Funny thing

First of all...wow.  I just have to take a moment and say "wow"...the weather has been a bit as bipolar as I have been lately.  Sunny morning turned into a wonderful thunderstorm, complete with hail and lightning, and now it is beautiful outside.  Clear skies, sunny, perfect temperature for the crew to walk home from school.  I love those days.

Now, another wow...look at what Kyra does when no one is looking:

Yep, she took those of herself.  AND then she turned them into a collage.

She is one of the funniest people I know, and she just keeps getting funnier by the day.  That is my funny thing of the moment, the idea of her sitting at my computer, posing for the photos...and taking them.  Just makes me laugh.

But wait...there's more:

Enjoy!

Consider this your next project

Anxious

I am feeling some strange kind of anxiety tonight.  It's been a fabulous, beautiful day and so much was accomplished, and now I am anxious.  So much so the sound of the television and the nonsense that I was flipping through in some sort of attempt to induce sleep was irritating me.

I feel a little like this:

That's me up there...at the top, trying to muster the courage to leap over that edge.  I guess that sounds a little morbid, but that's not what I mean.  Sometimes I feel myself flirting with my own Potential.  You know, in my family, we are all blessed with a similar sort of curse...we can be really good at lots of things, but not GREAT at any one thing.  That makes it kind of hard to pick one thing to focus on...I have so many things in my head that, generally speaking, I tend to ignore it.  Go to bed, wake up, tend the children/ the house/ the bills/ the animals/ the callings/ the school...go to bed, wake up...you get the picture.  But every now and then, that edge creeps back into view and I feel the urge to reconnect with my Potential.  It wouldn't really matter what it was...school, I really want to get that education.  Singing, evidently I am better at it than I give myself credit for.  Parenting, that's a big one.  I feel like I need to improve on that every day, every hour sometimes.  Business, oh the endless possibilities.  Gardening even.  Yes, I actually WANT to be great at gardening.  I am not, but I want to be.

So, why all of this energy swirling around tonight?  Don't know.  It's there though and I felt compelled to at least recognize it.  You know you feel this from time to time, too right?  I know you do.  I know you think about what you could be, or what you should be great at...what you would do with yourself if you could just get the time, or the energy, or the money...or whatever stands between you and that Potential of yours.  My problem, by and large, is discipline.  I read this quote recently:

"One half of life is luck; the other half is discipline - and that's the important half, for without discipline you wouldn't know what to do with luck." ~Carl Zuckmeyer, 1896-1977, Writer and Playwright

I feel...well, I don't know what it is, maybe it's that Larry is home in 6 weeks and I feel compelled to accomplish SOMETHING before he gets back.  Maybe it's that I am feeling strangled by the battle with weight and health, and the reality that I am losing that battle daily.  I see changes happening all around me and think, how have I changed in the last year?  Six months?  Week?  Better or worse?  Am I improving, digressing or staying the same?  Yes, I get it...sometimes you have to just hang on for dear life until the storm rolls back out and you can see a little more clearly.  I have been hanging on through the last few months with these Olympics and all.  I feel like it might be time to do a little more than just hang on.  My Potential is bored.

One year ago...thats when this Olympic thing began!

Check this out...
I can't believe it has been that long.  Time flies, huh?

Have you looked back at your blogs lately?  I am so happy to have this to look back at.  It is quite fun.

One moment

This is a moment that defined this week for us.  Kaden had no idea he was here.  We surprised him at lunch. 

We miss Daddy.

Red Cast

He is terrible with pictures!  Kimball is now sporting the latest in cast fashion trends: red.  It looks amazing with black sharpie now scribbled all over it.  Lots of adoring fans have left their autograph.  I will have to share a photo of that one tomorrow.  He has been a pretty good sport about this whole broken wrist thing. It would make me crazy!

Well, it's late on a Friday night and I made the mistake of thinking that I might just "fall asleep" since I was so tired.  I know that for most people that is normal, but for some strange reason, I have to have some kind of sleep medication to actually get me there.  So, it's nearly 3 in the morning and I am awake. Scrolling.  Reading.  Coveting cool furniture on craigslist.  Blogging.  It seems to have fallen off of the to do list for me.  I got sort of tired of listening to myself ramble on here.  And then I got chastised by more than one person in the last week for not keeping up.  Sorry folks!

Oh, here's a funny thing.  For some reason Kierstin is telling anyone and everyone that her daddy is a "skier in the Olympics and he is really fast".  I suppose that since we keep telling her that he is there, and then she sees the competition on tv, usually with some masked athlete skiing "really fast", it must certainly be Larry.  Funny story from the princess.  She has so much to say these days.  Her days are now filled with storytelling, to anyone who will listen.  It is funny and endearing.

Well, Saturday is setting up to be a busy work day here.  Closets, and laundry, and back yard clean up and car wash and on and on.  You know what they say...Saturday is a special day, it's the day we get ready for Sunday...how does that tune go???

Still here...

Snow days!  It was quite the spectacle around here.  More snow than we have seen here...well, ever.  We played and played.  Snow angels, snow men, snow cones, snow forts...and a broken wrist, thanks to Kimball and his buddies trying to bust down a snow fort that was more ice than snow.  We also had Brittany and her family here with us for the fun.  As you see, there was playtime with dolls and lots of picture taking.  I love that these girls, despite their squabbles from time to time, have each other.  It wouldn't be family without a few squabbles though, right?

And then there are the Olympics!

My kids are a little on the jealous side with this photo.  We debated whether to take them all out for the games and decided against it.  There are moments; however, that I wish that we could have made it happen.  The experience of being there and watching these athletes is unbelievable.  I feel pretty certain that this won't be our last Olympic opportunity so we will try for the next ones.  I know, Larry has said that he wouldn't choose to do another Olympic games, but I kinda think he is nuts when he says that.  There's London and then Russia and then Rio.  Odds are that someone will sweet talk him into sticking around. 

 

Take a look at those cute girls!  Like I said, we had Brittany and Bo and Olivia and Billy and Josie here in our snow storm/ olympic opening weekend.  It was a joy to have them here.  We headed out to the Science Museum in Fort Worth, and despite the drive and busy side of things, I loved it.  The kids had a good time and that's what it is for, right?  

This one is just funny.  I was upstairs last night, getting kids in bed and Kimball comes to me and says, "Mom, why is Kierstin face planted on the stairs?"  I answered with a confused and frustrated, "I have no idea".  He insists on me coming to see and this is what I found.  Now, don't be alarmed, she is fine.  She staged this one and is laughing into the carpet when I see her.  She is sure that she can't get up though.  Clearly, she got up and found herself in bed a short time later.  This is a new stall tactic on her part.

Updates:  Well, I am taking voice lessons again.  Kinda cool, kinda weird.  I haven't decided if I am liking this program just yet.  I do love singing again though.  Kimball started taking drum lessons, but of course his little break in his wrist causes a delay there, so he will get back to it in a few weeks.  (Oh, and I had to buy Kimball MAN JEANS!  He is out of the kid section for sure!)  Kaden tried out for baseball last night and he was great.  I am so proud of him.  He is really growing up.  Kyra is enjoying the piano now more than she is in the past.  She has loathed it so getting her to enjoy it is a big deal.  Kierstin is more and more stubborn.  She is sure that she is the sun and we are all just planets revolving around her.  Most days, I love being one of those planets, but there are times when the princess needs to be tamed a little.  She is turning 4 sooner than I can imagine.  This growing up thing is going faster every day.  I just registered Kimball for 8th grade and Kierstin for our last year of preschool!  So, so strange.

Larry is ready to come home and we are ready for him.  Just a couple more months.  We have made it this far, right?  I am tired just thinking about it.  I need to sit on a beach.  For a whole summer.