No Where to Go?

My parents were supposed to come in to visit Memorial Day weekend. Daddy became ill with the shingles and so they stayed home. It was up to us to find things to do. The weather was beautiful and funds were low. We turned our backyard into a campground.

Noey enjoyed making the "house in the outside".



My big boys were old pros at making a tent this time. Noey was just a baby the first time.



We swam, made a campfire, and made smores.


Only the big boys slept outside. I don't do HOT when I sleep.



Matthew went out there to check on them before we fell asleep. There was a Monopoly game started and Ben10 on the laptop. He tucked them in with their pups and they slept there until the birds woke them.

Lafayette Business Trip with Daddy

We went for the weekend with Matthew, the daddy person, to play in Lafayette while he had a class and test for work. I took the boys to the Lafayette Natural History Museum while we were waiting for Daddy that first day.

Noey was thrilled to find some dino related exhibits.


He loves anything open to him for touching and they had real fossils to touch and feel.


Most things were behind glass...he didn't approve.


The smaller boys totally loved this one exhibit. You would spin the ball and watch some pretty swirls. Eli says it was used to explain how turbulents move inside of a spherical area, or something like that. I will take his word for it. I was exhausted and allowed Eli and Remy to explain it all to Noey and themselves.




This one was really neat. You would suck the air out of the dome and the planes would stop flying.


On this one you used a simulated video game to dock a space ship.



My sweet middle son.


They had a cute little free play area set up for the younger children. Noey went to work cooking.



The last exhibit we played with was the giant peg board. I always wanted one of those smaller ones when I was little. I think I need to put this on a Christmas list.



This was on the last and second sleep at the hotel room. He was going to sleep so he could swim in the morning.


We did receive news that our daddy passed his test!

Creating Outside

Have you ever been in a three year rut? I have. Oh man, have I.
I am trying to revamp some things and pull myself out of this "place". So much change for me in the last three to four years and being in places I never saw myself in. I used to live so in the moment...just so happy where I was. I feel behind, I feel lost, I feel wasteful, and I feel upset with myself for how long I have allowed myself to be in this "place". I often wonder if I will wake-up ten years from now and wish I had been easier on myself in these moments.
On this day I stopped. I just stopped. I closed the books, I grabbed some supplies, and I made a nest outside for us to sit in while we played. I did this all the time in the past. I need to find that bliss for homeschooling, for homemaking, and I need to be okay with letting go of my birth work for a few more seasons.
...and then it happened...this perfect few hours...
I saw my sweet inventive baby turning preschooler in action. Light playing through the leaves of our apple tree lighting us up and making us feel perfect. The same apple tree we have lazed under so many times.


I saw my oldest and how perfect he needs to be once again. I saw how hard he really tries to succeed at what is at hand. I watched his newly etched big boy face for a long time. I noticed how his art wasn't finished because he needed it to be so good. He needed to be happy with it. How often I rush him or I don't see him now.


My baby delighted in his play. He was free.


I realized I have a sweet 10 year old who is still quite little right now. I treat him so much older than I should.


Our little pound puppy watched us in our efforts.


Just when I don't think it can get any better my sweet Noey brings a plate of grass and leaves to me from the yard. He used his sandwich plate. When I asked him what it was he told me it was a salad for the birds. He was trying to place it by the same tree we had helped the baby fledgling from just days before. I saw his heart. Outside I didn't see the messes he makes or anything negative. I saw a little person who really believed he could nourish the birds. He is a caretaker, even at two.



I was touched by the fact that Remy relished my help at every turn on his little art project. I forget how he still needs me. He acts so capable, but he loved sharing that time with me, of all people, me. His project made him think of my hometown and he told me he couldn't wait to eat seafood with my dad. I love how that is something he does with my dad.


I haven't been able to watch him in gymnastics much because Noey's baby gym overlaps. He wanted me to watch him do gym in the branches of our tree.


He even gave me a flower.


This time next year this little toddler will be so different. I need to see him. I need to be present.




I so need to pull myself out of the must do's and the bad moods and find myself and my children again.

Sweet Madeline

I saw this adorable pup pop up on my Facebook page. Our local high-kill shelter had picked her up that day. I went to see her as soon as I woke-up.


She was a horrible matted mess. She smelled horrible. She was matted so badly on her belly...we are talking poop in her matts. Matts that had been there for years. I have never seen such a mess up close. She spent almost 9 days at the shelter in freezing temps, rain, etc. I cried nightly wanting to bring her home. From the first moment I was hers. It was something I knew. I knew I had to be her person. I prayed nightly her owners wouldn't find her. How could they have treated her that way?

The day finally arrived. I arrived bright and early with the boys and waited for hours to be the first in line when they opened. I had people coming up to me wondering if I was there for her. I told them sorry, that I was, she was mine. As soon as I had her in my arms I felt complete. This moment...right here...


The boys held her as we drove to the "puppy spa".


Didn't she clean up nicely?


I miss her long hair and bathe and brush her all the time. She is my doll baby.

She met her daddy when he came home...


We celebrated her return to us after we had her spayed.


We showed her our favorite spots.


She helped me knit and crochet.


She traveled from Louisiana to Florida to surprise my mom with her long awaited Yorkie Pup.


She has been such a joy. The lessons learned in our homeschool were many.

1. Love for someone who needed adoption.

2. Gaining trust from someone who had no reason to trust.

3. Helping someone through surgery.

4. Praying for someone until they came home to us.

5. The joy of watching someone come to life again through love.

The list could go on and on...for your next pet...go to your local shelter. The feelings I had those early days were something I didn't expect. She blessed me to the depth of my heart. Such a beautiful girl. She is my faithful companion. She no longer thinks of her past and fully accepts she is rotten. She believes she is important. She knows she is loved.



My New Tiny Obsession

It all started with these...


...and that snowballed to these.










Are they not just EYE-CANDY????!!!! I enjoy crafting these little sweet shoes. :-) I have been selling quite a few, too.



If you are a crocheter and would like to make your own you can go and do a search for The Lovely Crow. ;) Happy Crafting!