just us.

 

i've taken it easy this week.

usually i'm really trying to improve my life... it's my nature.

but, this week, i just accepted things as they were.

i just enjoyed my days, and my kids.

on wednesday night, jakob and todd were at scouts.

usually i am cracking the whip trying to get the little kids into bed and the house straightened and everyone prepared for the next day...

but, this wednesday anna asked, "Aren't you going to take my picture in my running clothes?"

Anna is in a kids running club and ran in a fun run 2k that day.

she really takes "fun run" literally... she just enjoys every moment, walking or running or talking with her friends.

anna is a pretty good little runner, but she's not competitive.

and, i enjoy that about her.

6 of my 7 kids ran about me, playing and posing and i just watched through my camera.

enjoying these times.
trying to enjoy them more. 

i've done this a few times this week.

do you know, my kids go to bed at the same time when i am rushed and strict about bedtime that they do when i'm carefree and casual.

the nights that i lay on their floor and tell funny stories about when they were little, or cuddle in their beds and pretend i'm snoring, or kiss them over and over while i tickle their tummy.

it doesn't take longer than putting them back to bed 100 times when they come out asking for water or tattling on their sister...

tonight, we're cleaning up and putting away laundry that has sat, folded, in their baskets all week.

we're having a family clean up, with snacks and a pizza party/movie night afterwards. 

i HOPE to get some pictures hung and all my books shelved.

i'm kind of excited.

hope you enjoy your weekend!!

(ps. the professor has a birthday tomorrow!  3-8!!  isn't he getting OLD?  how i love that old man...)

do you know why this post makes me laugh?

because it is as hard for me to look at these pictures as it was for me to take them...

take them, AFTER i had asked the kids to get ready for bed and only half of them had listened.

the pictures half with a flash, half without... mismatched... not super cute--  they bug me as i scroll down my blog.  i want to edit them, to take some out, to somehow make my family look a little more refined.

but, i WON'T... because, what drove me crazy about this lazy evening was also what i loved about it.

AND, what drives me crazy about these pictures, and this post, is just why i need to let it be...

life isn't always ordered and pretty.

kids are kids.

with the flash, without the flash... and in green panties.

i once asked my friend "how do you get your kids to sit so quietly during church?"

she smiled and asked me, "how do you get your kids SO HAPPY?"

and, i'll take that.

happy and half-dressed... that pretty well describes my family.

today, that's good enough for me.