We slept in this morning – that’s a rarity for this family, except for Chris, of course. But when you’re a night owl, it’s hard to get up at the crack of dawn even when there are three persistent children taking turns standing beside the bed staring at you. Or worse, tugging at the blankets in an effort to get up. See! There are some good reasons for letting them stay up late some nights. But then again, today we just have Lily and Bella here. Connor spent the night at Joe’s house.

Then we let the girls decide how we should spend the afternoon. I expected a trip to the mall, or a plea for some friends to come over but instead Lily suggested hanging out on the porch. She’s really grown to love spending time out there this summer but then we’re blessed to have a wide old fashioned porch complete with a swing and lots of room for comfy chairs. It’s shady and the ceiling fans Joe suggested installing combat the vicious summer temperatures. It really is the most pleasant way to while away an afternoon.

So the girls are armed with Barbies and accessories and I’ve got a pile of magazines I’ve been meaning to read. Lately I seem to buy a lot, I just never seem to do more than flip through and look at a few pictures. This is the perfect time to go through them. At first its just the three of us, that is until I decide to run in and grab something cold for us. A few popsicles and a pitcher of ice cold lemonade and suddenly I have a shadow following me back outside. Chris is barefoot and tousle- haired and still more than a little sleepy but he’s got his guitar with him.After a popsicle break he asks Lily for a request and then spends the next hour singing and strumming along to nursery rhymes and catchy little kiddie songs. Wonder how his fans would react if they could hear him right now? But the answer really doesn’t matter. He’s got an audience of three who thinks he’s number one. And that’s all that really matters, right? And somehow I don’t think I’m still going to get around to looking through those magazines.