A Full Weekend

                    *note:this is a lengthy post so you may want to grab a cup of coffee....*
We had a rather full weekend in nearly every sense of the word: physically, emotionally, eatingly, busyily, (yes--there I go, making up words again!) but it was good. Needed. 

Saturday found us at the indoor swimming pool much to our boys' delight!(sorry, no pics. of that!) They have been asking for weeks about going and we finally took the plunge and said ok. That evening we had a bowling birthday party to attend for Jovi (our niece), laughing at the kids' bowling antics, stuffing ourselves with the scrumptious bowling alley french fries and pizza and had an overall birthday-party fun time. 

Carson bowling

Austin's turn!

 
















Prior to the party, we received the shocking news that yet another long time family friend was no longer with us. And there is only one word that sums it up: shocking. Unexpected. She wasn't my "friend" personally per se, but she was of my sister's and my dear cousin Wendy's (who lost her battle to breast cancer a few years ago). So that makes it personal. Growing up in a small community of 2000 (give or take) when someone as vibrant and young as Alice who always had a smile on her face and a spring in her step, and who was herself a breast cancer survivor you can't help but be affected. I would see her every summer as we made our annual trek back "home" to MN so it'll be weird to shop the aisles of Chris' Food Center with my mom in a few months and not run into Alice. I'm not sure it'll sink in until then. 

So....our little planned ice fishing getaway on Sunday as a family could not have come at a more perfect time. Getaway was exactly what we all needed. The weather couldn't have been more beautiful, more weirdly mild for a January day. The boys couldn't have behaved better as they spent 5 straight hours (yes, I said 5) on the frozen water. We got a few fish with Carson catching one all by himself!! We simply just basked in being together. Enjoy the mass of photos!!

adventuring on to the ice for the first time!

here goes Mason!

i love this photo!!

watching daddy make the hole

mason watching from a rather relaxed position :)

mama and Mason

bringing some chairs

my love!!

Carson having an oreo cookie snack (I love how he's sitting)

Mason completely intrigued

My boys!!!!!!!!

checking out one of the holes

relaxin'

Austin found a perfect hockey "stick" and ice "puk" :)

i love my bubba!

doesn't Austin look so much older here? (complete with cookie outline)

it's a fish!!

Nice Catch!!

 At one point in the afternoon I headed to the truck so Mason could catch a little shut-eye. I wasn't sure if it would work but alas, he fell asleep on my lap. I had the thought of leaving him in the truck and joining my other boys on the ice but that thought quickly escaped--what? leave this precious moment of snuggling with my mini-man? nope. I stayed put. And I drank in the quietness of the hour, conversing off and on with my Savior, stealing glances of the mountainous landscape, and watching with mama-pride my boys on the ice. My thoughts traveled to "home" and the sadness present there and as a tear may have escaped one eye in thinking of all that family/friends were going through, another escaped just as quickly for the sheer thankfulness of an unshakeable faith in the Lord. God is still God.

naptime for Mason (photo courtesy of CJ)

 yep--those are my boys...and I can't express just how thankful I am for them.

Carson's catch!!

all my loves! :)

After leaving the ice, we headed back home only to stop along the way to hunt down some jack-rabbits. And the boys were successful. It was yet another father/son memory building time and "teachable moment" about life in the outdoors.

off they go...

"is it dead?"

Jack-rabbit kill!!

An all-around full weekend. But a good one. :)

SNOW!

One word: SNNNNNOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!

'Nuf said :)

The long anticipated soft blanket of white finally covered the brown 'blah' ground of Winnemucca, even if just for today. And it was beautiful!! And there may or may not have been a Christmas tune that sang across the airwaves of our minivan as it traveled down the road to the elementary school at 8:15am. Ok.....I surrender...there may. Hey--it was only the Polar Express cd per request of my boys. I didn't argue. And I will even shamelessly admit to softly singing along. :) This MN-home-grown girl loves me some snow days, when winter appropriate of course. It's just another way that I/we get to enjoy God's creative handiwork at it's best.

Simplicity

Today is one of those days when I just love being a mom who is able to be home with my beloved boys. Maybe it's the grayish-looking skies that are teasing us with the prospect of falling snowflakes--making me want to curl up with my boys and read books and play every game that lines our game closet. Or maybe it's the fact that at every turn these past days (and weeks...and months...) I've been hit from every angle with the general question of "what am I doing with my short time here on earth?". Without going into too much detail and baring my intimate thought process, hearing and thinking along these lines has stemmed into making life more simple for me and family of boys; getting rid of those unneeded so-called "necessities", redefining priorities, downsizing and deleting distractions (or at least minimizing them), taking a hard look at "life" in general and by all means taking nearly every opportunity given to play those games and fill those black and white color book pages with some actual color! Who needs hundreds of toys when hundreds (well, maybe not hundreds) of cars will provide a wonderful creative outlet??

a car track...made out of cars! :)

As I look around our home, I see so much "stuff"...and call me crazy, but just the other day Carson and I spent some time going through our arts and crafts supplies. Yes, we went through all of our markers, taking the cap off every single one and seeing if it was worth keeping or tossing. Hey, we even did double-duty and used up some junk mail as our "test paper"! 

 It's a little thing, but there's no need to hang on to 50 markers that don't even work. So, we began to toss and "scale down" just a bit. My boys are awesome at helping me do that with our toys and what's really fun is doing the whole rotating of toys concept--you'd think it was Christmas morning all over again when they discover the hidden gems that they haven't seen in months and yet it's been in their closet all this time! :)

Austin's cross legos--I loved it!

It's been a great teaching-tool as a parent to show our boys that "less is more", to give things away to someone else who might actually need it more than we do. They have found the simplicity of getting out puzzles to provide great enjoyment...

...some markers and poster board get the creative juices flowing....

...an empty toilet paper tube...

  ...heading outside in the weirdly warm January weather gives no escape from finding fun....

Lately, it's really been hitting me that in a few months, I'll be down to just one boy at home. AGH!!!!! I remember when I only HAD one boy at home. I refuse to miss moments like this...

 

 ...and not take advantage of doing the simple things like making cookies with my boys. It probably feels like I post a lot of pictures of us baking/cooking/etc. but it's what we love. Simplicity.

 I refuse to over-complicate life and be so busy that I miss the little things. I want to live simply and allow God to use me as a mom....as a wife...as a sister...a daughter...a friend. I desire for the five of us to live in a way that He chooses to use us for His glory, for His service. I don't ever want to find myself so "busy", so distracted, that I miss what He has for me. And today, that's my boys. Yep, it's a day that I just love being a mom and a wife--and I get to be their mom (and my hottie-hubby's wife!!) Oh, I'll have "those moments" when I want to just run away and cry and wonder what in the world I'm doing...probably even this afternoon. But the overwhelming joy of doing and being exactly what He has called me to far exceeds "those moments."

The cookies are fresh, the decaf coffee is done, and my CJ is standing next to me holding the "Go Fish" cards. Simplicity. I can get used to this. :)