my second grader...

The first day of school snuck up on me.

Don't get me wrong, we all had the "get back to school" bug and were roaring ready. But in the last few days, I didn't want summer to end. In an attempt to squeeze every last drop o' fun out of summer, I went to that list I made and we spent last week getting some stuff crossed off.

And then that alarm clock so rudely went off this morning...ringing in the school year. And the first day of school outfit is....(do I hear drums???)
She was ready to put her best foot forward (hardy har har)...
I did not find out until the end of the day, that these shoes were too big. A limp and two blisters later and it's clear that she'll be wearing flip flops tomorrow.
This is the part where I just wanted to pull up a chair and sit with her all day. But, I suspect it might have been the part where she wanted me to quit it with the camera and leave already (it begins...)
Yup...it's time to get to work.

in·spi·ra·tional...

I just had to share this quote with you (and the following long streaming bit that follows)::

There is in every true woman's heart a spark of heavenly fire, which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity; but which kindles up and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity.

-Washington Irving

I read that recently on a blog I've followed for about a year now. A woman was in a fatal plane crash with her husband (the pilot was killed). She suffered burns over 90 percent of her body and wasn't expected to live. While she slept in a coma for five months, her sister blogged about her recovery and their faith...I was inspired. When she awoke and recovered enough, she took over the blogging on her own site.

She would talk about her pain and anguish...and her love for her husband and her family and her faith in God (she is Morman...but, most certainly, you can relate to her faith)...I, again, was inspired. With every step she's taken in her road of recovery, with every lesson it's taught her along the way, with her strength and her perseverance, and her frailty too...she had never posted a picture of herself, but often spoke of the face she used to know and how much she loved that person that she no longer thought she was. On her worst days, she felt like a ghost.

Women...in adversity. I've seen a lot of that this year...more than seems right at times. But they are there, where none of them wants to be...and they are stepping up with a strength they physically should not possess. They have become a strong and beaming light. You just want to follow them and let the glimmer of wisdom and hope that's in them...that's formed in spite it all (and because of it all)...guide you to be a better version of yourself.

I've seen adversity in my little life...things that I say pale in comparison...but rough spots just the same. Rather than looking back at those times with sorrow, I almost find gratitude...because they made me better...wiser...more keen to my surroundings. I embrace those events...as painful as the memory of them sometimes is. More so than the good times, I've been molded by the worst of times...into someone I'd rather be than who I was before. --- (Isaiah 64:8..."..we are the clay and You are the potter; and we are all the work of Your hand.")

These women I've seen this year have oh so done this and more. To be able to take your worst and turn it into something good that inspires others. It amazes me...and I thank them for it.

On the one year anniversary of the plane crash, this beautiful woman posted a picture of herself in an entry entitled "Me". She included the quote I have at the beginning of this entry. What you see in the picture is a face, that is most certainly not the one she had before the accident. But what inspires you are the eyes...that most certainly are. They are looking at her husband with a love she's always had and in them is the knowing that he is looking at her the very same way. Her ability to struggle through, and fight, and seek and find "Me" {her} under her worn-out skin is truly an (I'll say it again) inspiration.

If you'd like to check out the blog of this very brave women, you may click on the button below.
(to follow the story from where she awoke from her coma and took over the blogging...January 2008, click here)

Thank you for allowing me to share.

summer...finding a good way to spend it....

This has been a quick summer. At the end of the school year, I had a list of things we were going to do to stay busy. Ohhh...it was a good list of fun stuff...but we've been too occupied having fun with normal summer stuff to get to anything on that list.

While, it's been mostly fun and games, there's been some hair pulling too (mostly me...pulling my own...but not always). I have been keeping a quote in mind this summer to keep me from falling off my rocker at those times ::

"For young moms, the days are sometimes long...but the years are way too short."

Jeff and I figured out that for as long as he and I have known each other is the precise amount of time we will have our children living with us (barring they don't turn into moochers, of course...). We've got lots of hugging to do in the next fifteen years!!!

Well, at the risk or over-mushifying this {long overdue} entry...here are some pics to catch you up on our summer...

I must give top-billing to Julia's second birthday because it never got an entry of it's own (shame on me). So, here's my little two year old...celebratin'.

First at the cottage...(ahh...presents in the grass...I don't see much of that in November)
There was just a wee bit of blue food coloring in the cake...but we barely noticed (ahem...)Then at home...
A lesson in sharing happened early in the day. They seemed to have the hang of it for once.
We headed out to Meijer Gardens on a beautiful birthday day.Aunt Lisa and Brandt joined us...
We were joined later in the day by my whole family...my brother's family even came up from Charleston for a visit! We all sing so nice. Enjoy... (note Julia's very sweet cousin helping her blow out the candles...very cute)

During their visit, we let the kids be kids (and the grown ups be kids too) at the ol' amusement parkish place.
Laser Tag is just about the funnest thing I've done in a long time!...Lauren had a great (a little nervous) time reading to a dog at the library in their "Ruff Readers" program...
After enjoying the bounty of the lettuce and herbs I planted early in the season, I spent the rest of the summer watching this dopey squirrel steal it all...(argh)
Julia tried to help keep it all alive, but thanks to the squirrel, and my leaving the watering in the hands of a two-year-old, these plants flat-lined weeks ago.We went on a whirlwind trip to Canada for a family reunion. The girls had a great time getting to know all their second-cousins. Just hangin' out...
This is where Julia spends 75% of her time at Jeff's folks cottage. Occasionally, she'll let her cousin, Brandt, have a turn too.Bugs are ewwwey....
We also had a great family reunion with Jeff's relatives from California. We even had t-shirts made to celebrate the event...
The girls once again enjoyed getting to know second-cousins...
More driving for Julia...
We've gotten our money's worth out of these swimsuits this summer. But not so much the closet full of clothing.So, that's that. We just returned from a week-long camping trip at Lake Michigan, but I haven't pulled those pictures off the camera yet. So, stay tuned.

Hope you're all doing well!!!

an update on the (other) blog...

I'd like to share an update over on the photoblog. I love it when I get to take pictures of my friend's kiddos. (and this time I got some extended family members too!). Enjoy.

Don't worry, I'll update this blog soon with all of our summer goings on (including Julia's birthday!!!). But first I'll need to cluck around and find my head (get it?..."running around like a chicken...blah blah blah")

i finally caught her...

Julia's been a little tough to keep up with lately...especially when it comes to catching her on film. But...with all the time I've been spending at Calvin lately (swim lessons), I thought I'd grab some pictures of she and Sarah by the ol' Seminary Pond. Enjoy :: (If you'd like to see them bigger, click on over to the Photoblog)

other summer goings-ons...

We've had a busy and fun summer so far, and we're only three weeks in!

We've had lots of ice cream...and as the years go on, we are pleased to see that more gets into tummies than on the ground, on the clothes, on the faces, hands, feet, others, etc...
Lauren's 1st grade teacher got married. This was a much anticipated event, as all of the 1st graders sang "How Great is Our God" at the ceremony. It was quite sweet.

Fishing and having fun at the cottage... Playing at Lake Michigan...Swimming lessons! It's been about 14 years since I've been on the Calvin College campus as much as I have in the last week! They do a great job there and Lauren is loving it. She's in the water with the teacher right in the center of the photo. Going to the park (Frog Hollow is a favorite)... July and August promise more fun and adventure...so we'll keep you posted! Hope you're all having a great summer!

it could've been worse (but not by much...)

Reeds Lake 10K :: This race day turned out to be one unlike any other.

So, the sun rose on another race Saturday. And the sun didn't hide...it stuck around and made things mighty warm from the start. We felt good though and ready to get moving.

First, allow me to preface :: Here is the description of the course on the race website :: "Scenic 10K route around Reeds Lake which is relatively flat with two hills." Now, I'm not calling anyone a liar, but I counted quite a few more than two hills...and one hill had to be counted twice it was so steep.

At the top of the monster hill, I got chilly (in 85 degree heat) and found breathing to be a ridiculous task. We passed half-way and I caved in and walked. It was walk the road or lay on it, so I opted to stay upright. This continued off and on for the rest of the race. Walk 1 minute, run for 8, walk 1, run 8...

I managed to finish in 56:28. About a minute and a half worse than I was hoping for. Whatever. Hot day, grueling course, I'll take it.

Well, it was at that finish when things got interesting. We didn't see Jeff. My folks saw him finish at 47:47 (el senior speedy), but couldn't find him afterwards. To make a very long tale shorter…after ruling out all best case scenarios, we went for worse-case and, sure enough…we found him here ::

There he was...fully wired in the back of an ambulance (that we passed twice while looking for him) and suffering from heat exhaustion/dehydration. After a bag of fluids, he felt better and his stats improved...we got some marching orders from the paramedics and off we went.

My folks held down the fort at the park with the kiddos while all the hulabaloo was happening. The kids had Grandma stand in line for them for an hour to get balloon animals and Grandpa kept them from falling in the lake. (thank you!)

Fun with friends...

So...it was a weird one (a bit nerve-racking to say the least!), and I guess we're just glad we survived and everyone is on the mend. It was good to have family and friends around...that's for sure! Drink your Ovaltine folks (or Gatorade as the case may be) and stay in the shade!