I saw this male American Kestrel today on a tree in our neighborhood. Isn't he beautiful?
My son had his guitar lesson and then Art class with Ms. Connie today at the church (they did an Edgar Allen Poe, "The Raven" project - really awesome!) so afterwards, of course, we had to visit the Pumpkin Patch. I managed to get a couple shots of the boys sitting in and among the pumpkins before we left. I love this time of year! :)
I took the Tunas' soccer team (my son's team) photo today at practice. Would you LOOK at these cuties?
My husband is almost done building the fort for the kids...just some finishing touches and a rock-climbing wall and it'll be good to go. Would you look at this masterpiece built from SCRATCH!? These kids are so super lucky!
Today I snagged a picture of my son while he was swinging in the yard. I yelled his name and he looked back at me. :) My husband has almost finished building the most amazing play fort down there. He added the slide and a big platform right in the middle of the trees this weekend - it's an awesome fort/treehouse. The kids are so lucky and excited!
My son refused to change out of his new jammies after his nap today. Here he is in the tree in our yard. He happily played all afternoon in his pj's in our fort, on the swings, on the slide, and in the trampoline. Too cute for words...
Lately I've been on a quest to simplify... I'm trying to slow down, enjoy little moments more, smell the roses, do less "have to's". This is hard for me...it goes against my nature...I'm pretty type A. ;) I easily find myself feeling guilty if I say "no". I've currently got two jobs going, and I'm a stay-at-home mom. I'm busy. However, I've noticed that when I manage to SLOW down and re-prioritize, it feels good, and my family reacts very positively. I've been scaling back on activities, one sport/season per kid, insisting on family dinners more even if we're slammed with "things to do", and trying my best to de-stress daily life. I don't necessarily believe we should always be running around from one activity to the next, stressed out and missing out on life in the process...especially kids. They should have free time to just "be" and play and, gasp, be bored. My children are happier when we are not "overbooked". I spent about 45 mins this afternoon just pushing my son on the porch swing. We sang songs and just talked and spent quality time together. It was awesome. Later we quietly worked on two puzzles. I'm going to play cards with my older son now. This evening, we will enjoy some family time, dinner together, and then we're going out to a movie with friends. Nothing else. Isn't that enough? This is the good stuff. I don't want to miss it.
Today I snagged a picture of my son while he was swinging in the yard. I yelled his name and he looked back at me. :) My husband has almost finished building the most amazing play fort down there. He added the slide and a big platform right in the middle of the trees this weekend - it's an awesome fort/treehouse. The kids are so lucky and excited! 
My son refused to change out of his new jammies after his nap today. Here he is in the tree in our yard. He happily played all afternoon in his pj's in our fort, on the swings, on the slide, and in the trampoline. Too cute for words...