~this moment... five years ago~

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week ...

five years ago today.

A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by SouleMama

~summer fun~

Baseball, basketball, tennis, golf, reading, sight-seeing, visiting family, croquet, swimming, painting, fishing.

You name it, we're doing it.

And trust me... it's not all fun and games.

We are talking about two boys who love to bicker and fight over

just about everything.

And I mean everything!

But between the arguments and brotherly love we are keeping busy.

Yeah, you might be able to write a message in the dust on our TV.

Junk mail accumulates.

The closets need a good sorting through.

But guess what?

Emails don't need an immediate reply.

The laundry will be there when we return.

The dishes don't have to be washed the minute we are done eating.

We're enjoying each other and our time together!

People always say how fast your children grow up and you can't get these years back.

I'm seeing it first hand and want to savor every minute of it.

Don't get me wrong...typically it's "Work Hard, Play Hard."

But if you know me well enough you know I like to change things up a bit... do things backwards.

So for us, it is "Play Hard, Work Hard."

If you don't see me around the web as much as usual,

I haven't forgotten about you and I'm still peeking in at your blogs. Even though I might not be commenting as much, I'm still checking in to see what you are up to.

 And it looks as though we are all filling our days.

Summer is going by so fast.

School will begin before we know it and we'll fall back into that routine.

I hope you are enjoying your days with the ones you love most, whatever you might be doing.

I'm taking full advantage of enjoying life with our boys!

Fingerprints on the windows, and all!



~this moment~

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.

A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by SouleMama

~this moment~

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.

A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by SouleMama

 

 

 

~this moment~

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.

A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by SouleMama

~165 miles for a Coca-Cola~

It wasn't the hotel,

or the pool,

or the Jacuzzi that got his attention. 

Not the breakfast buffet,

 or 3 days of playing against the toughest elite baseball teams.

It wasn't the lunch out with just mom,

or the big comfy beds with 4 pillows each,

or the pizza party after a victory.

It wasn't downloading new songs for an

"Indiana Playlist" on his iPod,

or hearing his mom sing 'Pontoon' over and over in the car.

It wasn't the 104 degree temperatures, or hail storms, or rain delays. 

You want to know what was worth the 165 mile drive this past weekend?

The look on Austin's face when he saw this touch screen 

Coca-Cola machine. 

He thought it was the bees-knees.

And when his little brother and dad drove in the next day,

we had to go back to show them.

It was just that cool.

Any drink you can imagine in any flavor you can think of. 

Austin went nuts about the Vanilla Coke. 

Derek tried the Raspberry Sprite. 

Dad went for the Orange Coke.

I opted for the Indiana Water... I wasn't disappointed.

Have you seen one of these new dispensers?   



~500 water balloons and one hot mama~

What do you do when your air conditioner breaks down over the weekend and you have the smart idea (maybe it'll be cheaper??) to wait until Monday to call for service?  You head to the store, of course, for a bottle of 500 water balloons!  Trust me... takes your mind off of the 90 degree temps in one toss and burst. 
Temporary relief, but we'll take it!

We came home Saturday from a travel baseball game to find the house at 86 degrees and the a/c running constant, just not cooling the house.  Needless to say, this mama has been a bit grouchy for a few days. As I sit here now, we are still waiting on our local service guy to be here "later this afternoon" to fix it.  We're finding comfort in eating lots of salads, watermelon, grilling out instead of using the stove or oven, and running 5 fans constant to get the air flowing.   Only problem is, the air that is flowing is really, really hot air!  I'm trying hard to think back to times before people had this luxury and not complain too much.
But lets be honest here... it's just not working.  

If you happen to live local and you've seen me and the boys wondering around stores, without a cart, for hours at a time, just browsing, making small talk with whoever wants to chat, now you'll know why.

If you see me driving around the block with the windows up and the a/c blaring, and around, and around, and around the block once more, now you'll know why. 

We're not bored.
We're not lonely.
We're not weird. (Although some may beg to differ.)
We're just hot.
And we'll take relief in any form we can find.
Can't wait to see you, Mr. Air Conditioner Man.  Just be careful not to get soaked by a water balloon when you pull in our driveway.

~this moment~

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.

A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by SouleMama.

 

 

 

~this moment~

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.

A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Inspired by SouleMama

~pick your own strawberries~

The weather yesterday was too good not to go out for an adventure.  I decided we'd stay local since we had plans for the evening and didn't want to be gone all day.  Our town librarian told us about a field that was only 11 miles from our house that we could go pick our own strawberries.  We've always traveled farther to another place years prior.

Why had I not known about this place before now!?!

 We headed out on our big adventure and stopped along the way to look at the clouds and admire some of our favorite farms. I decided to surprise the boys and we stopped at an old gas station/pizza place/post office/ice cream parlor in a nearby town. Yep.... one of "those" places.  Where you can find just about anything and you can get your gas from a vintage pump where the numbers turn like an old clock and you have to go inside and pay.  Love these!!    

The boys thought it was pretty cool to be eating in the middle of a gas station, grabbing pizza right out of the box, picking out a pop from the cooler to drink with it, and admiring the racks of candy and chips surrounding them.  You would have thought they were in junk food city!! And no.... this mom didn't give in to any requests.

So, we were back in the car and on the road again. We traveled down one lane roads and took in all the sights, animals, landmarks, and talked about the history of the couple towns we drove through and the people who had farmed this land years ago. 

 The produce farm we arrived at was full of busy workers and friendly faces.  We were told we could pick right there or head down the road a bit to some more fields.  Back in the car and down a lane we continued on.

The boys had a fun time pulling the buckets apart.  We each got a bucket to carry and then we dumped them all together before we checked out.

Austin seemed to enjoy this adventure more than Derek, surprisingly.  He got right into the picking and found "the perfect spot".  Derek was more interested in walking up and down the rows, checking out the watering system, and playing with the Wiener dog another couple brought with them.

Derek did find what he called the "Big Daddy Strawberry" just laying on the ground that someone else had probably dropped from their bucket.  This was the first one we washed and ate when we arrived home.

A while later, we found our buckets were getting full and we needed to go back to the farm and pay for our sweet gems.  Austin questioned this system and how the owners kept track of the other fields and of who payed and who didn't.  It was a nice opportunity to talk about the 'Honor System' and how it's hard to find places around like this anymore.  
 

One of these beautiful hanging baskets came home with us.

And of course a little bear of local honey that Derek just loved. He asked if he could keep the bottle when it was gone to put our other honey in. It's the simple things in life, isn't it!?!

The ride home was just as nice and beautiful as the ride there.  The clouds looked like, "stairs to heaven."

One more stop at the Dairy Bar in our town for some ice cream and then we'd be home.

I tried out a Lemon Italian Ice and thought it was pretty tasty.

Back at home we poured the strawberries into the sink to give them a good wash and put them out to air dry on towels on the counter.  Needless to say, there were a few dozen missing from the group within a short period of time.  It was so nice to have freshly picked, warm, sun-kissed, delicious strawberries to enjoy!! We just might make some freezer jam today.  (If there are enough left by then. Otherwise, it's back to the fields tomorrow for some more!)

That evening we all loaded up into the car to meet some friends at a Minor League baseball game.  We had a fun time, even though our home team lost.  Austin was lucky enough to catch a ball that one of the outfielders threw into the crowd after a third out in the inning.  And guess where the camera was??
At home,
on the counter,
next to the strawberries. 

It was a beautiful day from start to finish!

~together~

Summer break is officially here for the boys. And me, too. 

The past few weeks have been filled with tons of baseball games, practices, field trips, activity days at school, field days, academic awards, Poet's Wax Musuem costume , last day of school fun, making gifts for teachers and bus drivers, finishing projects and helping the boys study for the final tests of the year.

To top things off, sadly, I also lost my job.  My job that I loved and did well at.  I will miss the people more than anything.  Although I don't think this decision (from the higher ups) was correct or just, I am beginning to think that all of these events and errands of the past few weeks were a blessing in disguise to distract me from the storm that eventually came. As awful as it was, I could feel that someone was watching out for me and wrapping their arms around me and giving me comfort when it all came crashing down.

There was all of this commotion and tying up loose ends at the end of the school year and keeping me busy during this hard time and keeping my mind focused on other things.  All part of His plan.  I trust He has bigger and better plans for me and that right now I was just not needed where I was.  I have to trust, hope, pray, and believe.  That is what is getting me through.

As rough and hard as it may be for us right now, I look at my life and our family and our health and everything around us and I can't help but feel blessed. I am so thankful that I have those things in life that are truly important to me. 

So, today, when I sat on the floor and played baseball Memory with my boys.... not once, twice, three times, but four games in a row....I was reminded that these are the times I will remember years from now.

Making memories and sharing quality time with the people most important to me. Slowing things down and enjoying every moment.  Making lunch together, setting the table, going to ball games together, walking to the library, reading together, walking to the post office to get a special package together and all guessing what color the special gift will be inside when we open it (can't wait to share!).  Together.

Even though I've lost my job (that I had to drive to), I've still got the best one in the world... hands down!  No paycheck required.  I love being a mom. 

And my car looks just fine parked in our driveway for now.
My clean car, that is.