so the lazy days begin...

gotta love the A Beautiful Mess app for iPhone.

After a long day of bike riding through the paths, nooks and crannies of Fort Wayne, we spent some time chilling and goofing off.

Just one of the little stops along the way...

This was Sunday morning at the Display Gardens on the campus of IPFW. Such a cool campus with trails and cool places like this.

scarfing the Panda Express leftovers.

Display Garden love

Having our tank emptied. ewww.

Molly loving her little Jack Bear. (the bear that we got with his casket)

I don't know if these are the lazy days or not...they don't feel too lazy to me.

In the summer months, ya feel like ya wanna make the most of your daylight hours, and there are a lot of 'em, yes? from sun up to sun down and beyond...we are going going going.....

Will, Ethan and Mel spent last weekend (a yearly event now) in Danville, IL with their Aunt Nat, Uncle Nick, Ryan and Sophie. David just happened to have our camper up in Ft. Wayne again, like he did last year, so the four of us made the trek up there for Sat-Mon. I will admit, it's nice to just be the four of us but it does lend some strange feelings and a sense of helplessness because I realize just how much the 3 big kids ROCK and help out. and encourage...and keep me going and hold me accountable. Molly and Levi, if left to their own devices, bicker and bug the tar out of each other...

We had a wonderful time...though poor David's allergies were beating him up pretty badly...as well as some things he has on his plate with work and the Bricklayer's Union. (don't get me started on that one)
We ate at Panda Express every evening because you can get a totally Trim Healthy Mama kinda meal...meat and steamed veggies....and those chow mein noodles are scrum-diddly-umptious. (though David and I left more of those for the young'uns.) We asked the littles every night what they'd like to eat and they never ever seemed to mind our suggestion to eat at the Panda again. good kids.

Monday, upon our return, we had a fun li'l gathering here at Young Manor...my parents, my bro Tom, my sis Beck and her family, John and Sherry, Christie Kitchen and her 3 kids, and the kids' friend, Mati, all descended on our place for some grilled tasties, famous Mac n Cheese of Beck's, root beer floats and other summertime delights.

The kids will be doing their school throughout the summer for many reasons but a few of the main ones are as follows:

~we like to keep it fresh and stay at it all year long.
~we never really  have caught up from having Molly in 2007, ya know?
~then you add Jack's death and heck, I may never recover fully from that...to be honest.
~the pursuit of knowledge is never ending. ha ha.

We have birds trying to make nests in our upstairs porch and why that bugs me? I dunno...I appreciate the concept of birds but in reality, they poop all over my porch and chirp at us incessantly if we try to enjoy our porch...we were here first, dumb birds. I've decided I only like birds in stamps or on cards or in decoration...not in real life. (I type this right now because as I sit here, I can here them chirping, which means they are bringing more loot to make nests but watch out....I'm coming!!)

My goals for this summer:
~make a slew of cards for JOY ministries...to keep up with events and encouragement of loved ones and young moms.
~lose weight.
~get really good at being a homemaker. It's not wrong to have that goal after almost 20 year of marriage, is it??
~learn to be more like Jesus...the things of and in this world pale in comparison to a life completely devoted to him...the world offers NOTHING. nada. zip. To be merciful and loving, compassionate and strong like Him. Pleased to say that I have been consistently spending time in prayer and in His Word every morning (mostly) and if I miss, I don't go to bed till I spend this valuable time. It really is the best way to find out how to be more like Him.
~make sure I cry every day (and I do) because tears soften my stony heart. 2 years ago, I cried but for selfish reasons. Now I cry because, sometimes I am selfish, but mostly because I want to see the world and the people around me with Christ-like eyes. I thank Jack for this change. and if you see me hesitating, it's only because I'm praying or crying...

On that note, I'm outta here...I have a curtain to make for my lower level door. (I love that my sissy sews!!)

Peace and JOY!

I have so much catching up to do, it isn't even funny...

Please forgive the complete neglect here....I'll admit, springtime is my busiest time...what with getting everything around here unwinterized and such...I always dream of it, all winter long and then once spring hits, I get completely overwhelmed with all that is involved.

I need to really catch my breath and choose joy. Not freak out about things...I tend to do that very easily.

breathe....

and then I freak everyone out around me...this is one of my thorns...pure freakoutishness. forgive me loved ones.

Ok, well...I don't even know where to begin with updating...so I will start with last weekend, when Will had the honor of attending the Center Grove High School Prom with his friend, Hayley K. We went to her house to take pictures of the beauteousness and bask in their youth...Hayley's parents, Bud and Kim, graciously funded the event (did you know that tuxedo rental has gone up to $200??? I almost died, but Will then told me that they were going to cover it. wow. cool)

They then went to another friend's house to take pics of the entire gaggle of couples that they'd be promming with. I don't have any of those pictures but they are on FB. He was with a really nice group of people. They all converged on a restaurant downtown (the name escapes me currently) and then proceeded to Union Station for the dancing festivities.  Will also happened to "run" into the young gentleman that he'd had a fender bender with just a few days before. haha. oh, that is a blog post for another day. or not.

After Union Station, they went to Rascal's Fun Zone till 2 a.m. Will had a really wonderful time. Thank you, K family, for asking him to go along and making it an evening to remember.

The other pics up there are of crazy E and his garden. Molly took the pix of him kissing his tater plants. He has really amazed us this year...in so many ways, but this garden?? wow...Uncle John and he are working on it and my dad helps out with advice and plants also. What an experience...there is gardening on both sides of E's heritage so this is a beautiful thing to see. Collard greens, radishes, okra, corn, tomatoes, squash (eventually) and many other things that I can't remember currently...I am sure we will update here frequently.

I really need to sit here and do a blog post on the amazing Craft Liberation I was a part of exactly 3 weeks ago...I have a few pix on my cam and most of them are on FB...All I can say, right now, is that it was an incredible honor to be a part of The Lemondime/Kellie Nowacki's first event...so until that post, hang tight.

In other news, May is half way over, soccer ended today, Mel is getting ready to turn 15. I can't help but think of that little boy who didn't stay but will always be with us...this time, two years ago, I anxiously waited for him. (I still just cannot believe how freaked out scared I was. I should've known. I just should've) The sights and smells of this time of year come flooding back....the floods of tears. I find it hard to swallow that he would be nearing two...I weep for him still. not every day, but I guess when you round it out, and I have a heavy weepy day, it evens out...not a day goes by where he isn't in my thoughts and dreams.

I want to celebrate that little boy not just for who he was but for how his short, precious life brought such change to my life and the lives of my family members. We will have another balloon launch on Sunday, June 30 at 6:10 pm. It's a bring your own balloon kinda thing...it's a whoop and holler, thank the Lord for the gift of sight kinda thing. We will also have another low key, swim, eat kinda thing back at the ranch, anyone is welcomed to join us. please do. Do it for Jack. Do it because God is good, even in the hurt. Do it because people are so much more important than anything else...

on that note, I shall turn on the grill and prepare to cook some angus dogs for the gigantic brood of teenagers that is at my house. It's the 3 bigs' bi-monthly young person Bible study...such an awesome thing to witness....ahhhhh.

Hope your weekend is swell....hope to get back here much quicker to keep y'all updated and stuff.

Love to all..