It's been almost two whole weeks since I last posted on my trusty ol' blog. There's really no great explanation, other than to say that summer has pretty much squelched my creative juices, and has left me dry in the energy department since I'm spending most of my days chasing around a 13 month old who thinks he's as old as his two older brothers :)
I do have a few things on my heart, but today didn't seem to be the day to dump a heavy load on the blog before I kind of catch you up with what we've been up to. This will more than likely be completely random and have no semblance to an organized post... because that's pretty much what our summer has been.
Water activities!
On the days it's not raining (which, let's be honest here-- we've received more than our fair share of rain this summer. I'd normally complain, but we just try to find other activities. At least with rain you're not trapped in your house for days with no escape like we were with the snow this past winter!), we're playing at the pool or splash park. We're so blessed to have neighbors who have pools, and they are gracious enough to allow us to use them from time to time. I haven't been able to get my big girl camera out yet to snap some pics of them playing, but need to soon. The shenanigans that my big boys are up to now when they're swimming are quite hilarious.
Concerts!
Our area recently had a large AMP installed, and it has brought in several big name concerts to the area. Drew recently surprised me with tickets to see Darius Rucker and Pat Green. The concert was great, the people watching even better, and we were also able to meet up with some good friends of ours that we hadn't seen in a while... evening made.
Bug Catching!
I'm pretty sure one of the best parts of summer to my boys is the fact that all things creepy crawly are out in full force. The other morning I had the screen door open while the boys played on the back porch. I heard Connor exclaim loudly "MOM! Come see my new pet slug!" This is the part that I tell you I went to see, and upon seeing, my stomach churned. I can handle a lot of things as a momma, but this slug was so big that it literally about made me vomit. And they were happily allowing it to crawl all over their arms and hands. GAG. Thankfully, they let "Daddy slug" go back to his family... by releasing it in Daddy's garden. Brayden was HORRIFIED when I told him that slugs would eat all of the plants, and he ran frantically back to the garden to try to find it, but it was too late. We're hoping that Daddy slug might have died under the dirt, where they placed him when he was released. ;)
Last Days!
On the way to church this morning I told Drew I was fighting off some pretty bad anxiety about Brayden going to Kindergarten. It's only a few weeks away, and every day I'm reminded that my house will be a little more quiet during the days come August. I've been a lot more sad about it than I ever thought I would be, and have found myself fighting off the voices of other parents as they weigh in their two cents about what's best for kids these days. I've long held the belief that every family needs to do what is best for their particular family, and I still definitely feel that we are called to be in the public school system. Even so, it's hard to second guess yourself when you have others tell you that private school is better for this stage, that homeschooling would really be the best option or that boys really need to be held back a year regardless of where their birthday falls. It's a lot to take in as a momma, and a lot that I can second guess myself over. But as I talked through my anxiety with Drew, I realized that I was spending more time listening to the other voices and not the voice of God. It's so easy to get caught up in the hysteria and craziness of things, that sometimes it's easy to drown out the voice that quietly whispers and directs. I'm STILL sad about my little buddy leaving, but am confident that we're making the right decision for him and for our family. Now we're just soaking in our last couple of weeks with him to ourselves... soon we'll get to share him with a lot of other people and I just know that he will make a huge impact in their lives as he has in ours.
Matching!
Connor has really matured this summer in what he understands and is able to communicate, and it's been fun watching that all happen before our eyes during a time in our lives that's a bit more laid back compared to the school year. He's been big on matching objects, regardless of what they might be. One particular day I had told him to go inside and change since he had gotten himself soaking wet. He came back, excited that he matched. And matched he did. From head to toe he wore green, including Brayden's crocks, which are about 3 sizes too large for him. 3.5 years old has a track record for me of not being a favorite stage, however it does have it's high points of humor, and this matching day was no exception.
We've actually had a somewhat eventful weekend, and I've managed to snap several pictures, so I'll be sure to share soon with you what we've done as a precursor to the 4th of July. I hope that yall have had a great weekend, and have a great week this week celebrating our nations freedoms!
