“MOM, RUE CAUGHT A SQUIRREL AND SHE’S THRASHING IT IN HER MOUTH!!!!!”

She sure did. She thrashed it so hard she broke it’s back right after it bit her chin over and over in the process. What she didn’t do was kill it so Gress has to find his bravery and put the squirrel out of it’s misery with his BB gun. He was pretty sure he could do the job at 15 feet away. Ah NOPE! This took precision and up close shooting to end this excitement.

Gress was so proud and a bit unnerved that he had to finish her job. I’m pretty sure this won’t be the first squirrel Rue kills as she now stares out the windows and races up and down the backyard on a hunt of more squirrels. She even hunts squirrels from the windows inside her home.

LET THE CATTLE DOG FREE! I’m sure that’s her motto.

Mabry thought she would be really helpful and fill up a huge hole (Rue dug) with water. Rue proceeded to roll around and frolick in the mud. Poor Luna got punished for it too as both got a bath afterwards! Dogs bring a whole new excitement to our days! If only we could teach Rue to play the piano!

I have a special relationship with Gress, probably because he has been my sidekick the longest. When one of the kids looses their mind, Gress and I look at each other and our eyes get really big and we just get each other. It’s nice to know I’m not alone! I depend on him a lot. And he so happily helps where I ask. “Gress, can you do this? Oh and that. Oh and why aren’t you doing this?” His response reminds me that he can’t multitask and that I can be crazy with asking him to do all things at once. Often, he tries to help Mabry, and she often yells at him because she wants to do it herself. And then she reminds him that girls can change their minds and she does need help. He is already learning how to deal with girls! This kid has a servant heart and I am so thankful for his help. (This photo is of Gress fixing her goggles)

This last week I had to clean out one of the containers we have for storage and reorganize more things into it. Despite wanting to light a match and just burn it all to the ground, we do utilize a lot of things in these boxes. This cleanout/cleanup was QUITE an undertaking. Gress asked if he could help. At one point, I asked if we should bring Mcree out and he said, “No, he will just whine and besides, I want to just hang out with you.” He was a HUGE help putting together shelving, sweeping, moving things…heavy things…and his love of organization was so appreciated. I love this kid!

My friend mentioned lately that she was starting to have an awkward relationship with her 12 year old. I asked Gress if he would like me in a year and he said, “mom, why wouldn’t I? I love being with you!” THANKS GRESS! That’s a great reminder to stay engaged with my kids while doing things they love to do!

I love friends that love to explore and are up for ANYTHING the day brings. A hike through the marsh, bike riding through huge puddles, and unending exploring in every nook the path leads. Why can’t summer last all year long?

These summer days are already blurring together. I made a list of all the fun things I wanted to do and quickly realized it was just too planned out. There is something special about being spontaneous with what the day holds. There are the fun pools to splash in, the wide open ocean to explore, lots of friends and neighbors to gather with and lots of playing and crafting to do. Trying to really savor these free days!

We celebrated Gress’ 11 year old birthday and a few days later he sailed in his first regatta at the Yacht Club. My mama heart was a little nervous and a whole lot excited. I can only imagine how excited Rad felt to have his son follow in his love of sailing. It’s a fun community to be a part of and we are excited to start diving into it a little deeper.

We love our sweet neighbor across the street. She is like family to us. And we are thankful that she shares her  amazing view and pool. The kids used their saved money to buy floats for the pool and for hours we all frolicked in the sun! Summer is off to a great start!

Before we headed out the door this morning, we made shrinky dinks. You remember those right?.. the small plastic pieces you color on and then it shrinks in the oven. The kids were amazed. I told myself that we were going to have lots of summer crafts these next few months so trying to come up with things every week. More fun crafting to come!

Any day at the beach is a good day. But add in friends and that makes the day SOO much better! Tidepools, boogie boarding, and hanging out with a baby (on her first trip to the beach) was so fun. Thankful for this coast and the life that gets lived out on it!

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.