White Water in 150 Words

First Trip to White Water Water Park

Awakening to Ultimate Surprise ~ guesses being made ~ worrying about possible rain ~ Arrival ~ Applying sunscreen ~ No lines ~ flying down water slides ~ smiles ~ broken flip flops ~ sore feet ~ picnic lunch ~ reapplying sunscreen ~ doing ultimate drop slide (7 stories tall ) ~ Me taking pictures of brave family on slide, I’m nice like that ~ climbing a thousand stairs ~ bobbing on waves with tubes ~ lazy river (x4) ~ holding each other’s tubes to stay together ~ drenching mom in water fall ~ laughter ~ overpriced concession snacks ~ sunscreen once again ~ riding all the slides again ~ and again ~ except drop slide ~ climbing more stairs ~ new water shoes ~ happy feet ~ our favorite: mat racer ~ leave ~ Stop by Andy’s Frozen Custard ~ aloe drenching pink colored skin ~ perfect weather ~ Happy Memories.

Welcome Back Summer, Welcome Back!

Sunlight sparkles bouncing off water ripples, giggly girls flying across lake on a tube with their dad, wind tangling up my hair, Heron sweeping across lake's shore,  rainbows in the wake's mist, gentle waves rocking the boat while enjoying a picnic, sun's rays kissing my skin, splashes filling the silence - yes, Welcome Back Summer, Welcome back!

This is now our 13th summer with our boat, and I love how it's become such a part of 'summer' for our family!

Ready for first tube ride of the season!

Z to A Summertime Fun

Since Summer Vacation has officially began, we are already diving into our A to Z Summer Fun List (or in the case of this year, it's our Z to A list, the girls wanted to switch it up)! 26 Days of Summertime fun ahead of us! I can't wait! Here's this year's list, in case you want to join in on the fun! Yesterday's included seeing the zebras at the zoo on our zippity do dah day! And I know 'yearly checkups' isn't really a 'fun' thing today - but I didn't want to forget them, so it's mostly a reminder for me! I love that summer means not checking my calendar as often! :)  Don't forget to follow the girls' blog about their summertime adventures!

Z	Zippity do dah day! (Haircuts, Library and whatever else we feel like doing!)
Y	Yesterday’s Memories (Scrapbooking) & Yearly Checkups!
X	Xtreme Fun at Silver Dollar City
W	Water Day
V	Volunteer @ Convoy of Hope
U	Ultimate Surprise
T	Thinking of Others Day (after we Take a Trip to ortho)
S	Scavenger Hunt
R	Republic Aquatic Center (register for swim team?!)
Q	Quench Your Thirst Day (Route 44 Drinks from Sonic!)
P	Picnic with Pop
O	Outside Day
N	Nintendo Day (Play DSI’s on way to a Nearby Adventure)
M	Movie Day
L	Library Visit (2pm Program @ Library Station Branch)
K	Kitchen Fun
J	Jumpin’ Day
I	Ice Cream and IDs
H	Half Price Shakes & Hundred Miles Challenge
G	Games, Games, Games
F	Frosty Fun with Friends
E	Experiment day
D	DIY Project (ie, craft day!) while eating Donuts
C	Camera Fun
B	Bowling
A	Andy's Frozen Custard to end our Z to A fun!

Girls' New Blog: BSFEL

So I asked the girls if they wanted to start a 'sister blog' this summer.  I thought it would be a fun, modern, way to journal over the summer, as well as, work on some typing skills, spelling, grammar, proofreading, adding details, etc - I'm letting some errors go and coaching them through some others.

Well they liked the idea and decided to call it the Best Sisters For Eternal Life Blog - It's like the BFF thing, but instead of Best Friend Forever, they've always called themselves the BSFEL!

I kinda hope they keep up with this fun experiment - I think it would be fun to watch it 'change' over the years. But time will tell if this even lasts through the summer! If it does, I'll have to print it up into a book for them for them to remember the summer of 2012! :)

Feel free to follow along on our summer adventures, through their eyes, at BSFEL! Oh, and Morgan is Sunshine and Sarah is Sweetheart! :)

Yep, I blinked!

Well apparently I should not have blinked...because this is Morgan's first  day of elementary school...

...insert blink...and here she is today as she heads off for her last  day of elementary school...

Pulling up the picture of Morgan's first day of Kindergarten, I found one of Sarah's first day of Preschool...

...again I blinked...and now she is finishing up 3rd grade today!

Oh these six years have flown by! I am so glad I get to be their mom and very thankful that summer allows me the opportunity to spend extra time with these beautiful girls! Here's one more picture from down memory lane...

and once again...blink...

Overheard in the Sequoia

So, we are cruising along in the Sequoia tonight (BTW - I still LOVE this vehicle!) listening to the local radio station play "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere", when Mike asks Morgan "So Morgan, what is the one thing wrong with this song?!" To which she responds, totally serious, "It's Country!"  It was hilarious. So after we stop laughing,  Mike responds, "Well yay, but the real answer, which your mom had noticed, is that the song says it's 'only half past twelve' where he is, so it's impossible for it to be 'five o'clock somewhere' else, it either has to be 4:30 or 5:30"  So, has anyone else ever noticed this? And no, I won't stop listening to country even if my daughter doesn't like it! (And besides, she's a big Taylor Swift fan...so she likes a bit of country herself.)

A to Z Ice Cream Fun

I'm working on our A to Z Summer Fun list again! (Except the girls really want to do Z to A this summer, so now I'm redoing the list!) :) Looking forward to these fun times with the girls. I'll post the list sometime later, but last week, just for fun, the girls and I dreamed a little bit about how much fun it would be do an A to Z ice cream list - I'm not sure our budget nor our waistlines could handle it, but it's fun to dream!

A - Andy's Frozen Custard (one way or another we'd find a way to make Andy's First!)
B - Blizzards or Banana Splits
C - Coldstone or Cherry Berry
D - Decadent Dove Bars
E - Eclair Bars
F - Frozen Custard (from Andys, of course!)
G - Giant Bowls of Frozen Yumminess
H - Homemade Ice Cream
I - Ice Cream Sandwich Cake
J - James Brown Funky Jackhammer
K - Klondike Bars
L - Lemonade (frozen)
M - Malts
N - New Flavor or Nuts on Top
O - Orange Leaf or Orange Sherbet
P - Popsicles or push-ups
Q - Queen Visit (Dariy Queen, That is!)
R - Root-beer Floats
S - Sundaes or Sonic Slushies or Sherbet
T - Twist Cones
U - U Scream, I Scream, We all Scream for Ice Cream
V - Vanilla Cones
W - Waffle Cones or Wendy's Frosties
X - Xtra Toppings
Y - Yogurt (the frozen kind, from Andy's, again!
Z - Zestos (which would require a 2.5 hour drive, but hey, it's summertime!)

So...if anyone wanted to fund these 26 days of summer fun for us - our family would be ecstatically happy and we'd even promise to get plenty of exercise this summer!! :) LOL

Choking Back the Tears

Yes, I've been choking back the tears all day. My daughter can simply not be old enough to be touring the Middle School today! And then at bedtime tonight do you know what she told me? She had the nerve to tell me that I can no longer sing "You are my Sunshine" to her because she is 'too old' for that! So, I admit, maybe she is, but after almost 11 years of singing that song to her, it makes me just a wee bit weepy to think that I will no longer get to sing that to her again. She is an amazing kid (both my girls are) and I'm glad I get a front row seat to watching her (them) grow up, but as I said on facebook earlier today, I don't want time to stop, I just wish it would slow down a bit! I'm glad she's excited about being able to join band in MS...and her biggest fear about middle school?! Go ahead guess! There are 4 different lunch lines - yikes! I just wish that was my biggest fear about her middle school years! At least Sarah told me I could still sing "You are My Sweetheart" to her! :)

Love, Two of the Sweetest Kids

While the past hour is still fresh in my mind, I'm pausing to 'capture' it.

First my day began with a phone call from my own mom! How sweet to hear her voice first thing in the morning! I love her! And hope she has a beautiful day! I wish 650 miles didn't separate us today (okay, I wish that everyday!)

Then sleepy girls emerged from their bedrooms - the first thing on their minds was finding me and wishing me a Happy Mother's Day and placing in my hands homemade cards of love. Such sweetness. Sarah wanted to 'snuggle' and Morgan wanted Daddy to get up so he could get me my present!

And my present...a new lounge chair! My last one the squirrels chewed up the first year we moved  here. So, they bought me a 'squirrel proof one'! I set it up in my bedroom, so I could have 'breakfast in my lounge chair' in lieu of 'breakfast in bed'! :)

So my waitress (Sarah) shows up, with a towel over her arm, fairy-danced hair, and chocolate at the corners of her mouth.  "What would you like, mam?" "How about some chocolate chip pancakes and some orange juice?" "Ok, I will be right back with that."

When my tray arrives, it has a sweet napkin note, a daisy, and of course breakfast.  And I just had to smile at how they signed the napkin - "Love, Two of the Sweetest Kids" - Oh, I do have to agree with that!

Well the restaurant continues for awhile with them cooking Mike up some eggs and him giving the waitress a hard time about being out of orange juice. I ask what the name of this fine establishment is and they respond "The Two Daughters".  Apparently they are open 24/7. We will definitely have to come back! And our meal...was free!! Oh yay! 

And then the best part - my ears hear that they have hired a dishwasher (Morgan) - and as Mike reports back to me, "The kitchen looks awesome!" I am so spoiled. and loved. and blessed. We are heading out soon to hike my favorite trails at Roaring River State Park and enjoy a picnic lunch. I do believe this is a perfect mother's day!

Here are a couple pics of my 'sweetest kids'... 

This is Sarah laying in the hammock with me the other day
after school. It is so her right now - lost in the world of a good book
and constantly popping her expander out of her mouth!

Morgan & I about to begin our 5K Friday night!
We had a good time! 

Oh, and as I'm finishing this up, Morgan brings some of my 'stuff' to put away in my room - which means, she has not only cleaned up the kitchen, she is also picking up the house (and I think her sister is helping)!! So glad I get to be the mom of these two amazing girls!!

Smiles

To be honest, I've been in a 'funk' lately. I look around me and I know that I have a million or more things to be thankful for. I know I'm living this amazing life and have reason after reason to smile. And yet I feel depression seeping into my soul and I wonder why?  I really want to just 'snap out of it'. I wish I could. I'm trying.

So, I'm taking Mike's advice for me today...

Maybe do something you enjoy/love like writing? When I do something I enjoy it helps my mood. Maybe you should get that stuff ready to send to a publisher? WHATEVER you do, do not worry about the house or getting it cleaned up!!!

I know, he's pretty much...AMAZING. And so,  it's 12:05 and I still haven't got my shower because I have been getting things printed up to send my ideas off to publishers and editors. It's felt good. Mostly. It's kinda scary too...taking the risk...facing rejection. And yet, I know I have to try. Writing makes me feel alive. I love sharing my ideas and thoughts with others. So, we'll see.

A few other things that have made me smile lately. (If I focus on the positive, on the gifts God has given me in my life...then that leaves less room for whatever this 'funk' is, right?!)

• Sarah laying in the hammock with me yesterday after school reading her book (Wayside School) and saying to me "Ahh, this is the life."  Yes, yes, it is. 
• That I am healthy enough to run a 5K with Morgan tonight. And that her and I are both looking forward to it. 
• Flowers my mom & dad sent us brightening up my kitchen
• Daisies growing in unexpected places in my yard. 
• Day after day of simply perfect weather! 
• The baby birds in Sarah's window. Although, I fear some larger bird came and ate them...only 6 days old and they vanished! :( Mom & Dad Robin seemed to be 'upset' - checking nest. But I did enjoy the miracle of it upclose while I could. Here are a couple of pictures.

The girls named them Squirmy and Fernando.
Also, one lil bird hatched and disappeared, &
one lil birdie never hatched. :(

So cute sleeping together with mama standing guard.
I really was this close to her, with just the screen between us.
AMAZING.  

Appreciation

There has been so much I've wanted to blog about lately - and yet, I'm reminded that I can't capture every moment into a blog, even though sometimes I want to capture more than I do (oh these years are slipping by so quickly). I mean, I could easily do a blog post about - the sweet 'sister (apology) note' I found that Morgan wrote her sister, about experiencing the baby birds in Sarah's window up close (and her joy), about Morgan's 5th Grade Research project on Laura Ingalls Wilder, about my bittersweet feelings of Morgan's last few weeks in elementary school, about our fun AtoZ IceCream list we made for fun (but probably won't do)...  Yet, when you are busy living life sometimes you just have to experience it and move on.

I did want to put on a couple of pictures of things we made this past week, both inspired by pinterest (of course!). First, for Teacher Appreciation Week, we made all the Special Class Teachers (art, library, etc)  these cute pencils out of  a package of Rolos candy...

And for Morgan's six coaches for Girls on the Run (side note: our 5K is tomorrow - and she put a toothpick thru the bottom of her foot yesterday, ouch!) we made these cute gifts...

These water bottle holders took us less than an hour to assemble, and my favorite part...spending time in conversation with Morgan, talking about everyday stuff, while accomplishing this project together. It was her idea to add the cute ribbon...the 'pinterest' one did not have a ribbon. I thought it was an adorable addition!