And this is what resulted.
And for my sweet sisters here is a photo of me dressed as 'Carrie' (in my grandma's dress) for the SATC 2 Movie Premier Party I attended in GR on Thursday night. Love you girls!
Tonight we picked up our new puppy! Tom finally caved to the pressure from the rest of us and we couldn't be more excited! He is a 10 week old chocolate 'mini' Golden doodle and will be about 25lbs when full grown. He wags his tail with glee every time the kids come near him and chased them all over the yard. Then he snuggles in for some loving! Perfect! Needless to say we weren't sure the kids would fall asleep tonight they are so excited!
Yesterday temps were in the upper 80's so we headed to the beach for our first time of the season. The water temp was only 58, but the kids still swam for almost 2 hours! It was so fun to see them splashing in the waves, throwing the football to each other, and building on the sand! Nothing beats kids laughter, waves, and sand between your toes (ok, the 3 inches of sand in the van I could do without....)
Today the kids will eat lunch at school for the first time. Last night I packed their lunches for the first time. Growing up my dad packed my lunch with love and that is something I want to pass on to my kiddos. Today is a 'practice' for next year, they eat in the cafeteria with the 1st graders. They are so excited. Yet again I find myself in awe of how fast they are growing up!
On an exciting "last" note, today is the last day of my PATH class at Hope College, I'll be on summer vacation from that job :)
Today our first 'fruit' was harvested from our community garden plot. One perfect strawberry. I took it home to the kids and after this picture we all savored one small bite. We are so proud. After planting our garden a few weeks ago we began saying this version of psalm 104 on our way to school to pray for our plants. I just love it!
"We praise you God! You are like a marvelous king who wears beautiful, bright robes. You make the water run in rivers and the animals come for a drink. You make the plants grow so we have food to eat. You open up your hands and give us everything we need." Amen to that.
Ok, I never had brothers...is this normal????? Gives a new meaning to 'climbing the walls' I guess!! I sure do love him!
This morning I looked over to the passenger seat as I drove the kids to school and saw my Farmers Market Basket. I told the kids it was 'opening day' and I'd be heading there after I dropped them off (before I went in to work). They were immediately sad because they wanted to come too. I told them how I used to take them to the Market starting when they were babies. I would lug the giant triple stroller out of the back of the van (it did not fold), unbuckle all of the babies from car seats and buckle them in to the stroller, apply sunscreen, put on the blue awning, and head in to the market. We would slowly (c'mon this was the only plan for the entire morning!) savor the sights and sounds, smells and flavors. The kids loved it. Not as much as I did. After I finished this story they said two things, "Wow mom, that must have been really hard" To which I fought back tears as I honestly said, "No not hard, it was one of my favorite things" That is the truth. The second thing they said was, "Why did you put sunscreen on us if you used the top of the stroller?" Well, that's just me folks :)
Needless to say, after I dropped them off I had a tearful and quiet drive to the farmers market by myself. It was amazing to see the local farmers including several who asked specifically how the kids were, how old they were now, and how they remember them in the big stroller. It was amazing to find asparagus, radishes, spinach, potatoes, and even cheese. But, it wasn't the same without my kiddos.
After they got off the bus and we enjoyed a simple lunch with some of my morning finds we packed up and headed down to the market. As you can see most of the vendors were gone for the day, but seeing the kids talk to "Their friend the farmer" and run to the man who sells honey sticks made my day complete.
One of my favorite blogs and jewelry designers has a wonderful giveaway today...check it out!
http://www.lisaleonardonline.com/blog/
