dappled sunlight

We are lucky enough to have a beautiful Japanese maple tree in our back yard which I love. I have to be honest, it had a lot of swing in the decision to rent this place, or at least it did on my part. We had a big Japanese maple in our front yard growing up and they just always feel like home to me. Oliver spends hours climbing in it's branches or playing in it's shade. I love watching the leaves change all different shades of crimson, but what I love best is the sparkly, dappled sunlight it lets through in the mornings.

enjoying the sun

While it's been an unusually grey, damp summer these last few days have been brilliantly sunny. We have plans to get out and enjoy it today, hope you all are enjoying summer as well.

and then he turned 5

Oliver in his new bed, complete with ladder and canopy and space to play underneath

Watching your child grow older is such a strange thing. On one hand I can hardly remember life before him. I know him so well it feels like he's always been here. But, on the other hand I remember the day he was born as if it was yesterday. As if, were I to go upstairs right this minute, I'd find a tiny baby boy asleep in his crib instead of the 5 year old boy fervently drawing dinosaur skeletons under his bed that I would actually find. I love the today him, the curious, bright, creative him. I'm so excited to watch him grow into who God plans him to be. My Oliver, my sweet boy.

just a few days old

kicking off berry season

There's nothing better then fresh local berries. We wait with eager anticipation for the local farms to open for the season and boy is it worth the wait! Their berries always make the imported strawberries taste like water in comparison. One particularly sunny afternoon a few weeks back, we headed over with Gramma and Papa for a little treat. Strawberry milkshakes to kick off the season!

Mmm were those milkshakes ever good!!

many faces of Lilly

my sweet, sweet girl.
you can also check it out in black and white here. I'd love to hear which you like better.

jumping fun

a good cure for a restless afternoon

playing catch-up

has almost a month really gone by since my last post? Life has been so busy, full of kindergarten teacher meetings, birthdays and parties, long-weekends and fireworks, afternoons in the backyard, melting ice-cream cones and everything summer brings. I have oodles and oodles of photos to share and so many thoughts and dreams swirling around my head and sometimes it's easier to just be silent but hopefully I can catch up at some point and share a little bit of our fun.