Have You Ever Heard of Such a Thing?

Addie Beth has some teeth issues...as in, you can only see one of her front teeth when she smiles.  At first, I thought that her other front tooth just needed time to grow in.  But when I took a closer look, I saw that both teeth have fully come in.  Her gums are just so crooked that you only see one of the front teeth.  And it just so happens that the crooked side of her gums is right where she sucks her pointer finger.  Coincidence?  I doubt it.

Not excited about the prospect of paying for braces, Josh asked our dentist for advice.  Her solution?  Either get the baby to stop sucking her finger (fat chance) or switch her to a pacifier.  I burst out laughing when Josh told me that.  I mean, have you ever heard of introducing a paci at age 20months? Well, apparently it's not impossible.  Isn't she just adorable?!

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Savoring Summer

Can you remember what it was like to be a child in the summer?  Every day felt like dessert.  I hear it in their voices from the moment they wake up, "Mom, what are we going to do today?!"  The anticipation is thick as they imagine the delectable moments that lie ahead.

My temptation is to let them play and laugh and run while I load the dishwasher or throw in another load of laundry.  They play, I work.  But this week, I joined them.  Because summer sun shifts to autumn breezes pretty quickly here in the Midwest.

Because babies grow into toddlers into preschoolers in the blink of an eye.

Because I'd be crazy not to stop for dessert while there's still some left.

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Strawberry Picking

I have wanted to go strawberry picking for years but there never seemed to be an easy time to do it.  (One year I was pregnant with Tali, the next summer I was pregnant with Owen, the next summer I had a newborn...you get the theme.)  But on the Fourth of July, my hubby gladly helped make my dream come true!  We found an amazing orchard that still had yummy strawberries and picked about 10lbs.  Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day!

Tali woke up and immediately grabbed her sunglasses and strawberry headband to prepare for the day.  She was a great helper and so much fun to share in the memory with.  This girl is just such a delight to hang out with.

Oh my...Owen was so funny!  He was really excited about each and every strawberry that he found.  By the end of the time his basket was completely empty and his belly was completely full.

Sooooo delicious!  We froze a ton of these to eat over the months to come.  Strawberries are definitely a gift from God.

This huge trampolineish thing was probably the kids' favorite thing about the whole orchard experience. Addie laughed non-stop while she was jumping with Josh.

I'm so grateful for God's kindness in making my strawberry picking dream a reality this year!  We can't wait to go back again!

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Vacation Thanks

Mark Twain once said, "Don't cry because it's over, rejoice because it happened."  That's what I want to hold in my heart as I think about vacation.  This picture was taken (thanks to my awesome friends and their thoughtful tripod gift) right before we left to come home. Don't be misled; no one wanted to take this picture except me.  No one was eager to sit and wait and pose and wait and try again.  And as you can see, not everyone is smiling.  But that's real life, right?  Vacation wasn't without complaining and conflict and tiredness and dishes and laundry all the stuff that real life is smattered with.  But it was still a gift because we were together.  And that's a gift that I don't want to take for granted. We're not alone.  We're a family and we're together.

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