Mother's Day 2012

This is the season of parenting we are in. 

Busy.

Family time looks different than it did when we had toddlers.  Our weekdays are full of practices and games, one sport or another.  One parent going here, and the other parent going there.  Rarely are the five of us together at the same time.  And now we are in the season of Sunday games and Sunday recitals and Sunday tournaments.  Our schedule is packed.

It just is what it is.

Would I have rather been in church this morning?  Yes.  But I would have been torn.  I would have missed half of my heart.  I would have missed my people doing what they love.

So the question is, do we separate our attention?  Or, do we embrace the new season of family time?  How do we find balance in the midst of this season?  I don't know the answer.  I'm still trying to figure this parenting stage out.  I'm not perfect.  I make mistakes, but I'm learning to give myself grace.

I don't know much, but what I do know is that I would have missed seeing Zeb's helmet with my name written on it and his little hand-drawn heart.

I'm so glad I saw that sweet sign of affection {especially from him}.  I needed that.

With my whole heart, I needed that.

It's the little things that matter most during this season of busy.

Happy Mother's Day from an imperfect momma who is taking in the deep breath of grace today. 

Fodder Dodder Canoe Trip

There is something magical that happens every spring on a river in Arkansas.

The annual Fodder Dodder Canoe Trip.

Canoeing and magical together in the same sentence???  What?

That's right.  Magical.

Because to a little girl having her big, strong daddy all too herself for two whole days is very magical.

He is her hero.

Her knight in shining armor.

Her very own daddy.

Just nothing but time and a river to spend together.

She knows her daddy is all there for her.

When he should could be working.

He choose her.

And that, my friends, is magical.

True love between a daddy and his princess. 

And his really big hat.

The 24 reasons why I love my smart phone.

If I had the nerve, I would re-title this post to say, "The 24 reasons why I am glad I didn't ruin my smartphone by peeing on it."

But I'm not that brave.

I am afraid some sicko would go*gle "smart phone" and "pee" and end up here looking at all my reasons I love my phone. That just gives me the shivers.

I know it's happened a million times before to lots of other great people. Your hands are full so you put your phone in your back pocket. Then you forget about it when you enter the restroom. Normal people might hear the PLOP as their phones hit the water. Not me. No ma'am. I barely even register the {how should I put this} splash. I thought it was just a jiggly toilet seat. Little did I know that MY LIFE was in that toilet!

Everyone with a smart phone knows EXACTLY what I mean by that!

After screaming and being sufficiently freaked out for the occasion, a friend of mine grabbed my {wet} phone and took it all apart and dumped it in a baggie full of silicon beads. It all happened so fast. I will never forget the look on his face when he realized WHY my phone was wet.

ICKY.

A day and many prayers later, my phone came back to life! {Praise Jesus!} I didn't lose one single thing, most of all my pictures.

The reason for this post. The 24 reasons why I love my smart phone, and the stories behind them.

**warning, very long post ahead! 
**literally fought with wordpress and blogger for two days on this post, so the pictures are in very random order.  I just want to be done!!!

Skip and I both graduated from Texas Christian University.  They send baby gifts when alumni announce births.  Wit found this in a drawer!  He is TCU quality, alright.

Alana and I trained to run in a half marathon this December.  {What? What?}  This was before the race started, the after was NOT SO FRESH!  What a journey this was for us.  Lots of emotional highs and lows.  My lowest point in training was fighting with Achilles tendinitis.  Very painful.  Around mile 8 of the race, it gave out.  I couldn't run without excruciating pain.  I convinced Alana to go on without me and we parted through a haze of tears.  I was turning back when a friend from church came alongside me and said I would regret this forever if I didn't finish.  Even if it took hours, I was finishing.  My friend Pam walked a mile with me and finally I decided I wanted to run the rest of the race.  It was only God and me at that point.  He gave me the strength to cross that finish line with my head held high!  I am so proud of what we accomplished!

Happy Valentine's Day! Love decorating for this special day!

I love these women! We met in the early days of parenting at MOPS. What an incredible gift! Alana, Michelle, Shelley and Jen...I love you!

Wit meets the Easter Bunny!  My only kiddo who wasn't terrified!

Sweet Langley had a speaking part in her 2nd grade musical!  Her lines were about how F-U-N music is and how it helps us learn.  {doesn't she look like she is having FUN?}  So proud of my shy girl for having the courage to speak in front of hundreds of people.  Even if she didn't look like she was having F-U-N!

PLAY BALL!!!  Opening day for 2012.  My favorite player is up to bat. 

Zeb's athletic cup, aka, "Mr. Happy."  I will never understand boys.

Easter Sunday 2012.  This is the first year no one had matching new clothes.  I call it growth on my part.  I just don't care anymore!  Or, maybe I do care but I'm too tired.  Anyway, they look lovely!  I am proud of my kids!

This picture makes my heart happy.  Less than a year ago, my brother had a stroke and you would never know it.  He is getting stronger and healthier as the year has gone on.  I am so very proud of all the work he has done for himself.  I love that he takes such an interest in my kids.  He taught Zeb how to grill the most amazing burgers!  We love Uncle Mikey!

Easter Sunday at my Grannie's house.  We had a wonderful time celebrating Easter with a lot of food and outdoor fun!  My cousin, Renae and her son, Ayden came from Kansas.  From left to right, Renae, Grannie, me, my pretty mom, and Langley!  I am blessed by these amazing and strong women!

Skip drooling and dreaming over an 80 inch TV.  I couldn't get him to move from that spot and when I did, he had drool running down his chin.  Thou shalt not covet.

April 18, 2001 at 7:47am this awesome kids was born.  Eleven years has flown by.  Being a first born means that we make mistakes together.  I am trying to figure out how this thing called GRACE works!  But mostly, I love this kid!!!!

Her mission?  Find every climbing tree and climb them.

I take my Wingman along when I volunteer at school.  There is a secret workroom in Langley's school and that is usually where we like to do our work.  It's quiet and small and just the right size for a paper fort built by a three year old!  He makes a new one every week!

SOGGY.  Where have you gone, Soggy?  Wit misses you so much.  I keep thinking you will turn up, but you stay hidden.  Thank goodness I had the presence of mind to order two of these amazing blankies.  I am so afraid we will lose the last one though!

P90X.  It's a miracle I even get up in the morning!  I set my alarm for 4:45 because my sweet neighbor comes over at 5:00 sharp.  We spend an hour working out before the world wakes up.  I have come to love this time so much.  Meanwhile, across town is another friend that wakes up at 5:00 to do the same.  We text each other to make sure we got ourselves out of bed!  It's a great way to hold each other accountible!

What a fun memory this was!  My stepdad is a professional angler {it means he fishes real good for money}.  Anyway, he was in a tournament on our local lake and was in good standing to come in first.  We sent him this text message the final day.  AND...He won!!!  It was so exciting!  He's kind of a big deal in the fishing world and we get the priviledge of calling him, "grandpa."

I can't get enough of this face.  This loud, crazy, yelling face has me head over heels!

There are no words.

First time Wit wrote his name!!  W-I-T!!!  So glad I had my camera to capture this precious memory!!

October 28, 2003 at 1:59pm a beautiful, sweet, kind baby girl was born.  Life has never been the same!  Now she is eight and I just want her to freeze here.  Thankyouverymuch.

One of my favorite things I did last year was to run a 5K with Zeb on Thanksgiving morning.  It was amazing to be with him.  Skip and Zeb have so many more chances to bond through sports, but running is mine and his alone.  We had the best time talking and laughing.  My heart will remember this day forever!!!!  And, wow.  That kid is fast!

After the half marathon and all my ankle struggles, Alana recommended that I have my running assessed by a local running store.  They video you running and can tell everything about you in the thirty second feed.  I have always had Asics and through this process learned that they are one of the worst things for MY running.  They fitted me in a Brooks minamalist shoe.  Not only is it sassy, but it is the miracle that I needed to keep my running up.  Currently, Alana and I are still running twice a week.  We aren't training, but maintaining about 5 miles.  The shoe assessment was well worth the time!  If you run, DO IT!!!

Thank you so much for hanging in there with me!  I have about 300 more photos on my phone that are now safetly uploaded to my computer.

JUST IN CASE...

Twenty years this summer.

It's been twenty years since I've worn braces.

How do I remember such a weird milestone? Because I graduated high school wearing those same braces.  My parents wouldn't let me get them taken off before my senior pictures like the lucky girl's parents did.

I was so jealous that the lucky girl got hers taken off just in time for pictures and I still had a year to go.

I'm still bitter about it.

(But I looked like that back then and could have used all the help I could get.)

(I probably should have invested more time in worrying about my hair and less about my braces.)

(Clear braces turn yellow.  Did anyone know that?  Well, they do.  Bright yellow.)

(If only I had a time machine.)

It's so funny what you remember about a time period in which you would love to forget. 

I remember being intimidated by the popular crowd and the "jocks".

I remember thinking that one critical mistake would be the legacy by which people would define me.

I remember agonizing over a pimple (and those darn braces) thinking my life was ruined forever.

I remember wearing Skip's letterman's jacket and feeling like I didn't deserve it.

I remember teachers that liked me and teachers that didn't.

I remember being more concerned about my after school activities than my school work.

I remember the smell of the halls and the sound of Mrs. L's clickety tall boots.

I remember feeling inspired by a science teacher and humiliated by a math one.

I remember wishing I had better clothes and better hair and better shoes.

*somethingsneverchange*


I remember carrying around my insecurities like a giant backpack.

I remember sitting on those bleachers waiting for them to call my name so my grown up life could begin.

A twenty year reunion seems ridiculous when you are 18.  The world is ahead of you and you are invincible.  Anything is possible.  Everything is attainable.   The gap between what you know and what you THINK you know is huge.

Eighteen is a cocky age.

Thirty eight, not so much.  You (hopefully) have ripened and softened and been seasoned by life.  You (hopefully) have become the person you wish you could have been in high school.  Confident, wise, stable, proven.

Improved.

Twenty years is the perfect amount of time for a reunion.  Not that I wasn't a nervous wreck when the planning committee started to send out facebook plans.  I was a MESS trying to get ready for the reunion.  I struggled with my weight and my clothes and my hair just like I did 20 years ago.

But I knew something that I didn't back then.

I knew I was SAFE.  No matter what I blurted out of my mouth, or if my shoes weren't exactly right, or even if I woke up with a zit the size of Texas. 

I was safe.  I knew that life would go on even if these people didn't like me anymore.  It wouldn't change my life to be rejected or snubbed.  My high school self was going to be OK no matter what!

And I am so glad that I realized that.  It was such a fun weekend.  It was great to see old friends and find out where life has taken them since high school.  Everyone was so sweet and genuinely interested in one another.  Such a relief to know that none of that high school stuff mattered anymore.

Here's to the next 20 years.

May we all continue to improve!


And about those braces, SOOOOO thankful!  Even if my 18 year-old self was mentally scarred.  She'll get over it.

This is me pushing through the writer's block.

I really can't believe it has been so long since I wrote a blog post. I have wanted to write.  I have had plenty of stuff to say.  But it just hasn't happened naturally.

I'm officially blocked.

Sure, I could blame the fact that I don't have access to a computer during the day.  But that's not entirely true.  I do have access, but it's all the way downstairs.  And it's slow.  And I can't upload pictures from that desktop.

(And yet, I still make time for pinterest.  Amen?)

Oh, woe is me.

When I last wrote, it was a pretty hard time for our family.  I stopped so suddenly that I hope no one was worried that something worse had happened.  It didn't.  My brother and father-in-law are both doing great!  Time has just gotten the better of me.  It's been a blur.

Summer came and went...

Baseball season came and went...

Potty training my last baby came and went...

My 20th HS reunion came and went...

Swimsuit season came and went...

Lazy, carefree days came and went...

The start of school came and went...

And this blog sat quiet for all of it.  I haven't shared pictures or stories or pity parties with you in a very long time.

So here is where I get frozen.  Do I pretend that 4 months haven't past and just tell the stories like they just happened?  Or do I just move forward?  Or do I try to do both?

This is me.  Frozen with indecision.

*deep breath*

I guess the only thing to do now is MOVE FORWARD.

Move forward with our life.  Our stories.  My (ahem...alleged) pity parties.

Move forward with our relationship.

Moving forward, with a special look back on some of the summer fun.  Like that 20th reunion I mentioned.  And the start of school.

Moving forward, unfrozen.  Unblocked.

I like that decision.

Snot and Kisses back in business.



 

I probably broke a million rules filming this...

Race on over to THE TRACK BLOG to read my testimonial about our date night with the kids. While you are there, use their website to plan you next Branson vacation, including a fabulous trip to any one of The Track locations. Sign up your email address and you can receive Branson/Track insider information all year long. You must come visit our fun town!!

My mission as a mom is complete. I have successfully embarrassed my children with this video.

Score.

I have a feeling, however, that when Langley starts driving I will be the one telling her to put her phone down and she will be the one blowing me off.

Score for her.

In the meantime, we will stick to go-carts!

Disclaimers (for my peace of mind only):
1. I hate hate hate the sound of my voice! Can you say, shrill?
2. Sorry about the crotch shot at the end. Nice.
3.  I bet there are a handful of people that go watch the video again just to see what I'm talking about.  That's just awkward.

May means...

school countdown.

a million field trips.

uniforms hanging to dry.

unmade beds.

cereal nights.

packed school schedules.

art shows.

baseball equipment everywhere.

dirty dishes.

quick hair.

messy playrooms.

May means life.