Just yesterday she was so little. So sweet and so little.
Today…. my heart can hardly take it.
She is growing up so fast. She keeps reminding us that she will be ten. And almost a teenager. She’s so proud. She can’t wait. She’s getting so big – so responsible. She is working so hard at school, at sports and music…
Its all rushing by. Soon she will be ten. And then a teenager. And then… gone.
I want to slow her down.
“Kids! I told you to clean up! Why didn’t you? *insert rant* I mean, WHY is there a huge pile of toys over here on the floor?”
“Mom, those are the toys we want to donate to kids who lost their houses in the storm.”
“Oh.” silence. “Nevermind.”
Way to go, Mom.
We’re so so proud of our Gracie! She worked so very hard and – despite missing lessons due to the hurricane – she did an excellent job:
One crazy daddy, two equally-if-not-more-crazy uncles and a giant pile of leaves at Great Grandma and Grandpa’s house and you get…
EXTREME LEAF JUMPING!
Grace was smart enough to do it herself!
A few months ago, our bestest friends moved to Greece.
The good thing is that we now have a reason to visit Greece!
The bad thing is that we miss them terribly. I’m still in that stage where I pick up my phone and start to call her and remember she’s probably sleeping… And my girls are struggling and really, really miss their friends. They keep asking to visit them, not really having any idea how far it is.
But they still get to chat!
Their video chats are hysterical. Especially when Colin and their 3-year-old are talking a mile a minute to each other and no one else even knows what they are saying! Thank goodness for Skype!
Remember when we went bird banding last month? This month they had a special evening of owl banding for the kids! WOOT if you absolutely love baby owls!!
I want a pet owl now…..
The girls report that the owls are softest thing you’ve ever felt – even softer than their cats! But watch out, they bite!
This is such an amazing program -the “Discover the Forest’s Get Your Community Outdoors! Challenge, presented by the U.S. Forest Service, The Wilderness Society and the Ad Council is looking for ideas on how you can inspire your friends and neighbors to escape their stress and discover the great outdoors. One Grand Prize Winner will receive $1,000 to bring their idea to life as well as a $500 Frontier Airlines voucher to escape to the forest of their choice for a vacation. How amazing is that??
My idea is to give to sponsor field trips for children to go witness bird banding, learn about birds and learn what they can do to protect their habitats.
What is your idea to get your community outdoors? Go enter it!
Every once in awhile, I have that rare moment of peace.
The house is cleaned, laundry is done, dinner is cooking in the oven, work is done for the day.
Everyone is playing quietly…
And I can take a moment to breathe.
To sit.
To smile.
And to be thankful.
Sometimes it hurts to watch my kids grow up.
To watch them fail. To watch them learn lessons that need learning. To watch them have to take responsibility for a poor decision or forgetting homework or hurtful words or even a lost library book.
I know they need to learn about consequences and taking responsibility now when the stakes are low. I know that protecting and shielding them isn’t what is best for them. This is all part of growing up.
But it hurts. It hurts to watch them hurt. It especially hurts to show tough love when all I want to do is wrap them in my arms and make everything all better. Instead, I need to dry their tears, dust them off and throw them back out there in to the bad bad world.
Just have to pray for them and do all I can at home to get them ready for it.
Parenthood is getting tricky.
He eats cucumbers, in case you were wondering.