The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Mother

This past Saturday, my mom had her 21st annual Symposium for Parkinson's disease.  Savannah has been an active volunteer with my mom's support groups since around second grade.  In the past two years, she become a regular part of the once a month support group meetings and a great help at their annual walk-a-thon and symposium.  She's made cupcakes for the silent auction for the past two years.  This year her cupcakes brought in $70.00!!  All donated to the American Parkinson's Association.  The National newsletter has decided to run a story on her volunteer work!  We are of course, proud of her generous heart.  She just loves these patients and let me tell you...they love her!  So many people came up to me to tell me just how much she means to them and how special she is...like I didn't already know! ;) Bailey did a bit of volunteering at the Symposium as well, in his own way.  He and some friends created a stri...

It's mid-summer, mid-July, mid-week, .  Just four weeks left of summer vacation for me, five weeks left for the kids.  Right around now, I begin to get a bit of summer cabin fever.  My creative juices that started the summer are running dry.  The excitement of free time and no schedule, are now beginning to wear on me a bit.  The idea of waking up whenever, and having nothing major to do, now instills an odd bit of anxiety...or guilt, you might say.  My carefree spirit is slowly being pushed out.  It happens almost every summer around this time, then suddenly August is here and I totally regret this feeling I have right now of wanting something more to do.  Is this adult boredom!?  The funny thing is, the kids are not experiencing this "fever" at all.  They are content.  I have the greatest kids, really I know I've said it before, but they are so easy.  Sure, they are fighting a bit, and driving me crazy occasiona...

{this moment} from Soulemama...www.soulemama.com   {this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.        

4th of July has two meanings in the Boyen house.  Of course, it's our Nations birthday and celebration of freedom, but it's also an important anniversary for us.  I like to think of the 4th as the "unofficial" Boyen Bunch day.  You see, 23 years ago on the 4th of July, John and I met and fell in love, almost at first sight. (Yes it can happen!) Now, I say almost because it took me a couple of nights (two more, to be exact), before I was convinced he was the one.  It was really more of a confidence issue for me than anything...I mean, how could a guy this cute, this sweet, this cool and this old (he was 21 and I was 18), be into little ole me!?  Plus, boys in high school hadn't been all that nice to me, so I had some trust issues.  I'm glad John was persuasive in proving, all guys aren't jerks, and some guys do keep their word.   We had a summer whirlwind romance, that I'm happy to say, is still going strong after 17 years of marriage and 4 great kids! ...

So far this summer we've... ~Enjoyed our backyard and all it's Texas charm, including the fire pit for roasted marshmallows and the peaceful hammock.    Sister time. ~The heat of summer hasn't quite arrived, so when asked if they could go to the park, they weren't met with a "No...it's too hot!"  At the park near the Igo library after a little book time. ~Of course, there's been a lot of swimming at our favorite pool!   An activity all four love! Savannah just loves this hat on me...;) Nighttime swims are fun too. ~Our creative time this summer has included lots of painting with acrylics.  All of us really enjoy being creative in some capacity...sometimes painting, drawing, colored pencils, clay and a recent new craft, peg people. Some of our works in progress. ~And then there was the birthdays!  Three to celebrate in a four day time span.  My niece Brieley turned 5 and opted for lunch at Red Rob...