Plattsmouth, again

We set out on Saturday to our favorite little town just a few miles south of here to spend the afternoon at their annual festival...
pre-1940's antique car show,
tours of historical homes,
food, drinks, dessert,
barbershop quartet,
and much much more...
well, that's what the pamphlet said anyhow.
Turns out the pre-1940's car show was about two cars and a couple trackers off Main St. in what looked like someone's back yard,
couldn't find out where to take any tours of historical homes,
Main St. was all but deserted,
and we left thinking that was the saddest little 'festival' we had almost been to.
But, not wanting to leave our favorite little town completely empty handed we went exploring in our car, set out on a drive, and found this great dirt rode that runs through beautiful farm land, railroad tracks, and takes you all the way to the historical Lewis and Clark trail along the Platt River.
I got out and photographed, we saw deer, stumbled upon a suspicious looking marijuana look alike field, and just reveled in the beauty of Nebraska.
I said it before, and I will say it again and again and again...
we love living here....

you have wide open fields...


places to stop and sit...


rows and rows of corn...


plenty of time to dream


and big beautiful skies...

Why'd ya have to go and die on me?!

I know my computer is old.
Well, let me rephrase that.
I know my computer is old in computer years.
If you ask me personally, I'd say that a 5-6 year old computer isn't that old.
I would like to get another five years out of it for what we paid for the darn thing.
That would have been nice.
But, it just so happens that my "old" computer, by everyone's standards except my own, just spontaneously crashed.
It won't load.
I have no way to extract my images.
I won't be able to exchange it for even so much as one lousy dollar for a newer model now.

Funny thing is, Isaak has been trying, rather unsuccessfully, to convince me that my computer is old, and that I need to invest in a new one, especially since God has opened doors for me to use photography again.

But, when I look at my computer, I didn't see "old" like Isaak...I just saw slow.
Slow doesn't have to mean old.
It's just slow.
It still gets the job done.
Just slower than it did in its early days.
Until today.
Today my slow computer can't even muster up the energy to load, let alone process anything.
I feel so betrayed.
I had it's back.
I defended it to everyone who tried to convince me to give it the boot.

And now nothin'.
Ab.solute.ly nothin'.
Looks like I have no other choice to get a new one.
Lousy old computer, why'd ya have to go and die on me!!!!

The end

The news of entertainments Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson all succumbing to death this week is a big reminder that time of death has no prejudice, takes no survivors, and is coming for us all...
...doesn't matter who you are...
...doesn't matter how rich you are...
...doesn't matter how successful, average, or high profile you may be as a person...
Time does not stand still and it won't slow down...
Time will not wait for you to get your affairs in order, reconcile with a loved one, make good on a promise, or fulfill a lifelong dream- the end is coming, you can be sure of that, and it's the one thing no one can stop.
We will all pass away, at some time or another, so we had better be ready, because
time.will.not.wait.
Our life's seconds, minutes, and hours, are streaming by whether we're aware of it or not.
It's not just some other day that begins and ends every 24 hours, it's one more day of our life that is over.
Surely, we're all aware of time in some capacity; it beckons us to get up in the morning, dictates when we eat, arrive at work, or go back to bed each night. But in the light of eternity, that is trivial.
Most people go through life completely unaware that the time that is dictating their daily life is simultaneously affecting their forever life. Time plays a much bigger role than people give it credit for. When time beckons us to get up in the morning, that is one last time you have to wake up.
Every day that we live brings us one day closer to our deaths- a hard thought think about, but whether we do or not it doesn't change the fact that it's the truth.
Maybe if we did think on that a little more frequently we would live our lives more intentionally. We would speak softer, love harder, forgive more, hold less grudges, acquire less, and give more generously...

Death isn't going to politely knock on our front door and give us a Twenty year notice, followed by a Ten year warning, and then a final One year countdown. From the person given news of terminal cancer, to a man stricken with cardiac arrest-death comes unexpectedly, unannounced, in the middle of our every day lives. No warning. And it's coming...

This reality is a great reason to live life with an eternal mindset. To invest in eternal rewards.
We can't take our earthly wealth with us. Michael Jackson didn't take his priceless Beatles song copyrights with him, Farrah Fawcett didn't take her famous big hair, and Ed McMahon didn't take with him the success from his years on the Tonight Show.

James 4:14 reminds us..." you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."

What are we investing in?
What legacy are we leaving?
What are we doing with our lives?

I want to live a life full tilt for God. I want to invest my life in eternal rewards, rather than earthly treasures. And I need to remember to think like this more often, because tomorrow is not promised, and I don't want to waste what precious time I have left.

A day of fun and farewell

I took the girls to go see The Bee Movie at the theater this morning-just me and both girls. I thought I was crazy at first, thinking we'd have to leave early because Marvelly wouldn't make it through, or Sydaleigh would get scared, but both girls did super great! I'm glad we all went together...I know I get "me" moments with the girls all day every day, but I love it when I get to do things with just them that is out of our normal routine-like movies at the theater!
We followed up our day by having friends over for a farewell dinner, dessert, and play time.
Sydaleigh, and me, had to say goodbye to more friends today. The military's pretty good about making sure that we all stay moving. So, our friends the Toronto's are off to Ohio. Thanks so much JoAnn and family for spending the evening with us, enjoy your new beginning! We'll miss you!

Tea Party Time

This afternoon the girls had a tea party date with some of their girlfriends,

and oh, the preciousness of it all!
Seven beautiful little girls, gathered all about, pouring tea, sipping tea,
munching on finger sandwiches and fruit kabobs.
It was absolutely adorable.


...anxiously awaiting to sit down




...pouring tea and enjoying all that awaited them



our hostess Clair


...my girls first time trying tea and they enjoyed it



...good day to play with good gal pals

Loves to look

This is where I more times than not find Marvelly when she is suppose to be
lying down taking a nap, or going to bed at night-
Standing up, gazing out her new window,
looking at all the new things her new window has to show her,
talking to the neighbor's doggies, saying "hi" to the swing, conversing with the tree...
She has a window at her fingertips and it's just so much more fascinating than sleep for my little one year old.

Is it Monday already?

Geesh-the weekend really flew by.
Seems like our Saturdays and Sundays are getting shorter and shorter because before I know it the alarm is going off on Monday morning at 5:45am reminding me not so subtly that the weekend is now gone, and I need to high tail it to the gym.

We had a great weekend though-busy, but fun. Here is a brief rundown...
Thursday we took the girls to the Amazing Pizza Machine to celebrate Isaak's pending promotion.



Friday we had his TechSgt. promotion party on base.
Saturday we birthday partied it up with some of the girl's besties and then me and Isaak headed off for our own celebratory date night.



And finally, Sunday was Father's Day so we did church in the AM, and then sent Isaak packing with his new fishing pole in hand to spend the afternoon enjoying some solitary fishing.



And then me and the girls got ice cream, and spent the evening slip n' slidin' with buddies.
It was nice.
Very very nice.
Next weekend....the Chautauqua Festival in Plattsmouth!

CONGRATULATIONS!!

Isaak found out this morning he made TechSgt.!!!
You deserve it and your family is super duper proud of you!

Flip flop much?

I think the time has come to invest in a new pair of "everyday" flip flops.
My beloved AE corduroy flops are looking pretty shabby since I wore
the fabric off both big toe spots.
Its hard finding a pair of shoes that you love so much, and are so
comfortable you can wear them into the ground-but these flip flops are going in the trash-so the search is on for a new pair...

Stop squishing me

I go into the girls room after nap time and lay down on Sydaleigh (softly) on her bed...
...Sydaleigh responds, "Mom, don't do that again, you givin' me owies, you squishing me".

I just love her very 'lack of care' three year old way of putting things-straightforward, to the point, no beating around the bush..."you're squishing me!" get off!

Slacker

I'm kicking myself this morning because I decided not to go to the gym when the alarm went off in favor of staying in bed.
Ugh, why did I do that?!
Now, I am grouchy because I missed my quiet workout alone time.
I love my quiet workout alone time.
Love it.
And I've missed it today, because I was a slacker.
Now I have to wait until Wednesday which seems really far away this morning.
Plus it's raining.
That wouldn't normally be a big deal, except that I missed my workout, so the rain just adds to the grouchiness.
I need to turn this morning around but my options are looking pretty bleak at the moment.

Left the window down one too many times

This morning as we were heading out for church Isaak got in the Sunfire and it wouldn't start.
So, he had to push start it.

After 8 years it looks like we are finally going to have to put some money into that car.
We bought it new in 2001 and since then we have gotten away with your occasional oil change, tune up, brake replacements, very minor up keep...
but I think its time has finally come-our Sunfire needs a fixin'. A professional fixin'.

Isaak thinks it's an electrical problem-probably due to the fact that he has very bad luck with leaving the windows rolled down when it decides to rain in the middle of the night.
(I've seriously lost count how many times thats happened).
I'm surprised he hasn't gotten electrocuted when he sits down in the soggy seat in the morning and goes to start it.

Hopefully it won't cost more to fix than it's worth. I'm sure there's a few more soggy seated rainstorms in it's future. ; )

Gonna take some getting used to

I moved Marvelly into Sydaleigh's bedroom today.
They are officially sharing the same space.
And it's not going so good.
It's 8:40pm and Marvelly is bawling,
Sydaleigh is yelling, "Momma, Marvelly is crying!"
...and I'm wondering how long it's going to take for them to get used to these new sleeping arrangements??????

Portrait Project #2-Royal Family Kids Camp

We set out on an adventure on Wednesday....four women, no kids, driving two hours west of home life to bless some very deserving foster kids at their summer camp. Well, as God so often has it, Wednesday turned into so much more than we had planned, envisioned, or even hoped.
The day was filled with an abundance of laughter, unexpected challenges, heavy hearts, joyful occasions, hands ready to serve...all pressed down, shaken together, and running over to make for a day that only God could have put together...

We (Me, Liz, Holly, Kara) rolled into camp a little before 3pm. We arrived unexpectedly early, by a few hours, so we had some extra time on our hands after we got Holly's cake and my equipment set up.
The church me and Isaak were a part of in California always told the youth, "find a need and fill it", and I just love that simple saying because it says so much...and that's just what we did. We asked where they could use extra help, and we helped....
We decorated a trailer loaded with benches used to haul the kids around camp, vamped it up with balloons and streamers, and transformed it into a limo,
Kara and Holly helped primp the girls before their big dinner/dance-they pinned dresses, did hair, applied make-up, and got in some God-appointed personal time with very special girls.
We all had the opportunity to sit in the dinner hall and eat with all the children, we cut and served them their cake, sang "Happy Birthday" and praised God for each one of their lives.
All extras-none of which was on our "to do" list when we set out at noon, but ended up making our time there so much more.
I just love it when God throws in a little extra somethin' somethin'. :)

Photographing these children was for lack of a better word-amazing. The boys all came to me wearing an array of over sized vests, blazers, dress shirts, some donned party hats, others had little do-rags, bow-ties, neck ties, you name it, these little gents were wearing it. The scene was right out of a commercial, like they were all playing dress up in their Dad's clothes. It was very endearing.
The girls were also a sight to see. Every little princess wore a prom style dress, all in an array of colors and styles, with each ensemble as unique as the girl wearing it. I hope they felt as beautiful as they looked.
Each boy and girl manged to smile for me at least one time-no matter how cool or uncomfortable they felt-each child had their own moment and it made my heart overflow with joy.

As a parent you see these kids and wonder how anyone could hurt such a little treasure...that's what I went home thinking...that's what I woke up thinking...I looked at my girls in the morning and was floored with gratefulness to Him who blessed me with their lives. I hugged them tighter, longer, listened to them more attentively, play with them more enthusiastically, prayed over them more passionately...wanting to be the best steward of the children that God has blessed me with. I'm not perfect, and a lot of moments I let slip away, but the foster kids we met will always serve as an added reminder in my heart of just how important parenting is.


(And as the icing on the cake-on our way home Holly got a ticket, we had to wait for a train, had to drive in the pouring rain, stopped at a McDonald's with no ice cream for a late night snack, our bodies were so stiff we could hardly move- but it gave us a case of the giggles I haven't seen in a long time. We had reached the point of exhaustion where everything was hysterical and we became delirious with laughter. It was a whirlwind of a day-but it was a great day-it was a God orchestrated kind of day.)

(no pics-due to the fact that the kids are minors, and the nature of their pasts, I will not be posting pictures to protect their privacy)

One more day!!!!

I can't wait!!!!!
Tomorrow I get to photograph almost 50 foster kids at Royal Family Kids Camp!!!!!
I have so many thoughts and prayers running through my head, it's hard to keep track of them all.
I can't wait to meet them, talk to them, smile at them, tell them how important they are, how much value they have, how "worth all of this" they are, and lastly-photograph them!
It's gonna be a blast!

...more details and pictures to come!.....

Empty me Lord

....."Empty me
Of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition
And the poison of my pride
And any foolish thing my heart holds to
Lord empty me of me
So I can be
Filled with YOU".....

...my heart's chorus this week.

sigh.

I just heard some very violent vomiting from one of my cats from upstairs...
I really don't want to go up there...
I'm not in the mood to clean puke tonight...
...is he almost dead yet???

I am blessed.

Soap tastes bad

What do you get when you tell your sister to "shut up" and you've been told not to say that phrase in the past??.....

a bar of soap in the mouth!

It got all over her tongue and stuck in all her teeth (which I was very pleased about actually), to give it a little added effect.

I will not tolerate that type of talk-hopefully Sydaleigh remembers that next time (because she was not happy about the soap in her mouth).

Wide Open Spaces

Berry Farm Blast

What joy-
I took the girls to the berry farm yesterday to pick strawberries and it was so delightful. The morning encompassed everything we love...
great weather
cheap entertainment
friend time
picture 'ops' galore
exercise
and that homey country feel we've come to love
(only thing missing was Daddy)

It was bliss.



Sydaleigh picked em', Marvelly ate em'.





our kind of fun!

1st day of swim lessons

I signed Sydaleigh up for swim lessons this summer at the Kids Body Shop-twice a week through the month of June. The class is 45 minutes long and parents have the option to leave, but it was her first day so I stuck around (just in case).

I was surprised-this class means business! On the first lesson they had the kids paddling on a kick board on their belly's, then on their backs, each child got to jump in the water one time, go under and hold their breath, and come back up. They practiced swimming on the backs and belly's without a kick board learning to kick their feet, and some other random things...it was awesome!

Sydaleigh was very comfortable and receptive to following her teachers directions. I think gymnastics really helped in that department-just kind of pave the way for her to have to listen to someone besides me, be comfortable with me "leaving", and have fun trying something new.

So, we'll see how the rest of the month goes. I am so looking forward to seeing her learn to swim...

Sydaleigh at almost 3 and a half

She has recently taken up to calling me "Mamma" (rather than Mommy)...
puts on a pretty dress and asks us "What do you think?" while she twirls back and forth...
requests to try new food with out having to be asked (broccoli, salad, grilled bbq chicken, ect)
argues with us about everything...
doesn't just 'take my word for it' anymore...
battling between wanting to be a big girl and letting go of her beloved paci (nap time every afternoon is a cry-fest, poor girl)...
says cute things like, "you are my best Daddy, my best Wavery, and my best Mommy"...
says, "lay up" (instead of sit up)
doesn't like it when I put my arm around Isaak's back, or touch him in any capacity, while riding in the car and tells me very authoritatively to "stop touching Daddy"
has officially entered the "ask a million questions about everything" phase...
can finally remember her colors....
boss' Marvelly around like it's nobody's business!..
sleeps is a dress and her ruby red shoes almost every night...
loves to tell me how much she loves Jesus and then serenades me with classic "Jesus loves me..."
vacuums the stairs every day for her chores and gets two dimes for her hard work...
tells me every time I give her two dimes that she wants more...
gets reminded that she will not receive any money if what I give her isn't good enough...
is learning what it means to be content, not complain, and handle disappointment........

Go stalk some other neighborhood

In the past two minutes the creepy ice cream van man has driven down our street twice ringing his incredibly annoying bell.
Two drive-by's in two minutes.
"Ding ding" "ding ding", he drives by at a snail's speed, looking for kids and parents to stalk.
No one ever buys ice cream for the creepy ice cream van man.
No one.
Ever.
In the two years we've lived here I have never seen a child buy ice cream from this dude.
Maybe it has to do with the fact that he doesn't ever wear a shirt.
Maybe it has to do with the fact that his female riding companion never wears shoes and lets her right foot hang out the passenger window.
Maybe they look scary to kids and parents.
Maybe that's why they don't get business on our street.
Maybe they should go stalk someone else's neighborhood.
Just a thought...