Siblings bonding

One of my favorite parts of being a parent is watching my children bond and form lasting relationships, for the better or worse. In this season of life, we have been so blessed that our children are very close and, for the most part, good friends to each other. I am in no illusion this will always be the case but I am hopeful that we stand a chance that our children could always find a way to get along together. Who knows, maybe there is even a chance that they will stay the best of friends throughout this life on Earth. There is always that possibility.

I, for one, would choose to share a cup of coffee with either of my siblings or a parent any day.

I'm not sure if its entirely my parenting style, or the fact that we have no family nearby, or that we live in the country but my children really don't have a choice but to do everything together or play on their own. I'd guess its a combination of all factors and the reality is, most of the time a 2 year old and 5 year old don't want to play on their own always. But, this season brings me so much happiness while it encompasses being such a hard, exhausting life stage as a parent.

Payton is really spending a lot more time on the other side of the camera these days and I find so many pictures at the end of the day that capture the world through her eyes. 

She seems to be a natural with the camera. She loves taking pictures of both her brothers as well as all the daily activities she is engaging in. I love seeing some pictures of myself as it reminds me that I am playing a very intricate role in my children's lives even when I feel like all I'm doing is changing/feeding a baby, feeding children, getting children dressed, making/serving meals, and finding activities to do. And repeat.

It's a beautiful time to watch siblings bond to each other and I hope that my children realize that one of the best gifts I ever gave them was this family unit. One day, they may only have each other to lean on.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend! We are so thankful for those that gave their lives so that we could have the freedom we have to live our lives the way we want to.

Let's Freeze Time

Some days, life just feels so good, I wish I could freeze time. I mean, seriously, how do I have 3 beautiful children when it feels like I just graduated high school? I didn't just graduate high school. This is now more than a decade behind me. Yet, it still feels like yesterday.

The days I want to freeze are nothing out of the ordinary. I spent most of my time at home with my children and a small chunk of time out and about. So nothing special, yet my everything. And these faces:

These beautiful faces filling my phone with the best pictures of my life. Hands down, the best of everything for me. My daughter, who begs to be read to. It won't be long before she's reading on her own and not asking us constantly to tell her a story. I anticipate she will always have her nose in a book.

Our bubbly baby, who loves to fall asleep cuddling mama. I will blink and he will be running to keep up with his siblings. His starting to roll over this week was the little reminder I needed that time goes so fast.

And the last picture, my sweet, sweet middle child. He's always wanting to be our little helper and, on this day, felt he deserved a treat for how well he's done potty training. We can't argue that one, little man, so off I went with him to find a little special something to celebrate. How amazing it is that God can give us something so much better than we could have ever imagined for ourselves? Riley, God really knew what he was doing when he placed you gently into our family.

As the time does not slow down, you can find me breathing my sweet children in and holding them as tight as I possibly can for as long as they will let me. And then after that, I will cherish these moments of such a beautiful season of life where my love runs deep and the views are always breathtaking.

Baby J is 5 Months Old

My littlest baby turned 5 months a few days ago. What a joy he has been and we are so blessed to be chosen as his family.

This baby. So happy, so go with the flow, and loves to sleep so, so much. You smile and laugh all the time. I have too many pictures of you because they are all good pictures. True fact: The above picture was taken and done within 10 minutes and I used my first and only picture taken. That's how happy you are all the time. If he was my first, I would have thought babies were the easiest ever. As my 3rd, I am thankful God made my transition so easy.

The outfit was picked by his siblings and happens to be an outfit that Riley lived in when he was that size. I may or may not have cried when discovering this outfit. As the old adage goes, time flies by. I try so hard to savor and enjoy my time with my little children, even on the most difficult of days. Yet, no matter what, the time still passes me by and I blink and feel like my kids are so much older. It won't be long before our household is celebrating our 3rd baby turning 1.

Baby Jayden, thank you for choosing us. We would choose you in a heartbeat over and over again. You bring so much love and life into our days. You are the absolute best cuddle bug and want to be held and never set down. We're okay with that.

Baby J, we love you so much! Keep growing! Just not too fast.

Our Country Life= Time Spent at Home

This is more of a quick post dedicating my appreciation to country living. We have now been on our acreage for four years and I have come to love this little life we have developed for ourselves. A decade ago if you would have told me I would be living outside city limits, of any city, I would have laughed. But, here I am and totally loving where life has taken me. A gentle reminder that you should never say never.

Our country life seems to have deepened a quieter way of life for us. We like our peace and simple living practices. Like line drying our laundry.

 Something about seeing clothes dry on the line outside brings so much peace and contentment to my life. There's nothing better than sleeping on a bed of line dried bedding. A real treat we have started to bring to our guests when weather permits us.

About six months ago, our neighbors told us they had seen a fox behind their house one morning. This was something they had never seen in decades living on our neighboring acreage. We were excited to hear this and thought maybe we would one day be so lucky. Then, a few weeks ago, we spotted a fox on our security camera from a few nights before. This was a really big deal for us.

Flash forward a few weeks later and one of my husband's coworkers informed my husband of a family of foxes living less than a mile from our house. We went to the den that day and were in luck! We stumbled upon a family of at least 4 foxes.

 My family is so blessed to have seen this. From the first sighting, we have yet to see them at this location again and fear they have moved on. But, we are so thankful for the memories we received from this family.

As soon as the weather hit a warm spot, my kids were ready to throw on their swimming clothes and run through the sprinkler. Water activities are a favorite pastime for our family.

 It's amazing how much these 2 big kids have grown. They bring so much of everything into our lives.

My lilac bushes are in full bloom and our apple trees are also blooming. It's a favorite of mine to make little bouquets and put in our dining room. They are so fragrant and gorgeous! And they come from our own yard.

We continue to find so much beauty in our new dining room table I shared about recently. It's such a beauty and I treasure it so much.

As you can see, we love to be at home. Our property has so many adventures just waiting for us. We hope you can say the same about your home as well!

Happy Mother's Day!