Summer in full swing....

Sometimes I wonder where the saying the "Lazy Days of Summer" has come from.  For those of you who know me, Summer is my FAVORITE time of year.  (I know, some of you are cringing right now as you read this.)  And many in my family are also.  You won't hear me complain about it being too hot or that the sun is too bright.  I LOVE IT!!

Here we are pretty much finished with the 2nd week of July.  WHAT!?  How can that be?  I feel like it was just 1 hour or so ago that I was typing about how I couldn't believe it was July 4th. 

As the kids are growing and getting older, I am realizing more and more that our Summers are going to be anything, but "lazy".  I also have come to the conclusion that we are actually going to have to "SCHEDULE" family time.

How is that possible?  We are together all of the time, some might say.  Here is a brief breakdown of what has been going on since ummmm...the final day of school.

Summer started off with a week of swimming lessons for Nathan. 

It was pretty exciting to see Nathan relax and allow himself to just float on his back during his lessons.

While Nathan was cooling off in the pool.  His big brother, Dylan, was "heating up" on the basketball court.

This is how Dylan feels about getting his picture taken.

It was pretty exciting when Dylan won an award for the Free Throw Competition that week.

While my taxi services were in full swing that week.  I also played Domestic Diva at home making sure that my older two children had all of the items necessary for their upcoming camping trip with their Youth Group to the Alive Music Festival.  As well as the packing up our family for a weekend of a Celebration of Hope at our local Relay for Life.

Which leads us to the week where Natalie had swimming lessons. 

She is a back stroking diva!

And learned how to dive & go off the board.

And Hayley & Dylan left the comforts of their home to spend time in their posh hotel outdoors.

After about 5 days away, they arrived home at the break of a new day.  (2:00am)  Exhausted, yet full of energy and stories, they made their way to the comforts of their own bed.  Upon waking up the next morning, Dylan was less than happy. 

Use your imagination of what he may have looked like.  Had a tough time trying to get a photo for memories sake.  (See above photo on how Dylan likes photos.)

His eyes were swollen shut.  (I believe he found some poison on his outdoor adventure.)

So, it was off to the ER after we dropped dad and the rest of the family off at  church for the Morning Worship Service.

Praise God for steroid shots because the next day he was ready to go and the remainder of that week was spent with the 2 oldest children helping put on Sports Camp for the community.  And the younger 2 participating in Sports Camp. 

 

Hayley & Dylan made new friends and built relationships with youth from Tennessee while helping do Community Service Projects in our local area after helping run the Sports Camp.

I thought, we were finished and would have the family back together again after that week.  However, my mom a.k.a. Mimi, really enjoys spending time with her grandchildren.  And so Hayley decided she would like to have some "only child" moments with her Mimi. 

This is Mimi holding my nephew, Jayce.  Isn't he a cutie!?

(Our family dynamic minus one family member is always different.)  Do you notice that also?

Never to fear...we were back together last Saturday to celebrate precious Natalie's 9th Birthday. 

We went fishing, and Natalie caught the 1st fish!

However, short lived, because we while we gained the one missing family member back (Hayley).  We lost 3 (Dylan, Natalie & Nathan) as they went to spend the week with Mimi.

I share all of this with you why?  I'm not real sure to be honest with you.  If you are still with me...THANK YOU!

However, sometimes I feel like through the busyness of life we get so wrapped up in all that we are doing.  That we forget to take a moment to breathe.  And to see what God is doing for us.  I am so guilty of this many times!  This morning as I woke up (believe it or not) before the sun was up I was able to hear the birds chirping.  While this season of life is very busy for this family of 6, I don't want us to be so busy that we aren't able to build relationships with those we love.  I don't want us to lose focus on the greater picture and calling that God has placed in our lives. 

While this has been one of the busiest summer's on record for our family.  I have realized, that we are starting to get some of that "building of relationships" back.  My children are making friends with other "like minded" youth.  They are building relationships with people "outside" their general circle of contacts.  We have had time to sit and talk with extended family and spend time with them as well.

Last night we were reunited with a dear friend, who has spent the last year in China.  We consider her family (as well as her family).  Here is a precious young woman age 18 who was obedient to the calling of God in her life to travel to China for 10 months and be a light unto others.  As we were talking last evening, something really spoke to me.  She was sharing with me how she was asked to share with her Youth Group about her trip.  Feeling pretty comfortable with this group of individuals, she felt confident enough to just "wing-it".  She didn't really have a "scripted-plan".  And while she was feeling okay with that her father sat down and talked with her.  (Something that I am sure is not uncommon for them).  But while he was talking with her he made it a point to share with her the following:

That she didn't know what God was doing in the hearts of these young people she was going to be sharing with.  She can be an encouragement to them to help them to see that they CAN be used by God.  It doesn't just have to be someone like her a young MK, who has lived overseas for a long period of their life. 

That really spoke to me because, am I sharing that same vision with my children?  Am I helping each of them even at a young age to see their strengths and encouraging them to seek out how God wants to use them in their lives.  Through all of the crazy schedules and "fun" that they are having are they taking time to reflect on the talents God has placed into them?

What about you?  Do you find summer to truly be a lazy relaxed time?  Do you find yourself running constantly?  What do you do to keep your family time memorable?