Here I Am

Hello! Remember me? No...I didn't think so.

Some of you may be asking, "Where in the wide world of sports has she been?" Others may not have even noticed that I've been away. I have been away and I apologize. "Life" has gotten in the way.

I thought that I'd give you the top 10 reasons that I abandoned you, left you out in the cold, turned an uncaring eye from you, those 2 people who actually read this, and left you in the dark.




The Top 10 Reasons I've Been Away


10. Kite Flying


9. Heroes(Thank you David & Rachael)


8. Children's ministry at Church


7. The French Open


6. 3 Baby Showers


5. My Dad's surgery


4. My very good friend has a very sick baby - please pray for Luke


3. Housekeeping


2. Teaching Miss G


and the number one reason I've been absent...


1. My daughter has hijacked my social calendar





I appreciate you, my 2 readers, for hanging in there and believing that I would eventually post again. I'll try to post more often although I will be without my camera for a bit. At the kite flying event mentioned above, the chair on which my camera was sitting blew over and now my camera doesn't work properly. Back to Nikon it goes and hopefully they'll be able to fix it.




We have lots going on this summer...swimming lessons, visiting relatives, family reunion and a trip to Florida. I'll try to update much more often. Miss G does keep things exciting and I know that you'll be waiting with bated breath...or not.




Now I'm going to have an infusion of "Diet Dr. Coke" and tackle the laundry. Anybody want to help? I thought not. "Miss G! It's go time in the laundry room!"

Earth Treasures

The screen door creaks open and I hear the familiar sound of little feet running down the hallway.

"Mommy, I need to wash my hands."

I think this an unusual request because that action isn't something she usually announces, but I decide to wait to see what develops.


Listening carefully, I can hear the water running in the bathroom with some muffled discussion. Since she's an only child, talking to herself isn't that unusual but after the water has been running a mysteriously long time, I begin to speak. Suddenly the water shuts off. Closing my mouth to listen, I hear nothing. All is quiet. I can almost hear her brain grinding trying to decided what to do. And then I hear,

"Mommy, look what I found."

A little panic rises in my stomach when a think about all the things that she could have dragged into the bathroom to wash. Swallowing hard, I ask her to come in and show me.





Oh, thank goodness. It's only an earthworm. A nice, harmless earthworm who has just suffered the ultimate earthworm humiliation of being forced into a bath. Poor worm!

"Oh, yes!
Very nice, Miss G.
Were did you find him?
Oh, yes, that is a good spot.
Thank you for showing him to me.
No, it's okay. I don't need to hold him.
Now, please take him back to his home so he's safe and sound."

After you have imagined the worst, a little earthworm dirt in your bathroom sink seems like a very MINOR inconvenience.

Thomas

We spent a wonderful day with Thomas and our cousins, Aunts & Uncles, and Grandma & Popaw.

The day was full of energy and the kids were plugged in.



Miss G and Cousin S ran at it full force.



Cousin Z took his time. Savoring the better things like a red sucker and corny dogs.



Cousin S did slow down enough that Popaw could show him the trains.

The triangles were a hit.

We actually got to ride Thomas.

Aunt S made yummy cupcakes to celebrate cousin S's 3rd birthday.

We all enjoyed them but Z was the most exuberant.

His joy was expressed in his every feature.

When I look out my window...

this is what I see.

I wish you all could see them in person. They are amazingly vibrant, shifting through the pinks as the wind blows them about.

There is something about azaleas that renews hope in me every time I see them bloom. They don't just show their love halfheartedly. The normally small, somewhat scraggly plant can only display their love in over abundance. What a blessing!

Weeds

Daddy thinks these are weeds. I think they're flowers. I think Daddy can tell they're flowers but for some reason he calls them weeds. Daddy is SO silly.

Welcome spring!

Beautiful!

It has been a long time since I've seen snow covered mountains. I had forgotten how amazingly beautiful they are.



This was Miss G's first experience with skiing. She loved it. Her favorite part was "going fast." She kept telling me, "Go faster, Mommy. Go faster!"




The chairlift was another favorite. She seemed fearless and wanted more asking to go higher up the mountain.

Riding the lift with her was a moment in time that I'll always remember. Her joy was overflowing. Her giggling was contagious as she waved and called down to the people below us. She told me knock-knock jokes that made absolutely no sense and we laughed and hugged and I tried to imprint that memory deep into my mind.



She would tell me she needed to rest which was really a big excuse to gather up snow for a snowball.




The only thing that would have made this trip better was if we could have shared it with Mr. Reserved. Unfortunately, he had to work as this time of the year is a busy one for him. We really missed him.

Children's Day - Tennis Clinic

Every month our church schedules an activity for the young children. This month we organized a tennis clinic for them.




We had great participation and the children loved it. I was suprised by how well they listened to the instruction and how long they stayed with it. We gave them instruction on how to hit a forehand and a backhand and then they played some games. We started at 12:30 and the kids were still hitting tennis balls at 2:30.




The kids loved interacting with some of our "seasoned" tennis players. I think the older ladies loved it too.


We talked about being a good sport and that Jesus said that we should treat others like we want to be treated.






At the end of the day one little boy who doesn't attend our church ran up to me and said, "Can we do this again? I loved it."


It is such a joy to work with children and watch their eagerness glisten in their eyes. They soaked up our every word. How wonderful it was to spread some of God's word into their lives through the physical abilities He has blessed us with. What a blessing it was to us, the instructors, to be encouraged by their pure and open hearts. God truly blessed us with a great day.