Camping

All summer long we've been talking about camping with the kids. It seemed every weekend that suited, the weather was predicted to hit 100 degrees. And since we tent camp, that was a little warm to be comfortable. We watched our summer tick away, and finally we saw our one remainiung weekend had a full Saturday schedule already. So we asked the kids if they'd be okay with camping at home in the backyard. The all consented. so last weekend we set up tents, and we camped. It was so much fun! I realize that this might not work when they are older, but it was great fun for us all, and oh, so convenient. We didn't have to pack, we could use the dishwasher, ;) and we still got that awesome campfire food and made some very special memories.

The first evening....

It was chilly enough that jackets and blankets felt good.

During the night we woke up and heard a kitty purring. Upon investigation, we discovered a kitty asleep deep in Brooklyn's sleeping bag. We threw Miss Kittycat out and she wasn't very happy about it, but Brooke never found out about her visitor until morning.

Daddy and Brooke snuggling.....

We wrapped up our projects on Saturday by late afternoon and then the fun began. Leon had a bunch of fireworks to shoot off and he set those up. I prepared a yummy meal of steak kabobs and roasted potatoes over the fire and we ended the meal with 'campfire donuts'. (Biscuits cut in fourths, roasted over the fire on sticks, rolled in butter and cinnamon/sugar, mmm!)

At dark, the fireworks began. What fun!;)

I love hanging out with my family. Sometimes these special times aren't all we think they'll be, but we gotta fight to have family time anyway. It's so easy to take time to have fun with other people but what about the little people you live with and love more than anything?! It's extra work, of course, but the memories you make are priceless. The time we have with our children is so short. Finding that balance between work and play is tough, I know. We've muddled through it all summer and still don't really know what we're doing. But I think our kids know if they are important to us or not. Work is important. We don't want to raise selfish little tyrants who think the world revolves around them. And yet, they gotta know that sometimes our work stops just for them. I hope this past weekend made them feel loved. I guess we'll find out in 10 years if they even remember it.;)

You love, you give, you invest, you sweat, you wonder if it's worth it....

You're a parent, so you do it all over again, and again, and you pray that God takes your mistakes and redeems them. You pray your kids grow up to know you loved them. But most of all you pray that your kids grow up to know the Father and His love.