Homecoming & Such

This past week was Homecoming week at school.

  Our kids attend a Christian school - one school, three campuses.  

That means every campus

 had specially themed days for every day of the week, i.e.

 'school colors day', or 'retro day', or 'surf and ski day'... you get the picture. 

 A different level of craziness was added to our house

 as we searched out different costumes/outfits late at night, 

all in the name of school spirit.

Our week culminated with a winning Homecoming game on Friday night, 

of which I have no pictures because

 we inadvertently ended up sitting in the student section

 and were forced to watch the back sides of all the students

 because for some unknown reason,

 all of them stand for the majority of the  game. 

 I had a great view of some really blinged out jean pockets.

  Nice.

Saturday was the official Homecoming banquet 

where the kids got dressed up & headed out
 as couples or groups

 & had a nice dinner

 & then went to a fun center until the wee hours of the morning.

  

This is Mykenna & Luke. 

 They have been best friends since kindergarten

 and when Homecoming was announced,  Luke knew immediately who he would ask to be his date.

  The theme for the banquet was 'famous couples or groups' - they went as Ken and Barbie.

  They have a unique friendship,
one that we admire and approve of.
We love her
 & her sweet family

 &

 are happy that they like to spend time together as friends.

On another note, 

I went to the library the other day.

Seems like I have a little something for cookbooks.

I could sit and read through them for hours.

I think the thing I miss the most about

not being home all day, now that I am working full time,
is time in my kitchen.

Lord, I love to be in there puttering and

mixing and measuring and making dishes

that put smiles on their faces.

I have plans to put together a cookbook of my own one day.

One day...

I took the hound dog out for an early run this morning.

It was beautiful.

  

It was so very tranquil

&

just what I needed

 to clear my mind &

get myself ready for

 another

 busy

 week.

Blessings,

{K}

Weekend Bliss

May your weekend be filled with

awe & wonder,

&

 the magic of closer inspection.

May there be plenty of time for 

dew soaked tennies

&

aventure around every corner.

May you find respite from busyness,
a quiet spot where your soul can breathe deep,
&
 linger long on the important things in life.

May you fully appreciate all these things
for what they truly are -
holy, ordinary, amazing grace...

Blessings to you, sweet friends
{K}

Running the Race

I remember the days when I had toddlers

 and would naively watch those mamas with busy, older children

with schedules filled with sports and activities

and in my head I would say,

 "Never, never will I run like a crazy lady."

Oh my.

Yeah. 

Fast forward ten years and I'm eating my words.

I am quickly learning the reality of

a family with multiple children 

in various activities and sports.

Todd and I desire for each of our children

to be well rounded kids,

to find something they love and

{hopefully} excel at it.

I truly believe involved, active kids are healthy kids.

Trying to balance their 'thing'

with high academics

and enough down time to teach character and bond as a family,

gets harder with each passing year.

Luke is running cross country and is almost an Eagle Scout.

Gracie, our most natural athlete,

 plays basketball, volleyball, and rides for a mounted drill team.

{She has also told me she wants to try out for soccer and be a cheerleader.}

Oh, for goodness sake!

Daniel is also a Scout and has just started lacrosse

and really wants to play football.

I long for those days when they all came home from school,

had a snack, did a smattering of homework,

and played out in the yard.

I think that is SO important for kids.

My hope is that one day we will see all this pay off.

My hope is that they will be excellent people.

My hope is that maybe there might be a bit of a scholarship down the line.

Who knows?

There are so many ways to raise kids these days-

so many options we never had when I was growing up.

Sports have taken on a whole new competitive edge that

I truly don't like.

But what is a mama to do?

My kids will be out in the world with all these other kids

someday and they need to be able to compete - on all levels.

We do our best to take it one year at time,

see what is best for each child, and encourage them on their path.

We hope for the best for the future.

We cherish the past.

And do our best to 

enjoy

 &

 savor

 today.

Today is Your Birthday

Happy 45th birthday to you, my Cowboy!

May your year be filled with

dreams come true,

more health than illness,

more success than failures,

more love than you can hold,

more time well spent than wasted,

more joy than sorrow,

more quiet moments to sit and savor than hustle and bustle,

and more blessings than curses.

I love you more than you will ever know.

I adore you.

I cherish you.

I miss you when we are apart.

Thank you for doing all that you do for us..

you are simply the best!!

XO,

Beezy

Weekend Bliss

 

May your weekend

 be filled with slow starts,

quiet moments,

and glimpses of glory.

May you linger long over ground beans,

 connect with those you hold dear,

& find a trail that leads to adventure.

May troubles and disappointments roll right off you.

May joy abide in you.

May peace be your companion.

May you savor the last full summer weekend

and linger in her fading light. 

Sweet blessings to you,

 my friend.

Ready or Not...

I am getting this post up a bit late

{what's new??}

but wanted to share with you our first-day-of-school photos

and

give you a little update.

And I also wanted to put this up

so that I could feel as though

I did something for me,

that I love 

and reminds me of my former life. :)

Goodness...

where has the time gone?

How are we headed to 

high school,

middle school,

AND elementary school this year?

Seems like just yesterday we were headed

out to MOPS 

and I was packing diapers and bottles

and double checking to make sure I had matching socks on.

No small feat in those early, sleep deprived days.

And now...

big kids.

And I truly love it.

The older they get, the more I enjoy them.

Yes, we have bumpy days and teary moments,

but by and large, they are becoming wonderful people

who I really like to spend time with.

Speaking of time,

adjusting to being a working mom has been challenging.

I have spent the last 16 years feathering my nest

and making sure home was a 

calm, clean, organized haven to come home to.

These days we leave by 7,

arrive home near 5,

and are out the door again for a 'Back-to-{fill in the blank} night.

I miss my kids,

I miss my cowboy,

I miss long walks with the dog.

I miss my measuring spoons - 

I miss being home.

I could go on and on but I might short out my keyboard

with exhausted tears.

While I desperately miss home,

I love my job.

I walked through the doors the other morning and worship music

 was blaring from the Worship Center,

people were gathering to pray

and peace reigned.

{AND  I get paid to be here??}

And just down the hall are roughly 300

middle schoolers who need to be loved on

and cared for and shown the right way to class.

They need copies of schedules,

and help with jammed lockers,

and maybe a kleenex or two.

{volleyball cuts were made today :( }

They need to know that someone is there to greet them

and say how glad they are to see them.

Bless their hearts,

 they are a mess!

Precious messes

 and I get to love on them 

and help them

 and love on their overwhelmed mamas, too.

{I can relate} 

Well, off to pack lunches and move laundry

 and maybe sneak a moment

or two with the cowboy

before it is time to start the whole thing over again!

Blessings,

{K} 

Post Olympic Goodness

The Olympics went out with a bang, no?

I've never been a big fan of

the closing ceremonies,

they are usually from a culture I cannot relate to or appreciate.

London's closing ceremonies weren't

an exception to all things of

Olympic wierdness,

but I reasoned that at least I could understand

the lyrics of the songs,

and therefore I liked them better than most others.

And speaking of music,

I was shocked to see the current state of George Michael.

Goodness,

time has not been good to that man.

VERY SAD.

While the Olympics were actually on,
 I was most interested in the swimming

and gymnastics, 

but definitely not the men's synchronized diving.
Synchronized diving??
Men's??

Really??  

When did that sad event become Olympic?

Have I been living under a rock?

Well,

at least I had my own little version of the Olympics around here.

I didn't have to pay out the wazz

for plane fare,

converge with thousands to get the best seat,

or

buy cheesy souvenirs that will collect dust

in a box for the next 30 years.

I had front row seats to the most exciting events and got some great shots

of my favorite athletes...

While there were no fancy prizes given out

{just cheers from mom and dad}

they're all gold medal winners in my book!

Blessings,
{K}