Father's Day 2012

For my dad's first father's day, the story goes, I gave my dad some daylilies. So for Jason's first father's day Walker gave him some daylilies.

Those daylilies are pretty hardy.  I mean, the boys have done just about everything you can to them, and they keep popping up.  Kind of like the daddies in this story.

Happy Father's Day to the man who gave so much more than most to raise me and raise me well.  The joy is indescribable when I see him with my boys.



To the husband who loves and leads our boys in the most amazing way.  The blessing of Jason on our family is something impossible to be captured in words.



To the father-in-law who loves miraculously beyond anything blood could secure.  To the grandfathers who love and lead us in ways I will never fully know, but oh how the fruits of their labor surround us.


Let's hear it for daddies, who make sacrifice after sacrifice and their families will reap the blessing for generations to come.

!Three!

My precious Colin is officially 3, although he believes he is 13.

He is filled with laughs, love and opinions.  He is our class clown and our little dictator. He keeps us laughing and goes with the flow quite nicely (mostly). And always, always knows what he wants.

He would eat chicken nuggets and pizza for every meal, but is still largely sustained by pretzels, yogurt and crackers.  He loves chocolate like it is meant to be loved.

He loves his brothers like no others and believes he should be involved in their every activity.  And, they love him back with amazing acceptance.

He says, "no," and, "I can't want that," with amazing clarity.

Trains are still his favorite.  I love way he says, "diesel" and says, "honk, honk" not "choo choo" for the appropriate type of engine. 

He loves being outside, even though it isn't great for his skin.

He knows how to operate every Apple product in our house, but is only mildly interested in potty training.  He could do it, but I'm not totally ready to go head to head with the dictator just yet.

He still totes around his blankie, but can go without it. You know, if he chooses to.

We celebrated his party a day early at home.  It always feels so warm and fuzzy to have the house filled with people who love us.

On his actual birthday he seem to naturally move into celebrating through a series of desserts. I don't know where he gets it from.

Free ice cream at Jason's Deli


Chocolate cake and ice cream at Cracker Barrel (where he only ate the rich fudgy frosting - smart kid).


And a giant sucker to follow up the dessert from 10 minutes prior.


So blessed to have this amazing little boy in our lives.

On looking back: Turning 2 and And 1 and Entering Our World and just for good measure adorable tiny baby pictures.

The Sunset and Moonrise

In the backyard we could see the brilliant glow.  So, to the front, we ran for the show.



Our neighbor's driveway has the best sunset viewing spot.  They don't seem to mind the crazy lady standing in their driveway (often) (and with a camera).



But seriously, watching the sun slip away is one of my favorite parts of the day.  A blazing reminder of the gift of each day; the beauty of it; the brevity of it; the complete and perfect plan of each day.

Meanwhile, the view in the backyard.



We spent the evening running and playing in our little backyard oasis, until complete darkness had fallen.  We tucked in our little guys thankful for each moment in that perfectly planned and ordained day, under the perfectly planned heavens.

Linking up with Beth's You Capture: Sky.

Firefly Hunting

Being Southern I've always called them lightening bugs, but I wish I called them fireflies. Fireflies sounds so much more magical, but as much as I've tried to change I still call them lightening bugs. Of course, when writing I can edit myself to sound more magical.

The boys made the great discovery a few weeks ago.  They had seen them before, but never experience the joy of catching the little glowing bugs.

The boys' sweetest little friend was spending the night.  Seriously, Josiah is the most tenderhearted little boy around.  Four busy boys in the house post-dinner, no matter how well behaved, can all benefit from a little walk on our neighborhood trail.  So that is just what we did.



And along the trail we were treated with a lovely sighting of hundreds of lightening bugs.  There was much catching, releasing and jumping for joy.



The boys were all elated. The evening was suddenly filled with priceless moments.



We have spent several nights since chasing and catching fireflies, but none more magical than the first.