rest, peace, loveliness

we've had one of those weekends that was, in a word, wonderful.

there wasn't much to do. 

dinner with new friends.

a birthday party.

clean out and sort the boys' toys.

and have some fun.

the weather has been amazing here in south texas. 

the high today was almost 80. 

our windows have been open each day.

i've been painting. --just playing with a new hobby and enjoying myself.

the boys have been painting.

plants are confused by the warm weather and have decided to spring up, not just on my window sill but all over the yard. 

poor things, when that freeze comes later this week, they'll be in for a shock.

at the birthday party we received silly string as a gift. 

the boys loved it.

it was so fun to watch them "nicely" attack one another with it.

(they are prepared at a moment's notice to make silly faces. they are on the ball!)

i'm tired of all the toys everywhere. so the boys get paid 25-50 cents to help bring all their toys from all over the house to one location where i can sort through them. 

there's a bin for trash, a bin for storage to bring out later to keep things fresh and fun, a bin for give-away, and bins for keeping in the house.

and we end up with...da da da...less toys! praise Jesus!

i think one great way to simplify life with children is to have less toys.

in reality, most children play with a lot less than what they have. 

my kids make a huge mess and it takes them forever to clean it up.

this way, there's less to make a mess with, although they are super skilled at making messes with less, too. 

tonight, after a day visiting the hubs at work for lunch and going to the park with friends, we ate outside. and the boys practiced jumping for a picture. --it's an acquired skill. 

most weekends are rushed or someone is sick. 

i would hate for this special, lovely weekend to pass by without acknowledging what a gift it was.

God is so sweet and tender to us.

--to give us moments of rest, peace, loveliness.