The Things I Hear

 As we were on our big road trip this summer, we stopped to catch a Braves game.

This little guy and his mom joined us at the game on their was to Greenville, SC.  Unfortunately we did not get to drag him all over show him the beauty of our great country.

 At the end of the game we watched a spectacular firework display.  Now if you didn't know, I LOVE fireworks.  Not sure why, but I truly do.  So I was sitting in my own little world, thinking that life just couldn't get any better, when Alli leaned over and said:

"You know this is pretty and all, but I can hardly enjoy it.  Look at all the smoke, it can't be good for the environment. It's pollution!  And those fireworks probably put off a lot heat.  Has no one around here ever heard of global warming??!! This is not being environmentally responsible!"

Wow.  Way to ruin my moment.

Yes she is still my nature-loving, tree-hugging, conscientious little girl.  As opinionated as she is, I foresee many interesting "discussions"  between her and her Daddy over the years!

We had a great time on our trip, (which hopefully I will eventually blog more about), but you know how when you are on a long trip and suddenly you just know when it is time to go home?

 Lydia voiced that moment for us all when she began to cry and said,

"I just want to go home.  I am sick of public bathrooms every 3 hours, and hotel rooms that smell like mating wasps, toenail clippings, and back hair."

  Haha.  I couldn't help but crack up, much to her dismay.  Only Lydia could be that descriptive.  Anybody out there ever caught a whiff of mating wasps?  Yeah, me neither.

Lake Love

Have you ever had moments in time that you wish you could put in a beautiful glass bottle to be forever saved, remembered, and brought back out to review whe life gets a little gloomy?  

That is how I feel every time I am at the lake.

There is just something about summers on the lake. 

 Waking up with the sun coming up over the water, sitting on the deck watching an eagle fishing for breakfast in the early morning light.
 Kids splashing, playing, giggling all day long.
Speeding around the lake on a jet ski with the wind whipping your hair across your face. 

4th of July boat parades and fireworks.
 Pulling kids on the tube as they shriek and tumble around like puppies while they try not to fall off.  Watching the girls learn to knee board, wake board, and ski and seeing them run back and forth to the neighbors.
 Jumping off the dock, grilling on the porch, and sharing food with friends and family.
 Floating in the water, minnows tickling your toes, sand castles on the lake's edge.
Sunscreen, sunburn, and sand in your swimsuit.

Fishing off the dock in the dark.
Skipping rocks, skipping your worries and stresses that you left at home because they just don't matter here.

Lake in a bottle?  Yes please!

What?

What?  My last post was 3 months ago? 

 How did that happen? 

 I guess when school ended so did my desire and time to blog! 

 So lets see if I can blog about the whole summer with a few words:

June:
Went to the lake, had Preston's 1st birthday party here, slept in a lot, went to Girls Camp with Kate, went to Orlando for the Floyd family reunion and threw in a day at Aquatica water park, swam in our pool, stayed up too late, had the girls piano recital, cooked on the grill, picked tomatoes, peppers, and blackberries galore along with some rouge pumpkins growing out of the compost pile, and a few squash and cucumbers and okra, and missed Matt.

July:
Had family pictures taken, went to the lake for the 4th, spent time with my brother and his family at the beach, went to Youth Conference with Blair and Kate, picked more tomatoes, peppers and blackberries, swam in the pool, swam in the lake, prepared and departed for out cross country adventure to Wyoming/ Utah, went to a Braves game, celebrated Blair's birthday at his sister Marsha's house in Chicago, and missed Matt.

August:
Continued our cross country trip, helped Blair's parents move from Wyoming to Utah, saw and explored some ancient Pueblo cliff dwellings, swam in the pool, went to the lake, got Kate's braces off, did back to school shopping, stayed up way to late watching episodes of Heartland, slept late, attended school orientations, missed Matt, and finally today sent three cute girls off to school.

Whew!  What a busy summer!  And I know that I left something out.  Several of these things deserve their own blog post complete with pictures.  I'll get started on that since I had a major FAIL this morning and forgot to take pictures of the first day of school......

I will leave you with a few pictures of our July photo shoot with Kim Brock Link. She did a great job, but boy were we hot!!

So What Happens If.....

So what happens if you are a worrier?  What happens if you refuse to procrastinate?  What is the result of almost obsessive attention to detail and organization?  

You might just be one of twelve students out of all 275 entries choosen to represent your school in the Science Fair Expo!

And while you are at the science fair, you might also find out that you won the Water Conservation Poster Contest!

Yay Lydia!!

(And yes I am shamelessly bragging.  She's a middle child, she deserves it!!)

Just Stop.

Stop. 

 Just for a minute.

  Stop the homework, the softball games, the soccer games. Stop the dentist, orthodontic, and eye doctor appointments. Stop the field trips, the meetings, the cruises.  Stop the texts and the e-mails.  Stop the science fair and the book reports.  Stop the gardening, the pool maintenance, and the endless housework. Stop the trips to the lake. Stop the girls camp prep. Stop the cooking and the mountains of laundry. Stop the errands... oh please could someone stop the never-ending errands.

Stop it all. 

Not forever, but just for a small moment.

  Let it all stop so I can sit down and reflect on my life. Let me take a minute to breathe and appreciate my blessings.  Life should not be so busy that I can't sit down and blog about our busy life.

  Years from now when things are quiet, slow and boring, I want to be able to look back on this blog and remember the crazy times and remember how I felt.  

So how do I feel?  Busy, sure.  Tired, yes.  But more than that, I feel happy, content.  I feel grateful.  I am in love with my family and want to remember the stage that everyone is in now.

Alli is 9 yrs. old.  She is fierce and competitive.  She is an athlete and is currently in love with soccer and wishing she had time for every sport out there.  She is an excellent student and constantly pushes herself, probably harder than she should. Say something can't be done and she will absolutely do it.   She loves to read, play the piano, sing, swim, bike, and run.  Her favorite color is purple.  She hates her beautiful, wild and crazy, curly long hair.  She puts it in a ponytail everyday. She prefers comfort over fashion yet she secretly yearns to wear gigantic earrings. She is obedient and has a strong yearning for everything to be fair and right.

Lydia is 10 yrs old.  She is beautiful and exotic.  She loves fashion and art.  She is smart and funny.  She is often anxious and still loves her cuddle. She will share her last piece of anything, even if it means she is left with nothing.  She loves to speak her own made-up language known as ding-a-ling-in.  Lydia is our social butterfly and has lots of friends.  She plays softball and piano.  She is very conscientious and would rather turn things in early, because to be on time is to be late in her mind.  She is an emotional girl and is starting to feel the pull of her hormones.  She has silky, shoulder length hair that I love.  She has the most beautiful and expressive eyes.  She can kill you with an angry look or let you see right into her heart.  Her heart is tender and she tries to hide it behind a tough facade, but her mommy sees right through it.

Kate is 14 and reminds me of what I was like at that age.  She is shy and quiet and makes good grades.  She is obedient and helpful.  She has stepped into her role as the oldest at home now with grace and confidence.  She is beautiful and slender.  She plays the piano and the flute.  She wishes she had less homework.  She is often tired.  She does not enjoy talking about her feelings but is letting me have little insights into her life and thoughts more and more. She is funny and fun to hang out with.  She love to cook and bake.  She likes babysitting and being in charge.  Little kids love her.  She loves to mow the lawn and has recently started cleaning the office for her dad.  I can't believe that she will be starting high school in the fall.

Matt is 19 and almost three months into his mission.  I miss him more than I thought possible.  It is a weird mix of emotions to be so happy that he is on a mission, but so very sad that he is gone.  He sends home long, detailed e-mails every week and seems to be doing great.  He tells his sisters to listen to their parents because we are right about everything.  That statement alone is worth the months apart!  He is not my little wild boy anymore.  He is a funny, thoughtful, loving young man.  He loves people and he loves to laugh.  His testimony grows weekly and he is enjoying Colorado.  He still loves Krispy Kreme doughnuts but says he needs his suits altered from the weight he is losing riding a bike everyday.  I miss his face so much and cannot wait to talk to him on Mothers Day.

I have more to say. 

 I still have BethAnn & Zach and my beautiful grandson to talk about.  Not to mention my sweet husband.

But the little stop button that I pushed has just come dislodged. 

 The school bus is on it's way, the dryer is buzzing, and my napping grandson is waking up in the next room.  

This blog isn't perfect, but neither is my life.

 But I will take them just they way they are, because I love them and they are mine.

The Things I Hear

From the backseat of the van:
Alli: Wow, Lydia! You are a DECADE old!
Lydia: Yup. And your not.
Alli: (Said with such seriousness and sincerity) I don't mean this as an insult, but I am really torn.  On the one hand, I would love to be in the double digits, but on the other, I really want to stay young and fresh.

Lydia left for school the other morning very upset with me. We had quite an ugly scene. She would not even tell me goodbye or give me a hug.  This was our conversation as she came bursting in the door after school.
Lydia: Hi Mom!  I need help with my homework.  Will you help me?
Me:  Well hello to you too.  I guess you aren't mad at me anymore, huh?
Lydia: What do you mean?
Me:  Have you forgotten about this morning?  I have thought about it all day today.
Lydia:( leaned in very close to my face, studied it very carefully.  I thought I was about to get a heartfelt apology or at the least some real words of wisdom). Then she leaned back and said:
Oh! Is that why you aren't wearing any make-up?!

From Lydia on Sunday morning as she put on a dress that I had recently gotten for her.  It came right to the middle of her kneecap.
Lydia: Mom, don't you think this dress is a little too short? When I sit down it shows my knees.

  Please, oh please, can I get that in writing and get it recorded so I can play it back to her when she is 16?!!

I loved this one from the soccer field.
Lydia, to the girl throwing in the ball: Hey, open your eyes!!
(No this was not meant in sarcasm,  and yes, the girl's eyes were actually closed as she was throwing in the ball.)

Speaking of soccer, I have officially been a soccer mom for the past 8 weeks.  The winter season has come to a close.  Lydia has decided to play spring softball and Alli wants to do more soccer, so the powerful sister duo on team Dazzling Divas is no more.  To pay tribute to the end of the era of having both girls doing the same thing on the same team, thus beginning the era  of scheduling headaches, I leave you with a few pictures.

Today is the Day!

At 12:40 pm today life will change for our family. 

 Mostly it will change for Matt because that is when he reports to the MTC in Provo, Utah to begin his 2 year mission. 

 I am so excited and happy for him!

I am beyond thrilled that he wants to share his testimony of the Savior and His gospel with others.

 Ever since he was a little boy we would talk about a mission, talk about how one day he would be all grown up and go to somewhere in this world to teach others the gospel.  We sang primary songs about it and helped him save his money for it.

  During his teenage years, I worried that he wouldn't want to go and said lots of prayers that he would.  When the time grew closer, I nagged at him to finish his papers and schedule his interviews. 

 I held my breath that this day would come.

  And here it is. 

 His shoes still sit in the middle of the family room and his favorite shirt is still hanging behind the laundry room door.  A friend told me not to go in his room for the next two weeks and I am following that advice.  

I miss him already, even though I am so happy this day is here.  I think I am sad because I know that this marks the end an era.  The end of his childhood.

We waited so long for him and wanted him so badly.  I remember when he was placed in my arms.  He was all wrapped up in a blue blanket. He only weighed 4 lbs 13 oz.  I almost thought there was nothing in the blanket because it was just such a light and tiny bundle.

But this is what was in that bundle:

And that grew into this:

 Yes, it is the ending of an era.  But with every ending comes a new beginning, and I just can't wait to see where this one will take him.