getting away

i think sometimes the reason i don't blog is because i put pressure on myself to have something to say.

and it takes awhile. 

so i'm trying something different.

i'm going to try to get this post done in less than fifteen minutes.

bam.

after losing little miss, i let the hubs know i needed to get away for awhile. so we planned a trip. the kids and i went up to visit my hometown and the hubs came up the last weekend we were there for some fun family time where he didn't have to miss too much work.

so part of the trip was going to our family farm.

friends came to visit and my sister hosted us at her house (she's wonderful) and the boys were terrified of snakes and it was lots of fun.

above is judah's excited face. i can't remember why we were excited but it happens a lot.

elijah spent his time putting sticks in the fire and eating too many s'mores. 

the boys decided to spend most of their time hole digging and worm finding and fire building and marshmallow roasting and it's pretty much the best. 

at one point, the children took off their clothes to bathe and the skin that had been covered in clothes was a totally different color due to all the dirt that had gotten all over them. 

nasty.

and awesome. 

something that always interests me is how my children entertain themselves when they are not at our home. at my parents' house they used cardboard to create a "game." they even cut out small pieces of paper to move around as game pieces. it was awesome. i am so proud. 

this one was called "martial law." 

we've already trademarked it so don't even try to steal our winning idea, people.

the boys played outside so much and i thought to myself, "self, why don't you read a bit while they entertain themselves?" the answer? because cuties are all around and they were very distracting. how can you read when a kid with a soccer ball wants to hang out with you and ask you questions? 

the answer: you can't.

the secret to this guy's heart is gum.

it's the first question he asks any grandparent or aunt or uncle. 

he might love you, but he loves gum more.

this dude. he's getting ready to go into the fourth grade. can you believe it? it's weird. i feel 25. but apparently i'm not. 

grandma gave us these sumo bumper boppers. 

you're supposed to wear one and run into another person. they're pretty fun. 

and if my boys like anything, it's physically assaulting others. 

--i mean playing rough. ahem.

so we have been trying to make the best of a hard situation with our sweet girl gone.

a blessing: we have a special arrangement where we get to go visit her quarterly for a few hours. this is a huge gift and we are so thankful for it. 

so once again, when i spend time thinking about all God has given us, we can still be sad and hurting, but we know He cares for us. we know He's got this gigantic plan and we get to be a part of it. 

-it might not be the way we would have preferred and it might be painful, but He is with us and His plan is never for us to try to do it alone. 

so be encouraged, people. 

God is for you.