Up close

Here is our backyard in it's current state.

My husband can't stand it.
My kids love it.
I have had no choice but to embrace it-
all of it...
from the lovely eye catching tarp backdrop, to it's dirt, mud, rocks, and poker weeds (that absolutely kill when you step on them..b/c we are barefoot people to the core, all of us minus Brian, have embraced this daily occurrence).
The other day Brian was lamenting quietly to me how much the yard bothers him. He continued sharing his vision for how it will look one glorious day, where the grass will be, the kid's trampoline, our garden, trees, maybe even a hammock one day. Addie came in & caught the end of his audible daydream and joyfully declared, "Daddy, I just love our backyard too! It is like a magnificent garden (she meant just as it is). Look how green it is and all the beautiful flowers (referring to the yellow weeds)."

Next week Brian's dreams will come true. We just got approval from the city to make our backyard safe- all the dirt will be graded and a retaining wall will be put in. Grass & pretty things to follow. My kids will be lost without their backyard just as it is. It is childhood at it's core in my eyes. I grew up an explorer. I ate the same kinds of weeds my kids find and eat in our backyard & I too, called them sour treats. I must say it is quite a feat to see past the tarp that runs 120ft long, the mud, and the weeds that grow past my kids shoulders, but after 6 months my kids are just scratching the surface of all that is to be explored in this mighty backyard. They have dug countless man-made ponds & constructed boats to float in them and the next day called those ponds bath tubs and sat in them. One day I looked out the window and Addie was sitting waist high in the muddy water. And with the biggest smile she said, "Mom, I've been sitting here so long its warm!" You go girl, my sweet Addie. They make special soups for me, scrumptious salads, and cakes made out of anything they can find. Emma makes dolls, garlands, and bracelets with the weeds and has made a little village of rock people. Titus shovels and rakes to his little hearts content. He has combed every inch of that backyard with his weed whacker, leaf blower backpack, drill and saw, usually looking just like this...

(yes, those are my shoes he's wearing...he prefers to wear shoes like his dad, only he'll grab any shoes he can find-
one too many pokers in those tender little feet)
I decided to take to the backyard before it gets leveled. I got up close to some of the things that make it not so appealing in most people's eyes. Nehemiah and I took these pictures together. We found that sometimes the closer you get the more beautiful things look. Even the tarp looked beautiful in the picture we took :) My kids always seem to make lemonade out of lemons and I love that about them. To stop and take a closer look and to find that almost anything can be turned into fun or into beauty is truly a gift. Kids can do that can't they?

Here is Emma on Mt. Exploratorium. She is making Leaf Girl.


...and just because, here are Gwenyth & Nehemiah-they spoon just like they were in my tummy.

Somebody special turns 2 tomorrow!
Have a great weekend!
Don't forget to take a closer look-
sometimes the closer you get,
the more amazed you will be at the world God made for us.
We are blessed weeds or no weeds.