school stuff

school work isn't always fun for my youngest two.  they are less into art and homework and spelling and reading than their older four siblings were.  i know there are many different reasons for this.  so the two pictures i picked for today are sweet to me.  Hudson had some required reading to do before bed one evening, and sometimes this is tricky for him to focus on.  so on this particular night, i had him plant himself right in the bathroom where i was bathing the baby.  glancing back at him was precious.  he did really good.  he zoned in and got it done, reading out loud to me and catching the points of the text.  his reading has really taken off.  he's happy and more confident now and even offering to read in class and KidJam at church.  so happy about this....

  

AJ came home with this treasure last week.  must have been up in his classroom for the winter and was coming home now that spring is here...he specifically knew the title, "One Snowy Night".  he did this one all by himself, and was pretty proud of it i think.  he even asked if it could be displayed in the half bathroom off the kitchen, as i sometimes do with artwork the kids bring home.  he remembered that Hudson's tissue paper replica of the Pittsburgh Penguins logo was currently there...

so, i stuck it up on the wall, right above the roll of toilet paper.  he's proud.  he should be.  i think it's pretty beautiful, especially the curly letters he used on his name.  he does spell his middle name, Jeffrey, correctly when asked, but might have been carried away with the design... :)

and this happened...

sooo, yah, this happened last week...

or was it last month (because you know how the "re-entry" week post-vacation has a way of making those "vacation feels" fade super quick?!?!)  which makes it good timing for a picture post of wonderful snapshots that i wish to savour.  forever.  or for as long as my earthly days allow, at least! :)

so, not too many words this week.  however, my little "note to self item" (should i be looking back in twenty years) is that this might be the last vacation as a full crew of eight for awhile as Joelle looks ahead to post-secondary education.  that makes me more than a little bit sad.  sniff, sniff....i will not go into it here, not today.  so we were all (ok, mostly just me, and maybe Joelle a bit too...) super conscious of this in Florida last week.  it was a gift of time cherished, for sure.  i will miss her immensely next year.  she is funny and crazy and a great photographer with wayyyyyy more creativity than i (though that's not saying much) and she is in a much more content and comfortable place than i've seen her in recent years.  can't believe how time has flown since our cottage trips as only three~ Jeff, myself and our baby girl, trekking to Lake Muskoka as a family of  three...

great times had all around.  two very long and entertaining road trips (if either one of my older two daughters try to give you their version of my 2 am jaunt through the inner city of Detroit, it might be slightly exaggerated.  i wasn't "freaking out", just so you know....ahem) amazing sunshine and breezes, daily dolphin spottings (off our balconies! love love love....), beach strolls, pool dips, evening hot tub conversations and laughs, too much yummy food, reading an actual book (Kirabo by Kveta Rose~ thanks Beth, you know me well....) for more than five minutes uninterrupted, sleeping in with no agenda dictating the day....all such a blessing and gift.  very thankful even as i wade back into the day-to-day grind.

so, i said not many words....haha...you didn't really think i'd hold to that, did you? :)

road trip McDonald's visits~ more times than you really want to know.  kid's choice.  over and over again.  

who wouldn't want to be in the van for a total of 40 hours with these hooligans?!?! windows down, Atlanta traffic, Adele song blaring....good times.

six kids equals an instant "pool party", every night. 

and we all played some tennis. even enjoyed it in the full sun. 

AJ literally consumed an entire chocolate dessert pizza at the Hungry Howie's pizza buffet.  he was beyond delighted.  we are re-introducing green leafy veggies this week :), but in that moment, his pure pleasure was precious to see.  so nice to connect again with Jeff's parents there too, thanks B&C! 

lots of dolphins this year, huge highlight.

 

not the most crisp pic, but evening pool stunts were so fun, and rare to see all six playing harmoniously together.  had to post it.

wrestling in the pool, obviously! :) 

below, pool-hot tub-pool-hot tub-repeat...

below, watching the dolphin video footage Adam captured.

walking the pier.  Hudson being Hudson...no reason that was apparent to me.
clearly feeling pleased.

do we look relaxed?  i sooo love him...

dusk...such a pretty time to walk

a bit of a windy family pic. we always grab someone passing by and lay on them the difficult task of capturing eight reasonable expressions for the annual family Florida picture.  not super clear again, but it's what the Samsung S4 delivered. you get the idea....

we are refreshed and had a blast....sums up a great week!

throw back....tuesday??

ok, so this isn't Thursday....i know the "throw-back" rules for photos, i really do....but honestly, aren't these few treasures worth breaking the rules for??  i came across these gems the other day as i was hunting for another picture~ and quite literally, they melted my heart.  it's a flashback to spring 2011, as best as i can recall...first, i love the connection these brothers have.  most obviously seen with the two youngest, but still there with the oldest and youngest two as well.  it is sweet.  this was AJ's first Roadrunner's race of his young life~ 1 km in total.  i remember him clocking an impressive time of somewhere around 11 minutes.  three and a half years old at the time.  AJ has run many more races since, as our family enjoys this great club activity every spring to fall, once a month.  i think AJ's raising his arm when Mr. G. was asking the usual "is anyone here running with us for the first time??"  well AJ was, and he was ready....no early life setbacks would deter this young Ethiopian on this particular spring day.  it was priceless.  not sure where all the other kid competitors were at the moment of the shot, because there is always a full line-up of children running alongside ours.  maybe it was a test-run through the starting drill...looks like Hudson is "game on" and ready.

below, his big brothers helping him cross the finish line....

AJ~so happy to be finished, looking a little shell-shocked, but finished and about to be awarded a purple ribbon simply for participating.  back before the days when a purple ribbon is seen as a disappointment.

i truly loved these years.  thankful for picture memories to take me back. 

and now, back to the present....going off the grid for a bit to enjoy a week with my crew while they are off school.  back in a bit!! have a great week! 

my kids

for the past month and a half, i have witnessed a beautiful thing.  and part of the reason it is totally worth mention, is that i don't always stop and recognize the lovely qualities i see in my kids often enough.  for me as a mom, it is easy to get stuck in a rut of feeling like character development in my children should be faster, should be greater, should be far easier to measure.  and on many a day, this can feel like a direct reflection on how well i am or am not doing in my role as their mom.  sometimes i'll try to explain this to Jeff.  when i worked as a nurse, it was easy to measure outcomes.  at the end of a shift i could look back over the twelve hours and realize i'd administered all medications, recorded findings, completed doctor's orders and procedures, treated specific areas that were receiving attention by way of dressings or therapies, etc....i would know if i'd met emotional needs as well, and hopefully there was a patient resting comfortably because of my attentiveness to their needs....well, with my kids~ not so much.  with children, outcomes are better to assess over years and years, not twelve hours or even three back-to-back shifts.

(well, that was a wee tangent, but i think it relates....)

so, sometimes i need to remind myself of this, because i'm not the parent that sees my kids through rose-coloured glasses.  i don't see myself that way either, so it's fair at least! :)  i think that's okay.  realism is good.  it is what it is, right?  

so, we've had a precious little fella with us for awhile now, and it's been an adjustment for all of us.  so positive though, i have to say.  every single one of our kids, from oldest to youngest, is delightful to watch interact with this child.  they all have their own unique styles, some more rowdy and silly, other's more nurturing and sweet, but all effectively have developed little relationships with this baby.  they are the ones who were first able to illicit the all out "belly laugh" from this little person.  they play music he loves, they dance for him, they tickle him, they read to him, they bathe him, they feed him.  it is wonderful.  i'm so impressed with their care~ about his story, about his future, about his very real needs.  they pray for him often.  they love him "all out".  they are happy to step up as big siblings to a little guy who waits a bit longer for his future to be secure and stable.  i love their hearts for the vulnerable.  i love their giving spirits in this area, even though this has required them to step it up in small ways here and there around the house.  they aren't complaining, and that is also refreshing.  so, while they all give a bit more of themselves, they are getting so much too.  no question.  hopefully a lifelong commitment to care for the real needs of children and adults who find themselves in positions of needing care and loving support.  and the blessing of an enriched spirit by these sweet ones that cross their paths....that would be a worthwhile outcome.