Fall 2010

Okay, my blogging hype seems to have gone away, but I'll try again! This weekend we had Bret's Eagle scout ceremony, which was really nice. Lots of great friends came, lots of good food, and super proud of my little boy who's magically gotten big. I loved seeing our old friends Dot and Frank Watts, who were our first good friends here in Memphis. They were little Bret's surrogate grandparents for many years, and I am ever grateful for their presence, guidance, laughter, encouragement, and lots of hours of chat and cooking class with Dot and I! Love and miss you guys! In other news, work on the house continues, and the sub-floor is going down a little at a time. I feel like the slave-driver, urging my tired husband on to get it done! lol

Fall

One of my best friends in Memphis is leaving to move to Alaska in about a week. I don't think it's fair of me to whine and cry, since it's clearly a "God thing" that they are going. So I really haven't cried much. I know we'll still call often, so I know I'll hear her thoughts and live her new life vicariously over the phone. I know we'll still be great friends and will forever share too much information between us. So none of that will change, but I'll just not be able to see her anymore. Unless she gets skype like she promises. Then it'll be like she never left, except I'll have to squint to see her through her walrus-fur hood. I can't really believe she's going, but as I said, it's part of God's plan, so it's going to be really good ultimately. In the meantime, I will try and go on here, as normally as I can. Alone for a while, a little island for a while, till we get used to our new roles. I have such great support here, so I'll be okay. Great women of faith and humor. Great men of faith and example. I couldn't ask for more to walk through this life with. I get to skype someone in Alaska in the middle of the night. I'm counting on seeing those Northern Lights at 4 a.m. Kim!

Fall

Fall is coming. I know it is. The calendar says that the first day of fall is 2 days away, but it's 99 degrees here. I'm wondering how the leaves still know to start falling even when it's this hot. I had a great summer which was totally focused on ME and getting back into shape. I lost 16 lbs. and 15 inches overall; I'm tossing a good number of clothes that I've been wearing for the last several years, which made me feel fat and sad, so good riddens to them! I feel so much better, and my husband seems to be happier with me instead of resolved to be married to a "fat frumpy wife." So. It's all good, right? Now to re-balance my spiritual development and exercise, which both seem to want to happen in the morning. Early. Yikes.
The kids are all good, we're full-swing back in school, and this year we have ballet, boy-scouts, and hip-hop along with history and now science group.

Summer

So, the summer is here, we had our parish VBS, which was a huge success, and now 3 family members are away at camp. MUCH less laundry, and lots of projects getting done here in their absence! AND I'm on the move in my weight loss efforts, which is totally encouraging. I have a great exercise and accountability partner, which has made a WORLD of difference, and as my clothes start to get all big and floppy, it adds more motivation. It's all good! I told the kids that this summer was all about MOMMY, and I am selfishly doing just that--working on me!

Some clips from the girls' recital

Been a long time!

Emily is getting her hair done by Christina, her ballet teacher before the recital.

A little demonstration of their skills set.

All the cute little dancers!

A sparkling hike through the woods on Mother's Day.

Emily WOVE this Lacrosse stick head and fashioned him his own stick. He loves to use Bret's, and now he has his own!

It's been too long! We've been busy all winter and spring...logging lots of miles as I drive kids to all their events, having fun with friends and family, and generally doing well. Hey, in my book, if there's no tragedy or drama, it's a good day!

SLEDDING!

So we got the perfect mix of ice and snow for sledding this weekend: a rare event in this part of the country! The first night, although still a bit rainy, the girls and I spent several hours sledding down the driveway on our trash bags. It was just as fun as I remember sledding on new snow by the moonlight in CT. The next full day, we blazed lots of "trails" in the front yard: the "slip and slide," the "slip and slip," the "turn and twist," the "tree-stopper," "fire and ice," and "the cliffhanger." They don't even know about skiing and naming the runs! Anyway, about halfway through the day, a kindly neighbor lent the kids 3 plastic sleds. Everything changed! The tame front yard trails through the trees gave way to high-speed sledding from one neighbor's yard, across the cove, and up into another neighbor's yard! Spinning, wiping-out, screaming with fits of daredevil laughter, the sleds piled with kids, hit death-defying jumps over the ditch and tumbled everyone into a pile of adrenaline rich snowgear. I was screaming and laughing harder than all of them! Michael loved it! That night, at about 7, daddy came home with a borrowed sled with runners and they went back out to go sledding from the top of our driveway all the way down to the intersection at the end of the street. Steering changes everything! It had gotten REALLY cold and icy by then, so that session of sledding was short. I am so glad that they got to make those memories and feel that thrill of sledding...it had been an experience I was mourning they might never get living in the south. Today, the sun is out, and the sparkling snowy ice calls to us again, before it melts! More fun!

Not a REAL blog

So, I watched Julia/Julie last night, and realized, first, I'm not a gourmet cook, AND second, this apparently is not a real blog. It has no real purpose. I'll have to rethink that concept. New Years came and went for us; Bret and I went to his high school reunion's party. Kind of a disappointment in attendance, but we had fun on the dancefloor anyway. Emily turns 11 in a couple of days and had a giant sleepover this weekend. Lots of chatty girls, and some boys even came for the early part of the party, so that was fun for them. Michael is getting so smart; he puts lots of concepts together, and although he can't tell us what he's thinking, we all know. It's great to see the older kids getting excited about what he's doing or figuring out. A friend asked me why I don't put Michael in some kind of daycare during the day, so I can get school done more efficiently. After I had my surge of indignance, I thought to myself, "hmmm..apparently society feels that a whole room full of 1 yr. olds will have better luck teaching themselves about sharing and caring than their mom and older siblings." That's got to be it. Now, I know my friend was trying to suggest something to make my life easier (although she had no indication that I was having any trouble with him while doing school, which I'm not), but how un-thought-out the attitude of our society. I'm sad about the solutions that push out our kids on underpaid/undereducated girls to "watch" our kids while we get "work" done. I know my kids better than anyone. I know their strengths, weaknesses, what motivates them, and what distracts them. If I get stuck, I give it some time and figure it out. Then we move on, using that new found information to help better the situation. I like knowing my kids are on the edge of the bell curve in schooling, in social awareness, in kindness, in activities. It will give them that special edge in life. They will be endearing, kind, generous, industrious, and committed people. They will be able to empathize and also lead. Okay, I'm going to get off my soapbox. I love my kids and want the best for them. Later!