Always the Same and Never the Same

My favorite hobby the past few years has been 'chasing waterfalls'.  I LOVE the adventure, the hunt, the driving down back roads, the escape from cell phone signals, the REPLENISHMENT! Yesterday we took advantage of a beautiful Saturday. Here are a few moments captured in the Wilderness of Arkansas Mountains. Photo Credit to Mike.

Cascades on the way to Native American Falls. 

Lonesome Hallow Falls 47' tall

Hudson Shelter Falls - Hard to tell how big these are - about 5 stories tall.

After Mike had put his camera equipment away and we were walking back I said that would make a good photo. We kept walking. Then Morgan interpreted and said, "Dad, mom is saying to stop and get a photo." We kept walking then he said, no stop, I'll go back and get a photo.  It is a pretty little brook, isn't it! :)  Morgan knows me. Mike loves me. 

I was reflecting on our hike about the things that are always the same, but never the same. Like flowing water. It's always flowing water, yet that spot is never ever the same flowing water, ever. When I touch the water, no one else will probably ever touch that same exact water again. Like fire, which is always fire, yet never the same flame.  Like our breath, which is always a breath and yet never the same air. Like the wind, that is always blowing, yet we never feel the same wind blow through our hair twice. Like time, which is always ticking, and yet the same minute will never be the same minute.  Like moments, which are always moments, and yet can only be lived and captured briefly, because the same moment is impossible to have again.  Because even if you replicate that moment, you've created a new moment.  The same, and yet never the same.  What else is the same, and yet never the same? I found it to be an interesting concept I pondered as I sat and watched the streams flow and cascade and tumble and create beauty.

Today is Easter, we worshipped as a family, served at church in the kids programs, made a yummy Easter Dinner together (I almost ruined potatoes but saved them!), went and watched "I can only imagine" at the movies, and of course the girls hunted for their Easter Baskets and we enjoyed spoiling them just a bit with a basket of goodies.  The weather yesterday on our waterfall chase was 70 and partly sunny, today it is in low 30s and we saw freezing rain pellets! 

Now I'm pausing the write and read and ponder and reflect. So grateful for Jesus this Easter! 

 

Today, on Easter. (Notice: NO MORE BRACES!) 

Everyday Life & The Moon

Mike has taken the girls to an all day boater safety class - which leaves me a glorious day to myself! :) Well this is my 2nd day, since I had yesterday off too. But yesterday I had to make 9 orders in my etsy shop and do laundry, and pay bills.  And today I'm spending a chunk of the day doing taxes. But still it's 'my day'! :) And I'm trying NOT to think about the fact the girls will actually be driving the boat this summer!! gulp.

Yesterday, Morgan was so excited when she came home from school -- she got all the info to choose her classes for HS next year!!  I enjoyed sitting on the couch with her for 45 minutes reviewing it all, listening to her dreams and desires about her future. I am still in denial that she is this old already, but doing my best to embrace it and enjoy the moments it holds. BTW, she's definitely interested in a science field right now and is super excited she gets to take two honors classes next year - she already had her teacher's signatures of approval! She is on the ball!

Sarah is turning 12 in 4 more days. She thinks it's funny to remind me. Because I make a big deal of it - 12?! 12! How is this possible? You can't be 12 yet! :) Seriously, she can't be! She recently finished the Harry Potter Series - she read all 6 books in like 6 weeks. She averaged 80 pages a day (I made her do the math - I think she may have rolled her eyes at me - but I like dorky facts like that!) And for her birthday she can think of nothing she wants.  She still has Christmas money she hasn't spent.  I love how she is just content, happy in the moment, happy with what she has. After two weeks of asking what she wants, she finally came in this morning and told me -- Mom, I finally know what I want, a new hairbrush!! She makes me think extra hard to find a great gift for her! :)

photo source: unknown

And lastly, I've been wanting to write about the moon, ever since it took my breath away earlier this week -- and several other times this week -- it's been beautiful! (And I can appreciate a full moon even more now that I'm no longer subbing! ;) )

I turned the corner, and I gasped, was that the moon rising over the tree tops? How could it possibly look so enormous? Did it really have a pink hue too it, as the equally breathtaking winter sunset was reflecting off it? I wanted to chase it down, I didn't want to go down the hill and watch it disappear.  After I finally emerged on the other side of the valley and the trees, it was still beautiful, but it had risen more, and there it was now - a brilliant white shinning down on this earth, reflecting light for all to see.

In that moment, I had this thought. The moon doesn't make it's own light. It simply relfects the sun's light.  As Christians, isn't this true for us? We don't make our own light, but the more we turn towards the Son, the more we are able to reflect His light (and love and hope) onto this earth. And I was reminded that is what I want, for others to see Him when they look at my life. That is my prayer. My #discovery for this week.

Growing Pains (in my momma heart!)

I'm still amazed at how fast these years are flying by.  These sweet, beautiful years, refuse to slow down.  In the last 24 hours, my momma heart has been filled with bittersweet tugs.

Yesterday I found Morgan crying in my bed.  Why? Because she was trying to finish reading The Outsiders, and the words on the page so moved and touched her, she couldn't stop crying to read the words to finish the story.  Oh how I love that words have penetrated her heart in this beautiful way.  

Today was my last lunch with Sarah at her school.  She has 1 and a half days of school left, and she will venture onto Middle School.  The problem with having my girls so close together is how each stage is full, then so quickly over. The days of elementary school are over for us.  And yes, my eyes fill with tears as I type this words.  They've been good years.  Not how I exactly pictured them, but good none the less.  And so very beautiful.

Last night Sarah mowed the entire front lawn by herself.  I'm amazed at how capable she is of these seemingly 'grownup' tasks.

Morgan's introverted self has struggled with middle school friendships this year (oh, how I can relate!). But she has excelled in academics.  The end of the year has brought much joy as we celebrate her being accepted in NJHS, and her teachers recommending her for algebra and advanced science next year.  She works so hard, and it's so nice to see others recognize her efforts.

Sarah's Night at the Museum.
Pocahontas.
"Sisters" 

We have 5 summers left with Morgan and 7 with Sarah.  You better believe we will fill them with as much happiness and memories as we can!  Can't wait for our 3500 mile road trip this summer!! (DC, Philly, Boston, Maine, and Hershey!)

Sarah's first 5K! 5.31.14
"Fierce"

Swim Team Practice has begun again!
Mike and I get beautiful sunsets to enjoy while they swim! 

Here are a few more of my thoughts on these fleeting years. http://www.thegoodstuffguide.com/years-flying-by/

Gifts from the Heart

Just wanted to capture a few of the sweet moments from yesterday. The girls had the day off school and I enjoyed spending my 40th birthday with them. Donuts with dad. Shopping at Michaels and Hobby Lobby. Dinner at home (because eating out on Valentines Day is crazy!). Game of Scrabble.  I also asked them for gifts from the heart, not from the store this year.  Simply precious.

Morgan made me this made-from-scratch Hershey's chocolate cake.
She even put a surprise inside - it had a cookie layer too!
I'm glad she likes being a 'Baker'! ;) 

Sarah painted me this picture.
Her first attempt with her new 'fancy' water colors.
She also gave me coupons to make 40 dinners!!
And then she told me "I hope you are ready to eat 40 spaghetti dinners!"
Think we'll be expanding her cooking experiences. ;)

I'd say the first page of this new decade makes me excited to keep reading!

My Perfectly Perfect Weird Kids

My kids are weird. And I love them and all their weirdness.

I also must say, that after getting these 3 texted pictures (while leaving them in the car for 5 minutes) to run into the store the other day, I'm certain they must get their weirdness from their dad. Certain of it. ;) I promised them I wouldn't put the actual pictures on instagram nor facebook.  They didn't mention my blog so I thought about putting them here, but I'm still trying to keep on my 12 year old's good side, so here's all I can post: 

They make me smile. Always. I love sharing life with these totally awesome people.  But let me just share their 'weirdness'.

MORGAN: For two weeks now she's been trying to figure out how she can get out of going to school tomorrow.  This morning, she acknowledged that she is waking up tomorrow for school, so I'm hopeful she will actually go to school. However, I'm still not convinced I won't get a call from the nurse at the beginning of 6th period tomorrow informing me my daughter has a stomach ulcer and I need to take her to the ER immediately!   

So why does she not want to go to school, you ask? It's the SCHOOL PEP RALLY!

And apparently at some pep rallies they call students up to compete in some silly games (sounds horrible, I know!) and she is SCARED TO DEATH they are going to call her and she will embarrass herself (by fainting, she says) in front of the whole school! On a serious note, I do feel bad that she has so many anxieties.  But I think I may have the only kid in the entire school who is begging not to go to school because of a pep rally! (And so okay, maybe I had similar fears in MS! Did I ever beg my mom to stay home?)

SARAH: About three weeks ago she informed me she wanted to be a COW for Halloween. Yes, a cow. No, we don't live on a farm. No, she has never mentioned having a love of cows before.  In fact, I don't even remember cows even being the topic of any conversation in the past year.  But in the last 3 weeks, she has NOT changed her mind.  She's determined she's being a COW and that we are making the costume, from scratch. Ummm,yay!

I ate lunch at school with her last week and brought up the topic of Halloween at the lunch table, and even when her friends looked at her weird that she wanted to be a COW, she was still happy with her choice!!   Then when I searched for cute 'tween costumes online to try and give her some other ideas, she was steadfast in her decision to be a cow!

I am certain she will be the cutest 10-year-old to ever dress up like a cow! Okay, maybe she will be the only 10-year-old ever to dress up like a cow, but she will be so cute, I'm certain next year her friends will be dressing up like cows too -- she'll probably convince them to be an entire herd! :) Now if you excuse me, I do have to go order a headband with cow ears (because I'm not going to try and make that part!).

I know I'm a day late, but linking up with Cyrstal Stine: Behind the Scenes!

It's Camp Week!

This was the picture we snapped Sunday afternoon just before we drove away and left these two adorables at camp til Friday!! They look happy, don't they?

Well if you notice, sweet Sarah (in the pink) has her arm around her big sister.  I think this is her way of comforting her big sis.  Her big sis is super nervous in new and unknown situations. (Kinda like her momma!) I'm not actually sure she smiled for the half hour from when we got there until we were leaving. I'm actually surprised she smiled for this picture. She has a beautiful smile, so I'm glad she did!  And well Sarah, if you know her, she's always smiling her beautiful grin!

But even though she was nervous, timid, I know this will be a good experience for her.  I'm certain she will relax sometime on Monday, and have a great week at camp! (I mean how can you not with a pool, lake, float trips on river, cave exploring, horseback riding, crafts, a snack bar, chapel time and umm, no parents!) But it makes my momma heart ache for her wishing I could make it somehow easier for her in the beginning.

On the flip side, yes, I am doing a happy dance this week...you see, while I love them like crazy, and I spend tons of time with them, this momma needed a break!! A break from questions, from arguing, from whining, from intense attitudes, from setting boundaries, from reminding them to pick up, to do chores, to be kind, to treat others the way they want to be treated.

I love that my summers mean more time with them. Time for togetherness, time for completing our fun A to Z list. But, but emotionally these girls can wear me out! I know I need to take more breaks. We all need breaks from each other. I'm thankful we have one this week!!

----
I'm linking up with Crystal Stine and others today at her Behind the Scenes Tuesday Linkups...

WHAT IS THE "BEHIND THE SCENES" LINK UP? 

Social media and online relationships can make us feel like everyone else has it all together. We're edited, proof-read, Pinterest-perfect versions of ourselves  (or so some might think!) when - in reality? There is an unfinished pile of laundry around the corner. That cute toddler smiling for the camera just had a massive meltdown seconds ago. That yummy breakfast-for-dinner you just showed us on Instagram? It's because the cat licked the chicken that was supposed to be for dinner. 

"Behind the Scenes" is a fun link up where we show those photos - but tell the real story behind them. The sneak peek behind the scenes, a look past the edges of the photo to the real life behind it. 

End of the School Year: This n That

There has been so much I've wanted to blog about lately -- fun things happening in our lives, and yet, I don't have time to record everything! Well, when my girls get home today, they will be 5th and 7th graders. I still can not believe how quickly life is flying by with these two amazing girls.

The last few months, I've let the girls get instagram accounts. I'm monitoring them closely because the online world is a scary place these days for tweens and teens. 

But I have liked seeing what the girls choose to put on their pages, and seeing their friends like their pages.  And I'm smitten with instagram, so it's been fun to have them interacting with me on there too. 

Here was a screen snapshot of Morgan's account today.  Gotta love the Spartans photo! :) 

I've had quite a few sales in my etsy shop, this month -- two large orders -- one for 24 coasters and another for 12 nameplates -- gifts for team members and volunteers.  It's been a fun little adventure these past 6 months!

I sold them at Minden Place here in town for 3 weeks and made over $40, but then she decided to close shop for various reasons, so that was short lived! :) Oh well.  

Here's one of the orders...

The girls had lots of fun with their architectural skills this past week -- and built some fun fortresses in our backyard in the trees. Complete with zip-lines, weapon rooms, and more! Love their creativity!



And lastly, the not-so-good-news to start summer. Yesterday, lunch started out great -- having lunch with my neighbor! Chatting away...and then, all of a sudden something didn't feel right. I went to the bathroom -- and my tooth had broke in half!! Geez.

Luckily, could see the dentist in the afternoon -- only to find out they could not fix it nor save it. It will have to pulled by the oral surgeon on Friday. Then I have to get an implant. And then a crown. This whole process will take 6 months. It's crazy. And let's just say, that even with insurance kicking in, it will still be over $2k for all of this...not exactly how I wanted to start the summer!  The worse part -- my tooth - was a perfectly healthy tooth -- no cavities, no fillings -- the dentist said it was just one of those 'weird things'! Lucky me!!

So life goes...but I'll take the bad mixed with the good...if it means a full life!

Now, to finish up our final A to Z Summer Fun list before the girls get home shortly and summer officially begins! :)

Rewind: Easter

I'm a bit behind on getting my Easter Pics up, but I did want to capture a few of the sweet moments of these ever fleeting years.

The girls and I tried a few 'pin'spired ideas from pinterest. I love the age they are at and the fun things we can do together!

1. Ressurrection Rolls.  They kinda worked. They were still yummy, even if they didn't look quite right. :) Whoops - no pics.

2. Egg Decorating.  We used glue dots and glitter to make polka-dot eggs. We used rubber cement to make swirls.  And I found this yellow duck fuzz that I've had in my craft stuff for like 18 years that we used too.

3. We made Rice Krispy Treat Eggs -- with Jelly Beans in the middle.

4. We made Deviled Eggs that looked like Chicks.

To celebrate Easter, we...

1. Saturday night, we had a fun Easter Dinner at Darian and Beau's House. It's been awhile since we shared an Easter Dinner with anyone and it was really nice to share the table with others and enjoy some delicious food, that we didn't have to even prepare! And of course, Henry added lots of smiles to our day. Whoops - forgot to take pictures.

2. We spent the morning at church....3 services, attending and helping. Sarah even got to go on stage and participate in a blindfolded taste test in kidpoint services.

3. And after six hours at church, we decided we deserved to eat Andy's for lunch on Easter.

4. Of course, we had our annual treasure hunt to find anticipated Easter Baskets.  Not sure how this happened, but my girls never did believe in the Easter Bunny.  Santa - yes. Toothfairy - yes. Bunny - no.  We celebrated Jesus, had egg hunts and baskets - and they always thanked us, not the Bunny. It worked.

We hide chocolate eggs in house night before
and they find them when they wake up.
A tradition my own mom started. 

5. We spent the afternoon geocaching (not much luck) and soaking up a bit of Spring Weather at the park. The girls still love playing pooh sticks, which I think is adorable. (It's a game Winnie the Pooh plays, where you put a stick on one side of the bridge and watch it come out the other side.) They also still love the flying on the mushroom. And they even posed for pics for dad and I - I'll let you guess who encouraged posing for which pictures!

6. We also went to our town's egg hunt Friday night. 

And a parting shot...this is what happens when I try and get pretty pictures...

I texted Mike yesterday, 2,871 days til these sweet girls are both adults. This reminds us  to make the most of these years... a collection of moments woven together to make a lifetime.

#growingup

Oh, sweet children of mine...you are growing up waaay too fast!  Thanks for letting me capture these photos of you on our walk the other evening...on a January day that felt more like Springtime than winter.

Morgan found this heart in a rock on our walk and snapped a picture of it. 

My 3 favorites!

How'd I get so lucky to be their mom?! 

Sweet Sarah. She found this branch hanging over the water. 

Do you see how tall she is?! 

Doesn't everyone walk on their hands on a walk?

She first had the idea...as a way to walk across river without getting wet. 

Silliness. Glad you got over your 'I don't want to walk!' attitude. ;) 

Look at all that Green! In January!

Changing before my eyes...

BSFEL (Best Sisters for Eternal Life)

A Glimpse into Our Home

Our house was full of laughter tonight and I wanted to pause and remember it! I was trying to post a video, but I'm not having the patience to get it from my phone to my computer tonight, so I will just capture it in words! (The rest of my family will be glad about the no video thing, I'm sure!) 

Tonight's laughter was brought to us courtesy of my friend Lori (who shared this advent activity with me), our church who played the hilarious video on Sunday (edited version, of course!) and Jimmy Kimmel.  If you like this video, he also has a part two, which I think is even funnier!

So here's how it went down, we drew names at dinner, and each of us had to find a present that the person would have a hard time finding three nice things to say about.  We wrapped them up pretty and exchanged them.

Sarah got hotdogs (from dad), Morgan got tuna fish (from mom), Mike got makeup (from Morgan) and I got...drumroll please...my daughter's chewed up laffy taffy (from Sarah). We each had to come up with 3 nice things to say about our present.  We all laughed and laughed some more!  For the laffy taffy, I said, "I love the color yellow, I will think of you every time I look at it, and it smells so yummy!"

After that we let the girls watch the Jimmy Kimmel video (caution, some inappropriateness for kids), and we spent the next 30-40 minutes watching some of his other challenges -- we really liked the "Kids, I ate all your Halloween Candy ones." H.i.l.a.r.i.o.u.s. - (And some spoiled kids!)

ADDITIONALLY, I finally feel like I did something right.  You see, my 11 year has expressed more disapproval this year than approval for our family fun/togetherness ideas that I put in the stockings -- and while I know she's changing and growing up and our family traditions will change as she grows, it's just well, caught me by surprise this year. So when she was excited about this idea...well it made me smile! I vow to continue to find new and fun ways to connect with my girls as they grow in each and every season of life! And I will pause and capture the laughter in my heart every chance I get.  

The Next Chapter

Well I was brave, I let Morgan get out of the car and head into the middle school building this morning! I wish I could have carried all her nervous-ness with me and gifted her with confidence as she stepped out of the car this morning. I'm looking forward to hearing all about her day when she gets off the bus at 3 today!

Then I hurried back home and got Sarah out the door for the bus. It's gonna be a crazy schedule this year with two different start times, but I'm sure we'll get into a routine soon enough!

Oh, and we got to start the first day of school with NO running water in the house! Fun times!! :)  Thankfully Mike stayed home this morning to help with all this craziness! And hopefully we will have running water again before the end of today...after they dig up our front yard, that is.

Anyway, here are my 4th and 6th Graders for the 2012-2013 school year (you can click on the picture to see it bigger.)

And at the bus stop this morning...

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.

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!!