It's 99 degrees and I'm thinking about Christmas.

Sing on Mr. Crosby. "And may all your Christmases be white..."

It's not a major announcement or surprise to see this post from me, is it? :)
I made it alllll the way to July 17th this year before I started longing for cooler weather, the holiday season and wearing jeans. I'm actually pretty proud of myself for holding out this long - and actually, really enjoying summer. And truth be told, I still am. We've got plenty left and I'm in no rush. Bonfires and s'mores, walks on the beach (next month!), and iced caramel macchiato's are on my mind - along with these laid back mornings, quality sit down and read time, late bedtimes and all the summer fun things going on in our city. But. It's 99 degrees with a humidity percentage in the thousands and I'm thinking, just thinking, about Christmas today.

We all have our favorites. Autumn and winter are mine. We'll leave it at that.

My husband gets home from his trip in TWO days. I'm giddy just waiting for him. We've made it all the way almost with little to no problems. Though, I'll recap some unfortunates:
- It's hot. Wicked, wicked hot and uncomfortable. I'm slightly nervous to see the energy bill next month after all these days and nights of nonstop air conditioning.
- Tuesday night I had to take August into urgent care. She woke up from her nap and was in tears saying her ears hurt. She also had gunky eyes. So, at 6pm we dropped her sisters off at friends and went in. Did you know kids can get infected swimmers ears? And eyes? I know it now. She has both. Did you also know it's near impossible to rub medicine into a 4 years olds eyes? We need to rethink that one there, Docs. ;) Today she looks and is acting much better.
- I found a dead bird in my garage yesterday as I was setting back up for my two-weekend-long yard sale. I CANNOT handle that sorta thing. I may have sent out a plea for help on Facebook. One of our awesome deacons may have stopped by to rescue me.
- Today we discovered a massive wasps nest right above the front door. Awesome. So, instead of buying spray and dealing with it... we open the door and run as fast as we can to get into the van. It's a sight everyone enjoys, I'm sure. I'll continue on with this plan until my husband is home. Nature is not my favorite right now.
- The girls and I splurged tonight and bought an almost SIX dollar watermelon (with seeds) only to cut it open and discover its the weirdest and grossest melon we've ever tasted. It's pale pink and tastes like melon rind. What am I supposed to do about that!? And.... what am I supposed to do with this watermelon craving?!
- Last negative: My throat. I just ended my antibiotic prescription a few days ago and now my throat glands are swollen again. Discouraging. I try to ignore it. But honestly it's seriously bumming me out. Back to gargling AC vinegar and salt water. I dunno. If it doesn't relieve soon I might seek an ENT. Do adults use those?

Well then. That was entirely too grumpy sounding. Ultimately, we are doing so well and the days have really been great!

Back to Christmas in July. Much happier.
We are in Iowa this Christmas and I am SO excited to be home with my babies for that special time. The Pausley family is all flying/driving here and there will be reunions, birthdays, etc.
Here are a few ideas I'd like to do this holiday season:

Only, obviously, ours would say Pausley.

I reeeeeally want to do SO much handmade this year. Loving these gift tag ideas!

I already have the door. Just love this easy, natural, old-ish looking vignette.

I remember buying one of these in college for a fundraiser and thinking I want to make them when I have a family. It's time.

So, there ya have it. My cold-weather musings tonight.
Back to reality - the sun is going down and another nice n' warm day tomorrow. :) 

The Body & Blessings

Brooklyn team, praying after their last meeting.

A big part of our world involves my husband traveling on various types of youth trips. During the "school season" the trips include weekend retreats, conferences, etc. and those are quick and wonderful little learning times. The summer, however, offers the lengthier trips and fuller weeks. At this point in the summer we've already gone through a week of VBS at our local church, a week of SOS (students offering service), a day trip to our local amusement park and several Wednesdays in a row of our summer study - hosted in our home.

Right now we're smack dab in the middle of a LONG trip week. It's day 5 that my husband has been gone and its no wonder I was feeling like an emotional train wreck last night when I went to bed. {But, I'm also blaming a certain sappy, sad, Netflix movie. WHY do we subject ourselves to those things?! }
My husband and a team of teens and leaders are in Brooklyn, NY and they'll be back on Sunday night. I miss him. Not just the security of having my man in the house, and not just his help with the children or his work around the house.... I miss him. It's truly amazing how God can bring two people together and turn them into one! My life and days really do feel incomplete without him in them. I'm so thankful for the opportunities that he has to travel and learn and serve - and I'm thankful that it's not every week. :)

But let me share with you just some of the ways the Lord has really shown me this week how much he cares for us in so many little tangible ways. I'm always blown away and so thankful.

- Sunday after church a lady stopped by and handed me a gift card to Wendy's. She mentioned how she knew she wouldn't have had time to make us a meal (which I wasn't even expecting) so here was our meal. We ended up using it that night! Such a treat to my girls and I!
- Prior to Wendy's we spent the afternoon in our friends beautiful pool. This is also such a treat for us! We are so thankful for friends who give up their family time to open up their home and pool to us. My girls were thrilled and it made our otherwise difficult Sunday evening much more pleasant.
- Yesterday one of our sweet teen girls watched my girls for a few hours so I could get grocery shopping done alone - something I've vowed to do from now on. When I shot her a text to say I was heading home she encouraged me to do something else because they were "just fine" there. :) Music to a momma's ears!
- A friend teaching me how to air up my van tires after trying to do it herself.
- Our precious Sr pastors wife dropped off ice cream and pb M&M's. She loves me!
- Encouraging check up texts and facebook messages
- A cell group of ladies who share scripture and challenging thoughts - keeps me focused!
- Air conditioning. It's HOT here and I believe I'd be losing my mind without this "extra".
- Kids who love nap time and bed time. Yep. I have amazing kids.
- Netflix. This is an extra we budget in each month (it's $7.99) and it has been wonderful on the really hot days this week to pick a fun family movie and just veg it.
- Coffee. I'm tired.

Every time my husband goes away I get a first hand look at the Body of Christ and how it was made to build up and encourage the other members. These are all blessings that I cherish. And some of them may seem silly, but, each one meets us where we are and what we needed this week.
I'll close this out with a special blessing from today.

Today was Cow Appreciation day at Chick-fil-a and the rules are simple: Dress up like a cow and get free food. I've never done it before because honestly it seems like a load of work - long lines, making costumes, taking 3 kids to fast food ALONE, etc. But we did it and it was totally worth it. We got 5 free complete meals and the girls were able to jump around the play place afterward. Wow, amazing time and such a blessing to score some yummy free food. Not to mention that it broke up our middle of the week!

We are so thankful for the body and the many blessings the Lord shows us! Here's to a fantastic rest of our long week... 5 more days :)

The Stuff of Summer

Hello from 1st Street! We are in the fullest part of our summer and enjoying every day, or at least, trying to. All my lists of projects have taken the back burner to the rest of life - and raising my three girls has really taken ALL my time. It's all good. We've gone through VBS week at church, a youth service trip here locally, a trip to Omaha to visit family (and the amazing zoo!), lots of days at the park and splash pads, etc. and I was able to jump into a ladies bible study on Wednesday nights. This weekend my husband leaves for Brooklyn, NY for 9 days and then at the end of the month we'll head north to camp in Michigan!

So many great memories have been made. Today I'll just share a taste of our fun!

At the end of June I celebrated my 33rd birthday over dinner and a Matt Kearney concert downtown. Such a great date with my guy! Now that I'm 33 I've found TWO gray hairs and notice more and more my squinty smile lines around my eyes. WHAT?! So soon?! :)

The girls started their summer workbooks last week - it was time. Our weekly routine has been going pretty good, but we are starting to have some fighting and fussing. Enter school books and somehow they magical soothe their brains. 

The Fourth of July was great this year! We went to a parade and spent the evening with friends watching fireworks. 

This Sunday we had a unique opportunity to attend an old fashioned car show where my husband preached. Afterward it was all funnel cakes & Sky rides! 

There is still so much summer left to live and we are thankful for that. :)

But I need to secretly admit that this odd 75 degree day made me smile to think that Autumn is next.