two hats

A little over a week ago, I was both the florist and the photographer for the wedding of my mom's co-worker, Hadyn and her now-husband Jimmy.

A lot of the details were very last minute, but there is nothing like a little stress and a time crunch to get me going. My mom was my trusty sidekick with the flowers, and she also helped with the bridal party's hair and makeup.

We were Team Awesome.

I have done wedding flowers a few times before, but this was my first time playing photographer. It was fun in the most tiring sense. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, learned a lot, and would be game for trying it again in the future.

But maybe just one or the other: flowers or photography. I haven't been that tired since River was a newborn.

This was a nice warm-up for my sister-in-law's wedding in a little less than two weeks from now. I will just be doing her flowers. It's going to be fun.

Here's a little more of the day in pictures:

tractor time

If you were to ask Liam about picking blueberries on Saturday, he might tell you about picking just the blue ones, or maybe the big friendly dog, or even about taking blueberries from Daddy's bucket to put into his own instead, but what he is most certainly going to tell you is that the farm has a Big John Deere!!! 

And they said he could sit on it. This was very exciting for my tractor-loving boy.

River likes tractors too.

kuplink, kuplank, kuplunk

We took the boys blueberry picking this morning, bright and early before the sun became too hot. We have been reading Blueberries for Sal together, building anticipation for today's outing. The boys were glad to find out that, unlike Blueberry Hill, there would be no bears at the Sta-N-Step Farm in Tontitown. Just lots of flies and row after row of blueberry bushes.

Liam was excited to find all of the blue ones, but later said it's easier to pick the ones in your bucket, Daddy, while transferring berries from Gabe's bucket into his own...

 River was content to just sit and eat berries. Lots and lots of them.

The farm's collie kept us company. A happy dog always makes me smile. This one was no exception.

 Even though it's the tail end of blueberry season here, we still managed to pick a gallon between the four of us. I am still deciding what kind of special goodies to make, but I better hurry up because they are steadily disappearing by the handful.

kid style

I couldn't get over how cute River's outfit was today. I dress him, but still, he is one cute little kid.

And can you believe I am calling him a kid? My baby is growing up.

That stylish bracelet on his wrist is his new medical i.d., which came in the mail yesterday. So far, he is not happy to have that thing clasped around his wrist all of the time. But he's getting used to it. 

I didn't realize just how much worry and anxiety I had been hanging onto. The what if something happens fear. But now with his important medical info always at hand, I feel a bit more prepared for if something decides to pay us a visit.

Until then, let's just focus on how cute River is with a bracelet to complete his big boy outfit. Okay? Okay.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

 

Inspired by Amanda. 

 

the acorn doesn't fall too far from the tree...

For his special day this year, I made Gabriel and the boys coordinating Father/Son shirts.

For Gabriel: the mighty oak tree. And for our two little guys: acorns.

This was so much simpler than last year's matching shirts, and this time I was sure to choose extra comfy t-shirts that, hopefully, won't end up in the thrift store pile (don't worry, I rescued last year's top and tucked it away for posterity...). Lest you think I am super woman, I finished these at the last minute this morning before church, while River napped and Gabriel took Liam to Lowe's. They were that easy.

We spent the afternoon hiking around Lake Fayetteville. It was a beautiful day for a walk, despite the heat.

Our trusty jogging stroller made the trek with a some extra help from Gabriel. Liam hiked/ran a good portion of the walk, and he has the scuffed-up knees to prove it.

 The wild flowers were in full bloom. It was lovely.

Every time we hike Lake Fayetteville, the last couple of miles seem to go on forever. But we finally finished all 5.5 miles and rewarded ourselves with dinner at Steak n' Shake.

And because Gabriel is truly awesome, he opted to help me and my mom clean at Brighthaven so we could get done sooner. The kids did great, and were remarkably cheerful at 9:30 pm.

And so that is how we spent our day, loving each other and this life. And I am so grateful for it.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

 

Inspired by Amanda.

keepin' on

Pb2, Gabriel's employer, laid off 34 employees yesterday.

Gabriel was not one of them.

Let's all breathe a collective sigh of relief.

Even though we are still trying to get out of here, knowing that he has a job in the meantime makes it easier to deal with here and now. Because whether I like it or not, we are still here in Arkansas. Still here, living in a fantastic home, near my mom and sister, among friends, and in a community, I can't believe I am saying this, that I have grown to love and appreciate.

And, really, it's hard to not love this life when this was our weekend's activity:

It's blueberry picking season. We brought home our first gallon on Saturday, which is already nearly gone. We'll be going back for more soon. Yes, summer is officially here, along with the mosquitoes and ticks (Arkansas will always have that against it).

In this season of waiting for what's next, I am making an effort to enjoy what's right now.

mopping up

When Liam asked if he could mop the floor, it seemed silly to refuse him some manual labor. So out came the bucket, some warm water, a splash of simple green, and his trusty mop.
He worked hard at saturating the entire tile floor. River worked hard at freaking me out with his slipping and sliding. Gabe took him to the other room while Liam worked.

And then it seemed silly to let all of that soaped-up floor go to waste. Or maybe it was because I was wearing a kerchief over my hair. Either way, I ended up on my hands and knees, scrubbing that silly floor for the next few hours.

And now our floor looks amazingly clean. It's funny how you, meaning me, never notice just how dirty something has gotten until it's clean.

I think I should be doing this more often.

an extra-long weekend

We were surprised to have Gabriel show up at home early Wednesday afternoon. His job didn't have enough work. They sent every one home. But they didn't lay him off. At least not yet.

He was home Thursday and Friday, too, but was called to come in for work on Monday.

It's been a bit of a roller coaster here. Does he have a job? Does he not? What should we do?

All of those questions are still up in the air, but we took advantage of the extra days with Daddy home and spent some time splashing at the creek in the afternoon.

It wasn't that long ago that I saw other families playing in Sager Creek and thought that it was disgusting. The water and rocks were notorious for slime trash, and dead fish. And it smelled bad.

But with all of the work done this past fall and spring, the water is remarkably clear and there are plenty of fish and tadpoles thriving in the stream.

So now we are one of those families splashing in the creek. If you see us, turning up your nose like I once did, maybe you should come down and see that the water is fine. Or maybe we really have been in Arkansas too long. It's time to get out of here.

Either way, the creek is lots of fun on a hot summer day.

And nothing beats splashing with Daddy.

for the Grandmas and the Aunties

Okay, this is also for anyone else interested in watching River eat for nearly 3 minutes. I can't get enough of it.

muddling through

These past few weeks have been rough. It seems that we are stretching everyway possible: New and continued struggles within my own family and also in our friends', the reality of River's blood condition, financial stress with all of the medical bills that just keep piling up, our moving plans that don't seem to be going anywhere since our house has yet to sell, and the never-ending exhaustion of keeping up with Liam.  

When things get tough and tougher, and the details are not something I can share here, I tend to shut down with the blogging. It turns into an awkward tiptoe between the mundane things that seem irrelevant and the crap that is really on my mind. Sometimes it is easier to just not say anything.

But that is doing anyone any good. And there are still remarkable things to blog about. Things for this virtual record of everyday life.

Things like Liam spilling paint, stepping in it, leaving foot prints all over the floor, and then spilling even more and running around the house as fast as he can once I notice what's happening and try to put a stop to the mess. And while in his room for a time out (both as discipline and for me to get a chance to clean up the mess without him making it messier), he pees on the rug in his room. On purpose.

When he is 13, the memory might be funny. But right now it is just infuriating.

And in the spirit of sharing life's hardships, here are some laughable moments from the last two weekends:

A flat tire at a busy Johnson intersection .

 (Thankfully, Gabriel was with me. I have no idea how to change a tire...).

A brand new bag of cat food splitting open in the Wal-Mart parking lot, and the store manager helping us scoop it up and sending us back in for a new one.

I'm a little worried to see what this weekend will bring us, but as long as it is tornado-free, I think I can take it. What's a little more stress?