A Tail of Two Kitties ~

If you've been reading my blog for long, you know all about Socks. I've shared some pretty funny stories about this cat. You can read those stories here and here. This past Spring Break, after spending the week away, we came home to find him missing. For several days we called his name and hoped and prayed he would turn up but he never did. It's been hard to wonder what happened and to not be able to put closure on our feelings. I miss that cat.

He was a sweet kitten. We got him when the kids were just 2 and 5. It must have been hard on him being so little with a couple of "lovable" children to play with, but he stuck with us.

Look at that sweet little face would ya! She has so much love for her animals and Socks was so patient with her.

This was the last picture I took of Socks. It was taken right before Spring Break on a beautiful winter day. We sat outside under the tree and read books. I got up to go inside for a minute and when I came back Socks had taken my seat. 

Socks was a part of our family for 6 years. He loved us and we loved him. We will always remember our sweet Socks. 

We waited 3 months to get another kitten. Three months doesn't seem like very long when you think about it, but when you live in the country and start seeing mice in your garage you start thinking about getting another cat. A friend of mine who is a physical therapist had a patient with a litter of pretty little calico kittens. I've always wanted a calico. I think they're so pretty. So the same day I saw the mouse, we got a kitten. We named her Patches.

She was the sweetest little thing and so very pretty. 

She was absolutely NOT going to be a house cat...yeah, ok. Here she is reading a bedtime story. That night we were convinced she was reading along. Every time K would turn the page, Patches would look at the pictures and them rest her eyes on the words. 

When she was about 6 months old I started worrying she might be going to have kittens. She would stay outside during the day and come in at night, so there was that possibility. I started really worrying when I learned young cats sometimes do not make good mothers. The thought of having to get up every two hours to bottle feed kittens did not sound fun nor would it fit into my schedule. So the days went by and Patches kept getting bigger. Finally I decided it was time to announce the wonderful news to the kids, especially K since her dream in life has been to have a cat that has kittens. She was ecstatic to say the least and immediately started playing mother hen to Patches. K didn't want to go to school the next day because she was afraid she would miss the kittens being born. We compromised and I promised her we would take Patches to the vet and have her checked the next day to see if the doc could tell us when the babies would be here. Another reason I wanted to take her to the vet was because she had stopped eating. Her food bowl had not been touched in about 4 days. I was getting worried.

After school we took Patches to be checked out. The vet took one look at her and told us she was very sick. After taking an x-ray to see if she was going to have kittens we were told the very bad news; there were no kittens just a lot of fluid in her abdomen. He told us more than likely, from all the signs, she had FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis) an incurable and fatal disease that affects approximately 1 in 5000 cats. At this time, there is no vaccine or cure for this disease. If you're interested, you can read more about this disease here. 

Our vet told us our only option was to put her down. Ok, so here I was in the vet's office with my 8 year old daughter who thought her cat was going to have kittens only to find her cat was going to die. This was not a pretty picture. I called Big R to tell him the bad news and through the tears decided we would take her home and love on her for just a little bit longer. 

K was very sad, we all were. We shed more tears over this kitten we only had for 4 months than any of the pets we have lost in the past. Somewhere between the expectation of new life and the fact this kitten was only 7 months old lies the unfairness of it all. I wish you could have witnessed the love and care my daughter gave this cat in her last days with us. And when K questioned what was happening and why, I explained to her (and I truly believe this) that God placed Patches in our family because He knew she would need a little girl to take care of her because He knew Patches was very sick. 

Two days later we knew it was time. I couldn't stand to see her suffer any more. K chose to spend the night with her grandparents. She is a strong little girl, but couldn't bear the thought of putting her precious kitten down. The next day she asked quickly and matter-of-factly about Patches. I told her and that was that. A few weeks later we got the sweetest condolence letter from our vet's office. I read it to Kinley and we both cried again. 

We love our animals and miss them when they are gone. 

Another Lesson in Loss ~

Saturday morning started out just like any other Saturday morning; sleeping just a tad bit later than usual, fixing breakfast and getting ready for a football game. We were out the door and headed to a short practice before going to one of our only out of town games. It was a cool and cloudy morning and we were looking forward to a fun day. Halfway to practice I realized I had forgotten my camera; no big deal, there will be other games. Once we got there we also remembered we had forgotten the stripes for one of boys helmets. I offered to go back home to get the stripes and bonus: my camera too. I left K and her friend with R and the team headed back home...

The first thing I saw when I pulled in the driveway were the dogs running to greet me. This is the same every time I or anyone else pulls into the drive. I always slow down, make sure I can see the dogs and sometimes even roll my window down and scold them for getting too close to the car. I'm not sure what happened, but as I turned the wheel to pull under the carport I heard Little Bit yelp. Instinctively I knew what had happened and it wasn't good. I didn't know what to do. Do I back up or pull forward. For a second I was paralyzed. I put the car in park, opened the door and hollered for her. No response. It took all I had in me to get out of my vehicle but I did. I had to.

There she was lying motionless about 8 feet behind the Tahoe...gone.

About this time my phone rang and it was R calling to tell me to get his coaches badge he had forgotten. I answered the phone in tears not knowing what to do next. He said he would be right home. About 10 minutes later him and a friend were there giving Bitsy a proper burial.

My heart was just broken. I dreaded telling the kids (which we decided would be better done the next day after they got home from Nana and Pappy's house.) I had to pull it together because R had a football game to play and I knew he wouldn't be able to if he knew something was wrong.

The thought crossed our minds to tell the kids that we found her at the road...I couldn't do it. This may sound silly, but the thought of keeping the truth from the kids for the rest of my life was not acceptable. The truth is always best. I knew they would be mad at me, but I also knew they would eventually realize there was nothing I could have done to prevent this from happening. If there was, I would have done it.

The next day after church we picked the kids up and headed home. My stomach was in knots and became worse with every mile we came closer to the house. Well, the moment of truth had arrived. We took the kids  to the spot that has quickly become our very own pet cemetery. They saw the little cross R had made with Little Bit's name on it and asked very calmly what happened. We explained, they started crying and the grieving process began.

As I suspected, R was mad at me at first. K just sat in my lap for about an hour crying. It's a crazy thing to see your children go through the stages of grief in a matter of minutes. We encourage the tears. Tears heal broken hearts. Never have we told our kids to stop crying. After the tears stopped falling, we went outside, I pushed K on the swing, we jumped on the trampoline and loved on the furry family we still have.

We're going to miss Bitsy around here. Everywhere I look I see things that remind me of her. I'm going to miss her when I do my sprint intervals. She never quit; while Sam might run one and then just watch, she was in for the duration of the workout. Although we only had her for a short time, we loved her very much. Our pets are like family...

Yesterday I was walking back to the house after taking a bag of trash out and one of the men who work for us asked me about Bitsy. I explained to him what happened and he said, "She was a good little dog. We're going to miss her." Yes...we are.

What Not to Wear ~

Ok, I'm about to put something out there that may make me look like a bad mom...here goes...I did not take my kids shopping for school clothes. Why is it that this should make me feel guilty? It's ridiculous. Where is the unwritten rule in society that says we have to go buy our children a new wardrobe because school is starting. For one thing it's still 100 degrees outside so I'm not going to go buy winter clothes and I'm not about to spend money on more summer clothes that they are only going to wear for one more month. So, there it is, a confession of sorts. That being said, my kids are perfectly fine with this. Neither one of them wanted to go shopping. In fact, shopping is on the bottom of their "fun things to do" list. So, when the weather starts cooling off, I will make a trip to town and in the peace, tranquility and solitude of my aloneness I will shop for my poor children a few new outfits to get them through the winter. :)

Here they are all ready to start a new school year ~ 2nd and 5th grades. 

As hard as I tried to be prepared for the first day of school, the morning still turned out to be a hectic one. Notice the cute white shirt? Well, K decided she would get a jump on things and go put her backpack in the Tahoe while I was finishing up breakfast; the dogs decided to get a jump on her. Yes, muddy paw prints on her pretty white shirt. Daddy to the rescue. As she's crying, R is patiently trying to remove the muddy paw prints. He did a great job. We eat breakfast, head out the door for a "First Day of School" pic and you guessed it...another muddy paw print. Are you kidding me?? More tears, more help from Daddy and we're off in hopes that we're not tardy on the first day. 

We managed to get there on time and I managed to get a smile out of her. See the name tag on the table? My kids have always had an aversion to name tags. I have no idea why, but her teacher and I have been wondering for a few weeks how we they were going to work this one out. I'm anxious to talk to her this afternoon and see who won. :)

No pics of R. He's a big 5th grader now and the last thing he needs is his mommarazzi embarrassing him on the first day. 

I had to include a pic of my adorable niece and nephew. H is starting Kinder today and is so excited. My nephew, also H (that could get confusing) is starting 3rd and a brand new school. I know they are going to have a great day!

So I didn't get this posted before we left for our annual 1st day of school lunch and now here it is "after school." The kids had a great day. Nothing too extraordinary happened. R informed me that the first day of school is just like any other day and K wore her name tag until it fell off at the end of the day. Victory! My niece loved running around outside and the cafeteria; my nephew would much rather be outside working with his dad and is not too happy about school messing with his summer. Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure that's what R would rather be doing too. 

We're all having a little snack and then heading out the door for football practice. I looked at my mental calendar today and realized there is not one night during the following weeks that we don't have somewhere to be. I love these busy days that are upon us. I'm looking forward to Fall and the cool crisp mornings and bidding farewell to the... 

dog days of summer. :)

p.s. the moral of the story (if there is a moral) could be: don't wear a white shirt on the first day of school when you have puppies with muddy paws who are excited to see you in the morning. 

Shaking Hands ~

I'm not sure if this is human nature in general or just my neurotic personality, but I guess I just expect my kids to be like me, think like me, do things the way I want them done, etc. It is a struggle for my type A personality to just step aside and let them be the unique people God has created them to be. Take R's string art project he's working on...I don't know how many times I have walked by him as he's working and tried to get him to do it my way; because my way is best right? I have said out loud, "Ok, it's your project. Do it your way. It will be awesome," and walked away at least 5 times over the last few days. And you know what? It is awesome! He's worked diligently on this project and I'm proud of him. He's even working on one to give as a gift right now.

I've talked in the past about how I'm an introvert, but what I haven't revealed is that I've always felt really uncomfortable in situations that I have to take the initiative to be friendly. This sounds terrible. I really am a friendly person;, I'm just more comfortable when people come to me and make the effort first. So you can imagine that my least favorite part of the church service on Sunday mornings is, of course, the part where we have to mingle around, hug necks and shake hands. Yesterday morning we were settling in to our usual spot about the time our preacher is encouraging everyone to greet one another...K had already grabbed her colors and notebook and was getting ready to create another masterpiece when all of a sudden she hands me all her stuff and says (rather urgently,) "Here Mom, I have to go shake hands." And with that she was off and I was left holding her crayons, mouth open, totally amazed by her. I've said all along that she is a social butterfly, but this was different for some reason. I'm a social person. I like to be around people. But she has no fear when it comes to walking into a crowd. She's not afraid to walk up to her Sunday school teacher and give her a hug. She'll walk across the entire church to say hi to someone.

Ever since I realized we had been blessed with not one but two strong willed children, I have been telling myself that these personality traits will be a good thing in the future. As tough as it is to parent a strong willed child, I know that as adults, these traits will serve them well. I'm hoping for leaders, not followers. I'm hoping for do-ers, not just be-ers. And I'm hoping for children who will inspire others to be better versions of themselves, just as K did for me yesterday when I put the crayons down and went to shake some hands...

I want to be Hands Free ~

We're having everyone over tomorrow for the 4th so last night I promised myself I would get up and work out first thing before I finished getting things ready. Thanks to my sweet hubby for waking me up at the crack of dawn I fullfilled my promise. After my work out, I cleaned a little and decided to sit down, have a cup of tea and catch up on some blog posts...

I have been sitting here crying my eyes out for the last five minutes. I often share the latest posts from the Hands Free Mama blog on my FB page, so when I saw she had a new post up I told myself I would read it but I wasn't going to share it. I don't want to overdo a good thing right? Well, I get half way through the post and I'm bawling like a baby. This is good stuff people! And I mean in a way that makes me want to reverse time and go back to when R was a baby good.

I can hear his little 2 year old voice in my head just as if he was standing right next to me, "Pay toys mommy. Pay toys wif me mommy." Yes, I played toys, but I also cleaned constantly and talked on the phone ALOT. No, I didn't have a cool phone or an iPad or WiFi back then, but I had a cordless phone and that's all I needed to be distracted from my little guy. I think he's so grown up now and he's only 10. He still wants me to play games, sit with him and watch t.v. Right now we're in the middle of reading Tim Tebow's book together. We do connect, but I feel like there are so many distractions that in the middle of being together that we're still disconnected.

We watched a show on the Discovery channel the other day called "Head Games." It's a pretty neat show that shows how our brains work in different situations. It's scientific and he loves it. On this particular show they were showing how people react when they are listening to one end of a phone conversation. In short, they get annoyed and cannot concentrate on what they're doing for trying to figure out the other person's conversation. What must my children feel like when they are the third party to my one way conversations. Yuck!

I cannot tell you how many times I've heard K say, "Get off your stupid phone!" Alot of the times I'm texting moms of friends setting up sleep-overs for her, but that's beside the point and yes "stupid" is a bad word in our house, but it's still said ~ don't judge me. :) The fact that she says that is proof enough that she is resentful of my phone. Pathetic.

You know how people say ~ When you're on your deathbed you're not going to wish you worked one more day or cleaned your house one more time (I'm ad libbing here.) Anyway, I'm pretty sure we're not going to be wishing we had sent one more text or posted one more status update, but we are going to wish we had spent more time with the ones we love!

If what I've said has resonated with you, you can go to The Hands Free Revolution page on FB and join the many people who are vowing to put down their phones and iPads, turn of their computers and connect with their children.

I just want to be present in the moment. I want my memories to be crystal clear and not muddled by technology. I want my kids to know THEY are what's most important. I want to be a hands free mama!

Fall or Fly ~

This morning was beautiful; cool and breezy. The perfect morning to sit out under our live oak and enjoy a cup of heaven. As I was taking my last sip and trying to decided whether to sit and enjoy a few more moments or head inside to sort laundry, I caught a glimpse of what I thought was a baby bird in the grass across the yard. I put Sam in the garage because the last thing I needed to witness on this serene morning was...well, you know. As I got closer the bird started trying to fly away; of course it couldn't and it was pitiful. The next thing I know, it had made it's way to our retaining wall. I had to turn away because a fall like that for a baby bird ~ not good. I chose to water my flowers instead of watching this poor helpless creature take the plunge. Sure enough, when I turned back he was gone...and all the birds in the tree above were having a fit. It took 10 minutes for them to finally calmed down. They were calling to the baby, but there was nothing they could do. Heart wrenching. That poor little creature just needed a few more days, a few more lessons from his mama, a few more big bird feathers and he would have been fine...

I can't help but think about how we're raising our baby birds. Will they be able to fly out of the nest when the time comes or am I going to worry that they just needed a few more lessons before taking off?

I can literally see some lessons being learned right in front of me. R is finally understanding the value of a dollar and earning a few by learning a life skill here and there. K still doesn't care whether she has money to spend. I know that will change as she gets older, so I'm not too worried about that. I do want my children to understand that hard work pays off and you must earn it to spend it.

I like to think we're teaching compassion and a willingness to help others, but I'm not so sure. I know as parents we must model the behaviors we want our children to possess. I listened to a podcast the other day about how random acts of kindness are the key to happiness. I'm not sure about it being "the key" but I do know it's a biggie. Yes, I hold doors open for people, I smile at people when I'm out and about, I might even let someone go in front of me in the parking lot, but the big RAK's I can count on one hand. This is something I really need to work on and work on when the kids are around. They need to know that their willingness to be kind and help others has a ripple effect and may touch people we will never see or know about. Can you imagine what this world would be like if just half of us focused on being more kind to just one random person a day...

These are just a few of the thoughts I had before K woke up. She walked in and found me typing. I told her about the baby bird and she wanted to go out and see it. What we found was not a baby bird, but several feathers scattered around and one hanging out of Sam's mouth. The outcome was just as I suspected and it wasn't good for that little bird. 


My prayer is that when it comes time to test their wings, they soar. We will do our best to teach, guide, direct and point their hearts in the right direction but in the end we will have to let go and watch them fly ~

A Life Skill Learned ~

About a week and a half ago my washing machine went kaput. I've had this same machine for 10 years and we've had it repaired about five times, so when I went to put a load of wash in and found the agitator floating in the tub, we decided it was time to upgrade to one of those fancy HE washers. Who knew that purchasing a new washer/dryer set would spark such excitement in our children. The next day R & K did laundry all day. It was like that laundry fairy people are always talking about on FB had shown up and sprinkled magic dust on my kiddos. Of course I supervised, but they did most of the work. It. Was. Awesome!

Fast Forward to the present day...R has finally decided that earning his own spending money might be kinda cool, so after much negotiations we have come to monetary agreements. I won't go into the details, but let's just say among other things, he is my new laundry man. As a mom I've had this worry that my children will grow up and leave home without certain skills; being able to do their own laundry being one of them.

Putting a picture of my laundry room in such a disaster is quite horrifying; however, this picture is important to the story. My type A personality has had to take a backseat to teaching my children this life lesson. Every ounce of my being wants to dive in and sort it all into neat little piles. I've tried to tell R how I do things...he's not interested in hearing it. He wants to do it his way and his way is making me CrAzY. We went to WalMart today and bought one of those hamper dillies that has four separate hampers. I think hope this is going to help.

I bought R a notebook the other day so he could write down all of his chores and what we have agreed to pay. I am the world's worst when it comes to having cash on hand to pay my kids for the work they do around here. What we've decided is his notebook will serve as a kind of bank register. He has down how much money he has and when he buys something (Legos yesterday, sunglasses today,) he writes it down making sure to also write down what he purchased. It seems we've finally found a system that is going to work for us. This makes me very happy!

So today as he was loading the washer with towels I told him it might be a good idea to go check the hampers and gather any towels that might have been used since he sorted the laundry two days ago. He was very disgusted with this idea and said, "If I have to check the hampers every time I start a load, I will never get caught up." I almost fell on the floor laughing...instead (very melodramatically kinda like what you would see in a reenactment of Romeo and Juliet) I said, "Welcome to my world child!"

Another funny thing that happened the other day:  while the kids were doing laundry together, K said, "Mom, why haven't you ever told us doing laundry was so much fun?"

I owe much thanks to Whirlpool for creating such a magnificent machine that has not only made laundry fun for my two little workers, but now I have the peace of mind in knowing that someday they will be able to wash and wear clean clothes. :)

It Ain't All Rainbows and Lollipops ~

I'll start by saying (and this will come as no surprise to anyone) I'm a very inconsistent blogger. Whew...that feels better. So, if you're still reading my blog even though I only post a few times a month I say, "Thank you." I'm one of those weirdies who is constantly writing in my head; sad thing is I'm rarely in a position to write these brilliant thoughts down and a few minutes later...*poof* their gone.

My list of blogs that I follow are growing and I'm fascinated with the bloggers who write everyday. I struggle with whether people really care to know my thoughts on a daily basis and if I really want people to know those thoughts. On the other hand, it's my blog. I'm blogging to get my thoughts down and if someone happens to read it then great! I wonder if other bloggers have these same feelings? I also struggle with thinking every blog post has to be some brilliant life lesson or something cute or sweet my kids have done or said. Quite frankly, I'm not observant enough to catch every life lesson that's thrown my way and my kiddos, however cute they may be, aren't always doing things that are blog worthy. I mean no one really wants to know how many days R is grounded from his XBox or how long it's going to be before K gets to have a friend over. The last thing I want to do is paint an unrealistic picture of my life. I don't want this blog to be only about rainbows and lollipops.

I'm a mom and I struggle. There. I said it. I struggle with whether my kids are eating healthy enough. I struggle with whether I'm teaching them to love others. I struggle with whether I'm living my life in a way that they see Jesus in me. I struggle...I could go on and on and on.

This morning was tough. And I mean a "if anything could go wrong it will" kinda tough morning. We left the house 3 minutes before the tardy bell was set to ring and we live 10 minutes from school. I'll let you do the math. :) We usually pull up to the school with at least one minute to spare; not this morning. The kids were dropped of with instructions to go straight to the office for a little blue slip.

There are some mornings we talk all the way to school. I love taking advantage of those minutes in the car with the kids. Some mornings we just crank the radio and sing all the way (well, K and I sing. R thinks that's goofy.) Then there are some mornings that I say a little prayer and hope God gives me the words to make things all better.

My words this morning ~ "I think we need to put things in perspective here. Yes, your strap is broken on your lunch box. Yes, your zipper broke on your jacket. And yes, your cup fell out of your backpack, crashed to the ground, busted open and spilled out everywhere. (Yes, all this happened while we were trying to get out the door this morning.) All of these things have resulted in a terrible morning, but I know a couple of kids who are having to live by themselves, do their own laundry and fix their own meals because their mom and dad are many miles away while their mom fights for her life while battling leukemia."

It's hard for adults to put themselves in the shoes of others, how do I expect my kids to do that? I don't know, but I do know it's super important for them to learn that even though little things might happen throughout our days that inconvenience us, we have to keep it all in perspective and realize that we can't get all worked up over the little things.

End of Football and a Little Life Lesson ~

This weekend was a busy one ~ all the sports was enough to make my head spin, much less the trick-or-treating (tonight will make three nights in a row the kids have dressed up.)

Let's start with the Rangers. I'm not a huge baseball fan, but put a Texas team up for the championship and I'm your fan! Big disappointment, but I'm still proud of those guys! Next we have our high school team that went home with a huge victory. Proud of those boys too. What can I say about those Texas Tech Red Raiders? Not much after Saturday night, but I will always be a Red Raider...it's in the blood. I don't even want to talk about the Cowboys.

This blog post is not about the wins or losses, nope, it's about a little football team I've been watching over the past 3 months and how proud I am of one #34. It's been so awesome to see all the boys grow and learn the game of football. Most of them went from being timid to getting major hits in the course of just a few months. I've seen friendships grow between not just the boys, but the parents as well. We couldn't have asked for a better group of men to coach our boys. They were patient, encouraging and not once did I hear a negative or condescending word come out of their mouths. At every turn these men were making sure our boys had the best possible experiences and I am so thankful for that.

R played offensive tackle and left defensive end and did a pretty darn good job. He got out there and worked hard at every practice, gave 100% every game and even sacked the quarter back a few times. That being said, he was disappointed most of the time because he wasn't given the chance to run the ball. He did touch the ball one game when he recovered a fumble. Now I know he's my flesh and blood and I'm supposed to be a little biased, but the kid can run. He's got endurance and speed. Nevertheless, he was the tallest kid on the team and expected to be on the line.

This brings me back to the last few minutes of our last game this Saturday; a game we didn't even think we were going to have. The boys were playing great, we were winning and I guess the coaches decided to mix it up a bit and let the boys play different positions. R decided at half time he would ask if he could run the ball. I'm so glad he did. With just a few minutes left to play they move R to running back. I'm busy making sure the girls aren't going to fall of the bleachers when my father-in-law elbows me and says, "R's about to run the ball." I nearly fell off the bleachers myself. First I was on the edge of my seat, then I was standing, then jumping up and down and apparently screaming my head off ~ all the while R is running past several opponents into the end zone for a 60 yard touchdown!! It was so exciting!

I told the coach after the game that it was that one play out of the entire season that will make R want to play again next year. Golfers will tell you it's that one good connection with that tiny white ball that keeps them coming back for more. I guess it's that way with any sport. You get a glimpse of victory ~ feel what it's like to score a touchdown, a home run, a three pointer or goal and your hooked. Who knows where that touchdown will lead him in the grand scheme of things, but I hope he learned that it doesn't hurt to ask for what you want. The worst that could happen is getting told, "No." R learned on Saturday that when you ask, great things can happen.

After the game on Saturday



So proud of my little guy!

 We're already looking forward to not only next season, but many seasons to come. I am going to have to learn how to control myself ~ big R told me Saturday after my screaming fit that I was going to have to get a grip or he wasn't going to be able to sit by me at the games. Not only that, I could hardly talk on Sunday. :)

"Four short words sum up what has lifted successful individuals above the crowd:

a little bit more.

They did all that was expected of them and

a little bit more."

~ A. Lou Vickery ~

County Road Lemonade Stand

For the longest time (pretty much every summer) the kids ask if they can have a lemonade stand. Every summer I manage to put them off. I'm not doing this to be mean or squash their entrepreneurial spirit, but to keep them from experiencing failure. Before you start judging me and thinking I'm a bad mom, seriously we live out in the middle of nowhere USA and the people that do drive by are going at least 10 mph above the speed limit. Which is the exact reason why I will never spend time putting a garage sale together, but that's another blog post. Back to lemonade...for some reason when they asked me yesterday, before I could really think about it we were making lemonade, a sign and loading up the Gator to head to end of the driveway.

Before we left the house, I made a phone call to their daddy to let him know that when he got home he better be prepared to buy a little (or alot) of lemonade. :) And right as we were walking out the door the phone rang; it was their Bo (Big R's mom) to see if we were home (yea ~ another customer!)

As we were sitting in the Gator, sun beating down on us, waiting patiently to sell our first cup of lemonade, R commented on how he really hoped we had some real customers. I asked him what he meant; he said he wanted real customers who we hadn't talked to and told them to have their wallets open. I laughed so hard at this; it really was funny.

When it was all said and done the kids sold 10 cups of lemonade and half of those were unsolicited. Ok, so 10 cups @ $.25 per cup is only $2.50. They somehow managed to walk away with $16.50 (all of which R wants to put away for our Hawaii fund.) The moral of the story is this: If you're cute, live out in the country and take a chance on a lemonade stand you might just make a few bucks and a few memories. Pretty sure they will remember this for a long time...and me? I will remember to let the kids take chances even if they might end up disappointed.

Gingerbread House Perfection

2005 Gingerbread House

I've never been one to believe in evolution, but when thinking back on the past 5 years there has definitely been a process of evolution when it comes to our gingerbread house creations. The first gingerbread house we created R was three and I was determined the house was going to look exactly like the one on the box. This resulted in mommy doing all the work and my pre-schooler watching the self-proclaimed master gingerbread house decorator at work. Over the last several years I've tried my best to let the kids take on that roll, but all of you type A personalities out there know how hard that is. Well, I was determined that this would be the "year of the perfect gingerbread house" and when I announced to the kiddos that they would be doing it all from assembly to decoration they jumped up and down as if I had just announced a trip to Disney Land.

Precious little hands at work


A few hours later the kids (with a little help from their wanna-be cake decorator mom) had created a very lovely little village. The pictures I captured tell a story of evolution ~ evolution of a mom who realized that the real beauty is in watching little hands create the

~ Perfect Gingerbread House ~

Merry Christmas!