Lookin' Good!!

We're all still here.

It's just been a crazy busy summer.

We've been busy with some fun projects.

I will post about them soon.

This is what he has looked like most of the summer.

He's an independent soul, this one is.

Hope you're all having fun too.

Perceptions

So I've noticed a lot of blogs that take Sunday pictures before church.
I thought that would be a cute idea to try and record the kids in their finery and have concrete
proof that they didn't look like orphans all of the time. (just most of the time).

Pretty cute huh? (minus the suckers hangin' out)

Yeah. Well, here's the 'perception' part.

What looks like a nice, almost perfect picture of 5 happy, willing children is actually just the best of a bunch of tear inducing, tantrum throwing, frustrating attempts.

People sometimes see only what they want to see.

They only view one of the many pictures without thinking that there may be a whole series of shots that are not so lovely.

Sometimes we're just not ready...

sometimes we just want to run away.

Sometimes we just have no control over the situation.

Sometimes we just get downright grumpy and mean.

Sometimes we simply put on our best pretend smile just to please everyone else.

Once in a while we get that 'great shot'. The shot that we want to show people.

The shot that everyone looks at and says,

"Your life is perfect, your kids are perfect, I wish I could be like that".

I do it all the time.

I need to remember that the perfect shot that I'm looking at

may just be the best out of a bunch of failed attempts.

I think it's perfectly acceptable for us to show each other our 'weak' shots or our 'vulnerable' poses. I think we'd all feel better about things if we knew that occasionally our eyes were closed or we're out of focus.

So on those days when I feel not ready, when I feel like running away, when things are out of control, when I get grumpy and I'm not myself...

I hope I can remember that if I just keep trying...we'll get a good shot.

After all, I have a really loving and patient photographer

who can see the whole picture.

Here's to sharing and accepting the whole photo shoot.

I could totally rock a horse and buggy...

How much does hay cost?

I don't think any of the kids are allergic to horses.

Hmm. I'm gonna look into it.

My mom could beat up your mom!

So a few days ago I witnessed some fierce mama love and protection.

Every Spring we spot some ducks roaming our neighborhood.

They waddle up and down the street like some sort of springtime street gang.

This year it's a mama duck and her twelve (yeah, 12) ducklings.

A few yards down from our house is a storm drain.

You can probably guess what happened next.

I came out to see a very anxious mama duck squaking her little feathers off.

She was standing over the storm drain with one little duckling right by her side.

As we looked down into the drain, we counted the other eleven very dazed babies.

Mama duck was beside herself. Although she didn't know how to help her little ones,

she never left them.

and she never stopped quacking to those ducklings.

Even as more people gathered around, she stayed unusually close to the drain.

My strong neighbors, Rich, Shane and Paul were able to use a crobar and a metal hook to get the storm drain raised and open.

Rich jumped down into the drain and gathered the ducklings up in a net.

All eleven babies were safely returned to a mama ready to get her little brood outa there.

Now I know she's a duck but I couldn't help thinking that she must have been relieved. Ducks have feelings right? I mean, she didn't just say, "hey, I've still got one more, I'll just leave these other one's here in this hole in the ground." She stuck around until they were all safe.

And she was also willing to accept help from others.

She waddled off with all of her twelve waddling behind her.

They were out of danger.
Until she rounded the corner and saw HIM staring at her.

No sooner had she managed to get the littles out of danger than an

even bigger threat shows up.
She had barely had time to recover before she was back in defense mode.

But again, she didn't run away. Instead, she turned to that cat and started giving it the what for. She wasn't about to let those ducklings become a feline feast.

She quacked and quacked until the cat finally turned tail and skedaddled.

Made me realize how important it is to be vigilant as a mother.

It's a 24/7 job that we never take a break from.

We would never leave our children defenseless or alone.

There will always be something lurking around the corner and

our kids are gonna get in some sticky situations.

But they must know that we won't leave them.

They must know that we will ask for help in order to care for them.

They must know that we will fight to protect them.

Not just sometimes, not just in some situations..always.

My children must know that they can call to me and that I will come to them.

They must know that they are the reason I breath.

And I've got a pretty fierce quack so....