I’m not great about writing about everyday life things.  I try, but short of presenting you with a list of things that fill our days, I seem incapable of putting the stuff of our days into words.

But, I can tell you that there is a sweet, toddling, willful, affectionate little girl where I’m sure there was a beautiful baby girl just yesterday.

I can tell you that despite my very best intentions, my gardens have somehow become overwhelmingly weed infested – and though this shouldn’t take me by surprise, it still manages to discourage me all the same.

I can tell you that it is taking me way too long to refinish my screen doors, and I’m paranoid about picking paint colors that will end up looking hideous when I see them on our house – and then I console myself with the reality that any painting that happens will be at such a snail’s pace that changing colors if they prove offensive should really require almost no effort at all.

I can tell you that I still haven’t figured out how to effectively schedule our days so that I don’t hear “what can I do?” every five minutes.

I can tell you that I still love watching kids play baseball, and that our laundry piles shrink but become so much more needing to be washed, and that our Buddy is the only one of the kids that gets sunburned like me, and that Ava stares longingly out the window when the older kids get to play outside but she has to be inside.

I can tell you that we have the best car travelers for kids, that I am thankful for free swimming lessons, that Isabelle has started to love books, and that I never knew how fast band-aids could get used up.

I can tell you that, even though most people might contend we’ve hardly had any warm days, I am ready for warm weather to be done, but I’m nervous about the new school year and my shortcomings that always seem to be the undoing of my homeschooling plans.

I can tell you that Tim and I have very different ideas of what it means to have a break and that it can be hard to find a compromise at times.

I can tell you my mother-in-law is moving almost next door to us in less than a month and…well, that’s really all I can say about that.

I can tell you that I’m still always tired because Isabelle still always wakes up at least twice, but usually 3 or more times a night.

I can tell you that I’m thankful for Tim’s job, and thankful for fresh veggies, and thankful for flowers, and thankful for my husband and kids.

I can tell you that life rarely looks like what I’ve hoped for and it can be hard for my idealistic self to come to grips with, but I can also tell you that God always proves Himself to be more and better than I could have ever hoped for, and that the recognition of this reality – that He is constant, unchanging, faithful and good in the midst of a life that inevitably brings disappointment and uncertainty and difficulty – is necessary for keeping my soul anchored and my gaze set on Him.  And that’s true all the time, but it’s been more obvious lately, so I guess it still counts as a summer thing.

Okay, so it turned into a list anyway.  It’s just the only way I can write about these things, I guess.