Hartford Beach Twenty Ten

There are a lot of reasons why Chad and I like to camp.

Most of those reasons have very little to do with the ease of the endeavor. Let's face it, five kids in a pop-up camper, transported in a mini-van poked chalk full of gear and grub, does not paint a very serene and care-free picture. At least not in my book.

The reasons are shown most poignantly here, in pictures.

We camp to learn.

They are living, loving examples of putting others first.

We camp for development. Exploration is exhilarating.

We camp for perspective. We feel grounded in nature.

We camp for summer recreation.

We camp for memories. Cousins that are also best friends.

We camp for simplicity.

We camp for laughter.

We camp for beauty.

We camp for silliness.

We camp for togetherness.

We camp for siblings.

We camp for family.

A state worth setting up residence in

Contentment.

Sometimes I think that my contentment in the simplicity of my life, unnerves people.

It seems too, I don't know.....simple.

I have been in a lot of states. Many of which are very nice. But none do I like as well as the State of Contentment. I arrived here by following only one road map. The map of all maps. The Holy Bible.

Job 36:11

"If they obey and serve him,
they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity
and their years in contentment."


Proverbs 19:23

"The fear of the LORD leads to life:
Then one rests content, untouched by trouble."


Philippians 4:11

"I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances."


1 Timothy 6:6

"But godliness with contentment is great gain."

It's all here, in the heart drive

I realized something. It is very difficult to be a mommy and a keeper-of-all-memories-extraordinaire at the same time. Okay, simply put, I have not mastered the art of taking pictures while also joining in the fun!

Recently we made a spur of the minute trip to a water park very near us. I saw the extreme discounted tickets for evening hours only available on the second Tuesday of the month. Which I loved simply because as a kid I was always waiting for the second Tuesday of next week. The magical day when all of my badgering requests would be met...according to my father.

Off we headed. And we even managed to snag an extra kid and talk some spontaneous friends into joining us as well. I love it when everything just works.

I had plans of snapping up photo after photo of Ms. Lolly waddling through the spray grounds, Andrew riding the alligator, Kate skimming across the top of the log crossings, Olivia rounding the falls in the lazy river, and Nic flying over crashing waves in the wave pool.

Nothing. Notta. Zilch. Zip.

I was too involved in the fun to stop and snap any photos. I was also praying intently as my six, eight, nine and 36 year-olds attempted the Death Drop Free Fall, whatever, it's the same ending. Oye! I suppose I could have tried to get a photo, but the only reflex that finely toned in this body is my scream button! I would have gotten the slide long after their tiny bodies had sliced through the water like a knife.

It is a good thing that my internal memory card is not full. I think I still have a few mega bytes left. It is all stored there. In my heart drive.

According to Andrew

"MOM! MOM! MAMA!" the excited shouts had me wondering what on earth Andrew was so eager to tell me.


"Yes, Andy, I'm in here...what is it?" I responded.


"Guess what mom! Both of my noses are all better!"

The perpetual weekend

When Michelle, over at Six in the City, first introduced her Bits of my Weekend post on Monday's I was all over it. I loved the opportunity to explore other people's weekend activities while sharing mine as well. And for the first several months it worked.

But then summer came. And I realized while downloading my photos on a Sunday night that much of what I took pictures of on Wednesday was as exciting and 'weekend' like as what I was doing on a Saturday.

It was then that I realized that my summer is really nothing less than a perpetual weekend. Obviously minus the love of my life's presence.

How blessed am I? Crazy blessed. Isn't that what summer felt like as a kid? One long, fun-filled weekend?

So here is how I spent a Monday, in a fantasy land...of sorts. Which felt strangely like a Friday. Or any other day of the week for that matter!

Summer Bucket List

Sharpie in hand, I grabbed my extra large sketch paper and sat down with the family at dinner recently.

"What things do you each most want to do with the remaining days of summer?" I inquired.


Blank stares. Crickets chirping.


Then back to the chitter-chatter of who hates green beans the most.

I tried again, "Guys, summer doesn't last forever. What things do you want to do before school starts?"

---"School's starting? Already?"

---"I don't even have a back pack yet!"

---"Do I get to go to school tomorrow too?"

---"Does that mean we have to go to bed early now?"



They heard..."blah blah blah blah---school starts."

Using my husband's merriment, seen in his eyes, as patience, I tried yet again. I explained that summer was about half way through. We would not be starting school for many, many days yet, but I wanted to know what things they would most like to do with the time that we had left.

I think they got it this time. We complied a summer 'bucket list' of sorts, or otherwise titled: Things we'd like to do before summer ends. The rules were simple. Anything goes. No one is to be laughed at or teased for their input. Not all requests can be met. But all dreams are worth sharing.

One by one we threw out our ideas. Parents included. Our list varied from a game of family kickball in the park to a trip to the Black Hills. From Andrew's request of a campfire in the back yard..."WITH MARSHMALLOW'S" to Dad's date night with the girls. The ideas were simple and unique and all worthy of sharing.

I wrote them down in the rapid fire tempo they were tossed out. Occasionally stopping to add my own two cents. Then, when the rhythm seemed to be slowing and the page filling, I taped it to the pantry door.

"Mom, will we really do ALL those things?" Olivia asked.

I responded honestly, "I don't know honey. We'll do as many as we can. Most are pretty simple and doable. And the ones that we don't, I imagine we'll find something else equally as fun to replace it with!"


What about you? What do you want to do with your summer before the bells toll?

Still opinionated...just not as loudly, all the time

It has been a while since I let the opinionated heidijowhatdoyouknow out of the closet. At least here on my blog. Those who live with me get to visit with her daily. Lucky fools.

I am not sure what exactly has changed in my heart, but something has, clearly. God is so cool like that. Shaping and molding us into more than our sinful nature could conceive. Not implying that it is sinful to have an opinion.

Some of you may even miss my fact-less, rambling rants. You know the ones where you sit back reading and shake your head thinking, "boy she just stepped into the you-don't-want-to-go-there-girl zone." Which I bravely stupidly did many times.

I even had an entire post written up about a topic that got sparked in the notorious world of FB. I wrote on and on, quite eloquently I might add, using great concern to drive my opinion home. I felt the old controversial juices flowing and I let my fingers run across the keyboard lighting the page up with words of wisdom.


Then I stepped away from my computer, feeling quite proud of the points I had complied in a persuasive attempt to enlighten a few minds.

I went back to life. I laughed with my kids on the living room floor while reading a book. I drove my family to a ball game. I made a meal and cleaned it up. I went to bed. I opened my blogger account and hit delete.

Not because I felt shame or condemnation for anything I had written. It is a message that quite possibly needs to be said. But not by me. Not today. Right now, I need to just live and enjoy my blessings. Because that is what I know the most about.

Never fear though. If you enjoy seeing me stick my foot into my mouth, it will happen again. Probably later today. Here on the blog, I will express plenty of opinions to keep you all entertained. Occassionally however, I may just have the good sense to let it go.

A Mid-summer's Confessional:

The kids have not done one.single.school.worksheet. Not one.

~But we have listened to, sang along with, and jumped around to Jack Hartman's Math Mix.


We have borrowed more movies from the public library than books.

~In my defense, we do not have cable, our only 'kid stocked' movie store closed, and we have a children's reading library equivalent in our own home.


Not one single craft project done, because not one single craft project started.

~Well, nothing new there.


The cleaning and re-organizing that needed to be done shortly after children 3 through five arrived has yet to be completed.

~I am waiting it out in case a child 'six' should take us by surprise. Wouldn't want to do it twice.


There have been no major family vacations embarked upon.

~But let's face it, with five kids, 'major' pretty much describes a trip to the grocery store.


The summer schedule and routine that I dreamed of has yet to be implemented.

~Yeah, I realize it is July. That means I still have half the summer to perfect it!


Okay, I could go on. And on. And on. But I think that you get the point. Just what have we been doing? Good question. That, my bloggity friends, is for another post.


Let's just say, I am working on some awesome tan lines.

Bits of my weekend....on a Tuesday

The Fourth of July is fantastic enough but add to that a celebratory float in the parade for Noah's 'one year later' victory and it just does not get much better than that! Fourteen of Jim and Joyce's 16 grandchildren along with their parents rode on the float that just happen to win "Best in Show"!

Nic and Noah

The whole gang!

Family picture

Onto another parade in another town

We got to be spectators there

Then visiting with cousins from the 'other' side

Poolin' it in Clark

Andrew is in human launch mode!

Evie & Liv takin' the plunge!

Me & Ms. Lolly watchin' the fireworks

The kids

Back the other direction, to celebrate with friends.

Very good friends.

F*I*R*E*W*O*R*K*S!

YAY AMERICA!

A special young woman with a special little girl

Tryin' to stay awake for the big show!

As always, we had a fabulous weekend.

Life is just too darn good!

What about ya'll? How'd you celebrate?