A Picture Update: Summer Week 2

Happy Friday!

On Monday Maya spent the morning with Lucy and Boom, and then Cal and I joined them after golf camp.

It was super rainy on Monday and Tuesday. We had to get out and run quickly with Luna in between storms. And then had to get creative inside to keep her tired.

On Tuesday afternoon, while Maya was at summer preschool, Cal and I made puppy chow!

On Wednesday Maya and I went on a bike ride/run to the park and the library.

Callie set up a juice stand on Wednesday afternoon. Good thing we have sweet neighbors!

Maya had fun in the pool.

Yesterday we played outside and Maya helped me cook dinner.

Today we got to go watch Cal on her last day of golf camp! At the end they had all the parents line up for a high five line so the kids could run through that to get their certificate. So fun!

Have a great weekend.

Joy on the Driving Range

I was listening to a podcast today and they were discussing Brenè Brown’s books about vulnerability and gratitude. At one point the host asked her guest when he last felt joy. They had already spent some time talking about how often we don’t allow ourselves to sit in the joy because we are always so worried about what could happen next. I believe Brenè calls that “foreboding joy.” 

I’m definitely guilty of foreboding joy 90% of the time, so I took this podcast as an opportunity to think about when I last felt just unfiltered happiness and it was Monday night. On the driving range.

Golf, you ask? You’re talking about golf and joy in the same breath, you ask?

I know. Crazy, right?

But on Monday night the four of us went to the driving range. Chris had gotten Callie her own bag of golf clubs so Maya got Callie’s hand-me-down clubs. We walked through the course up to the driving range so the girls could practice.

Maya was wearing a dress and her cowgirl boots. I couldn’t stop giggling. Then they each set up at the driving range and started hitting balls.

Callie is in golf camp this week and does a pretty amazing job making contact with the balls and hitting them far. Maya needed a little help, so Chris gave her some pointers.

Maya, in her tornado of energy and enjoying cleanliness, discovered the only way to clean on the golf course and ended up washing her two clubs after every other shot.

Then we tried putting, where Chris gifted Callie the set of golf balls I gave him for Christmas. (Rude).

I think one reason why this quick evening activity brought me so much joy is because some of my best memories of summer growing up involve evenings on the golf course with my dad.

Let me be clear, I do not golf. But often I would go with him and walk a few holes of the course after dinner. Or, if I got my way, I would drive the cart while he golfed. One time he had to stop me from doing 360s in the golf cart. I think he was was amused but a little horrified of my lack of golf course etiquette.

Anyway. There are tough things happening in our country and our world right now. I’m grateful for my life and I take it for granted way too often. 

I’m happy to have been given a reminder to look for the joy...to sit in it and allow it to feel good...and to be grateful for it.

Gratitude.

Enjoy a few videos from our night on the range.

Timehop Tuesday

Happy Tuesday! Here are my Timehops!

Weekend Wrap-Up: The Dance Recital/Father’s Day Edition

It’s been a big weekend. Yesterday was Callie’s dance recital! We went out to dinner first and then a number of our family members came to the show. It was awesome and Cal did great!

I took video at the rehearsal on Thursday so you can see both her dance (Bushel and a Peck) and her part of the finale (Time of My Life).

And I realized that I don’t think I ever shared the official dance pictures of both girls, so here they are!

Today we had Nana, Papa, Pa, G-Ma and Auntie Cat over for lunch and root beer floats!

Then we went downtown to see Boom and Auntie Mari (and the girls refused to smile nice for pictures with me).

And poor Auntie Mari!



Father’s Day always makes me grateful for the men in my life, and it has obviously been a bittersweet and emotionally confusing day the past few years. Today I put on my “Love ya” necklace (in my dad’s handwriting) and my “Lee” ring, as usual. Every morning when I put those pieces on, I feel like I’m arming myself with my dad’s love.

I still sometimes can’t believe that it is my story that my dad died so unexpectedly and early. But it has also taught me more about gratitude than I ever thought I needed to learn. And there is so much to be grateful for.

I’ll leave you with Maya’s preschool note about her daddy. 

Have a great week!

A Picture Update: Summer Week 1

You guys, we had such a fun first week of summer!

We did so many things, but didn’t really have anything planned ahead of time. I love those kinds of weeks. So here we go!

Monday: Haircuts (mine was technically on Sunday) and playtime with Boom, Lucy, and Iris, biking in the rain and dinner with G-ma and Pa!

Tuesday: Playing at Boom’s house again (with a fun new pillow that Callie saved her money up for), and dinner with Uncle Jim and Aunt Coco!

Wednesday: a neighborhood run/bike ride looking for little libraries,  fun times at Centennial Lakes with G-ma and Auntie Cat, and hammock time with Luna.

Thursday: a training walk with Luna and G-ma, a walk to the park (with donuts and a “Lee” Coke- I don’t drink Coke but I had to buy it, obviously) playing in the sprinkler, and dance recital dress rehearsal!

Friday: morning weeding and splash pad with the Held’s.

Lastly, this afternoon I got some “mail” delivered to me during quiet time:

Have a great weekend!

Chris’ Wedding Speech

There have been requests for me to post Chris’ wedding speech.

I missed getting the introduction on camera, when he said that he had written a poem, but that it was a work in progress. At that point I quickly turned my camera to video because he has never written me a poem, so I knew this would be something.

I would also like to preface it by saying I had no idea what he had written, and was mostly impressed but also a little horrified.

Enjoy!

Timehop Tuesday

Hello!

Here are my Timehops! The first one is all about Hanna! We went together to watch her pick out her wedding dress a year ago, and on Saturday she got to wear it for real!

The we have our dancer Cal.

And goofy Maya!

My parents were married 42 years ago today. This is one of my favorite wedding pictures of them