November 20, 2009

My little girl's first basketball game was this evening. She was literally on the edge of her seat with excitement.


I wasn't really sure what I expected to see out of her . . .



but she truly surprised me with her hustle, grit and determination.

I mean . . . what happened to my easy going, mild mannered, quiet kid?

She wasn't in attendance tonight! Wherever that ball was, she was all over it like a hobo on a ham sandwich. I hadn't realized it until tonight . . . but I do believe she's got a little bit of her momma's determination and stubbornness. I couldn't be more proud.

November 19, 2009

Oh my goodness! Could it possibly be?! Oh yeah . . . sunshine breaking through the fog. It's amazing what a little sun can do for a girl's mood.




And just when I thought it couldn't get any better . . . I received a package in the mail. Claudia takes some AWESOME photographs, and now I have an 8x12 to hang on the wall of my retreat. Life is SWEET! (You can find Claudia's blog, by clicking on Eternal Rewards over to your right.)




It was recently brought to my attention that I hadn't posted any new profile pictures in quite some time and as I was looking through my photos to rectify that, I noticed that I hadn't taken any self portraits since March.


I'd MUCH rather be behind the camera than in front of it. I'm not one of those people who ever take a "good" picture. Hence the reason I don't have any new pictures to post of myself.




And now that I'm on the back side of thirty, I can find even more reasons to stick BEHIND my camera, instead of jumping in front of it.



So . . . for those of you who wished for new photos. Here they are. I think I'm kind of partial to this last one. Soaking up the warmth of the sun . . . a bit over exposed, and enjoying God's beautiful gift of sunlight. The real deal . . . no make-up, mussed, wrinkled and at peace with myself.

November 18, 2009

Dave had clinicals today, so I was on my own. In an effort to focus on "giving" this holiday season, I sent Bayleigh off to school with some canned goods for their school food drive.



Then Eli and I rushed around to get ready for his three year check up at the pediatricians. I decided to stop by the school and pick Bayleigh up, since she needed a check up too . . . so I took off in the rainy weather for a day of running.




The kids managed to embarrass the crud out of me at the pediatrician's office, and I had to have broken the land speed record, racing through Wal-Mart picking up groceries. I didn't want to risk getting arrested for my children's bad behavior. After we made it out of the grocery store, and headed back home, I decided to stop and take a few photos . . . even if it WAS raining. (Sometimes a mom just needs a moment or two to get her wits back.)



I thought this cornfield looked inviting . . .



and I liked the character shown in this gate latch. I'm beginning to think I might not mind being locked up for a while myself.

November 17, 2009

Weak as a kitten, but determined to accomplish SOMETHING today. So I kept it simple and played catch up with a few blogs, emails, classes and such . . .


I even managed a few loads of laundry.




Thank goodness! I don't want to get behind so far that I can't catch up by Thanksgiving.

November 16, 2009

No photos today . . . although I DID think about picking up my camera to take a few photos. So sick today . . . and so weak I was afraid if I tried to pick my camera up, I would drop it.

Bayleigh woke up around 2:30 a.m. with her usual nightly scare. Wanting mommy to sit on the end of the bed until she went back to sleep. I made it about 10 minutes before I got violently ill.

I literally crawled back to bed, woke Dave up and asked if he would sit on the end of her bed.

When it came time for my normal wake up, I sat up in bed and promptly felt like I was going to pass out. So I slept in. I managed to get Bayleigh out of bed for school, before I had to give it up and ask Dave to help me out again.

I spent most of the day on the couch or in bed, fighting off a fever, stomach cramps, and black outs.

I'm rarely sick, so I'm wondering if I've just reached the limits on my exhaustion level, have food poisoning, or possibly the flu. I must be back on my feet tomorrow. Too much to do to be sick.

November 15, 2009

I made it through church this morning . . . but just barely. My head felt like I had a construction crew working overtime up top.



Thankfully Dave took Bayleigh to the woods with him, and I got Eli to lay down for a nap.

And I know reading probably isn't the best thing to do when you have a headache, but mine hurt so bad that I couldn't even BEGIN to close my eyes. I'm glad I picked up some mindless drivel, at the library to keep me together. By bedtime I would have been overjoyed to have my head removed from my body. Ibuprofen didn't even touch it. I haven't had one of my "sick" headaches in quite some time . . . so maybe I'm just due for one.

November 14, 2009

Busy, busy, busy. So much to do before Dave's folks come. I've just been trying to maintain . . .

I'm glad Dave took off work, for deer season. The kids really miss him.