luv'in-up-the-summer

After our long, harsh winter, we are basking.....

 in the baby leaves...

 blossoming trees...

 

pops of bright color....

 

 bare baby toes

 soft green grass...

 cold treats from the ice cream truck...

 awesome shades...

 

 

outdoor exercise...

planting seeds...

digging in dirt...

sunshine

extended daylight hours for neighborhood parties...

 making ice cream....

It is so delightful.

A mother's prayer on the first day of summer break

 Jesus,

 Thank you for this day.

 This first day of summer break...

 Thank you that my children are excited about spending the summer here at home with me.

 I ask for grace to enter into their excitement.

 Give me grace to celebrate these moments that we have to spend together.

 Please grant me grace to rise above my own laziness and selfishness.

 Please help me to give myself fully to my family.

 I ask  you for divinely inspired creativity for teaching them how to engage in good old fashion work and fun.

 Set a guard over my mouth, dear Jesus. Keep watch over the gates of my lips.

 I need your help to speak words that will bless and build up; words that will heal and not bruise.

 May your kingdom come, Your will be done in each of our hearts as we work and play and grow in your grace and knowledge this summer.

Amen.

Mother's Day

I don't have many words right now. There are lots of good reads concerning the joy and trials of motherhood all over the internet this week. I have been digesting a few of them and ignoring most of them.

I get in these funks occasionally where I just get sick of all the complexities of life. I'm in one right now.

Maybe that's why I like the Kid president so much.

He tickles me.  And he makes me want to embrace the life that is in front of me to be lived today.

The Kid President is at least partially responsible for my card inspiration this year. I get tired of browsing stores for expensive cards that don't express my sentiments anyway.  I probably don't need to mention either that it is easier for me to handcraft a card at home while my kids are destroying the house than it is to have them destroy the drugstore by pulling half a million cards out of the rack.

This card is simple to make. I would've made a template for you, but I fear it would have been too imperfect for most of you. I don't like to measure or plan ahead, thus I deal with things like uneven letters.

turn the card backwards and it says 'wow'

The longer I am a mom the more admiration I feel for my own mom. She was not perfect. But I feel a huge 'wow' in my heart when I think about how she gave herself to being a mom and teacher (!!!) to seven of us. It was no small task or sacrifice. She must not have complained much because I never remember thinking that maybe she she was tired of serving us or that maybe she just needed to get away for awhile. Being a mom was her life and from my childish perspective- she loved it.

My Grandma is in the center and my mom is to her left. The other fine looking ladies are my aunts. Fantastic moms through and through and now all top notch Grandmas. Seriously, kids LOVE these ladies.

*edited to add my sister's comment because it is just so dead on right:

I'm pretty sure that aside from Jesus, any good in my mothering has been passed on by those Martin ladies. They are so like Jesus in the way that they show preference toward children. -jolynn

I can't think of moms that I admire without mentioning my sister (far left). She makes my mouth go "wow" too.

I feel immense gratitude to my grandma, my mom, my aunts, my sister for the beautiful example they have lived (and continue to live) of sacrificial, joy-filled mothering. I have concluded that they just didn't have the time to be selfish.  Their lives inspire and challenge me.