January 7,2009

7/365

Beautiful day today. Weather warmed up a bit, wind died down and sun came out. It almost looked like spring! Since it was so pretty, Courtney and I went out after work and played a little soccer. She tries to make home like school. The other day, I had to work late and Kirk was able to pick her up early. that very rarely happens and Courtney eats it up when it does. When I walked in, Courtney and Kirk were playing school. She had three stations set up and he was at the first one doing a color by number. It made me laugh seeing him on the floor with colors spread all about him and she was ever so gently reminding him to cal her "Ms. Allen". When I came in she asked me to play along so I settled in next to Kirk and she handed me my paper to color. Kirk and I decided to play the part so, when Ms. Allen wasn't looking, he hit me. Of course, I burst into tears and she immediatly sent him to the corner. When she wasn't looking, I stuck out my tongue at him and he of course, tattled. She turned to him and rather sharply said " I didn't see it so it didn't happen." I had to laugh. I was the teacher's pet. On this day, our "school time" was PE. We went outside and I took my camera hoping to capture some great photos. At first, she had to show me all her moves. I was pretty impressed. She could dribble the ball really well and she could could hit it with her head and knees. After I took my pics, we went across the street to play a little game. That girl's got game! She was using both feet to move the ball up and down the field and she was pretty tricky when it came time to go for a goal. I think she needs to play some soccer! I am adding those pictures--just because!

As we finished up, we turned to see the most beautiful sunset. The colors were so brilliant. My picture really doesn't do it justice. We stood together and she chatted about her game, but I couldn't keep my eyes off the sky as the sun dipped below the earth. God was great when he created the sun the moon and the stars! What forethought he had to imagine and create a sunset. Man could not even describe its beauty much less create anything as beautiful! Everything about it was amazing. I think I will make it a point to catch a few more sunsets this year.

January 6, 2009

Day 6/365

I don't have much time today. I am working feverishly on some volleyball books for the varsity team as well as Kirk's team--about 20 books in all. I have to have them all done in about two weeks in order to have them printed and back in time for the banquet in early February sooo... I will keep it short.

We have a quiet week this week. The girls are at their dad's and Kirk was at a game tonight so it was just me and Courtney. We decided to take a walk with the dogs(in an effort to keep my resolution about keeping in shape) but little did I know that the wind would pick up and blow about 100 miles and hour and that the temperature would drop so quickly. It was COLD! I thought it would be a nice chance to get my picture of the day but it was a little hard to get a nice clear one when you have a dog leash in hand and you can't stand up straight because of the major gusts of wind! . Anyway, this was the ONLY one I got today--not too bad.

January 5, 2009

Day 5/365

We woke up this morning to a very cold and dreary day. I think it was appropriate since that is what I felt like myself this morning. After two weeks of vacation, going back to work made me feel dreary. When I got to work, it was even worse. They had piled mail and notes and cases so high on my desk that I couldn't find a bare spot to put a pen down. Needless to say, I felt like the weather looked today.

I had to run to Harker Heights to make an emergency visit to one of our dentists. It is something I do twice a week but I found myself going a day earlier than planned. I hate going and grumbled a bit as I walked out the door. I have to remind myself all the time "atleast I have a job!" but most the time, I wish I didn't. I have way too many things I want to do at home and with my family. I wish I was rich. But since I am not and a job I must have, I am trying to find something good about it. The drive the Harker Heights is about 45 minutes from Waco and today, because I had to take Leah to BB practice in Crawford, I took the back roads. Now, I have taken them many times before but today, I really stopped to look at the countryside as I drove along. The sky was dark, it was raining but the rain was freezing on all the trees and wires. Today, those brown, ugly trees appeared to be a brilliant white. As I looked across the wide open field, it occured to me that this is what we would call--at least in Central Texas--a winter wonderland! We don't get much snow, but the freezing ice made the ground and bushes and trees appear white--like a fresh snow had fallen. It occured to me that, had I not had to drive to Harker Heights today, I might have missed this beautiful sight. The trees heavy with the weight of the ice and the occasional evergreen that stood so colorful next to their brown counterparts. I saw the most beautiful red birds feeding and an occasional cow that stood in the cold winter rain and grazed. A calm came over me and I felt at peace. I am reminded of the beauty of God's earth even in the dead of winter. When it appears that life is at its ugliest--there is a glimpse of beauty that keeps you moving on towards the hope of a prettier tomorrow.

Day 4, January 4,2009

Today was church day and Rachael's best friends father was preaching at our church so, for the first time in I don't know how long, we actually got the kids up, without a fight, got ready for church AND--and this is what is amazing, left for church ten minutes EARLY! Now this may not seem like a big deal, but for us, it was a miracle. Everything went right today. It doesn't happen very often, but when it does, I have decided it deserves it's own blog! Have you ever got up and just felt like all was right with the world today? The sun was out, Courtney had snuck in the bed earlier that morning and was snuggling up close, the dog who,as soon as the alarm goes off inches her way out from under the covers right to the top of my chest, was burying her head in my neck for her morning hug and Kirk was snoring lightly right beside me. As I lay there I realized that I may not have many more mornings like this one. I mean--surely Courtney will quit coming in for her morning snuggle and quiet talk pretty soon. She will be seven in March and I can't imagine that she will be coming in for too much longer. Sometimes I wish she would stay in her own room but this morning, as she snuggled close, I cherished this moment. Like I said, everything felt right.

Anyway, we had a great church service and afterwards had a nice lunch with our very best friends. It is so hard to have friends when you have kids that take you from one place to the next, but somehow we have managed to develope a nice friendship. We have kids the same age and they play the same sports so we see them often at the games but it is always nice to sit down and catch up.

After we got home, everyone split up and I found myself in my room for a quiet moment. It doesn't happen very often, so I took camera in hand and I set out to capture my picture of the day. I got a new lens for Christmas and I have been dying to try it out so I set about on my new mission. Well, I got the cold shoulder from Rachael, Kirk was taking his nap and Leah had, once again, closed herself up in her room and was watching 24 hours of the show "24" It was cold today and the heater went out on their side of the house so she was in her pajamas under the covers with her little DVD player and cell phone right next to her. I just got a pillow in the face--no good picture. I do not think that they really appreciate my picture a day resolution! Now Courtney, she will pose for anything so I headed to her room. She lost her first tooth a few months ago and she has a new one that is beginning to get loose. She informed me that she needed to eat more apples because it would help her lose that tooth even faster! So her mission and my mission coincided. Hence my POD.(picture of the Day,for those who are wondering) I am going to miss having a little one around. With Andrew turning 18 and Rachael fixing to drive, I have realized that they grow up way too fast. I miss those days when the only thing that was important was whether or not their tooth would fall out while eating an apple. It really makes me want to capture everything about them so I won't forget. I think a picture a day is not enough......I hope they get used to the camera. :)

You ever have those days when everything just seems to be right with the world?? Well, I had one today and it made me smile.

Day 3, January 3, 2009

I can't believe that we are already three days into the new year! I know I am three days late, but I did make a few resolutions this year so I thought I would share them. I figure if I tell you and blog about it, then maybe, just maybe, i will keep them longer than one week! So my picture today is what I promised myself I would do--get in shape! You know it wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have a husband that was rail thin. It would be much easier and way more pleasurable for him if he would just gain weight and quit working out BUT since he won't, I have to starve myself and do what I hate more than doing the dishes--WORKOUT! YUK! Thanks to the kindness of my parents, we added a weight bench to our workout room. Of course, by workout room I mean a small space in the garage, but, it looks really nice and I am kinda excited about it. Kirk has been out every day since we put it together and Rachael, who is our little powerlifter, even went and did her workout. It is very convenient and there really is little to no excuse for not going out and lifting for ten minutes a day so, I begrudgingly started my workout yesterday. My knees cracked and creaked, my shoulder that is very sore from my many hours attempting to beat Rachael at Wii Cheer, could only manage to lift 50 lbs BUT I did it and if I was honest with myself--it wasn't THAT bad. So, I will trudge on and try to become the slim trim wife I know my sweet dear husband wishes he had but would never--especially if he valued his life--voice out loud :)

Day 2- January 2,2009

Well, so far so good! I have kept up with it for 2 whole days! Of course, I haven't started back to work and there are no games to attend so, right now, this is fairly easy! Today I spent the majority of the day cleaning up around the house, playing Wii Cheer with Rachael ( a totally fun and addicting game) and Kirk and I went to see the movie "Benjamin Buttons." It was really good. Not anything like I imagined but really good.
Anyway, as I thought about the picture I was going to take today, I wanted something that really symbolized me. I think for those of you who know me, you would say this looks just like me. This desk represents everything about my life--messy yet organized. It looks totally disorganized, but I know where everything is. It holds all my dearest posessions..my pictures, clippings from the newspaper about my children, my latest projects, pictures that my little one colored for me and little sticky notes that she thinks makes my desk look prettier.To everyone on the outside, it looks like a cluttered mess but to me, it represents all the happy memories from my kids childhoods--the ones I am lovingly pooring hours upon hours of time scrapping so that one day, they can look at my completed project and smile with all the good memories. Hmmmm. Nice thoughts. One day, I will get around to cleaning it, but for now, this disorganized mess is my space--the only space I can call "my own" so if I want to stack it full of love notes from my baby and pictures of my not so little ones, I can....and I will.

Day 1-January 1, 2009

Happy New Year!

After a very hectic, but very wonderful Christmas, I just wanted to curl up in my pajamas with my new camera lens and my Bamboo writing tablet and create. I had taken hundred of pictures and I wanted to scrap them before I forgot the funny comments and the excitement of the kids. But, on my way home from Oklahoma where I was dropping of my son, I got an e-mail from my ex, Clint. I called him to talk and he told me his girlfriend--the one that both the girls and I really liked, had called it quits. We have recently--well for a year or two now, tried to put our differences aside and really co-parent the girls. It has for the most part been a really good journey and we have--all of us (DH ,Kirk, included) become good friends. So, in an effort to keep him from having a really bad new year, I took the plunge and invited him over for our New Year's Day festivities. We kicked of the day around noon and we had a lot of fun! I made a big spread--shrimp, a veggie tray for Courtney, chips and salsa, everything you could think of! We watched a little football and at halftime we broke out the new Wii Rockband that Kirk got for Christmas. Now that was funny! We put Clint on the drums, Rachael and Leah were playing the guitars and Kirk, Courtney and I sang. What a blast! Anyway, to make a long story short, at the end of the day, when Clint had gone home and DH Kirk left for work (yes, he had practice on New Year's Day!) Leah came up to me and said "Mom, this was the best Christmas EVER!" I had to agree. I had ALL my kids home, I was surrounded by my family and despite the economic situation the kids got everything they wanted and more! It was a GREAT Christmas and I am looking forward to a Fantastic New Year!

Project 365- January 1, 2009

I have decided to take on the great task of a) starting my own blog and b) taking a picture a day every day for 365 days. I wanted to try Project 365 because I thought it would help me be thankful for all the little things in my life--you know, the things that you take advantage of because they happen every day but also because I thought it my help my children to see what really matters to me and what makes their mom tick. It seems that most of the time--atleast since my oldest daughter turned 13 (she is now 15, almost 16) all I get is a rolling of the eyes or an oh so polite--"whatever" to most of my thoughts and opinions. I never knew I was so stupid. Actually, I thought I was rather intelligent--that is until I had daughters. Now I realize I am an old, ugly and utterly stupid "MOTHER". UGH! When did mother become a bad word???? Anyway, I am hoping that I learn something about myself this year and I am really, really going to try and keep up with it. By starting this blog, I am going to try and journal my way through the year and I thought it would be a fun way to keep in touch with friends and family. I hope you all enjoy this project with me. Leave your comments and let me know what you think!