Ordinary summer days...

-
Hola!

There is no greater time of year than summer for me to feel blissful about being home with my kids.

I love to watch them discover the simple pleasure of a life outdoors, cannonball jumping off the diving board, riding their bikes while the wind tangles their sun streaked hair. And I am almost always right there with them. For as much work and stress that life as a mom brings there is double the love when you get to watch your kids experience life for the first time.

Trimming and painting eighty toes and fingers takes some time.

Natalie loves to be one of the big girls. Whatever her big sisters are doing she is right there with them. If I ask Kate or CJ if they want to do something Natalie is the first girl to shoot her hand straight up into the air. There is no leaving this girl out and we like it that way. (Unless it is after 8:00 p.m. That is mom time!)


Matt and I are all about pointing out the fun of living in Iowa because we don't ever want them to move away. Plus there really is a lot of fun things to do around here; a lot of untapped adventures if you just look for them. 

One of my favorite features of where we live is the trail. We ride bikes at breakneck speeds, run full blast through the trees, stop for a snack at the gazebo and trail benches and of course, we pick mulberries from the trees. 

I promise you Natalie was enjoying herself more than she lets on in this photo. 


After yesterday's exploration we decided to bake cupcakes with homemade whipped cream. Most of us put the mulberries on top while others decided they didn't need fruit in their dessert.



I feel slightly guilty pulling mulberries off County trees but they otherwise end up falling on the trail so I figured there is no harm. My brother and I used to climb my grandma's mulberry tree and eat from it for hours. We would of course return with stained clothes and fingers but what kid cares about that. Making memories we are and enjoying the simple pleasures of exploring whatever is right outside our front door.

Comments

Unknown said…
Love your blog Sara! I'll keep watching for the next one :) What a great mom you are!
June 18, 2014 at 9:33 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The dark day of June 27th...

-
 June 12, 2023 We typically don't share a lot of updates about Kate's health, primarily because she wants to remain "a normal teenager." However, we still get asked how Kate is doing and I started thinking maybe it's okay to share updates now and again. Most people care about her and our family, some others could maybe be labeled as "tragedy junkies," but I'm going to operate under the assumption that most people have the best of intentions.  Today is June 12th and we are quickly approaching the dreaded dark day of June 27th. Have you watched, "Gilmore Girls?" It's a witty, comforting television show from the early 2000's. In it one of the main characters has what is dubbed, "a dark day." This is a day the character dreads each year and in response he goes into hiding from the world with no communication. Well for Kate, and the rest of us to some degree, the dark day of the year is June 27th and that date is closing in on
Read more

The other side of the dark day...

-
 Kate's dark day of Jun 27th came and went like any other day. Kate swam 100 fly in the Independence meet and finished 1st (she was the only swimmer in her age group to sign up, but who cares about details) and then she and Matt hopped in the car to drive up to Rochester for next-day appointments. The worst part of Kate's dark day was probably Matt trying out the Grimace meal at McDonald's. It was death by milkshake and yet he drank the whole thing. Can't let food go to waste, or something.  We braved June 27th with dread and came out on the other side. We enter year three into the cancer life. Two years of appointments, scans, blood draws, IVs, endless chemotherapies, daily medications. It is difficult to remember life before all of this, when Kate was able to get up at 6 a.m. to swim, play basketball, ride her bike, go to school and chase her sisters. We've all adapted even though no one wants to. Hand to God I keep hoping to have a tantrum and wake up from whatev
Read more

October things...

-
Image
It has not been the easiest October on record. Kate had a couple of hospital visits to Rochester but she is somewhat better at the moment. She continues with chemotherapy and has not been back to school for quite some time but she is doing her best to set aside time for online school work between naps, loving on cats, and hanging out with her family. I was able to get the girls to visit their great grandma in western Iowa a few weeks back. Here's Claudia shortly after arriving at great grandma's house. She is very into jewelry and lots of it. Grandma had several questions for her about the number of bracelets and thankfully Claudia loves talking about them. Many she has made, some were gifted to her...it's a lovely hodgepodge of middle school girl goodies. Clearly the girls and I were blessed with height genes from relatives not named great grandma. We spent time relaxing, taking four wheeler rides, eating candy and we also received a visit from my aunt and uncle. Aunt Deb
Read more