~~ At the Lake ~~

  

 

Sunrises, sunsets, fishing, boating, games, horses, peace, relaxation, little boys that fill the chairs, books,  silence.  A little bit of Heaven on Earth.  Blessed to be able to get away with the family and recharge and make memories.

  

~~ Soccer ~~

Today was spent at the soccer fields.  The boys haven't played soccer in years, so it has been awhile.  This weekend my niece was in town for a tournament.  I wasn't able to make yesterday's game, but today I got to see both her games.  That's her in red surrounded by white defenders.

 

The first one was early and the weather was amazing, but the best part was seeing her score a goal.  Her team won 3-0.  The second game was a tie 1-1 and it was in the heat of the day.  Sun was beating down-no clouds, no breeze.  I don't know how they run around and play in it.  Turns out her team won the tournament and got championship medals.  It was a good day for her and her teammates.

Between games we were able to run home and get the dog out for a walk and after the games it was a quick lunch and a nap.  So glad we were able to see this little firecracker play today.  

~~ Day 4 ~~

It's day 4 of blogging!  Getting into the groove and starting to get in the habit of doing it daily.  That's my goal for September anyway, a post a day!  Today started out with me heading into work during a nice little rush hour thunderstorm.  Last time that happened I was leaving work and was totally unprepared - no umbrella, no raincoat, nada.  This was me when I got to the parking garage.  SOAKED!

Today I was ready!  Had my umbrella and my tennis shoes and I was movin' from the garage to the office.  I love my building and my job and could not be happier.  Here's a pic of the Tower from a sunny day from earlier this week.

 

The last thing I want to post is a page from a beautiful calendar my sweet niece Emily gave me for Christmas on year.  I miss my family and my friends and this year has been weird and I don't what normal will be, but I pray for a vaccine so that I can get together with the ones that are close to my heart.  

~~ It's Good Friday and I'm Back ~~

WOW!  Can you believe it's been something like 7 years since I posted anything on my blog??  I had a few resolutions for 2018 and one of them was to get back to posting on here.  I loved writing about our everyday adventures and then looking back at the pictures and rereading all my stories.  So....here goes.  Don't know how exciting it'll be or if I will be able to get back into the habit, but I remembered my password and I'm going to give it a try.  Who knows maybe I'll inspire someone to start blogging again.  That is assuming anyone is dancing with me!

~~ Camping ~~

This past weekend was absolutely gorgeous, windy and a little cool, but no clouds and lots of sunshine gorgeous! We were up early Saturday morning and excited about the camping trip that was planned with Jesse's Cub Scout pack. After all our bags were packed and the car was loaded up we headed west toward Enchanted Rock!

Once we were there, it became clear, pretty quickly, that there was a lack of communication and information. We paid ahead of time, but needed to pay again when we arrrived, something about the type of pass our pack bought. Initially we were told no lunch would be served by our pack, so we stopped for lunch on our way there. No big deal. But then, biggest miscommunication was a big deal. This campout was not going to be like the one last fall because it was primitive! That's right, I said primitive. No parking at the campsite and unloading all your goodies, too windy for a campfire, and a good 1.5 miles between the campsite and the pavilion where lunch/dinner/breakfast would be served.

Phillip and the boys getting ready for the hike.

Getting ready to start hiking to the campsite! We found out we would have to haul all of our stuff 2 miles to our primitive campsite. Remember where we are? It was mostly uphill and we had a lot of stuff-tent, sleeping bags, overnight bags, etc. I was NOT a happy camper!

The dads-Phillip and Brett-hauling gear to the campsite.

The back of Enchanted Rock (almost there).

Finally got there and got the tent set up. It was pretty darn windy, but it stayed up!

Hiking between the rocks (2 pics ago), and looking back at our campsite, on our way to eat dinner.

Jesse and Hank

After dinner we hiked back to our campsite. The sun was going down quick. Despite all the frustration with the arrangements the park was beautiful!

I was usually bringing up the rear, mostly because I was busy taking pictures.

Figured I better get one of myself-hehe. By this time we had probably walked about 12 miles and I was still able to put on a happy face!

The backside of the rock at sunset. We made it back to our campsite with about 10 minutes of daylight left. It was dark! No campfire meant no smores and no storytelling, so we were all in bed by 7:30. Not too early considering we were exhausted from all the hiking!

Waking up after a cold, 27 degree, night of primitive camping! At least the boys were able to earn their polar bear patch because the temp. went below freezing. After the last camping trip, which seemed so much colder, we were prepared with sleeping bags and layers of clothes!

We got up early, packed up everything and started our 2 mile hike with all of our gear to the pavilion for breakfast. It was early, but it warmed up quickly so Michael helped me out by wearing my sweatshirt down the hill.

Um, yeah, not smiling like I was the night before. This is my "I am SO over this" picture. See all those black straps around my neck? That would be all the junk I carried down.

Still, it was a beautiful morning and the scenery was amazing!

After breakfast prayer and meeting with the whole pack. Then it was time to hit the road home. We were so sore and tired and dirty, but overall it really was a great experience!

On the way home we stopped outside of Burnet to see the bald eagles. I wish I had taken my other camera with the zoom lens, maybe I could have gotten a better picture. Oh well. The nest was huge and one bird was in the nest.

You absolutely can not see the 2 bald eagles sitting to the left of the nest in this picture because it is so small, but they were there I promise.

It was a great experience and we have a great story to tell because of all the ups and downs (get it?) that we encountered this weekend. I am super excited the boys were able to earn a patch-camping in temps below freezing is a big deal! It was our first family camping trip and we had an awesome adventure getting to know our friends better!

~~ Bowling Belt Loop ~~

It's MLK day and the kids are out of school and Daddy is off too!! After a busy weekend with Nana & Papoo, it was nice to sleep in-the boys didn't wake up until 8:45!! Of course, that was good and bad-tomorrow morning going back to school is going to stink, but this morning it was perfect. We stayed in our pj's until noon, we ate lunch and then decided to take the boys bowling! Jesse was able to work on earning a belt loop for tiger cubs and Michael and I had fun helping him.

Earning that belt loop.....

Michael's turn.....

It was fun family time and I look forward to heading to the bowling alley again soon! Before we turned in the shoes, I decided to play around with some pictures and practice being a little creative with my photography.

I had this idea and it came out *okay* I guess-I'd like to get better with the lighting and depth for starters.

~~ I'M Orange ~~

This morning was my first morning to be in motion and it was pretty awesome!


Every Sunday I get to wear this bright orange shirt and comfy pants and spend an hour and a half with 15 + first graders every Sunday morning before I go to worship. It's a morning filled with smiles and laughter, and music and movement, Bible Stories and learning.


Such a great way to start my day!



I've wanted to do this for a couple of years now and I finally signed up. I am so glad I did. Not only is it important for my children to see me involved, but now I get to be apart of what they are learning every Sunday morning.



Red and Yellow mixed together give you ORANGE! It's a big color at our church in the children's and student ministry. Red represents the heart of the family and home. Yellow is the
light of Christ. The combination, Orange, is the color worn by the volunteers that are sharing that light and spending the next year making a difference in the lives of children and students at our church on Sunday mornings!

~~ Zing, Zang, Zoom ~~

Today was kinda like that, especially the zoom part!

It started as another lazy day-no workout, no leaving the house, no being out in the heat, until gymnastics anyway. The boys have been doing gymnastics now for 2 years and they still love it! And so do I, it is an hour of quiet for me to do a little of this or a little of that. Usually I read or work on my crochet. (pictures of my gymnasts and my crochet might show up in a later post.)

Around 5:15, Michael and I headed up to his school to meet the teacher and drop off supplies, but when we got there we found out we were a day early. There was an hour long orientation for new parents with all kinds of important school info. I *swear* that is NOT what the notice I read said. Anyway, we couldn't stay. We had a circus to get to!

Zing, Zang, Zoom is the theme for the circus this year! We sat in the Zoom section!

It was a fantastic night! It has become one of those yearly family traditions that we all love. I think this was the best performance so far! The boys get a souvenir each-Michael got a white tiger and Jesse got a motorcycle-and I got a picture of them on an elephant. Of course there was also lots of food and drinks.

Me and my littlest man. Jesse was upset and would not take a picture with me. :(

No worries, I got some of him anyway!

~~ T-ball & Legos? ~~

Today was an absolutely fabulous day!

It began late, because my guys were SO sweet and they let me sleep in--until 10:00am!

After a cup of coffee it was off to the ballpark for Michael's t-ball game. It was cool and windy, totally opposite from yesterday's heat. Grandpa and Deborah drove all the way in to catch the game. It was great to see them! The boys always get all silly and excited to see them.

And, today is Deborah's birthday.....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Deborah!

Back at the house after the game the boys were so good; they just played and played together for hours with NO fighting. Usually at quite time I have them go to their rooms and relax with a movie and today they actually asked if they could watch the same movie in the same room. I was leery, but I agreed and to my surprise it was not a mistake.

There was one thing that happened this afternoon that was kinda funny. I was sitting in the living room, most likely on the computer, and Michael walks in talking to me. I was only half listening, it was something like this.

Michael: “Mommy, blah, blah, blah, Jesse and I put these in our ears.”
Me: “Wait, what?” “You put what in your ear?”
Michael: “These.” He shows me as he is pulling it out of his ear.
Me: “OH MY GOODNESS!!”

I freaked out a little, but after I talked to them, I think they both understand that it is not a good idea to put anything, ANYTHING in their ears, nose, or mouth EVER.

Here is a picture of the little Lego pieces next to a dime, just to show how small they are.



Boys, always keeping me on my toes. You never know what they are going to think of next.

~~ Cloudy ~~

with a Chance of Meatballs

Our first weekend home since the beginning of the New Year, and our first family fun movie night, well, afternoon. I had big plans for last night, but the boys were, well, I'll just say they were too tired.

We snuggled and ate popcorn and it was great! Next time we will invite Daddy!