Hand prints

I noticed this when Paolo was sitting on the couch.  I pointed it out to him because it made me smile.  I said "hold on, I want to take a picture of that".  He informed me that he already had.

It made me smile because it's Isabel's little hand after climbing in the fire place.  She'll never be little again, and I may not find it so cute in a few years if she keeps crawling in the fire place.  It made me so proud to be a mommy, and it was a little reminder of what is sweet and beautiful in life- my children (don't worry my days are mostly made up of moments where I want to pull my hair out, and haven't had a good night's sleep in at least a year, but my children are still my greatest treasures).

It made me think of what kind of print we leave on the world around us.  What kind of print am I leaving?  Will I be remembered for having been kind and patient?  For being forgiving?  For bettering those around me?  As a giver and a lifter?  I hope so.

What kind of print am I leaving on my children?  I hope that I can teach them to love others, and to love Jesus Christ.  I hope that they are kind, good, make good choices, happy, and are a blessing to others.

It made me reflect and think that what we do and say really is important and is always leaving an imprint on those around us.

First week of school

 This was the first week of school.  I forgot my camera the first day, or at least thought I forgot.  Found out it was in the bag after all.  The next 4 days I forgot to actually take a picture, and so this is where they leave their jackets before entering the school.  It went pretty well.  Aaron can't wait to leave me, and Jordan has separation anxiety.  Fared pretty well though.

 This was Isabel looking upside down at me, being cute as always.  She is a certified flirt.  Anyone over about 50 years old gets waved at by Isabel and usually a kiss blown their way too.  So cute.  She gets offended when she doesn't get a "ciao" back her way.

 And she is not only walking, she is also climbing.  Notice the sooty hand print on her face. :)

 There was a medieval celebration at a city called Medicina, about 40 km from our house.  You can only guess that the boys LOOOOOOVED the armor, swords, shields, and marching band.

If he shall fall, he shall rise again

 Monday was the first day of school.  This week my kids only go half a day.  Since it was still nice weather we decided to go to the beach for one last hooray.  We tried a new beach.  It was less than ideal.  The walk from parking to the ocean was quite long, and there was a low tide and dead carcasses everywhere.  You really couldn't take a dip in the water.  I started to complain, and Paolo kindly reminded me to see the bright side of things- it was the first day of school and the rest of the world was stuck in traffic and we were at the beach!  It was sunny and beautiful, and NOT too hot!

I was grateful for the reminder from Paolo to see the beautiful.  Turns out there were lots of awesome seashells, and it was a marine biology learning experience for us and the kids.  We had a lot of fun despite less than ideal circumstances.

It reminded me of hearing a talk once about the Lord, talking about a man, saying that when he shall fall, he shall rise again.  Falling and picking yourself up.  That's what life is about- learning and loving.  Isabel, who is starting to get pretty good at walking, was having a hard time in the sand walking.  She kept falling down and then picking herself up again.  Thanks for the lesson my little baby girl!

And the awesome sunset on the drive home!

One last trip to the beach

Saturday was one (of very few) perfect afternoons.  We made it to the beach after a very sincere prayer from Aaron when the car started choking.  For a later post.  The weather was perfect.  The water was perfect.  The new beach we tried was perfect.  The rocks kept the water shallow and perfect for swimming. The boys played well together the whole time.  Perfect

 Isabel was perfectly happy walking in the water and playing in the sand.

 Aaron was pretending to be a crocodile and eat Isabel.  She laughed so hard.  Perfect for a mother heart!

 Fun toys to play on- perfect!

 An awesome sunset.  Perfect!  (Even if I didn't look so perfect).  I don't ever want to forget this day!

It's not often that I get that feeling of life is good.  It's usually pretty hard, and pretty sleep-deprived.  I was grateful to see God's creations.  Remember that even though he has children as many as the sands of the sea, that He still knows and loves me perfectly.  What a gift!

Daily Life

 I will admit that having had a little girl has brought out some vanity that I didn't know was there.  I absolutely LOVE dressing her in cute clothes.  This top is one made by my good friend Kati, and it has an adorable skirt to match.  But since Izzy is still mostly crawling and gets everything black as she crawls around, she's not wearing the matching skirt.

Daily life has been fun the last week or two.  The morbid heat is finally breaking off.  We got some much needed rain and it's warmed back up, but not to too hot.  Daily things that just make me smile and make me glad to be me:

1. Aaron and Jordan have turned a pan lid into a shield and they are constantly sword fighting, wrestling, fighting off bad guys, etc.
2. Jordan still continues to be Spiderman Jordan and has taken to this swim suit because it makes him look like he's got big muscles.
3. Aaron ate a new food this week: salad with lots of chicken and veggies in it.  He even had second helpings.
4. Aaron has started asking me questions!  And I love every one of them.  In his 5 years of life he has never before asked me a why question, and now he's starting to take off, and starting to talk.  It's amazing to finally feel like some small communication is going on.
5. The days are getting shorter and the feeling of peace and contentment that fall brings is lingering in the air.  I personally don't love cold or winter but the transition period brings me a great sense of life is on track and where it's supposed to be.
6. And finally, Isabel decided on Wednesday at the library to stand up and start walking, it's more of a toddling, about to fall and hit my head for the umpteenth time kind of walk, but it did my heart some good!