A month of celebrations: July

I wanted to write a  monthly review last week, but I was eager to send out the book review of 936 Pennies: Discovering the Joy of Intentional Parenting.

Since I finished that one, I just started The Better Mom: Growing in Grace between Perfection and the Mess. 

Funny thing, it was a rough day the first day I opened this book so it seemed very fitting that this sentence was in the first chapter: "So what if being a mom who seriously wonders how she can handle the mess that is on her plate is exactly where God wants her to be?"  Well, sounds fitting!  I'm about chapters in and have not loved it as much as 936 Pennies: Discovering the Joy of Intentional Parenting. but I definitely have earmarked some pages in it. Stay tuned for a future review. 

July started off with supper and fireworks at my brother's house for July 4th, then a quick trip with my mom and sister for my cousin's bridal shower. Both were great times of conversation with family! 

One of the big highlights of the month was our (hopefully) annual sibling reunion in a restored 100 plus year old farm house with plenty of space!  Living 7 hours away from each other hinders the amount of get-togethers we'd love to have, so we try to meet half-way to even up the driving. We love doing AirBNB's because they are so economical and spacious!  And this one provided us with a playset and trampoline for the cousins. :-) 

We had amazing sunsets with frogs croaking in the background!  I posted a video on Instagram of the frog pond. We stayed up way too late each night after the kids were in bed, trying to soak up needed conversation and board games. And most of us agreed....it was simply way too short of time. 

We try texting, calling and using Marco Polo videos, but nothing compares to living life together for the weekend, and seeing each other's parenting adventures, joy's and challenges. It's interesting to observe the similarities and differences we have, though growing up in the same family. Equally interesting is discussing our personal perceptions of our childhood, and how that affects who we are now. 

The other big highlight was my birthday which involved LOTS of food and family time.  My husband surprised me by taking the day off so we got free birthday coffee, food at Culvers, Chevy's, Slim Chickens, and Ruby Tuesday's.  Like I said.....lots of birthday food!  The best part was the time together as a family at our favorite geese pond, and time out with my husband that night. 

( a dear friend surprised me!)

Much blessings to you! Hope that your July had at least one happy adventure!

Felicia