Blessing Of The Paddles And Pedals

Last year our beloved church held a Blessing of the Animals. This year they decided to hold a Blessing of the Paddles and Pedals. While there were a few boat owners in the crowd today, sadly no boats present this morning. There were, however, a few bikes that rolled in and they were blessed by all of the boat owners and our Senior Minister. Thank you, Plymouth Church, for always coming up with such wonderful events and services! xo

In Search Of The Queen

Heard while checking out the bee exhibit at Old Sturbridge Village today:

Grace: "Let's find the queen!" 

Emma (very matter-of-fact while searching): "She has a tiny crown!" 

And wouldn't you know these two sweet girls found the queen and she did indeed have a tiny crown! Not a crown crown like my friend Sharon and I pictured when we heard this, but a little yellow dot on top of her head. I love how much I learn from my girls! xo

{This Moment} Best. Rope Swing. Ever.

{This Moment} - A Soule Mama Friday ritual. A single  Two photos - no words- capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you are inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments section for all to find and see. We wish you a fun filled weekend! xo

Our Night Owl

We have one night owl and one early bird. This works beautifully since it means that there are certain times where they are guaranteed their own time with their Papa and I.  Last week, in the midst of having a lot going on, Grace and I found ourselves sitting on the front porch after Emma had gone to sleep. Dave was not yet home and the night was perfect. We sat in the rocking chairs, surprised to be needing something on our arms on the last day of July (we have just adored the weather this summer!) and while we sat there we basked in the glow of the pretty candles, looked at the stars and chatted. The world was peaceful and calm and our time on the porch was truly divine. I'm so glad to have time like that with each of the girls. I love that we have that time together. The conversations that we have, the questions asked and the dreams shared are some of my most cherished. xo

Grace's Morning Glory

(Photo by Grace)

There was much excitement in our house this morning when Grace discovered that the first Morning Glory flower had blossomed! She had noticed yesterday that there was s bud, and the first thing she did this morning was head out to see if it had opened. She was thrilled to find that it had and came in right away for my phone so she could take a picture! There is something so magical about these sweet flowers that open during the day and close at night. We cannot wait to have the fence near the gate covered with these lovely flowers! What a perfect addition to our beloved garden! xo

8:30am

The girls joined me on my morning walk today and rather than taking the typical picture of them holding hands while we were walking I thought it would be fun to snap one of our shadows. This one was by far our favorite. Seeing our three shadows together made me wish that Dave had been with us on our walk too. Oh, how great it would be to have all four of our shadows in this picture!  It also made me remember another post I shared about shadows a few years ago (it's wild to look back and see how little they were in that post)! There really is something magical about shadows, isn't there? xo

Through Grace And Emma's Eyes

The other day, inspired by a post my friend Meghann over at Four Wild Blueberries wrote, I stuck the memory card from the camera the girls use into the computer. Below are some of the pictures that were on it.

I just love seeing the world through their eyes. I love seeing what they found beautiful or important.  I love trying to figure out what they were up to, or remembering where we were. I love how some of the pictures are crystal clear and others are somewhat blurry. I love these little glimpses into their world and I love seeing how things change as they grow! Thanks, Meghann for the reminder to check in with their camera. It had been far too long since the last time we looked and I'm so very grateful for the inspiration to do so! xo