Be Happy

If you want to be happy, be.
 Leo Tolstoy

So simple.

Yet sometimes difficult to achieve.

Today you are nine; my wonderfully kind, sweet, so incredibly smart and sometimes impossibly sassy son.

You make me happy.

I hope I do the same for you.

I hope every birthday is the happiest.

Thank you for making me a mama...it all started with you.

To be around you...

is to be happy.

And, I am.

Happy Birthday, Jacob!!!

Things That Make Me Smile

1. Chalk drawings on warm afternoons.

2. Seeing rainbows with not a cloud in the sky...Can it be called a rainbow if there isn't any rain?

3. Gorgeous, sunny weather, with perfectly cool mornings for running.

4. Coming in 9th place in the 5-K I ran in this weekend. My family meeting me at the finish line with high 5's and a hug.

5. Zoo outings...

even though I threatened to leave the terrific tantrum thrower in the snake cage if he didn't stop. Sometimes, he screams so loudly my ears bleed.

6. Reading

7. My sister

it would be a small miracle if she could just smile for the camera for once in her life.

8. An afternoon full of eating, family, and a very cool train ride.

9. Blooms, right in our own backyard.

10. New running shoes...and shopping for them with all four kids; no disasters; a true miracle.

Soak Up Every Drop

A jug fills drop by drop--Buddha

And so moments are made into memories of a childhood.

Each game collectively makes a season.

Each lazy summer day turns into a season. 

Every step of my long run brings me closer to inner peace and farther from crabby; a beautiful sunrise, calm, cool morning air, the perfect run that fuels my day.

Enjoying the moments for what they are; not worrying about the tomorrows or the next days; it's quite freeing.

We are filling our jug of summer...

drop by precious drop.

I hope you are doing the same. 

Happy Father's Day...

to the most important men in my life...

My dad, who gave me life...

 in more ways than one.

 

My husband...

 

 who loves me for all of my flaws and imperfections...

and gave me these most precious gifts of all...

And, my step-dad (who I don't have a recent picture of).

Radio Silence

Rather, computer silence.

The only time I've been on the computer is to get some new running tunes, upload some pictures, and pay some bills.

I have a million words running through my head; my creativity is at it's peak in the early morning hours of my runs. Things I want to say, need to say, want to remember, but I get home and there's simply too many other things to do.

Our days are spent outside, finding Charlotte's Web...only Charlotte's web would have been much bigger, they all said.

First games, first practices...I'm very nervous, whispered to me in confidence. Years of backyard baseball under his belt has left him with a strong arm and quick feet...You'll do great I whisper back, and he did.

 What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?
–Vincent van Gogh

First library cards...you would have thought they just got their driver's licenses for how excited they were. I love that they get excited about books.

Our Geese Family had 7 babies a month ago...I feel like they're mine, but they aren't.  We go to check on them often, and the Mama and Papa don't even hiss at us anymore. Baby geese grow amazingly fast...faster even than human babies. Did you know that geese mate for life? I love that, being the hopeless romantic that I am. Just a little trivia for you.

Weeks 1 and 2...yellow and fuzzy.

Week 3 and 4...less fuzzy, more grown up.

 More summer, more lazy days, more time unplugged. My soul is soaking up every moment.

If you need us, we'll be throwing sticks in the lake or climbing trees.

I linked this with Little White Whale. If you don't know her, go visit her. Her photography is out of this world.