Life Lately via Phone Photo Dump

Well, it seems that this little blog continues to be neglected ... for journaling purposes, here is life lately via a phone photo dump.

On June 15th we celebrated not only Father's Day but also a significant birthday for my mom! 

Lydia continues to want to be just like her big brothers ... I have a feeling she is going to excel at tee ball and then softball!

It has become an end of the school year / beginning of summer tradition to spend a weekend in Door Co.  We were thankful that the hotel we stay in has an indoor swimming pool (it was a bit of a rainy and cool weekend).  We were still able to go mini-golfing though!  And, the day we were leaving the warmer temps and sun came out, perfect for feeding the ducks at a custard place that has also become tradition for lunch on our last day (Yep, ice cream for lunch!).

 

 This past week we had three baseball games (was supposed to be four, but one is postponed due to rain), practices, Nora's speech and PT, little odds and ends, and Jack had baseball camp every day.  Jason did most of the taxi'ing back and forth, but I was thankful to be able to do a drop off and pick up (the location of the camp was about 40 minutes away).

After a busy week, we were ready for some family time this weekend so we got the bikes loaded up and went to a state park to bike the trails, had a picnic lunch, and then the kids braved the lake.

Phew ... add in a little one who doesn't sleep through the night and it's no wonder we're exhausted, but in the most thankful way possible.  We are blessed!

Finding Relief

Finding relief ...

 

when it's still 90+ degrees ...

and sticky, sticky, sticky ...

at 7:15 at night ...

in Wisconsin ...

Something out of Tangled {Lantern Launch}

We do not have any Labor Day traditions aside from trying to do something "memorable" before the kids start a new school year.  This year we stumbled upon what may become a Labor Day tradition.  A town about 45 minutes away does an annual kite festival which includes evening activities ... fireworks ... and, a lantern launch.  Lanterns have become a part of celebrations for us ... celebrating Owen's birthdays ... milestones in praying Nora home ... aside from the boys' initial panic attack that the lantern is going to hit a tree and burn something up, we all find the releasing of the lanterns quite magical.

And ... confession time ~ I adore the scene in Tangled when Flynn Rider (aka Eugene) and Rapunzel are out on the water surrounded by lanterns ... it's animation, I get it, but I've oftened wondered what that must be like.  At the festival nearly 400 lanterns were launched ... nearly 400 ... my photos do not do it justice ... and my camera was getting all quirky on me ... but you get the idea.  So. cool. 

Not only was the camera doing quirky things ... so were the kids!

There once was a time that this girl was afraid of the sand ...

Apparently this girl doesn't need a trampoline!

 

Yes, we may have found a new Labor Day Weekend tradition ...

Jumpin' {The Consolation Trampoline}

The kids have been wanting a big trampoline in the backyard ... we haven't given in yet.  But, sometimes we do drag the little trampoline out and let the girls jump.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thankful for times like these when kindness and sharing and sisterly love abounds.

Frog Man

We are blessed to have sweet neighbors that allow us to use their pool.  It is quite common for the boys to make up some "creative" game in the pool.  On this particular day Samuel morphed into "Frog Man" {said with a deep, overemphasized announcer's voice} ... it's hard to tell, but he does have another set of flippers on his feet.

Not sure what else to say about this except that this pretty much speaks to Samuel and his personality.  Being a mom to boys is entertaining, but admittedly there are some things I will just never understand!

Parenting a Near Teen ... is Hard Work

Here is it, August already ... time to start thinking about the quickly approaching start to a new school year.  And, with that, I cannot help but look at Jack and wonder how he has moved from my little boy to a young man, seemingly overnight.  Jack will be going into 6th grade, and I cannot help but wonder if this will be the school year that he grows to look me in the eye - he is approaching fast.  I love this guy, he is clever, passionate, tough and yet sensitive.

And, here's the but ... but, man-o-man, parenting is hard work (I know that no one will argue with that), and each stage brings a new challenge.  This stage comes with great sweetness and also random sass, sometimes both within the same exchange and some days more sass than sweetness.  I know that the hormones are partially to blame, and a strong-willed character trait contributes.  I am learning every day how to be a mom to a near teen, some days I'm better at meeting this challenges than others. 

I just began reading Sparkly Green Earrings by Melanie Shankle, in it she talks about being pregnant with her daughter and remodeling her house, including a shabby tile job by a contractor who oddly had never tiled before.  She states the following about entering parenthood:

"We were going to walk this road, hoping for the advice of friends and parents and well-meaning old ladies at the grocery store to get us through, but most of all, knowing we were completely dependent on God to give us wisdom about how to lay all the tiles of childhood as straight as we could to smooth in the grout with the hope of covering our own imperfections and making them work with the overall design and personality of our child."

So thankful for the opportunity to parent the kiddos we have been blessed with, including this young man. 

 

Baseball is done for the summer ... football is just beginning ... braces have been placed ... where, oh where, has my baby gone?  Seeking wisdom always ...

Nora in the Northwoods {For Real this Year}

Last year we ventured up north to get away as a family of five, anxiously waiting for a very important step in the process of bringing Nora home.  God was so present in all of the details of last year's get away ... from the timing of the paperwork approval, the location of a FedEx provider (and the owner's own adoption story), finding a small, local business for printing, scanning, e-mailing, and all of this amidst swimming, fishing, camp fires and board games.  We were in awe of how Nora was so much already a part of our family and our 2012 family get away, Nora was in the north woods with us.

This past week we again ventured up north but as a family of six.  The time away was great and the opportunity to watch Nora explore, discover and cause mischief, admittedly exhausting, in a new place was quite fun.  To see how God has moved our family in one short (sometimes seemingly long) year is remarkable.

Last year's post on Nora in the Northwoods contains many of the little details.  This year's post is riddled with many photos ... sit back, grab a cup of a coffee or a large diet coke and take a glimpse into our little family (or, scroll through quickly and move through your day as this little blog continues to be my journal into our family life, to document these moments for a certain Mama who is aging and forgetting details).

Me and my girls 

 

Exploring the water 

 

 

 

Um, driving a pontoon boat ... or at least little girls pretending to ... and, not so little boys actually being given permission to (oh dear, a glimpse into my life a little more than four years from now when Jack begins to drive ... gulp) 

 

Oodles of fishing

 

 

Miniature golf 

Side note - I adore this photo of Nora, when Lydia is excited about something she pumps her fist and raises her arms while saying "YES!" ... a certain little sister has figured out a perfect imitation of this!

 

The fish museum 

 

Nora surprising all of us figuring out to drink from a straw (we were all quite proud of this Little Miss!) 

 

Indoor activities when the weather wasn't the greatest ... puzzles, forts, hide and seek

 

 

 

Looking sweet

 

Catching turtles and frogs 

 And, falling asleep in moving "vehicles" 

 

 

This is Nora, in the canoe ... this happened multiple times ... oh, if only the girl would sleep this soundly at night 

 

Apparently I was not the only one exhausted after long days ... 

 

And, that was photo overload of Nora in the Northwoods 2013!