Time With My Boys & Some Reflection

The past three days have been just me and my favorite two boys, since Dusty went on a camping trip with some senior guys from his school. Of course we still had our normal work/school morning schedule so it really only affected our evenings. It's still kind of hard to explain to them at their age that daddy isn't coming home, so I tried to keep them occupied. Thursday night we had another movie night, making popcorn and pretzels, having a "picnic" on the floor. Secretly I mostly do this to avoid a huge popcorn mess, but if you call it a picnic then they thinks it's pretty cool. So I laid out a big blanket and we sat on the floor with our popcorn and watched a movie together. Shortly after I put the boys to bed and not 10 minutes later I heard Silas' bedroom door open. He proceeded to tell me, "Mommy, I am so sick." Funny how fast he got sick! Then he said, "I know what will make me feel better. I need you to hold me." Now seriously, I always send him straight back to bed - but, seeing as how Dusty was gone and it's impossible to resist such sweetness, I let him curl up with me on the couch while I watched Glee. He looked over at me a few minutes later to remind me, "Mommy, I just love you so much. Thanks for making me feel better." Watch out girls, my Silas is quite the little romantic. He will make some lucky girl feel really special one day!


Friday after school and my daily run, we went to Grammy and Pappy's house. They drove their little powered trucks around and had Pappy pull them up and down the hill countless times with a sled. I'm not sure who's more worn out after they leave Pappy and Grammy's house- them or Pappy! They know how to wear you down with their endless amounts of energy. They were also super excited to see the puppies again and Silas cannot wait until they are big enough to hold. I had a photo shoot that night, which is why we went over - so I left for a couple of hours while they had a blast doing their thing. This was probably one of the most interesting shoots I've done so far. Really, most of my experience is with babies/kids. I have shot a few families, some pregnancy sessions, and recently my first senior session. I am trying to build my portfolio so I can get my website up and running. I'll take all the experience I can get, because in the end it just makes me better. So, this was a birthday party with 9 eighth grade girls. Wow, is it ever hard to put myself back at that age! It's amazing how old you feel when you're surrounded by a group of teenagers. In any case, it was an incredibly sweet group of girls, full of energy and excitement. Getting great shots with that many people in a photo proves challenging due to blinking, any random movement, a bad expression, etc. Thank goodness for the digital age! It's hard for me to imagine being a photographer back in the days of film, seeing as how I took over 400 shots in about an hour yesterday. Plus it's nice because you don't have to invest money in the film and then developing, only to get a few good shots. That being said, here's a few random shots from the shoot.











This morning Eli lovingly decided to wake me up at 4:45 a.m. Not that this isn't typical, but not always welcomed easily on a Saturday morning. If he makes it until 6:00 a.m., I am happy. In any case, I took advantage of this time to edit the photos from the shoot. I finally woke Silas up around 8:00 a.m. and then went for a 4 mile run at the lake. It seems like there's always something going on there on the weekends lately. Today there was some sort of walk going on for the blind. I was running and was touched as I passed so many blind people - old and young - with their seeing eyes dogs or mom's pushing them in a stroller. I love perspective! No matter where you are at in your life, there's always something that can put you in your place or give you a more positive outlook. I couldn't help but be thankful for the health of myself, my family and my kids. It was also a neat thing to witness, as people were showing love and support for their loved ones that were blind.


Afterwards we came home and I got everyone ready so we could "do something fun!" Silas spoke with Dusty on the phone, saying, "Daddy, it is Saturday - fun day! I am not going to school. Mommy is taking me to do something fun and play." We were walking out the door and Silas made me laugh when he told me we had to get snacks or he would be hungry. The reason this is funny is because he learned this from his daddy. We literally cannot go anywhere without snacks - we always have to be prepared just in case! So if we're going to the movies, the beach, Seaworld, Disneyland, etc., I have a bag of snacks. Little did he know, I already planned to stop and get them drinks and a snack. So Silas and Eli were in the backseat enjoying their soda and I turned up the music as we drove. Silas told me, "Mommy, look at us!" I looked back and they were both dancing in their seats making each other laugh. I love them. I took them to Lake Poway and they had a great time. I had never been, but wanted to go somewhere new. I googled it and from the pictures it looked like a neat place, so off we went. I also didn't mind that it was a decent little drive from our house. I'm not a huge fan of driving on the freeways but used to love driving around listening to music to unwind and relax. To get there I just had to drive down the 67N which is the open road, so that was appealing to me. I was pleasantly surprised to find some really nice playgrounds once we got there, so the boys were super excited. We played for quite awhile and explored the lake a bit before heading home. When we got back to the house, Dusty was here, so the boys were excited to see their daddy.


I've been in such a weird mood today, really thinking about a lot of things. I know that's vague, but it is what it is. I really enjoyed having some time with the boys. Not that I'm not with them all the time, but life can get so busy. I know I get so caught up in everything that has to be done - (I am so Type A!) - that sometimes I don't relax as much as I should and just go with the flow. Maybe because I was overly concerned with keeping the boys occupied it was a little more intentional. It's just a simple reminder that they are more important than picking up the house or finishing whatever task I'm doing. Not that those things aren't important as well, but I often find myself telling Silas to "wait just a minute" so I can do the million things I have to do. It's a reminder to keep myself in check and keep things balanced. I can't be so driven on the task at hand that I miss something else that may be more important. I pray that I can give that area of my life over to God. I pray that I will see the things, the people, and the opportunities He places before me - and that I will not miss it because I am occupied. Life will not always be easily understood - but we have a loving God that longs to be the center of it. I pray that I will do just that, allowing Him to be my constant guide, my stronghold, and my first love.

0 Comments