Another Weekend

Another great weekend comes to a close.  I got a sweet (and uncommon these days) note from my 12 year old Friday night.  It was written backwards because Leonardo DaVinci wrote backwards (Hanson Ellis is my living encyclopedia) and it was a lovely surprise.

Richard and I found a relatively cool spot on the back porch yesterday and talked and talked over coffee.  We also stayed up way too last night watching a movie and talking (something we've done routinely on Saturdays over the duration of our marriage ... we don't have a lot of "routines" so this is a favorite of mine) and I baked this

today while he worked on his graduate work at the kitchen table.
I think it is a great last hurrah before we start back this

tomorrow.  (could that 10K have been any hotter?!!  The look on my face really says it all.)

Thanks Edie for the head's up on the wonderful cake!
And goodnight to you all.
I hope you have a truly great week and enjoy each moment to the fullest.  
To God be the Glory.
mk

Our Weekend

This weekend Momma and my Aunt Peggy came up for a visit and to watch Parker and Patterson's dance recitals.  The weekend started like any other visit.  Some hair trimming by Momma, and lots of giggles and hyper activity:).  

Parker then had her rehearsal on Friday night.  Since Richard was not yet back from his trip to D.C., I took her and brought my camera along.  What fun!  I captured a lot of great images and I can't wait to have a lesson in The Davenport School on Degas and have the girls paint some of what I captured!!  It is also amazing to me to see Parker "on her own."  Parker just becomes when her sisters aren't around to distract her.  She is growing up waaaaaaay too fast.  She is beautiful.  She is tall!  She is our late bloomer who every now and then gives us glimpses of who she will bloom into.  L.O.V.E. her to death.

Parker's recital was on Saturday.  Miss Olivia was completely captivated for the entire almost 2 hour long show.  She sat in her Gran's lap most of the time and what a sweet, precious sight to see her tiny little hands clap after every performance:).  

Hanson Ellis ... reading, of course, before the show.  Momma and I talked of how she used to be "our dancer" and both of us choked up and teared up.  How long ago that seems to be now!

After the show, only one parent was allowed up front to pick up their child.  We decided to let Hanson Ellis go and take Parker her flowers.  If I had time, I would have dug up the old photos of Hanson Ellis in costume with flowers and Parker standing by her side.  What a bittersweet switch this was!

I love the one above of Parker running up to her Daddy who had taken the little ones outside after the show!  And the one below of a Daddy lovin' his little big girl.

And here we are ... all seven of us.  We tried.  That's the only comment I have:).

Love the above of Parker ... "HOW MANY MORE PHOTOS???!!!"

And the two below ... just so glamorous to me:).

And a final shot of the evening ... Parker's tights.  I think if nothing else told us, they would have.  The year is most definitely over!!

I didn't take Patterson to her rehearsal, which was on Saturday before Parker's show.  So I don't have any images of her with her class.  But I got some today at her show.  This was Patterson's very first dance recital.  She was super excited, and cried when she realized that Gran and Peggy and her Daddy and sisters were not going to be in the audience.  For those of you who don't know, my Mom has cancer.  She found out about 8 months ago.  She has been doing extremely well, but she got sick this morning and just couldn't shake it.  Richard had to take her to the hospital.  She was so weak, he had to more than help her to the van.  As I stood there watching my Momma completely helpless and limp lean upon the shoulders of my husband .... ummm .... I can only tell you my mind was full of all sorts of thoughts.  Two people I love so much ... two people I admire so much ... two people that I would have never imagined seeing in that state.  But while I was filled with sadness for Momma, I was filled with peace that she was being "carried" by someone who didn't just love her by birth, but loved her out of respect and admiration.  I knew he'd take care of her and I knew God would keep them all safe.  

So Patterson's debut on stage was not as she had planned it would be, but Patterson has an amazing little spirit.  She is sensitive, but tough and very, very positive ... even in the midst of turmoil.  I saw her strength shine through today and despite her disappointment and worry about her Gran, she was amazing on stage and performed her little heart out.  It was the best I'd ever seen her dance!  Afterwards I went backstage and scooped that little toothpick up and squeezed her tight.   She is so much like Richard, and I was so happy God gave her to me and to this world today.  

So that was our weekend.  Momma is still at the hospital.  She is staying there tonight.  Hopefully she'll feel well enough to come home tomorrow and return to Alabama on Tuesday.  I have an amazing Momma and I have five amazing little girls.  

To God be the Glory.

Goodnight!

Sweet Saturday Morning and More

This was the way our backyard looked Saturday morning (and the rest of the day as well).  It rained and rained and rained.  But fortunately, we didn't have any severe weather, and for that I am thankful.  I do enjoy a rainy day from time to time.  Nothing makes the green leaves look more lovelier.

This is what our kitchen looked like Saturday morning.  Hanson Ellis decided to make everyone muffins for breakfast.  What a treat!  She used the recipe she found in a cookbook that once belonged to Richard's mother.  She was given this book by her Grammy for Christmas and keeps it in the zip lock bag she was given it in.  She also keeps it in her room, while not under lock and key, high up in her armoire where the all too curious hands of her little sisters cannot reach.

The muffins were great.  Having a 12 year old make them was even better!

This photo has nothing to do with Saturday morning.  It is from Richard's homecoming last November and it is a little blurry, but it is perfect for my thoughts right now.  For us, the years of starting a family and raising young children and starting our homeschool journey has been one filled with moves, deployments and lots of long hours of work for Richard.  Our 11 months in KS in 2008 was tough because we had never really "lived" together as a family.  Our time here has been tough because we've never been outside of a military community or in a "big city" area.  Richard's been gone more than home during our time here, we're in our first home ... we still have one in diapers and one that is recently potty trained ... he has a crazy commute and he's in graduate school on top of all of that.  I feel like our time as a family is so like this photo.  Happy, yet blurry ... familiar, yet more of a passing moment.  I love this man.  I am proud of this man.  I am amazed at this man.  I believe in his job ... stand by him 110%, but our relationship is not without the battle scars from it.  I always look forward to the weekend .. our time together as a family ... but you know when you hold two magnets, one in each hand, and you don't have them turned the right way so that they attract??? Well that is the best way to describe us so much of the time.  We try with all our might to "come together" but we are hopelessly pushed apart.  Our time together is never really what I hope for.

The girls had their Spring Choir Concert tonight at church.  As I sat there alone (Richard was off finishing an assignment and OH!!!! How I WISH I would have brought my camera .. you just wouldn't believe how cute the Cherub Choir was!) I was reminded of a great verse ... Philippians 1.6

"being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."   

I know that God has a perfect plan for Richard and I and for our family.  What a comfort the reminder of this verse was to me.   I will definitely keep it fresh on my mind, as I have been with this passage all weekend.  1Corinthians 13.4-7

⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

May God continue to hold me near to Him.  

May He continue to work in me, and may I honor Him as I love my husband.

Y'all have a great week!

To God be the Glory, 

mk