Today we are the same.

We see each other often.  I pass you on the sidewalk, park beside you in the afternoon, sit next to you at an assembly.  We may seem different.  Caught up in our own worlds each with its own set of responsibilities.  But today we are the same.  

Today we are all the same.  We woke up a little earlier (maybe set an alarm for the first time in months).  We made breakfast (just a little more special than usual) and packed lunches.  We combed hair and brushed teeth.  We zipped up back packs and helped tie shoes.  And we held hands as we walked down sidewalks with excited little hearts headed into a new adventure.  We kissed cheeks, gave pep talks and then we watched them walk away....all of us hoping for the very best.

We walk away too.  Go our own separate ways.  But we are not so different you and I.  Today we are the same.

Golden Girls

Dear Carter and Emerson,

My little golden girls with your sun kissed skin the perfect shade brown.  Summer is almost over and when I look back at the few months we just spent together while you were 7 and 3 I hope I'll remember you like this...

The perfect mix of sweet and silly.  Full of so much energy sometimes I can barely keep up.  Summer is always such an idealistic time in my mind.  I imagine us baking cookies and doing crafts and singing kumbaya and sometimes that happens.  But more often I am playing referee, slapping together some PB&J's and let's be honest just trying to keep our little boat afloat.  

Sometimes I imagine you older and reading this and I wonder and more than that I hope that you will feel like I did a good job.  I think right here in this very moment I just want you to know I'm doing my best.  I also want you to know that I am very aware that sometimes my best isn't all that great...have grace for me my little loves.  I fall short (we all do and someday you will too) but I love you more than life its self.  I love the good the bad and the ugly we've shared this summer.  And yes there has been some ugly but I don't tend to snap pics of those moments so here's some of the good :)

carter I love this picture of you sleeping you are such a little beauty

emme you are full of so much life!  always ready to jump in with a smile...awesome.

carter you put this outfit together and I loved it!

emme I woke up one morning to your little hand resting on my shoulder...love.

one of our favorite summer reads together...colors laugh.

emme I'm so glad your teeth don't look like this :)

carter you will need "real" glasses someday I'm sure but until then your obsession with these is cracking us up :)

making dirt dessert for a pool party with friends 

"I LOVE DIRT!!" emerson kate age 3

always the adventurer carter on the high ropes

emme if I could bottle up your giggle while you rode this I'd make a million bucks

babysitting the adorable Yates...I hope you will be a big sister someday you'd make a great one :)

This week we are wrapping up a whole lot of togetherness.  It's bittersweet for me.  I love love love being around you all day and having you to myself....on the flip side sometimes I feel like I'm about to lose my ever loving mind...  

thank goodness for the occasional mother's day out and a little retail therapy 

So as we start a new year of school and stuff I know we will all embrace the activities and routines and change of pace.  But I want you to know I will miss you.  I will miss you being 7 and 3 and I'll miss this Summer we spent together because I know I'll never get it back.  You are the most beautiful things I've ever seen.  Gosh I love being your mom...

Your dad and I celebrated 11 years of being married this past Saturday (I can hardly believe it)...

We talked a little bit about where we've been and where we are going but more than that we talked about the two of you.  Because we can hardly believe that somehow we did something so right.  You are both just amazing and if you take one thing away from this journey we are on I hope you will take away how much we adore you.  We couldn't love anything more...

XOXO, Mom

I see your Llama and I raise you a Lemonade Stand

Summer.  It's like one big open ended question.  While we sometimes miss the routine and structure of the school year Summer can be a lot like a box of chocolates...you never know what you're gonna' get. With no commitments or places to be my chicks and I hit the road...

We wound up at Roxi and Pops house for a few days of fun...

I am so happy the girls have a place where they are free to create and be themselves...

We also managed to coax Roxi into whipping up a beautiful peacock...

And a couple of lovely mermaids for us to take home...

The girls rooms are happier with the new additions...

Back in San Antonio we united with our best buds and spent a day in the sun.  I'm not sure anything screams Summer louder than ice cold Lemonade and sweaty children...

$11 later we had some pretty happy campers.  My new resolution is to stop anytime I see a lemonade stand.  You just wouldn't believe how happy you could make a kid by pulling over. :)  Speaking of happy kids we may not have activities and entertainment to fill every moment of our time but I still find my kids smiling...

It makes me happy to realize that maybe busy is not all it's cracked up to be.  I saw this the other day and it really resonated with me...

 I think that somewhere in the land of Summer vacations and camps and blowing and going there is a balance met with lazy mornings and naps and spending all day in your pajamas without feeling guilty.  I'm realizing that rest is not something to be ashamed of.  Days at home filled with dress up, a few chores here and there or a dip in the pool are sometimes just what the doctor ordered...

It also makes the unexpected outing for a little pampering...

Or a spontaneous trip to the Wildlife Park that much more exciting...

The girls loved the way the animals came right up to our car!  (I loved it too).  Hello Mr. Llama...

And then there were these guys...

I made fast friends with this fella...

And the girls got all buddy buddy with the billy goats...

It was a sweet family outing.  I'm hoping for a few more before routine, and schedules and alarm clocks find us in just a few short weeks.  Hang in there Summer we aren't ready to say goodbye yet...