Ease

Hi! My name's Scooper and I'm starting a blog. Oh, I already have a blog? I used to write here on a regular basis? I thought this screen looked vaguely familiar. 

Summer has smoked the lazy right out of me. 

Well, that's not entirely true. I've been not writing here on purpose. I've taken the bare bones mentality seriously and it's been just what the doctor ordered during these lazy, hazy days of summer. My journal is exhausted because I've been scrawling there instead of here. I've made a big dent in my book pile. And my bed and sofa have a forever imprint of my back side. 

Besides resting and reading and writing with a pen, I took a silent retreat for a few days {which technically included all of the aforementioned activities. More on that later.} 

And in stark contrast to a silent retreat, my sister and her three kids came to visit this week. It was loud and wonderful. We spent the week not showering, reading magazines, loosely supervising our children, and watching an endless stream of "Say Yes to the Dress" episodes. I just realized that I took not a single photo. See above comment about summer and lazy. 

Actually, I did take one photo on my phone. That photo at the top of the post is my precious niece "swimming" in a rubbermaid container on my driveway. Staying classy is clearly a top priority around here. We have a larger kiddie pool for the bigger kids {they took turns swimming in 10-minute shifts} but sweet Tabitha needed a way to keep cool that was more to scale with her tiny, 11-month-old self. 

Besides heat survival, swimming in storage containers, and not taking photos, there's not much to report. I have some topics I look forward to writing about when the time is right but for now, the thoughts are more in the percolation stage. Sometimes it takes time for them to settle. And summer seems to be the perfect time for that to happen. 

So for now, I'm embracing a slower pace and a season of less. I look forward to writing more once my kids start school but I am so not rushing that. 

I plan to ease back into the blogosphere between now and then, ease being the operative word. 

So from one lazy girl to another, may you enjoy the last weeks of summer, take the time to sip fruity drinks, revel in the spirit of the Olympics, stay cool in the pool {even if it's tiny, plastic, and sitting on your driveway}, and find some ease of your own. 

Showers are optional. 

Watching

Watching my flower girl walk down the aisle as a grown-up bride.

Watching my children splash their toes in the same lake where my husband splashed as a little boy. 

Watching the family fireworks show.

Watching my niece, Bree, now a big one-year-old, clap her hands and smile a thousand smiles. She's a miracle.

Watching my newest nephew wrinkle up his precious newborn face, curl into that precious newborn bundle, and not give his parents enough precious shut-eye.

Watching my feverish youngest child throw up mid-way through our long trip home as I frantically searched for a plastic bag. Which I never found. 

{Photos unavailable. You're welcome.}

Watching with disbelief and suppressed laughter {because what else can you do} as we hosed down a car seat, seat belt, blanket, and youngest child in a dilapidated manual car wash while my oldest child cried hysterically at the horrible-ness of it all and my middle child sympathetically comforted the sick one with encouragement and words of affirmation. It was classic. 

Life is beautiful, emotional, nostalgic, and sometimes disgusting. 

Happy July. : )