A minute

This weekend is going to be pretty busy. This morning we have our first soccer game for Merrick, followed by a jewelry party, followed by a photo shoot.

I'm not looking forward to the busy, but we are busy with things that I am looking forward to. But before all that gets started I just wanted to take a minute and savor the peaceful evening we all had outside playing together yesterday. I'm looking forward to more of those. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Check out more shots at The Paper Mama.

(The first shot is my pick for this week)

Soccer Mom

We had Merrick's first "soccer practice" this week. I say that in quotes, because it was probably the most loose interpretation of the sport of soccer imaginable, but also the cutest. As you can tell, in this league (3-4yo's) not using your hands is something we're still working on. I was definitely proud of my little man running around the field is those ridiculously cute shin guards.

He has his first game on Saturday. You can rest assured there will be a blog post for that. I know, you're on the edge of your seats. ;) Maybe not, but I can hardly wait. Now, where's my minivan?

(Sidenote: Anyone who makes fun of minivans has obviously never tried to load a kid into a car with only two doors. Thank goodness we have four doors now, but I'm still waiting for my van in shining armor. *Dreamy sigh*)

Me Included

I'm rarely seen in pictures around here. As much as I like pictures, I am notorious for making reeediculous faces in them. Not on purpose either, cuz that might be ok. I've been told I have a very expressive face, and when it's caught in action, well, it's not what I'd call profile pic material.

I actually took the first shot "myself" with the timer. So I knew it was coming, but I'm still not gonna say how many takes there were. Someone was always running out of the frame, myself included. But when the weather was this great I can't really blame them. It was 80 degrees, and we couldn't be contained.

The first shot is my pick for Trendy Treehouse and YouCapture, and the last shot is for Sweet Shot.

I have a hard job.

Recently my husband retweeted something that really (and I mean really) hit home with me. It went like this: "Our greatest fear should not be failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter." - Francis Chan Um, ouch. That one had my name on it, and took out my knees. I'm trying so hard to be good at lots of things. All of them good things. But all of them not the best things.

Like this flower, I'm here one day and gone the next. My life will be a blur, a little blip on the radar. People most likely aren't going to have to memorize my name for a history test in the year 2111. Sounds depressing, maybe, but at the same time I realize I have a gift in the life that I have. I also have a job to do. And it's all about the love. Loving my God, my hubby and kids, my friends, those people you secretely dream of telling them how you really feel about them...(you know someone's face totally just popped into your mind).

But just like this flower is unfurling it's best, using what it's got to get the job done, praising it's Creator as it was made to. (It's not trying to be a mountain lion, or an apple, or that girl with the great hair who makes you want to crawl under a table, or supermom next door) It knows what it is, and knows what it was made for, and does a darn good job. I have a lot to learn about being myself, being my best, striving at the things that matter, and praising God while I do it. It's a big job, but I was made for it.

Check out more shots at Lisa's Chaos

Home again, home again...

Sad to say we are no longer in sunny Florida, but at the same time glad we are back home. I always miss home. I'm a total homebody, and miss my own bed, shower, food, space, especially my own space. But, I am also missing the hot tub. I love my bath tub, but it's just not the same. No bubbles. It also has none of this, either, for which I am glad. ;)

Splashing children are not allowed in the bath tub with me, but they did take over the hot tub last week. They made sure there wasn't any dry body parts. Splash Zone at Sea World pales in comparison.

Check out more shots at The Paper Mama