Summer Update

Summer has flown by! As it always does I suppose. Before the summer started I was kind of anxious about it. This was going to be my first time really being a mom to 3 kids ALL DAY LONG for such a long stretch. No long school days to help me out. How would I ever get out and do anything, go anywhere, with 3 kids and just one me? Well I've definitely been surprised at how nice it has been and how much we have done and how manageable it has been for me. Thank you Jesus for always having it covered! Once again I was silly to worry. That reminds me of a beautiful Brandon Heath song I was listening to yesterday (thank you honey for leaving the cd in the van!). I love the lyrics to Hands of the Healer:

"If we're going to pray about it, there's no use in worrying. If we're going to worry about it, there's no use in praying. Just leave it in the hands of the Father. Leave it in the hands of the Healer, and walk away."

I need this reminder many times. Hearing those lyrics was one of those DUH! moments for me. If I prayed about it then why am I worrying? And for those many times that I continue to worry after I prayed, why did I even bother to pray?
Anywho...summer with my three kiddos has been super fun. I've just enjoyed long days with them, enjoying the ages that they are right now. The boys have so much fun together even on days like today when we don't go anywhere, they just enjoy playing superheroes or cars or star wars or wherever their imagination takes them. They do fight some but thankfully it's not too bad. And Vera has spent her summer growing like crazy and getting busier and busier by the day. She is crawling everywhere, sitting up, pulling up, and eating like a champ--finger foods and all!
But let me back track because I just realized I should update on our fun things we have done each month.
May brought the end of the school year! Still can't believe Nicholas is done with Kindergarten and will be in 1st grade in 2 short weeks!! It was also the end of Tball, what a great season! And we went on our first trip as a family of 5 to Charleston, SC with Mom, Papa, and CeCe and Uncle Cliff for the Franklin Reunion. Despite Nolan slipping on the Yorktown and requiring stitches, it was a great trip. We also enjoyed a trip to Grandad and Kaki's to celebrate Mady and Nick's birthdays and open up the pool! And strawberry picking with Holly and Caroline one day.

June was filled with VBS (two different weeks), lots of playdates and time spent at the pool and spraygrounds. Nicholas turned 6 and I just can't believe it! We celebrated his day with daddy home from work and went to lunch, toy shopping at Target, and to the movies to see Epic, then dinner with the family. That weekend we spent the day at Grandad and Kaki's pool with friends, the Blackwells and MacLeans. We also spent one weekend up on Lake Blueridge reliving our college days but this time with kids. It was odd but wonderful.

July has been full of rain every day!! Not what we had hoped. We spent a few nights in Fairmount then headed to Mountain Lakes Resort for a weekend in the mountains for July 4th. It was very rainy and a little bit redneck, but still very fun. Nicholas then had one week of Allstar camp and had a great time playing different sports with his friend Connor. While Nolan got to go to his preschool camp. We joined the YMCA at the beginning of the summer and go almost everyday. I'm working out and the kids love to go to their classes and we also go to the pool a good bit.

It hasn't been a fancy summer with beach vacations but it has been a blessed summer. I'm so thankful for my 3 loves and for my incredible husband who works so hard everyday so that we can have this time together. So I will try to remember the lyrics to the Hands of the Healer and not worry about the upcoming school year or Vera's court dates. Instead I know that we are safe in the hands of the Father.
And if you thought that was a lot of pictures (and it was) just imagine how many I left off because they had Vera in them. It's going to be crazy once I can post her beautiful face!