farewell.

well, it’s about that time we say 
farewell to summer.

(a dog, obviously)

you’ve been good to us.
so very good to us this year.


(i have no idea)

we have enjoyed some lovely sun-filled days 
at the beach
and the pool 
and you have provided many quiet moments 
among a surprisingly rigid and 
unrelenting summer schedule.

(again, no idea)

we will always look back at this summer 
and think about all of the lovely ways 
in which we enjoyed our time with you.
and we will always remember this 
as the last summer before D enters kindergarten.
(snakes)

even though i didn’t even get close to 
implementing my summer schedule
(a lot of that will hopefully be put into a fall schedule)
we still had an intentional and fulfilling summer.

(a playdough man) 

It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth; 
you made both summer and winter.
Psalm 74:17

1426. giggling children although they should be sleeping
1427. an absolutely incredible sunset
1428. talking books with a seven year old
1429. a painting project with my B
1430. a two hour “planning” meeting

butterflies.

i’m sure you remember my post about

well, this year they had 
the most incredible
new exhibit. 


it was a butterfly exhibit.


the children were in absolute awe
that they could each catch a little fluttering friend.


and they quickly figured out that 
if they were careful enough,
they could place the little butterfly food
on themselves.


and so that is what they did.


did you know it’s always a good idea to close an eye 
if you have a butterfly on your head.
it’s typical butterfly protocol.


and there was a worker at the gate 
making sure that there 
weren’t any butterflies trying to escape.

The good man brings good things
out of the good stored up in his heart,
and the evil man brings evil things
out of the evil stored up in his heart.
For out of the overflow of his heart
his mouth speaks.
Luke 6:45

1421. catching a breath
1422. fluttering butterflies
1423. B solving my computer mouse problem
1424. a brave B keeping our family safe from rabid squirrels
1425. an iced coffee delivery

click it up a notch.august

one of my favorite new sites,
has a contest each month
and you are to submit your favorite photo from that month.
so here it is!
my favorite photo from august.


two of my loves.

Jesus replied,
“You do not realize now what I am doing,
but later you will understand.”
John 13:7

1416. little breaks
1417. happy kids on a long car ride
1418. a husband who just gets it
1419. lunch on the table
1420. excitement for kindy!

Click It Up A Notch

the ranch.

thank you to all of you that linked up
for
picture me {im}perfectly yesterday!


now settle in.
because this is going to be a nice, long journey.

some friends we have had for years and years
(since our D and their O were babies)
invited us out to the ranch this past weekend.


we left our house early,
but not that early.
that gorgeous sunrise photo was taken by our very talented friend
(see his watermark)
and you can check out this link
to learn more about the ranch.


it was simply breathtaking.


and this is not a sign we usually see around our parts.


sweet little C.
she was so teensy that i think K thought she was a babydoll.
a talking, nearly walking babydoll.


and sweet old dog, maddie was a love to be around.


we got ready to head down to the beach
and B picked out a surfboard
which was tied to the top of the car.


this was the first ranch gate that he has ever unlocked.
now he’s a pro though.


yes.
that is in fact a photo of us driving on the beach.
i know.
it was incredible.
you can drive on the beaches there 
as long as you have a very special pass.


incredible and scary.


especially with those driver helpers.


and this guy was standing on the outside 
of the car to get those shots.


apparently, there are no rules at the ranch.


it was


lovely.



simply, 



simply lovely.


and so is he.
who doesn’t love some sweet potatoes beachside?
when i think of a great beach snack
i definitely think of sweet potatoes.
don’t you?


heart shaped rocks


and beautiful shells, aplenty.


and you’ve got to wear a cowboy hat on the ranch.
even if you are at the beach.


this little guy, S, didn’t seem to mind
the sand that was all over his face.
i think he was just happy it wasn’t sunscreen.
he’s not a fan of the application of sunscreen.


the waves broke pretty far out
which made for some delightful water play.


my very own marlboro man
with the kids.


apparently the beach was crowded.


i did see about seven other people.
the entire day.


the kids enjoyed the water the entire day.
it was like a dream.
it really was.


my long-time friend, K and i
got to go on a very long walk.
we were gone for over an hour.
and a napping L was on my back.


and little L had a grand time watching all the big kids.


B, K and a sweetly sleeping little C.


the two cowboys and the little lady.


K found a new wrestling partner in S
since D would rather have
nothing to do with that sort of thing.


fun was had until her wrestling partner ran away.


and this is how you juggle a camera with a huge lens and a baby.
just in case you wanted to know.



my cowboy surfer getting ready to head out to the waves.


O and his daddy.


the big boys.
they are only a couple weeks apart.
and they mesh so nicely every time 
we get to see this sweet family.
it must have been all of those walks 
that we used to take them on as infants.


our little surfer girl.


and a soon-to-be little surfer girl.


and if you look really closely into O’s eye,
you can see a reflection of my little L.


sweet little C checking out the waves.


K and i.
we probably have a bunch of photos
of our bigs when they were L’s size.




sand on the tire.
a rare sight for us.


our last stop on the beach was to this 
perfect little spot
to get some family shots.


did i mention how lovely this all was?
because it was.


and this is one of my new favorite shots.
of us.


we soon had to pack up the kids in the car


and say farewell to the ranch.


until we meet again.


And God said, 
“Let the water under the sky 
be gathered to one place, 
and let dry ground appear.” 
And it was so.
Genesis 1:9

1411. good little kiddos on long car rides
1412. a sweet, sweet sister who loves my kiddos
1413. trusting Him that all of the schedule stuff will work out nicely
1414. dessert out
1415. photography wisdom from the lovely E

picture me {im}perfectly.the dishes

first of all…
happy, happy birthday
to my sweet sister,
Aunt WW!



(you can check our her little blog here
and her etsy shop here)




we were able to celebrate her birthday early this year
and she was kind enough to let us
have it at our place
rather than go to a restaurant with the children
(because let’s be honest, that is fun for no one). 
and seeing that L needs to be in bed by 6:15pm.



she is quite fashionable
and hands down the most fashionable one in our family.
i think we’d all agree with that.
am i right?
yeah, i’m right.
it does help that she would look good wearing a garbage bag
(as i outlined here).
well, to her birthday dinner
she wore a cute yellow dress
and a matching yellow clip in her hair.



apparently, the clip made quite the statement
because my children
(after getting restless that the adults were still talking)
drew pictures of the birthday girl.
and in both of those pictures,
the yellow hair clip made an appearance.



this is when K was really restless.
i think she could smell the cupcakes
that were waiting for us inside.


i can’t wait to see what 
God is going to do in her life this year.
it’s going to be good.
for all of His gifts are good.


my sister often comes over for a visit
and in honor of her coming over,
i never do a dish.
not even one.
that’s how you know we’re tight.
if i let you see my dirty dishes.
sometimes i don’t even do the breakfast ones until dinner.
gross, right?
totally gross.
but there are three little people
that need my attention and 
unfortunately for the dishes, 
they can’t demand my attention.

all of the confessions from Laura’s post from last week 
were such a beautiful insight into her life.
go check that housewife out.

picture me {im}perfectly
is a weekly project to reveal that we don’t have it all together.

i will post a 
picture me {im}perfectly
blog post every wednesday 
where you will be able to link up to your blog
revealing that:

you are not picture perfect,
your kids are not picture perfect,
your house is not picture perfect,
your crafts are not always picture perfect,

let’s 
encourage, 
inspire and 
remind 
other women 
that none of us have it all together.  

add my button to your blog post
and link up to your direct posting
and feel encouraged. 

But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, 
where moth and rust do not destroy, 
and where thieves do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:20-21

1406. swim parties
1407. lovely dessert
1408. beautiful words
1409. talking to our neighbor
1410. D’s absolute excitement over starting kindy

my sweet friend.

my sweet friend
(who happens to have 
asked me to do a shoot for her growing family.


isn’t she adorable?
she is.
and funny.
very, very funny.
this girl gets herself into some of the craziest situations.
i told her that she needs to write a book.
yes, her stories are that good.
you’d cry from laughing so hard if you heard one.


and she has one of the handsomest little boys around.
i was completely smitten by him.


and i think that he was completely smitten by me.


it was either that or 
the mini chocolate chips i was giving him
for not running away.
but even when he did run away, he would yell,
“running!”
which was seriously adorable.


he loves his momma


and he loves his dada


and he is sure to love his baby brother.


this family is such a gift to me.
and it is an absolute blessing 
to be able to watch what the Lord is doing 
in their life right now.
how He is working.
how He is healing.
how He is blessing.
how His plans are being made known.


Have I not commanded you? 
Be strong and courageous. 
Do not be afraid; 
do not be discouraged, 
for the LORD your God 
will be with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9

1401. beach shoots
1402. sweet, sweet friends
1403. a practice walk to D’s school
1404. toll house cookies
1405. a PT session for L that did not include tears

this is it.

well, this is it.
the end of our summer is nearing.
and we are going to soak it up.

i refound my “summer list” last night
and there are so many things that we haven’t yet done.
but that’s okay.
i think i can bring a couple of those things
to my fall list.
which i have yet to start. 


but for now,
we are going to be right here.

and, i absolutely refuse to pin fall-ish things on pinterest.
not quite yet.
because it’s still summer here.

These commandments that I give you today 
are to be on your hearts.
Impress them on your children. 
Talk about them when you sit at home 
and when you walk along the road,
when you lie down and when you get up.
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 

1396. long car rides
1397. soaking up what’s left of the summer
1398. packing a lot in this past weekend
1399. sleep
1400. having just enough energy

rotten.

we eat a lot of rotten eggs around here. 


D was the one to name these eggs rotten.
and as you can see, we clearly label them that way in our fridge.
we go through at least three a day, 
but sometimes the number is closer to six. 
it is just about the only snack that all three of my children will eat. 
besides saltines. 
but i think everyone likes saltines, right?

and when we say rotten, we mean hard-boiled. 

1391. the smell of sweet potatoes baking
1392. a super clean shower
1393. a million fun links to look at
1394. rotten eggs
1395. having plenty to do all the time

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