It’s nearly that time again…summer is coming!!!  While I am not 100% ready for it, it’s time to start getting excited for it!  Here is our (much longer) bucket list for this summer.  Some things we did last year and loved so we kept them on this year.  Some we tried last year and they just weren’t all that exciting so we left them off.  Some are things we do a lot of and some are more unique.  Some we’ll do and some we won’t get to, but at least it’s a list of fun ideas to start with!

Cheers to a happy summer!

go on a bike ride

go to harrison hot springs (the kids wanted this one on the list even though it’s not likely)

go to the beach

go to jungle playland

camp in the backyard

spend time with family (Zachary was adamant about this one!)

make dinner for someone

go to chuck-e-cheese

ride  a bus

go to kayak point park

go geocaching

visit a new park

play with playdough

build a tower

make ice cream

bake cookies

go to a circus

go fishing

play hopscotch

run in the sprinkler

go swimming

make smores

cook over an open fire

go to the library

go bowling

play with stickers

pet a doggie

run and jog

jump on a trampoline

do something nice for someone

pick flowers

finger paint

make musical instruments

color

sing a song

learn something new

have a sleepover

make a paper bag puppet

watch fireworks

see a parade

make a paper bag mask

eat a popsicle

visit the ice cream truck

make a pillow fort

donate some toys

go to the Dollar Tree

draw with chalk

blow bubbles

have a water gun fight

make a snocone

do a watercolor painting

Skype with a relative

stay up past 9pm

see the stars

go to a splash pad

go to a farmer’s market

make a bird feeder

go to a movie

go hiking

swim in a lake

have a picnic

have a beach BBQ with family

play with our cousins

build a fort

go to a fair

dress up silly

go to a restaurant

play the cheeto game (just shaving cream on your head and have someone throw cheetos to try to get them to stick)!

play with shaving cream

fly a kite

feed the birds

spend time 1-1 with mommy or daddy

go to the zoo

mail a letter

do a puzzle

have a family game night

make a marshmallow structure (marshmallows and toothpicks)

play in the sand

make a puppet show

make lawn stars (cut out start shape from pasteboard and use flour to make stars on the grass)

go to a  garage sale

design new sheets (get old sheets and have the kids color on them)

play drip, drip, splash (think duck, duck goose with water)

make a bike obstacle course

go on a bug hunt

make a marble launch (cut up pool noodle and run  marbles down the middle)

make and sail ice boats (freeze colored water with toothpick inside, make foil river and sail your boats)

go night bowling in our yard (stick glow sticks in water bottles and bowl)

go to a drive-in

build with legos

do a home depot workshop

meet Daddy for lunch

play in the rain

play in the Mcdonald’s tubes

make water balloons

help make dinner

make homemade pizza

have banana splits

climb a tree

play croquet

play mini golf

eat fro yo

play freeze tag

play Drama Mama

wash the car

visit a waterfall

have a talent show

ride on a boat

go to a baseball game

make a bike wash

eat something from the garden

grow a pet (frog maybe or butterflies?)

have a dance party

pick berries

do a pudding painting

have a gratitude journal

go on a scavenger hunt

play charades

tell bible stories

paint our own pots

have a bean bag toss

play hide-n-seek

try a new recipe

go ice skating

make suckers

 

 

A mother’s heart never really forgets.  You may forget for a moment–the anguish, the fear, the tears, the heartbreak, but you never really forget.   It comes back to you in the strangest ways and most unexpected of times.

I don’t know if it’s because Mother’s Day is right around the corner, or that on Sunday they sang the song we had sung (thanks Rachel!) at Matthew and Brandon’s memorial service, or that the boys are asking a lot of questions about their brothers recently, or that a family I know who is going through a hard time with their little peanut; but my heart is remembering.

When someone asks me how many children I have, I answer three, but my heart says five.  I had five boys grow in my belly, five perfect little people whom were created in the image of God.   Five little people who were a part of me and a part of Dan.  Those two boys we lost are forever a part of our family and part of our hope for the future.  I know I will see them again someday.  Two more little Nathans…how fun is that to imagine!

A friend of mine is in California with her family on vacation when, last night, her 2 year old began seizing for the first time and ended up in the ICU.  My heart goes out to her.  I know what is like to be so worried, so fearful, so hopeful, so anxious.  I know what it’s like to sit and wait and have the hours pass so slowly.  To look up expectantly every time the doctor or nurse comes in, hoping for some good news.  My Mother’s heart is there with her, and I remember.

The saying goes, “Be kind.  For everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about.”  So, as Mother’s Day comes near, give someone a hug.  There is a lot of grieving going on. Grieving the fact that you never were a Mom.  Grieving the children that have gone before you to heaven.  Grieving the Moms who have gone before us.  And maybe, you are just grieving the way you thought it would be, the expectations that didn’t become realities.  It isn’t always rainbows and butterflies and that is ok.  Life is messy, loud, chaotic, painful and sometimes just plain hard…but there is Hope.  There is the One true Hope.

We are not alone on this journey called life. Share your story and may our experiences, our struggles, our challenges, our triumphs be a blessing and encouragement to those around us.