Down By the Crik

Yesterday afternoon we were babysitting little cousins and decided to venture out to the nearby creek. We have had a lot of rain recently and the water was running high and fast. I was a little nervous and spent the entire time counting heads. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7...

But the children seemed to have no such worries and had a great time! Little Brandt sat at the edge of the water and splashed to his heart's content.

Thanks to Douglas and Freeland's help the whole outing was a success!

We came home and Freeland built a fire so that the children could roast hotdogs and marshmallows. Brandt stayed in the house with Keith and I and listened to the song Keith was practicing for his upcoming tour with Oasis Chorale.

After the boys left I asked if Keith and the children would pose for one picture for me. They all looked a bit scruffy, but here they are.

Happy Father's Day to the best daddy around!

Superkids Post

Superkids is a big part of my life, as anyone who has been reading this blog for very long knows. Today I'm sharing a post I wrote for the Superkids blog about some of the things we do that you might not hear about all of the time.

You can read it here.

If anyone is interested in knowing how to become involved in or support the work that Superkids does please contact me at erinmrtn@yahoo.com.

Big Cities, Boating, and Bowling {Oh Yeah, and Busy,Busy, Busy}

We have been just a tad busy...

Summer break is in full swing at the Martin household!

On Saturday Keith wanted to go to Harrisburg to meet a friend, so we all went and the children and I had fun wandering through the Broad Street Market, taking photos, and going to Strawberry Square and visiting The Whitaker Center where we watched the IMax film Pandas 3-D. I loved watching the familiar misty mountains of China in the film!

Monday I had a Superkids meeting in NYC. So Freeland and I headed out in the morning and he got to experience his first ride on a subway! We had a fun, though tiring day. He had to sit and wait patiently through the meeting, but it was fun to spend some one-on-one time together the rest of the day!

Yesterday we went boating with friends. It was so fun watching everyone enjoy themselves so thoroughly! The girls went tubing for the first time, Douglas (briefly) tried skiing, and Freeland got to fish. Eliana was hilarious on the tube. I expected her to be terrified. Was I ever wrong on that one! She loved it and kept motioning for us to go faster! She also seemed to not care a hoot about the importance of holding on. I was so sure she was going to slide off, but she didn't and the glory of it all remains unmarred in her memory.

And that brings us to today. I signed the children up for the Kids Bowl Free program this summer, so we are trying out bowling. I have to say, it is surprising to me how much they enjoy it!

Storytelling {An Evening at the Creek}

365 Days in Photos

Last year, on June 1, on a whim, I joined a group who was doing a 365 day photo project. I committed to taking and posting a photo every day for a year. I decided to start a blog just for the photos. Yesterday I finish the project and started again. This morning the children and I looked back through the photos from the past year.

In the past year I've gone to China twice, gotten a full frame camera, and gone to Texas twice. The girls have lost teeth, Eliana started music lessons, both girls learned to tie their shoes, Eliana learned to ride her bike, and Keith and Douglas ran a half marathon. There have been countless days of enjoying sunshine, rain, and snow. We've gone hiking, wading, running, ice-skating, swimming, and rollerskating. I've done photo shoots in various locations. We celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, and weddings. We have spent time with family and friends. And it is all documented. One day, one photo at a time.

Looking back is always fun. My plan is to print the blog so that we can look through the book and see our year in photos. God has been good to us again this year! It makes it even more obvious when you look at the simple beauty of everyday.

You can follow my photo blog here. I'm looking forward to seeing what the next 365 days hold!

To Think I Grew Up In The Desert

And now I live here:

I am trying to be more scheduled about our day. This morning I made lists for each child. On each child's list I had run one mile as an entry. So this afternoon we all headed out to a nice running trail nearby (with Douglas at the wheel!) so that they could run.

I walked along this beautiful trail while they all did a really great job of running!

Of course, they all ended up going twice as far as I did. That is one of the advantages of having older boys! I'm not worried about the younger ones being out of my sight as long as the boys are with them!

As we headed back to our vehicle Freeland picked a few wild strawberries for me. They were so sweet and delicious!

And again I'm reminded that in the ordinary you find the extraordinary.