Balloon Festival!

Okay, so Kelly was a bit grumpy when I told her that I wanted her to get up at 5:30 on one of the only two days of the week that she gets to sleep in. Still, I managed to get the four kids plus our sleep over guest, Sydney, to get up early and be to the Clovis Rodeo grounds by 6:15. We walked onto the grounds and saw trucks and balloons in various stages of readiness. The kids were saying...well, this is exciting...with sarcasm dripping from their lips. That was the case til someone hit the burners on their baskets, breaking the dawn with the sound of rushing fire. All the kids were hooked from that moment on. As fans turned on to blow air into the balloons, the grounds began to look magical. The kids peeked inside of inflating balloons, Kelly snapped pictures excitedly, the sky began to lighten and suddenly, all around us were balloons. Not quite on par with what I saw when I went to the Albuquerque balloon festival, but still fun and amazing. We all had a great time, and came home to donuts (<> - I know....bad mom). And the best part? The Balloon Festival was FREE!!

And Here's a Message from Our Advertisers.....

Who knew my next post would be a commercial? Yet when I saw this Thai pantene commercial, I thought, wow!! It literally moved me to tears. I couldn't help but pass it along. Talk about overcoming adversity, and finding something within yourself that is stunning! I pray that each of us never gives up on our dreams...we all have a spark of the divinity in us....let it shine!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um9KsrH377A

Unabashed Jonas Fan

My little Laine just adores the Jonas Brothers. So imagine her shock and throes of excitement when she was invited to attend their concert here in Fresno by her best friend, Sydney, as a late Birthday present. She could hardly wait and kept asking, when do we leave? Can we go now? Mom, how much longer!?! Then, they were invited to go back stage (one of the benefits when your best friend's mom happens to be the mayor, I guess.) where they had their photo taken with the Jonas Brothers. Laine was bouncing off the walls when she came home and looked like she was going to faint when she told me that Kevin had his arm on her shoulder during the picture. LOL So cute. :-)

Late photos of Kelly's 8th grade graduation

(((sigh))) I admit it. I'm a bad mother. We have been so busy this summer and with all of our computers down frequently, I just haven't been blogging. Here are some photos of Kelly's 8th grade graduation!

Camping at Soquel Creek

Last week we decided to go camping! We took our new tent, Erin & Nick, and lots of water with us. The campground is over 5000 feet in elevation, nice and cool, and has a creek nearby that the kids had a blast in. The best part is it's only 45 minutes away. Here are some photos of the adventure. We have others, but since they are on Nick's camera....LOL The next day we went up to Yosemite and played in the Merced River and hiked up to the Bridal Veil waterfall. It was fun, but very busy there.

New Puppy

We were blessed with a new puppy this summer...and she keeps blessing my floors, too. We call her Syrah. We inherited her from an elderly couple in our ward who couldn't keep her...they inherited her from family members who couldn't keep her, and that family had adpoted her from the SPCA. So she has some habits that need breaking, but she's a very sweet and docile dog most of the time. She's a beagle mix (Kelly calls her her bagle) and she's best friends with our cat. I'm thinking of having her teeth filed so she'll stop chewing through her leashes. Just kidding...I wouldn't do that. Besides, I'm lucky that her leashes and toys are the only things she seems to chew. She's a good companion for Abby, but I worry that they play a bit rough, so I'm trying to break that habit, too. She'll pee on the pad and outside, but if she has to go number two and we don't get her out on time, she'll do it anywhere. (sigh) Beagles are notoriously hard to potty train, but I've been known to be pretty stubborn myself. :-)

Sierra Endangered Cat Haven

The kids and I had a great time visiting the Sierra Endangered Cat Haven. It was amazing! The walking tour was very informative and fun, despite the hottest temps we've had in the area. I had a few favorites....I loved the Snow Leopard (who apparently in the wild is so afraid of people that you can pull her by the tail and she'll just run away), and the lion, as well as my personal favorite, the Tigers. I have to admit that all of the 24 exhibits were pretty cool.

The funnest part was as we were looking at the young 400 pound lion, who still has 200 more pounds of growth before he's considered full grown. He refused to come down for proper viewing. The docent asked who was the youngest/smallest in the group. That happened to be Johnny. She took Johnny by the hand and walked up the path by the cage. As soon as the lion caught sight of Johnny, he was instantly alert, and three seconds later had reached the side of the cage in just a few leaps. He then followed Johnny down the path toward the crowd, and we all got to see him up close. He didn't take his eyes off of Johnny the whole time, and laid down by the front of the cage where Johnny was standing.

We loved the tigers, too...they were very playful and played hide and go seek with the keepers. They are such beautiful animals. We learned a lot, and now all of us wish we could afford the $6000 price tag to go on safari with this group...they take people every year. ((sigh)) Maybe when I get rich and famous.

Pinewood Derby Delight

Hooray! Johnny's turning 8 on Saturday and he got to participate in his first Pinewood Derby! He selected a design, sanded it (boy, does he love to work the sandpaper!), painted it all black, added some blue designs, and put the wheels on. Then he borrowed Joe's old scout shirt and eagerly went to weigh in his little car.

It was fun to see how excited the kids were. My own children were excited to see Johnny's car race. All in all, it was a study in opposites. There was order and chaos, happiness and disappointment.

I enjoyed watching Johnny get into it. He analyzed the tracks to see which one was faster. He watched to be sure his friends' cars were winning, but not TOO well, because he himself wanted to win. He eagerly ran to put his own car on the track, and watched me as he ran back to make sure I was watching. It was WAY too cute.

At the end of the contest, Johnny's car had won twice and lost twice. He won the "Best of Show" award, 3rd place. And he ate two cupcakes, a candybar and several cookies. I think he's looking forward to being in Scouts!

As a side note, I asked him this morning if he wanted to stick with just a family party after the baptism, or if he wanted to have a friend party next week sometime. He misunderstood and thought I meant he had to choose one or the other. Before I realized that, though, he told me that he really, really wanted to do the baptism thing. When I finally got it, it brought tears to my eyes that he would rather be baptized than have all his friends over for a party. How sweet!!!! When I told him he could have his friends over AND still get baptized, that I really just wanted to know if he wanted a friend party this year, he was very surprised.

Yup, I've got a good one here. :-)

Moments that take your breath away

Wow, I guess it's been a while since I posted on this thing. Maybe it's time to make an entry!

Do your kids ever argue? It seems like all the people at my church have kids that have never argued. I used to think (before I was a mom) that MY children would never fight because I wouldn't LET them. I used to think that we would all keep our cool and be kind and gentle with each other. Then I had kids. Admittedly, the kids get along most of the time. Maybe even 90% of the time. But that 10% really gets to me!!! I have had a desire to increase peace and love in our home. Has it worked? It hasn't felt like it. It seems like I'm always herding cats when it comes to curbing contention. You just get one situation resolved and the next cat fight breaks out! Yet there are moments when I realize just how much my kids DO love each other. This last week, I've had a couple of those moments that reminded me that these children will eventually turn into human beings at some point; a few moments that took my breath away.

The first one was a few weeks ago. My son Joe is rather unique. He long ago gave up trying to fit in and has become really comfortable in his own skin. (We've lately been having some discussions about trying to fit in just a little more, since he's maturing and eventually has to fit in to a certain extent!) He's funny, energetic, focused on the typical super-smart, pre-teen things (boogers, things that make girls gag, things that blow up, the latest science fiction story), and as likely to break into poetry or song as the actors in a musical. He and his sisters ride the bus together, and his older sister Kelly is generally unhappy with Joe's rather unusual behavior. The other day, I dropped just Kelly and Joe off at the bus stop and took Laine with me to her school. As we were pulling away, Joe was dancing and singing (likely some really gross song, or the Smekday Calendar song, or something like that) in front of a horrified looking Kelly. All of a sudden, Laine laughs in a really tender way and says, "I really like Joe! He's so sweet and funny, and I like how he doesn't care what other people think. He's always himself. I wish I was more like him." This from my little socialite who is everyone's best friend. It really warmed my heart!

The next thing happened a few days ago. First, you have to know that Kelly and Johnny don't exactly get along. They have very similar personalities, and the less time Kelly and Johnny spend together, the more peaceful it is at home. Some days, I am convinced that they dislike each other so much, that it almost could be called hate. So imagine my surprise and joy when the following happened: I dropped Johnny off at school, and he was walking toward the sidewalk that takes him up to his school. He has to cross the exit that all the cars come out of before he gets to that sidewalk. I have taught him to put his hand up as he crosses, to make himself more visible as he does so. On this particular day, I was distracted with other kids in the car as he was making his way, and I happened to look up to see Kelly frantically rolling down her window and sticking her head and shoulders out, yelling at her brother to put his hand up as he crossed the driveway. Apparently he had forgotten. I was almost speechless. I watched as she smiled with relief as he put his hand up and marched across the driveway, and listened, amazed, as she said, "He almost forgot! He's so cute. I don't want him to die." Love, Kelly style. It takes my breath away. :-)

Then this morning! I dropped off the kids as usual in front of the school. Apparently Laine and Joe sit next to each other on the bus pretty often. When the kids got out of the car, Joe was a little ahead of Laine, and he turned around to wait for her. As she approached, he reached out his hand, and I watched with tears in my eyes as the two kids walked hand in hand to catch the bus. How sweet!!!!

Ahhh! These are the moments that remind me how much I love being a mom. There's hope for us yet, don't you think?

The Skies Above, The World Below

Call me weird, but I love the skies. I love to see the clouds move across them. I love to see them illuminated by light in front of them or behind them. I am entranced with the sun and moon and stars. I revel in sunsets and sunrises (the few I actually get my butt out of bed for, anyway). To me, the drama of the skies is a regular reminder of 1) how small I am, 2) how great God is and 3) that I'm really not putting my best effort into being the finest human being I can be. It humbles me!

My kids sometimes tease me because when I come back from my travels, if I've even remembered to take any photos at all, usually what I have is a bunch of pictures of the skies. This last weekend, I traveled to the Home Instead Senior Care leadership conference, where the Home Instead Senior Care Foundation has it's annual in-person board meeting. It was in the Cayman Islands, on Grand Cayman in the Caribbean. There, the skies were beautiful, the weather perfect, and the company outstanding. The owners of the company wanted to go someplace special this year because it was their 15th anniversary of starting the company, and they were offered a fantastic deal to take their large group to the Ritz Carlton. I never in my life thought that I would be staying at a Ritz Carlton, but there I was, hanging out in a place where everyone knew my name and my every request was handled quickly and with extreme professionalism.

Here's an image of the hotel, with a beautiful blue sky and some fast moving clouds as a backdrop. The Cayman Islands have workers from all over the world. Esther, the woman who did my nails, was from Nairobi, 25 years old and an expert in making guests at the Ritz feel and look beautiful. She has 4 siblings and her parents who all live in Nairobi. She can only work on this island for 7 years before she must go back for at least a year. She noted that there were people from Africa, Asia, Europe, the United States and many other places working at the Ritz.

While I was there, the moon was showing off, shining 30% brighter than at any other time according to what I heard on the telly (that's what they call the television there). It looked so huge up in the sky. See, it's not just the daytime skies that attract my attention....I love the night skies, too. I was really in awe of it. I tried to take some pictures of it with my camera. When I used flash, the picture didn't turn out well, so I tried to take a picture without flash. The picture you see here is grainy, and there was a nice effect caused by something on my lens, I guess. Proof that I need to really figure out how to take decent pictures with my camera at some point!

While I was in the Grand Cayman, I was able to see some very good friends of mine from my Home Instead days. It was great to see the people from the corporate office, who all feel like family to me, as well as my friends who are former or present owners of franchises. We were talking about our blessings and the various things that challenge us. It's amazing how these individuals have helped me through my life and continue to be such an inspiration to me. They are dear to my heart, just like Home Instead will always be.

On the last day before I left, I was treated to an

especially beautiful sunset. I think God was having a particularly good day that day!

I was sad to leave my little getaway, but very glad after 16 hours of travel that I was able to get back to see my children. I always miss them when we are apart. When we are driving or traveling together, I always point out the skies to them, and we discuss what it will be like to have the world be perfected someday. We just can't imagine how it could be more beautiful than it already is. But then, we can't imagine the richness of the blessings God has in store for us if we just keep our eyes looking upward. I need to have my focus directed upward a bit more often, I think. Love you all out there!!!!!!