the one who made me a mama

Oh, Henry, my dear sweet boy. You are the one who made me a mama, first thing in the morning on a hot July day. You were the most welcome sight there ever was to see at 3 o'clock in the morning. A tiny baby, all 6 pounds and 13 ounces of you, with dark hair as fine as silk and a bright blond highlight grazing the top of your tiny little head. You, my summer baby, were born with a tan. The moment I felt the weight of your little baby body in my arms I fell in love, completely in love with you.
And now you are six.

And it happened so fast.

You are a big six year old boy with your very first loose tooth. The dentist told us so last week.

You are cautious but daring. You went off the diving board for the first time with no floaties on the eve of your sixth birthday.

You like baseball and you are just learning to play football. You are excited to play on a team this Fall. You love tractors. And pizza. And apples. {And cookies.}

You love to think about things. You ask questions. You love to listen to stories. You are curious about the way things work. You have passion and a will of steel. And even though sometimes it lands you in time-out, I love your determination and the way you know what you like and what you want. You like numbers and math. You are creative.
You are a gem, sweet Henry. Even though it's easiest to look back at the past six years and talk about how fast they all went by {because, really truly they did}, I'm happiest this year to look forward at the years ahead and think about the drop in the bucket that those first six years really are compared to what we get to look forward to with you. We love you.
Happy 6th Birthday, dear sweet boy.

what a girl needs

Shopping might not fix everything;
but a great pair of shoes might. Yes?

Alright, not everything.

I wish they would pack my boxes and organize the boy's toys and run loads of stuff to the Goodwill. Well, no they won't do that either. But they sure lift my mood drenched in the morning sun. I bought them last night with Rachel who is all tan and freshly home from honeymooning in Mexico.

We are moving in less than two weeks, people. I'm excited and ready but no where near ready ready. Like the packed box and organized garage kind of ready. I'm more the I-can't-wait-to-have-my-pizza-delivered-to-my-door and see-people-when-I-look-outside kind of ready.

The country has been good to us. It has been very good to my boys. They have watched farmers plant their corn in the spring and then watched as they reaped their bountiful harvest in the fall. They have learned here. Learned to ride bikes, to make new friends, learned to go off the diving board, to play on a team, learned to plant seeds and pick ripe vegetables from the garden, learned about birds and nests and eggs and even learned how to love a dog and feed her Milk Bones for doing tricks.

Living out here has taught me too. I've learned to love and appreciate the peace and the wide open spaces. I've also learned that I need community and I like to see people and life. I have missed that so much. I want to write a long, reflective post. And I will, when there's more time, probably once we move. I will never regret living here and will view it as another chapter in our lives that has helped to teach and mold us. In less than two weeks we will load our things into the {familiar} U-Haul and leave this sweet little ramshackle of a town. We'll start the next chapter and I am so very ready.

much to say

hello!

I have so much to tell you!
Things about drive-in movies,

{snuggling in our pjs in our van turned cozy.}

and double rainbows,

and rescuing baby birds,

and launching rockets,


and the ways we've been deeply drinking in each moment of this hot summer weather,


and checking things right off our summer list,


but my dress needs to be ironed and my hair needs to be straightened and tamed because

this boy and girl are getting married and tonight is the rehearsal.

We are so excited!