hold my hand

oh, Lord....I can't tell you how tough this was

I know these pictures are not the best, but I consider it a true miracle that I was able to take any pictures at all considering the streams of tears that were running down my face the day we went to visit my great (and I do mean GREAT) grandma

we had bunches of family togetherness this weekend and it all started with a trip to the other side of Minnesota to see someone who is well worth the long drive

my great grandmother doesn't recognize us any more...

she's a shell of the go-go grandma that i grew up being loved by

when i went to see her this spring, i was sad to see how far her health had declined

but in just a few short months things have gotten far worse

it made me wonder why God won't just take her Home

i sure wish He would

but, for today, she's still here and i'm trying not to question His plan

and even though she slept through our visit, we still think she's worth the trip

we read one of our favorites, Courduroy....

sang Grandma a few songs....

and cried big, full tears

before we left, I laid my forehead against her paper-thin cheek and prayed that very, very soon, the Good Lord would release her from this World and allow her to dance with angels

there was something so surreal about having my babies and my great-grandmother in the same room

holding the hands of the one who once held baby me while holding my own children

i genuinely hope she knows that we were there

that we love her

that we are waiting to rejoice with her on the day she sees Jesus face to face

soon, very soon....

mornings with polly

summer has been soooo sweet.

one of the things i have loved best has been the little morning routine we've fallen into.

we usually start the day outside...to pacify Tulip's constant pleas

it has been smokin' hot this week, so getting out in the early hours has been our only hope for picking beans from the garden and letting sunlight fall like fairy dust in our hair

once i finally convince them to come into the cool house, it is close to Tulip's nap time.

she has JUST RECENTLY started enjoying reading...which is so weird for me

Peach is SUCH a book worm - it has been hard to put Tulip to bed without stories

thank goodness, i've finally got her hooked on books that have animals - as long as i baaaa or moooo on every page, she'll sit through a whole story.....sometimes two :)

once she's softly snoring, Peach and i get some time for us

it always starts with the Good Book

today we read about Moses

then, Peach has several activities that she likes to choose from

they are almost always things that we can't do when sweet Tulip is awake.  some days we cook.  other days we make a project.

today we colored.

then came the question that i get almost every morning:

"momma,  can we play with the pollys?"

i didn't know much about polly pockets until a few weeks ago.

Peach's little friend, Lucy, has been carrying around these little princess dolls that Peach just adored

when I asked lu-lu belle's momma about them she educated me a bit on the polly world and encouraged me to check out a consignment shop in Shakopee

Peach and i had a little date and set out to find some inexpensive starter pollys....I spent $6 on what we thought were a bunch of polly pockets and a car, but upon further inspection when we got home, we realized we got 1 polly and a bunch of other random stuff

but, Peach didn't care - she was happy as a clam with her new polly

fast forward to a dinner date with a family that we adore the following week

that family happens to have a sweet gal going into 4th grade

she showed up at the Olive Garden with a whole ziploc baggie FULL of pollys that she had outgrown!

in the past 3 and a half years i have not had so peaceful a meal....Peach was totally content to dress and re-dress the little dolls over and over again

and since that day we've been rather passionate about the pollys at our house

speaking of houses.....the doll house we had gotten Peach for her birthday, she wasn't really that into 

(reason number 5850843 i am glad that i find the majority of my kids birthday and christmas gifts at garage sales)

so, i sold it on craigslist for the exact same amount that i paid for it and then.....drumroll please.....

i found one that fits these dolls PERFECTLY at another garage sale for.....wait for it.....FIVE BUCKS!

yep - it just needed a new hinge on the door, which J was happy to provide (after a slight eye roll that i was AGAIN buying a dollhouse - he really loves how thrifty I am...he just has to give me a hard time about it)

anywhoo, without futher ado....

welcome to polly's house

i have invested a grand total of $11 in these little gals and she is busy with them for HOURS.....

the make believe just gets bigger every day

so far, we've gone to a Polly concert (her pillow was the stage), "planted" a Polly garden which "grew" plastic tomatoes that were 5 times the size of the dolls, had a pool party, a birthday party and today we went shopping at the Polly store and had a picnic

this one usually ends up to be my girl because we have the same hair :)

polly doesn't go anywhere without her purse

check out all the clothes they found at the store - enough to fill up the hood of the car!  who needs an engine, anyway?

at some point, we usually have a snack

(today it was animal crackers)

and we always share with the pollys and their pets ;)

after lots and lots of pretending, we eventually hear little bird chirping in the other room and make a mad dash to clean up all the little pieces before she can come in and pop them into her beak!

when we close the lid on the pollys, Peach always promises to come back to play with them again the next day - same time, same place

and then the make believe continues....just with bigger babies

oh these days of playing on the floor and pretending

i absolutely could not ask for more

love and cat tails

a few nights ago, i took a new jogging route, which led me to the pond in between our middle and high school buildings

its called the "living lab" and i know that our science teachers take their students out there often to get samples of pond water and observe insects, birds, etc.

but, other than that, i hadn't really paid all that much attention to the swampy area

while jogging, i was admiring the cat tails and wondering if Peach even knew what a cat tail was

so, i made up my mind that the next morning, we'd go exploring

we had to walk behind the bus garage to get to the swamp and wouldn't you know, Peach was giddy about seeing them all lined up like soldiers

next, we found the cat tails

Peach was rather unimpressed

I was all, "ooooooh, aren't they cool?"

She kind of scrunched up her face like, "what's the big deal?"

she thought they were okay, but said, "You know, momma...I like flowers better"

stinker ;)

when we got out there, we set up a little camp and walked around a bit

this one found a giant goose feather, which she informed me, was a "TRUE TREASURE"

and little miss easy-going just scampered after her sister, loving the fact that we were "ow-si-ya" (outside)

after we had seen countless bird houses and collected a few more "treasures" we decided it was time for lollipops and some good books

i love this face....

the one that says "I can't believe my momma is really letting me eat this!  I better hurry up before she changes her mind."

just as we were about to leave, Mr. Wonderful showed up

I adore watching her face light up at the sound of his voice

and the way she runs into his waiting arms

at the end of it all, Peach learned about cat tails

and I learned that the loving of littles just keeps getting bigger....

#3 cedar lake

the summer fun list is getting shorter and shorter as we cross off our adventures.

earlier this week we had the perfect day for number 3:

spend an afternoon at Cedar Lake

we splashed around like fish for the better part of an hour and then headed up the hill to have a snack near the big, beautiful barn

it was a picturesque backdrop for throwing frisbees and chasing squealing little ladies

with every check off the list, my heart sinks just a little, then swells to twice its size

it sinks....because the tick tock of the clock just doesn't stop

summer won't last forever

the items checked off the list now outnumber the items left

and that means that we're closer to the end than we are to the beginning

but then it swells because i know that each intentional adventure weaves our bond a little tighter and etches memories in the story of our family