The good stuff...

that makes my day.

Days as a mom are full.

Full of laundry, cleaning, cooking, picking up, diapers, messes, dishes, whining, refereeing, fits, crying...well, you get the picture.

But on each of those days, that can seem so full of the hard stuff, you also get the good stuff.

Like walking in on an impromptu piano recital, by a brother & sister.

Like seeing your baby sitting so still, you could almost see him growing right in front of you.

(that's the piano I learned to play on...& I can still play out of that book. I know you're impressed, since you can see it has pictures & stickers in it...I got skills baby)

Like little feet, so proud to be able to climb on & off a not so sturdy bench.

Feet that did get tickled.

And noticing a green sticky note, once the picture is downloaded, on the end of the piano.

A gift from a little girl to her mama.

It was a picture of us.

Like crawling around the corner to snap a picture of your little stunt man playing & finding him, instead, standing on the coffee table, sucking his thumb.

He always makes me laugh.

Like watching him attempt to jump off.

And, hearing him count in his baby way, only to stomp his foot really hard, then ask you for help to "jump" off.

Like a picnic prepared by a 4 year old.

Like unrolling a long sheet of white paper & discovering your daughter already knows what a crown is & how to draw a picture of one.

And watching her creativity blossoming in front of your eyes.

She's got a gift.

And remembering, seeing the blurry red & green spots, that she first drew pictures of Bob & Larry for her little brother.

A glimpse into something more important that's blossoming.

Kindness & love & generosity.

That does this heart some good.

Like taking a close up picture of my little girl's hand, to freeze in time, how small she still is, & to one day look back on these days in wonder & awe.

Wonder & awe knowing where we were now, & where they are then.

This job can seem rough, until you see the good stuff.

Then, it seems, indescribable.

I am blessed & challenged with a tremendous job.

Teaching & loving my kids to my very best each & every day.

I am grateful.

For the good & tough stuff.

Destin 2011 {Part 2...finally}

Sorry for the lack of blogging...

got distracted;). Or lazy...

The rest of our Destin trip (from over a month ago) in possibly my longest post ever.

A visit to Seaside.

Beautiful, very cool houses.

Super nice shopping.

Very HOT.

But it was a lot of fun.

Driving home, we caught this sight out our rearview mirrors.

Skylar & her dad on a trip in their really cute little car.

He said it was really hot too.

But no one seemed to mind...

Cute.

The next day was spent shopping.

We needed a few days rest from the beach due to parents who were sunburned:/.

Smart.

We hit up a favorite burger place, Johnny Rocketts.

And apparently waited too long to eat.

After shopping, we ran to the fish market before naps, to pick our evening meal.

Tucker waved goodbye to all the little "shi-shies" as we left.

After dinner, we grabbed dessert with a certain favorite sister & family.

Tucker thought it was a great idea...

We miss him.

The next morning, we were back at it.

Just chillin'.

And making the birds go crazy over grapes.

Tucker thought they were chasing the sand he was throwing at them.

I thought it was a nice break from chasing him down from trying to throw sand at his sister.

Parker thought it was hilarious that they loved grapes.

We were quite a spectacle for a few minutes.

That night, also known as Chad & Crystal's last night, we headed out for family pictures.

And, of course, it decided to rain.

Thankfully it just sprinkled.

No beautiful sunshine in the background, but we did get the ocean & sand.

Memories...

Sweet.

The only smile he gave all night.

Cousins.

They crack me up.

Later that night, we headed to the harbor to feed the fish & walk around.

On our last full day, we spent the morning saying goodbye to the Keeteman's, then headed down for one last day of play.

Tucker was standing next to a "castle" I made for him.

No sense in working on it, cause, here's what happens:

Got it!

Last night with dinner at the Crab Trap.

Man we eat a lot on trips.

It's a cool, crabby place, right on the beach.

And, surprisingly, everyone ate & enjoyed themselves.

A few shots behind the restaurant...

then we were off to pack up for our drive home early the next morning.

Oh, and don't worry.

We made sure our monkey did not fall over the side of that bench.

And, because this picture was way out of order, or because this summed up his beach experience this year,

I give you one last picture of my son throwing sand.

On top of fish.

While his sister was not watching...

don't think a sandbox is in our near future.

Just sayin'.

Destin 2011 {Part 1...oh dear}

We did it again.

Our current favorite vacation spot was hit up again.

We stayed 7 days & had a ton of fun.

Being together, as a family, with nothing but the beach to distract you, is one of the greatest feelings.

so, we make the 12 hour drive,

through 4 states, once a year, to make it to that wonderful place.

Entertainment in the car has gotten much easier with this big girl.

She was thrilled with her new Preschool workbook, & she was good at it.

Win, win.

I love that concentrated face she makes...

And, that book, Oh My Oh My Oh Dinosaurs, made him smile every time I pulled it out.

He would point to all the pictures naming things on every page.

It made me want to squeeze him.

Of course, entertaining a nearing 2 year old...not so easy.

Thankfully, they both love Veggie Tales & Nemo.

After that long drive, no one can wait to hit the beach house, change into swimsuits, & head to that happy place.

He loved every minute of it.

And got very good at shovel throwing sand at any target.

Birds, the ocean, buckets, bags, shoes, towels, his family.

I may or may not have been seen ducking & running from that tiny, innocent looking thing, when a shovel full of sand was being hurled in my direction.

Nice.

Oh, but I love that boy.

Him too.

He's like a little kid on the beach.

Airs out a busy, overwhelmed mind to sit back & watch that.

Until sand was dumped on me again.

But I was still feeling peaceful, so I taught him to throw it only on mama's legs.

It worked...that evening.

And that P girl...kept herself busy building sand castles all evening.

It's all she talked about driving down.

Awesome.

We spotted a Little Caesar's on our way in.

Cheap, quick dinner on the deck at the beach.

Then off to the grocery store.

Even that's fun on vacation...sort of.

Day 2 included a picnic on the beach & a mom & dad who FORGOT to take pictures.

Does that happen?

Did that day...

We did get this annual shot.

Mitchel feet.

Chillin'.

Dinner on night 2.

It's on the beach.

Open windows inside.

And a super cool picture spot.

Hilarious.

Have I mentioned yet, that a certain favorite sister & brother-in-law were there?

With my Okee baby?

Who turned one already?

Who didn't love me nearly as much as I loved him?

I think by the time they left, he was relieved.

Just kidding...I hope.

Perfect, squishy, squishy boy.

We miss him. And them, too...of course.

Some of our favorite friends, the Dobberstein's were there too.

It was awesome to be with "family."

We love them.

Good buddies.

With a great big sis, who I want to take home with me.

It is so helpful to have a 7 year old around.

They make anything exciting...& keep us on our toes.

We're so blessed to have spent a week doing something we love so much with people who mean so much to us.

More to come...