Some things just require supervision when you give a task to a child….like asking them to set the “timer” on the microwave. This should NOT be confused with actually turning the microwave on, especially when the timer is for 45 minutes and there is a plastic lid in the microwave. Lesson learned by all!

When someone asks one of the kids a question, I always smile (and maybe cringe a little) not knowing how they will respond. While at their annual physical the other day (which apparently hasn’t taken place in over 5 years for my boys), the Dr. asked them what they wanted to be when they grew up.  Gress responded, “a professional fisherman”, Mcree responded, “a stunt man”, and Mabry said, “a ballerina” and proceeded to spin around the doctor’s office.

We have been talking about our kids friends lately and what they like about them, or in some cases what things they wish were different. It sparked a great conversation in asking the kids how they thought people saw them. No one could answer a single response. It’s a great lesson in how you present yourself and what you value. It shows up in who you are and how people see you. No doubt this will be a lifelong ongoing conversation.

Speaking of conversations, I have loved having more grown up conversations with Gress lately. There have been sweet deep moments of sharing our hearts and working out life’s situations. He has always been my helper with so many things and it has been fun to be side by side a lot lately. The other day I asked him to help me prep a bunch of food. He was responsible for washing and cutting up all the vegetables. No fingers were lost in this experiment. He also made guacamole and from scratch chocolate chip cookies. This kid loves to be in the kitchen, which one day might serve him really well. And as the other kids see how much he gets to taste test the food, they want to be in the kitchen too! HA!

It’s raining today here so as we finish up a few school subjects, we have also added lots of game playing. The boys can’t get enough of the game Sorry. Rad and I might just play cards every night so I think that love has infected the kids as well. I am dreaming of summer activities and we might just have to start a neighborhood kids game day!

My favorite place in all the world is the beach. What better way to commemorate another year of motherhood than to sink my toes into the sand. What was even more incredible is that another family went with us and we got to experience their newly adopted daughter experiencing the beach for the FIRST time in her life. What a sight to see. God’s beauty is all around us…and to see just a glimpse of her in God’s creation was very touching.

THE BOAT! Remember her? Yes, it’s been a long time since we hung out. We got on the boat yesterday. And by that I mean Rad and Gress got to work on the boat yesterday. There was no water in sight unless you count the blow up pool and a freckled red head in it who was practicing her underwater swimming. She was pretty proud of herself. I wish I would have photographed that. But instead, I captured 2 boys eating popsicles while dreaming about being in wide open spaces surrounded by water. SOON! Soon we will get to hang out with her again. In the meantime, we have ditched all names we have come up with for this vessel and are brainstorming something new. Any ideas? Oh and by the way, the cattle dog is pretty unhappy that there is no dog ladder to get to her pack.

To me, this little girl is feeling not so little anymore. It’s sweet and amazing to see who she is becoming. Some days she is so girly and other days she is so tough. I’m excited that she will be able to mostly keep up with us as we adventure to lots of beautiful places this summer. 

These summer like days are drawing the kids outside more and more. As if they needed an excuse to get outside. We got sidetracked the other day during school. It started with Gress finding ant lion hills and then we opened our science book to read about them. Meanwhile Mcree was starting fires with his magnifying glass and then Gress decided to collect ant lions and ants and make an ant farm, and then got distracted by the magnificence of the magnifying glass so he burned our initial into the tennis ball with it. We haven’t ended school yet. We have 2 subjects left to finish out so trying to get through those before we end for the summer. We all CAN’T WAIT! We have a big list of fun things we want to do this summer. The boat is getting some attention now so hopefully she will be water ready soon and we can enjoy days on the water soon!

The anual Savannah College of Art and Design Sand Arts Festival was this weekend. It’s always amazing to see what these creatives design out of sand. I think the kids just love being at the beach but this was an extra bonus to go with friends and see lots of cool things. Maybe we will get to improve our sand castle designs this summer with all our beach time!

I was pouring out the compliments on one of my boys this morning about how tidy his room always seems to be. He puts away his toys and his clothes are put away most days. I might have even told him he is way cleaner than his brother’s room. Perhaps I dished out the words too soon. I went to move something in his closet and found WEEKS of clothes (clean and dirty) shoved behind the racks. WEEKS! He pretty much just took the clean clothes I would put on his bed and he would shove them behind the racks! I found hundreds of legos splayed under the dresser and in the back of the closet. I found dirty underwear and socks in the most random places. I take back all my compliments. Boys are dirty!

His sock draw alone was quite overwhelming. So, we cleaned every nook and cranny of his room to start fresh. Poor kid. He just kept asking to go read a book! HA! Lucky for me this kid loves to get rid of things so half his closet is now no longer in his room!!

On a side note. I found out the other day that Mcree’s favorite food is kiwi. How has he lived under my roof for 7+ years and I didn’t know this? So I came home with a container of kiwis just for him. It’s the little things that make him feel special. Grapefruit is his second favorite so that is on my next list to buy him. Trying to find ways to do little things for my kids that make each of them feel extra loved and thought of.

I’ve known this handsome guy for almost half his life. I love being married to Rad. He is fun, adventurous, resilient, optimistic, tough, intelligent, and makes life so much better. My life has been such an incredible journey because of him. Recently we got old photos scanned that what been in storage. I LOVED seeing his life lived out in these photos. He had lived a lot of life before I came around and his sense of adventure is still going strong! Happy Birthday to my best friend!

Lots going on over here lately. There has been fence building which is quite an undertaking. The amount of bricks, metal wire, roots, metal panels and who knows what under the ground has been insane. Rad (and Gress) have been doing a great job getting the old fences out and the new one up. It’s still a work in progress and hopefully this cattle dog will not be able to escape anymore! We have also had several field trips, one that included a fun trip to Tybee Beach for a beach ecology lesson with some homeschool friends. And toward the end of this month we hope to finish a lot of our curriculum from this year. Mcree is so proud of himself to be done with yet another reading program. I imagine myself sitting under a tree one day while he reads me a book for hours! HA! We definitely have summer fever over here and trying to stay focused so we can finish strong. Not going to lie and say I don’t want to run away to the beach everyday! 

This boy loves this fiesty little dog. Sometimes he wishes she was calm and obedient to his commands. And sometimes holding the leash with a running bull at the other end is just too much. But there is no doubt that he has a heart for his furry little cattle dog.