summer, summer, summerime

Did the title get anyone to start singing the Will Smith song? If it did I totally succeeded. There were a few days last week that made us feel like summer is coming sooner than expected. Days were spent at the park, or in the backyard where shoes are optional and running through sprinklers is required. I really can't help but smile at the boys sheer joy and giggles as they tentatively approached the sprinklers only to change their mind at the very last second and run in the other direction. This game continued on for a while and neither of them really ever completely overcame their hesitation, although Bear got close. I foresee both of them conquering those backyard "rainfalls" in no time.

Botanical Garden

^^^^ This might be the funniest picture of the boys. Their faces crack me up. They had fun I promise^^

We had a great little outing with a few friends the other day. I have been really eager to go to the Idaho Botanical Garden and we finally made it. It totally didn't disappoint. Though I must admit that the amount of ponds, mixed with 4 running toddlers did make me a little nervous. We weren't able to stay for very long but I am already looking forward to our next visit. The boys had a great time running around with their friends and smelling all the flowers and I was dreaming about having their vegetable garden in my backyard.

We've started a little herb and veggie garden of our own and guess what? I haven't killed it. That right there shows HUGE growth in the way of maturity and responsibility. I can totally care for my boys, but plants? I killed succulents my first year of marriage for goodness sake, actually I just killed a succulent this year too. I guess that was a bad example, either way  my veggies and herbs seem to be doing just fine. Hopefully I will have some yummy homegrown, homemade salsa in no time.

art walk

^^^ lollipops, trains and running fast=the most genuine smiles I've been able to capture^^^

^^^ "Take a picture of me like this^^^

^^^"mama I can write on the wall?????!!!!!^^^^^

 ^^^^^ Lately we don't leave any place without my hands or pockets full of these.^^^^

^^^^ the 1000x we had to stop and smell the flowers, kids are really great at making you see the beauty in the small stuff ^^^^

Last week Bear and I had a date. We went to our cities art walk.... Where's the art you ask? Besides the chalk wall ( which meant nothing to a toddler besides the fact that I said yes to writing on a wall) we had little luck getting to all the locations. The art was spread out throughout various storefronts and restaurants in downtown. While not very big my navigation skills are, how do I put this... pathetic. HA! Not to mention Bear stopped at every corner planter to smell the flowers or had to pick up any rocks in our path for his "collection". Despite these minor issues we had a great time. Making sure to stop at the train depot and admire a few old engines. Bear even requested a few photos taken in the parking lot."mama take a picture of me like this".I loved his intentional poses. This boy sure knows how to make my mama heart burst. Looking for more toddler directed photo shoots and more summer events like this.

All good things

Lately I have had this urge. To capture, hold on to, and be grateful for all the tiny moments of the day. This is something that doesn't always come easy to me. I have been honest here about my ability to frazzle and unravel pretty easily. But after reading One Thousand Gifts , there has been this inner stirring. This overwhelming feeling at times that tells me to look past the, tantrums, lack of sleep, forth poop diaper change of the day and look at those tiny glimpses of joy throughout the day. Like when Wolf asks me for a bra when he really meant apron, how he makes separate limbs of his stuffed animals act as different people (one bear four limbs= four dinosaurs... duh). How Bear can totally stall nap because he knows I am a sucker for more hug and kiss requests, how he has an imaginary friend named Sir Robert. How he picks EVERY SINGLE dandellion he sees and brings them to me as gifts. How Baby Hawk has that silly one tooth grin and rocks back and forth when he gets really excited and looks like he is going to fall back any second. How he gets himself stuck under chairs at least 100x a day. 

Some of these things may actually bug me at the moment but looking back and reflecting on my day these are the things I come back to and smile. Don't get me wrong, I am still human and I can't always see the beauty of the moment but even those little snippets help me to reflect on just how blessed my life is. How overly abundantly loved I am by God and just how lucky I am to have this amazing family. 

Park Day

The days are getting longer and the weather is beautiful. The boys were a little wild and stir crazy after dinner a few days ago and it felt so perfect to push back bedtime and head to the park. It was sweet food for all our souls. Sometimes just something so simple as switching our routine around can make so much difference.