Making the Most of Summer

Our daycare provider, Wendy, took a two week vacation this May. She is much deserving of this as she has never taken that many consecutive vacation days in the five years we have been working with her. She was courteous and informed us much in advance so that her clients could make other arrangements while she was gone. I must have been in denial because I thought, "I can easily handle two kiddos and work for two simple weeks, right?"

Monday started out great. I had a positive mind set and was determined to let go and enjoy the sweet days of summer with my precious littles. Whatever I didn't get done could wait, right?

When a few work emails started coming in I got creative with puzzles on my office floor.

By Tuesday evening I realized I was SO WRONG! Turns out I am not wonder woman and was a stressed out mess begging Nathan for help. Fortunately, he came to my rescue and agreed to take the kids with him on Wednesday and then arranged for them to go to a friend's house on Thursday and Friday. Because of this and the help of Papa and Onnie we survived week one.

The Memorial Day weekend allowed for a little breather. Jentry went to her dad's and the rest of us enjoyed the beautiful weather on the course. Papa and Onnie purchased Mason his first set of golf clubs and he was pumped. 

After the first week of insanity, I realized that I needed to take vacation from work, so I decided to pack up the kids and take them to Orleans for the second week. Each morning Jentry went with Grandma, Issac and Anna to the Vacation Bible School in Stamford. Papa and Mason had big plans so that left me with three quiet mornings to myself. I sipped my coffee, did a little reading and went for refreshing walks by the river. My only responsibility was cooking lunch for everyone.

On Thursday afternoon I was somehow brave enough to take all four kids to the Orleans pool. Talk about a blast from the past! So many wonderful memories there and now I have a few more.

Nothing is better than ice cream on Grandma's deck with cousins!

Except for maybe flying a kite for the first time with Papa and Aunt Kelly.

Friday morning we got to watch the VBS kids perform the songs they had learned during the week. The children were all so excited and sang with great passion. Thank the Lord for all of those who generously volunteered their time to teach these precious faces about our amazing Savior. 

Immediately after the performance, we said goodbye and headed to Hastings for my 11 week doctor appointment. I was a bit hesitant about taking both kids with me but I really had no other choice. In the end it could not have been better. They got to hear the baby's heart beat. Mason said, "It sounds like a choo choo train!" The doctor told him to tell his mom to stop eating his toys. Both Jentry and Mason told the doctor they wanted a sister to which the doctor asked, "So if it is a boy can I keep it?" Mason promptly answered, "Sure!"

These last two weeks have been crazy but at the same time we have made the most out of these glorious summer days of 2017 that we will never have again.