Unexpected Miracle #2

See, I just knew I should sit back and relax and let God work. That is usually my first instinct, but when Babe gets wound up and I can't keep him at bay anymore, the stress starts getting to me. It's not all Babe, as the time has been ticking and ticking, and the lack of it is definite cause for anxiety.

So, we were thinking JBS couldn't get in to school, and out of the blue he did. Then, we were thinking we were going to have to live apart for a month and out of the blue....the DEAL DIDN'T CLOSE! I never even thought to pray for that side to go awry. The deal didn't close. That's it. Babe doesn't have to leave tomorrow, he doesn't have to fly home Friday to drive back Sunday, we don't have to live apart, Babe doesn't have to miss the boys, the boys don't have to miss Babe, I don't have to miss Babe and we all get to go trick-or-treating together!

It is amazing how "all things work together for good." It's true. Now, I know just about anything can happen, so I am just waiting for the next unexpected miracle....I can't wait to see!

Confirmation

It has been confirmed that Babe has to begin work on Friday morning in Houston. It won't be quite so real, yet, as he will be back that night to turn around and drive his car down on Sunday. The boys and I will stay here through the first weekend in November to finish out the month of school and have Halloween with our neighbors and family.

Our house hasn't sold yet, but I still have faith for God's perfect timing. (Did you hear that?) We had a huge miracle in our lives while we were in Houston this weekend. ONE of the biggest worries for me was getting JBS in to a good school. When I started calling down the list of pre-schools in August, every single school had a waiting list of at least 20 kids. Some of the highly recommended schools said not to bother to even put our names on the list. When we looked at schools yesterday, the options were still slim, rather, non-existant. There were a few schools we looked at and were pretty disappointed, as they were more of a day care setting. We had hoped for something similar to his class at Monte Cassino. We showed up at one of our top choices, even though they told me on the phone they were full. We just wanted to see the school and what they had to offer. Somehow, they liked us and made a space for JBS. (after Babe volunteered me to work in the library and be the President of the PTO and be in charge of the Fall banquet...and the Spring banquet) I couldn't believe my ears when they said we could come. The biggest burden was removed from my mind knowing JBS would be in a good Christian school. He doesn't know to be excited yet, but they have electives (yes, for 3 year olds) and JBS will be in Tumbling/Yoga, Passport to the Future (they study other countries) and Spanish. He will love it.

See, miracles happen and God does have perfect timing...in all things.

My Eyes are Blurry

Our house/lives has been a blur the past few days. So much is happening that I have barely had a chance to sit down...definitely not be at the house. In fact, the house is probably the most peaceful place to be right now. For some reason, at the most chaotic time in our life we decide to sell my car to Babe's sister (that she loves and we love that she loves it) and buy another car for me. However, this has left us as a one car family for a few days, with me and the boys taking Babe to work at the crack of dawn. (ick) The same day we made the "drop" of the car, we heard that it is almost for certain (but not until Monday) that Babe has to be at his new job on Friday. At the risk of sounding incredibly selfish, I better get a car by Friday, or the boys and I will be hoofing it down the BA in a double-wide stroller!

Grammy and Big Daddy had already asked to keep the boys this weekend (thank you so much!). So, we breezed to their house to drop off the boys Friday evening and jetted to Houston to house hunt yesterday. It was a good trip, as we got to investigate the town a bit more and locate Babe's "corporate housing" (aka an apartment building). We also attempted to figure out the bus schedule, which was written for someone with a PhD, as we are still confused. We have located an ideal neighborhood for sure, but still debating and negotiating on a house or two or three. At least we have 3 we like so if the first offer falls through, we go to plan B and then plan C and then plan D if all that falls through or another one comes on the market. I hope I don't have to figure out a plan E.

I never thought decisions could be so difficult. I have made too many in the past few days, I am ready to have someone finish the job for me.

Until I can get to the computer again......

PS. Anyone want to buy my house? Please?

Babe and the Boat

My Mom and Dad have been very generous with their lake house. When Babe and I were first dating Mom and Dad let me invite some friends up to the lake one weekend. As you can imagine there are WRITTEN rules for the lakehouse, a checklist....written by the checklist man. There is a checklist for arriving and another for departing to ensure that all water heaters and A/C's, etc. are turned on or off and to prevent any unnecesary energy consumption while no one is at the house. So, it would be easy to understand that there are certain rules about the boat, as well. Dad told me the only people that could drive the boat that weekend were me, Babe, and my friend from high school that Dad knew and trusted, Spencer. Dad knew Babe had his own boat, so he took a leap in trusting Babe to drive.

Babe and I arrived earlier than everyone else, so we took the boat out for a spin before everyone arrived. Babe, being the macho man that he is, insisted upon driving and pulling the boat in the slip, despite my offer to park it. I was a little nervous as he took a WIDE birth to turn in to the slip when....bam! Babe hit the back of the boat on the neighboring boat dock. Praise the Lord there was a swim deck on the back of the boat, but it took a good chunk out of that. Babe (and I) were reeling from the shock. We went up to the house and Babe immediately wrote a blank check to my Dad. I told Babe we had to call Dad and tell him now because if we waited he would think something else was going on. I REALLY didn't want to call Dad, but I also didn't want Babe to feel any more uncomfortable than he already did, so I tried to smooth it over. I mean, at least the boat didn't sink! At that moment, the phone rang. No one calls the lake, except Mom and Dad. John grabbed his cell phone and deserted me while I broke the news to Dad. He was remarkably calm given the fact I told him Babe (whom he didn't know) just wrecked his boat and he couldn't look at it himself. As I hung up with Dad, thrilled for the conversation to be over, I heard Babe on his phone, "Granpa, remember that girl I told you I was dating? Well, I just wrecked her Dad's boat." Comic relief in a very stressful moment.

So, in the next hour or so our friends arrived. We went out again and anchored and went swimming. As Spencer was floating around the back of the boat he asked what happened. I told him Babe just did that. He looked at Babe and said, "You did THAT to (Big Daddy's) boat? Oh no." As Spencer gave his funny little laugh. So, of course, Babe starts sweating even more. Spencer knows that Big Daddy takes care of his things, like double-tarping his boat, windexing it down when we leave, etc etc. He, like me, thought that Dad was going to kill him. Might I add, Babe was not "The One" yet. We had only been dating a month or so. At this point it hadn't crossed my mind he might be my husband and the father of my children.

As we loaded back in the boat, I was tired of driving and there was no way Babe was going to touch the wheel, so Spencer, the only other approved boat driver, drove us home. As we were pulling out of the cove, again, I noticed we were getting a little close to shore and I asked Spencer what the depth of the water was, he said, "Twelve feet" when.....chug, chug, clunk, clank. You have GOT to be kidding me! I almost fainted. He ran the prop in to the ground. Not just any prop. It was the special prop Dad bought for me to water ski. On the ride home, we never could get the boat up on a plane. I just knew my time at the lake was finished, rather, life as I knew it was over.

As soon as we got to the house, I went to my room and stared at the ceiling for a LONG time, contemplating my call to my Dad, only a few hours after I had called to tell him about Babe's incident. I just kept saying, "I didn't do anything wrong. I followed all the rules. I only let Babe and Spencer drive the boat and those 2 ninnies did all the damage. BUT I am the one who had to tell Dad. Babe eventually came to see if I was alive and tried to make me feel better. Nothing would make me feel better until I talked to Dad. Somehow I made it to the phone and I made it through my conversation with Dad, but I will tell you that the whole weekend was ruined. We couldn't take the boat out, as the prop was beat to a pulp and couldn't get to any speed and there was a hole in the back of the boat. Besides, I was a blob of mush and stress waiting on pins and needles for Dad to arrive the next day to scope out the damage. I felt like I was in junior high all over again.

So, the years pass by and Babe and I are standing at the alter on our wedding day. When Dad nervously hands me off to Babe, he hands him my lipstick (which Dad always carried for me because I never took a purse anywhere) with the blank check Babe had written him wrapped around it and fixed with a rubberband. I still wonder what made Dad save that check, after all Babe was just some punk kid I was dating at the time. Maybe he knew. Maybe it was his fatherly intuition.

Mom and Dad have a new boat and a new lake house now, but Dad still has to force Babe to drive his boat.

Gigi's Poems Part Deux

I just couldn't choose my favorites...I love them all. So, here are the rest of Gigi's poems in Dad's book. When Dad was little Gigi made the very difficult decision to let her parents raise him. (She writes a little about being apart.) Because her work required so much travel and she was divorced, she wanted Dad to have a regular "Mom and Dad". She drove from Dallas to her home town an hour or so away to see Dad on the weekends. She didn't talk a lot about it, but MANY times Gigi talked about how proud she was of Dad and what a great man and father he had become. She loved him so much, and as hard of a decision as I KNOW it had to be, it was a good decision. You know, Dad wouldn't have met Mom if he grew up and Dallas, and then there would be no....ME!


God created everyone in a similar way,
To grow and to learn through work and play.
To falter and struggle from right to wrong,
To fail or succeed in life's busy throng.

The mistakes of life He understands,
He expected lives twisted from the very hands
That eke out existance in a mortal way
While He is Destiny that holds full sway.
But when God created you he had in mind
Sending a person mortal yet devine---
To stand as a symbol of all that is right
As lives are lived by day and by night.







Our life together was meant to be.
God planned it all I can see.
And though I don't undersand
Why he would let us part---
I have faith in Him
That the time will be short.
And then he will see
That things will be easier
For you and me.











The pleasures we have had
are good to see,
But the pleasure to come
will always be.

Our days apart
are as to me
The way a bridge would
seem to the sea.
















When life's debts are paid
And there are no more--
Then I'm sure we'll be
As we were before--

Together.

Gigi's Poems

Now that I feel like you know a little bit about Gigi, I will share with you some poems she wrote for my Dad when he was a little boy. These poems weren't found until after her death in a file marked "For my Book". Mom compiled the poems with old pictures of Dad into a wonderful book for his 50th birthday. Unfortunately, when I scanned the poems, the print wasn't legible, so I had to type them myself. These are just a few of my favorites. Grab your Kleenex box, as I cry every time I read them...especially now that I have 2 little boys of my own.

With a cowboy hat and high heeled boots,

With a bead on his gun which he continually shoots,

And with a smile in his heart that all this world must see,

My little boy makes a prisoner of me.

To him I'm an Indian---a fierce young brave,

He is my captor who is destined to save

The Fate of his people from the terrible West,

This battle of sorts being the test.

And after it's over--his battle won

He takes off his hat and drops his gun,

Just a sleepy little boy with a heart so free,

But he will always make a prisoner of me.

It makes me happy when I know
The things I like please you so.

The color of the clouds and what they mean,

Mean more to me because it seems

That you thrill to them just as I.

The color of the leaves as they turn on the trees,

A quaint little house cooled by a breeze

That blows down the valley and ripples the leaves.

It makes my happy when I know

The things I like please you so.

But happier yet I will always be

When I know you are pleased with me.

The birthday cake with seven candles,

The Gene Autry guns with white pearl handles,

The ball and bat and the cleeted shoes,

All these remind me that I'm about to loose

The babe I've cherished for such short years.

But in his place I have a boy

Whose simple pleasures bring me joy.

I have the right and the privilege too,

To mold his character and see him through.

This boy I'll guide for such short years.

God, grant me grace and wisdom divine

To fulfill this privilege you have made mine,

If I must err, let it be small.

May I do right or not at all

For him who will be a man in such short years.

Happy days may come and go...

But the happiest days I will ever know,

Are the ones I'll spend with you.

To be continued....

He EATS!

JLS is an enigma to our family. He doesn't eat. Well, I should say he doesn't eat MUCH. It's truly amazing how you expect 2 children of the same sex, born 2 years apart to the same parents to have some similarities in eating, sleeping, anything! Our boys couldn't be any more different in their ways. As I have mentioned before, JLS doesn't sleep much compared to JBS and he certainly doesn't eat like JBS. In fact, JBS started eating baby food at 11 weeks. When JBS was born, he was only 5 lbs 13 oz....to his whopping 45 lbs and size 12 1/2 shoes at age three. He was born hungry. He ate and ate and he eats and eats...and he eats well. He is the healthiest eater in our house, actually. And, he is the biggest kid in his preschool class. Future linebacker.

Then, there is JLS, future quarterback...he is LONG and LEAN. He started off with an intolerance to lactose. We worked through that by about 8 months. (after we made it through the reflux issues) From 4-5 months of age, I regularly tried to feed him baby food. To my disappointment, JLS didn't start eating baby food until his was almost one year. I was just sure food would help his reflux in the beginning, thus helping his sleep and mine too. That plan failed. A week before he turned one, I looked at him and told him he better start eating because on his 1st birthday I was yanking the formula and he was going to be really hungry if he didn't start eating. I explained to him that if he was hungry, he would wake up in the night and cry and I was done with that. Somehow, he got it. At Mother's Day Out he became a sweet potato-aholic. (I always make them do the dirty work.) He ate sweet potatoes for breakfast lunch and dinner after they got him to eat them once. Eventually, he added peaches, pears, bananas and applesauce to his menu. (This is baby food, I must remind you, not cut up fruit.) But that is it! I have tried every possible food known to mom's who feed babies food for the first time. Sure, he will eat crackers, cheerios, and more recently gold fish but the buck stops there. He partakes of NOTHING healthy aside from his regular baby food fruit staples.

Until tonight. Tonight he pulled a bag of dried blueberries out of the pantry. I opened them and laughed to myself, "Yeah, right." as I offered them to him. Not only did he eat those dried blueberries, he inhaled them as he shoved one after the other in his toothy little mouth as fast as he could. He ate them like I had never fed him in his life. The little stinker....and then he smiled at me with purple all smashed in his front teeth (ie. his only teeth).

Mark my words. If Sam's sells dried blueberries, I will buy them by the cases and I will feed dried blueberries to him breakfast lunch and dinner (and snacks!)....and someday soon he will turn blue, but at least he is eating "people food."

Tonight, I will dream of dried blueberries. What a beautiful day.

Gigi

Gigi was a remarkable lady for her time. In the 1940's she was a single woman and a world traveller. I regret that I was so young (high school) when Gigi died, as now that I know so much more about her, I have so many questions. She began her career as a journalist, actually starting the Travel section of the Dallas Morning News. At that time, only the wealthy travelled and it was a temporary assignment, as it was thought that no one would care to read about world travels. (Clearly before Travel and Leisure's time!) During her time at the News, she travelled from Africa to Algiers, across Europe and Canada. My mom compiled a book of poems that Gigi had written about my Dad that described her like this:

"(Gigi) managed the Dallas Morning News Travel and Resort Department for ten years. While at the News she regaled readers with her accounts of bobsledding in St. Moritz, riding the rapids in Canada and lunching with Olivia de Havilland in Algiers. In 1959, she opened her own travel business and for the next thirty years was considered by many to be Dallas' "doyenne of travel."

While in her travel business, she had an annual cruise show, that Vin and Iwere always a part of. There was always a theme and we always dressed the part, as you can see from our pictures. She was an amazing woman with a wealth of information in the world of travel. So many people loved her and respected her in her business.

After graduate school I backpacked in Europe for a month. Throughout the whole process of planning my trip with my mom, I had wished Gigi could have been there to help...all the places to go, see, and do...she knew them! While I was on the plane from Dallas to London, I thought about her a lot. In fact, I was thinking about her when I got up to go use the restroom. As I was waiting to use the restroom I saw a woman that looked so familiar. As it turns out, it WAS Laura...she worked closely with Gigi in her office. I hadn't seen her in years! She was on her way to her brother's wedding in Paris. I was amazed at how beautifully God lays things out for us and what a sense of humor He has. That small moment I shared with Laura on the plane, made me feel as if Gigi was with me throughout my entire trip.

When Gigi passed away in 1991, the Dallas Morning News flew their flag at half mast in her memory. I betcha if you picked up a Dallas Morning News, there will certainly be a Travel section, and now you know how it all began!

I'm Pooped

Yesterday, I was tired. I took JBS to gymnastics with JLS in tow. We drove directly from there to my parents town to go to a surprise birthday party for Casey. By the time I returned to Tulsa, it was 4:45pm and I had to leave the house at 5:30pm for my 3 hour photography class. I flopped in bed when I returned home. (By the way, for anyone who hasn't invested time in photography aside from point-and-shoot, don't think it isn't hard! It's HARD! Photographers are truly talented folks.)

Today, I am tired. However, I had the most phenomenal facial I have ever received today from Leah at Jera Herron. (If you live here, you must go and you must tell her I sent you to get the Relaxing Glycolic facial.) I feel as though I am floating. That will last only until 2pm when I have to pick up JBS from Pre-school and on to pick up JLS from Mother's Day Out. Then all chaos will ensue...and I will wait on pins and needles until my next Mother's Day Out day, next Tuesday.

As for the update everyone keeps asking for, there is no update. We haven't moved yet, we haven't sold our house yet, they haven't given Babe a start date yet. There are so many contingencies in our move it has become completely overwhelming. Everytime I think about the move or selling our house, or finding JBS a school (he is on 13 waiting lists), my tummy begins to hurt. John's new company is pushing for him to start October 1st, but that would require his current company to release him before the close and we don't think that will happen. So, we are guessing by November 1st, unless the whole blasted deal falls through.

So, the next issue is, "Do we (me and the boys) move with Babe to a corporate apartment with no schools available for either of the boys, no yard to play in, but we would be together as a family (high on our priority list)... OR do I stay here with the boys where we have a home and schools, but no Daddy. It's a heartbreaking decision either way. We continue to pray for peace in our lives and for God to orchestrate this move to perfection. What a thrill it would be to not have to worry about any of these things. Thank you to all of our friends and family for your constant encouragement and support. It really helps me make it through a day. I truly believe that once we sell our house, find a house, get moved, and in schools, my health will return to a glowing report status....would love to say that one day soon!

JLS's 1st Haircut

Today, JLS had his first haircut. JBS was almost 2 years old before he had enough hair to cut, so his first haircut was rather easy. Not for JLS. From the get-go he was unsure and unhappy. Here is the first snip...

.

The second and third snip...

All subsequent snips.....

The very end....

and it's over. Momma was sweating by this point.

.

And, of course, the handsome devil that JBS is, he had to get a haircut, too. We cut it ALL off. It's a little too short, but by the time school pictures come about at the end of October, it will be perfect! :) Babe got all his curly locks cut off today, too. (can't see with the hat on in the background) Today was a hair trimmin' day for everyone...except me and I need it desperately. I, however, prefer a day of beauty to a quickie cut at Ross Edwards. Spoiled, but deserving, I promise. Especially after holding JLS down for a haircut.

JBS has discovered the beauty of getting his hair washed. He asked for this! and he LOVED it.

C.O.C's

The best cookie ever invented..the Chocolate Oatmeal Cookie. As a child I can remember my mom making these over an old brown stove...maybe it was green, either way it was from the 70's. Vin and I loved to watch them cool because we could pick a little glob of the edge of a cookie and Mom would never know it was missing. The kicker about making these delish cookies, is they have to be made perfectly. In our family "perfectly" means using the perfect C.O.C. pot. They don't ever work as well, unless you use the pot. Lucky for me, I inherited one of the 2 old pots...a treasure that Babe tried to give away when we got new pots and pans. I almost slit his throat (not really). He just doesn't understand that a pot doesn't have to be beautiful to be a good pot. Of course, you don't have to have THE pot, but to make these cookies well, you have to be very careful to not over or undercook them. It takes practice, so don't be discouraged if they flop the first time.

Many people know these cookies as "No-Bake Cookies", but I am surprised every day how many people have never heard of them! They are a staple in the American kitchen. In fact, they are made with such basic ingredients, that they are easy to whip up in a pinch.

Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
1 stick butter
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
3 T cocoa
1 T vanilla
1/2 cup peanut butter (I like crunchy)
3 cups OLD FASHIONED (NOT QUICK) oatmeal
Melt the butter, add sugar, milk and cocoa over medium heat. Allow the mixture to come to a ROLLING boil for 3 minutes. Remove from heat, add vanilla, stir in peanut butter, then add oatmeal. Plop on wax paper with a spoon. YUM! Serve and Enjoy...or hide them and keep them all for yourself.

*From the minute you remove them from the heat, it goes quickly before they dry. Make sure you have oatmeal and peanut butter premeasured*

Friends

As a mother, my life in retrospect has become 20/20. I finally "get" all the rules, the worries, and the priorities my parents had while raising me because now they are all MINE for the instilling. My biggest worry for my boys and their future is their friends. I pray daily for this aspect of their life, simply because friends make it or break it for you. How quickly good kids can become bad kids simply by who they hang out with. I just watched a documentary on the boys from the Columbine shooting... gracious. Evidently, the 2 boys, who were good students, were really hurting inside. I am sure they had other problems, but their journals tell of targeted kids, for reasons we don't know, but I am sure they have something to do with how those kids treated these boys. And, of course, many other completely random killings were committed as well. I digress, as my purpose was certainly not to discuss Columbine, but the life-GIVING value of a good friend.

What a blessing, and it is truly a blessing in my life, to see who my friends are. In high school, I was surrounded by good people...beyond good, great people! My best friends were AMAZINGLY spiritually mature Christians for high school kids. I also don't believe in chance. Those people were placed in my life for a reason. That experience repeats itself over and over again as I reflect on my life. God continues to place beautiful friendships in my life at certain times in my life when I need a friend the most. My best friend and roommate at TCU was a lifeline for me during years of change and growth in college. When I moved to St. Louis, the second day of class I met a very dear friend, who was an amazing friend during a very hard time emotionally, physically, and mentally. The common ground in each of these relationships is that all these friends made it a priority in their life to love the Lord. Because of where their hearts were spiritually, we were able (and still are able) to enjoy wonderful and fulfilling friendships that exist on so many levels. I can't imagine not being able to pour my heart out to one of these girlfriends. We ask for prayer from each other all the time. How lucky I am to have the opportunity to have such deep friendships. I don't think everyone has this kind of a friend, but everyone needs one!

This song has actually become somewhat of a joke with my friends because it has been so overused in the past, however its meaning is invaluable. Its a song by Michael W. Smith called "Friends". The best line in the whole song is "Friends are friends forever, if the Lord's the Lord of them." Not only is there value in a friend who shares your faith, but there is value in a friend with whom you can allow yourself to become completely vulnerable and they still want to be your friend.

I know as we get ready to make our move to Texas, that God will place another amazing friendship(s) in my life...not to replace anyone, but to add to the wonderful list of girls that I already call my friend.

I can't begin to express the influence and feelings of love and acceptance I have received from friends. They have loved, encouraged, and supported me in times of celebration, sadness, challenges and just plain life.

You know who you are precious friends. You are stuck with me for life, so brace yourself for our future together!

Friday Nights

Several times I have started to tell a story with Gigi in it and skipped it because I hadn't given her the proper introduction. I never knew quite where to begin. So, I will give it a try by starting with Friday nights.

Gigi is my Dad's mother. Unfortunately, Gigi died when she was 69, which seems so young these days. However, I have plenty of wonderful memories of Gigi, especially from when we lived in Dallas. She lived only a few blocks away from our house. She worked full-time, in fact, up until only a few days before her death. BUT we (Vin and I) got her every Friday night. Friday nights were our night to spend-the-night with Gigi. We loved it. She usually took us to Sangar-Harris to eat dinner and shop (this was a treat!) and then back to her house for games and TV watching. When I think of the old Friday night TV runs of Dukes of Hazzard, Dallas, Falcon Crest...(if we got home early enough, we could hit Incredible Hulk) I think of sitting in Gigi's arm chair and watching her TV. These nights were so special to us, yet we really didn't do anything outstanding. It was simply the time we got to spend with Gigi. Vin and I both loved to sleep at her house because, even in the wintertime, she would let us turn on the window A/C unit. We loved to snuggle down in the covers and I LOVED to hear the sound of it humming as I fell asleep.

I can still see, smell and hear her house. It's the same way with Plain Granny's house. When there is someplace special that you love, it leaves an imprint in your life. We always looked forward to Friday nights....and I am sure my parents did, too!

Labor of Love

Good Morning and Happy Labor Day! This post is quite appropriate for the commemorated day of labor. I noticed that most of my funny stories about my childhood years revolve around my dad being, well, being Dad. This is not intended to leave my mom out by any stretch of the imagination. While Dad was being Dad, Mom was cooking, cleaning, buying our clothes (and ironing them, too--ick!), creating traditions, decorating the house, keeping our daily schedule, enrolling us in sports and piano lessons, carting us all over town, baking birthday cakes, taking pictures (and making photo albums) and making our house a home, while trying to keep friends of her own all at the same time. I can certainly identify with how tough it is to keep it all together! While these things may not be necessarily noteworthy of a funny story, they are all necessary things that don't get due notice unless they are NOT present in a family. I will admit, I don't know how my mom did it all. There are many days my body just can't make it through and I just give up and let it all go. My childhood was perfect, truly perfect, and Mom and Dad were both instrumental in those memories.

We went to the lake this past weekend and the whole family was there. Mom still cooked, cleaned, and entertained the kids AND adults in a beautifully decorated home. I tried to help and keep up, but I just couldn't match her ability to catch every drop of milk or cheerio (both created by MY children) and keep everything perfect. We try to help by trading responsibility for meals, but it just doesn't seem like enough. You can tell her to rest, but she always has that sponge in her hand wiping up that spot on the counter or better yet, the food off my boys' faces. (not with the sponge, of course)

Mom, you are a SuperMom still and I hope someday I can be a SuperMom, too. Until then, I will keep plugging along, trying to stay afloat each day, aspiring for greatness.

Our Furry Friends

It is so sad to know that Labor Day defines the end of the summer. For us, that means the end of the lake in regards to skiing, tubing, playing in the pool, swimming in the lake, and the hot and sweaty days on the boat. There is just SOMETHING about the lake and a boat....ahhhh, I just love it. The summer went by too quickly, but I get just as excited for the Fall to begin.

Beyond all the fun ON the water, one of our favorite pasttimes is looking for animals in the woods. We find all sorts of fun animals including deer, little foxies, hawks, rabbits, squirrels, and according to JBS, there is ALWAYS a bald eagle in the trees. We have found some amazing spiders (that were big and furry), a praying mantis, locusts...lots of excitement for a 3 year old city slicker.

Yet another nickname for my Dad which was bestowed by my friend, Mistah, is "John J. Audobon", to which he identifies her as Ranger Rick. We are definitely a nature-loving family and have aquired a true appreciation for the outdoors from my dad. So, it wouldn't surprise you that in the woods in front of my parents lake house, Dad has placed a salt lick for the deer. In addition to the salt lick, he puts corn out every day for feed. In fact, I noticed this past weekend, Dad had gone so far as to put ears of corn with the husks peeled back (such a nice guy) for the deer...alongside the corn feed. SURPRISE! We are the headquarters for the deer smorgasbord. One deer told a friend and they brought their cousins and aunts and uncles. We looked outside at one point in the evening and there were at least 12 deer chowing on corn as close as 15 yards from our doorstep. They are beautiful. The bucks are awesome to see, with their huge antlers...the largest we have seen was a 14 point buck. Not so shabby for a front yard viewing.

So, I have taken a few pictures of the deer, that are quite fuzzy because they always come at dusk. (I am taking a photography class as we speak to learn how to defeat the fuzzies at dusk.)

We also have a nightly search for Focky Locky (Foxy Loxy, but its a real mouth full for JBS). He has quite a few family members, too. He is harder to catch...either in the wee hours of the morning or at the bitter end of dusk.

As you can see, there is still much to do at the lake for our family. Maybe someday soon I will have a picture of those Bald Eagles for you, too!