Amazing Book

Big surprise, but today I am not blogging about my kiddos for a change. I just finished a book called The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. I finished it over a week ago and I can not quit thinking about it. This book is the last lecture that a computer science professor gave to his class at Carnegie Mellon before he died. Because he died recently, I wanted to read the book. His lecture is on the net, but I would urge any of you to read this book...he had so many great things to say. One of my favorite is "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." I am reminded of what is important in my life and what can wait.

Cupcakes

So I make a cake every year for the first day of school. Decided that cupcakes would be easier this year, but it wasn't. I did all the prep work and made the icing and baked the cupcakes before Tara got out of preschool, so she could "help" me. The conversation went like this

Tara:"Mom, why is there a cookie on the cupcake?"

ME:"Tara, that is the chalkboard."

Her:"Ours is white at school"

Me:"Well, they used to be black in my day"

Tara:"What is that white thing?"

Me: "That is supposed to be chalk?"

Tara: "How will it show up on the white chalkboard?"

ME: "It won't"

Tara: I bet that teacher will be mad"

Tara:"Is is candy? Can I eat it?"

Me: "You can try it, but it is licorice and I do not know if you like it"

After a bite Tara says "That is gross"

So the conversation goes on and on and on like this until we are done many days/weeks later and we take them to her friends.

I told the girls that they may not like the licorice, but they should try it and all as we are delivering cupcakes. We get to Bekah's house and all 4 kids chow down on their cupcakes and not one child even asks what anything is on it!!! They all ate the licorice...no complaining while mine are dissecting the entire cupcake to see what each item is...even the writing on the "Chalkboard". Then we get home and my kids want a plain cupcake if it's ok. Do I have any? Of course. I knew, because I am their Mom. Next year it is plain cupcakes.

School Days

All the girls enjoyed their first day and when I asked them about their day, I actually got more than the standard "fine" answer. We got up on time, got to school on time, had fun and made it home safely and are ready to go again tomorrow....what more can a Mom ask for. I kept myself busy making dinner and cupcakes so that they would have a treat when they got home. I have always made some sort of cake for the first day of school since Hannah started. Well, since most of the easy ideas have been used here before, we moved on to cupcakes this year. They got to take some to all of their friends though, so that made it great! We got to hear about Jadee's first day and visit with the other kids too. Tara was a a little nervous, Kayla was going to miss her Mommy and Hannah could not get out of the car fast enough to get to her friends/locker...a normal day. It was quiet with out my precious babies.

Happy Anniversary Baby!

Today is mine and Todd's 13th anniversary! Yahoo! With our families track records, I think neither of us thought that we would make it to here. It has been an adventurous 13 years to say the least. I am so thankful to be blessed with a great husband to complete our family.
Todd,
Thanks for the first 13 and for putting up with me and the girls. Our life is so much better with you in it. You are such a great man and I am so lucky that God chose you for me. I hope the next 13 are even better! I Love you!

Tara's Birthday

As many of you know, I finally have a princess in my house after 2 sisters that were not girly at all. Tara had a family bday back in July, but we got to celebrate with her friends yesterday at The Little Wedding Chapel. It was the perfect day for her and when I asked her what was her favorite part, she said "all of it, Mom." She had all of her buddies there....Rebecca, Makena, Lily, Savannah, Chloe, Caroline, Jadee, Kylie and cousin Reese.

Swim Season is Done!

After vacation, we came home to a swim meet in Alma. Stephanie N. and I were timers together and thank goodness we had 2 stop watches, because I kept forgetting to set mine (otherwise known as too busy talking.... hard to imagine, right?) Both girls did great, which was surprising after a week away and not enough sleep. Kayla swam her first IM which is 1 lap of each stroke and came in 3rd overall, so she was thrilled to get a medal. The first 3 swimmers overall get a medal and the next 3 get a ribbon. The number of swimmers can range from 6 to 40 or more. We swim with the Alma Gators and swim against Waldron, Russelleville, Clarksville, Paris, Ozark and Mena. This is a great program and I would recommend it to anyone wanting a low key swim team experience. The coaches and managers are great and the kids have a lot of fun. My girls love it and get up early 3 mornings a week in the summer just to practice. The following pic is of Kayla and Coach Matthew and Erin and then Hannah swimming freestyle in the top of the third picture. Kayla got first place overall in the backstroke in Clarksville this past weekend, which is something Hannah has never done, so she was extra proud. Hannah did get 2nd in Butterfly, so she was not far behind. Both girls have enjoyed this season alot!

"The Best Day Ever"

Hannah has always wanted to swim with dolphins. She finally got her wish. Her dream is to become a marine biologist and work with dolphins or orcas. We traveled to a water park called Xel-Ha about an hour away and swam with the dolphins right after we got there. Hannah, Kayla, Doug, Jill and I all swam with them. It was my first time also, so I really enjoyed these sweet animals. Todd and Randy took a ton of pics and video. At the end of the hour long session, the dolphins push you up on your feet out of the water. It was cool, but a strange feeling. Kayla had to work through some fear of the smaller fish swimming all around under us while the dolphins were near, but she did it and finished just like the rest of us. Hannah said at bedtime that night..."Mom, this was the best day ever." It was all worth it for that alone. We also snorkeled and rode tubes/swam down a lazy river. Tara held some big birds, but I have to scan that picture later.

Water, Water Everywhere

The rest of the crew went speed boat riding and 4 wheeling in the jungle, so we had most of the day to ourselves with Papa and Re. We swam and played on the beach the whole day. We had sand everywhere! It was a low key day and the girls enjoyed it a lot. That evening we took all of our pics and then went to dinner.