Summertime, and the Living is Easy...

These first two were taken yesterday morning when Jared was the one to get Lilly up in the morning and take her to the potty. I was out walking Tad and got home just 30 seconds or so after she had awakened. She decided she wanted some snuggle time with her "ge ge" when she saw him lying on the love seat.

Here is Lilly driving Katie, Anna, and me to the store on Jared's trombone. Earlier in the day she had declared that it was a car, demanded some money (she is ok with invisible pretend money being handed off to her), and headed to the store to buy meat, eggs, bread, and milk. Later in the day she invited some passengers to join us. As you can see, the girls were ready for bed but I had yet to get out of my swimsuit from our swims earlier in the day!

Here's Lilly eating watermelon on the kitchen counter. Don't worry Nana, she doesn't try to play with the Cutco knives you see behind her.

Here's handsome Jared, hot and sweaty and dirty after our hike in the woods last weekend. He brought along his tools to cut some firewood for our firepit. We encountered what Anna dubbed "the demonic bluejay" who followed us into the woods and relentlessly dive bombed Jared and Anna. I guess we were invading its nesting territory and it wasn't happy with us. Thankfully Lilly had a canopy over her head and didn't even notice it!

Here are Anna and Lilly watching Tad play in the water below. Lilly didn't want to sit on that dirty forest floor!

He loves to get wet and dirty.

Here's Lilly in her first backpack ride. She enjoyed it! We didn't go far, but hopefully in cooler weather we can do longer hikes and she'll stay content to ride. (BTW, I'm wearing my new t-shirt from a duathlon I did on 4th of July--5K run, 200m swim in the bayou. I won the "grand master female" category--basically fastest woman over 40. Yes, I'm now in the "old folks" division!)

Playtime at home!

So many babies, so much love!

It has been a fun week at our house-uneventful but enjoyable. Lots of time in our pool--with friends some days and just ourselves others. A sleepover with Anna's friend Katie. Playdates. Time to play in the "villa" (the small wooded area near our home where the big kids have set up a mini society--complete with currency--with their friends and plan to hold a tournament today. Lilly got her third round of immunizations Friday and so far is not suffering any major fevers or ailments as a result.

I was able to go out one evening this weekend with my dear friend Denise to meet up with a mutual friend we knew in Turkey, Robin, who was in town for vacation. What fun to catch up with Robin and have some time to spend out with Denise, who is only in the area for a few more weeks before moving to Virginia!

The next few weeks promise to be busy as Jared begins his stint at Kids on Campus and Anna participates in the local British Challenger Soccer Camp. Lilly and I will be manning the carpool! I can't believe we are halfway through July already! The summer seems to be zipping by.

Summertime Fun...and a Haircut!

Our summer vacation continues to be a mixture of days at home--just chilling out in the pool, reading books, playing with friends, and doing normal mundane daily tasks (the laundry, in particular, seems to have expanded exponentially lately for some reason)--with other days filled with kids' activities, music lessons, outings to parks/beaches/shopping/playdates, etc. Here are some snapshots of day to day life lately...



Here is Lilly, enjoying the Niceville Children's Park, which has an automatic bubble blower--fun!

Here are Jared and Lilly playing in the water fountains at Destin Commons on the 4th of July, before we watched the fireworks show. Lilly wasn't always so sure about the fountains as there were LOTS of kids and water kept getting splashed into her eyes. Usually she enjoys it, however.

Lilly getting her bangs trimmed...not too sure she is excited about this process! (can't say it's her "first haircut" since our referral photo of her showed a shaved head!)

"Ta-da!" "Hao Piaoliang! (so pretty!)"

Whipped cream? Or ice cream? Either way, yummy stuff! Eating poolside in a bathing suit, even better!

As a mom, summertime is a time of mixed emotions for me. I LOVE the thought of spending extended hours with my kids home from school, finding fun things to do, and having a break from the rigorous routines of the school year, sports, and other activities. But I have to admit that I have my days of being tired of the house NEVER looking quite picked up or clean, the laundry never really being done, and finding myself frequently acting as referree between kids. And sometimes the lack of routine can become disconcerting to me, as I feel like we are forgetting to do something!

So I am trying to be a mom who is focusing on enjoying the day-to-day relationships with my children and not obsessing with the temporary inconveniences of small messes and a little (OK, sometimes a LOT of) dirt. My good friend Denise came over yesterday and stayed with Lilly while I took the big kids to the dentist, and she put it so sweetly "Oh, Amy, I came into your house and I can just tell you are a Mom who has her priorities in order!" What a sweet way to look at it rather than saying "what a mess!" I need to look at it the same way! Lord help me!

On another note, we have been able to leave Lilly now 3 separate times with friends--once with my dear friend Rebecca who was staying with me for a few days. I was able to go get my haircut and spend an hour or so of "me" time. Once at our friends house with Jared and Anna so Tom and I could go to a retirement dinner for Tom's boss, and once with my friend Denise here at the house. She has done really well and I think she realizes that we will always come back for her. These have been friends that she knows and trusts...and it is a blessing to know that this is now possible!

We have received the initial results from Lilly's ChildFind screening, and they do want to proceed with further evaluations on her cognitive and language development. She may qualify for a Pre-K with Disability program at our local elementary school, which might be a great way to get her some extra help in language development in the fall. We are staying tuned to find out when the further evaluations might take place.

Thanks for reading, and happy summer to you!