Suddenly Six!: Sunshine, visitors and tears!

Wow, it's June already! May seemed to fly by! We had so much sunshine and visitors that I haven't updated my blog in quite some time!

So...here it is:

My Aunt Penny came to visit for a week. She blessed us so much by cooking for us, holding babies, organizing clothing, cleaning and enjoying life with us!

She is someone who always has an enthusiastic attitude about everything in life; she compared her visit to being on a cruise ship vacation for a week! Ha!

Aunt Penny hanging out with the fellas

Special time with Caleb

Baking up some goodies

What's the point of baking the batter?!

Smiles when Aunt Penny is around!

Memorial Day weekend, my brother and his girlfriend flew into Portland to visit. It was really neat to see my brother meet my sons for the first time. I think he was smitten. ;) Evie loved Uncle Brad, and Tara has the flowing long hair that reminded her of a princess I think. ;)

Love from Uncle Brad

Overall, there was a lot of admiring babies and amusing Evie. It was a week of memories.

On saturday, John and I went to a benefit dinner put on by one of our dearest friends to support their little boy they adopted from the Congo. It was our first time out before the kids all went to bed. We convinced John’s parents that putting four kids to bed was a magical experience and they were good sports. My only advice to them before departing was this:

When you feel like you want to cry, laugh
As long as all the kids survive til morning, I really don’t care what they wear to bed or how they get there.

We had a nice time at the benefit dinner. It is so wonderful to see my friends on the other side of their long adoption process. It was a journey of ups and downs; but ultimately in the end they have their little boy, who is such a precious addition to their beautiful family.

However, within a week filled with so much fun and joy, a tragic thing happened too. A girl I knew through playgroups and who was active in the community died suddenly of a head injury due to a strange fall off a long board. She had a one year old daughter and a three year old son. It really shook me to the core. I’ve had a few people die in my life, and whenever it happens it is always a swift wake up call to not to take one single day for granted. We are not guaranteed a long happy life and I need to truly hold tight and cherish the people surrounding me each day.

Sunday was beautiful. In fact, our spring this year was especially sunny and perfect. However, I can get kinda cranky on Sundays. I’m pretty good all week, full of energy and enthusiasm for life, but for some reason I get tired and crabby on this particular day of the week. I think it’s because it is supposed to be a day of rest but there is no rest…ever.

Sometimes the thought that I will never catch up on my sleep gets overwhelming, and my emotions and thinking take a nose dive and I can get kind of depressed.

This sunday however, we had some close friends over for a BBQ. John smoked salmon in his Traeger and we just talked over a glass of wine. Why is it that friends, wine and a perfect summers night on the porch makes everything better?!

I truly am grateful for all the relationships in my life. But it’s funny how quickly we start to feel sorry for ourselves or take for granted one moment here on earth!!!'

How very precious life is….what a privilege to be able to spend a full week with my sweet Aunt, or a dinner with my brother or a conversation with friends! How blessed I am to sit outside with my children, and even if there is no rest in sight, how wonderful that I am healthy enough to carry on this job I have been entrusted with!

I am also learning that being a parent can really bring about some intense emotional extremes, and I have to separate how I feel from reality. For example, on Sunday I was crying tears of exhaustion and frustration, fantasizing about just running away... ;)

but on Monday I experienced tears of gratitude and joy and a powerful sense that "this is all going way too fast!"

Important lesson: recognize emotions as emotions. I need to learn to separate what I'm feeling from reality and recognize that I am human-not super human- and despite my ups and downs in my mood, life is precious and oh so fragile.

Praying for my friend's family today...her widowed husband and two small children and her parents that must face the realization that they out lived their own daughter.

Embracing those I love, and cherishing the small moments... and all the tears. For tears mean that I am alive one more day.