sundays....bum days

Sundays make me lazy.  Lazy as all get out.  It is awful.

Mom, Madison, and Colton have been here all week.  It has been short of magical! The kids played all week long.  Sloane and Madison play and it melts my heart.  Colton follows Aiden around and copies everything he does...I love it!  Watching these four play takes me back to my childhood with Coleman, Leslie, Micki and Danielle.  I loved every second of it.

My house was a constant mess, which is hard for me to handle, but it was totally worth it. The kids had a blast and I had even more fun watching them. 

Madison laid in bed with me one evening and I realized how grown she is. She talks to me like an adult and acts so mature.  She is such a sweet girl and is an amazing sister to Colton and just worries and works with him all day.  Madison has grown up to be an amazing kid.  I could only be so lucky to have Sloane act like her.  I miss seeing her all the time.  I miss her laugh.  I love that girl!! (PS. She learned to ride a bike this week....AT ALMOST TEN YEARS OLD!)

Colton...well this little boy is something else.  He is strong willed like no kid I have ever met.  When he thinks one way, then by God it is going to be THAT way! He is a lover of all lovers.  He will give you kisses and hugs and smiles that melt your heart....but then can turn around a remind you why he is so ornery.  Colton is his father!

I miss these kids and hate that live so far away.  I hate that they moved to Texas, but love how wonderful they are!

Sundays are always hard for me...but especially today.  Not only did I have to take my two gems to their dads, I had to send off mom, Maddi, and Colton back to Texas.

Back to Reality

As a teacher I spend a lot of time off work.  I have every weekend and evening to my family.  I have lots of vacation time throughout the year off and the most important time I have off is SUMMER.  I have ALL summer off--which is really not ALL summer because we go back to school by August 1st....but still, you get what I mean.  I have time OFF to spend with my family doing whatever our hearts desire.  I will tell you summer is what makes me the most carefree.  It makes life better, easier, and just a lot more fun.

Summer is coming to an end, which makes my heart sad.  I know it is a little dramatic, but it is so very true.  It makes me sad.  I don't want to go back to reality.  I like carefree and easy.  There are times where my kids drive me bonkers, but it is worth every second of being home.

I need to find a school that is only in session from November through March.  THAT would be perfect for me!

On Thursday, the 31st, say a little prayer for my mood....it might not be pretty!

Tex

We welcomed a new family member to our family this week, Tex the dog.  Tex is a black lab mix, they say he has Sharpei in him....but who really knows.  He was found when he was 11 months in Indianapolis and lived with a foster mom until we adopted him. 

He is a lovely little man.  He obeys.  He is potty trained.  He is crate trained.  He is calm. He is a wonderful dog.  He loves the kids.  He has a lot of hair. A lot of hair!

The only negative has been the amount of hair I have swept up over the last 5 days.  I am pretty sure I  could knit a sweater for every child in Fishers with the hair I have vacuumed. I love him though, so I don't actually mind it.

Tex loves to run with Kyle and walk with us non runners.  He loves to play chase and tug-o-war. He also loves treats.  We take him with us everywhere we go.  I love that!

We are excited to have this kid in our lives.  The kids LOVE him and we couldn't be happier.

Lake Life

We took a family vacation again this summer.  We went back to the lake in Arkansas and spent time toghether.  It was great.  The lake is magical.  We just a few things, which is what makes this trip so special. We go:

-on golf cart rides
-on boat rides
-cliff jumping
-wave running
-swimming
-play baseball
-play tennis
-tubing

There are a lot of things about the trip that I love, but the best part is watching how much fun the kids have.  They love it there!!  It fills my heart.  Especially Aiden, because Aiden doesn't always allow himself to have fun, but in Arkansas the boy goes buck wild.  He jumps cliffs, plays games, swims, eats like a cow, tubes, kills it on the wave runner.  He is brave....I love it! Sloane has so much fun too.  Kailyn loves everything about the lake, as does Bailey. It is so fun watching these kids (and us...we have a blast there too...which is why we go back and enjoy it for a week longer).

Cruelness of Life

"If I only knew then what I know now."

Sayings are annoying, especially the old timey ones that kind of make you want to punch someone in the throat.  Truth is they are annoying because they are true.  I don't like being slapped with reality. 

Kyle and I were talking at the lake (we had A LOT of time to talk) and we realized that the cruelest part of life is not knowing what you need to know until after it's needed.

At the age of 30 I became very confident and happy with who I am as a person.  I accepted me for me and it felt great.  I still worry about things I can't control, I still worry about people, and what people think....but all in all I am so happy with who I am as a person. I like myself.  I like me.  It took 30 years to get there and that is cruel.   Why couldn't I have felt like this at 14, or 19, or 23?  Do you know how much easier my teenage years would have been if I felt the way I feel now?

As a teenager so many kids happiness is based on others and how others make them feel. I watch Kailyn, who is 13, and I want to just take my 31 year old thoughts of me and make them hers.  I don't want her to base her happiness on how others see her, I want her to base her happiness on HER, nobody but her. She doesn't do this yet, but I hope that she learns this lesson far before 30.

I have these same thoughts for Sloane and Aiden.  I wonder what it will be like for Aiden as he grows.  I am a girl, not a boy, boys had cooties and were stinky so I have no concept for what being a teenage boy is like.  A teenage girl's life is hard.  It is so hard, only a teenage girl can get it. 

I am thankful for the me now.  I like her.  I think I am pretty awesome. I think I am really damn funny.  I am confident in myself.  I am thankful for finally knowing now what I wish I had known then.