Adam~ two weeks in a month?!

 what is happening?! my Adam, featured here, in this humble space, back-to-back weeks??

that is correct!  i don't know when i'll have more to share about this dear son of mine, so you take it and post it when you get it!  

this past weekend he had an adventurous getaway with a buddy to Atlanta Georgia. they competed in a 15km Tough Mudder race.  the pictures confirm they found the mud, and the mud found the previously white Vans he borrowed from his generous friend Noah upon discovering he'd left his running shoes in his car and was only wearing his slides.  yep, that actually happened.  15km in flat skateboard shoes.  only my Adam.  love how that kid rolls with things and never panics.  he is so like Jeff in that way.

i often tell Adam how much i adore him, and i really, really do. nice accomplishment and memory, Adam!  thanks for sharing a little of it with me! 

toddler things

 right back to toddler things around here.  and i forgot how much i missed them.  captured two pics that are a reflection of the little ways sweet baby C. makes me smile each and every day...

do any of you find turtles in your food processor?  didn't think so...

how about a bite out of the wrong side of a muffin?  i guess when he grabbed it off the counter he must have thought "act fast before she catches me!"  i would have happily given him one of the freshly made muffins, but he's not usually a real big fan of them.  maybe that's why he put it back, or could have been the extra work of chewing the paper liner...

he is pure joy, even when he's also pure trouble, which he is.  he's almost two, after all.  right on cue. we adore you, little fella!

rare window

 i don't have many glimpses into Adam's day-to-day.  he's pretty quiet and a man of few words typically, around here at least.  for the past month or so he's been working locally on a shutdown, as a boilermaker apprentice.  he sometimes shares snippets of info about his work or the particular job they are doing.  on those days i hang on his every word.  so when his buddy took this picture of him (in this terrifyingly narrow space) it felt like winning the lottery.  i love seeing him on the job, and getting a visual of what he's actually doing during his ten to twelve hour shifts.  

better him than me in that tube, that much i do know.  no thank-you.  

i sooo love you, son.  happy for you and the new experiences that greet you each day as you drive off to work.

love this

 these two have something special.  i love their connection.  i know i've mentioned it before but this is worth noting again.  i love how it doesn't matter what Hannah is doing, even after a hard fought wrestling match, she always has time for little man C. she adores him~ even his toddler ways. 

it doesn't seem to matter how much time has passed between seeing one another, they slide right back into a closeness that is a gift to watch. 

❤

puddle jumper

 this one right here might just be the cutest little puddle jumper...

the annual ice rink thaw made for a fun chance to put on the rain boots and trek right on through all that water.  

can't wait for more spring adventures with this dear boy ❤

a little getaway

 well, it wasn't Florida quite yet. hopefully one day in the future we get back to the beautiful sunshine state, but still, getting out of town for a weekend was soooo good for all of us that went.  while it didn't go exactly as planned, Niagara Falls ticked the boxes of refreshing, well deserved fun with AJ and baby C.  we made some memories and enjoyed each other and ate out and took in lots of the hype that the Falls offers.  it was good for all of us.  super thankful it happened! i'll drop a couple photos so this weekend sticks!

this covid baby's first hotel pool swim...

he probably most enjoyed watching the kids in the pool.  he just took it all in...

see the brownie under all that ice cream?  that's what sold AJ!  

baby C's first time bowling, and turns out it was also his first strike, thanks to his awesome and handsome assistant!  for a minute there i feared he'd top my score.  thankfully i pulled it together and managed to beat the toddler.

March Break 2022, different and unexpected in ways, but still a huge gift.

ahhh, this book...

 reading an amazing book by Jamie C. Finn, called Foster the Family.  it's come out of her experience as a foster parent and advocate for kids and family and support for foster families. but my goodness, it's so much more than that.  it's absolutely rocking me as i move slowly through its chapters.  page after page points me back to God's word and promises and truth.  i'm being challenged in my role as a foster parent and even more in my role as mom to all my dear kids.  

if you are considering foster care, or already in the thick of this, or raising adopted or biological kids, consider this read. packed full of insight and encouragement.  

here's a quote of her's that i saved...

"Control is an illusion.  The illusion becomes harder to maintain the more people that you love.  Love a partner, you've given up part of your heart, given up control.  Become a parent,  your whole heart might as well be walking around- toddling and skinning its knees and darting into traffic- outside of your chest.  Become a foster parent, and well, you just lay yourself down in surrender, hands up, eyes down, giving it all up.  There's no control anymore.  

The beautiful thing about it?  No one is ever, actually in control.  Other people may get away with the illusion longer, live in the lie of control easier.  Foster parents, we're snapped right out of that and into surrender.  

Love is always a risk.  Parenting forever leaves our hearts exposed.  The fate of our kids is never in our hands.  Foster care just forces us to admit this and accept this and surrender it all to Him.  

This life of mine, it's out of control.  My control.  But it is perfectly under the control of the One who's always, only been in control, all along."