Summer!

It's the last day of school, and summer plans are in the making.

I usually have the kids make a list of the top 5 things they want to do over summer break, but this year, they fought me and didn't want to do it (it feels like a chore, Mom).  So instead, I am putting a list up on the fridge, and when any of us comes up with a good idea, we will write it on the list and try to do it before school starts again in August.

A few things I know that we will be doing...

Spending lots of time here, riding rides and swimming and people-watching and eating:

King's Island in Mason, OH (seven minutes away!)

 Enjoying summer drinks on our new pergola, enjoying our garden and time with friends and family:

Grapefruit margaritas...yum!

Watching Elijah play baseball, attending a few Reds games, grilling out, hiking, reading lots of books, planning our October cruise, working (no time off  for the parents...bummer), and just enjoying a break from the routine of packing lunches/overseeing homework/waking up early and enforcing bedtime.

Summer break, bring it on!

What are your plans this summer?  Vacations?  Good book suggestions?  A new summer drink?

He is...

the youngest of three, and although he is nearly eight years old, my baby he will always be.

quite the reader, progressing much farther in first grade than I thought he would.

a lover of roller coasters, and video games, and Dr. Seuss, and bugs, and his mom.

a brown bear already, and summer hasn't even begun (thank you, Dad, for sharing your awesome ability to tan with your grandson).

an adorable boy who I am over-the-moon crazy about.

He is Gabriel William and he is amazing.

Baby of the family

An older sister is a friend and defender -

 a listener, conspirator, a counsellor and a sharer of delights.

  And sorrows too.

  ~Pam Brown

Me and my "big" sisters

When I was growing up, divorced families were not the norm.  My own mom and dad weren't divorced, but they had each been married and had daughters from their first spouses.  Trying to explain my family tree was complicated at best...I have three half-sisters, two from my mom, one from my dad; when my parents got married, they had only me...therefore, I have no "full" siblings.

That, however, is nonsense.  Half, full...didn't matter then, doesn't matter now.

When I was born, Michelle was nine years old; Rhonda, seven.  They doted on me like no other; I know, I've seen the pictures and heard the stories.

Michelle would sneak into my room when I was a baby, waking me up in the morning and pretending that she was my mom.  She taught me how to read when I was only four years old.  She got married when I was nine and moved out on her own, providing me with a safe haven during my teenage years.  I was there for her when her babies were born; she was there for me years later when I had babies of my own.  We have discovered the joys of scrapbooking and photography and blogging together.  We have taken road trips and talked about the books we love, laughed over the silliest things and just enjoyed being sisters.  I have so many memories of our relationship, they wouldn't even fit on this blog.  Knowing that Michelle is there for me, no matter what, is a priceless gift that I am forever grateful for.

Rhonda is the only daughter of our dad's first marriage.  We have never lived in the same house, but I remember clearly the weekends when Dad would pull up in the driveway with Rhonda in tow, and I would run outside, shrieking, "SISSY!" and throw myself into her arms.  I loved wearing her hand-me-downs (I always thought she was the most stylish teenager ever) and I especially loved when she would fix my hair and take me out "on the town" (usually dinner at a Mexican restaurant) when she got her license.  Now that Rhonda is married and has babies, too, we do our best to get our families together for cookouts, card-playing, and fun cousin time.  I treasure our annual sisters-only Kings Island days, and our movie dates, and our hiking trips.  We joke that our almost-psychic ability to read each other's minds will someday lead to us sitting side-by-side in the old folks' home, not needing to talk, just nodding and smiling and knowing exactly what we both mean :)

Never have I not liked being the "baby of the family".  My sisters made sure that I always felt loved and treasured, and I am so grateful for that part of my life.  I'm so glad that we live less than an hour away; that we have interests in common and still love getting together as often as we can.  They have helped shape me into the person I am today, and I love them for it.

Want to read more stories about being grateful?  Head over to "Learn with Jenny" and have a peek...maybe even write a grateful post of your own...

The Garden Effect

Friday was a horrible-no-good-terrible day at work.  Tons of sick patients needing ICU beds, not enough nurses to go around, and half of the phones in the hospital stopped working at 3pm.  And continued to not work for the next eight hours.  My phone, however, did work and rang three calls at a time for the last four hours of my shift.  It.Was.Awful.

After a restless night of tossing and turning and reliving the stressful day, wondering what I could have done differently, I finally gave up and made some coffee, turned on my computer and decided to play around with some of the pictures on my camera.

I found this one that I took a couple of weeks ago.

Instantly, I felt better.  At peace.  There are things within my control and things out of my control, and God often has to remind me to figure out the difference between the two and let Him take care of the rest.  Working in my garden brings me closer to Him, and the simple process of editing this photograph had the same effect on that early Saturday morning.

I think I need to frame this one and put it in my office at work, so I can have that same feeling when everything around me is falling apart...

"Be still and know that I am God."  Ps 46:10

Fairy Garden

After seeing a fairy garden at a friend's house last summer, I knew I had to make one for myself.  Isabel, Gabe and I had so much fun picking out the furniture and the plants, and Joe and Elijah bought me the planter and dirt for Mother's Day.  I bought the fairy garden kit on Amazon.com for under $40 with shipping; well worth it, in my opinion!

Here is the finished result, sitting on the back deck, just waiting for that special fairy to come along and discover her new home :)

Come on, you know you want one of your own!  Such a fun project to do with little ones!

Wishes

Remember those fountains at the mall?  The ones where you stood hopefully, holding your penny tight in your fist, eyes squeezed shut, thinking of the one wish you wanted to come true more than any other wish you could think of?  Then you threw your penny in, praying and hoping and wishing that someday, that wish would turn into reality?

You're looking at the result of hundreds of pennies thrown into the waters of such a fountain....

From the age of eleven, I would throw in my penny and wish for a baby.  I knew that I couldn't have a baby right now, but more than anything, I knew I wanted to be a mom.  More than a new Barbie or Cabbage Patch Kid.  More than a pair of Guess jeans or black high-top Reeboks.  (Although there may still be one of those pennies with such a wish attached.)

Fast forward thirteen years.  I had my first son, Elijah, when I was twenty-four.  Isabel, when I was twenty-six.  And Gabe, when I was thirty.

Fast forward another thirteen years, and here we are today.  My thirteenth Mother's Day.  Each one sweeter than the last.  Being a mom is everything I had ever hoped for.  Some days are exhausting and frustrating and worrisome.  But most days are filled with love, laughter, and joy.  Watching them grow into these amazing people from tiny babies, knowing that their spirits have thrived under my consistent care.  That is a gift greater than any wish I could have ever hoped for.

Happy Mother's Day, to every mom out there, and to every girl who right now is clutching her penny close to her heart, wishing for the chance to be the mom she most wants to be.

Hey Girl photo challenge

"I Heart Faces" has a great photo challenge each month...this month is "Hey Girl", which must feature a girl in the photo.  What better girl to photograph than my preteen beauty, Isabel?  For only being twelve, Isabel possesses a grace and sweet spirit that most people will never achieve.  I'm not sure how I managed to be blessed with such an amazing daughter, but I am grateful for her each and every day.

"Wise beyond her years"

Love you, Isabel.