fast moving trains

summer slowly swept over our hearts in the most lovely of ways...

sweetly unplanned moments of painting huge pieces of cardboard in our new backyard

customizing our new bedroom

(it became a rainbow with his name on it!)

(she's mastering her stick figures!)

(a family of penguins, in case you can't tell!)

splashball!!!

(it's water polo for kids!)

they completely LOVED it!

endless waves

sand

sun

and fun!

celebrating the first day of august...

its a family tradition...we make yummy cake from scratch and then decorate it!

this year we had some neighbors join us! (9 kids and me!) yes, it was completely crazy and hugely messy! which is why i paused to capture it on film! the best part...in an attempt to make a BLUE velvet cake, i had to use 1/2 cup of blue food coloring...the next day all 9 kids, and the 4 adults i gave some to, had GREEN poop!

all good things must come to an end (what a lame saying!)... with the start of september came the start of school... being on someone else's clock, rush to bed, rush to wake, hurry,hurry, hurry, hurry! homework, schedules, projects, practice...AGH!

my sweet sister in law calls it a fast moving train..."either climb aboard and hold on tight or get left behind", she says!

as we lace up and get ready to run i read this...

words to slow me back down and remind me of what matters most, why we are here and who we are really serving... "God’s mercies are new every morning — not as an obligation to you, but as an affirmation of you. It's right there in the sky every morning: Every sunrise proves the burn of His passionate heart. The car can fail today and the kids and the dog and the fire detector and the dishwasher and the doctor and the whole free democratic world and it’s entire economic system but the mercies of God cannot and will not fail and His faithfulness is not merely great–it is unwavering." oh. yes. this. is. TRUTH. (you gotta go read the whole thing...aholyexperience.com)

beautiful light

every summer the kids and i create a list of fun activities. we then spend the rest of summer trying to cross them all off as we complete them. it's our own "bucket list" for the summer.

one favorite is trying to hit the beach as many times as we can.

but this one, that we completed tonight, tops them all...

watching the sun set at the beach! there is nothing quite like setting sun light on the faces of those you love! (wild hair-do's are just icing on the cake!)

welcomed home

saturday morning dan left for Florida to take his long-studied-for test...a few hours later the kids and i began our long-anticipated four day move! with boxes o-plenty from a friend, we took on the task of having everything we owned packed, moved and unpacked before dan returned...we had just four days! it was to be our "hurray you are done, good job daddy you rock and welcome to our new home!" surprise!! a more than daunting task for one mom and four small blessings to take on, for sure! but i quickly learned how "not alone" i was! more friends than could be numbered showed up with food, water, painting supplies, trucks, dollies and strong arms to help me take on this lofty four day goal!

our old garage quickly overflowed with everything we owned, and within twenty four hours we spent our first night in our new home...and in our own beds!

but these amazing friends did not stop there! monday morning our new home was overflowing with a hoard of sweet mommas tackling the huge task of packing, moving, unpacking and organizing my kitchen! they brought all their kids and two sweet babysitters and they did it all! even rearranging furniture in rooms!

but wait, that was just the morning crew!!! the mid-day brought with it a wonderful friend who is passionate (my soul mate!) about organizing!!!! she took over my kitchen, bathroom and linen cubbards and within two hours had me completely organized!! (plus my amazing neighbor worked tirelessly making trip after trip in my minivan shlepping odds and ends left behind at my old place! then she detailed my van!!)

then...(that's right, there's more!) that night three sweet friends brought me yummy Thai food, cleaned my old place and helped me hang pictures!!!!! (i know, right!?!)

(well look at that! seems you can fit four kids into one room after all!)

tuesday (yup, even tuesday!) two more dear friends arrived to help me finish painting and organizing my garage! (one cool dad even cleaned out the garage first and then delivered and set up(!!) two awesome shelving units! my dream!)

i didn't find my camera again until after it was all over...so these are pics of their finished work!

where did we move to?, you ask??? oh! now there is one amazing story if ever i lived one! a sweet woman named Vicki emailed me about a month ago and asked if i needed a place to live (not joking!). she decided we were not "too many" for her one toilet home...and she even welcomed our two dogs and asked us to name the rental amount! (no kidding!)

the love that was poured out on us overwhelms my heart, even now as i replay it all in my mind. we are surrounded by a simply incredible community of friends! truly, these folks transformed this place! (i felt like i was on extreme make-over!

we are just a few blocks from our old place (and even got to take our precious neighbors with us! hee hee! just teasing! but they come visit all the time!)

dan arrived home just before midnight on tuesday exhausted from a grueling two day test...to a new home! it was awesome!

(our dear SF friends even gave us this sweet little house warming plant! isn't it cute!?) thank you EVERYONE for making it possible! what an amazing family we have here in LA! you are God's tangible love to us all! we feel so welcomed home!

God's view

“You know how it is, Ann…” The Farmer glances over at the wagon, our son driving alongside of us, and then back to the wheat he’s combining. “From where we stand, we can’t see whether it’s something’s good or bad. All we can see is that God’s sovereign and He is always good, working all things for good.” please go read this http://www.aholyexperience.com/2012/05/for-the-days-that-seem-to-be-going-bad/ today. it is worth every minute of your time.

too many?

"i'm sorry lady, you have too many kids"...

trying to raise a family of "too many" in one of the most expensive cities in america, on a very meager trying-to-become-a-great-doctor- salary has been not so easy.

"wow, really, you want to put how many kids in this two bedroom home?"... of late, as i spend my "free" time looking at new places to raise my "too many" kids, these and other not so kind statements have been tossed my way.

"It's against the law to put more than two kids in a bedroom miss"... on a "normal" day (you know, when i'm not trying to bring up my "too many" while working part time, untangling slinkies, keeping house, muddling through homework, supporting my very stressed out love-of-my-life husband, walking more dogs than a mom of "too many" should have, and sweating over our landlord's threat of "get out by tomorrow or we are suing you") these comments would just slide right off my back. (like a duck in water or something.)

"sorry, that's too many people for this size house"... but since these past two months haven't been "normal" days, hearing over and over how "too many" my family is has just about crushed my soul.

"do you think your done having kids yet?(said in "that" kind of tone!)" can a person really have too many kids?

can one heart love too many tiny lives?

can you really ever have too many mouths to feed? too many souls to cuddle? too many hearts to handle with care? too many eyes to wipe dry? too many owies to kiss away? too many blessings? can it be possible to stoop down and prayerfully tuck in too many sleepy heads?

"oh, sorry, our condo association has a family size limit"...(said as i walked out of his 2000 sf 2bd/3ba condo!)

admittedly, we can be a bit of a "mess"! but as this blog's title boasts...it is our sweet mess!

endless

counting from southern illinois...

#109 ten days with the greatest cousins ever!

#110 sightseeing St. Louis

#111 being reminded of why Christ died

#112 non traumatic plane flights!

#113 for the Hennions, who made this whole trip possible!

Far away from home we are...
Carried to southern Illinois by my sweet sister (and an airplane!)

Have no idea how to get pictures from the silly "too complicated for my brain" phone into this even sillier blog...so close your eyes and imagine...

Green everywhere, lush!
Wide open spaces to run and play.
Huge homes with fun under the ground basements and plenty of toilets!!!
Fifteen faces that we love being near.
Soaking in cold sunshine, the kind that hugs your skin and makes your squinty eyes smile!
Bright red birds they sing you awake, hopping and hoping for the squishiest worm.
Trees, tall, long, leafy, wind whispering through their arms.
Long, late, therapeutic talks with wise sisters (in laws).
Ten day sabbatical from my life.

If I haven't called, emailed or texted you back Lately, now you know why.

:)

Many sweet, smiley memories en foto to come!