To Max ~ who colors our world....

Colors swirled on paper 

mirrors your life

swirled in hearts full of gratitude

     Oh Max! Dearest child that has brought such joy-filled crazy to our household. How can we ever begin to thank God for the incredible gift of you? YOU. Our very own "Miracle Max" who came into being at the moment you were so incredibly needed...Grace indeed.
      

     I love to watch you with your daddy, to see his heart melt into a puddle every time you call for him or bring him a book to read or snuggle in tight. You helped to remind him that life is wonderful and silly and I honestly have never seen him more alive....

     And Joe, your big brother? It has been amazing to watch him with you. To see the care and love that he has shown you, along with the playfulness that has emerged? What a gift indeed. I know that sometimes he gets impatient with you (well, we all do) and it is only because you still have things to teach us. Remind us. We are listening, I promise.

     For me, well...you certainly color my world, my dear..... with streaks of bright bubbly radiance and shades of wonder. Forever, you have changed this mama's heart, and forever, I will look to you for dashes of color when the grayness of life creeps in....

     So my prayer for you, my baby boy, is that you will always have this enthusiasm for life. That you may look to our God for comfort and peace and unbounding love. That you will know the gift of you. That you will continue to color the world with the essence of you.

All my heart.
Forever.
~Mama x0x0 

P.S. Loving, too, that you love learning your prayers and that you say "Alleluia" when it's time to turn on your music for bedtime....

Sharing gratefully with Moments of Grace

Catholic Woman's Almanac ~ 7/16/12

Moments of Gratitude

~ sharing the day with Whitney 

~ daydreaming with Tom 

~ watching Max and Joe build memories and hearing the laughter as they play

~ memories that flood back in

Beauty in the Ordinary

Blonde in the sun

From the kitchen

Cucumber salad, fresh-brewed iced tea, coconut-milk popsicles. Lately it just feels too hot to cook.

Praying

For our troops and for their continued safety... 

For my sis and for her newest baby, Charlie...

Pondering

My littlest is turning 2 on Saturday and it still comes as a surprise that he is getting older. With his wildly independent streak, I am savoring the moments when he crawls into my lap and snuggles in or brings me a book to read. Grateful, too, for the moments when Joe (at the ripe old age of 10) wants to curl up and read. May this never really end...

Reading

The Book of the Dead ... a fun summertime read

The Incredible Journey ... with Joe
Once Upon a Potty ... with Max. Over and over. And EXCITEDLY!!!!

Pinned

For the birds  boys... ;) .. fun things to make for birds. By the boys.

Storybook wisdom ... What Harry can teach Joe

For when I'm fearful ... a good quote

Looking ahead

Is it wrong that I don't really want to look ahead? This week I am truly enjoying the slower pace of summertime and laziness and just being with my boys as much as possible. Tonight we are having dinner with some wonderful friends and are going to make some plans for when we are in Florida at the same time. Yes. The land of Mickey. (Looking ahead to this trip still makes me a little dizzy. Next week.)

Captured

Brothers

Sharing again today at Suscipio

Garden Journal

“Designing the garden is like learning to speak. You begin with odd words – learning the individual plants. Then you create a simple phrase, finding two or three plants that look well together, next comes a sentence and finally the complete story.”

~ BETH CHATTO

Sage and Lavender

It really is humbling, this gardening love. In the springtime, I see such hope and am awed by the newest of growth. Flowers are bursting with color...and the smell? Heaven. 

But then, as these dog days of summer come, there comes a feeling of desperation. 

Are the tomatoes growing?

What IS that bug?

Oh. I guess that the cucumbers have given up?

Every walk in the garden is punctuated by successes. And failures, too. To be quite honest, I live in a wonderful area surrounded by ancient oak and dogwood trees. My two garden boxes are placed in a spot that gets sun, but later in the day. As I look at the plants, it is plain to see the STRETCHING that they are doing. Feeling a little guilty, actually, as I haven't given them the proper place to grow....

See the spindliness?

And then, most unwelcome, that thought extends to my sweet boys. 

Are they growing well?

Have I given them the love and joy and sunshine that they need? 

As I breathe a prayer, I am gently reminded that this life is a journey, and a process. We walk toward grace in faith and love and hope and while the process may be messy and tragic and full of weeds, the fruit that comes is indeed blessed and we are grateful indeed.

Can you see the zucchini? 

Lovely, hope-filled zucchini flowers

Okra

My garden and my life may have its share of weeds and bugs and drought. But looking closely? I wouldn't trade it for the largest or most lush garden in the world. No. My journey with my husband and my boys is worth so much more. 

As we color our world with our dreams and plant seeds of hope and faith, we bask in the light of our faith, and enjoy the flowers that happen to come our way.

Hydrangea

Sharing with Ginny today, at her beautiful place....

Catholic Woman's Almanac

First of all, I apologize for the long distance between postings.... there has been so much to say and yet, well, sometimes I am unable to simply because of the fear and joy and hurt that fills my heart. I will be better, I promise, and this new link-up is a great place to start to begin to trust my feelings again......

Moments of Gratitude

~ dear Carol, her sweet friendship, and time to just BE (And recognizing that someone traveled across 3 states with 3 girls to come and visit me?!?! Humbled.)

~ tears of cleansing and prayers for humility and grace

~ conversations with Kristie who is like 8 states away, and for the instant love and understanding that comes across the miles

~ life seen through the eyes of a 10 year old boy who wants there to really be a Star Wars world "in real life"... 

~ giggling 2 year old who thinks that a sock puppet with no eyes (literally, just a sock from the laundry basket) is the most wonderfully funny thing in the world

Beauty in the Ordinary

Lucy meeting Charlie ~ Family

From the kitchen

Lovely zucchini and cherry tomatoes from the garden. We fried some and grilled some and ate some right off of the vine. It has been so miserably humidly hot here so there has been lots of watermelon and cold cucumber salads too.

Praying

for continued guidance on this path of motherhood.... and for the grace to accept the trials that come. Oh how I need to just need to learn to not let the things that people say or rolled eyes that they send my son's way or the "what's wrong with him, exactly?" questions that are so rudely asked. As 40 approaches, I still have my heart on my sleeve and thin skin, and the firm belief that yes, the world is a beautiful place. While I do love that about myself, it has also caused me the most grief, for it is hard for this extrovert to not allow what others say become truth. 

Meditating

"You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You." 

~ St. Augustine

Pondering

How have I been so lucky to have the powerful friendships that I do?! Such love and trust and heart are so precious to me, and when women can form such bonds, I believe that it is one of the strongest things on the planet. We need to to build each other up, pull each other up, and continue to share our hearts, our stories, and our lives. Why haven't I been better at this?!

Reading

Queen of the Summer Stars ~ a fun summer read about the Arthurian legend from Guinevere's perspective. This is the 2nd in a trilogy.

The Willoughbys ~ with Joe. Such a funny story with heart.

Magnificat 
Time For Bed ~ with Max... "A-den A-den!" (Again, Again!) Precious bedtime reading...

Pinned

Damage = Beauty (I am touched by brokenness. And the beauty that results.)

Smoky chili bison black bean burgers (this sounds so yummy. i have bison meat from our CSA...)

Sea = Remedy (Always yearning for that ocean. The salt air pulls at my heart.)

Introverts (Still learning about my darling son, Joe.)

Looking ahead

The boys and I are finally going to have an almost completely unstructured week next week. We can visit friends, sleep in, nap, use our zoo passes, and just play. Schedules are great, but.... I feel the need to be free. Two boys help will help me to catch that feeling.

Captured

Max (almost 2)

Hoping to share at Suscipio every Monday (not Wednesday like this week...)