Summer fun.

Summer has been so much fun this year.  The boys have really been busy.  I didn't compile any special bucket list of summer things to do, but when I look back through my phone pics, we've had a pretty full and fun few months.

Picking blueberries with cute little pals

Juicing.. the boys love it!  I'm going to start giving it to Hattie soon, too!  Between the boys and I we had 6 full size carrots, half a lb. of spinach, 4 oranges, 3 apples and a pineapple with one juicing experiment.  They both beg for seconds every time.  

4th of July with friends.  Whip cream wars and a firetruck spray down! 

Braves game in KC, the boys..

The girls..

Many many days at the pool..two very silly boys.

My kids are big :(.

Library music shows and summer reading program.  

KAMPOUT!  

Soon the kids and I will be off to KS, the QCA, Chicago, NYC, MO and back home in August!  I'm getting so excited!!!  I just started planning our NYC activities, and we plan on doing pretty much every touristy thing there is to do there.  Eeek!  Here's to a full and exciting summer!

He is Faithful

Nearly two years ago we went through the scariest time of our lives with our sweet Rhett. It doesn't seem like it's been that long.  God saw us through the fear and and anxiousness, and He gave us a peace like neither Dallas or I had experienced before.  We were ready to conquer anything with Him by our side.  We imagined every possible scenario for Rhett's life, and we imagined complete healing as well.  We prayed, and you prayed, and churches in other cities prayed and we all agreed for healing.  We saw a drastic improvement and healing in his severely enlarged heart just a little over a month after we got the news of trouble.  Three months later, his heart had healed more.  6 months after that it seemed like nothing to worry about, and then a year later there continued to be good news from his echocardiograms..he was down to a mild-trivial level.  This morning he had his annual echo and ekg and I'm not a bit surprised to share with you that Rhett has a heart fully functioning at a NORMAL level.  With the regurgitation of any other child his age.  He was released from his annual appointments, and will go every five years to make sure there are no issues that arise from the Kawasaki business. God is so good.  He has been so very faithful to complete the work that He started in Rhett.  We knew he would be completely healed, it just feels so wonderful to have the report from the doctor as well.  Proof!  Our God still does miracles, and no one could ever convince me otherwise!

Read more about Rhett's journey with Kawasaki's Disease, enlarged heart, severe mitral valve issues and God's healing power  here, here, here, here, here and here.

Dal took him this morning and the rest of us met them there and got the good news in the parking lot.  Rhett had a lot to say about his appointment today..

"All of the good doctors were nice to me. They didn't give me any shots."

"They put glue on my tummy", me, "You mean goo?", "No, glue, and then stickers."

"They weighed how tall I was first"

"They told me to take my shirt off and I loved it."

"There were Ten-hundred toys to pick..sticky hands, balls, stickers..." 

Eating Crow

The other day my husband and I had an epiphany.  We were SUPER annoying one-child parents.  I'm pretty sure we thought we had the whole parenting situation figured out.  My sisters must have wanted to throat-punch me on more than one occasion.  I have spent the last 30 minutes sending apology emails to people who I likely offended when we just had Jude.

We had no clue what it was like raising more than one kid. How dynamics change and what you do to get by at times.  We knew what we were going for as parents, and by golly, everyone else should be on the same page as us. I don't think we ever thought of it that way or meant to be rude, it just seems that way now, looking back.   Little did we know that the addition of #2 and #3 changes everything.  Looking back, people with multiple kids probably just laughed at our antics and said things like, "just wait until they have more."  It all sort of goes back to that not so quick to judge post I wrote a while back.

Here are a few things I've learned about being a parent..

1. It's humbling
2. Most of the time things don't work out the way I plan
3. It's hard
4. Still the best job ever!

A few more things I've learned...Eat crow and humble pie and be thankful for friends and family who loved me through my annoyingness.  Surely they see I just wanted to be the best mom I could be. I still don't have a clue what I'm doing, but I've found that a lot of prayer and a lot of patience helps, a LOT!

I also love this post by Ashley Ann. I have read it over and over.  This is what I desire in friendships. I want to be the kind of friend that I desire in a friend.

Then I read this post and it made me cry.  I've made great strides at appreciating the little moments of the day to day, but this hits the nail on the head for me, and this is my prayer for my home.  Don't let me miss out on the mundane, Lord! Help me to de-clutter my life, prioritize better and not get so busy that my kids end up playing second fiddle.  Amen.

I'm so very thankful for these moments of clarity in my life.  That Dallas and I can sit back and realize how silly we were at times.  That neither of us are too stubborn in our ways to think we still have it all figured out, or that we ever did.

As long as all of these little squishy faces think we have it figured out, we'll be just fine;).