day 34 - time flies when you're having fun

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This was taken 3 years ago. I love that this sister and her little brother had, and continue to have, so much fun together.

Little brothers are the best...Luke, Lyle, Shane and Grady are tops in our opinion.

day 33 - our own toy story

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I'm pretty sure that these guys would make an appearance in a Hesters' version of Toy Story. They have been played with almost daily since M got the little triceratops leading the charge as a potty training reward.

day 32 - good living

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10 pounds of the biggest gulf shrimp I've ever seen. Oh so tasty! Next time we'll buy a few extra pounds.

day 31 - digging

G loves to dig. Give him a shovel and he is happy. The beach is a happy place for him. All that sand...all those little plastic shovels!

This is what G and his cousin J did at the beach this weekend. They dug and dug and then dug some more. They moved some serious sand.

day 30 - to the ocean and back

What fun to spend a few days at the beach with the whole Luedeker family...crazy, but FUN!

day 29 - country kids

A conversation with M:

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Mommy, me and G sure are lucky. (Why?)

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Because we get to be city kids and country kids. (Yes.)

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Not everyone gets to do that you know. (Yes, M. I know.)

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Thanks Mama and Daddy, for making it possible for my city kids to be a little bit country too. It is so wonderful to watch them grow up appreciating and embracing God's beautiful creation.

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disclaimer: these photos were obviously taken months ago, but they are a couple of my favorites!

day 28 - walkin' down a country road

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Today, M and G are with their Giggy in the "country." She took them to visit their great-granparents for the day. How blessed I am that my children are able to know and love and have relationships with their great-grandparents!

day 27 - absolutamente

I'm pretty sure that I found a little bit of heaven here on earth today. This glorious sunset was the end of a day that involved sitting on the beach with a dear friend eating homegrown tomatoes.

Thanks to the two beautiful women who made it all possible.

day 26 - so lucky

It has occurred to me this Father's Day that M and G (and I) are probably the luckiest people on the planet...

To show our appreciation, M planned and (with a little help) prepared a fabulous "breakfast for lunch brunch" for her Daddy. G's job was to keep Daddy busy...I think there was a little sword-fighting involved.

Thanks Chad, for being fabulous you!

day 25 - the first of many

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Chad woke up early (I mean really early - 5:30 a.m.!) to go run 10.5 miles this morning. M was most disappointed to find that he had already left for his run when she woke up. When he got home, she was ready and waiting.

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Here they are starting out on what I hope is the first of many father/daughter runs.

day 24 - blue skies smiling at me...

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...nothing but blue skies do I see.

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One of the best songs of all time and oh so true. The sky was so unbelievably blue this day.

day 23 - when life gives you lemons...

...make lemonade, or so the old saying goes.

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I prefer the following: When life gives you lemons, make a fabulous summer cocktail.

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the French 75

• 5 oz. champagne
• 2 oz. gin
• 1/2 oz lemon juice
• 1 tsp. powdered sugar
• Shake and pour over cracked ice

day 22 - puzzled

This is a puzzle M was working on today.

In addition to working on a puzzle, she's puzzled about the following:

Do worms have eyes?
Do worms even see at all?
Do bees eat honey?
Do bees even eat at all?
Do ants sleep?

It's a good thing we have a set of old-school encyclopedias...we'll find the answers to these questions (and more, I'm sure) tomorrow.

day 21 - pure joy

This is M playing with Daddy. I love the look of pure joy on her face.

day 20 - there's only 2 things that money can't buy...

...and that's true love and homegrown tomates. (Guy Clark)

day 19 - "making" science

Look Mommy, I'm making science. (Really, what are you doing?)

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An ice experiment, of course. (Oh, really?)

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Yes. I'm going to make miniature ice. That means teeny-tiny. (Good word. How are you going to do that?)

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With water, of course. (Oh, of course. Good idea.)

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note: It looks like my quest to hurry up and slow down is working...I let him continue with his experiment, which he replicated at least 10 times over the period of an hour, without intervening to clean up the spilled water and melting ice.

day 18 - goggles!

Grady is much, much happier in the water with his goggles.

day 17 - something is missing

That's right - the dust bunnies are gone! At least for a few hours...

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That is what this blog is all about, right?: recognizing & appreciating little victories and special, fleeting moments.

day 16 - sick!

It's been a long time since we've had a fever this high around here. Poor thing...when the thermometer finally beeped it was at 104.7! Of course, by the time M got better G was sick.
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We've been watching a lot of movies around here lately...

day 15 - obsessed

M and G are what some might call (unhealthily?) obsessed with Star Wars these days. Apparently they aren't the only ones. Here's a picture I took a couple weeks ago at a "Jedi Training Session." Look at all those kids with light sabers converging on Darth Vader. Of course M and G are right up front...that's M in the green shirt and G in the navy shirt wielding the red light saber.

concerning today's new & improved light sabers:

Light sabers are not what they used to be. In fact, they are everything children of the '70s and '80s dreamed they could be: one that would light up and make that cool zshoom sound as we swung it through the air...just like Luke's did in the movie. If you ever swung a stick around making light saber sounds as a child, I highly encourage you to go out and buy yourself a light saber. Amazing and oh so fun!

day 14 - we (heart) lalamelon

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When G was younger, he couldn't say "watermelon." It came out as "lalamelon." The phrase stuck. We love lalamelon around here.

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We went camping this weekend. It was hot...really, really hot! It was fun, but hot. Too hot to take pictures. This is one of the four pictures I took the whole weekend. See, I told we love lalamelon.

day 13 - an entomologist who is scared of bugs?

M wants to be an entomologist when she grows up. At least she did until she saw this guy.

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She's now decided that she'd like to be a zookeeper specializing in birds and reptiles.

day 12 - tea for three, al fresco

M had a couple friends over for tea today.

Ever the planner, she set an amazing table. Check it out!



Ever the entertainer, she made sure this tea party was anything but stuffy!

My favorite part were the "playports" (not to be confused with passports) that her friends had to turn in to play after tea.

day 11 - pit tickler

A conversation with G at 6 a.m.
Scene: I'm in bed, sleeping. (It is summer, you know.) G is (unfortunately) not.

"Mommy, can I cuddle with you?"

"Sure, I'd love to cuddle with you."

(we cuddle for about 10 seconds)

"Mommy, I'm gonna tickle your pits."

"No. Please do not."

"Awww, c'mon Mom. Ticklin' is fun!"

No, G - ticklin' is NOT fun at 6 a.m.

day 10 - a reader is born...

We went to the library yesterday and M decided to check out a chapter book. She couldn't put it down and finished all 68 pages in ONE day!! I think this is the beginning of a wonderful life of loving to read...makes me so happy.