The End of August.....

It's late summer (at least I'd like to HOPE it's late summer with this crazy heat wave....I thought Colorado was suppose to be COLD?!) and the flowers are still blooming...little purple bells and bright pink roses lining our backyard fence.

And under a canopy of blue sky and green leaves.....

little bugs come out to spy on the dance,

music is playing, soft ballet music coming from up in a tree (organic i phone dock?)...

...partners are selected, feet are bared for skipping and prancing and twirling in green grass...

...the twirling commences and high kicks and arms in the air, plaid fabric and sun kissed arms swinging...blonde hair tossing and giggles soaring to the sky, delighting God and birds and one certain mama...

It's one of the last dances of summer...of this August

And then, a refreshing snack fit for kings and queens, princess and princes and paupers and the middle class and robins and chipmunks...and just about everyone ....

But especially for one certain lip stained squirrel - the last of the cherries.

I'm hoping for some cooler weather soon - the morning are delightful but the afternoons rather challenging as I walk to the school to get Brady with all the kids in tow...walking behind me - we look like a gaggle of geese to be sure. :)

This last week has brought me many blessings just when I was feeling alone, and I praise God and His goodness and His provision. I'll see you all in September.....

Summer Days....

Our summer days recently have brought us..... American Flag Toast - toast a piece of bread, smear it with cream cheese and strawberry jam...then create a flag using blueberries and sliced bananas. Super easy and kids think your totally creative and cool.

Fourth of July sprinklers! Brady tried to be brave...and was! Definitely not his most favorite past time but it was worth giving it a shot. :)

Bubbles every morning. Tristan has learned to say "bubbles" in the most adorable little voice ever. He runs up to me every morning and grabs my hand and says "bubbles" and then tries to lead me to where we keep them. The Dollar Tree is making a fortune off of us this summer do to Koala's new hobby.

Zac wins the award for this picture....

Swinging on the ol' rope . Aunt Kate showed my kids how to tie a loop on the end of their rope and ever since....squirrel spends about 2 hours a day swinging away.

Water play in the kitchen....no fears of sunburns in here.

And last but not least...peanut butter play dough! I just discovered this easy recipe this morning and the kids had a blast. I had to tell them before they began though that they could have one taste at the beginning of their play time and one after...and then the rest would need to be stored away for later. :) Stir together 1 cup of creamy peanut butter with 2 cups of powdered sugar and 1/2 cup of honey...instant sweet fun.

Cookies and Critters

My little snuggle bug was enjoying Gran Jan today ... totally in a slumbering heaven. Bug has been doing so well and I'm thrilled that he has turned out to be an *easy* baby for the moment - I feel blessed that so far none of my kiddos have had food allergies or the "grumpy" time once a day that I've heard about....knock on wood.

After mom left this afternoon, I got my perverbial *second wind* and enjoyed baking cookies with Trinity. I felt so much like my old self today...being able to bake and snap pictures, make the kids dinner, bathe all of them BY MYSELF...it's SO nice having my mobility back and my emotions in check. Feels good to know that I'm not really an emotional basket case and a couch potato - I was starting to wonder.

Brady has been Cheetah Man all day so he missed out on the cookie fun...he still got some samples. Tonight I went into his room to put him to bed and he had fashioned himself a cave out of his mattress and some other pillows for him to sleep in - his last words to me after his night time prayer was "mom, did you know Cheetahs chase Gazelles?" I'm not sure how long Cheetah man will be living with us...I sure have learned a bunch though about wildlife in general - he is a wealth of knowledge.

Speaking of wildlife...we have made the difficult decision to get rid of "kitty kitty." Some of you know that I am NOT an animal person...but when a little smoky gray cat showed up on our porch a year ago there was part of me that just wanted him to stay...maybe the childhood memories of my beloved Tom cat - T.C. Anyways, he was a hungry little critter so I started feeding it once the kids fell in love with him...he has the BEST temperament for a cat I've ever seen. Little kids will come over and chase him, pull on him and get right up in his face and he just "meows." BUT...I detest cat hair with a passion. Even though he only stays on the porch he has begun to take his afternoon siestas in MY outdoor chair...he has scratched up our door and NOW of all things...we have found him using our gravel driveway (a.k.a children's playground and entertainment spot) as his private latrine. This is no good. So, tomorrow we will be saying good bye and good luck to our little friend....I feel like a monster.

Spring and "About Ready to Go."

It was a glorious 71 degrees today...our first WONDERFULLY WARM afternoon...sundress worthy. I did break out one of my old dresses...Trin thought it was new due to the fact that she has only seen me totally covered from head to toe for the last 5 months. A few days ago I was wearing a pair of workout capris and she actually asked me why I was showing my legs. Hmmmm.
The top picture is of the kid's new little play house in all of it horrific ugly plastic pinkness...but perfectly fun and totally FREE. What an awesome gift someone gave us...they were going to give it to a thrift store but heard from an aquaitance about our family and our little stairstep children...their generosity resulted in lots of smiles all around.

Yessiree...spring is upon us and I couldn't be more happy. The bushes along our driveway are in full yellow bloom and *oh so lovely* - they provide excellent entertainment for Trin and her little flower loving heart.

And speaking of spring...I'm growing anxious each passing day (and 100% excited) that we will soon be welcoming another little Corley into our family. Now...I'm not trying to be cruel or pregnant crazy, but I really am hoping with every part of my being that this will be the last child born from my womb. Notice I didn't say "last child in our family"...but definitely LAST child carried for 9 months in my body. Yes - I'm over it. I'm recording these feelings here so that in case I get the "I want another baby" emotions in about 5 years i can look back and see that I indeed do not want to actually birth another baby. I think I will always want another baby...everytime I hold a little newborn or drink in their wonderful *baby powder fresh* scent...see a pregnant belly and someone with the "glow." I'm here to tell you that there are wonderful things about carrying a life...and I've enjoyed them...but the urinating every 10 minutes, feeling like someone is going to just tear through my skin it's stretched so tight...or fall out of my *yahoo* is just getting old. Yes...dear Finn...anytime after about 37 weeks you can and SHOULD feel free to make your grand entrance into this world - I'm ready for you.

As you can see in the top picture...I'm looking pretty normal from the neck up. Possibly even glowing?

From the neck down...well...as the old *greeter* gentleman at Costco said this morning "wow girl, you look like you're about ready to go!!!" For all of you who don't speak "southern"...that's another way of saying "you look full term" or "you're about ready to pop." I'm feeling rather large to say the least. I'm at that glorious stage in pregnancy where all anyone can comment on is how big I am and how I look like the baby should be coming any day now - little do they know I still have 7 weeks. Oh...belly shot picture is courtesy of Miss Trin.

And speaking of Miss Trin...have I ever told you that she is a squirrel and absolutely hilarious. Okay, okay...I know I've briefly explained her cuteness once or twice but really...she is so funny....and gorgeous. Zac and I have been discussing cutting her hair since it is getting pretty hard to keep up with. She tends to NOT keep it in a pony tail and it is always in her food or matted down with leaves and grime from playing outside. She told me today that she wanted me to cut it...gulp. Tonight I combed it out and asked her again if she would like me to go ahead and trim her hair up a bit...like to her shoulders...and she looked in the mirror and said "No, not anymore. I just want my long hair." Well, smiles all around because even though it would be easier at this point on me to have her hair short...I'm afraid I'm pretty partial to the long curls.

A Peek At Our Yard On A Sunny Day

Notice in the title I said sunny - not warm. Funny how 42 degree weather made us feel like we were at the beach in coats. Story basically goes like this :
Zac - "Alyssa, it's sunny outside!"
Me - "Grab the kids...we should have a picnic!"
We didn't have a picnic yall - it was only 4 pm. We did have lots of fun though...here's what was accomplished. 1. Hugs in Sunshine (see above photo.)

2. Gazing up into one lone pine tree....make believing like I was in a huge forest being chased by wolves. Not sure why looking at a pine tree made me feel like that, but it did. I literally ran away from the brush screaming "there's a wolf after me, ahhhhhhhh." I screamed so loud our neighbor looked over towards our house a little worried. The kids thought it was splendid. Oh...and notice that big knot on that little bitty branch. I feel sorry for it - it must feel so out of place.

3. I was able to get as dizzy as anyone needs to get. I swung brady around and around and then realized that it wasn't really that entertaining - why do kids love it so? I know I did when I was little...but really folks...felt like someone had spiked my water or something.

4. I got my leg sawed off by the evil poacher/soccer coach. I realize now , looking at this picture, my pose would have been more appropriate had I been getting a sword thrust in my heart. Guess i haven't seen to many legs being marred off of a live body (that's a good thing.)

5. We hugged a tree

6. We tried to help Brady stay "cool, calm, and collected " whilst hugging. He seemed to think he was going to fall at any moment...where in reality...he was wedged in so tight it was hard getting him down.

7. Trinity enjoyed the aforesaid "hugging" much more then Brady - oh, and the smiling at the camera.

8. We got to see Tristy actually sitting up in the sun for the first time in his life.

All that to say, yesterday was a pretty snazzy afternoon. I still haven't posted pictures of our snow last week...but I think it's better this way. I want to encourage the sunshine and discourage the snow just a bit. I could just feel spring so much yesterday, even though I'm sure there will still be several cold snaps that will leave me feeling overwhelmed with grey thoughts, however....it's nice to have hope that the days will soon be warmer, my kids will be happier with some sun on their skin, the trees will start clothing themselves in teeny buds and blooming flowers, the garden will start growing and flourishing...and I , my dears, will sit on my porch every morning with a cup of joe watching birds and bees. I say bees because although they are cute...they're pesty little creatures...and it seems like every time I situate my self perfectly on my porch swing...at least two of these aggravating friends try and keep me company.

With that said...I will take a few bees over the snow any day...please come soon warm weather. We need you.

Thoughts for the Morning

Contentment: The state of being contented; satisfaction
1 Timothy 6:6-8 " But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content." Yikes. It's so easy to concentrate our time and thoughts on all the things we don't have...how we wish this project would get done, or this bill would be a little lower, or that we could buy the $1.50 a lb apples instead of the .99 cent apples...isn't it?
There are some days that are just so beautiful and I feel God all around me....and I feel totally satisfied with my life and my home. I wish my state of contentment wasn't so run by circumstances. Contentment is a state of the soul....it is having the "merry heart" that the Bible so often speaks about. I think I've kind of forgotten about the importance of smiling here recently. It's easy to focus on things that would cause me NOT to smile...yesterday I was super happy for a chapter in my Created to Be His Helpmeet book by Debi Pearl. Basically it was talking about the attractiveness of a smile....being joyful and delighting in your husband and your children. Forgetting all of the "I wish I had's" and remembering all the "look what I have!" I'm glad I read during the kid's nap instead of doing other things because it's just what I needed to have a GOOD day. I was able to do wash and once again enjoy seeing it dry by blowing in the breeze. What's funny is after all the clothes were dry and I had my sheets inside I discovered that one of our bird's used my bottom sheet as his personal privy. Oh dear....so much for clean sheets. I just laughed and got out another set and thought to myself "Yah...I get to use the green ones instead of the white ones."

I took the kids to my friend Mary's house after their nap. Mary is about 73 years old and lives way out in the country. I love driving to her home because the way there is full of fields with old barns....tractors harvesting hay....cows and more cows. And then there sits Mary's 50 acres...also full of cows bathing in the creek, trying to stay cool in the hot hot sun. Brady loves it at Mary's house and I think it is because it is the epitome of anything grandmotherish. Her kitchen always smells of cooked veggies that she gets straight from her friend's garden...there are always Vanilla Wafers. There's an old piano that has the most delicious sound....not quite tuned but tuned enough to make music. And then there is her classic pink carpeting, her vintagey kitchen with the same dishes that have been there for over 50 years. Lots and lots of toys in the playroom that she has had for her grandchildren and never moved (most of them are in their 20's now.) It was a good time.

And then I came home....put the kids to bed...and just had fun researching stuff on the Internet(mainly natural ways to induce labor) and I was able to read part of my cheesy Janette Oke novel. Brady woke up in the night around 3 am complaining of stomach pains and so I stayed up with him off and on for the next 2 hours, helping him with his tummy ache...his little ashen face was just so pathetic. He told me once "Brady needs medicine" and I felt just terrible for there was not Mylanta or anything to be found. At one point between throwing up sessions he just cried "Brady needs a cough drop mom?!" I just told him that that wouldn't help and that he was doing a great job and he could have some water. After that he just dozed off and slept peacefully...this morning he has been fine so I'm thinking the culprit was one two many helpings of nuts yesterday. He did have peanut butter twice and a helping of raw almonds with his lunch and I think when he eats to many nuts in one day he gets sick....I think the same is true with eggs.
Trin is being her sweet bubbly self mixed with a little raw emotion. My goodness...when she is troubled she is troubled but it usually doesn't last long because she is sensitive. Stubborn but sensitive so I'm finding that even though sometimes I need to be tough with her it usually just takes one time and we're done with that for the day. A breath of fresh air to be sure.....