The days are long...

...but the years are short.

I ran into a friend at the grocery store the other day.  Her two boys are grown and married and live far away on opposite sides of the country.  I had Mr. Mister with me and she marveled at how he'd grown since she'd last seen him.  And then she told me, "I'd give anything to have two weeks with my boys that young again.  To sit and play and cuddle with them.  I never thought they'd both be this far away."  And before she left, grocery cart surely less full than it once was, her eyes brimmed with tears and she said, "The days are long but the years are short."  

As I walked away, grocery cart much fuller than it once was, my eyes brimmed with tears, too, and those words rang through my mind.  The days are long but the years are short.  

Isn't that so true?  I have often thought about that same idea without those words to describe it so well.  These days full of noise and activity and no down time can seem so long sometimes, leaving me exhausted and secretly longing for the quiet that comes after they are all finally tucked in for the night.  But then I look back and wonder how these little ones grew this old so quickly.  Literally, where did the years go?  

And sometimes I wonder what the future may hold.  What will they be like when they are grown and married?  Where will they live?  Who will they be?  That day seems so far away.  Almost like it will never really happen because at this point I can't even imagine the day that everyone will get in the car by themselves.  But I know the years will not slow down.  I will not get these days back.  These days where Mr. Newton giggles his way through the itsy bitsy spider and Mr. Mister reads his way through his first books and our Little Miss cruises her way through the rooms of our home.  These moments are such gifts, such treasures to hold onto.

So once again, I am reminded to be present where I am.  To love them well today.  To put down my to do list that will always be there, to look past the laundry and the clutter and the noise and to get down on the floor with them and hold them just a little longer.  Because while these days can feel so long, I don't want to miss the years.

February Fun Part 4 - Waterpark

I thought I'd finish my February updates before March is over!  Our last big event of February was our annual trip to an indoor waterpark with the PA fam.  It's always such a fun weekend with them and so nice to be warm in the middle of a long winter!

 I only got a few pics on my phone because we were busy playing the whole time.  The kids had so much fun. Mr. Mister was adventurous and tried some of the bigger slides this year.  Mr. Newton was happy to splash around and jump on waves in the wave pool.  And our Little Miss loved crawling and splashing in the baby area. 

 

And of course, Papa took the boys to the arcade before we left.  This was one of their favorite parts.

The day after we got home, Mr. Mister slept til 10am and took a three hour nap that afternoon.  I think they were worn out!

February Fun Part 3 - Celebrating Life!

There were two very special celebrations of life in February.  First, I went to an adoption shower for a very dear friend from college who I haven't seen in years.  She and her husband live several states away and are very close to bringing home two little ones from the Congo! 

It is so refreshing to my soul to spend time with her and it was an honor to celebrate this huge milestone with her.  They are not home yet but praying for the rest of the waiting time!




And of course, the celebration of our girlie's first birthday.  We had a family dinner the weekend before and a simple playdate and lunch on her birthday with some other 1 year old friends.  It was a fun celebration of a life worth celebrating!

February Fun Part 2 - Date Nights!

We had two fun nights out in February.  The first was a wedding (I forgot to take pictures).  Our kids were invited but we gladly took a night out by ourselves instead! I love weddings when you are so excited for the couple to be married.  This was one of those weddings...they both never stopped smiling.  

Our second date night was a night of worship with Jesus Culture.  It wasn't a typical concert.  It was a night of prayer, ministry, teaching and worship.  My soul needed that night -  it came at a time when I needed a very real reminder of God's greatness and the magnitude of His love for me.   I was so refreshed by the worship and by remembering how real God is... that He is not a God who is far off, but that Jesus dwells in me and with me.

Here's a quick video of the worship.

An extra fun part was that we ran into the worship band after it was over.  It was fun to be able to tell them how much of an impact their ministry has had on our family. 

And we told Josh, the drummer, that he's a legend in our house.  

The boys love to watch the Jesus Culture videos and drum along with him on their bucket drums!

(although whenever I ask them to play more quietly, they ask why Josh gets to play so loud!)

February Fun Part 1 - Hockey

Our February was packed with fun events.  I was going to post them all in one post but there are too many fun pictures so I'll break it up.

First up, Miami hockey game.  This has become an annual Christmas present for Daddy and Mr. Mister but this year, Mr. Newton and I got to go too!  (Grandma N. was perfectly happy to have some one on one time with Miss S).  The night was full of unexpected blessings along the way.



We met my sister and her husband there.  We had standing room only tickets because seats are sold out way far in advance.  But upon arrival, my brother-in-law ran into a family friend who works for the university who had extra tickets for box seats.  We happily took him up on his offer and spent the majority of the game watching from above (and eating some sweet treats from the catered meal!).

We moved down toward the ice for a period to give the boys a more typical hockey game experience (and so that next year they don't wonder why we're sitting in the cheap plastic seats!)

After the game, Daddy took them to where the players were exiting and they ended up getting high fives and pieces of hockey sticks the players had broken during the game.

As if all of that wasn't enough, it ended up to be Skate with the Hawks Night...such a fun surprise!
They gave out free skates and we got to skate around and talk with the players.

The boys loved ice skating and getting autographs on their hockey sticks.
Here they are with their favorite player.

 

Then we ran into the players afterwards as they were heading out after the game (that means we stayed way too late!).  It was such a fun night and definitely fueled lots of family room hockey games around here.

Can't wait til next year!