A Riveting Review of 2013

Oh, my.  I went from a frequent blogger to a weekly blogger to a monthly blogger...to an annual blogger?!  Such a twist of reasons why I have been more infrequent.  Lots to share, lots I didn't want to share.  Probably the biggest reason is just time.  I didn't want to use my time in this way.  Most of that I don't regret, but some of it I do.  I regret the moments I didn't get "scrapbooked" on here this year.  But whadayado?  Ya carry on.

So, with mere hours left in 2013, I will recap some highlights as best I can.


January:
Well apparently January was a bland month around here.  I didn't photograph much, anyway.

We took our Christmas lights down, much to Brenna's dismay.

 

The girls made this quilt with their Grandma, with many of our fun memories from 2012.

 

 

And I had fun giving Lucy expressive eyebrows!

 

February:
February was a busy month of tours and travels.  I deleted most of the college tour pictures once I knew where he was going, but I still have a couple of ASU:

 

 And then, of course, Peabody at Johns Hopkins:

I can't ignore that this was also the month of looooove:

 

 

March:
March was a mixed bag of emotions.  Days after learning of the death of his high school music teacher, Alex played a solo with the Tacoma Concert Band after winning a scholarship competition in February.

I dressed as Fox in Sox for character day at school!

 

Track season began.

Soccer season continued.

Beth and Caleigh performed their flute duet.

And Lucy got her nose stuck in a French fry bag.

 

And an early Easter.

April:
In April, Alex was back at State for the final time. 

Bassoon/Cello duet took 2nd place in state.

Alex took 3rd place at a soloist.

And soccer continued.  And track continued.



AND, the college acceptance started rolling in.  Although accepted to all the school he was interested in, it was this school that he was awaiting:

May:
May was a busy month.

Track continued, where Brenna took 1st place in the mile at the Freshman Invitational.

 

And Lucy just looked cute.

 

And, of course, Mother's Day:

 

 

 

(keepin' it real)

 

June:
June.  A big month.  My firstborn tuned 18.  He graduated from high school.

Senior Prom on his birthday!

Graduation Day!

 

Father's Day at the beach.

 

And Lucy got a bath in a sled.  It came with a free ride around the yard.

 

July:

Alex went on a whale-watching trip with the Peters.

 

 

A biggie:  I hiked to the top of Mt. Ellinor with Brad and Brenna! (Yeah, gross, that is sweat all over me.)

 

Brad had another birthday!

 

 

 

And we hiked:

 

 

Lucy discovered she like raspberries, and would pick them right off the vine.

 

 

August:
August.  Oh, August.  This was the month I took my little boy to Baltimore for his first year of college.  Tough.  Very tough on my heart.  But so happy for him, so proud of him.

And that's all I have to say about August.


September:

Brenna started her cross country season

My 7th grade cheer squad was hard at work.

 

Beth got a new friend, a hamster named Joy.

 

Lucy pulled all the stuffing out of her bed.

 

October:
Oh, October.  I do love fall.

My girls kept cheering.

 

Brenna kept running

 

Beth's squad took 2nd place at their competition!

 

My favorite picture of the season: these girls sure love each other!

 

And Lucy refined her skills in removing the cover of a golf ball!

 

 

 

November:
My beautiful girl turned 13 years old!

And Brenna kept running, though she was sure exhausted in November:

And she ran beautifully at the state meet!  Her season PR was 19.58 for her 5K.

AND...members of the SEAHAWKS came to the school I work at!  Oh, was that a fun "work" day!

Ricardo Lockette.  #83

And he gives great hugs.

And when I jumped up and down when he hugged me, he jumped up and down too!

 

I think this car would look lovely in my garage.

December:
Alex came home.  Home.

And Christmas was perfect.  Perfection.

And with that, 2013 is a wrap!  A year of ups and downs, just as it should be, I suppose.

Here's to a New Year!  May it be blessed and may the Lord be the center of it all!

Hello, October!

Well, well, whattayaknow.  I'm getting a wee bit of a blogging bug.  I think it's about time.  And it makes a bit of sense that this would be the time.  Big cheer competition yesterday means a HUGE amount of time has been given back to me.  And not just time but brain cells.  I no longer have to think about dancing and cheering and reworking and strategizing how to do what and when.  It's all so great, or I wouldn't do it, but I'm always glad when the season ends and I can get some time back in my life.

So what's been up?

October, you've been extraordinarily lovely this year.  Thanks for the show you're putting on.

Our competition resulted in a beautifully performed 2nd place.  I really do love these girls.  They are such bundles of joy.  Games Saturday and a banquet and the 2013 season is a wrap!

At the start of the season I told them our plan for the season was "Work Hard and Be Kind".  Middle school years can bring out the unkind in some...lack of kindness is a good path to a miserable life.  So we talked a lot about kindness, that it matters.  These girls?  They exude it.   Many of us cried at our last practice, sad to see it ending.

Our team hug at our last practice.

And Miss Brenna has been running her little heart out!  She's having a great season with times that are consistently and substantially faster than this time last year.  League meet is this week, followed by districts and then (hopefully!) off to state!  So proud of her hard work and dedication.

She also has a heap of fun with all her friends.  So thankful for the wide and solid group of friends she has!

And how 'bout those Hawks??  They are making football season extra fun this year.

And extra, extra fun is a video our music teacher created for the Hawks.  "Can't Stop Hawks" is a Seahawk version of a Maklemore song.  This little video, made for fun to let the kids enjoy at one of our Friday Sings, ended up in the hands of the Seahawks themselves.  The whole team (players and coaching staff) watched it during a team meeting.  That led to the Seahawks calling to suggest we enter it in an NFL contest (go vote for us at nfl.com!) and also to request a copy of the video to play during their pregame recently.

And extra, extra, extra fun???  Maklemore himself was at that Seahawk game!  Here's a picture of him (in the blue jacket) watching our school's video on the big screen:

We've also had rare but loved time skyping with Alex.  I'm so thankful I get to see his face while I hear his voice...I can see for myself he is doing great.  He has adjusted beautifully and is loving college life.  Our adjustment was a lot slower, but now we have a new normal.  But I cannot wait to see him in December.

Here's one of our skype moments where he showed us that he is now making reeds out of these tube thing-a-ma-jigs.  It's apparently a great thing.

I never ever thought I would be a sticker-on-a-minivan kind of gal, but I now proudly am all that!

And our furry friend Lucy is still as fun as ever.  Beth decided she would snuggle her into a nest when we left so she "wouldn't get into any trouble".  Didn't quite work, but it was a sweet attempt.

And...I can't believe it, but we caved in and let Beth get a rodent.  I mean a hamster.  I've been asked/told not to call it a rodent.  She is head over heels in love with this little creature.  She named it Joy.  (Oh, the irony.)  I really helped her heart after saying such a painful goodbye to her brother.  She needed something to nurture.

I love that Lucy is being restrained in the background...wanting oh-so-badly to get up close to Joy.

So there's the long-winded but short-version wrap-up of our October.  Maybe I'll get myself back in to this blogging stuff!

44 Reasons

Okay.  44.  That's a pretty great number, I think.  44 years old, as of today.  For some reason, this number has been rolling around in my mind for a few days.  Well, I guess because I've been contemplating being 44. 

In the midst of my contemplating, I kept coming around to one of my favorite songs: 10,000 Reasons:

"The sun comes up, it's a new day dawning.  It's time to sing your song again. Whatever may pass, or whatever lies before me, let me be singing when the evening comes: Bless The Lord, oh my soul.  Oh my soul, worship His holy name.  Sing like never before, oh my soul, I worship your holy name."  

I love this:  with our lips, telling our soul to bless The Lord.  Love it.  Speaking truth to ourselves is so important: not letting our feelings run our lives.  "Why so downcast, oh my soul, put your hope in God..."   "Bless The Lord, oh my soul..."  Over and over, we are reminded to speak truth to our souls!  Isn't that great?  It just feels so good, too.  Speaking truth to ourselves is so crucial, especially when we are surrounded by so much "downcast".  The grumblers, the ungrateful, the stressed, the weary, the hateful, the unforgiving...all those things take their toll if you don't speak back truth to your soul.

"You're rich in love and you're slow to anger.  Your name is great and your heart is kind.  For all your goodness I will keep on singing, 10,000 reasons for my heart to find: to bless The Lord, oh my soul. Oh my soul, I worship your Holy name.  Sing like never before, oh my soul, I worship your holy name."

So much goodness, so many reason to bless The Lord!  10,000?  That's a huge number.  But we could certainly find 10,000 reasons to bless Him.  And in doing that, our souls come back into alignment with Him...bringing peace, assurance, confidence, gratefulness, joy.  What's not to love about that??

Getting back around to my thoughtfulness about 44...my birthday gift to myself, and as an act of thankfulness to The Lord for blessing me with the privilege of 44 healthy years in this beautiful world, I'm going to make a list (yay, a list!!) of 44 reasons for my soul to bless The Lord.

Here we go, soul:  44 reasons for you to bless The Lord:

1.  Forgiveness

2.  Salvation

3.  Mercy

4.  Grace

5.  A mom who brought me to church, prayed for me, and modeled how to walk in peace and joy, even in the midst of terrible struggles.  Her life, though not with me for the last 18 years, continues to bless me.

6.  Eyes to see this beautiful world, especially the faces of those I love.

7.  Ears to hear...specifically my son's beautiful music and the "I love you"s of my husband and kids.

8.  Colors...not just plain blue, but so many blues.  Not just green, but all different shades of green.

9.  Love.  Although I don't fully grasp or understand it, He loves me.

10.  The love of my husband...truly a gift from Him.

11.  Being entrusted with the lives of 3 beautiful people who call me mom.

12.  Peace, even when it doesn't make sense to have peace.

13.  Joy.  Oh, I love the joy that bubbles up from inside and floods my soul.

14.  Generosity.  He's so generous with me, and I love to be generous with others.

15.  Patience.  He's so patient with me...I'm such a mess, and He still loves me.

16.  Miracles...from the little to the major, they happen all around us.

17.  Food:  more than enough.  An embarrassing richness.

18.  Shelter:  a beautiful, cozy home filled to the brim with love.

19.  Clothing:  another embarrassment of richness.  I'm very thankful we've moved on from fig leaves.

20.  Humor. Laughter really is good for the soul.

21.  Friendship.  How lonely this world would be without true friendship!

22.  Creativity: modeled by a creative God, evident in our beautiful world, and funneled through us.

23.  Kindness.  Kindness given, kindness received.

24.  Faith ~ sometimes that's all we have.

25.  Hope.  HOPE.  So glad I don't have to go through life without hope. Anchors my soul.

26.  Two grandmothers who were both excellent cooks and passed on a love of creativity in the kitchen.

27.  Animals...this world is so much sweeter with furry friends.

28.  Truth.  Trusting THE truth.

29.  Music.  I love so much about music.  Soothes the soul, gives beauty, creates emotion.

30.  Emotions.  I love that we are created to express tenderness, strength, happiness, sadness, joy, anger, and the whole array of emotions.  But they don't have to boss us!

31.  The ability to smell: I love the smell of the ocean, chocolate chip cookies baking, blooming flowers, newborn babies, fresh laundry...I would miss all those if I couldn't smell.

32.  Taste!  I love to taste.  I'm glad we can use our given creativity to create great tasting food.

33.  A soft cozy bed.

34.  Rest when I'm weary.  Thankful He gives it.

35.  Promises.

36,  Purpose.  So glad to seek and find purpose; we're not just here to spin wheels.

37.  Heart's desires.  We were created to long for things and desire things.  No need to be stagnant or bored!

38.  Adventure.  Life is fun!

39.  Seasons.  In our world and in our life.  There's something renewing and fresh about a new season beginning.

40.  Free will.  God doesn't force himself on anyone.  Our choice.

41.  Answers.  He always answers.  Yes, No, Not Now...always an answer.

42.  Trust.  I can trust Him.  I value trust.

43.  Uniqueness.  I'm thankful I'm unique, that we all are.  Again, more creativity on display!

44.  LIFE!  Life is sweet, life is beautiful, life is a gift!  

What's Up?

Geeze...just geeze.  It's been a doozy of a summer, and here I am on the brink of it being over.  And what better way to jump back into this than with a list!  I'm beginning to rekindle my fondness for lists.

1.  The transition to sending my firstborn out of the nest is finally underway.  So much anticipation.  Where he is, what he is pursuing, how it all came about...beyond our wildest dreams for him.  Saying goodbye and leaving him across the country knowing I won't see him until Christmas...beyond my imagination in many ways.  My heart hurts.  Physically hurts.  I'm joyful for him, proud of him, excited for all that awaits.  And yet I hurt because I miss him.  

2.  My girls saying goodbye to their brother?  Heartbreaking.  There were tears, lots of tears.  The whole week leading into it.  The night before we left was brutal.  Mothering them through their pain was an angle of this I wasn't prepared for.  I love that they are so close and they love him so much.  With loving deeply comes painful goodbyes.

3.  I now am a full-time bi-focal wearing 40-something year old.  I fought this for a year.  I denied how much I needed them.  I dreaded making this leap.  From the moment I put them on?  LOVE them.  I'm amazed at all I can see.  I'm amazed how poorly I was seeing.  It explains so much.  And I don't care that I look a bit dorky.  Just don't care anymore.  It's so worth it to see clearly.  (Not that everyone who wears glasses looks dorky.  I'm just not use to them on my face.)

4.  My youngest, who is deeply stressed about her brother leaving and starting a new school year, put together a multi-page power point style report on why we should allow her to get a hamster.  A hamster is a rodent.  My daughter wants a rodent to live in her room.  She wants a little creature to nurture and take care of.  She wants something all her own.  I have sworn forever that once we were done having frogs, we would never go lower on the food chain that a cat.  And now...a rodent?!  And the kicker...it looks like we are going to say yes.  Brad is 100% in.  I'm still rocking back and forth and scratching my head and breathing deeply.  Geeze.

5.  My oldest daughter made cookies yesterday that are fantabulous!  A one-pot, sauce pan chocolate chip cookie.  With mini M&M's.  SO.  GOOD.  The only problem is the flack she gives me when I eat one.  I mean, please.  I'm grieving the shifting of a season of mothering.  If I need a cookie to soothe my soul, so be it.  CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE!

6.  I detest bra shopping.  I avoid it for too long.  I research everything on line before I go into the store, hoping I can speed the process along and get me in and out of there.  I innocently announced I was going shopping on Saturday, and before the 'sh' had left my lips, Brenna was at attention and eager to go along.  I told her I was only going for bras and that was it.  "Perfect!" she said.  Apparently she was needing the same thing.  After Saturday's experience, I detest bra shopping all the more, only now it costs me a lot more money.  Three girls needing garments for the girls??  Cha-ching!  Oh, I could say so. much. more.  But I won't.  Resist.

7.  We are a third of the way through our cheer season and it is going splendidly.  My group of 16 is just amazing me.  They are making my job easy this year!

8.  Tomorrow is the last day of no school/no work.  I have very conflicted emotion about Wednesday.  Very enthusiastically looking forward to some things, not looking forward to some things.  Praying for a peaceful year.

And that's it for now.  One of my goals for this year is good sleep.  Solid, consistent, restful sleep.  I think I'll start right now.