june 24

i had a great workout at the gym...
my dad came to visit the babes and they had loads of fun and laughs. praying they have a close relationship...
we got to eat cucumbers, fresh from the garden, with our dinner tonight...YUMMO!

june 23

bene daye woke up with a GREAT attitude and our day started out wonderfully...
solved the ant problem (i hope!) by scrubbing the house top to bottom...
got a long, hot, uniterrupted shower and shaved BOTH legs...
had a great quiet time...
went to scotty's for the MOPS transitional dinner...another great night!

june 22

sarah came over to bring dinner swap and we got to sit at the kitchen table and talk. i am thankful for good conversation with sweet friends in the middle of my busy, loud, chaotic days with the babes...
had a hard afternoon with bene daye, BUT i am thankful for the lessons that I learn in the midst of disciplining her...
had a beautiful night with demetrius.

june 21

took the kids to play at fisher park and then went on a nature walk...
got great time with bene daye while levi napped. we did art, read books and ate dumplings for lunch ~ her favorite...
later we cut up the watermelon, ate homemade nachos and set up the sprinkler so the babes could celebrate the first day of summer...
i love, absolutely LOVE, the sound of their squeals and laughter when they are loving life...
right before bed, bene daye and i had a little more girl time ~ drinking hot chocolate, eating chocolate cookies and reading uncle remus tales, while demetrius and levi raced cars...
i love our sweet babes.

june 20

father's day!!!
celebrated demetrius as soon as he woke up this morning. i had a military tag made for him with the children's names and birth dates on it and the babes gave him a sesame street shirt. he LOVED the necklace...
was pleasantly surprised to see the carvers and grandparents at church again...
made demetrius a strawberry cake and headed out to hester park for musep to see songs of water. the weather was beautiful and breezy.

june 19

cut sprigs of spearamint from the garden, made chocolate muffins for breakfast and headed back to chartreuse this morning for the grand opening...
this afternoon, bene daye abd i went shopping for her summer clothes and found some great deals!

june 18

heather called this morning and we met at barber park's new spray ground. LOADS OF FUN ~ we will defintely be there all summer! tonight, the carver's came and kept the children while demetrius and i went to the dedication of chartreuse, paula's new shop...
spent most of the night flirting with my husband and talking it up with melissa and rachel...
awesome night!

june 17

invited river over for a play date with bene daye. melissa and the other kids stayed too. we got to sit outside while the kids played, we ate lunch and talked about life. i love her!...
adelphe was awesome and danette made it with bristol!

june 16

had a lunch date with emily at scotty's to discuss the upcomoing MOPS year. we had a great time and ate lots of fresh blueberries. i am so thankful to have a woman like scotty in my life, to encourage me, share with me, teach me and inspire me. and even though we are just getting to know each other, emily feels like an old friend. she gets my humor and we can almost finish each other's sentences...
really looking forward to spending more time with them.

june 15

went to country park for our weekly summer play date. it was really hot today and there was NO shade. but we had fun with our friends and the kids enjoyed chasing the ducks and hanging out on the pier...so thankful to have such great parks so close to our house...
the carver's came over for another movie night and we watched "new moon"...
thinking the movie night is turning into a weekly thing!

june 14

the carver's came over for movie night ~ "twilight" ~ great movie...
really enjoying hanging out with my sweet cousins.

june 13

the children slept until 8:30am!!!
HALLELUJAH!!!
decided to go to the 11am service and was pleasantly surprised to see the carver's...had the babes not slept in, i would have missed them...

june 12

tonight was a ladies' night out for me!
i went to ashley's baby shower, drank a "mom-tini" and spent the evening with some of my best girlfriends...
took melissa home and had great conversation about marriage, love and how much we adore our husbands...
when i got home at midnight, demetrius was waiting for me...i love him...

june 11

chelsea came over for a sleep over tonight with bene daye...they dressed up in beautiful tutu's and boas and ball gowns and then i took them out for a girl's night downtown ~ we went out to dinner and then saw "cinderella", put on by the children's theater...it was definitely a night to remember!

june 10

melissa came over with the kids for a play date, but we ended up rearranging our living room instead. it looks so beautiful! i love having a friend with the same style and vision! now we need to work on the bedroom and kitchen...

june 9

my friend erin came over with her sweet girls madeline and eliza to play with bene daye and levi while i went to a dental appointment...
when i got home, they stayed for lunch and we got to catch up while the kids played...
i love my girl friends...

june 8

the kids got to play with a lot of their friends at cascade park this morning...
levi took a 3 hour nap, which gave bene daye and i a chance to read lots and lots of library books.

june 7

danette went into labor (for real!) tonight and heather and i got to be there for bristol's birth! utterly amazing. it was an honor to be there and the entire experience rekindled my desire to be a doula.

june 6

today bene daye had her spring recital with the glenwood dance team! the weather was BEAUTIFUL and almost all of our family and friends came out to support her.

june 1

even though demetrius and i were very ill today, heather met us at the doctor at 8:30am and took bene daye and levi to her house. we were seen by the doctor, got our meds and ginger ale, went home and slept ALL day! it was just enough time to rest and feel a bit better...
scotty brought a yummy dinner, which meant i didn't have to cook...
picked up the children, everybody got a bath and we were all in bed by 8pm...

joy may be full...

"these things i have spoken to you, that my joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full" ~john 15:11


so...
it's been almost two years since my last post.
life just kind of happened.
while i love the idea of writing deep, witty, inspiring posts, i must admit that as a stay at home mom it is hard to find joy EVERY single day. when you are crunching cheerios into the floor with every step...when your little one uses your beige, suede furniture for his canvas...when you can't take a shower...when your husband comes home from a hard day and you haven't even thought about what's for dinner...when you forget to put sunscreen on your kids...when you're out and need to change a diaper only to realize that you left the diaper bag hanging by the front door...when this...when that...i could go on and on!
but one day, sooner than i care to imagine, there will be no more cheerios to clean up, no more never-ending mounds of little laundry, and no more belly laughs running through the house. there will be no more tea parties to attend or jumping on the trampoline or good night prayers or kissing their scrapes...
i am determined to find joy in the little gifts, the tiny blessings in each day. even on my worst of days, i am realizing that there are beautiful, tiny blessings that, in reality, are much greater than any discouragement, misery or frustration that my flesh wants to dwell in.
so...here are the things i am thankful for in june...