Yes is Good

Last week, I said yes.

Gabriel has been begging me to paint ever since I bought him a paint set.  Six months ago.

I always had excuses as for why we couldn't.  I was too tired.  I had to make dinner.  We didn't have two brushes, so Hallie couldn't.  It was nap time.  It was lunch time.  It was dinner time.

If you can think of an excuse, I probably gave it to him.

But last week, I finally said yes.

He was so excited!

I explained about not mixing colors, and he did his best to keep the purple out of the yellow and the black out of the red.

We gave Sister some crayons and she was just as content as if she'd had her own paintbrush, and Mama was happy not to have to clean up her mess. (I realize I won't be able to do this much longer.)

Despite his recent aversion to the camera and posing, Gabriel was more than happy to show off his masterpiece (or half of it).

And when he was finally finished, he looked at me with those big brown eyes of his and said, "Mama, we play playdoh now?"

And you know what?  I couldn't say no.

So I said yes.

Not sure what to do with it.

Makin' snakes.

I want to say yes more often.  Yes brings joy to little faces, little hands, little hearts.

And in doing so, yes brings joy to big hearts.

"Look, it's Baby Jesus!"  Um, what??

It's not about saying yes all the time.  

It's about saying yes when I can.  When I can push through being tired.  When I can postpone lunch or dinner by a half hour.  When I can make a choice to expend my own energy to give them something to do, rather than putting on a show.

In those moments, saying yes is good.

Summer Time

It's been a busy, busy summer, y'all.  Picture-heavy post coming through!

Around the middle of June, we packed up our minivan of awesomeness and made the 22-hour drive to Williamsburg, Virginia, for VACATION!  First up was my little sister's bridal shower and my little brother's graduation. Woo!

Matron of honor with the bride-to-be!

Four of the five!

Handsome grad!

Both events were kind of unreal.  I can't believe that my first sister is now married and my first brother is a high school graduate.  Where has the time gone?!

Anyway, after the shower, Drew and I drove our kids down to Myrtle Beach for a week for our first ever family vacation!  We took one of my sisters with us; she was a HUGE help watching the kids so Mom and Dad could actually get some vacay time of our own.

Here are some of the highlights of our beach trip...

Krispy Kreme -- a luxury we do not get in Houston.  Shipley's sucks. :p

All by himself on the big slide!

Keepin' cool in the shade.

Beach Babe.

"Look, Mama, it's a 'G' for Gabriel!"
I was amazed.

The week was amazing, full of water slides, swimming, date nights, sleeping in, sand, and rain.  When it was over, Whitney and I dropped Drew off at the airport and trekked back up to Williamsburg for wedding preparations and family time!

Uncle & Nephew.  Best buds.

Hanging out at Bounce House.

Hallie's first haircut!

And a long-overdue haircut for Mom!

The five sisters.

Independence Day in Colonial Williamsburg!

Papaw dedicating Hallie and Asher to the Lord.

And then Gabriel lost my phone.  (And it's still missing.  In my parents' house.  In Virginia.  And yes, it's an iPhone 5.)  It died before I realized it was missing, so I couldn't call it or even utilize Find My iPhone.

So, needless to say, I got zero pictures of the wedding festivities.  I somehow forgot that I have a digital camera in my diaper bag.  I'm so used to using my phone that I don't even think about the camera anymore. Sigh.

But anyway.  There's my summer update in (mostly) pictures.

And if you think of it, please pray that my family will find my phone.  I feel like I've lost a limb.  Haha.