YOUR Gonna Miss This… Moment… Week 21

 

Welcome to Week 21 of YOUR Gonna Miss This, Moments!   Hoping that many will play along this week!  For all the details, read this post.  Most important is that you write a post telling us about something you’ve missed, will miss, or even don't know if you will miss!   Use my button below to link your readers over to my blog.  Then link that exact post back here and add it to Mr. Linky.  Leave a comment, and go visit the other blogs that have played along, leaving them comments!  We all love comments!!  ;)

 

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Today is the third day in a row we have been out of school because of the winter weather!  Blowing, drifting, large amounts of snow… I confess.  I’ve been missing lots of moments because I have been frustrated with the whole thing.  I hate having my plans messed up and postponed, don’t you?  I miss my time to get things done.  I confess I’ve been less than embracing of these days.  Hoping that today will be better.  Praying today will be better.

I did brave the weather and go out driving both of the past two days.  Getting out of our lane proves the most difficult task!  The snow plow just keeps filling it back up after the neighbors clear it out! 

Yesterday, the boys were getting a little rowdy, (imagine that!)  James was bugging Zach.  Zach was howling… “MOOOOMMMMMM!!”  see the legs around Zach’s head, those belong to James.

My best defensive weapon on saving my younger son from my older son’s attacks, proved to be my camera!

So, James continued to torture his brother, with a blanket over his head, you know, to hide his true identity! 

 

I am sure, annoying as it is today, I will miss the days of them rolling around on the floor, torturing each other, screaming… yeah, there is something in that to miss… mostly just that it is all done in fun, and because they really do love each other and get along very well.  That, I am thankful for.  That I will miss, as these days pass…

But, remembering my new theme…

Don’t cry because it’s over… smile because it happened… –Dr. Suess

I’ll try to remember that today, when they do it all over again!!  ;)

Pam

Hi/Lo Thursday:Pray for me… Pray for others.

This post is part of "Hi/Lo Thursday" on the Riggs Family Blog. Check our their blog to read everyone else's "Hi/Lo" posts.

We participate in "Pray for Me... Pray for Others" on the Riggs Family Blog. Check out their blog to add your prayer request.

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Once again I find myself amazed and humbled by the Riggs family.  Their amazing faith amidst the trial of their daughter’s battle with leukemia.  And the grace they are receiving to reach out to others during this time.  They have started using their blog, and the traffic it is getting to reach out to others. To create a community of praying people.  Praying not just for them, but letting us pray for others, and giving us a place to meet and read other's prayer requests, and pray. 

I completely agree with the perspective that the Riggs family is taking on this.  I just wish I had done a better job of living that out in my own life over the past few years of intense trial.

I know that when I have managed to take my eyes off of myself and all the circumstances, it’s always been a blessing.  So, I invite you to join me in striving to take our eyes off of our own trials and pray for others too.

If I reflect on the past years, I remember a time that I got the chance to get on a plane and fly to be with a friend who was going through a trial.  I got to leave behind my circumstances.  Temporarily, remove myself from my own life.  I was blessed to sit with her, her friends and family through some trying days. 

I confess that before I left to visit her home, I wondered if I would have what it took to climb outside of my own muck and help her.  I found that I did.  And not only that, I found that the more I helped someone else, prayed for someone else, let someone else’s life take precedence over mine, the more blessed I was, and the easier it became.

Honestly, living out my daily life, I struggle with this.  My own home, responsibilities, children keep me from being actual hands and feet to another.  I think that is one reason why it was so nice to give to my friend.  I have been given so much here, to give some back felt so good.

Realistically, I can’t do much else in my daily life outside of praying for others.  I can give my time as I drive, cook, clean, fold laundry, or write to another to pray.  Sometimes it doesn't feel like much.  But, it is what I have to give.

Next week, I have the opportunity to visit my friend again.  I’ll get on a plane, spend a few days in her home… her trial rages on, as does mine.  but hopefully we can spend some time focusing on healing.  On hope, on the future.  I don’t really know where the trip will take us emotionally.  But, I know I will be blessed to leave my circumstances behind, in the hands of my capable parents and spend some time  my friend. 

Hi/Lo?

Lo:  Receiving news from my friend, mentioned above, that things didn’t work out in their circumstances the way we were praying that they would.  Hearing her heart break, feeling very helpless to be able to change anything, and feeling outraged at the way things were happening.

Not embracing the extra time with my kids this week as much as I should be.  Having a hard time appreciating having all our plans messed up and postponed… and knowing that this means some beautiful summer days in the first part of June we will be in school.  I haven't had the best attitude about that.

Hi:  Knowing I get to have a little vacation next week!!  And it is to a state that should be decidedly warmer than this one!!!  WHOO HOO!!

Seeing Zach’s team win the first game of the tourney by coming from behind on Monday night!  (this weather is messing up the next games!  I hope it doesn’t get pushed back into my trip time!!  NOOOO!!!)

Watching my kids play outside in the snow… and watching them wrestle around on the floor.

Visit the The Riggs Family blog to participate in their many new blog carnivals… and pray for the prayer requests, enter your own, and be blessed!

Pam

Wordful Wednesday

Leah

Plus Darien

equals… TROUBLE!

…their words… not mine!  ;)

Pam

I found a carnival to link up with for those of us having trouble keeping ourselves wordless on Wednesdays!!  Visit Angie @ 7 clown circus for more info!

I Heart Faces: Joy!

There is a new blog, called I Heart Faces, just for pictures of faces!  Check it out!  It’s a contest.  You have to post a picture that you have never posted before, and this week they have a theme, JOY!

Who better to feature that Miss Leah JOY!!

 Pam

A girl of many faces…

So, Leah FINALLY got to have her birthday party with her friends.  Kiahna told me, as I was making another cake for Leah, “it’s AllllWAaaYS Leeeeah’s biiirthday” 

Guess it seems that way when you are 4, and just learned that your birthday is in August, and you have no comprehension of when that is!  Sorry, baby, telling us all repeatedly you are 5 and that it is now August, does not make it so…

Miss K and Mr J were not invited to the big girl bash! 

I picked up Leah and her five friends, myself and another mom, took them to the big city, to an outside, covered, ice skating rink!  This has become a tradition for Leah’s birthday.  Not sure how many years now, at least 5? 

Last week we had to postpone the party, the ice rink wasn’t even open with the wind chills being well below zero. 

This was cold enough!  I can’t imagine how cold it would have been last week! 

After a couple hours of skating, we took them to Coney Island.  I had never been there, and it was a cultural experience, for sure!  A 95 year old tradition… and I never heard of it?  Why?

Coney Dogs, Coke in a bottle… and I am sure the only restaurant left in town to not take plastic, oh and local checks only (good thing they thought I was local enough!!)

So after we got home, she opened the gifts the girls brought her… I got the biggest laughs out of some of the faces she was making as she opened them!  I got some great shots of her!

And to show all her gifts, holding her alarm clock, her polka dot bag, polka dot robe, polka dot blanket, and striped hat, gloves, and scarf!

And yes I made cake… maybe I can make it look really impressive by some creative photography…

Humor me, and pretend you see that this is an ice skating pond with her name on it… and that that curly-q I tried to put on the end of her name doesn’t look like an extra “e”…

okay? uh-huh…

She was happy… that’s all that matters.  ;)

Pam

PS.  I wrote a new post called, “The Sunrise” over on my testimony blog "Standing"

Not Me! Monday.

Well…Our Charming Hostess, MckMama, sure ISN’T cruising the Caribbean this week!  She sure deserves a nice, quiet, warm vacation!  Hope you are having a blast MckMama, Prince Charming, and MckMuffin!

 

Okay so this is when I divulge all of the things that most certainly didn’t happen around here this past week… I don’t think I can come up with at least one per kid! 

 

Kiahna didn’t peel any wallpaper flowers off the wall of her and Leah’s bedroom while she was supposed to be napping this week.  Nope.

 

I am not just about finished trying to give Kiahna naps because she messes things up so often while she is supposed to be napping. 

 

Kiahna didn’t cover her shirt and pants with spaghetti sauce BEFORE even putting a bite into her mouth at lunch this week.  She wasn’t picking mushrooms out of the spaghetti.  Nope.  Not Kiahna.

 

 

Jadon and Kiahna didn’t make pictures for grandma, grandpa and their cousin Hallie… Kiahna didn’t glue a Triscuit on each one…

 

 

Jadon isn’t talking about when he grows up and gets to play ball… he doesn't’ love taking the court before and after the games to dribble the ball…

 

And when he realizes that the entire stands are watching him, along with his teacher… he never acts shy…or hides behind the ball.  Nope.

 

 

While checking Lucas math homework this week, I didn’t ask him what 2/4 reduces to, and he didn’t tell me one-twoths.  I didn’t laugh and thank him for providing a never ending supply of blog material for me!  He didn’t reply, with a “your’ welcome!”

 

 

Leah didn’t finally get to have her friends over for a birthday party on Friday night!

 

We didn’t have a blast ice skating! 

 

Half of Leah’s friends were not giggly and silly over Leah’s two handsome older brothers.  Nope.  And this is not a first for us.  Nope.

 

 

Zach didn’t tell his class at school that chili soup makes him throw up.  I didn’t fix it for him Sunday night, just to tease him because I wanted to see if he would really throw up, since I have never known him to do that!  Not Me!

 

Zach and his teammates didn’t make the FRONT PAGE of the local newspaper with their win last week!  NOPE!!  (this is small town America at it’s finest!  See I TOLD YOU it was a BIG DEAL!!)

They didn’t win another tournament on Saturday, by three points. 

Zach didn’t shoot his first free throws of the year on Saturday…

James didn’t tell me one night last week.  “Mom, you were completely right about…”  And I did not need treatment for shock.  Nope.  I hear that from my teenagers daily, don’t you? 

James’ relay team didn’t win by 100th of a second last week!  Nope!  No one was comparing that to a Michael Phelps race.  And Leah didn’t ask, “who’s Michael Phelps?”  ;)  Not Leah.

I didn’t tell James I think he should continue doing the backstroke, since I can get better pictures of him then!  Nope. Not Me!

Pam

YOUR Gonna Miss This… Moment… Week 20

Last week I unveiled my new button code for this carnival!  Here is it is again, and it is always on my sidebar (both of them!) for you to access.  Feel free to post it on your own sidebar, and to use it to link your post back to mine, if you are playing along with me!   Make sure when you link your blog to mine, you are linking the exact URL post and not just your blog in general.  If you are new to this, and have questions, check here first!

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This has been an interesting week.  I’ve healed a lot.  Learned a lot.  Grown a lot.  I had lunch this week with my friend and cousin, Mary.  She mentioned to me a quote that she had heard recently, and it had stuck with her…

“Don’t cry because it’s over.  Smile because it happened!”

Sure, I thought.  I like that too… and I went on, thinking I really should remember that, but probably will forget when I get home.

That evening we were at the school for a ball game, and in the hallway by the restrooms was a student created poster that said…

“Don’t cry because it’s over.  Smile because it happened!”   -Dr. Suess

Twice in one day.  Think “Someone” was trying to get me to take notice of that quote? 

My virtual friend Stacey @ Is There Any Mommy Out There wrote a very thought provoking post, Stop Thief this past week on basically that same issue.  Then Lori @ My Livin' Part of Life used a quote from the book The Shack, in her post Living in the Present… making me think again about how I live today without being obsessed with either the past or the future… such a hard balance.

So I am going to really work on even being more appreciative of the moments I am in, and not about them being over and what I am going to do then… because there is always something to every season to treasure.  To smile about…

Like I said earlier this week, watching Zach play 8th grade basketball is a blast!  These boys are good!  I struggle with the future, will the coach when they are freshmen put some of them up to JV and mess with the incredible chemistry these guys have going on?  Probably?  Are these the glory days for Zach’s basketball career (at least in the winning category, probably)  We are a small school… and our varsity team didn’t win once last season… this year they have won some… not that it is all about winning… My dad said, “AC may not win much, but they produce an awful lot of good people”.  I said, “Maybe that’s because losing builds character”  ;)

ANYWAY… ( I talk too much!)  Zach’s team is winning!  They beat a much bigger conference rival team a few nights ago by two points, and face them again on Monday night.  Should be interesting!!  I am so loving this season with him! 

How about a smile box?  There is some video in it, hope it works out so you can see it okay.  He is #24, normally in the center of my video screen.  The one doing the jumping!  I am curious how many steals this boy has had this season!  He doesn’t shoot the ball much, (he says the coach told him not to?) but he is an amazing defensive player!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Iam gonna miss this… But, I am going to smile because I am there.  I am not going to cry, (very much) when it is over…

Pam

Now, how about you… what do you have that you want to share with us!  Go visit all the blogs that share their moments, leave them lovely comments… and share the smiles!