savoring

Lately, we have been fine tuning the balancing act of go-go-go and stay-for-a-while. I always bask in the latter. But life is all about the merry go round and even if we anticipate the dizziness that may come, we still appreciate what brought us there in the first place. The thrill of it all. Right now, we are savoring. . .

sunset play

driveway play

outdoor projects

breathing in fresh fragrances

watching soccer games

the land of enchantment

(We went to our friend's farm for a bonfire/cookout...the solitude and scenery always leaves me breathless)

and this...

Whatever it is that you may be savoring...I hope you take your time :)

Easter fun

Some pictures from our weekend:

Last night we finally got around to dyeing our easter eggs...

The kids never cease to amaze me with their creativity...

her egg labeled: April Katelynn

I think the Easter Bunny would be proud :)

Tonight we let 'em loose for the hunt...

We hope everyone enjoyed the holiday weekend!!

enjoying post

Well dang, it's been a while since my last post.

Lately, with 40+ hour work weeks, increased school projects, and full swing kids' activities we have noticed our itch to get summer underway. Exchanging rainy cool mornings with sun rayed days. We go through this swing every year. The crescendo that is green budding trees, warm breezes eventually leading us to pool dips and ice cream dripped sidewalks.

Let us breathe in the new promises of spring. Enjoying right now...

Outdoor livin' with the grill

My new Mad Men addiction...I fully admit is now an obsession. Who doesn't love the classiness of the 60s?

These kids...made me tear up talking about the future and their families when they are grown, in their "thirties." FYI our future grandkids' names are Jeff, Caleb Jr, Lily, Tom and Lucy

And finally, I'm tying to focus on the time I'm putting into personal growth. I think we tend to burn ourselves out and giving back to ourselves becomes low on the priority list. Moving forward I'm making promises to myself.

My recent post on Instagram summed it up:
"You have no idea what writing does to me. It is a constant beat in my heart. It is the voice of passion, fear, excitement. It is both truth and transcendence. It's my demanding boss, my soft spoken friend and confidant. It is there. It is always there. Waiting. Asking. Pulling. Pushing. Nothing gets me like writing does. She's always under the surface. Breathing. Capturing. Staying silent and steady and sometimes lightning bright and thunder loud. We get each other. We dance and run, we sit and focus. But no matter what I do, where I go, who I meet....she is there-dreaming up plots, studying characters. We will play, we'll always play. Someday, and I hope there is a someday, when we can show you our game."

Hope you all have a great weekend! We'll be doing Easter a little differently this year, since I am working tomorrow. But I promise, there will be pictures to come of our little bunnies...

moments

I feel I always get to this place on the weekend, where I'm winding down and winding up at the same time. Everyone feels this way, I am sure. You want to savor. You want to go in slow motion. Before the week begins, you're ready for one last dance.

Today we took full advantage of family time and took the kids to go see the new Muppet movie. I swear you're insanely in denial if you don't love the Muppets. Talk about a classic.

Then we went out to the Waffle House for our breakfast-for-dinner night. I love this tradition. I can tell our kids appreciate it too when Katelynn pipes up from the backseat on the way home, "our family is awesome." A moment I will never forget. And not because I am all arrogant and "all that." But because our kids feel good about us. Our family. Our home. What we've created.

I always wondered what we were going to be like moving away from a life we were comfortable in. Where family and friends were right down the street. I had tried picturing our little family away from all that and it was admittedly uncomfortable. I worried. What else is new?

But having moments like today, having our little family in this great big world, putting smiles on our kids' faces. Creating memories. I don't feel the fading void as much. Even though our kids say how much they miss everyone, and I do too, of course. But we are not empty. We are not alone. We are okay, and more than okay. We are still thriving in the ways that we were meant to, and maybe even more so.

We still miss our Kansas life, and the people we are separated from. But it's only miles, the love is still here, I feel it. Our kids feel it. And there's something unbelievably wonderful about that. We love you all out there. And next time you're around these parts, we'll be sure to take you the Waffle House...


From this week....Caleb's soccer game

They won their game :)

Enjoy the week y'all! Enjoy that last dance...

a short post

In our household news...a certain girl finally lost said tooth. It's amazing how much older she looks with a top front gone. In other news, today she asked me what a teenager was.... oh my.

This weekend flew by fast with a quick visit from Aunt Jess. No worries, we still had time to get in a shopping trip. 

Also in other news, I made a comeback coaching soccer when Caleb's coach went MIA on Saturday. Must say, even though I didn't know anyone's name and resorted to "challenge him #7!!" I would be lying if I wasn't considering signing up to coach next season...

And if you're interested in my new obsession with essence oils (thanks mom :) check out the "Healthy Things" tab up there where I'll share my new homemade headache/stress salve. Good stuff. 

I'll see ya on the tail end of this week. So far we're looking at sunglass weather and I'm sure we'll be out there enjoying it. Until next time...