Schooool's Out For Summer!!

For pretty much the entirety of my adult life, summer has not meant much more than hotter temperatures and the occasional long weekend off.  I honestly don't know what to do with myself now that I actually am OFF for the WHOLE summer!  It's almost an uneasy feeling, like maybe I'm supposed to be somewhere and forgot.  But then I remember my totally awesome job and chill out for a few minutes!  We have started off this summer with a BANG!: first Memorial Day, then the Read Reunion, followed by an extra day at the lake, just because!  Can I just say that I love that?!  Never before has it been an option to stay an extra day or have a spontaneous little mini-getaway just because!  I am loving that we have the freedom to do that this year!  We have lots of things planned for this summer: camping, fishing, canning, swimming, jelly-making, family mini-vacation, napping, dog house building, porch staining...just to name a few!  I can actually enjoy just hanging with my girls and painting toenails and fixing hair and watching movies over and over!  This morning I even did something that I haven't done since high school...I painted my fingernails.  (After about 2 minutes, I remembered why.  I am far too rough on my hands to have them try to look pretty.)  Just having the time to do a little something for myself (even though it didn't last long) is just a crazy, foreign concept to me!  Justin and I have already completed a couple of our little summer projects: a ceiling fan for the front porch and a clothesline.  It's so nice to be home when he's off to work on stuff together and drink our morning coffee and enjoy breakfast, to not have to mow the yard on Saturday mornings and take up half the weekend with yardwork, to be able to cook breakfast, lunch, and supper for my little family (when I'm feeling super ambitious, lol).  Teaching is hard work, no doubt.  I spent many hours this year both at school and at home working on lesson plans, planning activities, grading papers, etc. and these last few months especially felt like we were running wide open all the time.  It's nice to just ease into a slowdown and enjoy my days off with my family.   If you're in the neighborhood, drop on by!  You're likely to find us on the porch or in the pool and you're welcome to join us!

Everyday is Mother's Day...Right?!

I've started to write this post about 10 times and I can't write for crying.  Mother's Day will always be bittersweet for me, no two ways about it.  My heart is full to bursting being the momma of my two precious girls.  My heart breaks in two again missing my own Momma.  I suppose that it will be that way until we meet again, and I have to be okay with that.  If she wasn't so amazing, it wouldn't hurt so much.  But I cannot be completely sad, I have too much to be happy about!  My girls have given me the best "job" I could ever have!  When I hold them and kiss them and smell their hair, I get a glimpse of what Heaven must be like.  When I watch them sing and dance together, love on each other, or hold hands while they are sleeping, I can't hold back the tears.  There just aren't words for that. When I'm holding back a handful of red curls and cleaning up after a 3am stomach bug, when they've changed clothes for the umpteenth time in 24 hours and I don't know what's clean and what's not, when somebody has a nightmare but doesn't know what a nightmare is and comes running crying into my room...those moments are sacred too, but in a different way.  And then there are those other moments...when they're fighting over a drink in the backseat and all of a sudden my head is wet, when I can't type a sentence for having to get up and fix a drink or wipe a behind, when I really really wish that someone would come and get them before my head explodes but know that nobody is on their way.  I think we've all been there.  It's all part of being a momma, and I wouldn't trade that job for anything.  

There's a line from one of my favorite movies that comes to mind when I think of my girls.  In Hope Floats, Birdee is talking to her daughter Bernice and tells her, "I"m just an ordinary person.  And that's OK. Because YOU make me special.  Don't you know that?  Don't you know that you are everything in this world to me?"  That's exactly how I feel.  I wish I could explain that in terms that my girls could understand, but I think it's not something that you can fully grasp until you're older.  After 5 1/2 years, I'm still learning how to do this momma thing, and making plenty of mistakes along the way.  I lose my patience too much and don't "let it go" enough. (Now that's stuck in your head.  You're welcome.)  I want my girls to remember me the way that I remember my Momma.  To me, being a momma is one of the highest honors, and I want to respect that.  I've got a long way to go, but I'm thankful that the good Lord and my sweet girls love me and forgive me like they do.  I'm thankful for a husband that loves me and helps me on this journey.  I'm thankful for the great examples I've had to learn from, not just my own Momma, but many others.  

Happy Mother's Day to all of you!  

40

Today, the girls and I ate lunch with my sweet Daddy on what would have been his and Momma's 40th wedding anniversary.  Wow.  I try not to wish my life away, but sometimes I just think...  I know my Momma would not come back from where she is for anything in this world, and deep, deep down, I wouldn't want her to.  I believe that she watches over us, sees our smiles and our joys, and talks to her Father about us.  Most of the time, those thoughts are enough for me.  But sometimes, the hurt creeps back in and I have a very selfish longing for her to be here with me.  To talk to me and hold me when I'm hurting.  To laugh and cry with me, like she always did.  To take care of me when I'm sick.  But most of all, to love these girls of ours.  To play with them and read to them and teach them.  To show, by her actions and love, the truest meanings of grace and beauty.  My heart aches for that sometimes.  I've told Justin many times how certain things would be different if she were here.  Then, a few weeks ago, that thought took on a different perspective.  Driving to school one morning, kind of out of nowhere, this thought came in my head (sort of like a whisper from above, if you will): Daddy and I would not have the relationship that we have now if Momma were still here.  Bam.  Almost drove off the road.  My Daddy and I are closer now than we have ever been.  We talk on the phone almost daily, he makes excuses to come see the girls all the time, he and Justin are forever working on one project or another.  Our relationship is better now than it's been in 30 something years.  I won't go into details, but if you know us, you know.  I cannot tell you exactly what happened or when, only that the Lord is still in the business of healing, still in the business of miracles.  He hears the cries of His children's hearts, when words cannot be spoken.  I prayed and prayed for my Momma to be healed of her cancer, for her health to be restored.  God had a different plan (as Mrs. Patsy sang so beautifully in church this morning) for healing and restoration.  I'm so glad He did.  Today my Daddy was sad, missing Momma as we all are.  But his sadness was tempered with the joy and laughter and kisses from 2 little girls that think that he hung the moon.  I like to think that Momma was there with us, watching Daddy try to eat his tacos with his arms full of Slaydon girls, and smiling.  I think she would've thought that was the best anniversary present of all.

Easter Blessings!

Such a beautiful Easter day! 

Had a great day eating and visiting with family today, hunting eggs, and playing with Copper (our newest 4-legged family member).  The girls were so beautiful in their Easter dresses, and Daddy sure looked handsome in his new Easter duds.  Grateful for all of our many blessings today!

 Sweet baby girl!  

Always posing!

 My heart. I yub them!

 Not everyone was pumped about the family photo, but we'll take what we can get!

 Two of my favorite girls!  Julianne was totally over the picture taking by this point.

 Claire and Jul decided to hunt for eggs in the dune buggy, no way the big girls could keep up with them!

Someone was so excited about her new bathing suit that she had to wear it all day!

We hope you all had a wonderful Easter and were able to celebrate our Risen Savior with family and friends.  We're about to kick back on the deck, light a fire, relax and enjoy this beautiful evening.  

Ballin'

On Thursday, Abigail and the rest of the Oberlin Sweeties played in their very first game of the season!! We are just tickled pink, if you couldn't tell!  They have been practicing so hard and we were all so excited to finally get to play.  Of course, we had to have a tiny photo shoot before the game...you know how those softball Mommas are...:)

 The 2014 Oberlin Sweeties (minus a few latecomers)

 So proud of our #7!  

Action shot--baby girl was hustlin'!

 Lemme tell ya, folks, t-ball ain't what it used to be.  Like there's a whole lot less "t".  This year, the Dixie Youth rules have changed so that 4/5/6 year olds are now doing primarily coach pitch ball instead of hitting off of the tee.  Very hard for some of these babies to be able to do that, but I suppose it's preparing them for later on.  In the game Thursday night, Ab hit a hard grounder almost to the third baseman...and promptly hauled her sweet patootie to 3rd base!!  She hit it so hard that she got turned around and just took off in the direction she was facing!  It was hilarious, as you can imagine.  No, I didn't get a picture or video because I was so busy jumping up and down cheering.  It was an AWESOME hit, just sayin'.  We played Elizabeth, which was basically like playing college girls.  There's no 10-run rule, so the score was much higher...

The game this morning against Fairview was much more evenly matched.  (At least the Fairview girls didn't look like Amazons out on the field.)  We didn't win this one either, but #7 got another good hit and a RBI!  We are so proud of her!!  She is learning and improving every day and really seems to enjoy playing.  

We are looking forward to another game on Monday against Fairview. 

You know what they say, the 3rd time's a charm!!  

It's Been Awhile...

I didn't realize until just now that it's been almost a year since my last post.  We're still alive, in case you were wondering.  Just wanted to clear that up.  Due to ...things... I've decided to pick back up with the blogging rather than posting pics on Facebook or Instagram (some pictures just need a story, you know.  And sometimes I may want to say more than the X number of characters allowed.).  So here we go on this little adventure again!  My plan is to try and post at least weekly.  We'll see how that goes.  Baby steps, you know.  Since this is the first afternoon of Easter break, I'm hopping off now to enjoy the beautiful afternoon with my girlies!  Lots of fun things planned for the next few days, especially Ab's first t-ball game tomorrow night!  Check back soon for pics and a recap of what's sure to be an eventful game! ;)

...

I have 4 loads of laundry to fold, clothes to iron, a test to study for, and a house to straighten, but I have something on my heart that I just have to get off because it won't leave me alone until I do.  As I was putting Julianne to bed tonight, I was struck by how unbelievably, undeservedly blessed I am...and how much I take for granted all that I've been blessed with.  Usually, I put my baby girl to bed with a kiss and an "I love you", shut the door and she goes on to sleep pretty fast.  Tonight, I sat by her bed and stroked her red hair and prayed over her, thanking God for this feisty, smart, independent, fearless, beautiful gift He has given me.  I don't do that nearly often enough.  Shame on me for that.  How dare I be so quick to forget how fortunate and blessed I am.  My children are HEALTHY.  Thank You, Lord.  My children are WHOLE.  Thank You, Lord.  My children are HERE.  Oh, Thank You, Lord.  Thank You.  Please forgive me for taking this for granted for so long.  I promise to try and do better.  If you are reading this, please pray with me for Michelle and James, DeAndrea and Aaron, and Kayla and Jason.  Within the last year, they have all suffered a loss that no one should ever have to bear, and my heart is so heavy for each of them tonight. There are other friends and family that have suffered this same loss, or a similar one, and I hurt for them as well.  May I never get so caught up in the stress and busyness of every day life that I forget how incredibly blessed I am.