I figured we’d sit down and have a little tea together, shall we?  I’m having a cup of English Breakfast, with a splash of vanilla soy milk.  You?

July rushed right past us, although I thoroughly enjoyed all of its glory.  The weather has been literally, too good to be true and I am not sorry that I have spent most of my days outside breathing in this fresh air.  The sun feels glorious, the pools have been refreshing and I just LOVE Summer so much!

I slacked in my reading a bit in July; I was in a bit of a reading funk, but I think it’s safe to say I’m in the clear.  I’ve just finished several books that I do recommend! Class Mom was hilarious.  Evie Drake Starts Over was simply adorable, heartwarming and just a good old fashioned good read.  I literally finished my book club read hours before our meetup and it was quite the page turner towards the end, Watching You.

I’ve been studying, watching videos and really working more on our real estate business.  I am such a learner that it is half annoying (to me or my husband more, I’m not sure) that I can’t just dive into things without really giving it a hard go at researching.  I know success means sometimes you throw yourself into it, fail along the way and figure it out (I feel like that’s how we got here so far on my end!) Some of the biggest lessons were mistakes that were made.

I’m still riding in my ‘flow of authentic energy’ and am crafting my final blog post regarding my work with my life coach Lindsay Preston and two of her courses that I finished.

Other than that, we’ve eaten our weight in soft serve ice cream, delicious cheeseburgers and all the tasty Summer eats.  Of course I’ve been balancing it all with my daily workouts and eating clean mostly 80% of the time.  I know that life is too short to not enjoy the delicious food!

It’s hard to believe this will be my last year as an official “Stay at home mom” and while I’m aware that I work at home too, I can’t help but feel such a twinge of excitement and sadness all at once.  The other day I sat on our front porch as Brookie ran around, in her 6.5 year old glory.  I could feel the pull of years past, when she was only a 6 month old baby girl.  Her goofy grin, her bright shiny blue eyes and bald baby head–my heart ached for a quick moment, as I held that thought tight, knowing full well how beautiful it was to be with her every step of the way.  Bradley too, but this gift of motherhood is so amazing.  Time flies way too fast and while you’re in the midst of it, it sometimes feels like a never-ending carousel ride of bottles, diapers, bath and bedtime, sticky kisses, potty training, “mommy” this and “mommy” that… and yet I can see the quiet future, not so far off in the distance.  I see the quick kiss, if I’m lucky, and the running out the door.  The days where friends will be cooler than parents, and activities will take more of their days.  So I settle in, quietly here, with this small cup of tea.  I let them bake M&M cookies with me and make the hundredth peanut butter and jelly sandwich for the Summer.  I stop and cuddle with them if they ask.

I know babies don’t keep, but I am so very grateful that the memories of them do.

(P.S. These cookies really are perfection!! Follow the recipe below.)

{Recipe Here}