Want to see how many things we can do in a day during school holiday? I present to you: Monday. Today’s video features Benjamin’s current favorite song- playing on repeat until Wyatt has his fill and starts shouting “MUSIC OFF!” 😂 I’m getting a bajillion steps a day, drinking all the caffeine, eating gummy vitamins while I give them to my kids, and making the most of a fleeting season of life. Behind the scenes, Benjamin’s song is extra relevant. We’re excavating for joy when we need to, and going out to seek it till we find it…

I will never ever ever ever skip an opportunity to spend time with all three of my boys together in God's wide open spaces. His glorious creation has a way of reminding us that we are made to be a part of something bigger, something better than what we're aware of in our regular day to days. The ocean keeps roaring. The tides keep coming, never the same but never changing at the same time. The sounds, smells, and breathtaking glory call us back to who we are. We are His. I'm so deeply thankful He's let me love these three so up close and personally for all of the days He's given me.

We celebrated Father’s Day on Saturday morning with an epic trip to one of our favorite places in Cape Town - the Friends of the South African Air Force Museum! (See our post from last week about it!) Chris has never been able to come with us, and it’s right up his alley. Passionate volunteers giving their time, tankers, fighter jets, legendary stories and equipment, plus the BEST burgers and wors rolls of all time.

Benjamin is all about soldiers. He’s got his own “soldier table” at home where he lines up miniature soldier figures over and over again. (Usually in rugby formations, telling me I have to cheer for Lifa’s team!) The Friends of the South African Air Force Museum is right down the road from our house. It is operated by a group of passionate volunteers every Saturday morning. Naturally, we call it “The Soldier Museum”.

Yesterday the boys and I went to the V&A Waterfront to check out @logoshope_southafrica It’s the world’s largest floating book fair! Even more importantly,it’s a huge vessel with a huge mission. We were awed by this mighty missional tool to take literature, education and the Word of God all over the world. It was extra special to watch a young man take time to walk Lifa through an interactive experience of The Prodigal Son and show him new ways to spread the Gospel.

You might think you know what church looks like on a Sunday morning… but you’ve never experienced SouthPoint Church “At the Movies”. Action-packed, family friendly, fun and dress-ups of epic proportions for the next 4 weeks. Church + your favorite movies! Invite your friends! Dress up like a character from the Lego movie this week! See you at 8:30 and 10am!

Lifa is halfway through 11th grade and thinking about what comes next. Benjamin and Wyatt are ever-changing whirlwinds of personality and preferences - full of tackling, tickling, and tantrumming. We are going deeper and wider all at once at church and working through a missionary kind of sting we’re encountering for the first time after 14 years. Oh, AND, I’m learning how to cohabitate in my own body with an ever-present and absolutely crazy companion called perimenopause.

It is my joy to mark milestones, Monday mornings and everything in between with you. You grow in wisdom, discernment, integrity, grace and good good love every year.

The little Ladd brothers are in the “love so hard it hurts” era of brotherhood. Love and war are synonymous these days. We’re only two days in to Cape Town’s rainy weather, and I already carted these darling knuckleheads to a play place to save my sanity! I have to admit that, while we slipped into those grippy socks, I was still at battle internally with myself - feeling like I should steward our finances better, be able to manage them better, and school holidays haven’t even started yet.

Today is a public holiday in South Africa so people can vote. We aren't qualified to vote here, but we sure do pray for this nation. The kids were home from school, so I took all three brothers on a hike. I thought about how their dirty little toes had never touched American soil. And how I carry a Texas driver's license, have a Tennessee permanent address, and haven't left South Africa's rich soil in almost 10 years.

Saturdays are tricky at the Ladd house. There's excitement for Lifa's rugby game, church events to participate in, and hopes for an afternoon nap before a busy Sunday. It should also be noted that the whole house is usually in full-on crazy mode by 6am. (Except for Lifa because 16-year olds can sleep through anything.)

Benjamin's nervous system is zapped after the school week, yet he's brimming with hope and expectations for the best Saturday of his life... every single Saturday.

unMother’s Day: This one is not just for moms.

Chris and I stood on stage at the beginning of both servcies to welcome everyone. I had been awake since 3am with a rotation of small child issues, and Benjamin was having a harder than normal day. If I didn't need to be on stage that morning, I would kept the little guys home with me. Things were heading south quickly...

Something changes the moment you take that first deep breath of mountain air. It’s Creator-air. It fills your lungs with the good stuff and somehow makes any other “bad stuff” dissolve for a while…

Chris coined the term “chill people” when we moved to Cape Town several years ago. We were not (and are not) “chill people” but seemed to live in a city full of them….

The little guys and I got rained out of Lifa’s rugby game sidelines again yesterday. We packed a picnic and headed to church to play our blues away. I seized an unexpected opportunity to teach Benjamin how to pray (with his mouth full) in every family ministry environment.

Parenting has a way of humbling you. It's amazing how quickly I started doing the things I said I'd never do as a parent. You know what helped me be ok with that? The bigger picture.

Somebody prayed for us today. I witnessed the proof through supernaturally joy-filled boys playing their ever-loving hearts out. It was a different kind of play. It was light... it almost made light.