Just Life

My blogging seems to go in waves these days.  Some days I am really prepared.  Others, I'm not.  I seem to fall in the the "not" category as of late.  I keep telling myself it doesn't matter.  Some day I'll believe it...that what I do, and how much I get done, will never matter.

Life just keeps going.  Like this small-town parade.  It was part of our Saturday last week...like the first Saturday in August when I was growing up.  The XIT rodeo and reunion in Dalhart, TX.  Now my kids get to enjoy the parade, and some day we'll make it back to the rodeo and festivities.

 For now, we are doing things like crawling all over the place (this little monkey with two teeth and an army crawl like no other).
 

We're dealing with speech issues, and an appointment with the ENT to try to determine if tubes are necessary (read that as back to back ear infections this summer and lots of two-year-old tears) for this sweet girl.

We're getting ready to celebrate a big birthday for the number one man in the house and in between booked days on the calendar, enjoying time with our extended family.

And, we just lost the first tooth of the oldest little boy in the house (I always dreaded the moment - yes, mostly for the idea of pulling it, but almost equally for the overt sign of growing up).  I'm still alive, folks.  And, it really wasn't too heart-wrenching.

I've been watching this little guy make others feel special, in pulling up a chair next to a stranger at a hotel and asking to visit with her over breakfast, in getting up to find his waitress to tell her how delicious his meal was at that same hotel, and in paying someone who made us tortillas out of the kindness of her heart a dollar from his piggy bank just so she knew she was appreciated.

This sweet Peter has been spending more mornings with his Dad...always wanting to work and brining back treasures for his brothers in the form of dried up Devil's claws and tiny pieces of petrified wood.

I've been doing quite a few photo shoots as Jeremy so seamlessly takes over everything at home, and every single time I question whether I'm doing the right thing.

And, we've been preparing for the start of school, in just a few short weeks.  

This little guy has had his toy pistol attached to his hip for days, and he would rival any old western movie comedian out there.

We've acquired sixteen guineas...and lost all of them (who knew they'd just leave one day).

We spent a spring prepping a garden that has yielded two cucumbers and a couple dozen new potatoes.  I need serious help.

And, our days really have just sped by.  I'm either in the moment or looking back and hating that I wasn't.  These little ones are teaching me new things every single day, and I'm so very blessed to be their momma.  I just wish I knew how to slow.it.all.down.  For the most part.

Until then, I can rest assured that I'm surrounded by the greatest blessings in this life.  The fall doesn't look any less busy, and while that mainly rattles me, I'm resting easy tonight knowing there is a precious soul inside...and if I get nothing else done, that will be enough.  Our living and loving will be enough...

 ...and when it doesn't seem like it, I can grab a piece of candy from this kid's ten pound bucket and just breathe.  Because, everything that matters is right in front of my face, every morning I wake.