Soccer's Over!

Soccer wrapped up two weeks ago...I think? Things have gone by so fast lately, I can't even really remember. We had his soccer party at Mr. Gatti's last Sunday. I do remember that at least! :)

Madi started basketball a couple of weeks ago. Right now she's just practicing. Her games will start in December. So far she's really loving it! She is quite the defensive player! I'm certain she will give a girl a black eye before the season is over!

She will be leaving on Tuesday to go to Nebraska to see her grandma, grandpa and dad. I gave Kyle the choice too, but he's just certain a tornado will be waiting for him the minute he crosses the Kansas border...lol. Trying to convince him otherwise is hopeless! That and he did mention that he would miss his momma too much. :) And of course, Mason is staying here. He'd be lost if he went! Say some prayers for her safe travel please. I/we will really miss her a lot!!! It's been a long time since I've not been with my kids for a holiday.

Mason turned two!!! (for the second time...the first time was in May...now he's just acting like it.)Holy cow...he's been a little toot! I'm trying to potty train him. I'm ready to get this down and have everyone house broken!!! He's proving to be a little bit stubborn.

That's is for now...and by the way, if you commented and asked to have access, I added you. If you're not able to get on the new blog, please let me know.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Okay, I got it done. You should have gotten an email from me inviting you to the other blog. If you don't have a google account it will make you sign up for one, that way you'll be be able to log in. If it's too confusing, let me know. I think it should be pretty self explanatory. If for some reason you asked for access and you didn't get an email let me know. I'll check and see what the problem is.

Thanks!

New and Old Blog

I made an executive decision. I'm the C.E.O. of this blog, so I pretty much run things around here. I'm going to keep this one open. It will a place for pictures and stories of the kids. This will give friends and family members a place to see what's going on in their lives.

I'm also starting another blog. That one will be the private one. I'm currently coming up with a name and all that. Of those of you that asked for access, I will add you to that one. I'm sure I'll still talk about the kids, but it will mostly be a place for my thoughts on whatever I'm thinking at the time.

I think you should get an email when it's done. I'm new at this whole "private" thing, so bear with me. I've been so busy lately, I haven't had time to get much done! How I'll manage to keep up with two blogs, I'm not sure, but I'm going to give it a good try! See you soon! :)

I'm closing...

Hey everyone, I've made a decision to set my blog to private. I'm not looking to leave any of my friends or family out, but feel this will be better for me.

I really hate to close it, as I have "met" many friends this way, but I think I need to. I'm going to leave it open for another week and then I'll change it. If you want to keep reading, you'll need to send me the email address (or addresses) you use to log in to it, so I can add you. If you have any problems in doing this, please let me know. I realize I may not know everyone who reads this, so please don't be afraid to ask for permission. Thanks! :)

Wow!!!

The neatest thing happened to me this week. Barrett and I had decided several weeks ago that Sunset would be the location for the wedding. For many reasons, it made the most sense. We got it booked and I was very happy to have settled that.

I went to the store after I got off work on Wednesday and my phone rang. It was my friend, S, who works at Sunset. There was a problem, but she assured me that I would be taken care of. We just needed to work together and we would get the problem solved.

Every year Sunset has their annual SIBI workshop. It was supposed to be on the weekend of the 30th, but it had to be changed at the last minute, so they moved it to the 23rd. Whoops...we already had the building booked...hence the problem!

S and I go back a ways...she's always been so sweet and supportive of me over the years, even prior to my divorce. I know she was there for the birth of at least one of my children...maybe even two...it gets a little blurry. So if I had to be dealing with anyone there, I'd want it to be her.

I was a little worried about the predicament, and I told her that maybe we should both think of some options overnight and I'd call her tomorrow to see what we could come up with. She agreed.

About an hour later she called me back and she had talked it over with her boss and some other "bosses" there, and she knew that originally I really had my heart set on being married at Monterey. She said that they decided since it was their mistake and in order to make the best for everyone, why didn't they (Sunset) just pay for us to be married at Monterey. That way SIBI gets what they need and we get what we really wanted.

Wow, wow, wow...I was speechless! I'm still speechless. I'm sooo incredibly grateful, and I could tell S was so happy that they were able to do that for us. I really struggled with words for to say to her. Thank you didn't seem like enough.

So there you have it...the wedding is at Monterey. Fortunately it hadn't been booked, but it is now for January 23rd for us!

We truly are sooo blessed!

My Frame of Reference

I apologize if sometimes I seem like I'm coming from left field. I say a lot of things that either are or aren't happening in my world. I've been given a lot of opportunities for my frame of reference to be opened up and experience new things. It's been really neat, and God's blessed me through that.

I've spent a lot of time watching people and seeing how their choices affect them for good and bad. For some of those people, they take responsibility for those, some don't. Some of those people had really difficult childhoods, but they didn't allow that to be the reason for their bad choices; some did.

I look at my kids, my daughter in particular, who really struggles sometimes and has a lot lately. She would love to blame this person and that person for why life is hard; I can't let her. I won't let her. As much as I would love to make life perfect for her, I would be doing her a great dis-service in doing that. God is giving her a story too, but she has to make the choice to play a part in it. So far in my short parenting career, that lesson has been the most challenging one for me.

Life sucks...and it's your fault.

I find blaming others for the bad choices you make or have made in life one of the most annoying and hurtful character flaws.

Yes, life sucks sometimes. We all get flat tires, have a bad hair day, get laid off, get the flu...you fill in the blank, but that's life. It doesn't bypass any of us!

I find it incredibly hard to teach a child that yes, you might have gotten the short end of the stick, but you can't use that as an excuse for bad choices. There's a fine line between being sensitive and indulging a child who has been hurt. On one end, I'm defensive and would love to protect my child in the way I see fit (which might not be the godliest way) and on the other end I have to apologize to them and say I'm sorry you've been wrongly hurt, but you also have a choice in what you do with the lemons God gave you.

That's an equally tough lesson to teach adults too. Especially those adults who their entire lives have been blaming this person or that person for why their life sucks. It can become such a hard habit to break.

There is power in a choice, extreme power. You always have a choice, always. Choices have consequences, but there is a huge blessing with choices. Especially those choices grounded in seeking God's path.