passing the torch

we re-united with our friend, the backyard, thursday night.  it's been a while...because of our enemies, the mosquitoes and humid heat.

but...thursday night...we sucked it up.

flicka tried her hand at baseball...

while colton showed us he still had it.

there is something very satisfying about watching siblings teach and learn from each other.  they don't even realize the importance of what they are doing.  they just do it.  because that bond is there.  and they instinctively have each other's back.  there was no question in his mind that he was the one to teach her.  and she knew it, too.

****

last night finally arrived, and with it came the opening ceremonies for the 2012 summer olympics.

it's no secret that i'm completely obsessed with the olympics and have been since i watched the movie NADIA when i was 10 years old and then saw mary lou retton score 2 perfect 10's on vault at the 1984 summer olympics.  i decided then that i was going to go to the olympics someday.  i'm still waiting.

in 1984, i began flipping all over the house and never really stopped.  if you get me within 10 feet of a trampoline...watch out...cuz the olympic dream comes alive from within and back flips happen.

my soccer, swimming, and gymnastic skills may have wained over the years...but my love for the olympics never did.

for any of you that know me at all...you know that i keep the dream alive by considering possible options on a daily basis.

i've asked you before...how hard can curling be?

until a small miracle happens...

we come together in front of a TV.

we wear red, white, and blue.

we watch.

we celebrate.

we cheer.

and just as a passed torch lights the olympic flame...a girl who has carried a dream with her through childhood and into adulthood...passes on the wonder to a new generation.

i don't know about you...but i'm pretty impressed that she will focus on the soccer game...

even while working on potty training.

here's to the olympics...

and to all who love them.



joy come softly

i woke up this morning with good intentions.  i swear, i did.

it's been a week of mama fail.

the kind where you wake up after your kids have been up for a while and realize that they didn't come and get you.  then you stumble to the coffee pot and realize that they have gotten their own breakfast.  then you laze around while they play video games all.day.long...and maybe you throw a load of laundry in every now and then.  or maybe you don't.  you just think, "i really should be doing something worthwhile.  i really should be reading to them....or playing with them...or taking them somewhere."

i could make excuses....like....

well...chase threw up tuesday morning and that took up all my allotted cleaning skills for the week.

but we all know the truth.

the truth that sometimes we just don't have it in us.

everywhere i look...there are people or animals or things that need my attention.  and it can get overwhelming.  it can getcha downright down.

like...i'm juggling, like, 12 balls...and if i let one of them go...

everything comes crashing down.  so i might as well set them all down willingly.

heaven forbid i forget to brush trout or george bailey for a day...because that buys you a house full of shedded fur.

and you can just forget it if you say, "take the dog out" and they hear "LET the dog out"...because it's two totally different things.

you mean go out with the dog...but they think it's adequate to just let him out the back door and leave him for an hour.  that buys you going out to find some serious, muddy holes in the yard and a mud covered dog that needs a bath before he can come back in.

and lawd have mercy...if you leave them in charge of the baby upastairs...

...they send her down as "bat girl."

she had bigger boobs than dolly.

i need those things more than she does.  let's be honest.

we did make the annual picture by the tree happen.

my goal is to take a picture of her in front of this tree every year...since they were sorta "planted" around the same time.

it shows how they both grow.

and heavens sakes...if you leave the flower beds unattended for 3 weeks...the earth apparently opens up and eats them.

4 hours and 5 blisters later...

...one of them is done.

and when you are in "lazy mama mode"...

you sorta let them dress themselves.

i'm fairly certain that flicka didn't wear anything BUT pajamas all week.

i have to force myself off my tail and make grandiose declarations like,

"WHO WANTS TO MAKE LEMON BARS????"

not because I really want to make lemon bars...

but because i feel guilty...

because everyone else is going to the zoo...or the boardwalk...or taking their kids to camp...or disney world...or swimming...or the children's museum.

so...you do things like make lemon bars so that they can't say...

"my mom lays on the couch all day and doesn't even make us breakfast."

i've realized something about myself...which is always scary and welcoming, at the same time.

i drastically fluctuate in energy and mood depending on what is going on and who is with me.

like...4100 mile, 3 week trips across the country???  i'm down...because i'm not alone.

have a house full of company???  throw another log on the fire.

but...the in-between???  it's all about recovery.

and i've learned that my recovery period is more emotional than physical.

i have to come down from the constant friends and family and laughter and activity...like coming down off of a drug.

which means there are a few somewhat boring and depressing days.

and it's during those days that i feel like a crappy mom.

i'm not saying that there shouldn't be down days.  i'm just saying...life must go on.  and happiness must too.

****

so last night, i went to bed at 9:00...vowing to wake up this morning with my flair back.  and i did.  i got up, made cinnamon rolls, made doctor's appointments, cleaned up around the house, told the kids to turn off the TV and to get their swim suits on.

i called a friend to go with us...you know...because sometimes a friend is what a person needs to keep their summer fun flag raised...and we hit the pool as it opened.

don't get me wrong...

it was fun.  and i saw mundane magic when annslee put her face in the water and when colt flew down the water slide and when aiden decided that she was no longer scared to swim...

but i couldn't help but let the eeyore mood come out when a kid pooped in the pool and we all had to get out.  and then i got a seriously sad call from UK.  and then i didn't get aj out of her swim diaper before she peed all over the chair and floor.  and then when i was cleaning that up, colton spilled his ENTIRE smoothie that i had just made him.  the dvd player quit working as i was putting in a movie for them.  annslee wouldn't stop whining.  the dog chewed up the furniture.  the cat spilled his water. i realized that in all my attempts to pull my "mamaself" together, i totally blew off annslee's speech appointment this morning.  and all that was just in a span of 2 hours. 

so...after trying so hard to give them a good, but normal summer day...i ended up losing my patience and griping about my "job" and making over-reactive statements about them cleaning up all of their own messes from now on.  like that's fair.

so...the only thing i can figure is...

i'm gonna chalk it up to a test of my joy.

if joy is a fruit of the spirit...then i have it.  i won't allow all of those little annoyances to be bigger than they are or have power over me.

i will go to bed tonight, thanking God for my beautiful family and all of their messes.

and i will wake up tomorrow...ready for our day together.

because the truth is...

it's a gift.

and it's time i start unwrapping that sucker.

a gift is no good if you don't open it.

right?

and besides that?????  the opening ceremonies are tomorrow night!!

olympics 2012, baby!!!

and when in doubt...

"put on some lip gloss,

pour yourself a drink,

and play a killer game of candy land."

-first part of quote from elizabeth taylor

and it also doesn't hurt to send in re-enforcements.

joy come softly.



fun all around

tonight i got to play soccer.

i've always remembered that line from the movie, THE ROOKIE...when he realizes that he can quit feeling the pressure to perform and focus on the fact that...

"tonight...he gets to play baseball."

so...that's what i think of every time we have a game or practice.

i love the days that i "get to play soccer."

tonight was my personal best game.  at least i think it was.  and i can honestly say that scoring twice is way more fun than scoring once.  and i've only ever scored either once or none.  and none is not fun at all.  (as a forward, anyway.  that's kinda our job.)

it was also the best i've felt that our team has played together.  it's super fun to watch our team grow and gel and become more fluid.  so...even though we lost...it was a fun game.

and what more can you hope for, really?

better your best................check.

better our team best...................check.

 have fun....................check, check.

****

this week...i got to hang out with one of my best friends from clemson.  she flew in with her 3 girls for a wedding and swung it to come a few days early to stay with us.

the day they arrived was this little lady's birthday.  so...obviously we celebrated...

...with cupcakes and a driveway sunset.

and the "i scream you scream we all scream for ice cream" game that i helped make up when i was little.  my friends and i would flip our bikes over and turn the pedals so that the wheel spins real fast.  and that...my friends...was making ice cream.

i taught them this game several years ago and by some wish upon a star...it stuck.

aiden got creative, at some point, and brought out her pretend ice cream.  yeah...i'm not gonna pretend that i'm not totally jealous that i didn't have that stuff when i was little.

i mean...i don't go pushin' them out of the way and takin' over or anything.  of course not.  no way.  i've never done that.  it's possible that i have.

we had a dance party in the kitchen after dinner last night.  i highly recommend it.  pull out the wooden spoons for mics.

try it.

you'll see.

we like to jump.

today we decided...last minute...to hit the beach.  chase didn't come with us.  he wanted to spend the day with chad.  the sweet boy.  i missed my chase.

it was a good call.

would you just look at this poor bird with a broken wing.  he had to walk everywhere.

obviously i fed him part of annslee's sandwich.

i do seem to have a "jumping issue" these days.

at one point...we looked around to find annslee and charlie in line with other random kids for some pringles.  they had been playing with the kids from that group and filed right in line with them at snack time.

we still need to make good on our pleasure pier bucket list.

and since chase decided to stay home with chad today...he was all rested up for a little movie watchin' tonight.

...with ice cream, of course.  (the real kind...not the kind i ...they...make with their bikes.)