I remember taking this picture of Ava when she was 2. It was one of the last hot days of summer and I remember noticing how beautiful her skin looked with the sun highlighting it, how faded her hair was from three months of outdoor play and how scabbed up her little chubby knees were from tipping her Radio Flyer tricycle. I snapped this shot hoping to never forget how much fun we had that summer. I could take the same picture of her today and get the same warm fuzzy buzz from the joy of sharing a summer with a child.

Precious life

Today a quick browse of newspaper articles revealed mutliple tragedies over the weekend - a baby sleeping in a tent with his parents on his first camping trip driven over by a fellow drunken camper in a car, a 21-year-old drowned while swimming and a 10-year-old run over by a boat while tubing. I normally try to avoid focusing too much on this type of news. I realize that it is real and it happened and some family, instead of swimming in the backyard pool, is planning a funeral or standing by a hospital bed right now. But today the news was a little too much.

How do we find a way to suck the most we possibly can out of each day with our children? I left work at 4:00 o'clock and picked up the kids from daycare. We drove up the house, bypassed the front door, stripped down to t-shirts and undies and went for a swim. Those are the moments when life is pure and sweet and time stands still.

Tonight I'll say a prayer for the family of the baby in the tent and then I'll roll over and hug my babies tight.

My Mom's Store

My mom has a store in Ashley, ND named "Prairie Connection". It is like no other consignment store on earth. Today we bought: a stuffed monkey, a swimsuit for Ava, a sweatshirt for myself, and a bag of rocks (future craft project in waiting). This bag of stuff cost us $8.50. What a deal! But wait....the "store" owed me $35.00 for items I had consigned so we actually walked away from the store with a bag of goodies and some extra cash to spend next time we come home. After 12 years of runing the store my mom is starting to think about selling it. My sister probably described the feeling best when she said, "It must be like perpetually moving. Packing and unpacking boxes for 12 years." I can understand why it would get old, but what a great place!

Vacation

The first day of vacation was off to a rocky start. The kids were fighting and the parents weren't doing much better. But, after that first 24 hours things perked up. And after watching Daner sort through Grandpa Ron's fishing tackle box with him for an hour, and after watching Grandma Kris playing with the kids at the park, the mother of the pack decided it was time to let go of stress and enjoy herself. She constantly reminds herself to "live in the moment" as clique as it sounds, she has learned that it works. Live in the moment. Hug and kiss the kids. Make homemade play-doh. Make stupid crafts that have no point other than the process itself. Drink a beer at 3:00 in the afternoon. Play in the sand. Read a book. Don't plan on the day before it even starts...just live.

Why?

Today I decided it was time to create a blog. Facebook and Twitter have not covered every minutia of my life and, thus, "This charmed life" was born today. Jason picked up the kids from daycare and they fought over who Mama would take out of the van first. Once that was resolved adequately, Ava burst into tears because I gave Dane a hug first. This evening should be...charming.