If you were to come to my front door during these summer days, this is what you would find.  Welcome to snippets of our summer….       We began our summer with a trip to the mountains of North Carolina.  It was a joy to reconnect with good friends, swim in the lake, eat way too much food and stay up late talking.  I forgot how peaceful it is to be in the mountains, especially now that we live at the beach.  I think a mountain trip might be necessary for us each year.   Jennavieve turned three–our only summer baby, and a week in Sicily for Bradley…

The past seven months have been filled with various kinds of challenges for our family.  Much of it has pertained to health issues, but then that’s what happens when you have a lot of children.  Germs keep multiplying and it sometimes takes more than a month to simply let one virus spread, pass, and then another one begins again. My body and mind have been more tired than ever and it was in the midst of this tiredness that I made two lists of rules:  “Things I Do” and “Things I don’t Do.”   Simplistic, I know.  Kind of like my simple summer list.  This is probably just a clear…

Going to church has always been a part of my life.  Growing up, we attended church on Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and then again on Wednesday night.  It was just a part of life, and something that I loved.  I suppose in my teen years, a large part of being at church was getting to see my friends.   Youth group was fun and we learned about God’s Word, but it was also an opportunity to build friendships, see the cute boys (let’s be honest), and have a good time. There have been times in my life when I thought that attending church was a sign of spiritual maturity, a mark…

For as long as I can remember, music has been a significant part of my life.  During my growing up years, I took piano lessons, and it was through the practicing of my songs each week that I learned to express my emotions.  My mom could often tell what was going on in my heart based upon the types of songs I would play.  Classical pieces in a minor key usually meant there was some sort of turmoil happening in my heart.  Upbeat numbers or my favorite song (Chopin’s Nocturne in E flat) were played when all was well.  During my college years I found it life-giving to close myself into one of…

It was almost bedtime and we needed diapers.   I hadn’t had a chance to get out of the house that day, as I was still trying to figure out how to care for Mason in his cast.    But there were still dirty dinner dishes on the counter.  I’m not a neat freak, but I do prefer a clean kitchen before beginning the bedtime routine. This particular night, we were running out of time.  So Bradley told me to take the girls with me to the drugstore for diapers, he would sit with Cooper and Mason–who still hadn’t moved from his bed in two days–and we could do the dishes…

Last Sunday night we were enjoying a beautiful evening in the backyard.  It was the end of spring break and we had spent a great week with Bradley’s parents in Pennsylvania.  After a month of sickness, we were all healthy and ready to jump back into a normal routine of life. And then, as I was getting dinner ready for the kids, Bradley came into the house carrying Mason and I knew something wasn’t right.  “I’m pretty sure he broke his leg.  I can feel something moving in there,” Bradley calmly told me.  Once we realized there was no way we could put Mason into the carseat, we called 911,…

This summer Bradley and I had the privilege of a kid-free vacation to Puerto Rico. It was glorious. Free time, sleep, no demands, no meeting the needs of little people, an opportunity to enjoy being together. The purpose of our trip was to rest, so we didn’t take part in many activities or sight-seeing.  But there was one excursion that we didn’t want to miss:  a visit at night to a bioluminescent bay. We found a tour company who offered paddle boarding tours to a nearby bay.  After a brief introduction to paddle boarding we hopped in our car, grabbed dinner at a hole in the wall on the side of…

  The past two months have been wonderful and horrible at the same time.  I’m thrilled to have another baby in our family, and everyone loves him more than he will ever know.  The older kids have welcomed him without jealousy and I’ve been so thankful for the ways they have adjusted. But, as grateful as I am and as wonderful as it has been, life with a newborn is hard. Sleep is minimal, routines are non-existent, breasfteeding is tiresome, figuring out a baby’s cries is exhausting, and caring for the needs of everyone else in the family at the same time will wear any person thin. And when you’re…

I just dropped Bradley off at the airport for a 12 day work trip to Europe.  I agreed to this trip when I was still very pregnant and the thought of him being gone for two weeks was no big deal; I could handle four and I knew the baby would be at least six weeks old when he left.  Plus, he’s in the Navy, so it’s not like we have an option with these sorts of things. Last night, as we were heading to bed, Bradley said: “Are you going to be okay while I’m gone?” Before he had even really finished asking me, I replied with a pretty…