CAMP INTENTIONAL

Today commences our 2nd week of summer vacation ......aghhhhh, I can literally feel my body decompressing and refueling at this very moment. Summer...I love ya!
We in the Foreman household have decided to attend "CAMP INTENTIONAL" this summer.
...What pre-tell is Camp Intentional you ask?

Well, I came up with Camp Intentional one night after having a conversation with some girlfriends about what we were going to do this summer...we live in an area where there are some really fabulous camps and activities for kids but honestly none of it appealed to me. Not necessarily the camps, they sounded great but the time constraints that would block out portions of our day did not appeal to me...especially the "Chief Driver of Here and There" side of me. So... on the drive home the more I thought about summer plans the more I realized I was craving calm and simplicity and good old fashioned "intentional" memory making with my children and husband this summer.

As most of us can attest to ....during the school year there seems to be so many demands on our time that zap some of our ability to be as "intentional" with our time as we would like. So, this summer our intentional time will be built in swim dates at our house with Luke’s class on Thursday’s, a science project a week (this was Luke’s idea), a weekly cooking lesson by mom to intentionally help my growing boy learn how to cook, and we are intentionally leaving time “unbooked” to go to the park, visit museums, practice the guitar, hit balls at the driving range, and ride bikes to the beach....and of course consume lots of homemade ice cream and "hunken" watermelon slices so juicy that the pink deliciousness streams down our hands and arms, leaving sticky reminders that we are indeed right in the middle of summertime fun.

…I’ve also decided that part of my own intentional time is to read the book “Happy Home ..a family’s guide to finding balance in a dizzybusy world” by Lorle Campos." If I find any golden nuggets I will share them here as I know we all want more balance in our lives, especially during this chapter of raising our little loves.

So, below are a few pictures from our first two weeks of Camp Intentional.....

Knott's Berry Farm

Pretend City Children's Museum in Irvine

....and just good old fashioned... climbing trees

We've also started on a project of turning Luke's room he has had since he was a baby into a "boy room"....it has been bitter sweet and Luke has shed a few tears over "loosing" this room. He has a very tender side and gets so emotionally attached to things. However, it makes me happy that he loved it so much... but I'm trying to celebrate with him how much he has grown and I am "trying" to let him make the decisions about this makeover...it has actually been easier than I anticipated, he has some great ideas of what he wants and it is fun to see his vision coming together.
These are pictures from his "baby room". He asked to keep a portion of the border in his treasure box. ;) I had the planes sky writing his name...and taped out stripes to paint along the bottom portion of the wall.

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer...and enjoying intentional moments with your loved ones!

Happy Fathers Day......."Donut Boy"

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!

Since I usually do all the writing on this blog I will speak for Toby in saying that he would not trade the name of Dad for any other title. My boys are so lucky to have him, he loves them more than life itself and makes sure they know it many times a day. This morning when Reid presented him with his picture below....Toby broke into a huge smile and scooped his littlest one up and told him how much he loved him and what a good job he did in glueing the nuts and bolts on the frame...I don't think Toby even saw that for whatever reason Reid looks cross eyed in this picture or that he refused to smile...Toby doesn't see things like that...No Toby just saw his little boy darning a neck tie and little blazer and that is all he needed to melt him and acknowledge that it was the best little picture ever that will make its way into his office at work. ....and the "I'm Nuts About You??"".....oh my, that cracked me up!
Luke's class did not make a Father's Day present so instead I interviewed him and asked him a few things about his dad....
What words describe your dad? Good at fixing things, funny, kind, creative (he always thinks of fun things to do), smart, he shares (like he always shares his ice cream sandwiches with me)
What is your favorite thing to do with him? go swimming with him and play baseball with him. I also like it when he comes to all my soccer games
Is there something you and dad do that you want to make sure you do with your kids someday? Playing frisbee golf, going camping in the Seqouia's and going out to find wood for the fires
Do you have a nickname for your dad? Yeah, Donut Boy
How did you come up with that name? A long time ago we were practicing baseball outside and I grabbed the baseball container lid and used it as a shield and I said "Hey dad how about you throw the balls at me and I'll block them with the lid so I will be like Tron"....and dad said, "Well what will my name be?" and I said, "You can be Donut Boy" ....for the record, that name has stuck but honestly Toby doesn't eat donuts (that much ;) ) so we are not sure where Luke got it from.
So, without further ado....here is one of my favorite pictures of Tron and Donut Boy......

....although I think this picture can also be titled "Toby's mini-me"

Today we also had the opportunity to spend time with my side of the family as my sister is visiting from Alabama. Below is a picture of me and my brothers and sister...I'm the short one of the bunch ;)....never realized how much shorter I was than everyone else until this picture. I don't think all of us have been under one roof since my wedding 11 years ago.

....and just a few of the grandkids, 5 were missing today, and one great grand child (yes if you can believe it my beautiful sister is a Nana...3 times over)

My Very Special Person.....by Luke

There are many things about Luke's school I love and one of those things is a tradition where this time each year they have the children think about a special person in their lives and to write an essay about them...and then invite their special person into the classroom to be celebrated and to hear the sweet words written from the child's heart!

In kindergarten Luke chose mom, last year was dad (you can read that here), and this year.....I love that my oldest son wrote from the heart about his little brother.... and this picture he drew, oh my goodness..... I just think it is just about the cutest thing I have ever seen!! Definitely a treasure I will hold onto! Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE these two boys?!!

My Brother Reid

My brother Reid is a special person in my life. He has blue eyes, blonde hair, and a little nose and mouth. He is funny, sweet, and cute too. My brother weighed 7 pounds and 3 ounces when he was born. Reid is three and he has Down syndrome and it's been a joy to watch him grow up and to get involved in more and more things.

Reid always wants to do things with me. For example, everyday when I wake up I walk into the family room and he is always sitting and waiting for me. After he sees me he says, "Dah, Dah, Wii", and pulls me over to the Wii game.

Another reason why Reid is special to me is because he always cheers me up when I'm down in the dumps. Whenever I'm sad he always does something funny or hugs me and that usually does the trick.

The last reason why my little brother is special is that he has to do everything that I do. Whenever I have baseball practice, if my mom stays he always runs out and gets involved in everything. Another example is whenever I get out my guitar he always takes it and tries to play too.

I love you Reid and I don't know what I would do without you.

Love,

Your Big Brother Luke

A Most Humble Reminder to Hug our Kids Close

This post is a humble reminder for all of us to hug our kids close because accidents happen. Tragic accidents happen.
Today I went to the funeral of one of Reid's preschool classmates. He was hit by a car in a parking lot and did not make it. It was not a fault of any parties, it was just a most horrific accident. I cannot imagine this family's grief and absolute heartache. There was not a dry eye in that church and so desperately we all wished this was not happening, to be able to rewind and go back in time so this family did not have to endure this grief. The pastor spoke to the grief of losing someone we love and how the anguish and pain is proportionate to the love felt, which as we all know as parents is a mighty, deep, and fierce love.
We had heard about this incident in the news and discussed it before we knew it was Reid's precious little friend. We read it and it hit us very hard because just a few days prior we had our own scare where Reid started to run up the sidewalk and as I looked up to chase him I saw our neighbor two doors down pulling out of his garage and down the driveway. This neighbor cannot hear out of one ear and even though I screamed and screamed he did not hear me. The more I chased Reid the more he giggled and ran faster thinking it was a game. After what seemed like slow motion I finally reached him, scooped him up and sat on the grass and cried.
Just a few days later we learned that the little boy in the accident was a sweet friend and classmate and I cried again in absolute disbelief and heartache for the family.
Accidents happen. Tragic accidents happen and they can happen to any of us which is why I share this, just as a reminder to all of us. I am going to disable comments for this particular post out of respect for this family and ask instead of commenting that you hug your kids close and say a prayer for this family who has lost their only child, their beautiful precious little boy.

Wordless Wednesday... My Sleepy-Heads!