Outside Spring Day

At a temp of almost 82 degrees the outdoors was the only place we were going to be playing today. P & C have been couped up in the house for the past four days with awful colds. It was so great to get outside and get the wiggles out. We played a little 'soccer' in the backyard then P suggested we go for a walk to the park. So we did. After rests we met the family at the barn for the usual Sunday night summer activities. It was a great way to spend a beautiful Sunday.

Butterflies with Auntie J & Ava

A couple Saturdays ago my dear sister-in-law took Payton & Ava to Fredrick Meijer Garden's to see the butterflies.
Payton had so much fun.
Thank you so much Jamie for taking the girls!

Fort Myers 2011

We had another wonderful trip to Fort Myers. Our kids had a blast swimming, hanging on the beach and spending time with their cousins.
I'll post more about the trip later but for now...pictures.

Florida Flights

Our flights to Fort Myers were great. The kids did really well on both flights, the ride home especially. We got Payton these really adorable headphones so she could watch and listen to her movie on the flights. Well, the flight there she wanted nothing to do with these things which was a big bummer because they literally showed up in the mail 30 minutes before we walked out the door and I was so happy. Then she wouldn't wear them...go figure. But I am happy to say after a little persuasion from the cousins she wore them on the flight home.Excited to finally be on our way to Papa & Amma's CondoFirst plane rideAll SmilesSleepy BabiesHeadphone!Reading the safety instructions...good girl. :)

Cathedrals and The Invisible Mother

This is a great email my mom sent me the other day. I just wanted to share.

"It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the
way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and
ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm
on the phone?'

Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or
sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because
no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I
am only a pair of hands, nothing more! Can you fix this? Can you tie
this? Can you open this??

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a
clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What
number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30,
please.'

Some days I'm a crystal ball; 'Where's my other sock?, Where's my
phone?, What's for dinner?'

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the
eyes that studied history, music and literature -but now, they had
disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's
going, she's going, she's gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of
a friend from England. She had just gotten back from a fabulous trip,
and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was
sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well.
It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling
pretty pathetic, when she turned to me with a beautifully wrapped
package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great
cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me
until I read her inscription: 'With admiration for the greatness of
what you are building when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would
discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after
which I could pattern my work: 1) No one can say who built the great
cathedrals - we have no record of their names. 2) These builders gave
their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. 3) They
made great sacrifices and expected no credit. 4) The passion of their
building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A story of legend in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the
cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny
bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why
are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will
be covered by the roof, No one will ever see it And the workman
replied, 'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was
Almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you. I see the
sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does.

No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake
you've baked, no Cub Scout meeting, no last minute errand is too small
for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral,
but you can't see right now what it will become.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As
one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see
finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The
writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever
be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to
sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend
he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4
in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a
turkey for 3 hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That
would mean I'd built a monument to myself. I just want him to want to
come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend,
he'd say, 'You're gonna love it there...'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if
we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world
will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has
been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible mothers.

The Will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not
protect you.

To all the wonderful mothers out there!! God bless and keep you."