my last morning with them

i didn't know what to expect last august, when rebekah, joshua and bailey went off to school and i had 9 months of days with these 3 little boys.

i know i cried. i was losing all the kids that TALKED to me in "real" conversation. i was losing my helpers. and i was overwhelmed with the job ahead of me...trying to make up for 4 missed years and 1 missed year with 2 of my sons. and not lose my baby in the process. 

but, just as i hoped and trusted, it's been a great year. hard? YES.

but great. sweet. deep. i've had a BLAST with these 3 little boys. 

and, just as i grieved the changes that happened when the school year started, i'm grieving the changes that will happen as it ends. 

today was my last morning with them.

(the next 2 mornings are full of stuff....)

we went to the farm and picked cherries and raspberries.

it was a GORGEOUS morning!
{random and won't make sense...but i also fell deeply in love with a little girl in a country that i've hardly ever given any thought to before this morning...you'll hear more about that later! :-)}


doesn't that sky. those boys. take your breath away?!?

lincoln and his questions are just a {very patience-testing} part of my day. i don't really think about it anymore. he can ask questions faster than you can answer them. 

as we were signing in when we arrived at the farm, and putting our bracelets on, i looked up at the girl behind the counter. i could feel her eyes on me. our eyes met and she whispered, "wow." i then realized lincoln had been peppering me with questions since the minute we walked in (maybe 4 minutes. he'd probably asked 20 questions.) i had to smile. and pray for his teachers next year. :-)

 i LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture!

just to keep it real. as wonderful as it was, it was also a very typical morning. you'll notice lincoln SITTING while the others are playing. he took his bracelet off after being told NOT to. so he didn't get to play...he got to watch.

lincoln is saying, "cheese." closing a chapter. opening a new one. 

summer...here we come!