San Antonio Getaway

Lance and I went to San Antonio this past weekend to enjoy a couple of days without the challenges of raising little boys.  This was the first trip we had taken without the kids since Sawyer was born.  It was a lovely time but seems as though it was over just as soon as it began.  We stayed at the Hotel Mokara in San Antonio and enjoyed some excellent spa services such as massages and a pedicure.  They had a rooftop pool which we had all to ourselves one late afternoon.  It was great to just relax and enjoy being together with no responsibilities.  

Another bonus of getting away to San Antonio is seeing a few friends who we made when we lived there so long ago.  We met up with Cisco, Bobby J, and Juily for happy hour at Beethoven's and followed Cisco to one of his favorite East Side spots for the best wings in San Antonio.  On Saturday, before heading back to Austin, I enjoyed lunch with Juily while Lance met up with his cousin, Jeff Kelly.  

What was otherwise an uneventful and relaxing weekend turned out to be a historic day for San Antonio without our even knowing it.  During the night on Friday it rained almost 9 inches!  The next day there was flooding and several main highways were shut down.  While I waited for 30 minutes at a restaurant for Juily, I had no idea why she was so late (I left my phone in the car!).  Lance was delayed by half an hour on the way to pick me up after his lunch with Jeff.  Thankfully, we got home safely to see our precious boys!

A Very Full Weekend

The title is a little misleading because we only really had a couple of things on the schedule.  The point is that just getting through the weekend and trying to do one or two things feels VERY full to me.  Saturday's plans were a little derailed when the coach did not show up to football practice.  Boo...poor boys :(  We tried to make it up to them by stopping at town lake and then letting them play in the sprinkler when we got home.  If that wasn't enough, Lance took them to get donuts after their nap and then we all went to pick out some new boots.  I think it all helped!

On Sunday we went to a nursing home as part of the I Serve project for our church.  Benjamin and Evan drew some pictures to hand out to the elderly residents.  We were able to speak with some lovely ladies there and they were thrilled to see three cute little boys.  I hope that it brightened their day and that they felt the love of the Lord.

Later we went to Amma and Papa's house for the first swimming event of the season.  Not much has changed since last year, as Evan spent most of the time playing with the water gun and Benjamin practiced his swimming.  Sawyer played on the steps for the first time.  He wasn't too sure about it all and seemed a bit cold.  I think he will come around and start to have fun soon.

Overall it was a great weekend and very tiring.  It is starting to get hot and I am preparing myself to go the distance this summer.  We are so blessed to have Amma and Papa and their wonderful pool to cool off in!

Belated Mother's Day

It was another great Mother's Day this year.  This is really one of my favorite days of the year!  It would make more sense to have it more than once a year, don't you think?  Maybe next time around I will get a gorgeous picture of me with my 3 kiddos instead of just the 1.  Nevertheless, isn't it a lovely picture?!

Life Update #47

Ok, so this is probably not the 47th life update, but it certainly sounded good to me.  The point is that it seems life is constantly updating, and we tend to lose track of where we are and where we have been when everything is so busy.  Things are on track here and I'm starting to feel like I've got my groove back after adding child 3 to the mix.  The capacity for the human to adjust to life experiences simply amazes me.  I easily recall the days just five years ago when Lance and I wondered if we would want more than one child.  Fast forward five years and here we are adjusting to three.  We had it in us all along, we just could not see it from where we were in the murkiness of the adjustment to the first son.  
God is good.

So much of my life is tied to what is going on outdoors.  The best time to be here on Sunflower Trail is April-May, and we are in the thick of it now.  The greenbelt is awash with gorgeous Firewheel wildflowers, the birds are very active and their varieties are numerous.  Benjamin has become a total bird enthusiast since my dad gave him a bird identification book a while back.  He can identify quite a few birds and is constantly looking around for new birds to name.  The other day we saw a Woodpecker and Benjamin said, "its a Ladderback".  Well I had never heard of that kind of woodpecker, and frankly I didn't know of any kind besides the general.  When we came inside to look it up in his book, he was correct!  It was great to see the look of awe on his face when we saw it and he exclaimed, "its my first real Woodpecker".  Besides the Woodpecker we have seen Ravens, Red Tailed Hawk, Cardinals, Hummingbirds, and even a Cara Cara (known as the Mexican Eagle).

I have started to plant vegetables, and every morning we go out to see the progress they have made; I love it!  I briefly left behind gardening while I was overwhelmed with my third pregnancy and then my third little boy.  It seemed that there was way too much to take care of already.  In just the past month I have gotten the bug back.  It all started when we went to the gardening center after the boys' football practice.  We picked out some seeds and I was hooked.  I thought how different it would be to start something as a seed and follow it through to completion.  The boys were excited at first, but it appears that they are not patient enough to wait for the plant to fully establish.  I don't think they can appreciate the small changes that the plants make every day.  They are too young for that kind of perspective.

I have a way of looking forward to what might be some day, and not fully living in the place where I am.  In other words, I fail to bloom where I am planted and to want what I have.  I notice myself doing this ALL THE TIME.  One manifestation of this is when my mind pictures the house that we will surely live in one day soon.  I think to myself that, for sure, we will need more space and, of course, a pool.  I start looking in the real estate section and envisioning us in a bigger, slightly pricier home.  Then I look out the back at the gorgeous Firewheels, the open space of green behind our house, the hawk, the butterfly garden, and its hard to imagine not being here anymore.  I am so thankful to God for giving us what we have and it is hard to understand why I always want more.  But that is my human nature, it will never change.  All I can do is ask God to help me to manage and to tame it.  I know He will; He is good.

Lately I have been feeling positive about a few things.  The most important is my life as a full time mom.  Despite the constant sense of chaos and the never-ending piles of toys and laundry, I am really settling in to this job.  Its the most importnat thing.  The number one job I have in life is to raise these boys to know, love, and follow God. The best way I have of doing this is talking about Him, teaching about Him, and showing them through my actions about love and forgiveness.  I have a long way to go, it is a winding and treacherous path.  It is one that we can walk on together, as I have much more to learn about God and much more room to grow in my daily walk with Him.  I am so happy and fulfilled in this life that He has given me.  This is what I hope for my children.  If this happens for them, then all the other failings will seem insignificant.  We'll take it day by day.

Benjamin the Photographer

Benjamin has been asking me for my phone to take pictures.  My first impulse is to say no because I worry that he will drop it, but I usually let him have it anyway.  It turns out that he is a pretty good photographer.  Here are some recent photos that he has taken so you can judge for yourself.

Winter in May?

We have been enjoying a mild Spring.  This morning a cold front blew in and sent us to the closet for winter jackets!  I can't remember wearing jackets this late in the season, its almost summer!  We will be sure to enjoy these last couple days of cool weather before the days start to get hotter.  The boys thought it was fun to pose for pictures to commemorate the special weather event.