Summer days, gone too soon

With the first full week of school behind us, I thought I'd take a minute to reflect on summer....all two seconds of it. before we're calling it "last summer" and only recalling moments here and there. summer, for my kiddos (because isn't that the best way to experience summer?), looked a little like this....

CARTER is entering first grade. He, like his Momma, is 'grieving' the end of summer with it's wide open days, lazy mornings, time at home, adventures. His summer was full of them - he conquered his fear of "the big slides" at the pool and spent the better part of any time there on them. up & down. up & down. he has endless energy and enthusiasm when he's doing something he's excited about. he lost his first two teeth this summer. brave boy, he didn't so much as flinch when i gave them that final tug. he went to "getting ready for first grade" camp where the numeric value of coins 'clicked' for him. he used his newfound knowledge to add up his Easter egg money and strike a deal with his little brother to combine their savings and go in together for a package of silly bands. he fished with his Daddy and exhibited rare patience. they went to a couple o' Cardinals games together, too. it's a toss up as to which is more exciting - the games or the day after the 6 run games when icees are a quarter. he loves the concept of sharing a love for Cardinals baseball with his father. and that couldn't be sweeter. he 'surfed' on a boogie board on Pawleys Island. he finally got to go to art camp and he loved it. he wants to be a painter when he grows up (apparently they eat lots of snacks). he is proudly learning to read. somewhere in those first weeks he forgot how important it was to be "cool" in kindergarten and became my sweet boy again, opening up more, clamming up less. he loves to make his brother and sister laugh. even when he shouldn't. he is the initiator of house wide fort building. he would play mario kart all day if we let him. he pretends he thinks it's "yucky" and declares it such through laughter when i kiss his sweet cheeks. he asks great questions and prays the sweetest, most heartfelt prayers. Little House on the Prairie has become his "favorite show" as we watched season 5 together, though he would probably deny this if you asked. he is loving The Indian in the Cupboard more than any book i've read to them and spontaneously wonders aloud what Little Bear is up to. he doesn't love school (with the exception of lunch & recess), but my hope is that first grade will change that, even if just a little. he is my boy. my first boy. he is sweet, sensitive, silly and seven.

i adore him.


McKENZIE. our big third grader. didn't our dream of having a baby just come true?! this baby o' ours is growing up so fast. she now understands that we aren't seriously going to put a brick on her head. she loves to read. i love that she loves to read. and she has read some great books this summer - The Hobbit, Aesop's Fables, Mrs. Frisby & the Rats of Nimh and lots n' lots of Nancy Drew. she re-read all of her Ramona books in anticipation of the movie. we are reading 1st Peter together now. she gets excited about going to the library to pick up the books she has on hold. she is alll girl - a girly girl, though not overboard about it. loves her skirts & dresses and styling her own, as well as her american girls hair. at one point, on the way to south carolina in july, i looked back to see her hair in 7 or 8 braids - we laughed, calling it her traveling hair salon. she is independent and authentic. yet, she is stubborn, sensitive & dramatic. she definitely has a flair for drama. i don't know where she gets this. she enjoyed Shakespeare in the Park this year & didn't want to leave when the boys had had enough. she is affectionate and wears her heart on her sleeve. once her mini HP was returned to her (it had been taken away indefinitely), she couldn't get enough of the disney & american girl sites, but would happily switch to pbs in order to gain the company of her littlest brother. she had trouble sleeping the night before going to six flags with a friend as she worried about the big rides. she had a blast and couldn't sleep the next night for being so wired she couldn't stop telling us all about it. she has begun to wash her face at night and feels like such the big girl. she loves to swim - uncoordinated, but a little fish nonetheless. she is an enthusiastic assistant cook. she's big on planning 'parties' and get togethers, all typically complete with a performance of some sort by her. she is an encourager. ever since a third grade girls pool party a few weeks ago, she couldn't wait to get back to school. she loves to learn, being with friends, history, science and DEAR time (lobbying for it to be longer). she grinned ear to ear all the way into the building on the first day. Since buying new soccer cleats last week, she can't wait for soccer to start - i don't know how much that has to do with the game. she enjoyed and took pride in beginning to play the piano this spring, but didn't mind the break from practicing. she'll turn nine in october and wants to go horseback riding. she has asked me, her grandparents & who knows who else for 'fangs' for her birthday.

i adore her.


JOHN THOMAS is a Junior Kindergartener (and will correct you, were you to shorten it to Junior K or, say, JK) and could not be more excited about it. He goes to school every day now - only 'til 11:30, but it's the every day part that's got him over the moon. he is always in character - be it "different batman" (a superhero of his own making, resembling his favorite superhero only in name) or any given star wars character. his friend, Clara, made him a bracelet that he keeps up with & wears on special occasions. he gets frustrated with me when the frequency of the laundry turnover has prevented his batman, toy story or pre-k rocks tee's from being readily available to him. he assures me, however, that he loves me even when he's frustrated. he followed suit and got into this whole silly band craze with his brother & sister. his favorite thing to do with them is to lay them all out and sort them. i don't know where he gets that. he went to VBS for the first time this summer. he dug holes to china in the sand with his brother and his uncle. he refuses to try watermelon. he is crazy about his new roller skates in theory only. he picks out more books than he can carry at the library, drops and picks them up all the way to the front via the movie section, but won't put any back. he, like his father, has a soundtrack playing in his head and the theme to Little House on the Prairie is on a constant reel (as was "Doe a Deer" after seeing Sound of Music at the Muny). he does not care for Little House on the Prairie. he loves to go to the pool and flop around with a noodle tied around his waist, a 'trick' learned during swim lessons. after the first traumatic day of swim lessons, he declared himself a swimmer who did NOT need to go back the next morning. much less every morning for the next 2 weeks. he prefers, even over bare feet, his first pair of flip flops, but cannot keep them on his feet when he walks. he is incredibly proud to be 5 and concludes many a thought with, "because i'm five." he still loves his trains, legos, being read to & dumping everything (every. sinlge. thing.) out of his toy box. he is not a'tall partial to the idea of putting it all back. he adores his older brother and sister, takes his cues from Carter, but is learning to put his foot down. he is a quick learner and oh, so perceptive. he doesn't mind being shuttled around to take McKenzie & Carter to their respective camps, practices, parties. he thanks me for everything from the pockets in his shorts to his lunch or a toy he's playing with. his belly laughs are contagious. he is still my sidekick. and he still holds my hand. voluntarily.

i could just eat him up.


we had such a sweet summer together. i will miss it. i already do....amidst the back and forth, practices, meetings, not really being certain of which end is up or where to be next. but, you know what, that's to be celebrated too. routine is good...and i'm sure eventually we would have wanted it back...? we (all!) love, love, LOVE KDS and are anticipating the growth and learning that will take place in JK, first, and third grades - and beyond. i'm just sayin'...that i'da been okay with another couple o' weeks that included a few lazy mornings, a few more chapters, a couple o' pool days, a slower pace with some family & friends, not so much to n' fro and even a day or two of a little more freedom and a lot less schedule.

sound hedonistic? lazy even? nah, i've just mentioned the good, the noteworthy, skipping the mundane and the struggle to focus on the stories that are a little more fun to tell....and, besides, in retrospect, isn't fun, optimism, awaiting adventure, carefree, all-things-are-possible kind of play what childhood summertimes are made of? I, for one, appreciate the tangible reminder to slow down. enough to see. to hear. the everyday. their everyday - so much more of it than i get to see and experience the rest of the year. and Margie Haack's exortation from one of my favorite publications, to "reroute and arrange summer so you can offer attention to the gracious presence and activity of God. It requires slowing down." I second that. there is what i'll call an "in the moment" kind of awareness that is unique to summer, more easily achieved somehow in the midst of it.

now don't get me wrong - i'm all for being busy about serving and doing. i'm also all about us being better able to do just that after having recharged as we build memories, really watch and listen to what's right in front of us and get to know one another again. enjoy these moments we've been given, capture some of them so that we get to do it again. I watch my kids run wild in the backyard, chasing fireflies, chasing each other and i know what a privilege it is, how incredibly blessed i am to witness the moments that will someday be their memories of summer.

Was it worth it?

the 10 minutes o' fun in the snow? we asked this of each other, though we could barely HEAR each other over the wails that literally had me believing someone was suffering from frostbite and i was a horrible mother for taking my kids to play in the snow...for a moment.

seriously, though. they were wailing. First McKenzie, which we ignored (hush, Grannie) initially. It became increasingly difficult to ignore and then there was the possibility that the neighbors would hear the wailing....which is apparently contagious, so John Thomas decides to throw himself into the snow and do the same. Carter is still oblivious and keeps helping Michael and I with the finishing touches of our snowman (whose name, this year, is, appropriately enough, "snowy"...this is after having refreshed everyone's memory on the awesome names of previous snowmen and encouraging them to 'think of somehting creative!'...i got 'snowy'). Carter, who figured he was missing out on something, then decides to join in...though he and John Thomas briefly forgot their misery to admire 'snowy.' we surrendered and headed in only to realize that their little boots were filled with snow and so in 20ish degree temps, their little feet really were, most likely, pretty cold. but, still. I'm thinking that laying in the snow making multiple snow angels almost immediately was not a good idea. lesson learned. so, back to the original question. after upwards of an hour of rifling through clothes in the basement to find "ski bibs" (which McKenzie, literal first born that she is, took issue with, as we were not skiing and she is too old for a bib....wow)..."snow suits," bundling the 5 of us and the wailing....the looks of wonder and excitement on their faces, the snow angels, the snowballs, the chasing, the laughing, the sledding, the consumption of the snow (all felt the need to taste it...and it did, in fact, taste just like it did last year, as confirmed by Carter), the snowman....

not quite sure about the thumbless mittens...
and they're off.....
the aforementioned snow angels....
7ish inches!

having recovered - consumed hot chocolate and cookies, taken a warm bath and perched in front o' the fire, McKenzie declared it the "best day ever!" so, yeah, i'd say it was worth it. do I want to do it again tomorrow? not so much.

here we go.....

i feel so very...with it? ha! so, here's a hall family blog....whether i'll be able to keep up with it is yet to be seen. but, for family and friends far away (and even close by), I thought it would be a great way to share the day-to-day...the seemingly "little" things that grandparents, etc. aren't able to see and hear on a regular basis. these kiddos are growing up way too fast for us and we thought this would be a way to slow it down a little....take it in...process it, laugh at it, enjoy it - these incredible blessings. life in a fallen world can be a bit of a drag...our time here is too short NOT to enjoy the blessings God has put in our lives - He created us for that, too. 'Tis part of enjoying Him and glorifying Him, wouldn't you say? to love one another well...the way He loves us. absolutely unconditionally. without condition. sacrificially, even. giving up our own personal peace and comfort to serve and love Him and, therefore, others well....if that's what He's asking of us and we look at it in light of what He did for us....'nough said. what does this have to do with the beginnings of a blog?...God is good - all the time. All the time - God is good. hopefully He is using this little family to display His love to our family and friends, our church, our community...even to a hurting world. that's our hope and our prayer as we are used in the lives of these little ones and beyond. so, if you're reading these glimpses of our story, these ramblings of ours, we hope you see just that....Him. the Creator of this little crew. here's to hoping we, and more importantly, He is part of your story...