Sun and shade

So fast July is coming to an end!

Here are some phone pictures I took this month* with a sun and shade theme.

When it gets too hot, we've been taking cover indoors, lest we bake!

Of course the children's different likes and temperaments also mean I really have to try and think cool, calm thoughts -- and learn how to be a patient parent! ;p



Eldest got better from his fever, and shared his cough with me, just in time for his second summer camp, the no phonecalls one in the next state.

When we caught the setting sun driving there to pick him up after his week away from us, I was reminded of God watching over our coming and going. Praise Him, from the rising of the sun to the setting down!

These longer days of sunlight are nice. But knowing also that the remaining weeks of summer will fly by, there are the pockets of family time we love to savor together, inbetween hubby's work and deadlines, and the chores and more stuff I've pushed down my list to try and play catchup. More often than not, it's the basics we have to keep working on.

Life is a balancing act, isn't it?

"Work... home
Family... friends
Self... others
Spend it... save it...
Hold on... let go
Fast... slow

"Just remember,
whether it's smiles or frowns,
ups or downs,
give or take,
it's bound to even out."

~ quote, unquote from a card for a friend.

I hope you'll find this encouraging, amidst the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, trying to juggle this and that. Pause to reflect, and keep going!

For the Lord God is a sun and shield;

The Lord will give grace and glory;

No good thing will He withhold

From those who walk uprightly.

- Psalm 84:11

Meimei's delightful drawings help perk things up on an upside-down day... 

She tells me the reddish-orange blobs in the second picture are hearts AND kisses! Both are paintings of herself :)

*This month, I'm glad to join in FatMumSlim's Photo A Day challenge, sharing these photos and more, after hearing it for the first time from Charmaine. It's been fun and meaningful, seeing others' creative takes and interpretations for the different topics, one a day!

I really also like the reminder to sit up and take notice of the little things around us, like these heart-shaped leaves under a bench.  

Nature's Lure

It was our first time visiting the Steamboat Rock State Park, about 2h away, and after 6pm when we got there.

Thankfully we got the LAST spot to set up camp, all the others were booked! We took the chance like that!

Younger boy woke up by himself at sunrise -- and caught a bass, not his dad who did not get a bite. I was glad they caught a bit of one-on-one time while the other two kids slept for awhile more.

We grilled the fish for lunch, inbetween the children going for a dip in the lake at the day-use area!

Staying the second night before hubby's work beckoned, made eldest's day also when he snagged a similar largemouth!

We'll have to come back another time to climb the basalt butte shaped like a battleship, from which the place probably got its name! ;)

Are you also taking some time out to enjoy the great outdoors?

Simple summer joys

This week, as hubby makes time to join our eldest to raft down the Missouri River in a high adventure camp two states away, it is also my bonding time with the younger two kids!

I LOVE it when they play together nicely...

At the park...

These are our saner moments ;p!

At the movies on a rainy day...
My 8yo gave "Madagascar 3" four stars, while the non-stop action and music held my 3+yo's attention, as did that TUB of popcorn! Both kids became too full though for the chicken-corn soup I'd left to slowcook for dinner. Meimei finally did eat that bunny face I added some breakfast leftovers to -- turkey bacon for its ears and that eggwhite of a mouth!  

Then, staying up to play Othello with them, a game that harked back to my childhood, but still novel to them, I was not kidding when I said that kids have to learn to listen and follow rules, follow directions. 

The Tom-and-Jerry ways between (among) siblings, and their tears and tantrums, are really not easy, *SWEAT*! 

Let's keep going...

Another day, I didn't drive out, got to more housework and just took the kids for a walk. Summer joys include the sun setting later, and a bowlful of strawberries picked fresh from our little wild patch! :D