We had so much fun in NY--my kids even went for kayak rides with Granny (Pop was video-taping =). The girls loved it and had a few rides--Ezra was NOT impressed with the kayak but had a lot of fun playing in the water of the Reservoir and looking for tiny fish!

The girls were amazed that you could find all manner of flowers growing in the fields behind my parents' home. 

They got such a thrill out of looking for different varieties---reminds me of when I was little! I loved looking for flowers to pick out there! 

There really isn't anything more wonderful than seeing my children enjoy the home I enjoyed so much growing up!! I only wish we could enjoy it more often!!

Things I Don't Want To Forget

Amelie, Age 6

My beautiful Amelie girl is full of sweetness and sassy-ness too! =) She is such a help to me and is full of a desire to be responsible and helpful. Lately she's been skipping quiet time to help me do chores, because she *wants* to and I can't believe how grown up she seems/is. She is so much like me (emotional, organized, creative) and unlike me (adventurous, sporty, fun-loving) and I love every bit and piece of her. My sweet girl is so lovely to me.

Maeve, Age 3

Maeve has recently fully mastered the potty and seems even bigger than ever because of it. I'm so proud of her for being a big girl and doing big girl things even though she longs to be the baby. She is so stinkin' funny--just like her Daddy! She loves to make everyone laugh all the time. Maeve still loves spending hours playing with whatever she can find and has started talking and sharing her own ideas more than ever. It is wonderful and also heartbreaking--to see her act so grown up. She is my funny little love-bug.

Ezra, Age 1

My. Handsome. Guy. He is everyone's little sunshine! The girls adore him and so do I--his smile could light up the world! He has started using many words and small phrases--most of them only I can understand but I know exactly what he means! He loves to sing and harmonize with us and is very interested in music and interacting with the family. He has even learned our family's little inside joke and can perform it on command. He is such a wonderful little man!

I'm thankful. Children are a blessing--a tiresome, lovely, difficult, exhausting, overwhelming, magnificent blessing!

Psalm 127:3

Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him.

Baby Boy Window(s) Shopping; Also, He *Needs* Those Shoes

The second day we were in New York we headed to the beach! It was so beautiful there--it's called Southwicks Beach and it's on the shores of Lake Ontario. 

We went there a lot growing up--it was my favorite beach to go to because the water stays very shallow for a long time (even 30+ feet from the shore it's only 3-4 feet deep!) and it's perfectly sandy! 

The day we went there were awesome waves and Amelie just about lost her mind with glee jumping and rolling around in them! =) 

Maeve also loved the water and stayed in until she was *blue* ha! Ezra...well, he's more of a staying-on-the-shore-boy but he had fun anyways! =) 

The beach:

My Dad loves flying kites and so he brought some for the girls--they love it too!

Maeve and her kite-flying skills!

My favorite husband =)

A picture of the NY cousins! Aunt Amy and Cousin Ethan spent the day with us and it was lovely to see them! Little Ethan and Ezra are less than 1 month apart! Ethan loved staying neat and tidy on the beach while Ezra loved getting dirty from head to toe! So funny!

The family 5

SoLongNoBlog

I was away this weekend visiting my family in upstate New York--thus the bloggy silence. 

We had a really lovely visit and it was very hard to leave. 

I already miss the hills and the forest, and the pond and the fresh air and the peace and quiet and calm (and my family).

I took hundreds of pictures =) but here's what I'm thinking about tonight--

the back yard in the morning

sigh...

I've been working today on putting things together to visit my family this weekend! It's a little overwhelming but I'm making progress! It's kind of taking over the house though and making me lose my mind a little bit!!

 ***

Anyways, the other day I went to see the Harry Potter finale with a friend and it was really excellent--I'm pretty sure it's my favorite movie of them all--just super well done and really tied up the series well. I'm so glad I got to go!!

My friend brought some pretty amazing caramel corn and inspired me to try making some on my own--it turned out good but not great--I only had microwave popcorn to start with and I think it would have been better with flavor-free air pop. Still pretty yummy though. =) (recipe here)

***

So that's it! We had a very busy morning running errands and tying up loose ends before we go and since the kiddos were so well behaved through it all I took them to the pool where they all promptly melted, fought, cried, wailed and generally caused mayhem. Wow. So, it's naptime and I need a break just as much as they do! Happy Wednesday!

It's Monday and I couldn't be happier--because every day that goes by gets us one day closer to a visit with my family in NY!! I don't get home often enough--and I'm not exaggerating when I say that it's only when I'm home that I feel like I can *really* breathe. All the wide open spaces and fresh air and lack of traffic really speak to me. 

I can't wait for some bare-foot grass troddin'!

***

Anywho, in other news my husband is free of extra work duties now and he's all mine again! Yahooo!!! I'm so proud of him--the show he was directing received awesome reviews--actually *HE* received the awesome reviews, because he's awesome =)--you can read one here! (Scroll down to Don Giovanni!)

***

That's it for now--I'm off to enjoy a peaceful house while the girls are at a local VBS and Ezra is in bed! Oh how I love happy summer days & nights!

It Ain't Easy Being (A) Green (Fairy)

it'sFridayFriday

we had a lovely day

the weather was amazing and mild-ish

i went for a long-ish run this morning and didn't have to walk and my legs didn't turn to spaghetti and my lungs didn't burst into flames and i could have kept going and it felt great. 

i've been faithfully going out nearly every morning and it was lovely, for ONCE, to feel like i *am* improving my fitness level!!

my kids were at turns wild and wonderful today--i took them to the grocery store and they were the poster children for perfect kids (and they were clean and color coordinated and illicit-ed many ooo's and ahhh's =) and then we got home and they were the poster children for insanity-inducement.

we even had a pool date with some of our favorite people!

naps were a bit of a fail but ezra slept! ha! =)

my husband is home tonight and it is quiet and the windows are open and it is lovely!

amazon even gifted me with free movie credits!

(you can get them here too)

i watched Red Riding Hood:

a good (not great) movie--i really enjoyed the cinematography and the artists' eyes that put it together. amanda seyfried is stunning, the movie is well paced and the ending is surprising. this movie was pretty clean too--no cursing that i can recall (no *hard* curses anyways), the violence is all peripheral and no indecent exposure. =) 

anywho, time to put my feet up and flip through the (free)magazines that arrived today--i have a soft spot for UsWeekly. =)

goodnight!

ThursdayPictures

The girls woke up bright and EARLY (emphasis on the early), skipped downstairs and immediately started playing dress-up. They were so silly--here's CinderellaCinderella:

And Ezra? Being that the poor lad lives with two girls he grabbed the first thing he found and asked me to put them on! He's a fairy! Or cupid! Or something! Not very manly, but very, very cute! =)

It was an absolutely gorgeous, perfect, low-humidity, warm but not blazing kind of day and we soaked it up! We took a nice long walk in the morning during Amelie's piano lesson, had a quick park date and enjoyed the pool before naps! And now, the babes are in bed and my husband is going to pick up takeout for grown-up-dinner. Favorite. 

Happy Thursday!

Oh July--How Fleetly You Fly!

I can't believe we're nearly half-way through July already--I am head over heels in love with summer and don't want it to end! Having all of my babies home is so fun, also a little challenging, but also wonderful. =) They are getting so big--Ezra was sitting watching tv the other night in the funniest pose--I had to take a picture--I can not accept how big he is!

And another picture, of my kiddos the other night--I love love love when they are all squeaky clean and freshly scrubbed and wearing jammies--favorite!

I'm so thankful for them and these moments together! I wish we could stay this way forever!

I stole this from my friend. =)

 

Things I am

neat-freak

color-coordinated

 thankful

forgiven

Things I am not

messy

outgoing

graceful

sporty

Things I love 

my Savior

my husband

my babies

my family & friends

Things I do not love

sin

whining

cold toes

 wet hair

Things I like to eat

mozzarella cheese sticks 

warm bread

raspberries

peanut butter out of the jar

Things I do not like to eat

seafood

mushrooms 

scalloped potatoes

broccoli

Things I have

eternal security

a wonderful family

a lovely, happy home

an awesome stockpile 

Things I still want

to be less like me and more like Jesus

to be more encouraging to those around me

to live closer to my parents

to be a country girl again 

Things I want to do tomorrow

go to the pool

take a nap

go for a run

enjoy time with my family 

Things I want to do in a year

continue to work on being a better 

Christ-follower

wife

mom

friend

Things I prayed for and received

my precious husband

my babies

my home 

encouraging friends

Things I keep praying for

a loving heart

a kind tongue

a generous spirit

my loved ones

it's saturday night and i am baking cookies and sifting through the netflix archives for something fabulous to watch.

 

i think i've settled on--------->

starring vintage sarah jessica parker, helen hunt and shannon doherty.

i'm pretty sure it's going to be awesome (or awesomely bad--either way, i'll be happy. =)

my husband is doing something slightly more refined and playing for the delaware valley opera company's performance of *don giovanni* because he's awesome like that.

and the children? they are sleeping and i am so happy about that since they recieved miniature light sabers in their happy meals this evening and have been pummeling each other for hours. it is quiet and peaceful now and it is such a treat!

goodnight!

It was a rainy rainy day here--and though we desperately need a little rain (we haven't had any to speak of for weeks!) it's a little intense. 

Last night while my husband was at his opera-gig there was a tremendous storm with super strong and frightening wind shears and torrential rain--at one point the rain and wind were so strong that I couldn't see out any of our windows and when I heard tree limbs snapping I grabbed my children and we hid in the basement. 

And then, the sun came out and everything was ok...aside from the fact that the basement was flooding. Gah. 

And today, que extra-heavy rain and we are still flood-y. Ick. We had a tornado warning this evening and honestly, it would just be a whole lot easier to be blown away then to keep my kids in the basement any longer than 5 seconds.

Anywho, =)

*****

We tried a new playdough recipe today! Koolaid playdough! It was super easy to make and no expensive cream of tarter in the recipe!

(I found this picture on the googles--i only had pink lemonade koolaid and it didn't turn out a very exciting color =).

*****

This is the next one we'll try!! Peanut Butter playdough? 

Heck. Yes. I bet it will be an even bigger hit! 

*****

Not much else is new, I'm just thankful that after this never-ending-crazy-children-day that my husband is here to help me corral them. I'm also thankful that if the world doesn't blow away we're going to get takeout after they are in bed....is it 7 yet?! 

Good night!

it was sooo humid and hot today.

i dragged my poor babies (2 in the stroller, 1 on a bike) to the park and we all melted....luckily we cooled off at the pool and even luckier than that, they were so exhausted from our adventures that they all took an awesome nap; and i joined them b/c napping is my favorite. =)

i love the freedom we have to do whatever we want with our summer days--it's such a luxury to have so many free days with them--i'm reminding myself of this when we're tired and cranky and hot. =)

******

i'm currently reading *Give Them Grace*  and it's really rocking the way i look at my own life and how i raise my children--i'll share more when i've had more time to digest it all.

*****

i'm still (slow)jogging and really starting to enjoy it more. exercise has become a consistent part of my life over the last two months--and it's a time for myself that i really enjoy and look forward to every day. 

*****

speaking of things i look forward to--it's almost time for bed! yippee! good night!