Fishing and some mud puddles...

Here's a few more pictures, these are of last Saturday night at one of our friends from small group, their parents' pond...they invited everyone over for some fishing and cookout...we forgot our cameras so we used Eric's iPhone which we tend to use a lot more these days....I thought we got some great pics of the kiddos in their element...what turned out to be in their element after some minor adjustments for Stanley especially.

It had rained all day last Friday and Saturday, so by the time we got there, there was a lot of mud and standing water :)...me, being the prepared mama I am, brought my kids in crocs...so as we were walking up to the pond, the mud was squishing through their crocs...which didn't bother Clara a bit, but was a bit of a crisis for Stanley...Stanley is crying and upset...and I thought to myself, how are we raising kids that they don't like the mud?  Eric made a similar comment out loud...and I said, "hey buddy, I hate to say it, but we are raising our kids not to like the mud and dirt!"  Not because we say we don't like to get dirty, but just by the mere act of not recalling many times where they were allowed to truly play in the mud and dirt (my kids get dirty, don't get me wrong! but not this kind of dirty) :)...so thank goodness, Elesha had some rubber boots...Stanley opted for them and was mostly fine with them until he got mud inside his boot....Clara however, opted for her crocs...maybe this is a sign of their personalities or age, I don't know...Clara loves twirling around in her dresses, but she also loves playing in the mud and dirt! ;)  Anyways, here's Daddy helping Stanley learn how to fish..

He caught four fish that day after we used the right bait from our friend, Lauren's Barbie bait kit :)...he was pretty proud as you can see...he was sad when we got home that he didn't catch 10 fish!  I'm not sure where he gets his numbers, they seem random to us, but they mean something to him!  

Yep, and here's my girl...knee deep in the mud, she played like this for a good hour!!  She was a MESS! a HAPPY MESS, no less!  I think she would have played in there for hours.  For me, it was a decision of keeping her occupied playing in the mud puddles OR chasing after her as she got too close to the pond.   Any mothers might agree why I chose the mud puddles...I do admit I kept wondering what bacteria she was going to go home with?!  So far so good....

Here Clara is checking out one of Stanley's fish...I'm not sure if you can tell, but her little skirt is so full of water and mud, it is sagging down at her diaper...and she still has her girlie bows in! :)

Here's some of Stanley and Clara's small group buddies who came fishing....what a sweet, messy time!  

After we got Clara hosed down, we put her in new clothes on, somehow during the cook out, we were able to keep her out of the mud.  But, Mommy had white clothes to change into (that's just what we had in the diaper bag, I wasn't prepared again!)....and so the next mess was cheetos, popsicles, and homemade ice cream...again, she was happy!  Man, bath time looked so good when we got home!  For everyone!!  It was a fun time, when we left, Stanley said, "I can't wait to come back and fish again!"   We were all tired when we got home, I'm hoping the next time we go, it's a little dryer...although I guess that would take away from the fun for lil Miss Clara! ;)

And, this is the last picture of the post...I had to put this on here...not my favorite picture of me (ha!), but that's ok, I'm posting it more to see if anyone thinking Clara's little eyes and face remind them of her Mama's?  For real!  So sweet when we get her genuine little smile on a picture!!

Well, we are getting ready to spend Memorial Day with some dear family, so hope you have a nice weekend!!  Once again, thanks as always for stopping!!

Love, 

Kendra

The Panoramic Picture

Watch this:  it's a tear jerker...what a story this young man has...
just thinking about my daily life and what I'm living for...what
brings purpose and life...there's something to learn from Zach,
hope you take the time to watch.  It will be worth your time...



How easy it is...too easy, to lose perspective of what's important in
the daily grind of life, the deadlines, the routine...I know I lose
sight all too often of what's most important.  I insist on looking through
a microscope, when God desires us to see the panoramic picture. 

So I'll take some time to share with you some blessings of the the last
couple months, how important it is for us to choose to be thankful
for all the blessings we have.

 We frosted Easter cookies for Easter...all from scratch! 

That reminds me we still have a lot of cookies in the deep freeze!

 My Easter Blessings...always so much fun to get a picture with a 

two and four year old!  But, they did pretty good!

 Eric's parents were here with us for Easter and 

Clara's 2nd birthday.

The kids loved dying eggs

 We have found several people who we love to buy

special cakes from...here's Clara's 2nd birthday cake.

Growing up, my mom always had someone that she

bought cakes from with whatever theme we wanted, 

so I also enjoy buying a cake instead of making one. :)

 Almost impossible to get a great pic of the family...later

that day after her friends were here for her MINNIE 

birthday party we found out Clara had

hand, foot, and mouth disease...what a way to remember

her 2nd birthday!!  She had a rough week following her big birthday!

 Then, it was Daddy's 35th birthday party, since Clara was

contagious, we made a birthday dinner of homemade pizza,

salad, and coconut pie (which only daddy ate!).

 How could this face not be a blessing? 

 New jammies!!  

 Flowers have bloomed all over our home this spring...

that's a blessing, but to be honest, it stresses Mama out a bit

because I'm not a gardener or a flower person so I don't 

feel very confident with what to do with flowers so you

don't kill them and they come back!  Any gardening people, let me

know what are good websites to follow so I can learn and become more confident!

 We surprised the kids with going to see the duck march in

The Peabody Hotel in Memphis...the ducks walk in on a red carpet and 

then swim around in the fountain that is behind us...the kids thought

that was super fun...we enjoyed lunch downtown and children's museum and shopping 

later that day...

 More flowers outside our house and the cute kiddos, too!

 Some of our friends here, Betsy and Will are starting to swap babysitting

every month so we can go out on a date with our husbands without paying for a sitter (which reminds me we need to plan our next date night!), love lil

Clara, she rolls with the boys!  When they were taking off their shirts, Clara

just had to, too!!  Love that about her!!  She'll love this picture someday!

 I was making supper one evening, and before I knew it, when Eric got home, he put them in

their dress up clothes...love Clara hamming it up there!!  Stanley is calling all the trains in to the station!

 Celebrating Mama's 36th birthday...Daddy knows the way to my heart, 

he made a layered chocolate cake with yummy peanut butter icing!  Yum!

 Mama and her sweet, ornery boy!

 Carleigh is definitely one of our family's blessings...she is one of our

favorite sitters and just loves to love on our kids and many others!  

This spring, we have enjoyed Thursday afternoon visits from our little

friends (also sweet blessings) with Carleigh...here we are downtown playing in the fountain!

 Mother's Day

We definitely have our days, we aren't perfect, but I wouldn't trade it for the world...

I do love being Stanley and Clara's Mommy..

 My sweetest blessings right here...notice more blessings of

lilies behind us...

 One day after the kids woke up from nap, I told them we were going to get a

sprinkler!  Well, you would have thought I gave them a million bucks!  They are

loving warm weather where they can play in the water...gotta love Stanley's 

creativity...he brought out their umbrellas!!  Of course, Clara joins in!

 Everyone needs a popsicle on a warm day...

 Gotta love it, even though the air was warm, the water

was cold, after hours of playing, they were dog tired 

and ready to warm up wrapped up in their towels!

 Stanley and Clara enjoyed Jacob's 5th birthday party the other day

(Jacob is on the far right below).

It was a warm, warm day, but it was fun to see a bunch of 4 and 5 year

old boys playing soccer, riding their bikes around the track (at one of the kid's

favorite parks), and beating on the soccer pinata!  Stanley loves pinatas!

Notice his enthusiasm...one of his many gifts!

  
So, I share these blessings more for me than for you.  Believe me, in the George household,we have good days and bad days, but we are thankful for the blessings of good health and life, love of our friends and family, our church family, flowers, birthday parties, friends that come over to play, and cute, cute kids...we do have so much to be thankful for...my prayer is that I have eyes to see the panoramic picture instead of looking at my daily life through a microscope. 

As always, thanks for stopping!
Love,
Kendra