the pool

ahhh, something about kicking off summer at the city pool with a session of swimming lessons.  once upon a time i had all six with me~ now i'm down to just three. i've blogged about this topic before, so i won't expand too much. 

this year we had ten hot and sunny days.  nice way to start in the morning...

 just gotta say, however, that while sometimes teenagers/young adults get a bad rap, this group of instructors in the pool~ they are something special!  each day they work with all ranges of kids~ some small and afraid to others who are older but energetic and busy~ yet they are consistently kind and patient and tolerant teachers of swim strokes and endurance and pool safety and rescue methods at all levels.  i love their enthusiastic investment~ and our kids do too!

the picture below has some cool filter i unknowingly applied! :) kind of a vintage look!  

level five and level nine in the books!

fostering and adoption~ links i loved!

a Facebook friend who is a Haiti/adoption/fostering connection often links to beautiful related articles which i really enjoy reading.  this one is from a blog by Jason Johnson relating to foster care.  it hits the mark with the description of how foster care is often so much bigger than just what you think or see.  i know some of you enjoy this stuff too, so i decided to share...

"I found you simply cannot bring brokenness into your home and not be broken by it. You cannot hold abused innocence in your arms and not on some level lose a sense of your own innocence because of it. You cannot hear stories of the deep fractures in other peoples lives and not see the cracks in your own, and understand that on some level we are all the same - broken humans in need of redemption. You cannot open your heart to them and not have it transformed by them. You can never unsee what you’ve now seen or unknow what you now know or unhear what you’ve now heard or unfeel what you’ve now felt. These things are always a part of you, and a piece of you is now always a part of them. They become your story – your new normal. The world as you know it is a different place - a bigger place, a more nuanced place, a more distorted place between what you used to know about your own little world and what you now know about the rest of it. Everything changes.

The beauty of foster care reverberates upon the backdrop of the brokenness which surrounds it. In light of the gospel it is our privilege to crawl into the story of others because Jesus has ultimately entered into ours. It is the call to wrap ourselves in their brokenness and willingly be broken by it - to exchange our normal for theirs and theirs for ours and begin to write an entirely new and better normal together.

In the end, everything changes - you change them, but perhaps more importantly, they change us.

Nothing can or will or should ever be the same."

the rest of the article is here along with much more.  good stuff, i'd say...

then, a tearful adoption story filled with beautiful grace and love.  during a time of overwhelming darkness and hate in this world, where it seems daily we learn of yet another senseless act of evil involving the permanent destruction of life, it does my heart good to focus on beautiful examples around me of God's children living out their real and sincere faith in ways that changes lives for good.  for good.  just as Jesus did.  it is all around.  maybe not there on CNN's headlines, but happening nonetheless.  refreshing during a month of worldwide turmoil...

love/hate

things i've loved this past while, and one thing i haven't, because this is real life.  

i don't even know how this bread could be so easy to make and so delicious to eat.  i was so stunned with the result i had to stop and photograph it, and then eat some, of course.  made me feel sooo old-fashioned and domesticated in that "farmer's wife" way that i love.  if only i'd churned the butter we slathered on....thanks to my mother-in-law for sharing the recipe.  once the thermostat drops to a tolerable level in my kitchen again i will fire up the oven for another loaf.

another thing i love.  my two youngest are on the same baseball team this year.  what a treat!  below, Hudson pitching while his biggest fan, AJ, cheers him on.  precious and something i am so thankful to see.  not sure it will happen again, so i'm soaking it in while we can.  even cuter was last night when AJ was pitching and Hudson was catcher.  he kept approaching the mound to discuss strategy, signs, and what they were going to have for snack that night.... :) who really knows what they were discussing, but in that game, it felt very Russell Martin and Marcus Stroman-ish, just doing it like the MLB....that's when it's fun for them!

my oldest son takes such delight in this baby.  he may also be on the very top of the baby's list of favourite people too (in this house, at least).  they have a mutual shared affection for one another.  he calls him "Ado" or today "Adam" properly, with a strong emphasis on the "ummm" sound at the end.  so sweet.  

 nothing like cuddling a freshly bathed baby snuggled up with his bottle.

spontaneous purchases at H&M are always fun.  plus, Layla is fun and funny to shop with too.  

just growing up so fast.

here's the hate part of the love/hate...or at least a strong dislike.  this pile of "stuff" at the top of the stairs never impresses me.  how hard is it to carry down your clothes, hats, work stuff, etc., when you journey down to your room multiple times a day??  apparently quite hard for some.  sigh....i will survive.  yes i will. 

stay cool everyone!  

good-bye June

i liked June.  i always do.  it whizzes by and brings the promise of lazy (actually, how about lazier....seems more accurate) summer days and the completion of hectic school schedules.  not to mention really yummy strawberries!  mom and i picked once and it was sooooo good that day!

my oldest son, just being a ham, as usual.....didn't see that joke coming, did ya??

same boy, with his bike.  giving it a good cleaning...such a part of what makes him happy!  if only he felt the same about his bedroom.  yikes on bikes! :)

a late evening sunset that was stunning.  no justice in this picture below, but still kind of pretty. 

school art projects that trickle home at the end of the year.  this was AJ's coral painting, complete with texture and sea creatures. if you have the pleasure of using our half bathroom this summer, you will have the privilege of seeing this masterpiece up close, hanging right above the toilet paper roll!  incentive to come over, wouldn't you say??

  

good-bye to June, hello July!  backpacks are washed (or pitched!), lunch bags are tucked away, mornings start later and evenings are more relaxed with time to chill in the family room and take in some MLB baseball.  (go Jays!!)  we are slowly getting settled into a summer groove.  plus, swimming lessons have begun at the city pool which is always a sign of summer kick-off for our crew....it is a welcomed change! 

 happy summer!!

last brown bag lunch

i know articles have been written about the "lasts" we face with our children. heart wrenching reminders i've sniffled my way through on more than one occasion...all about how we always mark the "first" milestones our children reach, such as their first tooth and first steps and first words.  rarely do we ever take notice of the "lasts", because most often time passes before we realize the event hasn't repeated itself again, and likely never will.  that is, until it dawns on us.  it's a sappy subject, to be sure.  who would even want to know it was the last time they were reading a bedtime story to their child, or washing their child's hair in the tub, or holding hands through the mall, or cutting up food on a dinner plate, or offering comfort after a scary dream.  of course i want to cherish each moment , each occasion (which i'm not always successful at), but i don't think i'd want to know each and every "last" as it occurred.  i'd be a mess of tears at least once a week with all the changes that happen around here on a regular basis.  nobody wants that.   

anyway, last week i happened to see Joelle grab her lunch to head out and catch the bus for her last school day, and it just kind of hit me! this was the very last time i would be making her brown bag lunch for school.  after fifteen years of sending her off with a lunch i'd prepared (i know it might surprise some~ the fact that i still make their lunches, but honestly, this is more for my mental sanity than anything.  type A, remember??  :) whatever works, right?), i realized out of the blue that this particular morning was her last.  her last ever school morning before post-secondary school changes everything.  i admit i felt nostalgic about the whole thing, but no tears or sadness yet.  more excited for her and the adventures ahead and baffled at how those years sped by...King's Kids nursery school is still so fresh in my mind.  she loved it...all those wet paintings that you tried so hard to keep off the car upholstery and pasta art and gooey glitter glue crafts with her own handwritten name in the corner......sigh.... 

i was grateful she cooperated for a picture.  i think the moment resonated with her as well.  happy to capture this "last".

an awesome link...

...but not just any link...such a beautiful one, posted on Facebook this week by a friend.  

i had to share it.  so moving and miraculous.  the very best kind of link, i'd say....

here it is!

enjoy, and pass it along if you wish!  it's that good!  

fathers...earthly and heavenly

well, this doesn't happen often, now does it?? :)  it has been several years now since i sat to jot down a second post within a week.  no time mostly, but this week i felt the urge to compile a father's day mention after viewing the most adorable video ever.  the video, in all its sweetness, will be linked at the end (did i mention it is adorable??!).  so read on and click the link at the bottom for an overdose of cute and truth and joy all within just a couple minutes.  pure delight, i promise. 

as i was saying, this video i saw online got me to thinkin'.  about fathers.  earthly fathers and my heavenly father.  and how the men closest to me are a human display, however imperfect, of love that is loyal and steadfast and true.  a presence in my life, from my beginnings as a small baby girl to the adult woman i am today, that models the amazing way my heavenly father loves me.  of course, our human condition means we are all flawed, and not a father (or mother) exists that hasn't let down their child in one way or another.  overall, however, i have the amazing privilege of witnessing multiple men around me....my own dad, my father-in-law, my husband, my brother, my male friends....all slugging away at the role of "dad", doing their obvious best to honour their families with a solid commitment and authenticity and character and selflessness.  how many people can say that has been their experience?  it is one of the most intangible and cherished life gifts i've been given.  it has formed my core, shaped my overall life perspective and carved a security for my future.  i am immensely blessed.  

to you, Jeffrey :), i am in awe of your beautiful compassionate heart.  as i see the display of love you offer to the vulnerable ones around us, most recently the baby we've been blessed to care for, i am moved by the sacrificial way you are "all in".  less hesitant than even i to invest in the hard ways.  to show fatherly love to those in need and embrace all the challenges that come with the task.  by far your most attractive quality, and the list is long (just ask you, right? :))  i always knew you were a keeper.  i'm happy to have kept you.  

to those without a father figure in their life, to those who have only known hurt and rejection and pain from the hands of their father, my heart aches for you as Father's Day approaches.  it is difficult for me to process how such disappointment exists for so many.  i can only imagine the void that leaves in your heart and life...it isn't fair.  it isn't right.  we were never meant to live in a fallen world where fathers let down children.  i'm so sorry you carry this load.  the beautiful hope contained in the short video clip below (which is sooooo adorable!!! :)) is that God, your heavenly father, wants to be that steadfast immovable presence in your life.  your "go to", your lifeline, your father to trust and lean on.  He has been so in my life~ and i wish the same for you...
so thanks to all the earthly dads who are kickin' it each and every day,  thank-you God for your unconditional love and care in my life~ for all the ways i see and even the ways i cannot see.
and, a few pics of some awesome dads who i love to the moon and back...

they constantly offer their expertise to us, as a busy family.  gardening, pruning, rolling the lawn, washing windows, fixing screens, making the exterior of our home look pretty, etc...

fixing pool pump problems, getting my dryer up and running again, not to mention the dehumidifier, car problems, the air conditioner, etc....

 
we are so very grateful and just really appreciate you!

and Jeff, pool wrestling in Florida...what's not to love?

and finally, here's the link....fatherless to fatherfull.
Happy Father's Day!