Sunday Morning walk in the woods

I woke to little voices talking to each other.  Cora didn't wake me this morning, she just came into our room to read and talk to Judah, who was awake in his little bed beside me.  This morning I wasn't greeted with 'It's Suntime, Mama!'  And I missed it, a little.

So we drove, just my girl and I, almost running out of gas and praying to Jesus to get us to the gas station...car dying just as I coasted up to the pump.  Through the curving roads of morning green and hills and rocky cliffs to the hidden park...not the playing kind, but the walking kind, I tell my little, who is confused by no jungle gym in sight.  With a sweet friend and her small girl, we walked.  My old dog Freckles exploring the trail ahead of us and taking it all in.  We didn't get very far down the path.  The sparkling light of the morning sun on the creek called to us and we headed down the bank.  Crawdads and minnows and snails and leaves and an odd rock with a hole through it, like a seeing stone to view the wood fairies.  Cora was all in.  Splashing turned to wading and eventually sitting...occasionally slipping, but mostly on purpose, in spite of sneakers and all her clothes on.  I'm glad for the warm(ish) sun on our shoulders...stacking rocks, slipping, splashing, and squealing and snippets of good conversation with an old friend...mixed in with rescuing my little from deeper pools and pointing out the crawdads.  Relishing the sweetness of her baby girl with wild curls on her beautiful head...who watched me with wide eyes as I sang-called the dog back to us.

Back to the trailhead, strip the wet clothes off...lucky I had a random towel in the car!  Dry in the sun and eat some grapes.  Help the old dog, whose legs are failing her and the half dressed girl (I only had dry shorts and undies for her to put on) back in the car and drive through the green again.  The winding beauty of the country roads and small crossroad towns.  Home again, home again.  Laughing with my girl.  My brave little "Shield Maiden of Rohan" who never met an outdoor adventure she didn't love.  My little girl, soaked and loving it.  She is All In.  And so am I.

[This Moment]

SouleMama does a great weekly post called This Moment.  No words, just a beautiful image or memory captured.  This is mine.

Pause. Breathe. Unpause. Run!

Baby toes and broken washing machines. 
Sweet story time with 'little miss questions' and piles of languishing dirty cloth diapers (which I am unable to wash!)
Sweet little scooching across the room with arms and one foot on his way to mama and dog hair coating the front of his jammies.
A little girl's bright eyed joy at being able to wear her new (pink!) fall dress and a trip to the home supply store to drop $500+...(ack!) on a new washing machine. 
A new washing machine(!) that we are blessed to be able to afford...(Yay!) and piles of clothes to wash
A warm, safe home to live in and a list of repairs that I never get to.
Two wonderful babies who I spend my days loving on rather than fixing the house.

Eventually I run out of the things that I tend to focus on rather than the gifts of today and I am left with piles and piles of beauty and blessings and kisses and questions and stories and a baby who has learned to hug mama and crawl and eat bananas (so amusing to watch) and 'boing'  and give kisses, and take in life with wide eyes and a beautiful little girl who I just can't get enough of with her curiosity and her little matter o' fact statements and her bookwormness and flitting around the house on a mission to create or dream or invent or dance.  I want to drink in the things I am learning about them, who they are becoming and hold it still in my memory so I won't for get it.  (and find the time to write it in their books, because I know I will) The wind in the leaves on this cool gray September day.  Teaching my little one to find the joy in everything we do, even when it's something we don't want to do.  Reminding myself to do the same. 

Today is a gift for which I am so grateful.  Now I gotta run fish a clump paper out of the baby's mouth!

Summer Girl in her Fancy Dress

Oh how my girl loves to dress up and be fancy. It's somehow engrained in her being. And there is nothing sweeter than a fancy little girl, barefoot in the grass.

Meager harvests but still so sweet!

I seem to be unable to grow anything but tomatoes and sadly misshapen and small cantaloupes.  Even my pepper plant (which was finally going gangbusters) got rained into the ground last week during a little cold snap and several days worth of rain.  We shall see if part of it recovers,  I am less than hopeful. 

But I can grow tomatoes!  Here's a small harvest from August.  We hardly gave the plants a chance to catch up every day, before we were out there checking for little red ripe ones hiding in the leaves.  And the best part of all, my little helper, Cora, loves to garden with me! (read eat tons of tomatoes)

Beautiful baby boy! (8 months old)

Judah is 8 months today!  And while these photos are from last month (I haven't done his 8 month photos yet), I can't resist showing them to you.  The blue eyes! The cheeks! The giggles! The chubby little thighs!  I am so in love with this little guy.  Get ready.  It's a feast of sweet baby.  I can hardly resist eating him up!

Happy 8 months, little guy. Our love for you is expanding like the universe with no end in sight!

Covenant Child (number 2)

On August 7th, our small boy was baptized at our church.  People have lots of opinions on this and while we don't believe this is a sign of his salvation, we do believe that we, his parents, and the church make a covenant (with water) to point this little guy to Christ.  It was a sweet time with family and a small group of friends to celebrate.  Then later, at the service, we got to celebrate our covenant child, Judah with our family of believers.  (complete with gown that I made for him, in spite of Geek protests.  Sorry honey!  It's traditional, not girly.  I swear!) We love you, little guy!

By the way, these photos DID NOT happen on August 7th, but about a week later, after I had washed the sweet potato spit up out of his gown. Just so you don't go round thinkin' I'm on top of things.