Summer

I finally got a smart phone 4 weeks ago and now I feel like I have SO MUCH TO BLOG.

I have taken exponentially more pictures and videos in the last 4 weeks than I have in the last 4 years. No joke. Ok, slight exaggeration. But only SLIGHT.

Am I glad for all the excess content? Not sure...is more more? Or is less more?

Jury's still out I suppose.

Either way, I better get cracking with the blog entries cuz I got way too many pics piling up.

First up: Lazy Summer Days

The kids have absolutely NOTHING going on this Summer. No preschool. No daycare. No camps. Not even some weekly soccer class. I f'd up royally this year.

I tried. I really did. I checked out various programs and possible Summer preschools, but in the end nothing worked out. None of it was worth the tears. I hate tears. Noah cries whenever he's separate from me and Judah and it takes a while for him to acclimate. 2.5 months is just not worth it.

And thank the ever merciful Lord we do have a couple babysitters that come regularly to give me sanity breaks. If they ever stop coming for some reason, wow...that thought is so awful I'm not even going to finish that sentence.

Anyway, the Summer is turning out much better than I feared. We spend a lot of time like this:

Running around barefoot in the backyard - the essence of Summer.

And like this:

Thank goodness for community pools on 95 degree days!

Noah gets initiated into the cult of the selfie.

And much to my extreme delight, Judah and Noah play together a lot. Be still my heart, I think they might actually enjoy each other's company. They might actually be friends! Best Friends even!

Their recent favorite game is "going on an adventure" together.

Judah draws a map:

Believe it or not, they fight constantly over who gets to hold this "map".

And they trudge around the house swinging their flashlights around and making notations in their notebooks. Noah often carries his Blue Baby in what he calls his "ergo shirt."

"And then we saw a spider island. But there was no water on it." - Judah the explorer 

And I spend most of my day willing myself to Cherish These Precious Moments because They Will Grow Up in a Blink of An Eye, and I Will Wish I could Go Back in Time, but I Never Can Again.

But the dishes. The messes. The monotony. The constant battle of the wills. And always loosing to the screaming toddler.

Must...Cherish...Each...Moment...RRRRRGGHHH. Mind. Over. Matter.

By the end of Summer I just might become a Zen master.