Be still my heart.

Every Sunday morning should start just like this. A beautiful, sunny, morning with the two sweetest kids on the planet.

And then every Sunday afternoon should include some time to accessorize.

Snap a few pictures.

And smooch just a bit.

This girl is definitely growing into her personality! She is so much fun these days. I can hardly believe that she will already be 2 next month.

Please ignore the mess in my bedroom in this picture. Carter was reading the library book that he picked at school (Goodnight Moon) to Evyn this morning. They had just read the part about the "quiet old lady who was whispering hush." Precious, I tell you!

Nocturnal

Wisdom from a Kindergartner.

Carter: Mom, you and me are turnal.
Me: What?
Carter: You know, we're turnal. We sleep at night. Bats and owls are not turnal. They sleep in the day and play at night.

Random, 9-12-10

I had the opportunity to spend some time hanging out with my nephews this weekend. We went to see the September 11th flags, and getting all four kids to look at me at the same time was next to impossible. This is the best that I could do.

But this was a pretty cute picture of the two big boys. Immediately after taking this picture, they ran away from me giggling. They are big buddies.

And Evyn thought that the flags were tons of fun. She kept saying "I touch it" and then reaching for the flags. It is always so moving to me to see this display and reflect on the lives lost. I am so proud to be an American and never want to forget how blessed I am to live in a country where freedom rings.

This is just a random picture of the prettiest little girl in the whole world. She is so much fun these days. She constantly has a song in her heart. Her favorites include Twinkle Twinkle and The Wheels on the Bus. She loves to read books, loves to dance, is increasingly verbal, and is ever the entertainer. She knows when she is being funny and can completely work a crowd. She gives the sweetest kisses right on the lips. And she is still a daredevil. Taking her to a playground is enough to cause some major anxiety. She is not afraid to climb or jump. She just seems to experience the world with a whole new level of gusto and makes it fun to discover things alongside of her!

And my sweet Carter-bug is loving school. He comes home every day and teaches us something new. On Friday he led Mike through a series of stretches and dance moves that they do in PE. I was rolling. He adores his teacher, loves buying a hot lunch, and is doing beautifully in Kindergarten. We have gotten a few sweet notes from his teacher, which has completely blessed my heart! One day I came home from work to find Carter dressed in his "work clothes." He wanted to help daddy dig, so he had gone upstairs to put on long pants, his boots (that are two sizes too small), and a jacket (again, it fit in the spring) so he would not be cold. He was so proud of his outfit that I just let him keep it on!

Evyn loves her purse. Watching her put on her lipstick and talk on the phone completely cracks me up. Also, she looks so lovely in yellow that I can hardly stand it!

And last but not least, I got my braces off on Mike's birthday! I am having so much fun rediscovering things like milk duds and chewing gum! I keep licking my teeth. I love the way that they look, and am so appreciative of St. Clair orthodontics! This week I get the last two brackets off and start sleeping in a retainer overnight and then am officially done. I got my braces on the week before I found out that I was pregnant with Evyn, so she had never seen me without them until Thursday! Good times!

Margin

This summer, Mike and I completely fell in love with the concept of margin. We want to be deliberate about having unscheduled, unstructured, intentional time together as a family. Not just leftover time at the end of a day, but scheduling down time- time away from cell phones, television, and the internet. Time to have the important conversations, time to laugh together, and time to make memories. Our kids are growing up so quickly and we want to make the most of the time that we have as a family. So, naturally we bought a camper!

This weekend we took it out for our second trip. We love it! It is nice enough that I am very aware that I am not sleeping on the ground. I love having a small kitchen, a fridge, a potty, shower, and most importantly, AC! But it still feels like camping. We are looking forward to making lots of great memories with these two monkeys.

They were up at the crack of dawn on Saturday and it was chilly out. Here they are drinking their hot chocolate. They really were happy even though Evyn looks really intense in this picture!

We enjoyed just letting the kids play and explore outside. We played in the creek, caught fish, went to the playground, went swimming, played ladder golf, walked the dog, made s'mores, watched the stars, tried to catch fireflies, blew bubbles, played frisbee, and had a ton of fun together.

Lilly really wanted to catch a dragonfly. She seemed to enjoy getting to be a real part of the family!

Evyn took a break to do a little coloring.

And Carter caught a frog.

I need to take better pictures of the inside of the camper. We were super proud of our new "front porch," including some high class carpet and lights!

We can't wait to plan another trip! These smiles are worth every penny!