Sunday gaming

Tonight each kid got to choose an activity. Youngest to oldest. Owen chose bike ride. Adam chose the game clue. Madelyn chose monopoly. 3 hours later we finished. Catherine and Julianne don't get to choose tonight. We have a rule "only 1 monopoly game a year". Now we've met our quota! No more monopoly until 2014. Miraculously there were no tears. (Of course that is because Adam won).

2 years ago --

It has been 2 years since my mom passed away. I always think it would be nice to take the time to write down all the things that I miss about her, but the list is so long and the list is so emotional that I just can never find the time to want to sit down at a computer and cry for hours. I still feel like I am learning lessons about her every day. As I go to so many different events that showcase the passing of time (birthdays, graduations, baptisms, retirement parties) I just marvel at how much she is missing out on that she wanted to be here for. And how much all of us live our life expecting to be here for these things and then to have it all gone, just like that. She knew she was leaving. She knew she would miss it all and yet she handled the disappointment so gracefully. And since her passing her dad and her sister have joined her and it just all seems unreal in so many ways.

The caprisun bag!

I've always wanted one and now I finally got around to making it. It's not hard and doesn't even take very long to sew. It just took a while to collect 35 caprisun's.

Fishing

We took the kids fishing at the park and pond right next to our house. We had a lot of fun. Julianne caught the first fish -- an ugly catfish and Catherine caught the second and final fish of the hour.

New pans and a little more wall bling

After nearly 17 years of marriage, I bought new pans for my kitchen. A whole entire new set. I love them!



And then I added a place to write quotes and stuff above my wall calendar and I love that too!



And lastly, I love texting my kids! The screen shots of some of our conversations are priceless!



That is from Julianne. And here's one from Catherine.

My wall calendar returns

I made a wall calendar out of vinyl back in New Canaan but hadn't done one here. Until today. I already love it!

Saturday

Today I had a photo shoot at 8 am. Madelyn came along with me as my helper. While it gets hot during the day, we have a nice breeze in our yard and the whole yard is shaded late in the afternoon - early evening so we spent a lot of time outside. It was beautiful (even if the picture is not)

Swim team photos!

Today I got to be the photographer for our swim team! Naturally I only remembered to take photos of 1 of my own children!



Then we met some friends for fun at Bass pro shops. The kids shot bows and arrows, bb guns, and practiced casting. We left with 5 new fishing poles.

Caine's arcade

I missed the you-tube sensation of Caine's arcade. In short, a young boy, using cardboard boxes to create arcade games put together a whole little event. He inspired some of the kids in our neighborhood to create their own arcade and they invited the neighborhood. We all went and had a great time! The games were clever and the kids earned tickets and won prizes.



Also I finally got a picture of this monster truck driven by a family in our town. It is huge. It is their everyday vehicle. Do you see how small the minivan looks next to it?

Lastly, Julianne returned from camp today. She had a great time. I think the fact that she could NOT call me no matter what gave her the freedom to then have a great time!

Another Wednesday, Another swim meet

The kids all improved their times and had a great fun time!

A Teenager! Happy 13th Birthday Julianne! and checking out the Lake

Julianne is happily enjoying camp. (not that I actually know that because I haven't heard from her at all) We did prepare a special birthday present box for her to open while at camp.

The rest of us decided to take the afternoon and go on a local adventure to see Lake Grapevine. We live in Southlake -- just south of the lake (duh?) and I knew it was close . . . but it is really close. As in less than 2 miles close. We parked and walked to the shore of the lake and it was a muddy walk. We had a lot of rain this morning. It was really beautiful. All of us had a good time . . . except Madelyn. She didn't want to come. She didn't want to walk. She didn't want to take pictures. She was NOT happy to be on an adventure! See if you can notice the attitude in these photos.



Then Karma struck. Madelyn slipped and fell right into the mud. I did a silent cheer. She needed a little kick in the pants after her attitude!