I really love my mom. I am incredibly grateful for the relationship we’ve grown together. It is built on trust and love, and carries no guilt or manipulation. She will always be my mom and I will always be her daughter, but we are also very genuine friends. I am SO blessed to have this beautiful thing with my mom. It is not lost on me how precious and rare this is.

I am sad to say I have hardly seen my mom this summer. Not out of a lack of desire or even of time, but sickness and circumstance have kept us at arms length for many weeks. Truth be told, I miss her terribly. Yes, we have lots on the go at the lake, with appointments, etc., but she is a very important part of our life and there is a very real hole left when we have been apart so long.

Mom, if its unclear at this point, I love you dearly 💜 I appreciate how invested you are in us, even in such a busy season.

In the midst of all your own busyness, you still come to events when possible, take Dekker in to do his cans, and make birthday cakes.

Heck, you even decorate our entire home (with the lovely Cher and Laela alongside) to celebrate big moments in our lives.

With the way our season has been, we have barely any pictures together 💜 But you’ll have to take my word for it when I say that she is one of my closest friends.

I hope you know how loved you are, dear mama 💜 I am proud to know you and be close to you. You are a person I truly admire, and if my children can feel a fraction of the love from me that I feel from you, I will have done my job.

I love you, mom 💜 I hope you feel celebrated and adored today, because you are, and you are.

Happy birthday, mom!

It was a day of work and play today. Both. A healthy balance. 

Cher and I coffeed in the morning, and then Cher worked on Laelas hair while I kept laundry moving. 

At lunch, the kids ate and settled in for quiet time, and the two of us ladies went downstairs to watch Bridesmaids, eat pancakes, colour, and crochet. 

Post-naps, laundry and braids continued, and I packed the kids clothes for this coming weekend. I sent Brady a grocery list and he happily agreed to pick it up. He also called in some prescriptions to fill. 

Brady came home from work with all the groceries, and a new work hat and shirt, looking so fly 😍goodness I’m proud of him! He LOVES his job! 

The kids helped put groceries away, and I cooked up the gourmet meal of Kraft dinner 😆 (feels important to add that autocorrect changed “gourmet” to “garbage.”) I am so fortunate to have a family who is HAPPY to have a big pot of macaroni with some salty toppings on it once in a while. I know it’s not good for us, but it’s a good treat and a super easy supper. Everyone was happy. 

Now, as the day winds up, Dekker is doing dishes, Cher is finishing up Laelas braids, and the others are playing. 

Laundry is done for the day, and kids clothes are packed. Tomorrow will be adults clothes and getting veggies chopped. Tomorrow is also my birthday date! Friday will be loading the van up and Brady has a doctors appointment in the morning. 

Lots of lead up to the weekend, but it’s always worth it! 

Thank you, all, for your care and concern about Rowan’s scary moment at the lake during our last trip there. It was a very real shakedown and I’ll admit, I’m still quite rattled. I REALLY hope I can get some swimming lessons or something of the sort in the near future. For myself and the kids, ideally. Goodness it was just such a terrifying moment for all of us.

Unfortunately, that all happened during out last evening at camp. The next day, things were still fresh, and a few of us still felt unsettled. But it made sense, and we still got up, enjoyed the sky and the kids, and got our butts down to the beach!

Understandably, not all of our kids felt super amped about getting in the water so shortly after Rowan’s scare, but the beach was still beautiful, and the weather really picked up! It was LOVELY.

Solly was suddenly CRAZY brave out of nowhere!!! It was AWESOME!

We beached as long as we could, but had to head back up to site around noon for lunch and packing up. Our loving friends decided we could go pack first, but that they would host us for lunch. It was SO fun!! Hard to leave, but always nice to know we’ll see them again next time 💜

A sleepy drive was good for the tired bodies, and we all snuggled in well at night.

If I said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times – We are SO fortunate to LOVE the lake and LOVE home. Thank you, Lord!

We got a good scare yesterday at the beach. Our first ever, and we praise God that it ended as well as it did. But goodness. I did not care for it. Not one bit.

We were at the beach for an evening swim with our friends. It was a last minute decision to go for a short stretch at the beach. The water isn’t especially deep up to the dock, so life jackets weren’t a priority in this case. They only wear them when they’re going out past the docks, which none of our kids planned on doing.

Everyone was having a good time together when a small floaty toy got away from the kids. Rowan came and asked if he could retrieve it in a kayak. It was past the docks, but it was just beside the boats, so it was mere feet past our usual cutoff. So I okayed it.

And I shouldn’t have.

Rowan misjudged how close he needed to be. He leaned far out of his kayak to reach the toy, and over he went. Brady saw it the moment it happened. He alerted me that Rowan had flipped his kayak. And sure enough, there he was, clinging to his upside down kayak for dear life, screaming for help.

And then he went under.

I was already running. Now, I cannot swim. Not well, at least. Definitely not well enough to save someone who was drowning. But what else was I going to do??

As I ran, Rowan sprung out of the water, having jumped off the bottom of the lake. He caught a breath and immediately went right back under. Not a single sound. He definitely could NOT touch.

I kept running, pushing myself through the water as fast as I could. Avery was beside me, in her life jacket, swimming like crazy toward Rowan. I’m sure he was only under for seconds at a time but it felt like an eternity. He wasn’t coming up as often as he should’ve been.

I finally reached him and praise God, I could touch, and I grabbed him up out of the water without putting us both in harms way. He got his head above water, was dead silent for a couple seconds before he started howling and spitting and just crying and crying. It was like a newborn baby’s first cry.

He koala beared me, and we walked slowly back to the beach. He was terrified and so was I. I was trying to drag the kayak back alongside us, but Avery quietly said “leave the boat, I have it” and I did. I don’t even know if I thanked her. Thank you, Avery. You were brave.

So was Rowan. We clung hard to each other for a good while once we were out of the water. Brady wrapped us in towels and we just reassured Rowan and thanked the Lord for his safety. At one point, he mourned the loss of his sunglasses that had fallen off his hat. Well you had better believe those kids all got together and sent out a search party, eventually recovering both Rowans sunglasses, and a sheet of cough candies that escaped my pocket.

Rowan was so frightened. He stayed VERY close to me for the rest of the evening, and this morning, he opted out of playing in the water. I don’t blame him. But he’ll be back 💜

Thank you, dear Lord, for protecting sweet Rowan at the lake. I don’t know what we would do without that boy in our family.

I am so relieved and grateful for Your mercy.

It has been yet another beautiful day 💜 

There was sun and cloud and fun and rest and food and peace and laughs

I am overwhelmed with gratefulness for this place 💜 

We go home tomorrow after a long stay here. I love camp. I love time. Praise God for an oasis no matter which direction we move in. 

Amen.

We had a really beautiful day recently and I haven’t been able to blog about it! So out of total fear of it being completely lost, I’m posting about it today 💜

It began on the beach. Some struggly attitudes turned into snuggly attitudes and it felt like a very real win. Lots and lots of close time with my kids! Specifically the boys that day. 

We enjoyed some lunch at the campsite, and noticed the chestnuts are starting to show up. They’re so pokey to peel still! 

We didn’t last at the site long before we were all just eager to get back to the beach. 

Upon arriving at the beach, our family was swept away for a much anticipated boat ride! A friend of ours out here promised a while ago to take us for a ride, but conditions and timing have worked against us and it just hasn’t happened yet. But on this day, it did 💜 It was the perfect day to be out in the water. So so beautiful. 

A pretty perfect group of passengers too, if I do say so myself! 

We soaked up our ride and toured all over the lake, the hidden bays, the island, etc. It was sad to come back. Except then it totally wasn’t because we had some BEAUTIFUL people floating around our site, waiting for our arrival! 

You guys were what was missing this day!

We LOVE our people 💜 and we are SO grateful for our experiences here. Thank you Lord!  

I want to tell you all about picking the kids up from camp, but it’s been such a full day of fun, I’m pooped and have very little gumption to write anything long. 

Rather, I’ll tell you that together with our dear friends, we had a wiener roast to close up the evening. 

Distorted but still good! 👌

A LOT of beautiful faces were present 💜 I love this group so so much. 

We ate a good supper of hot dogs and cheese balls. Some of the kids were jazzed. Some were half asleep. There was a solid mix. 

But no one lasted especially long, and we said goodnight knowing we’d see one another tomorrow. I’m so grateful. 

It was a beautiful, full, fun day 💜 Thank you Lord!

The sky was all over the place today. 

Yes. I said it. Sky. All over the place. As usual. But what I clearly meant to say was that the sky CHANGED multiple times today! 

This morning, it was light and clouded over. It was still bright out and very very still. It was terribly pleasant. 

In the early afternoon, it was beautifully blue with wispy white clouds. 

This evening, there was a storm warning. I went down to the water to take pictures off the dock, as I do most days, and the sky was absolutely breathtaking. I LOVE a good storm, so the clouds rolling in were so beautiful to me. 

And then just over an hour later, it was blowing and dark. Foreboding is a good word. 

Now, the rain is coming down, and we are safely tucked away for the night. What a perfect way to close off the day!

It was a VERY cute day 💜 With most of the kids at camp, and Cher coming to spend the day, our group of seven had a very relaxed time together! 

We had a fire after breakfast, and then hit the beach. It was a little windy and chilly but we still had fun! We picnicked our lunch at the beach but made our way up shortly thereafter. Sadie played with Wavy for the bulk of the day while Dekker built a car that Stacy had brought for him to work on. The kids were happily occupied all day, and the rest of us spent lots of time visiting. 

There was a break in the day when the Dahlsjo’s asked to take Dekker and Wavy out for ice cream! They had fun and so did we! 

The day wrapped up around a fire, and with the kids excitedly packing up for a sleepover at the Dahlsjo’s camper 💜 They are THRILLED, and I’m not mad at it either 😆 Thank you, Stacy, for being so gung ho to have them. 

It was a really enjoyable day. I am so grateful. 

It has been a truly believe day 💜 It began with rain, muffins, and friends. 

The morning was wished away while the kids anticipated 3:00pm – camp registration! They jumped around and played like maniacs for a couple of hours until it was finally time to start gathering up the odds and ends for camp. 

We got to registration only a few minutes early and got to confirm that the kids were in fact paired up as we had requested! The girls were together, and all three boys even got together!! Win!! They all eagerly lined up, signed up, and hauled out! The setup is a little bit trickier so unfortunately Brady isn’t able to tuck anyone in, but he was still present and gracious and excited along with everyone! 

Everyone was safely settled at camp, and we got out of there just as the festivities were about to begin! The rest of us and the Dahlsjo’s totalled to six, so we spent the evening together! Brady and Sadie cooked. Dekker and Wavy crafted and watched Scooby Do. Stacy and I visited and kept the fire alive. And we all really enjoyed each other’s company. 

Here is to a few days with way fewer kids and a totally different dynamic!