So, this will just have to do [...]]]> I meant to post Monday night and knew I couldn’t post Tuesday night and thought I’d be able to post more today.  But, we’ll have to see how tonight goes.  I have a “To Do” list a mile long for work and home.  Plus I’m sick and so is Ivy.

So, this will just have to do for now.

Here’s  the reason I knew I wouldn’t be able to post last night…

I was naughty and snapped a picture during curtain call.  (No flash) and I held my dslr at my chest hoping I actually got the stage.  I had to crop out one head.

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FIRST CONCERT

Be sure and check out some other stories told through photographs, this week on I [...]]]>

FIRST CONCERT

Be sure and check out some other stories told through photographs, this week on I Heart Faces.

The past two weeks have been full of those days for me.

Last week I had transferred all of my files from my old computer to a portable hard drive so that I could slowly pick and choose what files I wanted to load onto my new computer.  Okay, sure, I know [...]]]>

The past two weeks have been full of those days for me.

Last week I had transferred all of my files from my old computer to a portable hard drive so that I could slowly pick and choose what files I wanted to load onto my new computer.  Okay, sure, I know I should have COPIED rather than MOVED but I was all about saving time and steps.  Dumb Dumb me.  4 days after purchasing my portable hard drive, it decided to quit being recognized on my computer.  The device still shows up and says it is working properly but since I can’t see my files, I know it isn’t working properly.

I’ve spent about 15 hours between my own troubleshooting, my husband’s troubleshooting, spending time going back and forth with the manufacturer and letting my company IT guru mess around with it.  Tomorrow I’m “supposed” to get a different cable to see if it just needs more power.

My broken hard drive makes me need a hug.

Back to school is bitter-sweet for me.  I love that the girls are both excited about going to school.  I’m tickled that they embrace learning so much and that they welcome the social aspect of  school.  BUT, each school year means my little babies are getting older.  Older scares me.  I want them to always be the sweet little angels they are now.  I want them to have the joy of childhood always and never have to learn how hard the real world is.  I want my little princesses to always believe they are just that.

Jade is starting to get older and she’s starting to notice that life isn’t always easy.

This afternoon, Ivy said that she had just made a wish and that it came true.  Jade asked her what that wish was and Ivy cheerfully answered, “I wished that I grew taller.  And I just did.”  Jade responded that the only wish she has every day is a really big wish.  I asked her what her wish is.  She answered, “I wish every day that Aunt Anne will get all better.”

I wish the same thing, constantly.  And I’m praying that it happens.

Wishes make me want to give hugs.

Today was Ivy’s first day of “preschool” (daycare).  I know it is the right thing but the change is still hard for me to deal with.  She did well with it, but wasn’t as excited afterwards as I had hoped.  She did make “1 friend” but was sad that more kids didn’t play with her.  I helped her to know that as they get to know her better they will play with her more.  Sometimes it just takes time.

During family prayer tonight she said, “bless that I will learn a lot at my first day of apple school tomorrow and bless that we can have lots of fun reading and playing at my sunshine school.”  (Apple school is a 2 hour preschool, Sunshine school is the daycare-preschool).  See, my little 4-year-old was extremely disappointed that all they did at preschool was play and read.  She was expecting to learn more.  She mentioned it to me several times how she was surprised they just played and read.  I assured her it was just because it was the beginning of school and everyone is getting adjusted.  She’ll learn more next week.

If she doesn’t, I’m going to have a sad little girl on my hands.

Disappointment is lessened with hugs.

Today, Ivy’s school director took Ivy with her to go and pick up Jade from school.  We thought it would make it easier for Jade to know where she was supposed to go.  Ivy talked about her big sister the whole way there.  The second they got to Jade, the two sisters hugged and hugged.  Then together they walked hand in hand.  They may not always get along but at least they do when it really matters.

Experiencing new things are easier with hugs.

Sure, hugs don’t make everything all better, but at least for the moment the hug is the tightest, you feel your burdens lifted just enough to catch your breath and carry on a little bit further.

What are some of the moments you need hugs?

It was also the first time in a while that I’ve had to have both girls ready for their day before I leave for work.

See, we’ve had a nanny for the past 4 years.

When Ivy was super young (pre 6 months old), [...]]]> Today was our first day of school.

It was also the first time in a while that I’ve had to have both girls ready for their day before I leave for work.

See, we’ve had a nanny for the past 4 years.

When Ivy was super young (pre 6 months old), I would take both girls to my sister’s house or my friend’s house.  But I didn’t take them all cute and ready for the day.  I took them in their pj’s.  It was really hard taking them somewhere but it was even harder leaving them.  So, we decided we needed a nanny and that would eliminate one of my painful moments of each day.

Once we got a nanny, I could wake up the girls before I left and give them kisses.  It was somehow easier to leave them at home than to take them somewhere.  With a nanny they could play with their friends and their cousins.  They could go to lessons easily.  And I could sleep in a little bit later.

Now that Ivy is in preschool, we decided that it was time to transition away from a nanny to a full-time preschool/daycare.  It is going to be an interesting and challenging transition.  She is so used to having a nanny and constant one on one attention.  But she is also used to having about 5 make-believe friends over every single day.  At preschool, she won’t have to pretend any more.

Ivy is so excited for school.  I’m excited for her to make friends.  And I’m excited for her growth.  But I’m not excited about getting everyone ready and out the door by 7:40 every morning.

Jade loved her first day of second grade.  Tomorrow, when she comes home, this picture will be hanging from the front room window to welcome home.  Her first day report was that it was “AWESOME!” oh and “I made a new friend.”

I’m so happy that both girls love learning and are excited to start the new year.  We’re going to miss having Miss Kim be part of our lives and she has been wonderful with the girls.  Luckily she’s not far away and we will still have the opportunities to see her.

Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?

**** UPDATE- August 24th.  This morning, Jade woke up and her first words out of her mouth were, “Remember how last year you had the picture of me on the window that said, ‘Congratulations on your first day of first grade’? Maybe this year you could do the 2nd day of 2nd grade.”  (See above?  it was already my plan).  Apparently when she came home and there was no picture greeting her she told Miss Kim that it was okay because she knows I had a really busy day.

Please visit I Heart Faces for more “Beach [...]]]>

Please visit I Heart Faces for more “Beach Fun” Photos.

If you ever feel like you have lost your way, I know where you can find it.

If there is ever a time when life is too busy and upsetting, I know where you [...]]]> If you are ever think the world is full of ugliness, I know where you can find beauty.

If you ever feel like you have lost your way, I know where you can find it.

If there is ever a time when life is too busy and upsetting, I know where you can find a bit of solace.

If you feel like the sun is taking forever to come out, I know where it has no obstructions.

If there are days you don’t want to get out of bed, I know a place that is worth the effort.

If your day is full of pain that seems unbearable, I know where the pain is comforted

Sure, your pain won’t go away, the ugliness will not be changed, the business won’t slow down – but if you can take just one moment and find your “happy place” and think about it, gaze upon it or remember it, maybe tomorrow will be better.

I’ll bet you’ll see other “happy places” checking out the Photo Story Friday’s at Cecily’s and Lolli’s.

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

One of the many things that I obsessed about as a child was based partially on stories from the news but also from my imagination.  To this day, I still question what parts of my memories were based on reality and which were based on my imagination.

I was 13 years old and [...]]]> … about the strangest things.

One of the many things that I obsessed about as a child was based partially on stories from the news but also from my imagination.  To this day, I still question what parts of my memories were based on reality and which were based on my imagination.

I was 13 years old and we were watching “The Deliberate Stranger” about Ted Bundy.  It was a made for TV movie and I remember sitting on the stairs watching it (I would get to anxious and tense if I sat on the couch next to the rest of the family).  I would run and hide during parts I didn’t want to see but I was fascinated by this story and had to understand it.

My fifth grade teacher had  had a near miss with Ted Bundy, he’d lurked in her backyard.  He had attended school where I lived and he’d been a Sunday School teacher.  Yet he was absolutely criminally insane.

I was so incredibly scared of Ted Bundy.  I knew I was too young to ever have to fear for my life, but I feared for all of the young beautiful women that I knew.  Because I believed he could pop up at any moment and kill someone I cared about.

During this show was the first time I learned that what I had always believed and had gone over in my mind a hundred times was completely fiction.

As you may know, Ted Bundy escaped twice from jail.  This was obviously quite a turning point in the show.  After he had escaped I asked, “Why didn’t they tell the real way he escaped?” Everyone turned to look at me and asked me what I meant by that.

“Why didn’t they show that he chewed through the bars with his solid gold teeth?”

Laughter.  Lots of laughter. (LOL should mean “lots of laughter” not “laughing out loud”).

Anyway, they all laughed and asked me where on earth I had heard such a thing.  I honestly can’t say, but in my young and innocent mind that was the only way I could make sense of someone so scary being able to escape from jail.  And it didn’t bother me that he didn’t have gold teeth in any of the pictures I had seen plastered on the news because, of course he would have a second pair of dentures.

I had gone over it in my mind so many times that I didn’t see that it just didn’t make logical sense.

Odd thing to obsess about?  Um, you could say that.

What odd thing have you obsessed about?  Check out Mama Kat’s Losin It to see other stories of crazy people, mischievous little kids and so much more.