Baby Bear Goes to Camp

We dropped the girl off at Baylor Volleyball Camp bright and early last Saturday. Thankfully we did get her there on the right day, no thanks to her mom, and she had an absolutely fantastic time. They stayed in one of the residence halls, had all of their meals at another, played and swam at the SLC, and also had a lot of intensive instruction on the volleyball court.

We went over for the awards ceremony yesterday afternoon and then I packed the kid up and brought her home. Have I mentioned lately that it's 104 degrees here? Because I totally felt it while I was lugging her suitcase down three flights of stairs in stilettos.

But I digress...

She got a certificate from her sweet coaches...

...and had a final group cheer...

...and some last minute words of encouragement...

...and got to meet Coach Jim Barnes...

...made a LOT of new friends...

...was gifted with a green and gold volleyball...

...met all of the players, ate with all of the players and stayed in the dorm with all of the players...

...learned how to do an official "Sic 'em, Bears!"...

..,got her volleyball signed by all of the players...

...learned the lay of the land...

...was blessed to be roommates with the ONE person she already knew at camp...

...met Melissa Jones, who is transitioning from rock star basketball player to fantastic volleyball player...and who also was the giver of "goodnight hugs"...

...and promptly informed me she would most definitely be back next year.

My guess is we will also be attending a number of volleyball games this fall as well. :-)

Sic 'em, Taylor!

Hiatus

Hello, friends!

We had a busy weekend and today is absolutely crazy so I don't have much time to visit. We are also leaving town for a bit later this week so I guess what I'm saying is that perhaps you shouldn't expect much on the ol' blog this week. :-)

There is one pearl of wisdom I can impart today, though. Apparently it is possible for one to be moderately allergic to almost everything on the planet. I had testing done this morning and it revealed a LOT. Mainly that I'll be doing allergy injections in addition to a whole bunch of other meds for a while.

So please excuse me while I go scratch my itchy back. :-)

Living Through the Moments

There is the moment when...

...grief hits you out of nowhere (for the 10,000th time)...

...you wonder if life will ever resume being normal again...

...you can't seem to make the tears stop...yet again...

...hope seems completely lost...

...you begin to believe one child on this earth is all you get...

...you desperately need good news...

These are the moments that bring you to your knees.

Then there is a moment when...

...you forget and it seems like all was a dream...

...you realize (and begin to accept) all you have left of what should have been a bouncing baby boy or precious baby girl is a blurry ultrasound photo...

...it hits you anew that this was the month when that determination (pink v. blue) would have been revealed...

...you look at your child and wonder (yet again) why in the world you told her so soon...

...He feels a million miles away...

These are the moments that are simply surreal.

And then there is the moment when...

...God sends you a verse that speaks directly to your soul...

...you get messages from all directions that indicate you shouldn't give up...

...you know, without a doubt, that He is here...

...you realize life goes on and that you must as well...

...you simply put one foot in front of the other...

...you hear the same message from Him over and over but refuse to let it into your heart in an attempt to avoid another letdown...and the subsequent pain...but He keeps speaking it clearly...

These are the moments that give you hope.

The unfortunate thing is that all of these moments hurt. In different ways. But one will never get to the milestone if we can't make it through the moments. Or so my favorite Bible teacher, Beth Moore, says.

The thing is that I don't even know what the milestone I'm working toward looks like. 

These moments are incredibly sad.

There are also moments that make your heart stop.

Like when He very clearly sends a message - from multiple sources - that simply says this...

If we are faithless he remains faithful, for He cannot disown himself.

2 Timothy 2:13

So that is where we find ourselves today. Living through the moments. Journeying toward a milestone. Not knowing the destination.

Trusting. Believing. Hoping. Praying.

Because it's absolutely true. If we cannot make it through the moments, we shall never enjoy the milestone.

Weekly Top 10

1. My man does not eat junk food. Just ask him - he'll gladly tell you the same. Therefore, it is most certainly NOT him in the photo below. Eating red velvet cake with a side of salted caramel and chocolate ice cream. Nope - can't be!

2. For the most part, he truly doesn't eat sweets. For real. Just having a little fun with him...

3. Everyone's dog eats off a for, right?

4. If you ask my girl for help taking a new profile pic for Facebook (got to represent the summer hair color!), you might want to specify that it not be a super close up that shows every wrinkle and imperfection. Exhibit A...

5. My girl heads to volleyball camp tomorrow at Baylor. She's really excited because the counselors are current players, she gets to stay in the residence hall with a roommate and - apparently most incredible - they eat three meals a day in the dining halls. 

6. I'm not completely certain she realizes that this will be a hard core workout for four solid days. There is no doubt in my mind she can do it and will improve greatly (she has the skills but needs a little more aggression)...just thinking she may be in for a bit of a surprise.

7. This is still my favorite picture of her at the present time. She's all signed up for ballet, lyrical, tap and jazz next year so we've apparently found a third love (volleyball and softball are the other two).

8. I'm making an tiny road trip with my man one day this weekend and I'm pretty stoked about it. Tonto has been working like mad and some rest and relaxation is definitely needed. For all parties involved.

9. I will be 33 in less than two weeks. How does that happen?!?! Sort of feels like the last six months have been a fog so there is actually some excitement on my part about a fresh start.  ;-)

10. The girl does actually take nice Facebook profile photos once she gets all of the silliness out of her system. It's only fair to show both sides of the coin, right? 

Happy Thursday, friends!

The Rest of the Story

There were soooo many photos in yesterday's parade post that I saved a few for the rest of the Fourth of July story. The phrase you're looking for is "thank you - my retinas were already bleeding."

To that I say you are very welcome.

This happened to be someone's first Fourth of July holiday. He was clearly very excited about it.

My girl enjoyed a Fourth of July staple. She loves corn on the cob and eats it every week but insisted on having some for the holiday. Even though I had apparently exceeded the photograph quota of the day which, let me tell you, is a stingy quota indeed these days.

I spent some quality time lovin' on my favorite little man. He's a lot like Bo in many ways but has a much more cuddly and sweet personality than his brother. Bo, in fact, brought me to tears and/or frightening blood pressure several times with his stubbornness so this is welcome territory for me. Though he dad does think he's a bit of a wimp...

Don't look now but she's smiling!!!

Such a little man. As opposed to a puppy, which makes me rather sad.

All in all, it was a fabulous day. I'm also rather certain about four pounds of water weight were lost due to copious sweating. So, you know, SCORE!

We did see Cars 2 on Friday night and it was awesome, y'all. The girl and I followed it up with Kung Fu Panda 2 on Saturday afternoon and it was - literally - laugh out loud funny. 

Quite frankly, it's too hot outside to do much so I was glad to see previews for a number of new movies that look good. We plan to see Mr. Popper's Penguins, Zookeeper and The Smurfs, and Spy Kids 4 (in 4D!!!) before summer is over. Personally, I can't wait to see Grandpa Smurf - he was a staple of my childhood :-)

And, in case you haven't heard yet, there's a sequel to Alvin and the Chipmunks due out at Christmas while Puss in Boots, The Muppets and Happy Feet 2 will hit theaters in November. That's what I call a banner year for movies I'm not afraid to see with my child, friends! (And that's not counting all the ones we saw in the spring ;-)

Happy Wednesday, y'all!!!

Let Freedom Ring

My motto for this summer is to enjoy it as much as possible. The first six months of this year have been r-o-u-g-h and, quite frankly, we just want to have some fun. To that end, we hit the Belton Fourth of July Parade yesterday with my parents.

My dad wears this shirt once a year. Love. It. :-)

Watching SpongeBob slowly melt...

And then it was time for the big event!

Land of the free...

...because of the brave...

...for which we are INCREDIBLY grateful!

This parade brought back a lot of memories - both good and bad - because we used to go to it every single year when Taylor was younger. We have all come such a long way and are so thankful for redemption and deliverance.

We headed home and took a nap before heading out to a friend's house for some fun in the sun. Y'all, it is HOT but it was good to just spend some time hanging out and visiting.

Then the girl and I (Tonto had a 5am wake up call this morning) headed to my office about 9pm (with a stop via Sonic for some treats) to watch fireworks from my office. We are incredibly blessed with giant windows overlooking the river, which provides for a great air conditioned viewing deck.

Can I get an amen for the air conditioning?

Hope everyone had a fab Fourth of July - here's to a super fun and busy month!

Long Weekend Ahead

She is home. She sounds like a frog and looks a bit like a lobster but she is home.

She had a fantastic time and even went down the zip line, which must mean she's growing up. Right before my very eyes.

Both she and Tonto are currently taking naps so we can head and out see a movie this evening. Can you guess which one?

We absolutely LOVE Lightning McQueen and Mater so we're super excited to see the sequel.

There will also be a parade, BBQ, swimming and patriotism involved in this long weekend.

I, for one, cannot wait. It's been a long, trying, disappointing week but...

...my baby is home so let the games begin!