Today.

It's been months since I've picked up my camera. Life is so busy that I don't take it down from the shelf to capture little moments with my babies. Today, after lunch, after Vacation Bible School, before naps, during random outside play time, I remembered that abandoned camera and took it down. I quite literally wiped the dust off of it and took it outside. My subjects have grown since I last looked through the lens.

They've also gotten quite spunky.

And then there's this guy.

If you cannot tell, he is simply adored.  Adored.  They cannot help but touch him, kiss him, smother him, talk to him, distract him, feed him.  It's like a magnetic force field that none of us have the strength to resist.

This is his reaction to grass.  I'm so glad I captured this because this is the exact reaction all of my kiddos have had to their first experience with the prickly, pokey grass.  His face says it all.

Here's my Nora.  Sweet, growing, compassionate, caring.  I will not talk about the fact that she will be turning seven in just a few short months.  Not going there.

And there is this side to her.  Goofball.

Stella B.  Newly three.
Just yesterday we celebrated the three wonderful years of life we've had with our sweet girl.  She couldn't be funnier or sweeter or more sassy.  She's super smart and witty and to know her is to adore her.

She's showing me how her dress twirls.

Liam Piper.  Oh this boy!
Right here he is hot and trying to pretend he doesn't want me to take his picture.

But we all know that deep down, he does.

That cowlick.

So that is a snapshot of today.  Today I am thankful for simple afternoons in our backyard and a prompting to pick up my forgotten hobby.  These days are so blurry and so quickly passing.  But man, am I going to miss them when they are gone.

These are the days

Sorry I haven't posted lately, but we have been having Internet issues here the past few weeks.  I'm not sure what "they" did but things seems to be working more smoothly so we can check email and watch Netflix!  Anyway, our summer is just breezing by and I am so enjoying our time with family and friends and even some new friends!

In just a few weeks our lives are about to change a good bit as Nora begins Kindergarten and Liam starts preschool.  I am trying to cherish every single second with them this summer because I know that we will be spending more time apart as they are in school and that is going to be a big adjustment for me.

Nora is going to be doing a co-op at Cedar Springs Presbyterian here in Knoxville.  Basically she will be in school three days a week and then will be homeschooled the other two days a week.  We thought and prayed long and hard over our options of schooling Nora and Jonathan and I are both really excited about this year.  Nora is thrilled about starting Kindergarten, and I know she will love the classroom setting.  I am excited for her to experience that, and I am also looking forward to some individual time with her on the days where we'll be doing homeschool here.  I am working at organizing a school space at home, and I've even hit up The School Box where I picked up some fun classroom posters and decor to make it all the more special.  The mothers involved in the co-op we are doing are very helpful and have a great little community together.  They have set up playdates all throughout the summer so that the students in Nora's class can get together and get to know each other prior to school beginning.  We have only been able to make it to one due to schedule conflicts, but I've enjoyed getting to know the other mothers and look forward to utilizing their knowledge and growing in friendship with them.

Liam will be going to preschool this year for the first time.  I think it will be really good for him to have a bit of structure a few days a week, but I know I will miss my time with him as well.  I am trying to prepare him as much as possible so we talk about "school" often and try to discuss what he'll be doing there.  I do, however, expect him to have a hard time at first.  He is quite attached so I know he may have a difficult adjustment, but I know the Lord will see us through!

Stella will be spending some more one on one time with Momma while the other two are in school, and I anticipate that precious time with her.  She's changing so much each day and is growing so quickly.  I am trying to cherish every little fun thing, and even the difficult things I am trying to appreciate.  For example, Stella has recently been bitten by the Mommy-itis bug!  The separation anxiety has started to rear it's head.  Honestly, sometimes my arms get tired from holding my little bundle or I may find it hard to cook dinner without scorching her or myself whilst trying to hold her and multitask.  But, there is that still small voice in my mind reminding me how fleeting these moments with her are.  These days are numbered.  I've seen it happen twice already.  I know how quickly they grow up and how they go from wanting to be held all the time to not stopping still long enough for me to catch them in an embrace.  I keep trying to cling to that thought.  I pick up that baby girl sitting at my feet with her arms outstretched.  I kiss those cheeks and squeeze her tight, even if in my selfishness there's something else I feel may be more important in that moment.

These are the days of my life.  They are busy this summer, but we are having so much fun.  I am really enjoying the day to day, the heat, the play, the routine, the lack of routine.  I am enjoying the late mornings, having Liam sleep in my bed if he wakes up too early, reading books before naptime.  I know there's a lot of change around the corner so I want to make sure I eat up every moment with them that I can and savor THIS season.  THIS summer.  I'm so thankful for my three loves!

First Family Beach Trip

Whew! It's July, people. JULY!!! I apologize for my negligence on the blog, but we have literally not stopped moving this past month. Between playdates, swimming lessons, vacation bible school, and traveling, we are a busy crew! The pinnacle and greatest highlight so far this summer has been our first ever family vacation.

We tried really hard to make it a priority this year that we take a week long family vacation JUST US. We've traveled and vacationed before since Jonathan and I have gotten married, but we have not done an extended trip like this where it was just our little family of five.

 We originally planned to leave on a Friday morning and drive all day down to Fort Walton Beach, FL. However, Jonathan was so excited about our trip that he insisted we go ahead and leave Thursday evening after work. I, of course, couldn't wait either, so we left as soon as the kids finished up their last swim lesson. (CRAZY!) We arrived on Friday afternoon and got to get settled before finding some dinner. The next day, we started our week long routine of waking up, eating breakfast, hitting the beach and the pool, lunch, more playtime, naps, dinner, and evenings by the water.

It was DIVINE. Here are some pictures of our wonderful and treasured family time:

See that shirt? It's because the day before Jonathan wore SPF 15 all day and had a back the color of a lobster!

Time for a nap?

Our condo for a week.

The first day or so, I think Nora and Liam preferred the pool to the beach and ocean.  The waves were pretty rough and Liam got tackled by some waves early on, so it took him a while to re-warm up to it.  But, the more we played with him in and near the water, the better he got.  He loved it and so did Nora.  In fact, even Stella loved the water and seemed fearless.  I think she would have just continued crawling into the abyss had I not continually picked her up to keep her from floating away.  She loved the wet sand, however was not a fan of the dry sand (I guess because the dry sand seemed to stick to her hands and skin more).

We enjoyed some fabulous food while there: fried fresh seafood, steamed crab legs, pancake breakfasts, and special treat cereals.  We also introduced Nora and Liam to a few things while we were there:  (virgin) pina coladas and America's Funniest Home Videos.  The condo we were staying in had Netflix, so one day we turned on AFHV while I was fixing dinner and they were hooked.  Anytime we would be in the condo they'd immediately ask us to turn it on. 

While in Florida, Jonathan and I also got to spend some time with some old friends!  We happened to be in FL at the same time as some of our long-time friends from NOLA, Aaron and Kelly Pourciau.  They were staying in Destin, so we met in the middle for lunch on the water.  It was so wonderful to see them after a few years, and we got to meet their little miracle baby boy, Silas.  He and Stella are the same age, practically.  In fact, they were due on the same day, but Stella was born two weeks early and Silas was born two weeks late. 

We also got to spend some wonderful time with our oldest and dearest friends, Tristan and Shannon Sevdy and their four boys: Zach, Micah, Nathan, and Andrew.  We haven't seen the Sevdys in four years because Tristan is in the Air Force and they spent two years in Turkey.  However, they are back in the states now and live not far from where we were staying.  We spent one evening together when they drove over to see us, and after that, we decided just one evening wasn't enough.  We actually cut our condo stay a night short and drove to Tristan and Shannon's house to spend the evening with them and their family.  That way, we were able to spend even more quality time with them!  Ugh, it was awesome and we just love them so much.  Friendship is such a gift from the Lord!

Jonathan and I just loved our family time in Florida, and I think the kids did too.  They LOVED the beach, so hopefully this trip will be the first of many more in the future.