model material??

this ham of a kid was shopping with me on the last weekend before school.  we were out of town for a baseball tournament and killing time between games.  so, we found a Winners!  

 this is his best runway pose.  i love the whites of his eyes :)  now that the picture is public, i expect the "Paris people" will be calling any day....better start his portfolio! 

just like that....

just like that....all six officially embark on a new school year filled with promise, adventures, new beginnings, challenges, lessons learned, growing, maturing, discovering more about themselves and the wide world in which we live.  

Joelle grade 12x, Hannah grade 11, Adam grade 9, Layla grade 7, Hudson grade 5, AJ grade 3

have an amazing year guys!  go get 'em!

eighteen

i've fallen victim to some sort of freakish time-travel incident. i've heard about this sort of thing before...only now it's happened to me.  an abnormal and inexplicable phenomenon where i blinked and my firstborn went from infant car seat to driver's seat,

 from nursery school to contemplating post-secondary, from adorable to beautiful, and taller than her mama...

she doesn't love the mushy side of me (although maybe really deep down it resonates with her a bit), but i can't help but remember this day eighteen years ago when i realized i'd finally be welcoming my first child.  a full twelve days late (rascal)~ she was making her grand entrance on her terms only~ i sat there in my hospital room cradling a precious bundle that i already loved sooooo fiercely...and so my transition to parenthood began.  it's been a wild ride....yet i can honestly say i'm so thankful for all the highs and lows, because i know without a doubt that i'm being shaped and stretched and changed simply because of this role i have as mom to this bunch.  

love you Joelle~ to the moon and back.  i hope and pray this is your best year ever!

twelve

miss Layla, or Lolita as we've affectionately called her since birth, has hit her twelfth birthday....crazy to us that she is officially this number.  the last year before her teen years.....heaven help us...actually....
she spent the day with two crazy twins who share her energy level and match her sweetness.  we visited a trampoline park in Michigan, and came home convinced we must open such a place here in this city.  still trying to locate the million or so we'd need to get it off the ground....stay tuned.

Layla is a girl who thinks and feels deeply.  her emotions are out there in a refreshing way that leaves little room for guessing.  she processes her world around her actively and intentionally.  can't wait to see God's divine purpose and plan continue to be lived out through her life.  today i admit, i do miss her crazy baby hair and her sweet baby skin...

.  still~ her feistiness remains with her giant love of life.

 keep shining my dear....love you lots....

fourteen

 notice the series of number titles i've used in the previous few weeks?  it's become a bit of an unintended theme, but i think i'll go with it!  we are, after all, just into the long run of summer birthdays.  yesterday Adam celebrated his. 

  

he is officially fourteen, and on the brink of a pretty huge year.  we love this guy for his dry wit, his sense of adventure, and his love of children....

 

 

he is becoming a "mini-Jeff" in many ways.  brace yourselves! :)

Adam....i love you beyond simple words on a blog.  praying for you through the coming year.

wishing you God's very best as you live out "14"...

twenty one

this picture has always been unique to me.  not because we look like kids.  no, not that...it was at the end of our wedding ceremony during the recessional, and i was finally married to my favourite guy.  the joy is written all over my face.  and his too~ let's be honest! :)  but that's a given, right?!?  hahaha.....

 

 

Seven thousand, six hundred and seventy days later it is still a ride filled with such joy.  here's to another twenty one years if God blesses us so!

love you, Jeffrey!

sixteen

this baby girl...

 

 

is now sixteen. 

 

 

i'm still trying to figure out how that happened.  sigh...

we love you, sweet Hannah!!