In the moment, the joy of watching her play, and sweet 16.

Things I am thinking about:

How sometimes I have to choose to enjoy an experience rather than document it.  Lately everywhere I turn, every experience is being documented in some way by someone.  I think I miss out on some of the pleasure of being in the moment when I am distracted by my phone or my camera taking pictures.  I purposely did not take my camera to our youth group's DNow a couple weeks ago ... mostly because I wanted to BE THERE and not just BE THE PHOTOGRAPHER.  As much as I love taking pictures, don't get me wrong, it is so much fun ... but I want to be better about being in the moment sometimes.  It is the same way with blogging.  When I am in the blogging mode, I am often thinking, "This would be good to blog about" or "I should take a picture for my blog" rather than just living in the moment.  SO I have recently just been taking a break to enjoy life without my personal expectations and pressures getting in the way. It is kind of nice, actually. :)

I was reading an article recently, and I can't remember where it was or else I would share a link.  It was about how if you have kids playing sports, on the way home from the game we sometimes get caught up in analyzing the game or how our child played ... and the author said this often contributes to so many kids quitting sports at an earlier age.  Rather than doing a play by play of the game, we should tell them how much we love watching them play. Period.  Find our joy in their joy of just playing the game. I have thought about that a lot since then.  Ava plays on a soccer team, she likes it a lot but you know what?  The team is not that great, competitively speaking.  And yes, I know we are talking about six year old girls here, so I am keepin it in perspective.  However, irregardless of how they play, she loves it.  She has so much fun playing with the other girls.  Sure, they have never won a game.  She has never scored a goal in the game.  She told me last week on the way home, "It doesn't matter that we don't win.  It is about having fun."  I want her to get more out of the experience than just winning or losing.  I want her to learn how to win or lose gracefully, I want her to love the sport and love the experience.  And truly, I do love watching her play.  I want to communicate that to her every chance I can.

photo by Dona Gentry

In other news, Becca turned sixteen this month.  We had a fun night with a bunch of her friends, going to a drive in movie theater.  I love making sweet memories, and I want to soak in every minute with her ... college is coming fast enough. : /

Scenes from Nicaragua

My Guy

My guy is having a birthday.

I am one lucky lady.

I have a man who loves me.

He loves our kids.

He loves us in both words and in actions.

He takes care of his family.

Even if it means taking on an extra job to support us.

Not that anyone would ever know if he is overworked.

He does not complain.

When he has added responsibilities,

He just does it.

In a way that the rest of us are completely unaffected.

If I said that I adored him,

It would be an understatement.

He doesn't get so busy "doing ministry" that he fails to make family a priority.

He is intentional that way.

I don't mean to say that our marriage is easy,

because it isn't.

It takes work and effort.

But you know what?

There is no one that I would rather work

side by side

with.

Happy Birthday, Babe!

{40 looks good on you.}

Baby Maverick

 

Here is my niece, Autumn.  She had this adorable baby on January 30th.

 

I love a new baby! His name is Maverick Owen and he is so very sweet.

Little feet.  Can't get enough.

Here is Maverick's new big sister, Macy.  I think she has a big dose of the same sassy that Ava has.  Must be a family trait.












Of course it's March and I am just now posting pics. So typical. ;)

Chalkboard Wall

So here is a little something I did when I was bored one day.  I had a quart of chalkboard paint left over from some projects so I painted a random wall in the kitchen.  It is fantastic.  We use it for writing random notes, verses, quotes, planning out our summer schedule, chores, sight words and more.  It is messy most of the time and I wouldn't have it any other way.

PS: I love being able to schedule this so that while I am out of the country, blog posts can still be posted. :)