Remember Being 12

Summer has been 12 for almost 1 month now. I can't believe it! She is loving Junior High (which I certainly didn't), being a Beehive, and just loves all her friends. The girls here have been so amazing here in Gilbert, AZ, and have just welcomed Summer with open arms. Of course she has a jillion friends because who doesn't like Summer?! I am so proud of the young woman she is becoming. She has so much more courage and faith then I ever had at that age. She knows who she is and doesn't lower her standards for anybody. She is such an amazing example to me. I just got called to be the Beehive adviser and am looking forward to spending more time with Summer and the amazing youth that surround her. They truly lift my spirits and want me to be better. So for Summer being 12 is great! I am so glad that she is loving it more than I did and that I get to relive it again with her, except this time having much more confidence in myself since I am actually 34 and not 12. Children grow so fast, but it is so amazing watching them grow. I am so glad I have been enjoying the journey even when it has been really hard to do so at times. It is all worth it. I love my kids! They are my joy!

Joshua's Day

On this amazing day, it was Joshua's turn to go on a date with mom. Every two weeks it's one of the kidos turn to go out with mom or dad and do an activity of their choosing. Joshua chose to go out for ice cream and he chose me to go with him. Of course I chose Baskin Robbins. I always get rocky road and mint chocolate chip. It hasn't changed since I was young. He did eat his favorite peanut butter and jam sandwhich on wheat bread before we went.( Josh and I are the only ones that will eat whole wheat bread.) Joshua ordered chocolate and I ordered my regular. When I got to what I thought was rocky road, I soon figured out it was simply chocolate. No nuts, no marshmallows. Now that I am looking at the picture I can clearly see, no nuts, no marshmallows I was disappointed at first and was going to stomp right back in and demand my rocky road. But then I realized with the way my brain works, I probably did say chocolate. I also thought that since Joshua was eating chocolate, why not me. I could enjoy his chocolate experience with him. It is so cool because 2 years ago he couldn't even stand to eat ice cream. Now he loves it. So Josh and I quietly ate our ice cream outside in the beautiful weather and enjoyed every little bite. No distractions with conversation. It was all about the ice cream experience. We had a yummy time and loved being able to eat it outside. Joshua loves to be outside as much as I do. I love you Bubsy! (I call him Bubsy because he likes bugs bunny so much and I just started calling him that one day. He totally gets the old Warner Brother cartoons. He just laughs and laughs. I love when he giggles!)

Thoughtful Husband

Andy was outside doing yard work, the kids were running in and out, riding bikes, playing in the rain for a bit, etc. I was just listening to all the beautiful sounds going on outside and loving the fresh air as I did my inside work. My sweet husband cut these off our bush and had Summer bring them into me. That little gesture made me feel huge amounts of love. It reminded me of the day when we were engaged and he brought me a black tulip. I had told him once I thought it would be cool to see a black flower. He remembered and saw a deep purple tulip in some ladies yard. He knocked on her door and asked if he could have one of her tulips. I have been talking about how much I love the flowers on our bushes. It was so thoughtful for him to cut some for me just like it was 14 years ago. Gestures like that still make my heart melt. Thanks Babes!

The Beginning of The Blog

Today is the day I start a blog. I am so excited because I love journaling and the idea of writing with pictures is so cool. Plus I can't stand to scrapbook.

So just so everyone knows this is all for me. I'm willing to share it with whoever if you want to check out what our family is up to or find out what is going on in my mind and heart. So if you want to comment I would love to hear from you, but I'm doing this for myself and my family. Writing my thoughts, feelings, and happenings is something I love to do and I'm starting to like taking pictures a bit more. I am hoping that this will be more of a motivator. So here we go into the lives of the Crazy Maxfield 7. By the way I got the name of our blog from Andy. Madmax is what he has always used for email and well we know where he got 7 from.

So today when I woke up at 8 am it was cloudy and 71 degrees outside. I couldn't believe it. Not your typical weather for Gilbert, AZ in Sept. I hurriedly opened every window in the house and the cool breeze and fresh air was invigorating! Now most people would think that this looks like an icky day. I certainly did when we lived in Missouri. But here it is an unusual site to see and it meant a little bit of coolness and a break from the sun, which we really do love, but it's nice to have a little variety just every once in a while. Thank you clouds for coming out today so my family could enjoy the day outside!