful.

InstaFriday

 

I cannot believe that it is Friday already!

This week flew by.

This is what greeted us last Saturday after church.

We had been in the basement for about 45 minutes while the tornado sirens were going off.

We were given the all clear to leave, walked out, saw this and then the sirens started going off again.

Never a dull spring day living in Kansas.

 

My current snacking love.

Cheesy popcorn, yum!

 This pretty flowers grows in our backyard every year.

I didn't plant it and know next to nothing about flowers, so I have no clue what it is.

I do know, however, that it is really pretty!

 Wednesday morning we had flash flooding.

It was crazy how much it had rained in such a short amount of time.

 

This little giraffe is SOOOO cute.

The kids loved looking at it at the zoo.

 

Abby was hysterical with these slippers on.

She was stomping around the house and just being really funny.

 

Adison's last day of school.

Yep, that's it, she is done with 2nd grade. Wow.

 

Ainsley was looking through these little cutouts at the lion exhibit.

She thought it was so much fun.

Five Question Friday

1. Do you apologize to your kids?

2. What color are your nails right now?

3. When you were growing up, how difficult was it for you to stay home from school sick? (As in, did you have to vomit or just say "I don't feel good".)

4. When is the last time you bought a new comforter for your bed?

5. Favorite website(s)?

1. If I have done something that needs apologizing, then absolutely. I am {believe it or not} not perfect, I am human and make mistakes. If I have done something wrong then I should apologize for it, that includes apologizing to my kiddos.

2. I hardly ever, almost NEVER paint my fingernails. I do, however, paint my toes. Right now they are a sparkly black. I like the more non-traditional nail colors. Black is my favorite though. Odd, yes, but I go with it.

3. Normally, if I was sick and my mom knew it, then I got to stay home. I don't remember staying home from school that often though.

4. Um, uh, well, I would have to say three or four years ago. I is a really pretty striped quilt with beachy colors. I love it.

5. The only websites that I really use are: Blogger, Twitter and Facebook. 

The Good, the Bad and the Funny

Okay, so I am thinking about mixing it up today and starting with the bad.

The Bad: Adison caught the cold that we all had, I hope that she can kick it quickly. Abby and Ainsley have been running hot and cold a lot lately, the go from being besties to fighting really quickly. The weather, sigh, the weather.

The Good: We had an amazing day at the zoo today. Well, actually, zoo then picnic then park. The kids had a blast. We went with my friend Clara and her kiddos. Abby was so worn out that she fell asleep on the way home, slept through me carrying her upstairs AND changing her diaper. Adison is done with school! We had sunshine today, can you believe that! Sunshine {we are supposed to have more storms tomorrow AND Saturday, boo}.

The Funny: Abby at the zoo was a riot. Today was the first time that she has really been into the zoo. Before she would sit in the stroller and look at everything but not really into it. Today she ran around ooh-ing and aah-ing everything. It was precious and really made my day. While we were at the gorilla exhibit Ainsley yelled really loud, "LOOK MAMA, THAT GORILLA HAS BOOBIES!!!! LOOK IT HAS BOOOOOBBBBBIIIIIEESSSSS!" It was hysterical, I tried really hard to not laugh, but come on, it was HYSTERICAL.

How about you, how was your week?

some of this and some of that

I have had a lot of thoughts and musings bopping around in my noggin.

Nothing big to really focus on, just jumbles of ideas.

I think that my current lack of focus is causing my inability to pick a topic to write about.

Sometimes I really like having a idea to focus on.

To swirl it around in my mind and think through everything.

To take a slice of a moment and focus on it.

To bring it into sharp clarity.

I also like to do my daily re-caps.

They help me to feel like my mom and the rest of my family can keep up with my children.

They are daily growing, stretching and changing.

Sometimes it occurs so quickly or over such a length of time that I am unable to recognize when the shifts occur.

I like to be able to look back at a post and smile.

It reinforces those memories.

You see, life these days is moving at full speed.

It is as I told my brother today when he asked if something was wrong.

No, it's just been a long day.

But, it is only 1:00.

True, but most days it has been a long day by 8:00 in the morning.

I don't mean it in terms of actual time, but in energy being expended.

The days are flying by, heck the hours are flying by.

There is always something to do or someone to help/cuddle/read/talk with.

Normally it is the little two as Adison has been in school during the day.

It will be interesting to see how the current dynamic changes with her being home all day.

You see, with the littles being so...well...little, it seems that things are always ebbing and flowing.

Best friends

Not best friends

Laughing

Fighting

Cuddling

Stealing toys

You get the picture.

Now with Adison being at home things are bound to change.

I look forward to it.

I will embrace it.

I will probably be looking at the clock waiting for K to get home as I am most days.

I have discovered that no matter how easy or hard the day I am always waiting and ready for him to come home.

I look forward to the camaraderie.

The partnership.

The laughter and talking.

The ability to say, "Go ask your father."

I didn't realize that having the littles being two years apart would be so hard.

I know that people do it all the time and a lot of people have kids that are closer together in age.

But Adison and Ainsley are five years apart.

That was easy peasy.

Seriously.

The hard thing now is that Ainsley is only 3 and Abby is only 1.

They are both such little things.

They both have a lot of needs and they have zero patience right now.

Zero tolerance for the other getting or having and them needing to wait.

It is hard trying to give all the attention and meet all the needs our two precious little ones.

I thought that it would get easier as they got older but to be honest, right now is much harder.

They are both Mama's girls {and I'm loving it} and both need their mama when they need their mama.

I am trying to enjoy all of it because I know that it will end all too soon.

But when you are in the thick of temper tantrums, needs, wants and just crying it is hard sometimes to remember the fleetingness of this moment in life.

I know that I have mentioned one or a thousand times, but the fact that Adison is now done with second grade is shocking.

She is growing up really quickly.

Yesterday after our pizza and movie at Clara's house she thanked me for taking them over there.

After a moment of shocked silence followed by a "You're welcome sweetie" she said,

Is that the first time that you have heard that?

Not only did was she thoughtful about thanking me but she was also able to interpret my shock.

Not that I expect a thank you for that, but it was sweet.

It is another everyday moment to cherish.

My girl is growing up and maturing.

Just what we hope and pray for.

It is happening, slowly but surely the way that we want growth to come.

Sigh.

So, here I sit.

With all of these {and many more} thoughts swirling about my mind.

Wondering what tomorrow will hold.

Betting on a smattering of hugs and kisses, time outs and explanations.

Tomorrow will hold much magic and enchantment, but you can rest assured in the knowledge that I will be waiting for K to be home at the usual time.

Hmmmm

I am having a brain bleh day today.

I have NO IDEA what I want to write about.

I think that I will just turn my brain on and see where it goes.

Sounds like a marvelous plan.

Okay, so, starting with last night.

We did not get the terrible storms here that were predicted.

Others did get them though and that makes my heart sad and prayers go out.

I had been texting my mom a lot last night, they live really close to the Oklahoma border on the Kansas side and they had to take shelter at one point.

They were just fine though.

This is such an answer to prayers.

K and I decided to stay up until all the weather warnings passed.

We ended up having an at home date night.

It was nice watching a movie together.

We are both really tired though because the adviseries didn't expire until midnight last night.

It was such a relief last night to only have thunder, lightening and rain.

To be on the safe side though K and I got an emergency kit together.

It never hurts to be prepared.

Today brought more interesting weather.

This morning while headed out for Adison's assembly we had some flash flooding.

Sorry it's not the greatest picture. I took it through my rainy window.

This flood drainage ditch normally has a tiny little stream going through it.

This was shocking.

So, back to Adison's assembly.

It was her first time doing research and writing up a report.

She chose to write about Kate Shelley.

She got dressed up to resemble Kate Shelley {well, the closest we could come up with.}

Sorry the picture isn't that great.

My phone doesn't have a flash and it was dark in the auditorium.

What the kids did was they read their report and the audience had to guess who they were.

It was a lot of fun and I was really proud of Adison.

She did an amazing job!

Since it was the last day of school {and a half day at that!} we headed back to her classroom for a little celebration.

Adison's teacher has really been amazing.

We feel really blessed.

Adison learned a lot and was challenged.

Thank you Ms. L, you are such a great teacher!

After that we went over to my friend Clara's house to have some pizza and watch a movie.

It was such a nice time.

The kids had a blast playing.

On the way home Abby was so worn out that she fell asleep before we even made it home.

Tomorrow marks the first day of summer break for us.

My eldest is offically a third grader.

How did this happen so quickly?

It seems like once they start school the years fly by even quicker.

Hope you have a SAFE and wonderful Wednesday!