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yesterday

June 18, 2010

as we left swimming lessons i saw this car parked in front of my big truck.

i said "oh….that is pretty….ohhhhh…..i like that car"
sean looked at it and said "but mom, there are only two seats!"
and talby said "exactly. one for her and one for dad."
i smiled.
annie didn't miss a beat "WELL…i'm gonna need 2 CAMPER CARS when i have my 12 kids!"

we went to the zoo for a short visit.
it was hot.
very hot.

the zoo had the misters everywhere to cool the kids off.
sean's hair was so funny.

all the animals were loving the kids.

we gave him some ice.
he liked it.

we were alone by the lions.
all three were asleep.
sean gave this very realistic roar a few times….woke up the daddy.
that got them very excited.
he got up and walked right up to the glass and started pawing at the glass and showing his teeth.
if there was no glass….he would have killed us.
he was not playing with us.
the zoo keeper came over and stood there till we left…..kind of to get us to leave.

the tigers were asleep too.
until we sat down next to them.
then they were wide eyed.
the were convinced that talby & annie's yellow shirts were the cause of the animals liking them today.

snow cone break.

we saw these in the gift shop and we were inspired for craft thursday.
which will be craft friday again this week.

then to the car.
hot drive home.
quiet drive home.

oh how i love the dvd player and wireless headphones.

we came home and every child went somewhere seperate….by choice.
they each played quietly….for hours.
it was like there were no children here!
crazy.
i took a book to my lawn chair in my swimsuit and vegged for an hour.

i needed that.
it rocked.

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Vannessa Gabbett - Wow! The car is definitely pretty, but I guess, your kids didn’t appreciate the beauty of the car, but instead, they noticed how many seats the car has. It only shows that they do want to come along with you every time you have a date with your husband. Heheh. I’m just kidding. Your kids did have a great time in the zoo. I can see it all over their faces. 🙂

Tyra Shortino - You have such lovely kids. It’s kind of funny how they noticed that the car has only two seats, one for you and for your husband. Heheh. You need to buy two of those so that your 3 kids can ride with you. 🙂 But the car is definitely pretty. Though I wonder how it would accelerate in an open highway.

ana from australia - just saw these, the animal pics are FANTASTIC…. thank god for thick glass hey?

Musings Of A Gem - That Lion looked crazy!!!
Gemma X

Trina McNeilly - sounds like a fun day and the perfect ending.. some quiet alone time! I can’t believe the how close you are to the hippo & how the cats were so animated – wow …..sooooo coool!

Becky @ Farmgirl Paints - I’m thinking a trip to the zoo is in order. Those were great pics. That lion looked a little pissed;)

Jenn - Isn’t it crazy that kids don’t get freaked out by lions getting mad at them?! I took my daughter to the Denver Aquarium last summer and they have tigers there. She wasn’t even two and was just standing there at the glass and a tiger totally charged at her. Everyone else took an involuntary step back and she just stood there all happy just to see the tiger! Can’t wait until we can {finally} get some nice weather to go to the zoo. Glad you had such a fun day!

Lauren - Such a fun zoo day! Glad to see that you guys are fellow QT supporters…love their great fountain drink deals!! It’s the little things in life, right? 🙂

jen - Separate by choice and quiet for hours? Was there Benadryl in that QT cup?

heidi @ wonder woman wannabe - looks like an amazingly awesome day for all – EVEN you!! Love that. Can I order up one of the same for me???

Jessica - That lion looks too scary… even behind that wall… No thanks.. i think i would have ran! 🙂 The hippo is my fav!

Melanie - Sounds like you had a great day and I just love what Talby said about you and Craig:)

tara pollard pakosta - what a nice day!!!
we need a Zoo day!
my girls will often do that after
a full day out, just find somewhere, alone
in their room or wherever and just read a book,
draw, go on their laptops etc. they need alone time!!
great pix as always!

Sixty Fifth Aveune - Amazing pictures, as usual! We visit the zoo all the time and we would be lucky to get one cool animal shot. What a great day!

Lori - Awww. Summertime is great, isn’t it? I love the tiger picture and the snow cone.

shelly - That lion picture looks fake, which is good, because knowing it is real-is a little freaky to me. What a fun day though!

heike - how funny! may i show you which picture i posted just today?
i had to laugh a lot when i realized this coincidence… ;o)
it’s all about hippos…
http://koelnformat.blogspot.com/2010/06/ein-tag-im-zoo-macht-froh.html

www.Kellyloves.wordpress.com - lions, tigers and hippos — what a fun day!!!
http://www.kellyloves.wordpress.com

jennifer - We went to the zoo yesterday too! SO hot!
And the lawn chair in the backyard with a book by myself… my favorite!

Staci - We’ve had VBS all week….I’m looking forward to veggin’ ALOT next week myself 🙂

Kelly - great day! Kelly

jack - Oh! Wireless headphones! I didn’t know they even existed. I’m off to investigate…..

Sara @ It's Good to be Queen - those are some serious teeth on that tiger. looking forward to taking our kids to the zoo…it’s a big trip for us, an hour and a half each way. wish we could just pop over for the morning like that. glad you got a quiet afternoon. 🙂

Stacia - Oh my gosh I love QT pops in the summer! I live in Colorado and we don’t have QT 🙁

Debbie S. - My husband and I always talk about when all four kids are grown, we are going to reward outselves for surviving parenthood with a two-seater car and a white couch!!

Jocelyn Stott - What a great day and oh my goodness, that lion!!!! Super cool but also slightly creepy. It is humbling how magnificent those animals are.

Dana@Bungalow'56 - What a wonderful day. I LOVE misters. We don’t get heat for very long, but when it comes it is HOT. At our local street performer festival they attach the misters to the hydrants. I wish I had one in our backyard. (It would go nicely with the pool : ) Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy your quiet time, its hard work keeping us up to date. But I for one really appreciate it.
Dana

Gekakel - Beautiful pictures of your family to the zoo!

beth - Gosh it has been ages since I went to the Atlanta Zoo…what fun you all had…loved all the pics and can’t wait to see your craft Friday from the inspiration pic.
Ahh the sound of silence when kids are with you…nothing but a great gift from them…peace and love among them all.
Oh yeah I see that car and I will raise you on it…oops sorry have nothing to raise on it..lol
Loving your blog as always Meg! Have a great weekend and can’t wait to be back on Monday…I so look forward to your piece of life each day!

Kacey - I want to go to the zoo! Sadly, I think we would melt right now. No zoo in the triple-digits for this girl!
You always have so much fun with everything! Love your outlook on life.
Kacey
P.S. A whole HOUR by yourself with a book with kids at home? Fantastic!

Kimberlee J. - We’re hitting the zoo tomorrow for Ella’s birthday. Did I hear it right? 100 degrees!!!! I hope they have the misters on for us, too! Love ya!

Heather - what i wouldn’t give for an hour with a book. ahhhh. sounds heavenly.

Julie - Oh, and when we do go to the zoo, we will wear yellow to test your kids’ theory 🙂

Julie - Those zoo pictures are unreal! It always seems like the animals are hiding or sleeping when we are there. The zoo is on our summer to-do list… now I’m pumped. I want the zookeeper to come stare us down because the lions are aggitated and threatening us. Haha! Not really–that would put me way out of my comfort zone.
We were able to squeeze in Craft Thursday yesterday… letter mosaics. I found the idea through a link on your blog. The kids each made one for themselves and I made one for baby on the way and then the boys decorated D-A-D with items from the toolbox… for dad for Father’s Day. So much fun and way less messy than I thought it would be. Yay for that!

Georgia - WOW how big are them Tigers teeth!!!!! I went to our local zoo a week ago and was really close to a tiger and i couldnt believe how BIG their paws were…. !!! huge.
The Lion pic’s funny. Looks like hes making goofy faces on the glass…
🙂

Sophie - Looks like such a fun day!
Darn, I want to go to the zoo now! 😀
Sophie
x

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lightning bugs

June 17, 2010

they only come out in june.
they only come out for about 30 minutes each night…when the sun is just about set.
and they are so easy to catch.

i hadn't even seen one this year but i told annie at lunch time "i think tonight we'll catch lightening bugs"
because it just felt like it was time.

and sure enough there they were.
and annie heard cicadas and said to talby "what is that noise that is so loud?!"
it is definitely summer.

this activity was on the summer list…..check!

annie was so excited and yelling "i got one!" every other minute.
talby got as many as she could at once before coming back to the jar.
sean was so into it last year but this year he just kept swimming….
growing up i guess.

it was time for bed.
i think they caught every one in our yard.

and then it was time to let them go.

so we could catch them all again tomorrow night.

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Juicy Couture Bags - “I love San Juan Capistrano, our lifestyle, the people, the city’s small town atmosphere. Both my wife Chris and I are active in our community every day.”

Supra Skytop - EO EO EO EO …..DON’T WANNA IT THAT WAY…..YEAH-EN-YEAH…..

Rockwall Christmas Lights - Really enjoyed this. I can remember watching them in amazement with my little girl as what seemed to be thousamds of them would light up the entire campsite. She’s all grown up now, but we still enjoy our lightning bug hunts.

Heather Warren - I loved reading about this. I have two boys. Clayton who is 14 and B aka Bryce who is 9. We are in Heltersberg, Germany and just spent our first time outside looking for fireflies. I was told by one of my German friends that she has never seen them here before but saw them for the first time a few days ago. We saw them tonight and caught one. It was an amazing feeling to share this moment with my boys. 🙂

MommyTopics.com - I’m a Southern California Girl and I’ve never, NEVER, seen lightning bugs. NEVER! I have a dream.
You just brought me a little closer today.
Thank you.
I knew they were really out there and that little kids really do collect them in jars. I just knew it!
I’m linking to this post on Monday in my gratitude post. You’ll be able to find it at MommyTopics.com, Monday morning, June 28, 2010.
Blessings
Rachymommy – MommyTopics.com

crystal b - I’ve never seen a lighting bug. I’m so glad you posted pictures of one up close so I could see how it lights up. I read about a really fun lightening bug party just yesterday — I think it was in Family Fun, the July issue. You should check it out — it looks like something you would love. They also had a fun robot craft made of tin cans.
P.S. Loved that dragon craft.

Rach - Oh how I miss lightening bugs and long summer walks. I wish we had them out here. 🙁

Stephanie - I enjoy your blog and amazing photos! My sons were having fun last night when they noticed the lightning bugs, so I grabbed my camera…but my pics do not even come close to yours!! You are so creative! Please share with me how you got such great photos of the bugs lighting up, I am trying to learn new things with my camera…maybe I need to put it on the correct setting?!?!

Aimee @ In THIS Life - Oh, wow! I’m jealous. We moved back to the West Coast last year, and fireflies are one of the things I miss!

Meredith - Oh Meg, If you don’t have Faith Hill’s song “Fireflies”stop what you’re doing and download it right now!! 🙂

Diana - wow, come to our neighborhood, we have always had the lightning bugs since mid-may and they’re with us all evening and all night (maybe ’cause we’re near the creek?)… when the grandkids come over in the summer, there have been times we camped in the backyard and watched them in the wee hours of the night… when i can’t sleep, i sit in the backyard and watch them, so cool to see them all over the yard and in the sky in the dark of the night 🙂

Carol - I remember catching fireflies when I was a kid. It was such sweet, innocent fun. And those lions, they would have freaked me out! Glad you had fun!!

Melanie - I love those bugs. When we lived in Georgia, we had a lot of them. Now that we are in Cincy, I don’t see them so much.

Kendra - We’re in Wichita and our lightning bugs stay for hours!

Sarah - This is the first year my kids were old enough to enjoy catching lightning bugs, but enjoy it we have! The other night we ran around the yard shreaking and laughing while we caught them. Such fun!

jimaiemarie - This is SO fun, I’ve never seen one in real life and I just know my kids would get such a kick out of them!! I so wish we had them here in California, very cool!!

Mica - never ever have I seen a real one… My husband saw his first ones last year when he was in Philadelphia…. Someday maybe…Looks like your kiddos had an awesome time out with them…Mica/The Child’s Paper

Bluebell - Thank you for this post! It was a wonderful trip down memory lane…from my childhood in Indiana. I know live in Idaho and there aren’t any lightning bugs in my area…so this was a wonderful way to relive a great time in my life!

Jeanne - Everytime I read your posts I just want to move next door to you and we are BFF:-)

Jenny - Nothing says summer to me like fireflies! These pics are great!

Anya - Wow, we don’t get anything like around my place! Love them, so amazing. So cool.

the road less traveled - it’s officially summer to me the first night i see the fireflies.
love your romper 🙂

DreamGirlLisa - What a marvel Mother Nature is, those are so cool! I wish we had them here in CA.

tara pollard pakosta - My girls have been wanting to do this the past few nights, but then forgot as night came around….I need to get a few jars, the last one we had outside broke in a storm!
awesome pix!
tara

Krista - Love the one with the bug lighting up as Annie is holding it, your pics are awesome!

jennifer - Lightning bugs remind of when I was little and we lived in Chicago. We left when I was seven and I always missed the lightning bugs!

Ruth - i just saw my very first fireflies in uganda last month! a leeeeetle bit overexcited…

Sharon - So much fun!

Kirsten - Oh the memories…we visited my great-grandma when I was little in Garden City, Kansas, and they were so magical. I wish I had pictures. I barely remember…and the noisy cicadas.

Robyn - that is AMAZING!
the photo of her holding the bug all lit up is perfect!

Lora - One of my favorite childhood memories! I like how you captured their lit up be-hinds :O)

Christy - I have been in Phx for over 20 years & we don’t have them hear. 🙁 I so miss that about summer. Catching the bugs & “wearing” them were one of my all time favorite childhood memories, the best spot to collect them was my granparents farm.

Ellen - We did the same thing last night! And it was also on our summer list (stolen from you, of course) 🙂 Is it weird that it makes my day that you and I thought alike? Ha!

Kimberlee J. - I looked out my kitchen window last night and my entire front yard was full of them. Yep, it’s totally summer. And I’m loving it.

Kate @ Songs Kate Sang - Oh, I love those bugs!!

Becky @ Farmgirl Paints - One of my favorite memories of summer. Thanks for that:)

Naomi - DEF miss lightnin’ bugs!

jaz - Look at their cute little bums!

Katie - I am from your area, too, and these little glowing guys are everywhere. I bet if you go to the edge of town at dusk, you would seen many. My little friend, Rylee, and I caught lots the other night in Elbing 🙂

Sandy - I’ve always lived in Ohio so I’ve grown up and grown “old” with them. After reading the comments I realize I’ve taken them for granted! I didn’t realize so many areas don’t have them. Great memories of catching them in the jars…now I watch my dog jump through the yard catching them. They are awesome!

Heather - so cool! i wish we had those in az. love the photo of annie holding one while lit up.

Jaime - Oh my goodness… I so miss living anywhere but Arizona. I miss the lightning bugs and cicadas (kinda). Thanks for letting us live vicariously through you and Annie!

Sara @ It's Good to be Queen - i love summer. great photos!

Kat - I love your photos, Meg…these are GREAT! 🙂 We’ve been catching lightning bugs around here too…but seeing these photos are magical :). Thanks!

Julie - Seeing a lightning bug is on my list of things to do before I die. I’m almost 30 and I have yet to see one! They know better than to come to LA…

Heidi - Thank you, thank you, thank you! I miss seeing lightening bugs and was just thinking about it last week. I immigrated to Holland many years ago and they are not here. You gave me a little piece of my childhood again reading this and seeing the photos. Thanks so much for that!
Hugs from Holland ~
Heidi

Julie - Man do I miss catching lightening bugs. Kinda hate that my kids don’t get to do this. Really nice to see your kids enjoying their summer ~ looks like fun!

Tracy - I miss these days both for me and my children. My kids (like your Lauren) are all too grown up (so they think) to do these kinds of things anymore. However, even though I am a grown-up – I wish I could be carefree all summer long catching lightning bugs instead of making the commute to NYC for work every day! LOL Glad you got something else checked off your summer list. Have a great day hun! xoxoxo :o)

Liz - Meg! Catch them again tonight, take the jar inside and let the girls fall asleep with them as nightlights in their dark rooms! It’s so much fun. After a while you can take them back outside and let them go.

Nicole Q. - I didn’t grow up with lightening bugs so i think this is so cool. last year we let the kids keep their jar in their room while falling asleep, it’s like a night light. So cool.

Sixty Fifth Aveune - You got some really awesome pictures Meg! This is on our list too, how fun!

Art Cant Hurt - my birthday is june 20th and growing up i knew it was almost time for my birthday when the first lightning bugs came out….now my kids see them and say “momma, it’s almost your day!” and it makes my heart smile!
thanks for sharing megan!

Liz - Love your pictures! Looks like they had a great time. We too are busy crossing fun activities off our list!

Amanda - Great photos!!! Looks fun!

Dana@Bungalow'56 - I’ve often read about lightning bugs or seen cartoon versions of them on some Disney cartoons (I can’t remember which ones right now), but I had no idea they lit up like that? That was very cool to see. I’m going to show my kids.
Thanks

Natasha Burns - Wow, these are amazing! Are they the same thing as fireflies? We don’t have these in Autralia, wish we did!

Jessica Hoffman - I miss lightning bugs…i use to catch them when i was little living in Texas… they are magical.

Megan - You can never be too old for lightning bugs!

Melissa - Ooooh how fun I remember doing this as a child!

Sophie - This is going to sound so dumb, but I didn’t know they even existed! I’m from London, so we don’t have any bugs like that here. Just the boring ones. 😛

www.Kellyloves.wordpress.com - I grew up with lightning bugs and it breaks my heart that it’s too hot in Florida for them. But we do have love bugs and my son and I catch those each spring.
http://www.kellyloves.wordpress.com

Dina - We did the SAME thing the other night. I kept trying to get pics of their “light bulb tushies”… that’s what my kids call them;-)… but I just wasn’t fast enough…. and I think my son left them in the jar a little too long. They were pretty slow moving when we finally released — but no casualties:-)

Tam - I want to do this with the boys, I was hoping to do it Saturday night! 🙂 Photos are great, thanks for sharing!

`Kelly - We had those fun little creatures where I grew up in the midwest. Now living on the West Coast with my own family, I miss them. I wish my boys could grow up with those same childhood memories I had.

Lora - Awesome pics! you guys are so fun!

melissa*320 sycamore - meg~this is our first summer we have ever had lightning bugs! I didn’t know they were so short lived~we’ll have to plan a catching party pronto. such great pics.

Nancy - When we visit arkansas every summer, the girls look forward to that. We just don’t have those here in our concrete jungle known as Southern California. 🙁

Jen CD - thank you for this post. We miss cicadas and fireflies so much.

Sarah - There is a field near our house in Manhattan that was loaded with lightening bugs, like someone laid a net of Christmas lights over the field, only better. My husband drove through it one night coming home late from work and insisted on taking the kids to see it. He was right. My two year old kept saying “it’s amazing”. They are magical little bugs.

Lisa K - We don’t have lightning bugs where I live, but I have some really warm memories of a summer vacation over the fourth of July one year – I was elementary school age and we stayed with friends in a big homey house in some rolling hills in TN. We caught lightning bugs and watched a parade and fireworks. It was like a dream. 🙂 Thanks, Megan, for reminding me.

kristine - awesome. great pics of them lighting up!!

candace - i love being out in the country where it looks like it is raining little lights out in the fields! and amen to that comment just above. 🙂

Vanessa {Bloom Right Here!} - Isn’t God amazing? Every time I see a lightning bug I am just in awe. What a creative God we have….He created a bug whose rearend actually lights up! Love ’em!

Elisa - love fireflies!! I was watching them on my bedroom porch door last night 🙂

Nikki - I love this post… we don’t have these bugs in Australia. Our kids have a three week winter break… I need to write a list of fun things to do.
xx

Gemma - I so wish we had them here in the UK..they look magical!! Very unusual!
Gemma X
http://musings-of-a-gem.blogspot.com/

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sunday pics

June 15, 2010

we went to craig’s family reunion in the afternoon
and then some of the family came to our house for dinner and hanging out.
it’s always fun having everyone over.
and noisy.

but i like it.
a lot.

here are some pictures of the afternoon…..

it was a really nice day.

california cousins and kansas cousins….together again.
i am loving “grown up” cousins.

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Maggie - I got excited for half a second. Then I realized “To Kill a Mockingbird” is not my favorite movie. 🙂 But I’m glad another Maggie won!

Robyn - your a very brave momma with the trampoline into the pool!!!!
so fun!

crystal b - Oh you lucky girl…. photo shoot with Blue Lily? You are going to love her. And, just so you know … she’s a master at Photo Shop (in case you … ahem, break out or something.)
Seriously, send me your address. I so owe you a necklace. Do you know how many referrals you sent to my shop!! Lots!! Thanks again.
crystalbeutler@msn.com

Kat - Looks like great fun.
How nice to get together with family 🙂
Lauren is looking so grown up!
Congrats to the winner, enjoy!

kasey - i need a trampoline.

No.17 CherryTreeLane - I really want to jump from a trampoline into a pool. My entire pregnant body, jiggling in the air, as I leap into the air….

Dana D@BoysMyJoys - Craig looked like Superman flying into the pool!
🙂

Ruth - both my parents are only children so i have no cousins… i’ve never known what i’m missing but this looks so much fun! and hello… you have some hot genes between you all!

a-m - It looks like you all had a fantabulous time! I’m not sure I’d be brave enough to trampoline into the pool though, I must be getting old…
Thanks for the gorgeous pictures!
a-m x

ann - That little dog looks just like mine! Is it a Silky Terrier?

Becky @ Farmgirl Paints - Looks like a really good time. Wish it would get hot enough for us to do things like that…boo hiss!!!

Julie - Family reunions are great! I’m in need of one ~ I miss my cousins!! Looks like you guys are having a great summer! 🙂

Dana@Bungalow'56 - Oh these pictures just about sent me over the deep end. I’ve been wanting to have a large backyard pool, for-evah!!! So this past Sunday I improvised. I’ll be posting about it tomorrow. I think you might get a kick out of it. A mama’s got to do what a mama’s got to do! Thanks for always sharing wonderful family photos!
Dana

Diana - I loved the antics and fun shared with my cousins when we were little… but I think it’s WAY MORE COOL now we’re all adults! Yep =)

Sandy (Your Life, Organized - Congrats to the winner!!
Looks like so much fun!! It has been too cold here for outside pool play!
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Check out our early customer specials!

shelly - That trampoline into the pool looks like so.much.fun!

Kimberlee J. - It makes me miss my adult cousins. I have such love, and such sweet memories.

Natalie (The Sweets Life) - I rarely comment (unless there’s a giveaway, because I’m shameless ha), but I just wanted you to know that I love your blog and I especially love the pictures you share of your family. I grew up with strong family values and am so close with my family, though now I live in St. Louis while most of them are still in Chicago (did get my sis to move here..yes!). Anyways, no real point to this comment except to say I appreciate your blog, your pictures, your honesty, and your family 🙂 Have a great day!

Jocelyn Stott - Your blog is defining summer with pictures. I love it.

Heather - we pull up my son’s slide/fort thing so he can slide into the pool and he thinks it’s the coolest thing ever. if he saw these pics i think it would blow his mind!
love the that the elusive teenager made a few smiling appearances. she is so lovely!!

AshleyAnn - 900 comments…can you even picture how many small villages in Africa that is!
I want to meet Lauren. I want to photograph Lauren.

Musings Of A Gem - Well done Maggie! Very lucky..i’m one jealous girl lol
Looks like you had a fab family reunion : )
Gemma X

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family night

June 7, 2010

we have tried to keep friday nights as our “family night” for many years now.
the kids know it’s family night and ask what we will be doing together.
lauren is old enough to not want to participate much anymore.
and scott is nearing that stage.
but they all still like pizza or ice cream….

this week we dropped lauren off at her softball practice and hit the sprinkler park.
it was a beautiful night for it.

a mama/towel break…

i know…it’s so gross.

the love birds on the park bench saying all kinds of lovey-dovey things to each other.
(whatever your version of lovey-dovey things are you can insert them there and we’ll pretend it’s that…)

i love the holding the nose move by annie.

and then there was this guy.
way too cool to be there…sat at a bench across the park…until everyone else left…
and his iPod lost power.
then he came over and sat by me.
and let me scratch his back.

but no smiles or kisses.
of course.

i took this and said “oh man craig…he looks just like you”
and he does.
he’s a mini-me of craig.
even his feet!

we went for ice cream.
the discussion led to obama.
they really wanted to know some actual answers about government.
it was quite something.

i had no answers…but craig had his opinions/answers.
i always just say “ask daddy what he thinks about that” when it comes to politics.

sean just burped really loud….hence the smile.

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Christina - Love it. That’s how it always (doesn’t) go(es) down around here at the end. 🙂
Recently I told my kids they all lost their screen time (Wii, computer, movies) for a week. A week! That punished me a lot more than it punished them. Ahhh!
I wanted to say I would totally hold my nose in a sprinkler. And I LOVE the picture of Craig holding Annie’s hand, and that he and Scott are both wearing red shirts. I love it.

Kara - We have three kids four and under and have instilled a family game night with them. Yeah, by the end the hub and I are wanting to pull our teeth and hair out. It’s reality–and makes everyone feel normal when they hear that other families experience the same thing!
Your pics are gorgeous, as always. And…it’s the effort and the time spent together that the kids will remember–plus you’ve got the pictures to prove that they had a good time! Ha! 🙂

Charity - I so love your posts, Meg – I can’t tell you how many times a happy family time has ended in NO TALKING UNTIL WE GET HOME! :o)

nic - gorgeous post, especially the backlit photo of you and your little gal. (and thanks for keepin’ it real there at the end. ha!)

kristine - beautiful family. gorgeous night. and yeah, too bad it ended that way. but that’s why i like the nice pictures. you can just remember that part!

Jennifer - If there is no practice, is family night optional? We had family night growing up but it was mandatory. I always acted like I hated it, but secretly I kind of liked it and I loved complaining about it.
Great pictures! I love reading about your family and thanks for keeping it honest. 🙂

ann - Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Meg you make me laugh. I’m so glad my family is as normal as yours. 🙂

Tara - love the pictures of your family night….we do the same thing on Friday nights….
and ours usually ends just.like.yours.

D Gustus - Wow I love your photography! I am just starting out learning all about it! I love the cool water shots you took at the park!! one of these days I will figure it out!! Keep out the awesome work, I just ran into your blog by sheer accident!!

linda lou - what great photos of the family looked like lots of fun and you and your husband…loves birds makes a great photo for the fireplace (:

Kat - Thank goodness its not just our family where days/nights end like that,or occur many times during the day!!
Oh Meg, I just adore how real and honest you are, thats one of the things I love most about your blog.
Love the colour in your pics, the sense of fun and the magical moments you capture in each shot.
I really love the one where Craig is walking holding Annie’s hand with Scott next to him and also the shots of Scott. Beautifully captured.
What a great tradition you have of family fun night. Great stuff. 🙂

Shann - I loved the picture of the wide open mouth with braces and lots of teeth! Teeth are my thing. It was not gross in the least to me. 🙂 And, the President is in my hometown tonight speaking at a high school graduation ceremony. Kind of cool for kids. 🙂 And, I understand about the fighting and yelling and real life stuff you are talking about. I was told by a very smart woman that the kids will remember the fun stuff and forget the not so fun stuff. Oh how I am banking on that advice. 🙂 Have a wonderful night Meg!

Bryony - “ask daddy what he thinks about that”? I don’t want to sound judgemental at all, but that seems like a pretty subservient think to say, as a wife and mother. Surely you have your own opinions? Shouldn’t you teach your children that men and women’s opinions are equally valid?
Hope I don’t come off sounding too judgemental or anything, I know you are a great mother 🙂
Bryony

jasmine bailey-barfuss - Beautiful! This world needs a sprinkler park on every block in every town! How fun!! Family nights are THE best idea. I grew up with a family night and even though we fought a lot, I have so many fond memories of togetherness.
xox

Laura - what a great night! i love that you’re honest – thanks for that.
and the sprinkler park is the most amazing thing i’ve seen! i want one near us!

Ana - I just want to thank you for being real- for not hiding the ugly. 🙂 So many bloggers and blogs just seem so perfect, and I can’t relate to that at all. And if I spend time comparing myself, I can get really bummed out. I really appreciate what a breath of fresh, real air your blog is. !Muchas Gracias!

Denissa - Great pictures, of course! 🙂 My oldest son has the same trunks, the blue w/ the fish..
And I think pretty much everytime we go do something fun, it ends the same way…sigh

michelle - love how real you are.

Courtney Walsh - Aw, we do Friday Night Family Night too! Love it! 🙂 There’s a sprinkler park just like this down the road from us! I will have to get back there!! 🙂

sara's art house - Oh my word! I totally know what you mean……isn’t it especially rotten when you have done something nice for them and then they act awful?!?!? Great pictures, tho!

kristiina - Another thank you for keeping it real 😉 Looove your posts because you show the ups and the downs…makes me feel normal!

Logan - Meg, this is a strange question, but what is the brand and color of your lipstick? I’m sure it won’t look the same on me (not nearly as good), but I love it! I’ve noticed it in several pictures and finally decided I ought to just ask you what it is!
Great pictures of your family fun.

Heather - I loved the photos – how you made the water stand still – even the drops on their way to the kids’ mouths, how cool.

Keri - There always has to be a meltdown after a fun time, right? I think kids must come pre-programmed that way. Love the photo story. 🙂

Julie - Thanks for keeping it REAL!!!!!

Heather @ Cookie Mondays - Where did you get Talby’s swimsuit? Peace signs and lime green are Chloe’s whole world right now!

www.Kellyloves.wordpress.com - ahhh …. a perfect almost summer day. Love the shot with the water dropping from the bucket!
http://www.kellyloves.wordpress.com

Staci - Your kids are full of life 🙂 I see it in every picture you take 🙂 So very happy 🙂

Sandy - Do I remember Talby wearing the suit Annie has on? They sure are growing up!! Looks like loads of fun!

Heather R. - 🙂 Makes me laugh with you…not at you.

Karen Gerstenberger - Just catching up here, and wanted to tell you (again) that I love your blog.

the wild raspberry - i like living in a dream world too….
speaking of dreams~
i had a dream that we were at the washburn campus with our kids doing all sorts of fun things….then you decided to have minor surgery. while you were under anasthesia, i gathered up the ingredients to make you cocoa pebble/rice crispy treats and made them in the biology lab.
isn’t that hilarious?! were does this stuff come from?
🙂
have a great day~
with no fussing or rolling eyes~
chasity

Heather K. - I love the pictures! Sounds like a typical “family night”, ours usually end the same way. Keepin’ it real!

Dana@Bungalow'56 - You caught me by surprise at the end. It made me laugh. So nice to know you are a real family and you aren’t some version of Mrs. Cunningham. Thats why I come back every day. I can relate!
Dana

Kimberly - Yep, our fun times almost always end that way too 🙁 I love your photos and your writing and your honesty!

Sophie - Looks like such a fun time! Except for the last part. That can’t have been so fun.
And Scott really does look like Craig! Even their shirts are matching (:

Charlene - oh THANK YOU for not excluding the “reality” part about how it ended…it makes me feel normal!

Dineen - Oh Meg, I love how honest you are. My blog looks like all sunshine and roses too sometimes but I know the truth behind some of those pictures.

Melanie - Boy, have we all been there. Yelling etc. At least they had fun at the park and you took some great pictures.
I could help talk about Obama if you needed me too;-) I have plenty of opinions about that!
You wonder when does it happen that boys don’t want their mamas to hug them anymore? That has happened to me and makes me sad. Even at home when no one else is there, he stills doesn’t want me to hug up on him:( I guess that happens at 16 yrs. old.

Robyn - great photos! don’t you just love when you have a great day, night whatever… and then the meltdowns happen and you feel a smidge defeated!?!?!?!
at least it was fun while it lasted!

purejoy - water parks are so much fun and what i love about them is that all ages are engaged… not so much in a regular pool. so fun.
and ice cream. mmmmmm.
i’d wager that your family will remember the laughs and giggles more than the yelling and the loss of the computer. somehow, the sunshine always trumps the clouds.

Erin from Skoots and Cuddles - at one point every wonderful family outing goes sour. it is what it is… i guess. the kids won’t remember the crap…. so yay a great family adventure!

Julie - Sweet and Real ~ my kind of family night. Really sweet!! Don’t sweat the real stuff. The kids will remember how much fun they had, not that everyone had a meltdown afterward. 🙂

Meredith - I’m so glad you share the ugly with the wonderful. Real families are so much more beautiful than ideal ones. 🙂

Becky @ Farmgirl Paints - Thanks for the peek into your family. I’m sure we can all relate to the behind the scenes stuff you mentioned. They always go hand in hand…the lovely memories with the real life *crap;)

Juli - Precious, all of it precious. Even the meltdowns at the end.

nora - Sooo… someone is too cool for sprinkler park, but not ice cream, eh? I love ‘tweens. Thanks for sharing this night with us!

Ourimperfectlife.blogspot.com - Great photos! My daughter used to have that same striped swimsuits. Miss that thing!

Nancy - Looks like a great evening. We have so many No Talking in the car days/nights. Thanks for always keeping it real, girl!

Blythe - Thanks for being so honest and real about what family night can sometimes end like. I can relate. However, good for us peeking into your life that you pictures tell a different story.

kat - I love those pictures. It looks like they all had a lovely time at the park. I can totally relate to the exhaustion meltdowns, they can go from fun to feral in 30 seconds or less.

Lisa - Bliss and tranquility, that is how i imagine your evening, ok. The rest, the reality, Im not buying it.
Cute photos

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wednesday.

May 26, 2010

ok…today is better than the past two have been.
i feel relieved by that.
the pool is filling up.
the rain is gone.
the boys' nerf guns have been confiscated.
i think we are going to make it.

i received a shirt in the mail….and i love it.

you can get them here at DOTS.
it is so soft and light.
i really really like it.
and i want to make cupcakes when i wear it.
i thought this one was cute too.

the porch is my favorite spot in the summer.
yesterday i set up memory on the bench/coffee table.
it took the entire top…and was hard to remember with such a long line of cards.

guess which set of matches is mine?
i told you it was hard for me.

———————————————————————————————————————-
some questions were asked about the summer list yesterday…i will clarify.

*WORLDS OF FUN is an amusement park with roller coasters in kansas city.
*PEPPERNUTS are little spice cookies…we love to eat them but i have never made them.
here is a website about them.
they are a mennonite thing…craig has mennonite roots and so does our hometown.
*a BLOCK PARTY is a street party with our neighborhood (our block).
*the FROGGIE POOL is our public pool…it has a frog shaped slide.
*DEMO DERBY is the mud pit where cars crash into each other…that we pay money to watch!

we bought journals yesterday and the three youngest were so pumped about it.
they filled up the front already with stories and stickers.
very sweet.

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Michelle Richmond - I love checking your blog every day. You show the good with the bad and always make me feel inspired to be a good mom. I wanted to post here to let you know you are looking fit and trim. You go girl!!! Michelle from Canada.

Lisa Currie-Gurney - MEG… YOUR THE BEST MOM YOUR KIDS COULD EVER HAVE!
HUGS FROM MAINE

chasity - i love the quilt that is on your front porch.

Andie - Love the shirt. But your hair is GORGEOUS!

molls - De-lurking to say Hi! from another Kansas girl (great grandparents lived in Walton) who LOVES peppernuts. I’m the only one in our family who still attempts to make them. I don’t even have the recipe that got me hooked – I like the tiny, dense version. But, I have found some good recipes out there that approximate the flavor, at least. I will say that it is always more tedious than I remember – so many tiny cookies! Make the dough and freeze half for later …

Kat - Love your list Meg which has inspired us to do our own here as two weeks of hols are starting in Tasmania, Australia. (about to start winter though, not a lovely long summer.)
I too have had a few of “those” days with my kids, so I can totally relate!
Enjoy your summer with your lovely family 🙂

paige - wish i could rock that funky short do like yours…i LOVE it!

Heather R. - Love the shirt! Love summer! You inspired us to make a poster this year. Skydiving is on it…yeah, not sure about that one. Where is the Demo Derby? We are in Leavenworth and got our Worlds of Fun passes :)! Have a great summer.

Molly Pearce - Your hair cut is rocking and so is the shirt! Now go make some cupcakes for your babies 🙂
~Molly P

myrnie - Love the oilcloth on your little table- I have the same print, in a turquoise background, on my kitchen table. LOVE IT- everything wipes right off, even crayons and pens 🙂

kristine - talby’s hair is adorable!

Charity - I grew up in Mennonite country, too, and LOVE peppernuts. I have this great little book, titled simply, Peppernuts, full of recipes. It’s amazing how many variations there are. Yum. We always make them around the end of November, so they’re ready and tasy for Christmas.

Anna Marie - We go to Worlds of Fun too :o) Do you ride all of those rides?

Heather @ Cookie Mondays - please send peppernuts 🙂

Jessica - My family makes peppernuts, too (but only at Christmas)! I love them so much, but I had no idea that other people even knew what they were. Haha. However, we make the German version of them.

Jessie Miller Sterling - Just wanted you to know I already made the teacher soaps. LOVE them! I once attempted my own blog, but yours is sooo much better, so I just read it instead! 😉 And if I get a cupcake shirt will I look as hot as you?? Hope so, you look awesome!

Jaime Melcher - Love your hair in that first picture! Super cute! …and the shirt says it all. 🙂

CAROL B - i’m a mennonite and have NEVER heard of peppernuts…interesting, i’m gonna check that out!

Megan Kohlman - Just in case you need the recipe for perfect peppernuts… Seriously. I’m not biased because my grandmas make them or anything.
http://thekohlmans.blogspot.com/2009/12/brr.html

dani - You look great! and I want your hair 😉

Melanie Shanks - I have followed your blog for a looong time – checking in nearly every day. I have to tell you – you look great! Your new ‘do is oh-so chic.

Vanessa {Bloom Right Here!} - Hello! I read your blog all the time, but I’m not sure I’ve ever commented. Sorry. Anyway, I see glimpses of your house/porch and keep thinking that my SIL and BIL lived down the block from you for awhile. They rented a house while they were building. If, in fact, you do live in the house I think you do – love, love, love it!

Courtney Walsh - i cannot describe how happy I will be not to have to search for uniforms and make lunches anymore for a few months!! ack! Bring on summer!

kari - I can’t wait to make our summer list – thanks for sharing! What a great idea!!!!

Kirsten - I gotta tell you – I’m getting my hair cut and wish I was brave enough to get such a cute sassy look –

Lori Danelle - I’m having trouble with peppernuts in the summer. To me, peppernuts ARE Christmas!! 🙂 However, I’ll still share our family recipe for them with you.
http://loridanelle.blogspot.com/2009/12/christmas-can-beginive-made-peppernuts.html
We make our first batch right at Thanksgiving time and keep turning them out until Christmas Day. I started bringing them into work and have everyone near me totally addicted to the strange little cookie with the stranger name that they never knew existed. My Grandma still sends me an ice cream bucket full every year as well!

Misty, Southern Belle Mama - Love the shirt!! Glad you led me to check out the site…I just bought the “Cupcake Queen” shirt. I can’t wait to get it in the mail! 🙂

Charlene - Now, I want a cupcake too!

Chris Harms - enjoying your blog. I make peppernuts (pfeffernusse) at Christmas time by the icecream-pailful. Some people roll them out, I use a piping bag and squeeze them onto the pan… not as uniform, but faster by far. Good luck with them! I’m going to attempt a summer list. Saskatchewan may not sport the biggest or fanciest theme parks or zoo’s, but I’m sure we can find a few ways to spice up the summer. Thanks for the ideas!

Cathy - Now I feel like I need to go find a recipe for peppernuts. My mom’s family are from Canada and have Mennonite roots.

Dana Banana - Love the list. Let’s demo derby together….and find a day to bring the kids to the pool here.

Kara Tait - Meg, I love your blog. You look fantastic. Your face is so skinny!

Kristi - I love the idea of a journal! Adding that one to the list that we came up with last night. My daughter is 11 and starts Middle School next year. I’m grateful to have this summer to bond with her before she moves further down the road to adulthood. One of the most exciting things we’re doing is Book Club. We’re still trying to decide on a book though. She wants Twilight and I don’t. ha ha

amy d - haha…it always amazes me what people have never heard of.
love the shirt!

Petie - Love that t-shirt! Your summer list has inspired…looks like it’s gonna be a fun one 😉

Lynda - what a great shirt!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love it……wish I could buy one of those here in the Netherlands!
Greetings
Lynda

benson - YOU look amazing and are rockin’ the shirt!!

Julie - I LOVE your porch! My kids do too ~ they want one! Looks like a GREAT place to hang out!

lifeologia - You look great in that first photo 😉
Memory games are great fun – it’s so cute to see kid’s faces so concentrated.
I did a little link love on my blog today with your site:
http://www.lifeologia.com/link-love/

jeny - when i grow up i want to be you (OKAY like,you) you are amazing (and beautiful), talented, and are blessed with a large curious family. i wish to be able to spend time with my babies. – that’s all i got, sorry so weird.

AshleyAnn - You are looking oh so sassy in that first photo. When we play Memory I always win. Granted my competition is ages 4 & 6. Bummer when they start beating me.

Dana@Bungalow'56 - What a wonderful idea: summer journaling for the young and old. The memory game is a favourite here but we’ve forgotten about it recently. Isn’t it amazing how the younger ones always win? The cupcake tee is a perfect gift for my best bud a half world away. Thank you for sharing it.
Dana

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beautiful sunday

May 24, 2010

everything here is green.
we had storms last week and it left everything happily watered.
i love to be outside in the green and the sun…especially at dusk.

my weekend was full of goodness.
old friends coming to visit, graduation parties, rainbow cake, vacation starting, funny movies…
good times.

i am writing this late in the night sunday because i don't want to forget it.
i loved today.
and tomorrow may not be as good.
or maybe it will?
either way…i want to remember this day.

nothing special happened.
just a really nice day.

lauren and craig played catch.
scott was shooting baskets.
lauren picked out a swimsuit that i could agree to…that is a big deal.
annie seemed extra happy today.

my views in the hammock…with craiggers.

we talked a lot today…he and i.
i love talking/planning/dreaming/laughing with him.
he took me out for a date on saturday…for reals.
it was just what i wanted to do.
and just who i wanted to be with.

the kids jumped on the trampoline while the sprinklers ran.
and there was no fighting…miracle.
also earlier in the day annie and talby played a long time in their room together and i could hear
them giggling like crazy.
THAT is "good day" stuff!
(they jump off the rock wall to the trampoline…im fine with it.
don't comment on what a bad mom i am please…or share your trampoline horror stories…not today ok?)

oh how i love this dog.
it feels silly to me the amount of love that i feel towards an animal…but there is no denying it.
waff-eeee.

craig picked up pizza for dinner.
ice creams cones before bed…in swim suits.
the kids went to sleep without a fight.

then craig, lauren and i watched the 2 hour season finale of LOST.
i wish it wasn't over.
i think it was brilliant television.
i will miss it.
that is an understatement.
craig tried to talk with me afterwards about the shows version of heaven…
i said it was too hard to talk about without crying.
not crying about the show (which i totally did) but crying thinking of what heaven will be like.
i was thinking about all the people who will be there that i know
and who are waiting to welcome me.
it is a lovely thought.

today i thoroughly enjoyed being with my family.
it probably helped that we got away the night before for grown up time…to recharge.
we are better parents after we have been away.
everyone is like that right?

so that is what i wanted to remember.
good stuff today.

monday is summer here.
we will make the summer list….after we sleep in and i drink at least three cups of coffee.

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evwlsecp - [url=”http://www.nfljerseysleague.com/specials”]NFL Football Jerseys[/url]

Carley - been following the blog for a good while now! sweet sweet post today, love reading you!

Tiffany - Lovely~except for one thing….that trampoline looks SO close to the porch…little heads….
SORRY to be a party pooper…I’m just a Mama who tries to be proactive.
🙂

DreamGirlLisa - Your weekend sounds like heaven on earth 🙂 I can’t wait to have my oldest home from college and have my little family home for summer!16 more days and counting….

Melissa Gruber - Love the pictures…and how green it is. Makes me want to go plant more flowers in my yard today.
So happy you had a date with the hubby.
Enjoy summer!

michelle - i just love the way your express yourself Meg. what a beautiful day you had.
thank you for linking to my camera strap & ribbon holder and being my sweet friend who reads my blog. 🙂
hope your tomorrow is as blessed as your today was.
xoxo.

Vicki - I loved lost. I was slightly disappointed by the spoiler as well however… I was unable to watch the finale live due to church conflicts, and was really looking forward to watching it without a spoiler today. No hard feelings though, just a misunderstanding. Great post, lovely photos.

Mary Beth - I cried at the end of the finale too, because I was starting to think it WAS heaven. But everyone else was SO HAPPY. Nobody was sad about being dead. They were just waiting for Jack.
And I think about who is waiting for me in heaven.
The book, The Lovely Bones (didnt see the movie) was also a little about heaven, and I THINK a line in there was that YOUR heaven was what you wanted it to be.
I’m crying now.
And, please know that you will have more of these good days. Having OLDER children is the BEST. Better than 2 year old nap time.

kristine - hooray on such a happy day! i always love your honesty and vulnerability in the day to day so i’m glad you shared a day of such bliss. and you’re positive anyway so it’s not such a surprise but you deserve a day that you can genuinely say was great. (consider this your mother’s day!) 🙂 happy summer!

candace - what a wonderful post! have a happy summer 🙂

JJ - i love this post. this is life at it’s best. the good stuff.

Kelly - such a great idea to be intentional about capturing the ordinary good day! Kelly

Jaime Melcher - I love days like that! Our summer starts this Saturday… it seems like it’s taking forever!

Becky @ Farmgirl Paints - Beautiful pics Meg. So glad you got a real date with your honey.
I’ve never watched Lost. I might get the whole series and start from the beginning. I was lost when I tried to watch it a few times.
As always…loved your post. A beautiful Sunday indeed:)

Leigh - I am with you Meg! the lost person who whined on the lost ending? Hello!! It was obvious that she was going to talk about her feelings on it.
So you should have stopped reading. No brainer. The end was so much more upsetting that I thought it would be!!

Sandra K - That was an amazing post Meg…and just what I needed to read today, so thank you for that. I love your blog.
Blessings and hugs.

Laura Phelps - a family, still together, loving and laughing and enjoying each other
that IS good stuff
and not as easy to come by as it sounds
and now summer is here…hmm..
was Sunday the calm before the storm?????!
even so…we need storms sometimes, right?
that is what makes everything so GREEN!!
xo

Karen - loved this post…made me reflective and hopeful and made me want to cherish my time even more with my kiddos and my hubby. We celebrated my little guy’s 3rd bday on Saturday with rainbow cupcakes- it seriously made his entire birthday- he’s still talking about it. Thanks for the inspiration! Your blog is awesome and the first thing I want to read after I get the kiddos down for a nap- your honesty and hopefulness always encourages me and I walk away wanting to be a better mom. Hope you have a great start of your summer!

MEG DUERKSEN - dear LOST commenter….
BOO HOO.
you could have stopped reading at the words LOST finale
lighten up would ya?
if you are going to write an angry comment at least leave a REAL email address…
that is lame.

Julie - Thank you for sharing this. It sounds like a lovely day – the most wonderful kind of ordinary that makes a beautiful life.

Michelle Whitlow - Your day sounds lovely. It’s funny that I’m reading this and you’re talking about heaven and what it’ll be like. My brother just passed away suddenly at 29 last week. And I, of course, have been thinking a lot about heaven. A lot. Thanks for sharing this post. It made me smile 🙂

Lost - Thank you for the Lost spoiler. For those of us who have yet to watch, I was unaware that they died, which is implied by your comment about heaven. Please refrain from any more spoilers and make note before next time. Or better yet, don’t post any spoilers at all.

The lady of the House - What a fun weekend – a weekend full of nothing with the people that mean everything. and thanks… I’m drooling! Betweent he icecream and the rainbow cake… totally drooling!
Happy Day, The lady

Carrie Anderson - Loving this post. It may sound weird, but I actually felt good, like I was part of it, just reading the post.
It was great to hear a sweet bit about Lauren. The teen phase is tough on everyone, so even the little moments are worth documenting and cherishing.
This post is one of my favorites. Like you said, nothing particularly special about it, it was just a feel good kind of post. And I needed a feel good post today.
PS – Making your rainbow cake for my niece birthday party this weekend. She is so excited!

Chris - I understand what you mean about how much you love your dog. We have a dog that looks just like Waffle only he’s gray. He’s poodle and sheep dog. He has the best, most loving, personality. And we can’t help loving him back!

Karina - I’m glad you had a great day. It is all about home and family, if you ask me. And extra nice when there is no fighting and lots of ice cream!!!
I watched the first season or two of Lost and loved it. Then we moved across the country and gave up TV. With 3 small children, we think they don’t need it right now. I could download episodes of favourite shows, but I don’t really have time to watch them, so I have been reading lots and lots and lots of books instead (they are more portable and quieter than TV).
However, I loved that show, and I can’t even imagine how it turned out (where I left off, it was pretty far from heaven, I must say!). Heaven, huh? I’m not sure what to think of that since I don’t believe in heaven. I like the love part, though. I’ll have to google it to find out what it was all about.
Have many more wonderful days, now that summer is here, and make sure they are sprinkled with more dates with “Craiggers.” 🙂

Rachel - You’re such a real person, Meg. I love that. You’re not a bad mom for letting your kids be kids, either. Remember when we ‘grownups’ were kids and we stayed out all day without cell phones and without having to check in. Just us and our friends on bikes in the neighbourhood. Now, that loss is worth crying over.
So glad you had a wonderful, ordinary day.
Summer here doesn’t begin until July. For real. It was so cold here yesterday that the flowers I bought are sitting in the porch because I can’t plant them outside yet without worrying about frost.

Amy Mumaw - I too had a great weekend with the family. I am excited to see this post because I feel the same way and tomorrow may not be as great. CHERISH THESE MOMENTS .My summer begins June 10th . In Ohio school goes that long!
Enjoy the time with your kids, it flies by!!!!

Meredith Salmon - Thanks for sharing your day. It made me realize that I need to do more of those type of days and get my husband to do them too. We both have a hard time doing nothing, but it is so worth it. Thanks for making my day happy!!!

Maria - The first thing I thought was, “yay! She got to have Mother’s day!”. Sounds like such the perfect day, and good for you for writing about it before it was gone.

tara pollard pakosta - what a beautiful post!
My brother has 4 kids and he lets them jump off
the roof onto their trampoline! crazy! but boy they love it. nobody has been hurt yet and it’s been years>!
love your weekend love post, how awesome!
tara

Janine - So it sounds like yesterday was your real Mother’s Day 🙂

Elisa - I am so jealous that your summer has started. I am counting down the days.

Sara - This seriously looks like a killer day!! Enjoy your summer!!

Flower Patch Farmgirl - Pitch perfect. My kind of post. My kind of life. I love that you loved your day. Definitely worth documenting! Couldn’t agree more about getting out with the Honey…and talking and planning…Couldn’t agree more about the pizza and ice cream.
You’re one cool lady. But you probably already knew that?

Amanda C. - This sounds like a great Mother’s Day, just a little late! <3

Sarah - What a wonderful day. Isn’t it amazing how mundane days can be the best ones we have? So sweet.

Kate @ Songs Kate Sang - OH Meg. That is beautiful.
I agree. Some alone time with daddy does a mommy good.
I went for a walk Sunday morning because of you. Your stretching picture completely inspired me.
I will be praying that today is special, too.

Katherine @ Grass Stains - “SPRINKLED.” Sorry.

Katherine @ Grass Stains - We loved the LOST finale and weren’t bothered that so many questions were left unanswered. The “reunions” sprinked throughout were beautiful, and I think overall it was nicely done.
And I think there is bound to be rainbow cake in Heaven.

mandy friend - those are the days that remind us huh?? The ones that speak to your spirit and remind us how good God is (as if we should ever forget). Please share your funny movies…always on a look out for good ones;)

Amanda - awesome post – SO glad you had this day. I got goosebumps and almost tears just reading the details of your wonderful day.

Nicole Q. - What a sweet sweet day and I loved how you needed to write it BEFORE the next day came. The “next day” has a way of changing our view of the great day before it!! I’m with you on the recharging with your man, makes family time all the better!!
WE were so sad to have missed you guys at the party … sniff sniff… i knew Tatum would have loved to run around with Annie. Even Lynette said she thought those girls would hit it off big time. We were at the parties for my cousins just way to long before making it to Josh’s. We spent time with them Sunday too which was really nice. They are like family and we miss them so so much. Didn’t you love all the charm of rita’s backyard?? So glad you had a great weekend, hope this first official week of no school is a good one. I’m working at recharging today after the weekend so we can jump into a good week too.

Jennifer - We’re a week behind you in terms of vacation. My weekend was frantic getting the girls to and from recitals and rehearsals. So reading your blog made me take a deep breath and relax. 🙂 Also, love your flowers and dog.

Beth Ann - Happy Mothers Day 2 weeks later!!!! It sounds like your family operates on their own calendar, not one dictated by hallmark 🙂

Karen Gerstenberger - Yes, I think everyone is a better parent when they have a little time away. You’d get stale at ANY job if you never had time away from the office! Those precious, happy times as a couple help to get you through the tougher times. Refueling is necessary! SO glad that you got to do it – and to enjoy your weekend with your family.

Lora - I loved reading about your wonderful day… that hammock sounds pretty great! I will miss LOST too. I was so glad they had a good ending.

Kimberlee J. - Loved the post. Date night equals happiness. 🙂

Courtney Walsh - I had to skip the part about LOST. I’m only on season 5. I don’t want to know anything because right now I seriously don’t know anything. I mean, even about what’s going on in season 5. lol
Sounds like a heavenly day!! 🙂

Liz - Sounds like a perfect day to me! Thank you for sharing it with us!
Thanks to you, we will also be making a summer list for the second year in a row. I’m really thrilled about the lazy summer days ahead,… especially since my oldest starts Kindergarten in the fall and the thought of it instantly makes me do the ugly cry.

Tammy - truly a perfect day! Hope today is a great one, and if it’s not, just think back to yesterday.

Robyn - a day without fighting? a miracle! recently i said i feel like living with a four year old is like having an abusive relationship… me being the victim!
happy summer… hope you share your summer list for some inspiration!

Angie - I am seriously in love with your dog. A picture of him on your blog makes. my. day. Please give him a little scratchy scratch for me.

`Kelly - A whole bunch of little things that by themselves would be nothing but put together make for a wonderful weekend. I love those kind.
Two more things. A – I think it’s cool you let your kids jump off the wall.
B. – Lost. I’m so not sure what I think about that ending. I think it’s hard to make what I believe mesh with what I saw. Does that make sense? I loved the whole 4.5 hour hoopla up until the last 15ish minutes. I’m just not sure I liked that ending.

sarah - What a beautiful post.
I’m so glad you had a great date with Craig and a wonderful Sunday at home with your family!

Jill - You are the best! It’s great that you document the good days and just enjoy them for what they are – an ordinary day. I hope Monday, today, is a great day – unexpectantly (is that a word?) great.

Heather - Inspiring and beautiful! The pictures and reflections. My children are still quite young and too often I rush through the weekend trying to complete the to-do list so we can be ready for the next week. So much more pleasurable to take long walks, share a meal with friends and take pictures! This year, we’re making a list, too. Thanks for the wonderful idea 🙂

Cate O'Malley - sounds like an awesome weekend. some times, they are good times, just because. nothing definable, just because. love that.

Sara Cameli - Nice post…and we also had a date Saturday pm. All good.

Sarah - Beautiful Day and lovely post!

Donna - I love how on the trampoline picture you can see the basketball in the background about to go into the hoop. Perfect timing!

Zeroed-in - My fondest memories are of days like this as a kid.

Trasie - Can I please just move into your world? I just want one weekend where I can just watch the world go by at a slow pace and enjoy my husband. Please tell me it’s easier when your kids get older!

Melanie - Sounds like you had a wonderful weekend and an even better Sunday. Hope that your week is just as good.

Heather R. - Love the good days 🙂 I’m glad you had a good weekend.

Eileen - I think your day sounds like perfection! (And I’m glad you liked the finale of Lost. It made me cry so hard — thinking of getting to see my late mother again. And I love any show that thinks that LOVE is an important, life-altering concept.)

LeAnne Cotton - Sounds like a day that your children will also remember as the “good ole days!” My daughter and I came up with our summer list (inspired by seeing yours last year) and it was pretty long. I am very excited to be intentional with our summer this year. 🙂 I enjoy your blog – it is fun to read and so pretty.

pam - This was nice…astounding how the Lost ending made us all hold our breaths, hoping for the ending we wanted…love won

Tara - date nights really do make us better parents.
the flowers in your pictures are amazing pics.
my kids use to jump off our back deck onto the trampoline.
🙂 happy monday!

Janie Fox - That was a great Sunday. I love days where we all just enjoy each other. My kids had a trampoline and used to jump off their playhouse roof onto it. At that point I was just glad they were playing, not fighting or whining! Those summer days can be a challenge when kids are not getting along together! Have a great Monday! It’s 90 here this week… grandkids and I will be hitting the sprinkler and popsicles!

tara - such a great day…
bookmark it…
to remember what happens after a date night.
Just saying to Kevin yesterday that we need one…
BADLY.
Fabulous pictures. Love annie and the ice cream cone.
I hope today is just as sweet.
~Tara

j - I love perfectly normal days. We did the beach and pool in one day…walmart in between (that wasn’t the best part of the day)
I love your flower pictures. yum.

jennibell - What a beautiful day! Thanks for sharing it. Summer starts here tomorrow, but my kids don’t “get” sleeping in 🙂 Wishing you all the best this season has to bring you!!

Jennifer - I love this post. Reminds me a lot of my day. Nothing special…but a whole bunch of simple little things that made it great. One…at lunch, ( a picnic on the porch) my husband kept passing me the food he knew I couldn’t reach. OK…this just sounds CRAZY now that I have typed it out….but I actually noticed it, and made me happy. Love your post. Love your pictures. Love your blog. That’s all. 🙂

Georgia - Sounds like the perfect Sunday!!! 🙂
I havent watched the Lost finally yet, its recorded, as in the UK it was on at 5am!!! noooo way was i getting up that early! lol

Julie - Ahhh, so good! My kind of day. We don’t have many of those good days anymore ~ moments, yes, days, not so much anymore.
I love thinking about heaven too ~

Vera - What a sweet post. It made me happy!
Your Lost finale story reminded me of when Friends ended – it was the end of my first year of law school and I watched it with some of my law school friends and I cried and cried and cried… everyone thought I was crazy, because I was crying over a show, but I was really crying over that year being over and all these great friendships changing (which I knew they would, and they did).
Happy Summer!!!

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my mom

May 9, 2010

(my mom is in the blue.)

mom….you are funny…and you tell funny stories.
you are thoughtful.
you pick the best gifts.
you love my kids.
you are fashionable…always look cute!
you have great taste in your home.
you make awesome coconut cake.
you have great friends who love you very much….and that i love too.
you taught me that i was creative…not that i could be…that i WAS.
your house is so clean.
i wish i could keep half as clean of a house as you do…maybe someday? ha! doubtful.
you took me to twenty thousand dance classes.
you paid for twenty thousand dance classes.
you did not send me to boarding school…even when you wanted to.
you take such good care of your own mother.
you are the perfect day-after-thanksgiving shopper.
actually….you are an awesome shopper any day.
i know that i got my love of shopping from you!
you play board games with my children.
you are smart….you have computer skills! that is impressive mama!
you took care of my dog when i moved away and loved him more than i ever did…and that is a LOT.
you always smell good mom. how do you do that?
you are so much fun to throw surprise parties for!
you gave me the best margarita recipe…ever.

so since i will not be with you today…
i wanted you to know i was thinking about you even at 1:14 in the morning of mother's day!
despite how hard i tried to NOT listen to you growing up…
you were right.
about pretty much everything.

thank you.
i love you mom.

happy mother's day mom.

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Mother's Day Gift Philippines - Each photo was so beautiful in a wonderful and unique way. This was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed looking.
Paula M

Tracy - Thanks for sharing your mother’s day…. I intend to write on my blog about it this weekend… yes, that is one week after the event. I hear you on the above. And I hear your love for your kids. Life is just funny sometimes.
-Tracy By the way… I have a good kids cookie recipe on my blog for your kids. My kids call them homemade and they only take 5 minutes. Enjoy!!!www.lifeisjustplainfun.blogspot.com

Christina - Sweet, sweet
And I also think that if you have a perfect margarita recipe that you should share it. If it’s not a secret. 🙂

Jessica from Stars and Clouds - You and your mum look so alike! Both of you are really beautiful!

Tanya - I love your mom’s freckles!

Lindsey - Awww. 🙂
“despite how hard i tried to NOT listen to you growing up…
you were right.
about pretty much everything.”
Haha, isn’t it amazing how right our mother’s are? (And how much like them we become?)

julia - didn’t you used to have a pic up of you in crazy glasses? hmmm….I wonder where you get it from?

Dave Ranney - My goodness, you dad sure is good looking!
Fat Cowboy

lorel - Our mom is wonderful – thanks for putting it out there for the world to see. Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms today

Melanie - Has anyone ever told you that you favor your mom? You do!

Molly - Your mom rocks!
Molly
http://www.mypeaceoflove.com

Seleta - What a heartfelt and beautiful tribute. Happy Mother’s Day!!!

Christy - Beautifully said. A happy Mother’s Day to you!
You have your mom’s smile. 🙂

sara's art house - Your mom is so cute! Happy Mother’s day!

Heather in Utah - What a beautiful Mamma you have! Your tribute made me think of my Mom that is 350 miles away….it was very nice.
PLEASE, oh please post her cocunut cake recipe. My Mamma and I have been looking for the perfect cocunut cake for years. We think we have found a good (not perfect) frosting, but can’t seem to find the perfect cocunut cake!
Happy Mother’s Day! Thanks for sharing you fun family with the world.

DreamGirlLisa - Lovely! Happy Mother’s Day!!

Julie - Very sweet post Meg. I’m sure to have a daughter like you, your mom must be a wonderful woman!

Dianne Avery - Sweet tribute. Happy mothers day to you Meg!

Melanie - Happy Mother’s Day Meg!

mom - Thank you Megan. I’m all vah-klimp!
I love you and your family very much. HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY TO YOU!

Becky @ Farmgirl Paints - Have a great day Meg. Sweet tribute to your momma!

chasity - happy mother’s day!

Gemma - Awww so sweet! Hope you all have a great day 😀
Gemma X http://musings-of-a-gem.blogspot.com/

Sophie - You have such a wonderful Mom (:
I live in England, so our mother’s day was back in March, but I still took the time to appreciate my mom this morning.
I hope your kids do something brilliant for you today, you deserve it.
Happy Mother’s Day Meg!

Michelle - Love, love, love the photo with the purple glasses. What a cool Grandma!

Peggyrice@gmail.com - Margarita Recipe? Do share please:)

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