Saturday, June 30, 2012

My Husband is A Genius!

So, I may be the one who graduated Summa Cum Laude from Mizzou, but in our family, my husband is the genius!! Seriously. He's amazing.  So here's the long story, that you probably don't care much about, but I feel like writing about none the less, because even after almost 18 years of marriage, he still amazes me with stuff like this!

Tuesday was a rough day for me (my uncle's funeral and I couldn't be there), so I asked Mike to pick me up a cherry limeade from sonic on his way home, it was happy hour afterall! So, he calls me - while idling in the drive thru lane, the Xterra decides to just quit - won't restart, so he pushes it out of line, then coasts it down hill through the plaza and parks it at the place we normally take our cars to get fixed (how convenient was that?).

So, they have our car for 48 hours and can NOT figure out what is wrong with it. It starts back up for them, then dies - a few times, so they hook up their computer and the car keeps running and running. Mike decides on Thursday to pick it up -  and drive it to work on Friday. I'm on standby. It makes it there and back. Then after picking up our Friday night pizza, he lets his truck idle in the driveway - it dies.  He's kinda excited about this.

Well the mechanics best guess had been the distributor  - but after running some 'tests', Mike was convinced it was not the distributor - it was something with the fuel pump.  He's got the fuel pump torn apart, is elbow deep in gasoline and is telling me to 'start the car carefully' and 'be ready to turn it off quick' - umm, should I be worried (I whisper to the dog to abandon ship so she can comfort the girls in the case of explosion) - he tells me not to worry, everything is fine - as he slices his finger open and blood drips into the gasoline. I'm thinking this can't be good.  Phew, we survive that - he's so intensely focused. I like that about him.

After dark, he does some internet research and discovers a part on the fuel pump has been recalled on our vehicle due to possible corrosion - it was only a mandatory recall in Northern states where salt corrodes it more. So this morning, he gets up at 7am (you don't understand, it's Saturday morning, this NEVER happens!), - but it's suppose to be 100 today and we want to head to the lake, and like I said, when something is wrong, he's focused on figuring it out.  In fact at bed last night, he said something about it being a 'fun puzzle'.  He's crazy, but I'm totally okay with it because he enjoys it and it saves us lots of money!

At 7:24, he walks back into our bedroom (yes, I'm still in bed!) carrying a part, and smelling horribly of gasoline - "I figured it out, want to see what's wrong?"  Why, yes, yes I do! (Really, was there any other answer possible?! but, yes, I did!) And he shows me where the part corroded and how it has cracked the connection. We discover the Nissan dealer IS open on Saturday - yay! - so we're hoping they will let him just go and exchange the recalled part - and he doesn't have to put the car back together and have it towed to the dealer. Crossing my fingers!

So like I said, he's a genius! I'm not sure how he knows how to figure out stuff like this - but I'm glad he can, and he does, and that he enjoys the 'puzzle' of it all! And that he had a grandpa who took the time to teach him the 'basics'!

And since I'm bragging on Mike, last weekend I mentioned about redoing under the girl's bathroom sink, trying to provide some organization...and so, this past week, he just whipped up this organization for me (inspired by a combo of pinterest ideas, of course!) ...just.like.that. I love him.


And as you can see from the 'before' picture, it definitely needed some help...


Wednesday, June 27, 2012

A Couple of Thoughts on Tragedy

The thing about tragedy is that often, there are no answers this side of heaven.  This song has brought me comfort throughout the years...
The other thing about tragedy is that while you are experiencing the deepest, darkest, pain...you also get to see the most beautiful side of humanity...of others loving you, encouraging you, sharing grief and tears, stepping up to bring meals, being available to listen.  Beautiful souls are in this world...and often they shine through the brightest during the darkest times.

I wish tragedy did not have to be a part of our world, but it is. I'm thankful there is a God bigger than this lifetime!

Friday, June 22, 2012

Highs and Lows of My Week

It has been a week! It's hard to believe everything that has transpired this week. So here are the highs and lows of this past week -

Low - Got news my grandma was moved to Hospice this past week. Got other family news I'm trying to process, as well.
High - Morgan celebrated her 11th birthday and giggled all through the night with her friends
Low - My uncle was killed by a 19 year old drunk driver on Morgan's birthday
High - The girls went to Girl Scout Camp. So Mike and I skipped town and camped for 2 nights/3 days.
High - We rekindled an old love of mountain biking
Low - My body is bruised and scarred from bike crash
High - We climbed to the highest peak at Devil's Den State Park in Arkansas and soaked in the view.
Low - We climbed to the lowest point at Devil's Den State Park and sat in the coolness of the cave's entrance. (& actually this was a 'high' - one of my favorite 'moments')
High - We picked up our girls from camp
Low - They were extremely grumpy, which is why I sent them to bed at 7pm and they fell asleep by 7:30.
High - Two baby birds hatched in Sarah's window today.
Low - Found another sinkhole in our backyard.
High - Spoke with my family on the phone a lot this week
High - The replenishment that being with Mike, in the beautiful Ozark mountains, brought to my soul.
High - Reminder that God is a Rock, a strength that I can stand upon even when life seems to be shifting sand underneath me.
Rekindling an old love.
Our bikes resting after quite the workout! 

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

11 Ways

Here are 11 ways we celebrated Morgan at her 11th birthday party...

1. Invited four of her giggliest friends over for a backyard sleepover.  They finally fell asleep in the tent around 5am! They were still smiling and giggly the morning after! 

2. Made glow in the dark lanterns. side note: These look awesome (and girls loved them!) but I'm not sure I'll do them again though, 'cuz they're messy and involve some broken glass when you break open the glow stick to dump into the container. My inspiration for these was found here at Lil Blue Boo.


3. Had a giant s'more birthday cake. Special thanks to the most amazing Darian! And those girls really ate all 5.5 of those GIANT Hershey bars! 


4. Opened gifts by the campfire with flashlights.  

5. Had a water balloon fight. 
6. Had her favorite for dinner - hotdogs over the campfire, along with monster tub of cheese balls and sour patch grapes.

7. Made s'more cones. 

8. Decorated flashlights. 

9. Had a flashlight treasure hunt. 

10. Played Hide n Go Seek in the dark til midnight. 

11. Had a birthday breakfast on the deck. 

So thankful for the joy Morgan has brought to my life these past 11 years! 

Monday, June 18, 2012

Randomness for Today

My mind is all over the place this morning. Here are several facebook posts I could have wrote this morning…
  • My favorite part of the weekend was smelling my lake drenched, sun kissed, breeze filled hair.
  • My soul needs a quiet place to process news, but my calendar says 'not yet'.
  • Do you know the one word I always spell wrong? Calender! Why can’t I just write calendar the first time?
  • Treasuring Morgan’s last day as a 10 year old today.
  • Thinking back on the last full day of my 'career' I worked 11 years ago today. So glad I chose to be a stay at home mom all those years ago.
  • Walking to the post office this morning to mail off my dad’s father’s day gift. Yes, I know Father’s Day was yesterday.
  • Some days I feel the 600+ miles between my family and me more than others. Today is one of those days.
  • How we celebrated the ‘best daddy’ this weekend – ice cream before ballgame, ballgame with ice cream, day at lake with dockside ice cream, church followed by ice cream, movie followed with pizza (you thought I’d say ice cream again, didn’t you?)  
  • A week full of happiness ahead…welcome Monday, welcome! 

Friday, June 15, 2012

Contentment is...

...just sitting and cherishing the sounds of my girls enjoying a happy childhood. And realizing, I may accomplish nothing else this summer, as I soak all this happiness into my soul.  I'm struck with the bittersweet thought that these sweet childhood years are slipping away with the sands of time. I'm so thankful for today. For this beautiful life which is mine. Thank you, Lord!

Sisters

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Future Gold Medalists

This morning I woke up the girls by whispering in their ears "Good morning, future gold medalist!"

You see, this summer we decided to have the girls join the Republic Swim Team! And today was their first swim meet!

Last Monday, Sarah could not even swim the length of the pool. Today she swam the length of the pool in four different events! I was so proud of her! And Morgan competed in five events today! She was nervous and did not want to look at the camera - but she did awesome! It was so fun to watch them compete, really to watch all the kids compete - and the parents be excited for them!

Here are a few pictures from their very first swim meet today. Hint: If you click on the picture, you can see it bigger.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Love Me Some Summertime!

...like going to the lake on a Tuesday...'cuz, hey, why not?! 



And turning my doors into beautiful masterpieces (inspired by The Artful Parent)...


And making backyard tents....


And having a picnic with daddy during his lunch hour...


And that's just the past three days! 
Tomorrow...celebrating birthdays at Silver Dollar City! 

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Instagram

I've been playing around with the instagram app on my phone this weekend. Fun how just a few clicks changes the look of your photo. Here's a few moments captured on film...


GS campfire
Girl Scout Campout - Making mini fires in my backyard

GS campout
Campfire Breakfast
Morgan and maddy
Maddy & Morgan - Good to have great neighborhood friends!
Adonia and Sarah
Adonia & Sarah - Again, love having great friends in the neighborhood!
Look what we found sleeping by side of trail today.
Look what we found by the side of the trail @ Lake Springfield
Walking companions
Taking a hike on National Trails Day @ Lake Springfield