Christmas wishes

So, I've been slightly absent from this wonderful space.  I keep thinking, "when I catch up with the laundry... when the girls lay down for a nap this afternoon... when I get done cleaning... I'll get some blogging done"...

Ha!  I've long since come to the realization that laundry is never "done", babies seldom sleep at the same time, and if they do, I usually take that precious overlap to simply exist, and well, the cleaning is endless too!  So I decided that in 2012, I'll first catch up from the last 6 months of our lives, and then keep up, at least a little, with documenting what promises to be a fantastic year for us!

Warmest wishes to you all for a beautiful and joyous Christmas from our home to yours!

{764-810}

Today I am most thankful I have such a forgiving blog audience, who love me even when post once a month.   :)


I'm thankful for smiles when they are sick
eyedrops and tummy medicine
exceptional care from small town doctors
kids that snuggle
laundry that won't go away


for the promise and hope of my dear Grandma Marjorie
who can now treasure her memories
and taught me what a joyful heart really means
when stripped of everything you love and cherish
to simply live filled with joy


thankful that she is having a reunion with my Grandpa Gilly
her sweet husband and partner in parenting seven amazing woman
two lives well lived
two lives much missed
the celebration of their legacy


feeling an Aasen hug 500 miles away
voice texts from dad
baby bumps
stack of volleyball jerseys
conquering the corn maze


melville church ladies
bountiful baskets
co-op preschool
lessons about ice skating safety
zucchini brownies


big girl beds
"okay mommy"
picking dresses everyday
tight neck hug
reading the princess book every night


showing new writing skills
asking about rhyming words
like basket and basketball
painting toes yellow
telling jokes


sharing sharing sharing
and not sharing
saying sorry to each other
giving love before bed
trying sleeping overs every night


the slower season
reminding me to slow
and count my blessings
the many many blessings

school days

Oh, it is such a beautiful thing.

Learning and playing.

We've got a pretty special thing going!

and... we're back.

Well kind of.  To say the least, we've had a pretty awesome end of summer/fall.


Awesomely busy.

Awesomely fun.

And actually not very many pictures to show.

Along with volleyball season, it happens to be shipping season for Spencer, which means his trailers are super busy and so are our phone lines.  We also decided to start our very own preschool coop, and we are loving our Wednesday mornings with our group of friends.  Miss Ella has also started a pretty fancy hobby -- ballet and tap dance class -- also on Wednesday evenings.

Awesomely busy.  Awesomely fun.

xoxo

cowgirls don't cry

"It is not enough for a man to know how to ride; he must know how to fall."

-Mexican Proverb

Well, add this to another one of those experiences my girls happen to have before me.

Sweet Reesie was "bucked" off her horse.  

Not really, Spencer's horse just kind of shook and off she went, right on her bottom in the arena.  Now, Reese has always been a little horse crazy.  She'd beg and beg to ride whenever someone has a horse saddled up, and was always very anxious to go for a ride.  She's since calmed down a bit, but the little cowgirl still loves it, but she's added a much needed ounce of caution.  

Which is kind of required out here.

More volleyball!

volleyball girls competing in our 1st annual Amazing Race

As this volleyball season begins, I'm filled with so many emotions.  I think about one year ago this time a lot, and how it still seems hard to believe that I'm coaching without my friend who was taken much too soon.

I don't think that will ever change.

I'm reminded of her joy, her passion, and her positive attitude, and how that transferred to her student-athletes.  It is an honor to coach for her.

In my life, volleyball has sure played out some of the highest highs and the lowest lows.

We're motivated and ready for a great season.  It'll be a busy fall, but it's great to be back in the gym!

Cheering for the Engineers, Squirrels, VCSU Vikings {Go J!}, and the Bears! :)

joy

life moves in such a blur

one moment to the next

happy-sad-happy again

folding t-shirts to be dirtied

filling cups of juice in the moonlight

sweeping layers of recurrent dirt from the kitchen floor

this is life.  every blink a gift.

how blessed i am to be walking with you

and in every breath finding a peek of love

in a sister's words.  in a garden's harvest.  in a family's grief and pain.

a dust of joy

buried in it all

bound tightly yet delicately knit

knowing that joy is everywhere -

the choice:  to see it