home sweet home...

After a full week of jaw-dropping beautiful views, good food, long walks, twisty roads, and just an all around good time...we are back. Here's a few pictures...more to come (click on 'em to see them bigger).

The 18th green at Pebble Beach...
17-Mile Drive in Carmel...The Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco...Sunflowers in wine country...(vineyard pics to come)From what we understand, we were thoroughly missed by our little ladies (the feeling was very mutual).

One cute story ::

We sent them a postcard just saying we were having fun and missed them. But Sarah didn't want it read to her. She wanted to wait for us to get back so that we could read it to her ourselves.

When my mom asked her if she could guess what it might say, she took it in her hands, looked at it and read,

"Dear Sarah, When we get home, we will get you a dog."

(sigh...it's good to be home)

the second first day...

It was pretty apparent early on that there was some miscommunication in our household. And I mean early on... Sarah was down the steps fully clothed and ready for school at 7:20am. She kept griping that she needed breakfast and her hair fixed. I wasn't sure what the hurry was about until Lauren left for school.

Sarah thought she was leaving then too.

Someone neglegted to tell the pre-schooler that she didn't start school until after lunch.

The impatience shone through the entire morning. At 9:30 : "Is it time for lunch now?" Snack time at 10am : "Let's just call this snack 'lunch' and get going".

Finally, at 12:15pm, we left for the two minute ride to school to arrive incredibly early for the 12:30 start time.

Come to find out...there were a lot of eager pre-schoolers and we were just about the last ones there!

Sarah is making her contribution to the friendship mix...
Without missing a beat, she was right back to her favorite sandbox...
In yet another blatant miscommunication, we did not inform the 2 year old that she did not get to stay (although I don't think they would notice if she stuck around...she blends). She wasn't too happy to leave.
Um....the shoes ::
We are leaving our little darlins for a week out west to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. Many thanks in advance to my folks who are giving the tender loving care while we gallivant through wine country and down the coast of California.

reason #242 that it's good to have all girls...

For our final summer outing, I grabbed the girls (including my mom) and drove out to Grand Haven to have tea at a cute little shop that is very much in need of a new name. (click here to visit their website)

We found this place last year whilst camping at the state park there. On a regular basis this past year, Lauren has asked to return. So...off we went!

You can try on hats until you find one that suits you just fine....then change your mind three seconds later. Lauren and Sarah loved sampling anything from cowboy hats to peacock feather-adorned hats that were bigger than their little sister.
Julia was a little confused about all the fuss. She looked at the tray of desserts, then at me...and with a hesitant voice, sang Happy Birthday to me.

my second grader...

The first day of school snuck up on me.

Don't get me wrong, we all had the "get back to school" bug and were roaring ready. But in the last few days, I didn't want summer to end. In an attempt to squeeze every last drop o' fun out of summer, I went to that list I made and we spent last week getting some stuff crossed off.

And then that alarm clock so rudely went off this morning...ringing in the school year. And the first day of school outfit is....(do I hear drums???)
She was ready to put her best foot forward (hardy har har)...
I did not find out until the end of the day, that these shoes were too big. A limp and two blisters later and it's clear that she'll be wearing flip flops tomorrow.
This is the part where I just wanted to pull up a chair and sit with her all day. But, I suspect it might have been the part where she wanted me to quit it with the camera and leave already (it begins...)
Yup...it's time to get to work.

in·spi·ra·tional...

I just had to share this quote with you (and the following long streaming bit that follows)::

There is in every true woman's heart a spark of heavenly fire, which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity; but which kindles up and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity.

-Washington Irving

I read that recently on a blog I've followed for about a year now. A woman was in a fatal plane crash with her husband (the pilot was killed). She suffered burns over 90 percent of her body and wasn't expected to live. While she slept in a coma for five months, her sister blogged about her recovery and their faith...I was inspired. When she awoke and recovered enough, she took over the blogging on her own site.

She would talk about her pain and anguish...and her love for her husband and her family and her faith in God (she is Morman...but, most certainly, you can relate to her faith)...I, again, was inspired. With every step she's taken in her road of recovery, with every lesson it's taught her along the way, with her strength and her perseverance, and her frailty too...she had never posted a picture of herself, but often spoke of the face she used to know and how much she loved that person that she no longer thought she was. On her worst days, she felt like a ghost.

Women...in adversity. I've seen a lot of that this year...more than seems right at times. But they are there, where none of them wants to be...and they are stepping up with a strength they physically should not possess. They have become a strong and beaming light. You just want to follow them and let the glimmer of wisdom and hope that's in them...that's formed in spite it all (and because of it all)...guide you to be a better version of yourself.

I've seen adversity in my little life...things that I say pale in comparison...but rough spots just the same. Rather than looking back at those times with sorrow, I almost find gratitude...because they made me better...wiser...more keen to my surroundings. I embrace those events...as painful as the memory of them sometimes is. More so than the good times, I've been molded by the worst of times...into someone I'd rather be than who I was before. --- (Isaiah 64:8..."..we are the clay and You are the potter; and we are all the work of Your hand.")

These women I've seen this year have oh so done this and more. To be able to take your worst and turn it into something good that inspires others. It amazes me...and I thank them for it.

On the one year anniversary of the plane crash, this beautiful woman posted a picture of herself in an entry entitled "Me". She included the quote I have at the beginning of this entry. What you see in the picture is a face, that is most certainly not the one she had before the accident. But what inspires you are the eyes...that most certainly are. They are looking at her husband with a love she's always had and in them is the knowing that he is looking at her the very same way. Her ability to struggle through, and fight, and seek and find "Me" {her} under her worn-out skin is truly an (I'll say it again) inspiration.

If you'd like to check out the blog of this very brave women, you may click on the button below.
(to follow the story from where she awoke from her coma and took over the blogging...January 2008, click here)

Thank you for allowing me to share.

summer...finding a good way to spend it....

This has been a quick summer. At the end of the school year, I had a list of things we were going to do to stay busy. Ohhh...it was a good list of fun stuff...but we've been too occupied having fun with normal summer stuff to get to anything on that list.

While, it's been mostly fun and games, there's been some hair pulling too (mostly me...pulling my own...but not always). I have been keeping a quote in mind this summer to keep me from falling off my rocker at those times ::

"For young moms, the days are sometimes long...but the years are way too short."

Jeff and I figured out that for as long as he and I have known each other is the precise amount of time we will have our children living with us (barring they don't turn into moochers, of course...). We've got lots of hugging to do in the next fifteen years!!!

Well, at the risk or over-mushifying this {long overdue} entry...here are some pics to catch you up on our summer...

I must give top-billing to Julia's second birthday because it never got an entry of it's own (shame on me). So, here's my little two year old...celebratin'.

First at the cottage...(ahh...presents in the grass...I don't see much of that in November)
There was just a wee bit of blue food coloring in the cake...but we barely noticed (ahem...)Then at home...
A lesson in sharing happened early in the day. They seemed to have the hang of it for once.
We headed out to Meijer Gardens on a beautiful birthday day.Aunt Lisa and Brandt joined us...
We were joined later in the day by my whole family...my brother's family even came up from Charleston for a visit! We all sing so nice. Enjoy... (note Julia's very sweet cousin helping her blow out the candles...very cute)

During their visit, we let the kids be kids (and the grown ups be kids too) at the ol' amusement parkish place.
Laser Tag is just about the funnest thing I've done in a long time!...Lauren had a great (a little nervous) time reading to a dog at the library in their "Ruff Readers" program...
After enjoying the bounty of the lettuce and herbs I planted early in the season, I spent the rest of the summer watching this dopey squirrel steal it all...(argh)
Julia tried to help keep it all alive, but thanks to the squirrel, and my leaving the watering in the hands of a two-year-old, these plants flat-lined weeks ago.We went on a whirlwind trip to Canada for a family reunion. The girls had a great time getting to know all their second-cousins. Just hangin' out...
This is where Julia spends 75% of her time at Jeff's folks cottage. Occasionally, she'll let her cousin, Brandt, have a turn too.Bugs are ewwwey....
We also had a great family reunion with Jeff's relatives from California. We even had t-shirts made to celebrate the event...
The girls once again enjoyed getting to know second-cousins...
More driving for Julia...
We've gotten our money's worth out of these swimsuits this summer. But not so much the closet full of clothing.So, that's that. We just returned from a week-long camping trip at Lake Michigan, but I haven't pulled those pictures off the camera yet. So, stay tuned.

Hope you're all doing well!!!

an update on the (other) blog...

I'd like to share an update over on the photoblog. I love it when I get to take pictures of my friend's kiddos. (and this time I got some extended family members too!). Enjoy.

Don't worry, I'll update this blog soon with all of our summer goings on (including Julia's birthday!!!). But first I'll need to cluck around and find my head (get it?..."running around like a chicken...blah blah blah")