It's like this...

And it's never more evident that when you see pictures of your children three years apart... This was taken in 2009. And this was taken in 2011 Where did that time go? So many changes in them, in what they're doing with their lives and how we are as a family. Some of it hurts my heart to think about, some of it is good. Ah, change. Not a fan.

No, not me silly. Well, perhaps a bit, but that's not the focus today children. There is no focus. Unless you want to have a focus, then focus away. Today is Wednesday. I only know that because I looked. If I were Scottish I'd have said, "I kent that.." I've been reading a series of books about a woman who goes back in time through some standing stones in Scotland. It's full of kilts, sporrans, large hairy men with broadswords and lots of Scottish words that I don't ken. Well, I do ken, but if I were to suddenly break out in Gaelic no one here would understand me. Although I'm not entirely certain that I ken Gaelic. What I DO ken, however, is that my lovely summer freedom is slowly coming to an end. School begins on the 12th and I go back to work on the 5th. I've enjoyed my time off. Being a lady of leisure has it's appeal. I ken that. Yesterday, due to an unfortunate and slightly humorous foot puncturing, my husband did not...

It's true. Summer has sort-of-kind-of meandered into the Seattle area. I know, right? Surprise, surprise! And we've been making the most of it. Hence the no-blogging thing for the past month. I'm fairly active on FB, but have sort of let blogger go for a bit. In the past month we've spent a lot of time at the Beach cabin, lost our dog, found our dog (expensive experience!), had some lovely dates with my wonderful husband, spent some fun times with the children and seen my son move out of the house. That last one may or may not be permanent. Haven't seen him since he left except for one evening when he dropped by. Ah, independence and freedom. Remember that? I've had one girl go on Trek and the two youngers will be going to Girls camp the second week of August. Hubby and I are tossing around the idea of going to Vegas while they're gone. I've had my great niece spend the week here with us and when we take her home tomorrow we're droppi...

Hello world! Schools out, I'm supposed to be 'out' until September but somehow I keep needing to head into work for just one more thing. Which is fine---I'm thankful to have a job. We went camping this weekend. Normally my idea of 'roughing' it would mean I go somewhere where cell coverage is just a wee bit spotty--this place was roughing it and THEN some. But first a little about our nearly 12 hour drive to get to the middle of nowhere. And I when I say nowhere , I really mean it. This was nowhere in a BIG way. In a bear, rattlesnake and coyote kind of way. Where the mosquitos were the size of Boeing 787's but with better take off and landing capabilities. We went to Lake Ellen. Don't ask where it is--just know that if you want to experience nature without all the nasty ammenities like showering, flushing a toilet or getting a cell signal, this is your kind of place. First we followed this man. Yeah, yeah ok. I used the Alien Booth app...

There's a wonderful column out on CNN by Jeff Perlman. It's called A father's day wish: Dads, wake the hell up! That's a link there by the way. Just roll over it with your cursor and you can click on it to read the entire piece. In this column he gives ten commandments to fathers. It's brilliant. And I'm grateful that my husband keeps all ten of those 'commandments' and more. I've been blessed with a man who is incredibly unselfish with his love and his time and, well everything. Until I met him I'd never known someone so kind hearted and caring. Our children have all, at one time or another, come to us and told us about someone they know who is living with a verbally abusive father. They then express their gratitude for Lance. I'm thankful they realize just how much their father loves them. He loved them enough to change their diapers, to take on more than a few 3 a.m. feedings, to walk them in the park or to swim with them i...

My girl Alli likes to go for drives in the evening. It's either to get out of the house or to see how fast she can drain my gas tank. After we barbecued some burgers this evening, she gave me 'the look'. That hopeful puppy dog look that I'm loathe to deny. Since we hadn't had time on Monday for Family Home Evening, we decided to have it tonight. On the go. So off we went. Generally she likes to go at night in the dark, but as summer is on the horizon it's staying lighter later. We talked Daddy into going with us, though he probably should have stayed home and gone to bed. He has to get up so early---but he had the best time out of all of us I think. We went to the park on south Lake Union. It's been there for awhile, we've just never gotten around to visiting. Alli and Ash by the pond. Lance says that people run their little remote controlled boats on this pond. No one was using it while we were there. The park was pretty big and boasted t...

The sun came out to play today. Gorgeous blue skies, big white fluffy clouds and actual sunshine. As I walked out of my office today, I noticed they were cutting the grass and I took a few deep breaths of that memory-inducing scent. Reminds me of care free blue-skied summer days as a child. Dad or my brother would be cutting the grass and the smell....oh the smell. Like the sweet smell of the lilacs that are in bloom right now, I'm swept back in time. I close my eyes instinctively and *see* my life before I became the adult in charge of so many things. The pressure in my chest eases and I relax. Oh...the scent. Obstacles that seemed insurmountable to me then, now appear as slight crumbs, easily crushed beneath my adult foot. Is it maturity that causes those past trials to seem insignificant compared to current struggles? No, I don't think that's it. Not really. Perhaps it's like going through school. First you're in Kindergarten. They don't teach you ...