Summer's simple pleasures

My friend Kim over at The Inadvertent Farmer has a wonderful idea.  The idea is to enjoy the simple pleasures of summer.  In her words, "Think popcicles dripping down your chin, bike rides at sunset, playing catch, going fishing...you know simple old-fashioned fun!"  

Here is some of our "old-fashioned fun" from this past Saturday!

Blackberry picking! Yum Yum

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

Fresh blackberries.

One for me...... one for my bucket.....

 

One for me..... one for my bucket....

What could be better than fresh blackberries right off the bush, warm from the summer sun?

Pure Joy!!

What could be better?

hmmmm....

How about...

Rope swings at the swimming hole...

and...

climbing the muddy banks of the creek to explore...

 

What's better than trying a rope swing for the first time?

and loving it!

How about beetles crawling on your fingers?

or skipping rocks...

How about talking your little sister into "riding the rapids on your tummy" first?

Then after seeing how much fun it is...

doing it together...

What's more fun than handstands in the creek?

or taking a break from swimming...

for some ice cold watermelon...

What could be more fun than discovering this guy...

or better yet, this guy!

How about topping off the day with going for ice cream?

and enjoying it outside...

while watching these little guys...

Then staring at this...

during the sleepy ride home...

Does it get any better than this?

Nope.

I don't think so.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

I can't believe it's been 7 years already!

This seems like it was yesterday!

The nurses all said you were the prettiest baby ever.

You nursed for 4 straight hours.  I had never seen a baby so hungry right after birth!

Your big brother loved you so much and he still does.

It took approximately 2 minutes to wrap your daddy around your little finger for life.

We were both so happy to finally have our little girl.  Our family was complete!

As you grew, you delighted us with your wonderfulness!  You got your momma's green eyes and your daddy's silliness and gift of making people laugh.

You brought so much happiness and laughter into our home!

We've learned to expect the unexpected from you always!

We couldn't have asked for a more perfect little girl for our family.

Your momma and daddy and brother love you more than you know!

I hope that you always stay silly and never lose the enthusiasm for life that you've had since the day you were born!

You are growing up way too fast for me.  You've turned into a beautiful young lady right before my eyes.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

A Perfect Weekend

I try really hard not to be one of those moms who constantly brags about her kids.  You know the ones.  They constantly have to "one up" everything you say.  Well, that's not me.

However, I can't let this past weekend go by without acknowedgement.   Afterall, this blog is really for my kids to look back on later and remember all the cool stuff we did.  You see, I'm printing out each blog post and making a binder for them to keep forever. 

Anyway, back to the subject at hand.  This weekend.  This perfect weekend.

You remember the little boy I talked about a few post ago?  The one who loves baseball more than life itself?  The one who plays ball all the time, even in his dreams?

Well, this weekend that little boy played his first "big boy" competitive baseball tournament and his team won 1st place.

That's him, on the left.  Can you see how big his smile is? 

I can and it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

These boys worked so hard.  It is so nice to be on a team full of boys just like my son.  They all eat, breath, and sleep baseball.  They all want to be there.  They all play hard.  They all love baseball.

They all deserved this!

It wasn't a perfect weekend just because they walked away with the big trophy.

It was a perfect weekend because we had fun doing what we love to do.  We spent the weekend with a bunch of awesome families, not just playing baseball, but picnicing and swimming and watching our boys have the time of their lives.

My little quiet, reserved boy...

had the time of his life...

and so did his sister...

(That's her upside down)

and so did their momma and daddy.