happy birthdays.

june is a big birthday month in our house.

three of us have birthdays this month.

since we already celebrated L with my family, 

(see this and this)

it was time for B and my celebrations!

we had a lovely dinner out
(well, as lovely as dinner 

in a restaurant is with three children)

and then dessert 

(ice cream cake... my favorite)

back at our place.

it was lovely.

and we felt very, very celebrated.

and we even got a photo together.

how about that.

I am with you and will watch over you 
wherever you go, 
and I will bring you back to this land. 
I will not leave you until I have done 
what I have promised you.
Genesis 28:15

1246. big kids who want to help

1247. registering D for kindy!

1248. a photo with my guy

1249. exciting opportunities for my mother-in-law

1250. picnics

picture me {im}perfectly.trying but failing

do you want to know how

picture me {im}perfectly 

i am today?

i am not quite ready yet today.

feel free to go ahead and link up 

and i'll update soon!

so please 

picture me {im}perfectly 

because i do not have it all together 

nor will i ever. 

**update**

lately, life has been 

swirling and whirling 

around me. 

it's been going so fast 

that i've only had time to do 

what has needed to be done. 

and just barely that. 

life has been wild. 

wilder than usual 

and i'm not sure 

when or if 

it will let up. 

so i'm just trying to settle in. 

trying. 

but failing. 

so far, my attempts at settling in 

aren't going well. 

i'm longing for us to simply enjoy this summer.

i'm longing for L's little foot to completely heal 

so that we can hit the beach.

(we thought it was infected yet again 

last week but it looks like it's getting better)

but maybe i'll just get used to the chaos. 

and the rushing. 
and the having way too many things to do. 
so i'm trying to hold on.
hold onto His promises.
and just get through each and every day. 


thanks again to Allison

who linked up with a very honest post last week.


picture me {im}perfectly

is a weekly project to reveal that we don't have it all together.

i will post a 

picture me {im}perfectly

blog post every wednesday 

where you will be able to link up to your blog

revealing that:

you are not picture perfect,

your kids are not picture perfect,

your house is not picture perfect,

your crafts are not always picture perfect,

let's 

encourage, 

inspire and 

remind 

other women 

that none of us have it all together.  

<a border="0" href="http://capturingmotherhood.blogspot.com/search/label/picture%20me%20%7Bim%7Dperfectly" target="_blank"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_TEajznl6Lw4/TTTZOgmZkqI/AAAAAAAAHAw/NH8EssqyeZc/s144/pictureme8.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />

add my button to your blog post

and link up to your direct posting

and feel encouraged. 


Let the morning bring me word 

of your unfailing love,
   for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,    for to you I entrust my life.
Psalm 143:8

1241. L's big blue button on his pants

1242. a much smoother week than anticipated

1243. agreeing with B on the movies we like

1244. having too much going on

1245. a shoe bin

pick your own.

not too long ago,

we ventured way, way out of town

to go blueberry picking.

and this year,

we brought our own wagon.

which was absolutely splendid.

picking fruit is one of my all-time favorite things to do.

(you can read about our trip to this farm last year)

i absolutely love it.

i really, truly do.

and i am so thankful that Auntie B 

is always more than willing to go with me

because B would rather not.

don't you just love this look he's got going on?

80's glasses and snakeskin cowboy boots.

K picked a ton.

unfortunately, none made it into the container.

and i mean not a one.

Auntie B and i talked about how incredible it would be

for just the two of us to go berry picking someday.

i can't even fathom how many berries we could get.

but, if we did that, 

we would mean miss out on the fun 

outhouse usage while at the farm. 

if you know me, 

you know that i will do just about anything 

to avoid using an outhouse 

(let alone a public bathroom).

but my children?

not so much.

i can't even remember how many times

K needed to "just try."

it did get quite toasty out there.

so to cool off, we had a little picnic lunch

and celebrated D's half birthday.

(forced smiles are sometimes cute.)

we hope to head back for more 

blueberry picking before the season is over!

and a happy, happy birthday 

to my one and only B!

1236. the smell of fresh peaches throughout our house

1237. date night!

1238. a wonderful sister-in-law

1239. celebrating birthdays

1240. a house kept clean

broken time machine.

our time machine broke.

well, that's not entirely true.

K refers to our safe as our time machine.

i'm not exactly sure why, but just go with it.

i had D's enrollment packet all ready for kindergarten 

and just needed one last piece of paper.

which was in our time machine.

i was immediately brought back to my middle school days 

when my locker wouldn't open 

and i would try the combo 

again and 

again and 

again 

and then finally, it would work.

but with our time machine, 

the combo wouldn't work. 

the darn thing just would not open.

so we had to get help from a locksmith.

and now it opens.

and that's the end of my story.

1231. locksmiths

1232. crisco

1233. birthday celebrations

1234. sunny days with kids 

soaking it up in the pool

1235. a new book

happy friday, everyone!

we have been loving 

playing outside these days

and have been soaking up every moment

in the sun that we're together.

we're having a much busier 

summer than originally hoped for

but it's good.

it's all really good. 

more on the busyness soon. 

have a good weekend, 

soaking up every moment of summer.

And the LORD said, 

"I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you,

and I will proclaim my name, the LORD,

in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, 

and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

Exodus 33:19

1226. witnessing tiny water droplets 

from the sprinkler stick to flower stems

1227. little boys who ask to go to bed

1228. laundry that is washed, dried, folded and put away

1229. sweet, sweet notes in the mail

1230. the joys that clay provides

our birthday.

if you know me 

and you know my family,

we like to stretch out birthdays.

none of that birthday stuff,

not that birthday week stuff either.

nope, we do more of a birthday month thing.

it really is the way to go,

in case you're interested.

so here i am with my birthday boy 

on our actual birthday. 

1221. seeing others' potential

1222. chatting with my sis, 

two days in a row

1223. getting out of the house by 8am

(thanks to B)

1224. perfect schedules coming into place

1225. not feeling older

picture me {im}perfectly.not ever enough

i want you to know that 

whenever it's time to think about a 

picture me {im}perfectly post,

i am never stumped about what to write.

never.

ever.

a favorite little park of ours, 

set high above the ocean

this week, i am going to share with you 

that quite often, 

i struggle with self doubt. 

am i doing enough?

am i doing too much?

am i doing the right things?

why can't i do all that needs to be done?

what am i doing wrong?

sometimes i feel like i am never doing 

quite enough for these little people 

that call me mommy.

i second-guess myself constantly.

and when i do that,

i look to myself rather than look to Him.

i get so caught up in everything else...

the to do lists 

(those never, ever ending to do lists),

the chores,

the cleaning up,

the dishes,

the planning,

the life...

that i lose sight of 

His life.

His life that was made a sacrifice 

for mine.

i so easily forget that God has put me here.

right here.

to do this life.

and to live this life.

to really live it.

Rejoice always,

pray continually,

give thanks in all circumstances;

for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

1216. great new things

1217. the desire to be more

1218. crossing a lot of things off

of a very small to do list

1219. listening to this mix

1220. doing the same thing today as yesterday

those and those eyes.

now how on earth did i end up 

having kids with these eyes.

they get me 

every 

time.

Children are a heritage from the LORD,
offspring a reward from him.
Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are children born in one’s youth.
Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
when they contend with their opponents in court.

Psalm 127:3-5

1211. kids who love to set the table

1212. eating outside on a gorgeous night

1213. cookies and milk

1214. being infiltrated with Scripture

1215. darling baby boys being born!

welcome HAE!

the day for fathers.

i hope that you all had 

wonderful father's day celebrations, yesterday. 

we sure did.

in the afternoon, we headed to my parents'.

hats were tried on, 

hugs were had,

a little girl learned that she could 

touch the bottom of the pool with her toes,

a rousing game of marco polo was played,

our theta mom cooked a yummy dinner,

and most importantly, 

the dads were celebrated.

i got some inspiration from the interweb

and made little questionnaires 

for D and K to fill out for both my dad and B. 

my kids answered in true child-like fashion.

and when they were read, 

we. 

laughed.

hard.

very hard.

As a father has compassion on his children, 

so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him

Psalm 103:13

1206. a parenting conference

1207. the challenge to be 

in awe of God every moment

1208. Biblical counsel

1209. laughing hysterically... at my children

1210. sweet K, who sings everywhere

it was a celebration.part two

(for part one, click here)

while the babes napped,

the adults had some fun.

and by fun i mean checking each other's blood pressure.

what?

checking blood pressure isn't fun?

well, with these people it is.

fun and competitive.

then the kids got up.

a lot of playing was done,

Uncle S and his E.

K really committed to this.

she put this on all by herself and 

even walked down the stairs with this on.

i'm not even going to try to explain 

why my brother has this giant dog costume.

he just does, okay?

the birthday boy!

the three of us.

those delicious cupcakes 

i told you about.

(my sis frosted them at my parents' house

and i had forgotten the mini chocolate chips at home.)

he LOVED the cupcake.

no, that might be an understatement.

L's Great-Gram

Aunt Peg

Great Grammy and That Guy

Uncle J, Auntie B and us!

1201. help with making dinner

1202. Harry Connick on Pandora 

1203. spending the evening cleaning off the counters

1204. D's willingness to peel 

hard boiled eggs for he and K

1205. fresh, new toys