the next generation

of pool rats...

Grateful

We are rejoicing today as Nana had a very good report from Hopkins yesterday.

Divine intervention indeed.

                      (photo credit: Megan Russell)

We love you, Nana!

Lovey

   

Jimmy Cone

Last night we took an impromptu trip to Jimmy Cone.

 

Yum.

Luca's first cone.  He loved it.  

And showed it by throwing into the mulch multiple times.

Best buds.

After he finished his own cone (or rather it had been thrown one too many times)...

he proceeded to beg, like a little puppy from his cousins.

Moved on to Tim after giving up on Ellie.

Taking a break...

ahh, better.

Luca's favorite place to be if Ellie's around.

Nona and Papa with about half of the grand-kids.  What a crew.

Jackson

I got to spend some quality time with my adorable nephew today.

I was considerably more excited about the situation than he was.

 

He warmed up by the end, but was still very happy when mama returned.

The Lake

We met the cousins yesterday at Greenbrier State Park for a day of beach-lake fun.  

The boys had a blast!  

Nona came too, which made it an extra special day.

 

After a few shaky first steps on the beach, Luca decided he was a fan!!

David dove right into the lake and was swimming like a fish.

Ellie was awesome with Luca.  

She played with him almost the whole time.

Carrying bucketfuls of water from the lake for him to splash in.

And Xan was in the water, one way or another, pretty much the whole time.

He was in tears when we had to leave.  

He fell asleep in the car on the way home...he woke up as we pulled up to the house

and said, "in fact, I miss the cousins".

Two peas in a pod.

During the school year we don't get much cousin time.  

Now that it's summertime, we're looking forward to many more days like these!!

Note to self....not laying out does not equal not getting sun.  

I have a crunchy burned back to prove it.

Burns used to "hurt so good", now they just "hurt so irresponsibly".  Aging. :)

Last Day!!

Today was David's last day of 1st grade!!  

Bring on SUMMER!!  We are all super excited around here. 

This was the award he received at his year end celebration:

DEPENDABILITY

Being worthy of trust and doing what I said I would do even if it means self-denial.

O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane vain babblings, and oppositions of science-falsely so called. I Tim 6:20

David did his work diligently and with excellence all year long.  We couldn't be more proud.

We are grateful beyond words for CLS.  And how sweet to not only have Papa as his principal (and morning carpool driver!!), but cousin Brooke in his class as well.  While he's celebrating the fact that he's now a second grader, I'm once again trying to figure out how to slow down time!

Happy Day!!

Our new dryer was delivered today.  Our old one was kaput.  

A week plus of no laundry, and this is the result...which got me to thinking,
I wonder what the Dugger's laundry pile would look like if they couldn't
do laundry for a week? 

While I was thinking, I pondered our HOA.
Which is usually not a fruitful exercise.
In fact they should be checking in any day to see if our "front yard is still weedy".
How do YOU define weedy?
See I'm already sidetracked...our HOA doesn't allow you to hang your clothes out to dry.
Which I guess isn't the worst thing...considering we live in a townhouse.
I wouldn't really want my neighbor's underwear blowing into our yard.
Yes, our HOA and Verizon are two establishments
that get my heart rate up, and my blood aboilin.
I've learned that I am not mature enough to deal with either.
I let Mark.  He's charming but firm, and very effective. :)

Anyway, the real point of this post is to say,
that I am freshly grateful for the things in my life that make my daily chores so easy.
A dryer is a luxury.  My life is full of luxury.
The Lord has provided abundantly for all of our needs.
I too readily focus on what I wish I had, or on what others have,
instead of on the true abundance that fills my life.
My mom had a quote hanging on the wall growing up...it said...
"contentment is not in the fulfillment of what you want,
but the realization of how much you already have"...
which brings to mind what Dave Harvey said in his message on Sunday...
"if you have not what you desire, you have more than you deserve"...
because of Christ's death and resurrection, those words will always be true.

Hooray for clean clothes!!

Painting

with berries...

perfectly logical when you're 4...