Georgia Trip Continued

I'm going to attempt to be short and sweet about the rest of our Georgia trip. Many of you know...that is not an easy thing for me to do (the short part-not the sweet part).

The post and pictures about Anna jumping off the rock were from another one of our outings that Grandma and Grandpa planned with the help of some of their dear friends. We drove into Alabama and spent the day climbing rocks and playing in the river.

One afternoon, Brad and Erica planned and met us over at the playground area by their church. They put together a delicious picnic and the kids ran around and enjoying time together.

A few random pictures of normal silliness at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Finally, a couple of pics as we were driving home. Like many of you, I didn't even know these pics were taken (with my phone) until it was time to sync my phone. The trip going up was good, the visit there was wonderful, and the drive home was exhausting but went well.

As always, we had a terrific time. Thanks Grandma, Grandpa, Brad, Erica, Joy, and all their friends who love us and made the trip so memorable.

Two Posts, Two Posts In One!

"Ian The Great"

Let me begin this post by telling you about my nephew, Ian, Brad and Erica's son (Jon's brother and sister in law). Ian is quite a remarkable young man. He is a year younger than Anna, born just one day before her first birthday. This extremely intelligent boy has a great sense of humor, is loving, and wise beyond his years. Ian also battles the effects of Tourette's Syndrome, day in and day out. Even with this cross to bear, Ian has displayed extreme patience with his disorder and has been taught well by his parents how to deal with others who are not so understanding. For example, I've witnessed several occasions where Ian has explained to children and adults as well, that he has a neurological disorder called Tourette's Syndrome and that he can't do anything to stop his tics. In fact, my own children have had questions about certain tics that he has. I'm sure he has his moments when he gets frustrated with his disorder, but I personally feel like he does an amazing job of living with it. Although I would rather Ian not have to deal with Tourette's Syndrome at all, one of the blessings has been that it has taught my children and me about compassion and understanding.

"Sisters Will Be Sisters"

Jon and I would frequently take the kids for some one-on-one time with either of us. I haven't been able to do too much of this since Jon has been gone, but I've made it a priority before school starts. Last Saturday it was Anna's turn, Ella's day was Friday and Brennan is patiently waiting for his date. Ella was a trooper as we shopped for school clothes. Unlike me, she loves trying on clothes and that seemed to be the high point for her. At her request, we had a late lunch at Pearl Dynasty, a Chinese restaurant that Jon and I happened upon one late night, after seeing Pat Green at the rodeo. The sweet waiter at Pearl Dynasty, obviously thought Ella was adorable, which she is, and would wink at her occasionally. She didn't say anything to me about it, but she produced a smile a shy smile each time he winked.

The next morning I overheard this conversation...

E: Anna, you know, not the guy who sat us down, but the guy who brought us food at Pearl Dynasty? He winked a lot at me. I think he thought I was cute.

A: (pauses to think of a comeback worthy of her sassiness) It was probably just a tic.

Heaven forbid, as sisters, that we accidently lift each other up in our moments of feeling good about ourselves. Instead, we have to assure each other that instead of it being that we're so cute, it's got to be that there's something wrong with the guy. I'm a tad shocked at how my daughters are so young and have already learned this...how exactly?

Sweet Words

Click here to read a post from one of my dearest friends. She wrote a post that included some sweet words about Jon.

The Rock Jumper Formally Known As Anna

Our last Friday in Georgia, we drove to Alabama and spent the day in the mountains. Check back later for more details about the entire day. This post is about Anna and nothing but Anna, as promised by me on this venturesome day.

We climbed through the mountains to get to Little River. There were many rocks that kids were jumping off of. There were some rocks that I wouldn't even think about letting Anna jump off of, but there was one that I was willing to give in on. After many attempts to gather her courage, Anna decided she wasn't going to jump. Fearless Anna, had finally met her match, so we thought.

Anna was pretty upset with herself, even to the point of crying because she felt disappointed in herself. Hugging her, I told her that it didn't make any difference to me whether she did it or not, but that I didn't want her to leave the river with regrets. Just as we were about to leave, I had an idea. I called to Anna and said, "If you want to try to jump one more time, I will take pictures and write a post on my blog especially for you." That did it. Quickly, she was on top of the rock. Camera in hand, I took shots of her coming down, click, click, click, click, click. There had been many onlookers who had been encouraging Anna, many of whom we didn't know. Someone hollered, "How was it Anna?" She replied, "Not good!" Then I had a terrible, horrible, awful idea (remember the grinch whose heart was two sizes to small...that was me at that moment). "Anna! I forgot to take off my lens cap. I didn't get any pictures. Will you jump one more time?" I lied through my teeth. As you would expect, she was rather perturbed at me, but ascended the rock again. This time, she looked at me and commanded that I make sure the lens cap was off this time around. Click, click, click, click, click again. After that jump, she was hooked! Too bad we were getting ready to leave because she was loving it. Fearless Anna had returned.






*Anna requested that we have a give away with this post. She wants to send someone some Bath & Body Works shower gel and lotion. If you want to participate, leave a comment. Then on August 4th, we'll randomly pick a winner!

Momma, Who's Usually Tough As Nails, Say What?

If I've watched them once, I've watched each episode at least 100 times. My girls, especially Ella, love the Hannah Montana show. Although I believe the show is well written, some of the characters and watching the same episodes over and over again can be down right annoying. Even still, if you pick up any of my children's ipod shuffles, you will find Hannah Montanna and Miley Cyrus and on our wii, you can even dance and sing with the Pop Diva. Around the house you will find lots of Miley and Hannah memorabilia as well.

Am I a big fan? Not really...but I do love "The Climb". There is no delusion in my mind that Miley wrote this song. Jesse Alexander and John Mabe wrote it, and I find it extraordinarily inspiring. On top of that, I think Miley does an outstanding job singing this song. Click on the title to see the video, or just read the words.

"The Climb"

I can almost see it
That dream I'm dreaming
But there's a voice inside my head saying
You'll never reach it

Every step I'm taking
Every move I make feels
Lost with no direction
My faith is shaking

But I gotta keep trying
Gotta keep my head held high

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Sometimes I've gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb

The struggles I'm facing
The chances I'm taking
Sometimes might knock me down
But no, I'm not breaking

I may not know it
But these are the moments that
I'm gonna remember most, yeah
Just gotta keep going

And I, I got to be strong
Just keep pushing on

'Cause there's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb

Keep on moving, keep climbing
Keep the faith, baby
It's all about, it's all about the climb
Keep the faith, keep your faith

*Maybe I have turned into a marshmallow...or maybe it's my hope that the climb I've been on for the past year and a half has a purpose.

Show Off

Kids are upstairs picking up while I'm checking email this morning. Ella came downstairs to tell me, "Mom, you know that hole Brennan has in his Thomas the Train underwear? Well he's showing his private area to us. " (Not to be confused with what Brennan calls his "pirate" area.) Of course I told her to tell him that is inappropriate. I hear her yelling up the stairs at her brother, "Brennan! Mom said to stop. It's not a show off treasure hunt!"

Mom says I have to blog this...

Last August, Anna was baptized. The day was quite busy getting ready for the big event and as usual we were running late. The baptism took place later in the evening at around 6:30 or 7:00. This means that we were getting home around 9:00. I hustled out of the van and the kids followed behind me. As I unlocked the back door and opened it, there was a loud crashing sound. My first instinct was to shoo the kids back into the van, shut the door, run to the van, get out of the driveway as fast as possible, and call the police. The men in blue arrived fairly quick. While they were investigating the inside of the house, I waited with my sister and her husband. They had come by right behind us that night (I believe Mike was going to look at my garage door to fix it or something like that). One of the policeman came back outside and told me, "Well, the house is empty, but you'd better come in and have a look around with me. The drawers are pulled out, there's stuff all over the floor, and cabinets are wide open. It looks like they've ransacked the place." Not knowing what I might find, I went in behind the officer. Embarrassingly, I had to tell him, "Oh, no this is pretty much the way my house usually looks."

Incidentally, the intruder ended up being a broom. When I opened the door, the draft caused a broom handle to slam hard against the tile floor, sounding like someone in the house.