Thirteen years and a trip to Cancun

This was so fun. And short.  And relaxing. And adventurous And good for us.  And yummy-gain 5lbs in 4 days yummy.  Did I mention fun?  There was probably a little too much thought and preparation that went into it, but you tend to get overly invested when you do this sort of trip once every 13 years.  I think we are going to try and remedy that.:)

Invincible Summer

While reading through one of my favorite magazine publications I came upon this article written by Shauna Niequist, and couldn't help but smile. Her musings on the joy of living like it's summer all year long,  made me immediately think of my daughter, who is quite appropratietly named Summer.  It's funny how a name can fit, so perfectly.  And how in describing life, Shauna so precisely described my joy filled adventurer of a daughter-who will be the death of me.  I wanted to share her words here, because this publication is not going to survive many more weeks on the ottoman in this house (giving it weeks is generous as it is).

"Summer is wide open, spontaneous, playful.  It's jumping in with your clothes on and being brave and silly.  Summer has within her a buoyancy, a warmth, a wild and whimsical heart........

I found that, there was within her, an invincible summer...... for no matter how hard the world pushes against her, within her, there's something stronger-something better, pushing right back.

Here's to something stronger within each of us, to bravery and beauty and play.  Here's to an invincible Summer."

With love to my invincible Summer Sophia.

My daughter started a blog, so there's that

It is so very strange, parenting, life-navigating it all.  London, my eldest, at the wise old age of ten, took it upon herself to start pursuing her dreams and started her very own blog this weekend.  She has a writing schedule,  a journal chalked FULL of ideas and so much enthusiasm.  It's wonderful and odd.  This parenting four children thing has kind of blown me into a whirlpool that I have not yet emerged from, although I can see the sky, maybe wisps of clouds above the crests at times. I started my own blog once, two in fact.  This one in hopes of recording my children's and family's lives. the good, the bad, the memorable and the mundane.  The second one was to be more of a side gig to play with and maybe make some money from, eventually. That one, amid being a mom and wife and homemaker, and probably too much time on social media, didn't last long.  This one hasn't been posted on in almost a year. Maybe when the kids are all in school, I keep thinking.  But here I am, helping my baby navigate the internets, still unable to find that loop of time.  That elusive time when I'm going to pursue things for 'me', remember 'me', success, fulfillment.  All those words that run through my head on dark and sunny days.  But maybe that is how it's supposed to be.  Maybe I am finding me in them.  Maybe helping them explore their interests,  discovering with them, spurring them, between making them food and folding their laundry, that is me. Right now me.  My little girl won't ask me to type for her forever.  Heck, she didn't want me to eat in the lunch room past the second week of first grade. Technology isn't my thing and we spent way too long trying to figure out how to enable comments this morning.  Sometimes I wonder what I'm doing, where does my time go?  But it is going to her, her brothers, her sister, my husband, my family, which we are now so fortunate to live close to. Maybe in my search for 'time', 'success', 'pursuits' outside of the home, I'm missing that they are right here.  In front of me.  And I haven't missed anything.  I am, in fact finding everything.  God is using me.  He is using them. I am better and worse for it.  And I wrote today.  and helped my baby write. And everyone is fed. So there's that.