change, summer and other things.

It's late, late July and I am yearning for fall. It's not far off, as summer has already lost it's feel. Read, feel, not heat. Summer's heat is still alive and well. But there is a difference in how it the days feel, the breeze blows, how the evenings end and the mornings begin.  Ever so slowly changing.

A new school year is coming up, just like that. We have a little over two weeks so these days are spent buried with coffee, my planner and stacks of books. I do so love the planning aspect of homeschooling. Crisp new books and pencils, new boxes of chalk and crayons. I have three books to order, and a list of books to put on hold at our library which we will be using often this year.  If you missed it, I blogged about my curriculum choices for this year here.

Nine days until my parents make their big move and well, I'm just planning on keeping myself really busy to distract myself from the reality of it all. It's hard, but I have to remind myself over and over again that it's not about me. And that The Lord will make this work together for good.  He will. He will fill in the gaps and fill up my heart and provide in ways that I can't even imagine right now because he is faithful and he is only good.  Last week they took my big girls and headed to house hunt for a few days in NY, it was a sweet way for my girls to feel included in the big change and for them to get excited about all of the fun they will have when they visit. We will find our new normal and it will be good.

While they went to NY, I took my little girls and headed to Florida to see my best friend for a super short trip. The drive was long but oh so relaxing. My girls slept and I listened to David Platt for hours and spent time with the Lord that I have not been able to spend in...well, ever. We shopped, dipped our feet in the gulf, ate from food trucks, indulged in more chic fil a then I thought possible, and talked and talked and talked. Just what my soul needed. Props to my husband who held down the fort at home with the boys while I stole away- he is irreplaceable.

Tomorrow is Sams Day. Yep, Sams Club, it has its own day here among my crew because what child doesn't love passing aisle by aisle being fed samples? We load up and make a day of it, shakes at Steak 'n Shake are among one of the favorites for Sams Day, and tomorrow my mom will be joining us for the last time and we are all super excited about that!

Here is to the last few weeks left of summer- praying they bring peace, rest and new beginnings! 

Weekend Mashup

My parents are moving to New York in a few weeks, so we are trying to soak up all the time we can with them before they go! This weekend we all trekked to the "big city" for the water park. We are a water park loving family, and we try to go once in the summer every year. We'd probably go more if we lived closer.

This year was a blast! The park was the perfect size for us, small enough that we felt comfortable letting our big kids go to the some of the big water slides alone, but big enough that we didn't get bored with what was there. I will say...I wish the slides were bigger, but the kids had a blast on them as they were!

They had a big play structure for little kids, which was wonderful when you have lots of little ones- but my littles mostly loved the lazy river! There was a portion of it that brings you under a waterfall and through a little rapid water and each of my little ones squeezed in delight! Except Piper- she would lay her head on me as soon as she heard the rushing waterfall sound, smart girl.

Morris and Ava both surprised me by loving the big slides! They are usually my reserved, safe kids. But one time down the big slide and we could barely keep them off. I loved hearing Morris laugh at the top of his lungs as he neared the bottom of the slide, and I'm grateful they had an uncle and papa that took them down the slides over and over, and over and over. My big girls too, took a step and went down the slides in single tubes alone! Having bigger kids is a lot of fun, and as I think about the times that we are having now I pray that we will be able to enjoy these things together with them as they are teens.

It would not be a complete trip without  our sweet Adam shutting down the entire children's area by deciding it was a great place to use the bathroom. Yes, it definitely happened, because well, Adam. Lucky for us, my husband already snatched him up and had him in the bathroom by the time it was discovered and shut down, so it saved us from a lot of embarrassment and supplied us with some great conversation topics for later!

We ate a dinner of ice cream sandwiches and cereal, we almost slept in and were of course, in Potter family fashion, late for church the next morning. My kids are already asking to go back, and I'm already daydreaming of next years trip to a different water park. Also I might add, perk to having a large family: we qualified for the group rate which was a decent savings!

We are heart broken that my parents are leaving- but we are truly thankful for these weeks we get to spend with each other and the adventure of road trips, snow and mountains that are in our future!