Tulip time again

We took our annual tulip photos again a few days ago.  These are a few of my favorites.

On my thirty second birthday

On my thirty second birthday I am grateful. I am happy, truly happy in who I am becoming. I am blessed to have amazing family. I have, hands down, the best parents anyone could ever hope to have. Have we had trying times? Of course. We have had health scares and much time apart over the years, which did more to point out how lucky I am than anything could. My Mother has never not seen me on my birthday. This includes college years when I lived three hours away and when I lived in Tennessee and she surprised me by showing up at my front door. Amazingly supportive and always there to answer all my questions or to just be with me. I don't think she really gets how much I appreciate and look up to her. My Dad is just as outstanding, in completely different ways. He has been my running partner through the training for my first half marathon, and although he has been running much longer (he has completed ten marathons) he stays with me when we run. I value this time so much because it is uninterrupted, quiet time together when we can work out problems, make plans, and sometimes sing to get through it. He is always very analytical, trying to help me work out whatever needs working on, and has become much more patient as the grandchildren have multiplied! I have been very fortunate to have such giving, understanding, supportive parents. Will. I met Will when I was 18 years old, my freshman year in college. I called my best friend the day I met him and told her I had found the Man I was going to marry. She told me in no uncertain terms that she would not be attending the wedding because there was no way I could know he was the right one! As it turns out, I was right and he is. We have been through a lifetime of things in a relatively short period of time, and it hasn't always been pretty, but he is a wonderful husband and father. I have no doubt in my mind that he is the one I was meant to be with. He has been so supportive of my running, and always gets up with the girls on my long run days so I can go early. He gives me time for myself when he knows I need it, and even when I don't, so I can feel like me.
Lilly Allie and Maya. These girls are my heart. I have such a fierce love for them. They are the best girls In the world. They are caring and thoughtful and loud and loving and amazing singers even though the songs they sing may not be so appropriate (lots of Mommy's music influence), they are protective of each other, they take the time to include each other, they torture each other all in good fun, they love to be in the sun, to chase the ice cream truck and can't wait to go swimming again this summer. They are proud of me for my running, and have no idea that I am slow. They ask me all the time if I am going to win my races. They are the sweetest, coolest, most amazing kids out there (and I know I am biased, but it's true!).
I am happy in this life I have been given. I am lucky. I am blessed. I read an article about a Mom who instead of saying "I have to do..." started saying,"I GET to do..." and I have started doing that. I GET to go running, I GET to buy food for my family, I GET to do all the things in my life. I try to remember there are places where Mothers would love to be able to wait in line at the pharmacy (if there was one) for medicine that would heal their children. Who would weep with joy if they had access to the resources that I am lucky enough to have. I try to think of those moms on the days when I feel burdened and it helps me to feel lighter. I will live this thirty third year as a more grateful person, because I am. I am happy and lucky and grateful and blessed.

Unexpected

I guess I never realized how odd little kids who are in the process of losing and regrowing teeth look. Lilly has been at it for about a year now, and several friends of ours came over today and a few of the kids are going through it too. They are a snaggletoothed looking bunch, sort of shocking, the angles and sizes of some of these teeth! We never commented on any of the kids teeth other than talking about the tooth fairy coming to our friend's house last night. I was out when Will put the kids to bed tonight, and he said after brushing her teeth, Lilly looked up at him and said, "I look like I have a mouth full of corn!" and burst into tears. Now her teeth do not look like corn in any way, but she is terribly upset about it. I guess I should pull out the pictures of me and Will from second grade. Not cute. Then she can see everything will straighten out (with or hopefully without the aid of braces). So pitifully sad for her. Hopefully she will feel better about it in the morning. I'm sure this is just one of many beauty battles we will see over the next fifteen years...

Something little, big to us

When my girls and I go walking hand in hand we have a simple thing we do to tell the other we love them. It's the quick three squeezes for I love you, and four quick squeezes in return for I love you, too. I love that we have this and that we all use it so frequently. They have all been known to slip a hand in when someone else is talking ang they can't get a word in. I hope they always remember this.

Stars on ice

We had the good fortune of receiving 4 tickets to Smucker's Stars on Ice. Allthe girls love to ice skate and really liked the skating in the Olympics, so we figured they'd like the show. Will volunteered to take them (the show started at 7 pm, our kid's normal bedtime, so this was very brave of him), which meant I would get several hours by myself! I really wanted to make Ryleigh a birthday cake (she is four today! Where does the time go? I swear she was so tiny when she was born, her head was the size of an orange! She was especially tiny next to Maya who was born mostly a giant, but I digress). I love to bake and what a treat is it to bake uninterrupted. Ryleigh wanted a vanilla cake with strawberry frosting. One of my favorite things to make from scratch is cake, so I was happy to do it. We ended up with a four layer pink cake with strawberry buttercream frosting, which she promptly swiped her finger through upon arrival to the house (after receiving full permission from Maya!). We will also be going out for burritos for lunch as per Ryleigh's request. Anyway, back to the Daddy daughter adventure; We really talked up the skaters, telling the kids they are the best in the world and that they can do all these amazing tricks, blah blah blah. I get a text from Will about 7:15 that reads;
"This iz what I am dealng with so far. The 4 year old: (loudly) look no flips you said flips. The skater performs a huge move. Maya: that is not a flip

Then a female skater bags it and I swear to Christ ally shouts daddy you said they were the best. The best. She just fell!"

Apparently they were not impressed at all. He ended up bringing them home at intermission (they thought it was the end). Lilly really liked it, and wants to go again, but the other two, not so much. They went to McDonald's after, which was much more exciting than the whole show, because they each got Toothless, the best dragon from the dragon movie in their Happy Meals. All in all the night was a bust, but Will said the people sitting behind them at the show were thoroughly entertained by the commentary Allie and Maya were giving, so there's that.

The best morning ever

I got up the morning to meet my Dad for a run. It has finally stopped raining and the sun was out. My alarm wasn't annoying, as I had used my phone's alarm, and I didn't have to drag myself out of bed. I had laid out my stuff the night before so there was no sock scramble. Will got up to shower as I was leaving, and he said happily,"take your time and be safe!" (after trying to coax me back into bed moments before). We ran along the water, four and a half miles and talked most of the run. The weather was perfect, and I love starting my day with my Dad. My legs were stiff from a run the day before, but the company made the discomfort less noticeable. When I got home I expected to have to cook breakfast and make lunches, but to my delight, Will had already made the kids breakfast. Bacon and eggs with toast! What treat on a school day, I usually make cereal or toast and yogurt! Then he told me to go take a shower and that he would pack th lunches. I happily showered and while I was in there, Lilly brought me a cup of coffee! It was perfectly made and delicious. I got dressed and came down finding everyone completely ready for school. No arguments, lost shoes or misunderstandings. This was the best morning ever, and ironically it's April fool's day...I hope that doesn't mean anything. It's amazing to me how the simplest things become the most amazing.