Encouraged. An Addendum to Parenting.

I know that many of you that read this blog are not Christians or believers in the same faith that I attempt to live my life by. But you will never convince me that this is not a God thing.

I wrote the parenting excerpt after an entire day and night of dwelling on my shortcomings as a parent. And I had literally just finished typing and was off to see what was happening in facebook world while Tristan made dinner*. And I got a text from someone who is currently with Tori at a retreat saying how proud I would be of her, how wise beyond her years she is.

I do not think God talks to people like he did in the day of Moses and Abraham. I do not expect to hear his audible voice. But I do believe that God sent my friend when I needed some encouraging and let her be his voice. God is good all the time, and all the time God is good.

Maybe some of the time I get it right after all.

*Tristan ASKED to make dinner, was super excited when I told him he could if he asked for help if he needed it, and did an excellent job!

Parenting

Remind me again why children do not come with handbooks?

I am struggling with Tori right now. I can list the 1000's of things that make her amazing. In this single week I can tell you stories of how she has been there for her friend whose mom is fighting cancer, how she cut her hair more than she wanted to so she could donate it, how she loved on people in a million different ways. I can tell you she is away at a leadership camp for her church youth group because she is a natural born leader.

I cannot, however, tell you why she cannot stop losing stuff. I cannot tell you why she has dust bunnies that are more like dust jackrabbits in her room that do not phase her in the least. I cannot tell you why she thinks she can leave things where ever she feels like it. I cannot tell you why she is very concerned about her appearance and taking care of herself but refuses to take care of her things without prompting. And I cannot tell you how we are going to survive her teen years as we are already butting heads.

And I am gonna be bluntly honest. I am frustrated. Not a little annoyed frustrated. Tears and lost sleep kind of frustrated. I want to be this mom that does not nag, that does not yell, that is not always the disciplinarian. But I also expect my kids to meet certain expectations (enter annoying statement "as long as you live in my house...") and to be aware of how their actions affect others - especially their family.

I have great kids. I know I do. And I would like to take some credit for that. But sometimes I just wish it were easier. That their was a rule book of how to do it right.

Big Change

Tori had asked to get her haircut shorter for middle school and today was the day. She had originally planned to go a little longer but when she found out she had enough to donate if she went this length that sealed the deal (well that a cute picture of Selena Gomez with short hair)! It's styled slightly different then the picture she brought and the way she hopes to wear it more often then not but she is happy with it. Mommy is still adjusting to all that gorgeous hair being gone but it was getting unmanageable for her so this is a good thing, and I think she looks cute!

My REAL summer...

begins now. Work has been crazy and while I have enjoyed my time with the kids and made the most of it I have been working WAY too much. But now I have a light schedule until the kids return to school - only 2 to 2 and 1/2 days a week. Which leaves lots of time for fun and projects I would like to finish!! My summer bucket list :-)

1 - kayak
2 - picnic at the beach with friends
3 - sidewalk chalk the driveway
4 - go ice skating (it's FL this is an indoor thing!)
5 - take a family mini-vacation to the other coast
6 - paint the master bedroom
7 - clean out the kids closets and the cedar chest
8 - go to a drive in movie
9 - get moving on the Insanity videos
10 - clean out my closet/get some new trendier clothes

Life's A Beach.

This here is my little piece of heaven. When I have a day off and the kids are in school and the weather is warm I still wake up at the crack of dawn. I hurry through my chores, get the kids off to school, run a few errands and then gather my trusty Hawaiian Tropics sunscreen (it smells the best!), a book and the ginormous towel the hospital gave us one year at random...and then I park it. Right here. My own piece of heaven.

But as our littlest guest says "I'm usually a pretty good share-er."

Weekend Adventures

More photos than words but here's the gist:

- Celebrating my mom's birthday at the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City. The food was good, the flamenco dancing ridiculous, the sangria awesome.

The kids cousin Ian is staying with us indefinitely. The time with him got off to a great start. The kids flew remote control planes with Grandpa Doug to start off the weekend.

Todd's mom is also visiting so while I did a terrible job of getting pictures our family, Ian, Todd's brother Brett and his family and his mother had a BBQ at our house followed by some spades playing from the adults and dart guns, HP4 watching, fountain swimming and mani/pedis (girls only!) for the kids!

Today after church we packed a picnic and headed to the playground where we played on the playground and Todd and I took the kids in a round of soccer with a slightly padded score of 6-5 at the end. Lasagna is baking in the oven and everyone is tucked into a fort for a movie night of How to Train Your Dragon. Sounds like a quiet reading night for mommy! Happy weekend all!

Here's whats happening...

- stupid hives left. and then they came back.

- got our office mostly put together. new paint on the walls. new desk. some new decor. need to finish hanging some pics but i need to get the frames first.

- got our garage cleaned out. bikes hung. both cars now fit WITH walking room.

- enjoyed celebrating Mike's birthday last night. kids played, adults hung out. good times.

- excited about guests. todd's mom arrives thursday with the kids cousin Ian. she goes home tuesday and he is here until friday. kids are REALLY excited.

- off to work and the last summer camp of the year this week

The Third of July?!?

We got a head start on the celebrating. After accomplishing a HUGE project Saturday (will post pictures very soon!) we decided Sunday was a fun day! It all started at church where Bayside hosted an All American day, complete with on the grounds BBQ, apple pie bake off and pinewood derby races. Tristan decided to make a car this year and in an effort to not be outdone Tori decided to bake a pie.

Tori's pie did not win since consistency was one of the judging factors and quite frankly the inside was apple crisp and therefore a little soupy. BUT it was the cutest!

Tristan's car was funny. First they went to Grandpa Doug's house who said he had a saw...and he did. A hand saw. So the sporty figure he had imagined turned door stop. But he was still confident. After adding tires and some fishing weights and a few weigh ins the car was ready to roll but needed some panache. So Tristan decided flames were in order. Considering his artistic abilities and the small canvas he was working with we convinced him a racing stripe and number might be better...I sometimes forget that with 8 year old boys you need to be specific. Hence Tristan's version of a racing stripe - patriotic tiger stripes. But he did take 2nd place out of 30 racers in grades 1-3 so I guess he knew what he was doing after all!

Then it was off to Brighthouse Field for a Threshers Game. Nothing says Independence Day weekend like a good old ball game!

And then the storms started moving in. And we were really there for the fireworks in hopes of missing the actual 4th's crowded marina display we usually go to. The calm before the storm was gorgeous but the storm itself was ominous in the distance! Thankfully the stadium officials felt the same and start their show early. It wasn't quite dark yet but the black clouds gave a decent background and the show was amazing.

Tristan vs. Beyonce

We are sitting in the living room each working on our own projects. Tristan starts singing....Allasingalay. Allasingalay. Um what?

All the single ladies.

My son, the rock star.