This Morning

We can't seem to shake the puke bucket.

And since I am mostly sitting around, just waiting to jump up and put the bucket to use, I have been playing with our new camera.

It has some very cool features, like the above soft filter effect that can make a 5-yr old's illness a truly heart wrenching situation. Isn't that face pathetic?

Thankfully, this little dear is full of fire. He's been a great encourager all week and faithfully carried the puke bucket from room to room as needed.

He also has some completely pinchable cheeks and deep blue eyes. Perfect material for camera practice.

I found out that the camera has different filter effects. Very handy!

In an attempt to dodge housework this morning, {last I counted, I have done 13 loads of laundry since Monday - may I point out that it is still only Thursday morning?} I have been looking over a few pictures I am compiling for a special project. Once the work is all done I will post about it in detail, but for now I'll share a few 'test' shots for a job I am doing. A friend of ours owns a used bookstore and has asked if I would take a few book related pictures for his website.

Right now I am just trying to get a feel for the kind of pictures he wants, after that we'll do a real photo shoot.

This is hard

I'm ready for Braden to come home. Today was my breaking point.

{Please pray}

I have even stooped so low as to buy Oreos from the store. Even the fancy summer ones with blue frosting. Thought some hydrogenated fat and high-fructose corn syrup might help lift my spirits - as if. I do know better.

Who knew being a Mom would be so hard? Who knew trying not to feel like a Mom would be this hard?

Today's Clothesline

Brought to you by a Summer Stomach Bug

The First {Big} Good-bye

As a mother of sons I am acutely aware of the fact that, since day one, I have been preparing myself to let go completely at some future date. Raise them well, according to God's grace, and prepare them to be independent leaders of their own future family units.

I am also acutely aware that with daughters the separation isn't quite so thorough, or severe. I try not to dwell on the fact that I will be all alone someday and hoping that maybe once in awhile my future daughters-in-law will call me for advice on pie crust or homemade fabric softener or a list of good preschool books, instead of calling their own mother first. Dream on, I know. . .

With all that on my heart and in my mind, I got to experience my first big good-bye yesterday. I sent my oldest son out into the wilderness for a week with a bunch of Boy Scouts, outhouses, killer-mosquitos, a lake and a few brave Boy Scout Dads. This is good practice for me to learn the art of letting go, and I am truly thankful that my lessons will be coming in small increments.

{I hope}

The brothers all pitched in to get Braden out the door. They were so excited for him. I am too, but it's different. Moms look at things through milestone moments and this was a huge one.

Well wishes for their biggest brother and I kept stalling, insisting on more pictures. Maybe he'd miss the caravan and then I would get to procratinate on this lesson for another year?

"Just one more picture. Well, maybe we should get another picture. Sweetheart, I think you need to practice using the camera some more.

And another. . ."

Could I make this last for the 30-minutes I thought I was hoping for?

My wise husband is confident this will be a good week for our Scout and his mom. I trust his judgment completely and am thankful that he pushes me out of my comfort zone {the mommy zone!} when he knows it is beneficial.

This will be a great week for me to really have my faith tested - Do I really believe that God can care for my son as well away from me as when he is just within my arms' length? Do I really believe that God can take care of this child of mine, of His, without my help? You Moms know what I'm talking about. Any encouragement from the wiser Moms out there who have done this before?

Appreciating your prayers this week and thankful for friendship and grace-filled lessons in letting go.

Family Picture {in which this Mom is included}

We did it! We really, finally did it. A family picture in which all six of us are included! It has been over 3 years since this has happened. To top it all off, we are only {almost} halfway through the year and I can now check one thing off of my '2011 goals' list.

I'm on a roll.

Our sweet and incredibly talented friend, Jodi, took some time out of her Sunday to hang out with this crazy bunch for a bit. I wasn't sure it was going to work out because it was pouring rain as we left for church last Sunday. . .and then just before picture time the sun came out and there was not a cloud in the sky. It was so bright out that now the problem was the sun - but, we managed, squinty eyes and all. Proof that there really is a Mom in this family since I'm usually the one behind the camera.

Jodi asked me what it is like being the only lady in a family of all boys. Then she took this picture:

That pretty much sums it up, you know the whole 'a picture is worth a thousand words' motto.


And then she started snapping some very serious pictures of my handsome young men...

See Braden, gazing into his future {which means Scout camp this week}

Tarver looking wistful and mature. . .

And Ryland - oh dear, Ryland. What more can I say?

Langston taking a cue from #3 and thinking about being a wee-bit mischievous for the camera. . .

And then thinking better of it. {Whew!}

{Us! All of us!}

{I think this is my favorite}


And then Ryland wanted to show Teacher Jodi a trick he can do with the swings.

{love!}

Thank you, Jodi! Hoping to make this an annual event. . .

How to eat a campfire marshmallow

Three year old boy style -

Find a firehose, wash, rinse, repeat.

The Granpa Project

The boys are so fortunate to have a Granpa who loves projects. Each time he visits us from the Seattle area, he plans something fun to work on with the boys. This latest visit made me especially happy - because they built a beautiful plant stand for our front porch. Anything that has anything to do with plants or gardens makes me smile!

The boys received the blueprints a few months ago and were tasked with scouring the woods for straight-ish branches that had fallen down. Perhaps this was one of the best tasks of the job!

The pile of sticks was pretty much gathered by the time Granpa made it out and they set to work with tools and a few ice cream breaks and built this incredible piece of outdoor furniture.

Now I get the job of filling the shelves with pots and flowers and hoping - hoping - the Nebraska wind doesn't knock the flowers off. Or our pesky cats whom I've found napping in the sun on the shelves!