Flashback Friday!

When I came across this photo the other day, I stopped in my tracks. 

My gosh, who are those poor children and what did I do to them? 

Bruised little legs and dirty little feet. Solemn little faces and sweat on their brows. Sad little lunches of hot dogs and pretzels. And an even sadder set-up of a cooler for a table. 

Are these poor children abused?

Are the neglected?

WHAT COULD IT BE? 

Some do call it abuse...

 But actually it's camping.

And they loved every minute of it, as sad and abused as they look.



P.S. I miss these days.

Spring

I consider myself a winter kind of gal. 

I enjoy snow, I enjoy cold temps, and I enjoy coffee, so winter is my jam. 

But here's what I've discovered as a mother. Winter=sickness, and THAT I do not like....

My kids seem to start falling apart come January.

Last winter was bad, and prayerfully this winter is better, but we are now dealing with croup.

And between that and being trapped indoors?

Maybe it's time I pick a new jam.

I'm looking at you Spring.

Another T & G weekend

When I started to upload my pictures from the weekend, I realized that I needed a selfie lesson. Apparently I never know where to look: Tracey dead on, Gretchen, wandering right eye. 

So yes, Tracey and I spent the weekend together.

Of course, plans were per the norm...

Eat. Take selfies. Shop.

With shopping taking top priority, we had even decided to head south to shop at the "big" malls. But when I awoke to a winter wonderland on Saturday I sort of felt sick.

I mean there are only so many things to do when it's all snow town outside. So we quickly decided no matter what, we were going....

We forged ahead, like shopping forefathers.

And we rewarded ourselves for all that tenuous travel.

Actually the roads were totally fine.

But we were pooped from walking so much. I mean, shopping is hard.

But there is one store that always sends surges of energy through Tracey's veins.

And I settled in for the long haul, and assumed I would turn 40 in that COACH store.

Tracey is notorious for TAKING FOREVER TO PICK OUT A PURSE. And I'm totally not exaggerating.

But there was some sort of miracle. The COACH heavens opened up and Tracey made a decision, like fast.

I was stunned.

And you know that was probably the highlight of the shopping trip.

And I'll tell you why, TRYING ON JEANS IS WHY. Seriously, that's right up there with trying on bathing suits under fluorescent lights.

But after hours of shopping and zipping up pants that gave me have a muffin top, we finally rewarded ourselves with food. Even though Tracey was near death because we hadn't eaten in HOURS.

Yes, we tend to exaggerate and be dramatic, but we think we are funny, and we always have fun. :-)


And let me end with some wise advice Tracey dished out this weekend.... SO TRUE. SO TRUE.

Another fun weekend in the books!

Swimming in January. Don't mind if they do.

As of today we are on our fourth snow day for the week, so I think we are now at a total of seven days. So that's gonna be fun come the end of May. 

And yes, people that work in the school system are spoiled.

But let me tell you about something that was legit fun...

Swimming in January? SIGN US UP PLEASE.

And celebrate this boy? But of course! We got invited to a swimming party for Luke and we were pumped!

But when I say sign US up, I actually mean someone else can get in the pool with the kids, because I'M NOT GETTING INTO A SWIMMING SUIT IN JANUARY.

Thankfully Blake took one for the team.

And us moms just got to watch all the fun from the sidelines.

And it really was such a treat for the kids to swim in January. 

And a treat for me to attempt to get a group shot...

As good as I could get. I'll take it.

Happy Birthday, Luke!

Celebrating life

So when you have a loved one die, suddenly you don't feel much like blogging. I mean how do I go on about the minutia of life when that happens? 

I'm not really sure, except that I know that life keeps moving. 

One morning I was in the bathroom at my parents house and the sun was coming up, and seeing that I'm all reflective right now, I took it in differently. My Aunt Linda had a life full of sunrises and now I'm having my life of sunrises. 

Soak it in. 

Live it up. 

Life is short so enjoy it. 

And please don't mind me while I'm sappy for a while. 

Oh and let me tell you what brought smiles to all our faces this weekend...

What a nice distraction it was to look over and see this sweet little face.

But of course it made me sad. RIGHT NOW EVERYTHING MAKES ME SAD.

It was just a strange weekend.

On one hand we were saying goodbye, and on the other we were celebrating life. Linda's life and our Nathan's life.

And it was nice to have something fun to celebrate after Saturday.

 We needed the laughter.

And time to just hang out.

And this young man is going to be 15.

That means driving and girlfriends and all that ridiculousness.

So yes, it was a reflective weekend.

A weekend with a lot of tears

But also a lot of laughter.

Celebrating life.

She is free

Remember when you were a child and everything revolved around your little family? The world was only as big as your tiny circle with maybe a few friends thrown in.  For me that little circle was Mommy and Daddy, Chris and Jo, Grandad and Guy, and my Aunt Linda and Uncle Ted.

Of course now as a grown woman my world is much larger, but yet in the corners of my heart, where I still feel like a little girl, I can still feel that small world.

Yesterday that small world shrunk as my Aunt Linda lost the fight.

And literally that is what it has been since October, a big fat fight for her life. There were so many days that we all thought it was the end, but she would pull through and then even rally and seem pretty good.  There was always optimism and hope and I know that Linda wanted to live. But there was just too much for her to overcome, and once infection went into her heart it was only a matter of time.

But today she is free.

She is free from the pain, from the fear, from the anxiety, and she is free from fighting. And as happy as that makes me for her, it doesn't stop the pain here. I mean how can my Aunt Linda never walk through the door again? How is that possible? I mean, I know it's possible but it's just UGH.

The idea of it all is new, and I guess the reality of it all will begin to set in as two sons say goodbye, as a brother says goodbye, as we all say goodbye.


"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; And there shall no longer be any death; There shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain, the first things have passed away." Rev 21:4

Some touch ups

During our break I finally got around to doing some things to sorta spruce the ol' place up...

Like hanging Hope's new bulletin board in her room that Neena and Papaw got her for Christmas, cute right? 

Also adding this new canvas, which I love.

I want to add something cute right there where the blue arrow is, like a sweet sign or something. But at the pace I get things put up she will want some sort of "teen" room by then. My teen room was Andre Agassi posters, and Bon Jovi posters hidden under my mattress because mom thought they were the devil. (Hi mom!) 

And Pierce now finally has his UofL bedroom he's been wanting for months.

It's a lot of RED

Maybe not what I would pick...

But it's not about me. He loves it, so I love it!

And I even finally got some things finished in our bedroom.

Three years is an average pace, right?

But I have done something that I think you all will be proud of. 

Remember not too long ago when I showed you this, and I mentioned my little African American buddy that greets me every morning? 

She was with me so long that I finally named her Sadie, and I grew attached to her.  But I did finally decide it was time for Sadie to go.

And now I roll over to this sweetie.

But I sorta miss that little Sadie.