Found a Little Sun

Just about all summer long I've heard friends tell of a trek to the coast, only to be met with overcast skies and tons of wind. So when I saw on the news that the coast was supposed to be 80 degrees and sunny, I decided I'd better get my kids over there to enjoy the beach for the day. My neighbor and friend joined me, along with her kids. We reached Lincoln City and were quite sad to see the brown, foggy sky just over the ocean. Behind us was a beautiful blue sky, but over the ocean was just depressing. We didn't have much time, but we decided to drive the coastline a bit and hope to find some sun. We found it! Literally, one little patch at Siletz Bay was glistening and sunny. So we parked and had a great time! Mackenzie's older son is so sweet and plays great with his sister and her friends. Her daughter is Avery's very good friend who will be going into first grade at the same school.

Here's my tan blondie!

Good buddies!

Allie show'n off her sandy body. She's a nut, what can I say?

Our attempt at Superman!

Buried alive!

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Oh man, there was so much sand everywhere when we got home! I'm so glad we took the kids and made the memory. We love our neighbors and are blessed to have them for friends!

Short Summer

This has been the shortest summer ever. Hands-down. I know we've done a few things and have had some fun, but it just plain hasn't been long enough! I'm sure this has nothing to do with the fact that two weeks from tomorrow I will be dropping off my firstborn daughter to first grade. I'll wave goodbye to her at 9 am and won't pick her up until 3:15. How in the world did this become necessary and expected for a mother to do that to a six year-old? Let's be honest, Avery will be just fine - great, even. But what about me??? It's only been six years since I gave birth to her - I've just begun raising her!

As I explained my struggles to a friend whose children are several years younger than mine, I realized that I have already had Avery for 1/3 of the time that she is likely to spend living in my house. That fact really hit me. There's a reason we don't wait until they are 18 to start kicking them out the door. They've got to start developing an understanding of who they are when mom isn't there staring at them, waiting for them to make a decision (ok, prompting them..).

So, instead of dwelling on all the reasons I am so reluctant to send her (such as: will she actually eat her lunch?; will she choose good friends?; I'm going to miss her!!!), I'm really trying to focus on the many reasons she's going to love first grade. She'll get to go to music class, p.e., eat lunch with friends (hopefully), make new friends, and that little brain of hers is going to soak up all that knowledge like a sponge! But, boy, I'll be so ready to see her when she runs out of those school doors every afternoon!

Recent Family Pictures

Earlier this summer we had some family pictures done. My good friend, Wendy Kivett, is a great photographer and did a great job capturing my kiddos' spirit!

Don't know how many pictures I have of Allie sucking her fingers. I also don't know when or how we're going to break her of it! But she sure is cute when she does it!

My soon-to-be first grader! What a sweetheart!


Allie without her fingers in her mouth.
I've got one more year before this girl's in kindergarten.
Say it isn't so!

The rowdy Rowzee girls.

I love this picture, except for Rich's unfortunate face he's making. This won't be on our wall, but it almost made the cut!

As I write this, I'm in a moment of discouragement with the kids, just wondering if Rich and I are doing anything right. There is nothing in the world so challenging or more likely to make you feel like a complete failure than parenting. I think I especially feel this way as a mother who so badly wants to parent in a godly manner. These thoughts are really for another post. I will say, however, that God's Word is the best source of comfort and I was renewed as I read it this morning. All of this to say, it's so nice to have good family pictures to remind me of the beauty of God's creation, that is my family!! My daughters really do love each other and we are a happy family - at least in our pictures! :)

Too private for facebook.

Because I need to post something, as it's been way too long since my last post, and because this was just not quite appropriate to share with my 300+ "friends" on facebook, I'm sharing this little "diddy" with you faithful readers (all 5 of you). Granted, this website could technically be read by anyone on the internet and in that sense is a less private way of sharing details of my life. However, I'm sure many more people would stumble upon my facebook status as they read everyone's status updates, than people who stumble upon my blog.

How's that for an intro?

My rare moment of quiet reflection was interrupted by a sweet little voice and a roving hand pushing around my shower curtain. Allie exclaimed, "Hello, Naked Lady in the shower! I love you!"

Not sure when, or if ever, the whole idea of privacy comes into the mix when you're raising daughters. For now, I'm just happy to be loved by such a sweet (and spicy) little girl.