slowing down

That sounds good....slowing down.

For some reason, I can't seem to do it.

I often have a plan to do it, but it always involves dropping a commitment.

Dropping a commitment involves disappointing someone, and I am a people pleaser.

So I just keep my family going at this unnatural and exhausting pace.

Sound familiar?

I thought so.

Today I had my annual MRI.

I wasn't dreading it, but wasn't really looking forward to it either.

I'm blessed that I get to lay face down in the thing so that I really have no idea how closed in I am.  Otherwise, I'm sure I would have been dreading it.

The worst part, for me, is the IV.

I don't hyperventilate and lose my mind anymore like I did for the first one.

That was not pretty - so sorry to the sweet techs that were trying to help me - hopefully I will see you again one of these years and you will see what progress I've made.

But I just don't like IVs in my elbow.  

They hurt.  I don't know why.

But that's what I always have to look forward to with these MRIs.

Today was no different.

Once I was settled on the table and the lady was sliding me into the donut hole, the pain subsided a bit.

But then, of course right when the scans started, the pain returned.

Nothing to do about it then, because if I move a muscle they have to start all over.

And 20 minutes is long enough in that donut.

So I told myself it didn't hurt.

Then I told myself that it wasn't getting worse.

But it was.

Then I prayed.

Usually I pray something like "God please give me wisdom about what to do" about a situation.

This time I just flat out asked Him to take the pain away.

Just take it away because I can't pretend it's not there anymore.

And He did.

In fact the pain subsided so much that I almost fell asleep in there.

Pretty sure that would not have been good either.

So anyway, after the MRI, I decided to take the day off.

No scheduling people, no lesson prepping, no meetings, no photo editing, no cleaning, no organizing, no cooking, nothing.

I went to the mall and enjoyed having time to myself.

I ate at McAlister's by myself and enjoyed every minute of it.

I brought the boys home and said "yes" when they wanted to have friends over.

(That feels so liberating because we usually have so much going on that it feels like there's no time to enjoy friends at our house).

I did do a little photo editing....and a little laundry....and a bit of organizing.

But I limited it to a specific time and didn't get caught up in it.

When Ethan and his friend moved their wiffle ball game to the cul-de-sac, I went outside to get the mail and ended up staying because it was so nice out.

I grabbed my camera and tried to capture a little bit of fall.

It felt good.

I even talked to some neighbors - rare these days.

I know that some of these commitments will come to an end soon and this busy pace will slow down, but I want to be sure not to replace them with other commitments that will put us right back here.  I need to work on that.

For today, I've just enjoyed the slowness.

moments of the week | July 27 - August 2

This week was VBS at our church.

It was AWESOME!

Several people put in tireless hours of preparing and it all came together and we got to see it in action this week.

I hope all the kids learned that God is their 

Creator

Provider

Protector

Savior

King

and that they had fun doing it!

One of my favorite parts - although I loved all of it - was that we had live worship.

So much energy and fun.

Everyone on that stage is uber talented and I'm so thankful they chose to use their talents for VBS this week!

It was a Jungle Safari theme.

Someone brought in these vehicles (I know they have a name - I don't know what it is) for the kids to have photo ops.

And see that lizard back there?  My friend Janel is a genius at decorating and had such vision for all of the decorations for this VBS and there were 5 of those animals along the front of the church that she and some other ladies painted.  Over the top I'm telling you!!  That was just a smidgeon of how this church was transformed into a jungle at her creative hands!

And I was with these ladies all week in the preschool Bible story time.

Loved working with them and learning from them.

I think Cooper the dog was a hit!

 On Saturday, I decided to take the kids out and just do something fun all day.

I have stacks of clothes to iron, my bathroom is nasty, and no Saturday jobs were even attempted, but we all needed a day to just relax.

So we went to the mall where they were having this cool Nintendo World exhibit all weekend.

The main attraction was the Mario Kart Tournament.

I actually didn't realize it was a tournament until the boys finished playing once and the lady in charge told Elliott he got to move up to the semifinals.

So cool!  He was very excited.  He and this other girl were about the same age and must have had about the same skills.  They talked and laughed throughout the tournament.

So as soon as Ethan realized Elliott made it to the next level and he didn't, he was right back in line to try again.  Competitive streak?  I think it runs in his blood.

This time he made it to the next level, but all the boys that he was competing against talked like they played this all the time - and played like they played it all the time.  Needless to say, this was as far as he got, but he had such a fun time doing it.

The rest of the time we watched Elliott compete in the Finals.

Although he really didn't have a chance at this either.

We never play Mario Kart anymore, so he was totally out of practice.

Add that to the fact that two of the other competitors played it all the time.

He was an awesome sport and gave it his all and had so much fun!

And I purchased this and can't wait to use it.

I want so badly to have time to work on scrapbook pages.

I've totally given up on paper and scissors and glue and find it so much easier to sit down for an hour at the computer and get a page or two done.  Love it.

Just haven't had much free time lately.

But this was on sale this week and I know they will be put to good use in the coming months

You can find them here if you're interested.

And we ended the week being goofy.  Love them!

It is tax-free weekend here in MO so we made a few back-to-school purchases at stores where we knew there would be good deals. 

Elliott wanted these hats and bought them with his money.

Ethan came home with a bobble head signed by Mike Matheny.

And I somehow ended up with 2 pairs of tennis shoes for the boys, one pair for me and a pair of flats for $60.

I would say it was a good shopping day.

Oh yeah, Brian got nothing.  He was a little annoyed.  We told him someone had to work so that we could shop - ha!

Hope your week was as fun as ours!

stay-cation for two

The boys had the opportunity to stay with my parents for a few days a few weekends ago, so Brian and I took advantage of the alone time and did some of those things that we always say we're going to do but never seem to find the time.  It was a much needed break from our day-to-day.

First up was Laumeier Sculpture Park

He wanted to geocache.  I like the thrill of that for about 10 minutes and then I'm done when we still can't find it after that.  We didn't find it this time - maybe with the boys sometime.

This guy reminds me of something from Dr. Who.  Why do I know that?  Elliott has a slight obsession with it and I feel like I've seen almost every episode and still don't understand what is going on.  Anyone else?  Just me?  Okay, we'll move on.

After spending the afternoon at Laumier we decided to head to Elephant Rocks the next day.
I can't believe we have lived here for over 7 years and haven't explored the state parks AT ALL!!  This was so fun, and I definitely want to bring the boys sometime soon.

Ethan says this picture looks like Brian is holding up a potato.

I really couldn't understand how these rocks (which should really be called boulders because they are extremely huge) just sit in these positions and don't move.  Don't they look like they could just tip over at any moment?  I might have been a teeny bit nervous about that.  I do tend to overthink things, but don't tell me I'm the only one that thinks that.

We exhausted Elephant Rocks in record time for us - we didn't even stop to have a snack!  So we had extra time and decided to hit another park nearby that boasted the highest point of elevation in Missouri.  Now how can you pass that up, right?

I have to say the spot is in a very unassuming place and we almost left without even seeing it.

We also hiked to a waterfall while we were at Taum Sauk Mountain.  I was less than thrilled to run into this guy.  I told him he needed to leave so that I could sit a while.  He did not oblige.  So we shared space for a while until I looked away for a few moments and turned back to find him missing. When there is a creepy creature around, I like to be able to see it and know where it is.  So it was time to move on before the little guy freaked me out by scurrying over my feet or something even worse!

It was really pretty up here.  I guess I don't really think of Missouri as a "mountainous" area, and it's definitely not like when we lived in Tennessee or North Georgia, but it was good.  I would love to come back after a good rain and see the waterfall at its best.

Ahhh...the halfway point of the hike back to the car.  This was the point where the terrain started getting easier and the bugs started backing off a little.  I wish we had a picture of it, but we saw a deer and fawn leaping through the woods as we hiked back down - so pretty!

fun sights at the parade

We were very entertained at the local 4th of July parade a few weeks ago.

The prize for strangest sight last year went to the motorcycle donning the buffalo head that stopped right in front of us and stayed there for the rest of the parade.

I'm not sure anything topped that this year.

Our friend, Cameron, marched with the high school band.

Love the sound of a marching band!

Ethan and his friend made valiant efforts to collect as much candy as possible!

One must always dress to the nines for the parade - especially if you're canine.

Not sure if this is the same one, but my dad had a motorcycle hearse in our hometown parade a few years ago so we were excited to see this here too.

Oh YES!  Kelsey spotted the boys as the swim team float went by and threw two heaping handfuls of candy right to them.  They were in Heaven!!  Such a sweet girl!

So this was for one of the area beauty colleges.  Notice the hairdos on the mannequin heads - I'm guessing that appeals to someone but I'm not sure I want that look for myself :)

What parade is complete without an Elvis?

And there are those Junior Wolves!  Elliott was pretty excited to get to walk in the parade with some of his teammates this year.

Not sure what to say about this.  I just don't think I get it.

ethan at the bat

Another baseball season under our belts.  Or under Ethan's belt I should say.

He played in a neighboring city league this summer and loved it.  Once again we were blessed with a great team with great coaches, players and parents.  

Some of my favorite shots from the season are below.

And he even had a little fan club during one game.

Grandma and Gideon drove all the way over here just to watch him play.

What a lucky guy!

carter in the house!

While Amber and Rob took our boys to Six Flags a few weeks ago, Brian and I got to hang out with Carter.  We definitely do not get to see our nephews nearly as much as we would like, so we take full advantage of the time we do get.  Can't wait to see him again soon!

teeth....or no teeth

I'm pretty sure the Tooth Fairy would be broke by now if she still visited our house....I think Elliott has lost more teeth in the past couple of months than in his entire lifetime!

Sometimes he pulls one out everyday.  I'm not sure how he's going to eat anything soon.  He's very proud of how many he has lost so quickly though, so I guess it doesn't bother him.

go cards!

We've been fortunate to see two Cardinals games so far this summer.

We love it every time we go.

The past two times we've been given really great tickets, so we are feeling very spoiled!

St. Louis is celebrating its 250th birthday this year, and there are these cakes all over the city, so we try to hunt them down and get pictures of them.

So far we've only got two though.

It's been a very busy summer.

air show

Went to see the Blue Angels at the air show in May.

It's so incredible the control they have over those huge aircraft.

Such talent.

Seriously it seemed like if they were just to sneeze or something that disaster would ensue.

It's that precise - or it seems so from the ground

Brian took this cool picture.

It's one of my favorites of all time.

Good job, honey.

So incredible.

These guys did not disappoint.

I highly recommend seeing them in action if you ever get the chance.