just the 4 of us

when daddy travels

j-bug

this little girl walks in my front door and i smile.  she's easy on the eyes with her baby blues and platinum head of hair cut to match her mama's.  it takes all my self-control to keep from giving her gum drops and lollipops; licorice ropes and chewy candies.

tonight i was making dinner with my mother in law when j-bug let herself in through the front screen door... she was asking for a drink.  i pulled open my Tupperware drawer o' plastic cups and pulled out a choice sippie - albeit, not 'choice' for j-bug.  her eyes were glued on the aqua one and so she smiled and looked sideways up at me, 'i wahn dat wun...' as her eyes sparkled and danced, her mouth drawn in a sweet grin as she waited...

i pulled out the aqua cup and helped her fill it from the front of the fridge.  she walked out the front door and ten minutes later walked in saying she was hungry.  with fresh bread in hand, she casually strolled back out the front door... waddling with such grace that you knew she was grinning from ear to ear.  she had me... and she knew it.

after the dinner was prepped and the spread was laid out on the picnic table, my dear j-bug came to visit.  having smelled the fresh roasted bird from the driveway, she came quickly but with caution.  her manners were present, her voice was even yet somewhere in there one could sense a bridled hunger - it made her fidgety.  she awkwardly climbed atop my picnic bench and made herself at home.

of course, i grabbed the camera.  and of course, she was cooperative while i shot...

had i no more than myself to feed, i would have given her most of the bird.  had i not cared about keeping with her mom's care for manners, i would have let her eat as i shot photos of her devouring a chicken carcass with her cute little fingers... but alas, she was gently summoned to come home and eat and leave us to our dinner.  she walked away with a sweetness in her step and a 'see you tomorrow' in her smile - and yes, her eyes sparkled.

jeepin'

With our new home came a neighborhood saturated with wonderful families and children just the right age. M and J-bug live directly across the street from us -- and quite honestly, I feel as though I'm living in a storybook. The kids run around oblivious to the busy world outside our street... the acre of grass in the park next door, winding pathways and large deciduous trees create for our kids a type of utopia.

... then add a Power Wheels Jeep and one can barely contain them self.

This coming year holds so many memories ready to be created...

doing normal together

snohomish, washington

kyle and i moved on a Saturday morning, the end of July, to our new home in Snohomish.

kyle flew out a week later to seek a job position in Southern California - one that will allow him to work remotely from the Northwest.  he got the job and we couldn't be more excited.

suddenly things began taking a steep and sharp turn upwards and around as we looked ahead to the consistency that God is laying before us but also the travel that kyle will have to do for his new job, the new home that we've found ourselves in, new terrain that is school and friends and teachers and parents and grocery stores, etc.  Things haven't ever truly been 'normal' for kyle and I since we've been married as God has taken us from one thing to the next but this seemed to be quite a big shift all at once.

our new home

before i knew it we were in 'the week before the ocean' - its a week that comes once every year and is full of preparation, phone calls, excited emails, meal plans and banter between family members.  it is absolutely wonderful and it takes every bit of effort not to over plan...

usually that's how it goes.

this year i found myself hanging in mid-air during that time - i was waiting to hear about kyle's job offer, trying to unpack the office, hosting a get together with a lot of kids and their moms, making sure to note the times of travel for those flying in and out of Sea-Tac and being a Mom to my somewhat discombobulated children.  none of those things are bad... they just take up space in my brain.

now i sit in a wonderful beach front home - windows stained with salt water and cedar shingle siding worn from the wind.  i'm at the dining room table whilst the my kids are upstairs taking their quiet time, my niece is in the room across the hall from them napping and my nephew is tucked in the master closet getting some much needed rest as well.  Mom and Dad are sitting (likely snoozing) out on the back deck listening to the waves crash and Hannah, my just-graduated-from-high-school sister, is off buying taffy at the candy shop down 101.

we are all different.  we are all passionate about our perspectives on life like how to raise children and how to cook a steak; who likes board games and who wants to read; whether to sleep right now or whether to take a walk on the beach - the kids are down!  Though we can find reason to debate the pros and cons of each, we all love and care for each other.  We all wait and wait for this week every year... and there's likely not a better moment than what we're experiencing right now.

we're doing normal together.  katie is often dramatic and feels entitled to her drama; william is often bored if you've not laid out for him what to do next; benjamin is often deliberately disobedient; emma is often sassy and may hit if you touch her George monkey; isaac is likely to scream and stomp when he wants Dad to PICK HIM UP NOW ... these are all normal things.  things that we usually deal with separately and now we get to deal with them together.  this week.  and the fact that this week is my normal in the midst of the abnormal elsewhere in my life, i couldn't be more at ease.

multipurpose clothespins

banana bathed in sunshine

yes, even at the coast we hang our clothes to dry

iBar's reflection

doing laundry

katie's tooth is out!

flying kites

... a homemade kite

watching the flying kites

hawaiian night - thanks to Mom, Dad and Banana!

les and baby Jack on the beach

flying kites with uncle geoff

tomorrow we will all pack up and head out.  we'll finalize the house we want to rent next year and we'll pray together in a circle.  we'll likely shed some tears and as we embrace we will begin counting in our heads how many days left until we're all back here again.