2 Days in a NUTSHELL...

I'm lying in bed tonight wondering

how I even start

to talk about everything we have had going on over the last two days 
so I decided I would do it in a nutshell.

Yesterday morning my sweet little girl left for 6th Grade

Science Camp.

 This will be her group for the next 3 days!

Seriously she is so little I can hardly believe she is

old enough for such an adventure!

Then I have to remind myself...

she is growing up like the rest of them

and it scares me, excites me, panics me...

and makes life a

TRUE BLESSING!

 *****************************

I'm somewhat...but not TOO much embarrassed to say that

WEDNESDAY night television is my

FAVORITE!
 Therefore, last night I spent almost 3 hours watching my favorite shows on television!

I am a huge

SURVIVOR fan.

I have watched every season and love it just as much as I did when the first season aired.

Did I ever tell you that I got to meet the host of the show

Jeff Probst

while I was at a mall in Scottsdale?

He was visiting his parents who live in Scottsdale and he was out

shopping with them.

He was the nicest guy and was willing to talk about the show for as long as I wanted!

He didn't realize how much I like to talk!

I also got a little tidbit of information from a friend that next season they will be doing an

ALL-STAR-WINNERS

ONLY SHOW
in the fall!

I am truly giddy with excitement!

For me the 2nd BEST show on television is DUCK DYNASTY!

I laughed so hard last night...

for the future I will have to tape Ron watching the show...

you can hear his laugh a mile down the street!

If you aren't watching this FAMILY friendly show...

you are missing out!

****************************

When I drove away from the school yesterday...

after dropping off Katie for science camp
 I started to cry!

I was wishing I had gone to be with her!

Why is it so hard to say GOODBYE...?

Well today...right at the moment I was really missing her I received this picture of her:

             

  And she looked happy...really happy!

I knew all was well!

I was so grateful that she called me tonight to tell me how good she had done on her archery score!

I love my cute redneck girl!!

*********************************

Jacob was in a musical performance at school called

SEUSSICAL the MUSICAL.

But I had to be at court.......AGAIN!

I tried going more than an hour early to court...

hoping and praying

we could be first and they would be on time,

so that I could

hopefully still make his performance.

I didn't and it made me sick!

I contacted my neighbor down the street to record it for me so I could watch it with Jacob later. 
 In the meantime she sent me this picture of him:

       He was happy...and that made me happy!

I can't wait to see it with him!

**************************

Tonight during my RUN...

I ran longer and faster than I ever had...

and I was PROUD!

Proud of myself for accomplishing something that I didn't think my body would ever allow me to do again!

I'm losing the FEAR...

and replacing it with

FEARLESSNESS!

***************************

FINAL THOUGHTS

Christopher started in his JV volleyball game today and played awesome...I am so proud of him!

My Bestie is getting married...this Saturday!

My stepdaughter Britni is having a baby in October!

We've made one more step towards our BIG family vacation in October.  

We are CANCUN bound!

We can't wait! 

Yep...this is where we will be staying!

Woot...Woot! 

  

Christopher's BIG day and a follow up...

Christopher missed my last birthday!

He didn't text me while he was at school,

didn't mention "Happy Birthday" when he saw me...

the day was just like any other day to him.

And so it goes with kids to parents!

Our children will NEVER love us the way we love them.

It's okay

because someday they will have that same relationship with their kids and the circle of life continues!

So that is why last night while I was working on my last blog post

that I received a notice

on my phone that Christopher had posted something about me on

FACEBOOK.

It kind of made up for him not wishing me a...

Happy Birthday!

Yelling at me for not letting him get his permit until his grades were better...

and for 26 hours of intense labor...

followed by nine months of constant crying...

who only would be happy if mommy was holding him...

or rocking him up and down

over and over again until he would finally settle down to sleep!

Yep...it made up for all of that and more!

Which is why I enjoyed waking up these last two mornings with him again and making him breakfast.

Picking him up from school today for his favorite sub place

PORT of SUBS.

The family pitched in and helped make his favorite dinner

Steak, Potatoes, Salad and Rolls!

YUM!

Oh yea....he got a brand new iTouch too!

We had mutual tonight so he got to spend the evening with his friends playing basketball...

so not a bad way to spend his birthday!

Wish I had taken a picture....:(

I sure do love that boy...no matter what he's put me through...

and I would do it ALL again

to have a special son who we called

CHRISTOPHER!

 Final note:  He has his FIRST date this weekend!

 *****************************

A follow up on my 5K training!

I was so proud of myself that even though I left the house saying their is NO WAY I can run that many minutes consecutive...

well I did and surprised myself!

I think I can do this after all!

Thanks to my brother David for his motivation too!

You ROCK!

I also love PINTEREST for being my personal trainer!

Pinterest ROCKS too!

                  

Shooting Therapy

On the eve of my oldest child's

16th

birthday...

it has allowed me time to think about the day I brought

CHRISTOPHER

into this world and how my life was forever changed.

He has always been small for his age...

a little shy...

but not too shy that he won't talk if you ask him something...

didn't talk until after his 3rd birthday...

perfectly happy letting mommy doing everything for him...

and emotionally a very sensitive child.

That's why his parents divorce

*yep...that would be me*

pretty much CRUSHED his world.

(to be continued)

****************

Since then we try to find ways to bring our family closer together.

So this weekend

we did a little 

SHOOTING THERAPY.

We drove to our favorite spot in the desert and as soon as we got out of the truck

it began to snow!  

 This just added to the excitement and brought Christopher to encourage the girls to catch the snowflakes on their tongues.

I love how truly different my girls are!

 Nothing wrong with them having their own personality and this picture displays it perfectly!

 I wish my kids could understand one thing...

"There is nothing more beautiful than to see your children love each other!"--Mom's everywhere

 Katie announced to us on the drive over that she now weighs almost 70 pounds! She is still wearing size 8 (she is 12)...

so she practically froze to death.

She spent the first 20 minutes in the truck

until the sun came out! 

Jacob never could figure out how to get his hearing protection in...Ron finally showed him the trick!

 I'm so impressed at how good of shots our kids have become...

I don't do too bad myself when 

I'm not freezing cold!

 Jacob prefers his slingshot, football and frisbee he brought than the guns!

 Chris showed off his skills...

scout camps and outings with Ron have really paid off!

 The gun is as big as Katie!

 Rachel completely shocked me...

this girl is so amazing!

I had no idea she had gotten this good!

 I never get tired of watching my kids enjoy time together!  
Or helping each other!

 One thing you can always count on with this man...

he loves his family

very much...

even one that came to him

unconventionally...

and he loves to make us happy...

he loves to teach our family how to do fun things together...

and he loves to shoot.

So why did I label this post shooting therapy?

Because two members of our family hadn't spoken to each other in two weeks...

and within two minutes of shooting...

they were back talking, laughing and enjoying each other's company!

Just like old times!