last and firsts

It was Soren's last day of school and our first day (evening, really) at the beach. It was also the first day of summer -- and what a perfect summer day it was....

Soren taking it all in when he first got in the water.


Anna Clara jumping excitedly for her first touch of the ocean.


The boys spent a long time on my beach mat carefully exploring the sand with their hands -- surprisingly (and thankfully!) not with their mouths!



But they eventually did venture out...but it took a very long time. Way longer than I expected (I even had a chance to read for a bit!!).


All four crawlers.



They are never very far from each other.





Soren dug a hole he was proud of.




It could not have been more perfect weather for the first day of summer. Soren got off the bus for the last time as a 1st grader at 3:45pm and we were on our way to the beach at 4pm -- my very favorite time of day at a beach.

Welcome summer! It's about time you came our way....

dads are good

Happy Father's Day to my two favorite dads....


Dads (and grandfathers) are totally underrated.


Behind every good dad there's a great mom (and every good dad knows that -- am I right daddy-os?) making yummy treats for him...like this banana cream pie I made for Mr. Incredible. It was dang good, lemme tell you.

romance

It's a cold, dreary Monday in June(!) today so I felt like posting these pictures I took a week ago to help brighten my day.

And they got me thinking about my man. My "Mr. Incredible". And what makes him so "incredible"...other than looking just like the cartoon character. Except slimmer.

He planted these to commemorate our wedding -- he is much more of a romantic than I ever give him credit!! We were married 8 years ago this May. We had LOTS of peonies everywhere at our wedding. They are such gorgeous, lush flowers with a divine, delicate scent.

Our anniversary came and went. That's just how we roll (one year we BOTH forgot our anniversary completely!). That doesn't mean we don't love each other or our marriage means nothing. Oh no it doesn't. Every marriage is different, every couple is different. There is no one way to be "romantic" or to show love.

He is so good to me in so many subtle, behind-the-scenes ways. He is a solid, salt-of-the-earth man who is good to the core. And I mean GOOD. He is a "good guy" through and through. That right there is why I married him (his incredible sense of humor helped a lot too...he makes me laugh every. single. day.).

He is also incredibly generous and thoughtful. He bought me all new kitchen -- and laundry! -- appliances for a Mother's Day/Anniversary gift, and for me, practical gifts are the very best gifts (other than thoughtful notes and/or deeds). I love practical gifts.

I also love my husband. Very much.

a question

Why are little boys so attracted to water and dog bowls????

sister love

the joys...and the struggles

Sometimes in the daily grind of life,

there are unexpected things that happen.

Some things make us happy,

and some things don't.

In the past few weeks,

my boys have become more and more active.

Anders finally crawled for the first time on Memorial Day weekend...

...and Niels crawled for the first time just this past weekend.

But while thoroughly enjoying the fun of watching these two grow,

and play together,

and all four play together,



there is still the other less joyful things of life to deal with.

Like lots of doctor appointments for this lil girl to fix her constant urinary tract infections and strep (6 cases of strep since January!!).

Yes, she put Anders in the toy box and filled it...beaming with pride afterward of course!

So, while she just graduated from preschool,

she is now on a strict regimen for re-potty training her...good times for me, right?! Not really...but I am determined to help her bladder and intestines get smaller since she stretched them out so much from holding everything in!

I love Anders' face and how he's sitting in this picture...like he's saying, "How d'ya like that -- Niels is crying AGAIN."


You can barely see her face in this picture, but if you look closely enough, you can see a very rare glimpse of her being frustrated with her brothers. She has the patience of a saint with her baby bros!!!!

This dress was made by her Nana and a hand-me-down from her cousin -- it's even cuter in person.
She also has an appointment to get her tonsils and adenoids out this Friday. Poor lil thang!

And that's only a little bit of a peek into what's been going on. The past few weeks have been...well....let's just say...draining....stressful....BUSY. Life has its ups and downs!


But we all just keep on truckin', don't we?









Niels' hair makes me laugh...it's so straight it won't even bend in the wind!

We all have our struggles. We all have our joys. It's important to focus on our joys. But it's also important to remember that the struggles are what make the joys that much more joyful.