tonight i got to play soccer.

i’ve always remembered that line from the movie, THE ROOKIE…when he realizes that he can quit feeling the pressure to perform and focus on the fact that…

“tonight…he gets to play baseball.”

so…that’s what i think of every time we have a game or practice.

i love the days that i “get to play soccer.”

tonight was my personal best game.  at least i think it was.  and i can honestly say that scoring twice is way more fun than scoring once.  and i’ve only ever scored either once or none.  and none is not fun at all.  (as a forward, anyway.  that’s kinda our job.)

it was also the best i’ve felt that our team has played together.  it’s super fun to watch our team grow and gel and become more fluid.  so…even though we lost…it was a fun game.

and what more can you hope for, really?

better your best…………….check.

better our team best……………….check.

 have fun………………..check, check.

****

this week…i got to hang out with one of my best friends from clemson.  she flew in with her 3 girls for a wedding and swung it to come a few days early to stay with us.

the day they arrived was this little lady’s birthday.  so…obviously we celebrated…

…with cupcakes and a driveway sunset.

and the “i scream you scream we all scream for ice cream” game that i helped make up when i was little.  my friends and i would flip our bikes over and turn the pedals so that the wheel spins real fast.  and that…my friends…was making ice cream.

i taught them this game several years ago and by some wish upon a star…it stuck.

aiden got creative, at some point, and brought out her pretend ice cream.  yeah…i’m not gonna pretend that i’m not totally jealous that i didn’t have that stuff when i was little.

i mean…i don’t go pushin’ them out of the way and takin’ over or anything.  of course not.  no way.  i’ve never done that.  it’s possible that i have.

we had a dance party in the kitchen after dinner last night.  i highly recommend it.  pull out the wooden spoons for mics.

try it.

you’ll see.

we like to jump.

today we decided…last minute…to hit the beach.  chase didn’t come with us.  he wanted to spend the day with chad.  the sweet boy.  i missed my chase.

it was a good call.

would you just look at this poor bird with a broken wing.  he had to walk everywhere.

obviously i fed him part of annslee’s sandwich.

i do seem to have a “jumping issue” these days.

at one point…we looked around to find annslee and charlie in line with other random kids for some pringles.  they had been playing with the kids from that group and filed right in line with them at snack time.

we still need to make good on our pleasure pier bucket list.

and since chase decided to stay home with chad today…he was all rested up for a little movie watchin’ tonight.

…with ice cream, of course.  (the real kind…not the kind i …they…make with their bikes.)

you know how people get writer’s block?  and they have to get up and go do something else…totally unrelated…in order to have a prayer of getting past it?

well…that’s me.  only…it’s not writer’s block.

it’s cleaner’s block.

i’ve spent the last several days…inside the house…going from one room to the next…un-packing from our 3 week journey, organizing the chaos that it entailed, and then cleaning the cobwebs and toilet rings that formed because we were gone for so long.

so…too much cleaning meant i needed a creative boost to get the juices flowin’ again.  i can’t go too long without writing…or i start to get ancy.

i love my home.  i love being here.  i love that i can walk from room to room in the complete darkness and still know where i’m going.  i may trip over a toy every now and then…but still.  i love that i know where the kids are and what they are doing just by the sounds that come from upstairs.  i love that i know where trout will be laying and where george bailey is sleeping at any given moment.  i love that it smells like a moonlit ocean in the summers and spiced pumpkin in the fall.

it may take me a second…but once i settle back in after a highly anticipated summer vacation, filled with friends, family, celebration, and laughter…everyone just better watch out!  because mama gets her groove back…and the depressing mornings when we wake up and don’t have the cousins to play with or the mountains to look at…once again become mundane magic.  that’s what i call spending the day lighting candles, smelling clean blankets and sheets coming out of the dryer, and finding spots all over the house for our treasures that we collected along our journey.

in iowa, we were blessed to be able to go into chad’s grandparent’s house and pick a few treasures that were his grandmother’s.  even though a lot was already gone…i slowly examined and appreciated everything that was left on the “to sell” table.  i picked things up and turned them over and silently wondered what all she used them for.  i imagined warm bread being served at sunday family lunch, or her delicate fingers holding her cup and saucer as she sipped her tea.

i chose a few silver servers to be used as jewelry trays for mine and the girl’s jewelry.  i also chose a cup and saucer to be passed done to each girl.

i also let aiden choose a bell.  she started collecting special bells about 3 years ago.  she has one from my great grandmother; one from my grandma; one that chase picked out for her from the statue of liberty; a cowbell that we were using with trout; and now two from chad’s grandmother.  i love that she is doing this.

a saucer had been passed over by everyone…because it was missing the tea cup that went with it.  of course i couldn’t leave it sitting there all by itself.  it has found a home on my kitchen counter and is a perfect little resting place for her old sugar bowl and my coffee spoon.

at one point, chad’s grandfather picked up this little plate…handed it to me…and said, “take this.  it’s an antique.  i remember her loving it.”

i love it too.

chase found an antique, toy army tank and i found a quilt for colt.  chad’s grandpa passed some of his WW2 stuff to him.  it’s all very special…and very appreciated.

****

annslee just HAD to have this little deer that she found on a shelf at iowa machine shed.  it stands proudly with her night light that once dimly lit my own bedroom as a child.

and when you are finding homes for you new things…it only makes sense to find new homes for some of your old ones as well.

annslee’s room was the perfect place to move the kitchen.

now she can serve her dolls dessert while she is supposed to be going to bed.  maybe this will cure the “sprout obsession.”

and wouldn’t ya know it?  moving the kitchen made room for the tea party tee pee.  i move things around more than anyone i know.  i think that it gives things new life.

and new life is always good.

****

we are making good on our summer bucket list.  we have been able to move quite a few clothes pins to the “done” side of the bucket.

go fishing

fire pit smore’s

ride horses

summer road trip

swim in hot springs

plant flowers

make cookies for a neighbor

go to the beach

pleasure pier

eat ice cream for dinner

****

we will get it done.  i’m sure of it.

and if we don’t…

well…

we sure had fun trying.



the best thing about being in wolf creek is how relaxed the people are.

for example…

at the rock the rio grande rodeo…you could walk in…pay $25…and do whatever it is you want to do.  the girls could do the muttin’ bustin’; the boys could compete in the open calf riding; i could barrel race (given that i had a horse); and UK could compete in the novice bull riding competition.

so…you can only imagine my excitement at this prospect.

because we had a few people interested in competing…we had to arrive at the rodeo venue at 3:30 to get signed in.

at this point…i didn’t think there was a prayer of me getting on a horse.  however…the girls were set to ride the sheep, and colt had decided to try his hand at calf riding.

UK was on the fence about entering the bull riding competition…due to a herniated disk in his neck from a fight injury.

after signing the kids in…i ran into holly.  she is the owner of the trail ride company out of wolf creek ranch, which is where the cabin is.  so…by this point…she is used to taking us on trail rides and knows us by name.  she was there to watch her step daughter, heidi, compete in the barrels.  one thing lead to another…and i had the honor of getting on paint (the barrel horse that heidi raced) and warming him up in the rodeo arena with the rest of the competitors.  this is a moment that i will remember for the rest of my life.

with the mountains in the background, a gathering crowd in the stands, and an energy that only rodeo cowboys, cowgirls and their animals can exude…paint and i made our way from the trailer to the arena gate.  once we hit that arena dirt…paint took over.  after all…he had been there plenty of times and i had been there none.  he knew just what he was supposed to do and fought for me to turn over control to him.  all i had to do was relax…and trust him to do his job.  he took off with grace…and a speed that made my heart flutter and one hand instinctively leave the reigns in order to hold on to the saddle horn.

i’ve never gone as fast as paint was willing to take me.

and he left me wanting more.

i would have never been able to race him that night.  paint knew that he was in control of me.  he knew that he could take me wherever he wanted to…(the sad truth of a beginner barrel racer.)

i may or may not ever get to run a barrel horse during the beginning of an actual rodeo again, but i will never forget that the first time i did…i was on paint, with the rocky mountains as my back drop, in a rodeo where my children got to actually compete.  and you’ll never believe what happened next…

remember when i said that the girls were muttin’ bustin’ and colt was calf riding?

well…the girls rode first…and let’s face it.  i’m not sure you can call what they did “riding.”  annslee was technically too young to do it.  but the “laid back” people that i was referring to before, let her on one anyway and just held on to her and pulled her off the sheep before it started really running.  well…once aiden saw that as an option…she opted for their help, as well.  the difference?  flicka was down-right ticked that the cowboy took her off the sheep before she got to really ride.  and furthermore…she did not appreciate the rodeo clowns trying to get her to dance in the middle of the arena when she was supposed to be winning a sheep riding competition.  she gave them a dirty look and stomped off in a huff…causing the crowd to erupt in laughter and “aaawwwwwws” and applause. 

and aiden?  she was fine with their help.

this is one of my most favorite pictures of me and my girls that i have, to date.

it is so natural.  and so me.

next, they called out for all of the kids that were 7 and under for the sheep scramble.  try explaining that to a 2 year old.

“those cowboys are gonna let a sheep out of that gate over there.  and you are supposed to chase it and pull a ribbon off it’s tail.  and yes…all those other kids are going to be chasing it too.  and you have no real chance of catching it.  it’s just for fun.”  (i did leave that whole “you have no real chance of catching it” part out.)

aiden hung with it.  flicka decided right away that this was a waste of her time and that she’d rather be ON the sheep than chasing it.  i can’t really blame her.

then…it was colt’s turn.

i don’t think i have ever been more proud of this kid.  he had never done anything like this…and  he knew he was competing against boys that had.  it was totally and completely out of his realm of comfort-ability.

he had to let go of control….something that neither of us are especially good at.

he is cautious… and he doesn’t put himself in situations where he could possibly fail.  especially in front of other people.

but…he made the decision to do it.

and he never faltered or looked back.

calf riding is one step before steer/bull riding.  it is essentially the same drill.  the cowboys lowered him onto his calf and helped him hook his hand in the rope.  i was looking down at him from above the pin and was telling him obvious things like,

“hold on tight!!”

“don’t let go!!”

“lean forward!!”

and the cowboys told him to look down at the back of the calf’s neck and to stay focused on it.

so…

the announcer announced that we had a cowboy all the way from houston, texas and for everyone to put their hands together for

COLTOOOOOOONNNNN CLAAARRRRKKKKSSSSOOOOOOONNNN!!!

 and he did everything right.

and he won the whole thing.

i just love how the little cowboy was hanging over the fence…watching colt’s ride.

then…colt competed in the calf scramble.  which is the same thing that the girls did…but with a calf.

i think we smiled and laughed all the way back to the stands.  we had been a part of a real-life rodeo.  and it was a ride we would never forget.

we were met by chase…

…saying, “way to go!!!  and mom!!  guess who is here???  marissa!!!  my friend from school!!!”

i thought he was kidding.

what would a friend from school be doing in south fork, colorado?  at the town rodeo, no less?

but sure enough……..

she was.

and one rainbow over the colorado rockies later…

2 things were proven to me…down deep in my soul:

1.  God desires to make us smile down here on earth…orchestrating and weaving dreams and passions together and bringing them to life in a way that can only be summed up as

“MAGICAL.”

and 2.  chase clarkson can find a friend anywhere.

colt won the very first rodeo award for our little family.

here’s to hoping that the magic will continue…

and that there will be more to come.

a small miracle took place this morning at 6:30am, when i groggily stumbled out of my cabin bed…i popped open my computer to upload some pictures and somehow connected to a public wifi.

we arrived to wolf creek ranch, and all it’s glory, around lunch time on the 4th of july.  we have had no phone access…which took some getting used to.  i’ve learned that you go through a small withdrawal…getting used to a new lack of communication with the outside world.  i can get texts…but i can’t respond to them.  i can’t respond to anything on facebook or instagram…and up until this point, i couldn’t even type a blog to record what we were doing.  these things had become a normal part of life.  and i realized that it’s how i feel like i’m a part of things.  it’s my communication.  it’s how i know when soccer practice is and how i’m wished happy birthday and how i feel connected to the world.  and this is something that i don’t necessarily like.  i don’t like how important and necessary it seems.

so…i shut down everything until this morning…(with the exception of when we went into south fork to get groceries)…and decided that it was a good thing.  i didn’t reeeeaaaalllly need to know when soccer practice was this week…because i wasn’t going to be there.  and if i didn’t get the picture posted to facebook…it was no big deal.  and if i didn’t get to text back…….not an emergency.

instead…i adjusted to the feeling of being secluded and lost in the world…and started being a little more present.  instead of looking down at the instagram feed…i was looking up at the mountains.  instead of surfing facebook…i was nose deep in a good fiction book.

yesterday afternoon, UK pulled in.  and since timber is not allowed in the cabin, all the kids ended up in the back of his truck…where he has created a nice, little, living room space.

and last night…we all nestled into the living room of our cabin, in oversized sweats and sipped hot chocolate while we read, played old maid, and worked on a 1000 piece puzzle.

aiden caught the first trout of the trip (all by herself, she adds).  that girl can fish.  i’ll tell you that much.

and then there are the horses.  flicka has fallen for a 2 month old foal.  truthfully…so have i.

well…since every picture takes a good 5 minutes to upload…i’m afraid there may be some rather lengthy posts upon our return to LC.  i am currently sitting on the back porch…watching the sun make it’s appearance over the mountains.  and the smell of coffee and pancakes…plus the sound of small children who want to either fish or ride horses…are calling me home.

i have living to attend to.

and until we meet again…

joyful living to you all.



a video is in the works for the first half of our trip.  but with splotchy internet access…it’s become a bit of a hassle.  it may just have to wait until we get home.

we have reached the part of our trip where we need to catch our second wind.  we usually have multiple plans a day…swiftly moving from one group of important people to another.  and each person we see…and each plan that we make is just as important and necessary as the next.  chad and i got to go out with our friends last night and didn’t get home until 1am…and my niece’s birthday party starts at 1 this afternoon…but this morning…i took the morning off.  well…except for icing a bazillion cupcakes in the shape of a pirate skull and crossbones.

so, i woke up fairly early…crossed the backyards to chad’s sister and brother-in-law’s house…and set up camp at their bar…crossing my fingers for better service.

at this point, i’m surrounded by 7 children and swirling birthday party preparations…but this post is going to be finished…as if my life depended on it.

****

yesterday, i woke up tired.  after having a niece and nephew slumber party the night before…i had lost my “throw another log on the fire” attitude and was craving nothing but sleep.  however…it was the day we had planned to pay chad’s grandmother a visit.  so…we drove the hour and fifteen minutes to steamboat rock, iowa.  it’s a drive that i’ve come to appreciate.  it’s quiet.  it’s off the beaten path.  and it’s lined by beautiful corn and bean fields.  the last 30 minutes, or so are trimmed with old barns, cemeteries, crop fields, homes, and cylos.  it’s a photographers heaven.  i had to hold my breath as we rolled through a 4 way stop that looked right out of the end of the movie, CAST AWAY…when tom hank’s character realizes his future holds amazing possibilities.  there just happened to be a big tractor rolling through.  it would have made an amazing photograph…but would have required stopping and getting out of the car…which i thought chad would scoff at.

so…i waited until we pulled into the tiny town, where his grandmother grew up and where she still lives.

she is a pillar in this historical, old town.  just in these last months…she was instrumental in having these entrance signs to town built.

we got out to take pictures.  there was an older man that pulled up on a tractor and got off to talk to us.  i figured he would ask if we were from out of town or tell us about the sign being new…but he ambled over to us…looked at my husband…and said,

“are you chad?”

chad stuck his hand out to shake his hand and said, “yes.  i am.”

the gentleman said, “i’m ralph.  i was just up at janice’s place this morning and she told me you were coming to visit today.  welcome to steamboat rock.”

that’s when i realized that the sign was right.  steamboat rock, iowa really is the valley of friendliness.

grandma janice met us at the door with a home cooked meal of iowa sweet corn, her famous mashed potatoes, green beans,  cauliflower, pork tenderloin (for chad), and fresh lemonade with home made sugar cookies.  we sat at her bar, eating and talking while she hurried around the kitchen, putting finishing touches on the gravy and popping more rolls in the basket.  i noticed that she was on auto-pilot…and that being able to cook without recipes, while talking to us and entertaining the kids was a skill she acquired long ago and mastered over the years.

after that, we drove around town…and soaked in the historical stories and scenes from a woman who clearly knew and loved her land and her home and the people who lived there.

this is a plot of land that i think would make a perfectly nice horse ranch.

we went to see his grandfather’s grave…a yearly tradition that has become important to chad and his grandmother.  we patiently answer the same questions from the kids each year.  questions like,

“did grandpa kenny fight in the war?  did they play taps at his funeral like they did for your grandpa, mommy?  is he in heaven now?  can i put flowers on his stone?”

i always wish the same thing…

that they could have known him.  and that chad could have been able to talk to him more about the war and let him know how important WW2 history has become to him because of him and how all of our children proudly know what a B 24 is.

but more than that…i wish that he was still here with grandma janice.  you can see in her eyes how much she still misses him when she talks about him.

and that will never change.  she said that she walks around the cemetery every day.  and every week, she makes 5 trips from her home with a watering can to water the flowers around the war memorial there.

i am just one of many people who’s life is incredibly enriched because she is in it.

we ended up at chad’s aunt jane and uncle jim’s home…where the light rain forced us into their old farm house…where dr. peppers, root beer, and fresh cookies were waiting.

sometimes, all you need is a trip to grandma’s house.

we made it.  we made a split second decision last night to just go ahead and fly the coupe because we were packed and ready.  why even go to bed?

i’m gonna tell you a little somethin’.  traveling at night is way better than traveling during the day.

a.)  you don’t have to make stops to eat throughout the day.

b.)  you/the kids are used to not having to go to the bathroom during the night.

c.)  the kids sleep.  (for the most part.)

what would have been a 19 hour drive was only a 15 hour one.  and my sanity remained in tact because i didn’t have to turn around, climb over the seat in order to fetch a dropped doll or book or ds or threaten to turn the car around THIS INSTANT if they didn’t stop fighting or answer “are we there yet” 84.6 times.

they watch a movie when it gets dark and fall asleep to the credits.

i pop the ole’ earphones in and drift into my own world.

and chad drives…with his thoughts to keep him company.

usually, chad doesn’t let me drive.  it’s something having to do with the way that i like to stay in the left lane ALL THE TIME and vere off onto the bumpy side lane when i change songs on my ipod.  i don’t know.  suit yourself is what i say.

but last night, i woke up at 4am to him wiggling all over the place and bouncing up and down, trying to get a second wind.  i barely peeked open my eye…because if he wasn’t tired, i certainly didn’t want him to ask me to drive.  that’s what we southerners call “playin’ possum.”  not really.  i asked him if he was ok and he said that he was getting tired.

huuuuuuhhhhhhhh.  alright.

we stopped at a gas station so that we could fill up and i could get a red bull and a protein bar.

i took my position in the driver’s seat…put on my favorite mix and took us the next 5 hours.

i’m gonna tell you something right now.  i am not a morning person.  i have no problem acting like a 16 year old with friends in a pool until 2am…but when an alarm goes off at 7…you can forget about it.

i’m one of those people that doesn’t like to talk in the morning.  i don’t want to be talked to either.  i practically stumble to the coffee pot with my eyes closed and my hair all in a disheveled knot.  the kids have learned to just part like the red sea when they see me comin’.

anyhow…the point is…because of that fact…i haven’t experienced many sunrises.

but…at 5:37 this morning, i found a new kind of happy.

i knew that the rest of my little family was experiencing something very different from me.  their world was still, and dark, and quiet.  their dreams were accompanied only by the hum of the tires on the road.  but mine?  well my world was something totally different.  and i loved it.  because it was just mine.  at 5:37 am…i looked to my right and saw the skyline turn a faint shade of pink.

and to the glorious sound of bittersweet symphony being played only for me…

through the magic of tiny speakers in my ears…

i watched that pink turn into orange…

and my heart sped up as i caught the first glimpse of her.

at first…i could only see her glowing arch in fast glimpses.  but as the music crescendoed and changed rhythm and played it’s own concert in my mind, she showed up and lit my world on fire.

i can’t remember seeing a sunrise like this one.  and i know for a fact that i have never appreciated one more than i did this morning.

i always think of myself as someone who has to have people to talk to in order to really be able to celebrate something and to feel fully satisfied.  usually i would start cheering for everyone to wake up and watch the sun rise and not understand why they all weren’t as excited as i.

but this morning…

i was silent.  i celebrated alone.

and i was perfectly happy about it.

the sun continued to rise.

the music kept playing.

my family kept sleeping.

i marveled at the land that the sun allowed me to see.  the yellow fields merged into green meadows.  the sky was a light blue backdrop to the white, cotton clouds.

and my road ahead…

well…it was nothing but bright.



T minus 3 days to go and i have to somehow get all of us packed for 10 days in iowa and a week in colorado.  for iowa we need flip flops, sundresses and shorts and for colorado…we need jeans, boots, sweatshirts and fishin’ gear.  i’m not entirely sure how to make this happen.  which is why i’m procrastinating.

plus…trout has to go to UK’s while we are in iowa and then to a boarder when UK leaves to meet us in colorado.  and i’ve never had a cat before…so i’m nervous about leaving him in the house for 3 weeks, even though our neighbor/friend is going to come feed him and clean the litter box every night.  this is precisely when chad would say, “i don’t know why you brought these animals home.”  but surely it will be ok.  i am wondering though…do cat’s get mad at you for leaving them and destroy your house?  i don’t even know.

****

chad is not the easiest person to buy gifts for.  he doesn’t usually ever ask for anything…so birthdays, christmas, and father’s day can be a little sketchy sometimes.  but this year…i had a plan for months.

i got marker paper and the hugest sharpie marker that i’ve ever seen (don’t even get me started on how excited that sharpie made me) and made these signs for the kids to hold.

and took some pictures.  the hardest thing about this project was deciding what pictures i wanted to use. 

****

we have 1 babysitter…and we love her.  i met her family two years ago when her mom ended up being colton’s fourth grade teacher.  we hit it off and shortly after, jordan became our babysitter.  she was the goal keeper for clear springs high school and just graduated with a full ride to play keeper for tennesee tech university.  she is a beautiful, sweet, and amazing girl and i’m in complete denial that she is leaving for tennesse at the end of july.  my aiden idolizes her and the boys love her and flicka hangs off her leg when it’s time to say goodnight.  so…this project evolved into a graduation present for her.

those pictures turned into this…

and this.

****

the other day, i was not happy.  there was no real reason, either.  and i hate that kind of unhappy.  because if you can’t put your finger on what is making you sad…you can’t fix it.  all you can do is wait for it to pass.

this happens to me every now and then.  as i’ve grown older…i’ve kinda figured out that it usually involves feeling lonely. i love people.  and i love being surrounded by family and friends.  i don’t do “alone” very well. last week was a prime catalyst.  kids gone.  chad gone.  neighbors that we spend nearly every evening with on the driveway gone.  boo.

i’ve also learned that something really small can turn my mood around in a heartbeat.  like saturday, for example, when i was shopping for the picture frames at michaels and i stumbled upon these pencils…

and that glass jar that they fit in so perfectly.  you know how i love my all matching pencils.

so…combine those suckers with a light of moonlit ocean…

and we are in business.

to top the pencils off…i stumbled upon muppet pez dispensers at the check out line.  who wouldn’t want a kermit or piggy pez deal?  those things kept flicka occupied through an entire sunday church service.

and THEN…as if God, himself was telling me “chin up, child”…i found a sippy cup with a deer on it!

a DEER!!!!  and the momma deer is telling the baby deer to “grow graceful.”

it does not get better than that.

i’m not gonna lie.

the chocolate didn’t hurt either.

mood…

properly adjusted.



the 3 oldest kids have been at “camp gran” all week.  chad was in atlanta most of the time…leaving me and flicka to fend for ourselves.

luckily…flicka knows just how to have a good time.

she scored a ride on her “hi-yo” with UK at the boardwalk.

i’m of the opinion that if you have the option to get your face painted…you might as well just go ahead and do it.

when i told her about a unicorn…i imagine her thoughts went something like this:

“are you telling me that there is such a thing as a MAGICAL hi-yo???”

“i’ll take it.”

and whether or not to ride the hi-yo again or take the balloon ride was a tough decision.

and one that she ultimately regretted.

i heard about it the rest of the afternoon.

and some the next day.

“me.  hi-yo.  now.”

we swung an invite to the pool one afternoon.

where we got to reunite with our people.

chad finally got home last night.  he took us to do a little shopping and then to eat italian.

we go pick the kids up this afternoon.  and i can tell you one thing…as much as she likes her attention…she is anxiously awaiting their return.

and so am i.  it’s time the ducks are back in a line.

and as much as i should have enjoyed this quiet week…i’ve realized something about myself:

if i’m home…

i want everyone else to be also.

i don’t do quiet very well.

and i’m ok with that.



summer is in full effect.

it always takes a good week to get into the groove of a new schedule.  we all slept away the whole morning of every day last week…which was fine with me.  even flicka wouldn’t call for me until around 10.  we were tired.  and for good reason.  there was a lot of hoopla going on those last couple of weeks of school.

on one particular errand to our favorite hobby lobby…big baby lost her shoes.  this is how i found them.  try as she might…sister just couldn’t get those shoes back on her friend.  she tried for a good, long while though.

and that very day, she rewarded herself for her servant’s heart with a slow dance with elmo.

we nearly did not get out of the store without that monstrosity.

and with my fear of balloons in full force…my friend, c.w. had to come to the rescue.  we told annslee that elmo needed to head on over to the punch bowl…where the other boys are standing around, talking about how they’re gonna spike the cool-aide without getting caught by the principal or chaperone’s.  (that may or may not have been a scene from back to the future.)

when she couldn’t find her sunglasses…

we improvised.  i think they look nice.

bright yellow is all the rage.

remember my shoes??

we have eaten out.  a lot.  and i’m really o.k. with it.  summer days don’t scream, “get in the kitchen and cook at 5:00 when you just happen to be in a pool somewhere.”

after one of our dinner outings, we went to see the shuttle replica that was recently delivered to NASA.  i’m not gonna lie.  we were robbed.  we should have had one of the real ones.  i don’t know who is running the show with this…and i’m not gonna pretend that i’m gonna figure it out and start protesting and stuff…

but there are way too many of us that have grown up here, by NASA, who were personally affected by the shuttle program beyond just watching launches on TV.  my next door neighbor, through my entire childhood, was an astronaut.  but to me…he was just mr. gregory, who would let us swim in their pool!  he flew in the challenger.  being around astronauts and their families was as natural to us as breathing and we have all been affected throughout the years by the shuttles and their brave occupants.  the people who flew them and worked among them live here, for crying out loud.  one of my good, childhood friends lost her father in the challenger that january day and she and her family still live here.  to be honest…i can’t think of a place that deserves one more than  johnson’s space center.

but…

this one will have to do.

and it is a pretty awesome sight…none-the-less.

my dad decided to buy me a pair of good cowgirl boots.  i think he felt bad that i was trying to barrel race in a pair of $19.99 specials that were missing a sole.

these are real beauties.

we took a family outing to academy.

boy could my family spend hours in this place.  each of us in our own little area of expertise.

chase really doesn’t have an area here.  so…check out where i found him:

i rounded the corner to meet chad at the checkout…and in the front of the store is a female mannequin wearing tight workout clothes.

chase was standing directly in front of it…facing it…with both of his hands up it’s shirt…cupping both boobs.

when i came upon the scene…i whisper screamed…”CHASE!!!! STOP IT!!!!”

colton had totally put him up to it and was standing next to him, and they were both giggling to high heaven.

everyone who was entering the joint was watching me grab at his arms to rip them out from under the mannequin’s shirt…trying to stifle their laughter.

we got out of that place as quickly as possible.

cue the “never listen to your brother in public” speech.

****

so…this week, the 3 oldest are at camp gran.  that’s where they stay at my parent’s house and go to bible school every day.  somehow, flicka scored herself an invite last night…and i picked her up this morning.  it’s gonna be a quiet week around these parts.



happy summer.