Ninety degrees.

Fourteen

That's how many years I've been married to this man. Before fourteen, we went on quite a few mission trips together during our college days. Before fourteen we tried setting the other up with our good friends. He even trusted me to start cutting his hair when we were just buddies (either he was cheap or he wanted an excuse to sit close to me...). A few years before fourteen we debated and fought like siblings. And then we got engaged and never looked back.

Fourteen years ago, we walked Purdue graduation together, then began our married life with a journey to Arizona for Tyler's first job. We were young, half-way fearless, but mostly cheap, so we slept in the back of our U-Haul to save money on our drive out. It was a fourteen-footer (see fourteen is magical!), and with hardly any furniture to our names, our 6'3 and 5'10 frames had plenty of space to sprawl out on sleeping bags for the night. We even put safety first and jammed a wood block in the top of the back door since we couldn't lock ourselves in from the inside.

See, I did use my college education for something other than changing diapers. Street smart, I tell ya. Unless you're talking about being locked in the back of a U-Haul on a drive out West in the middle of blazing July heat.

Good thing we spent the weekend in Chicago celebrating, because on our anniversary night we're taking four energetic children to the local fair. At fourteen you splurge, and then you get practical, because there are traditions to keep and family night fair deals that can't be missed. Tonight we won't talk about dreamy love. Instead we'll talk about the outrageous cost of fair corndogs, how three year olds can't possibly behave in 100 degree heat, and we'll encourage our mini 4-H'er with gushy words about his coin collection displayed in an egg carton.

All in the name of love, of course.

Fourteen.

At fourteen, fancy Chicago meals turn into conversations about our kids, and leisurely strolls down Michigan Avenue turn into photo shoots of elite cars that our boys will absolutely flip over. At fourteen, we choose the American Girl store over Nordstroms, and she doesn't even own one yet. Afternoons in famous city parks freeze in time long enough to answer texts from a nine year old, who is beyond excited to report that his grandma is playing Hearts with him while the little ones nap. Quiet hotel moments become beautiful times of prayer as husband and wife, lifting our family - and each of our children specifically- up to the One who made it all possible fourteen years ago today.

Fourteen has changed us. Physically, demographically, and in numbers.

And fourteen couldn't be sweeter...

"The Lord has done great things for us,

and we are filled with joy..." - Psalm 126:3

The one MUST on my summer list... love lindsey

My kids are growing up. Surely mine aren't the only ones. This girl was just a baby yesterday, and now... she's a mover and a shaker. I watched her in swimming lessons today and couldn't believe the little girl that's transforming before my eyes.

I want time to stop so I won't forget.

I always think I'll remember everything from their little years. The cute faces unique to just them. The pudgy bellies and crooked smiles. The adventurous spirits and playful moments. The lazy summer days of following them around outside, exploring and interacting.

Letting them just be themselves.

My remembering fails me more often than I would like to admit (can you still have pregnancy brain without actually being pregnant?). But even though I can't make time stand still, I can capture some of these priceless moments and keep them as memories for a lifetime. I plan to do just that this summer with love lindsey.

I walked through my kitchen the other day and looked up at the photos of each of my four kids hanging on the wall. It was at that moment that I realized how pathetic I am.

Tess's latest professional picture? When she was sixteen months old. Yikes. Do you know how much changing happens between sixteen months and three? Tyler even requested out of the blue this week that I get an updated photo of her on the wall. You know it's bad when he notices.

So I found out about an amazing summer deal that my photographer friend Lindsey is offering right now (don't you love it when you know friends with mad skills?), and it's simply too good not to share with my local friends. Get this...

You know you have thirty minutes. And if you're like our family, if you skip one round of McDonald's, you have thirty dollars (now there's a tragedy, folks). This might possibly be the best thirty minutes and thirty bucks you'll spend all summer, because the results will last long after the fireflies (fireflies sound so much more romantic than mosquitos, don't you think?) have disappeared for the season.

And for the record, it's lifestyle photography, otherwise known as no-stress photography. Ha. She captures your kids as they just do their thing. No posing. No forced head tilts. No cheesy fake backgrounds. Just natural personality through and through. And you'll look back on her photos and think to yourself, "Ah, I remember when she used to make that cute face...," instead of saying, "Look how miserable she was sitting still for that long." Finally, someone invented something that works for kids like mine.

You know, the ones who don't sit still for more than ten seconds.

Lindsey has creatively chosen different styles of locations in town (from country to urban), and different dates to suit busy people like you, and because I love you, I'm getting this info to you now before she fills up. But you won't want to mess around, people, because she is just that good.

You won't regret taking advantage of this unique offer! First come, first served, and the first mini-sessions start THIS SATURDAY!

P.S. You must reserve your session time... double click on the schedule above to zoom in on how to contact Lindsey.

Need more convincing? Check out Lindsey's website and blog to see some of her incredible work. I promise you won't be able to say no. :)

Happy memory making this summer with the ones you love...

A birthday party, fourth child style...

Moments like these are what make busy moms glad they stayed up until 1:00am to make a last minute birthday cake. She never smiles this big when she first wakes up.

Last week was one crazy week. We made a very exciting trip to Cincinnati to see the newest cousin on Thursday and Friday. Tess's birthday fell on Saturday, but I got home and quickly got to work on the baby shower I was scheduled to help throw on Sunday in Bluffton (for another new cousin... babies everywhere in this family, and we love it!). We had already decided to lay low for Tess's birthday with all of the traveling, and I even talked myself into no cake... just a candle stuck into something at some point in the day.

Wow. This is fourth child thinking, for sure. Good thing I'm so far behind on scrapbooks that they'll never know the difference. And good thing you don't remember anything from when you're three anyway. But there are those simple moments that are worth the effort, even if they won't remember it a year from now. Or next week. After I couldn't stand it any longer, the cake went in the oven at 11:00pm the night before her birthday. I had no cute plan or even a theme. No matching napkins and streamers. I scrounged around for anything remotely girly and party-like (hard to find in this house!), and began decorating the kitchen at midnight.

She loves babies, and this is as creative as I get on a whim. Heh. Her surprised face when she woke up the next morning.... totally worth every minute of lost sleep. The great thing about having three brothers is that you always have a party on your hands. They cheered and sang and cheered some more, and didn't even fight over her presents.

Probably because they were all pink.

As much as she gets in their space, I think they've still all asked at some point why they can't marry her. She's still spunky and spirited, but she's finally maturing in her behavior and is becoming such a fun little personality. A day doesn't go by when we don't laugh hysterically at her antics. She was able to attend VBS while I volunteered this year, and every night multiple leaders would come to me with the funniest stories about her (they usually had something to do with her expressiveness, extreme silliness, or her crazy good three-year-old dance moves). One leader's comment was, "She's so adorable because she's hilarious and she doesn't even know it."

I couldn't agree more.

Thanking God for his faithfulness (and help!) these last three years. Tess, you are such a gift.

Happy 3rd Birthday!