{ this moment }

~Tara

Maddie, the News Anchor

I visited the news room today to watch Maddie in action. The set up is quite complex for an elementary school news show production. I was allowed to stand in the corner and watch.

the official news desk

Miss Personality herself

in her element... in front of a camera

having fun

I was super impressed with how smoothly the girls produced the show and how comfortable Maddie was anchoring. I can definitely see her on our local news someday.

~Tara

{ this moment }

Register with the National Marrow Donor Program at bethematch.org. You could be the cure for someone who so desperately needs it. It's a simple process and an awesome act of kindness.

 

 

 

 

~Tara

First Day of School 2014

School started yesterday. We have a 5th grader and a freshman in high school. My mind cannot comprehend how that is even possible but it is. The day was a success for everyone. Maddie has had a sore throat for several days so she didn't feel 100% but she will be going to see the doctor today and hopefully she will be on the mend soon. Blake managed to find his way around without using his map of the school and he has already declared his Ag Science class to be his favorite. With mention of shooting skeet on the football field, getting to cut grass and weed eat, and working in the greenhouse, how could I expect any less.

Maddie had her debut on the news and it went well for a first day on the job. She's looking forward to having a fun time as an anchor.

I always have mixed feelings when school starts. I enjoy having a routine but I hate being swamped with homework and other things to do. Each year gets easier as the kids get older but I still tend to worry about how the year will go. I worry about academics and also all the social issues my kids can get mixed up in. I want them to feel comfortable at school, have friends (good ones), and have a positive experience in the classroom.  I'm trying to be more aware of just living today and not projecting worry onto tomorrow or the day after that or next week even. Today is all there is anyway. So here's hoping this year is a good one and that we grow closer as a family, grow in knowledge and maturity, and have a pretty fun time doing it...

~Tara

Making a Memory

We took a trip down the river this week. We had planned on doing it all summer and for one reason or another we hadn't been able to make it happen. Finally the weather and our schedules aligned and we decided it was the perfect time. We took a picnic and then set out floating. The water was quite cool and refreshing. It was slow going in few spots but we paddled and drifted and just relaxed. It was a nice day. There were a few good rapids that were fun. Some were more shallow and our tubes dragged across the rocks and pulled our plugs loose. At one point we were all standing in the middle of the river blowing our tubes back up. Thank goodness it was shallow. The trip took us 3 and a half hours and I got a bit too much sun. But overall it was a great time. We watched the birds, noticed flowers, and the beautiful blue sky. We stopped to swing off rope swings, jump in off rocks, and have fun. Once we were back home, Blake said we didn't even take any pictures of us tubing. Maddie answered back that not every single thing needs a picture taken of it. How true!! and how wise of her to recognize that and help me see it too. It was nice to be in the middle of a beautiful river with my family with nothing competing for any of our attention. Most any other time there are phones, ipods, TV, other people, jobs, chores, responsibilities, the next project, the next best thing. Usually I only feel a reprieve from these distractions when we are at the river or at the beach. I purposefully leave my phone (and everything else) at home to keep it from being lost or broken. I've been more aware lately of how important it is to spend time with my husband and my kids, giving them my undivided attention and making them feel just how important they truly are to me. I'm starting to think I have it backwards, maybe I should leave behind any distraction so that my family isn't lost or broken. Not everything that is a distraction is a bad thing, most are necessary to life really. The problem is when you don't balance it, the real life people fall by the wayside. I don't want that to be my husband or one of my kids, ever. Life is precious and short and I don't want to waste it on anything that takes away from my family. I want to have more memories that we have made simply because I took the time and cared enough to just experience that moment, not because I took the picture to document it. All the sweetest memories actually are kept in my heart anyway, and I don't need a picture to remember it. They are the feelings of being known, loved, accepted, important, and happy. No other thing, screen, photo, material object, possession, duty, or obligation means more than how you make someone feel.
So dump the distractions and get back to your life....it's waiting....

~Tara

Visiting Sadie

We went to visit Sadie earlier this week. Which is weird to say because we don't know which puppy will eventually become our Sadie.

 Roxy is such a good mama. She had the sweetest look in her eyes, like she was letting us know she was doing the best she could to take good care of her puppies. When we were holding one of them, she started to move the others around and clean them, like she was counting them and looking for the one we had.

This one Maddie affectionately called "Cream dot". They are identified by nail polish dots on their heads.

This is the same proud daddy face Bryan had when both our babies were born. Funny!!

Here's an up close of "Cream dot".

They were all so precious though, and of course, I picked, in my mind, which one was the cutest. And she turned out to be the runt of the litter. She won't be ours though because typically you want to select the biggest and healthiest puppies to train to be a hunting dog, which is what Sadie will be. In a few weeks when the puppies become more active and mobile, we will go back and pick the one we want. Maybe "Cream dot" is our Sadie.... only time will tell.

~Tara

Sadie's Birthday

Yesterday our sweet Sadie made her entrance into the world. I had accurately predicted that the puppies would be born on August 10 because of the full moon. There were 11 pups in all and now we just have to wait about 6 more weeks for her to be ready to come home. Yay! and I'm so nervous....

~Tara

Camping Trip

Bryan and the kids took a camping trip yesterday. It was on Maddie's No Bummer Summer List of Fun. She actually marked off most of the items on her list. I'd say that it will be a successful summer of fun.
They set up camp and couldn't find enough firewood that wasn't wet, so they had to come back to the house for dry wood. I went back in with them after I got home from work. The weather has been so cool for August, it's really hard to believe. It had rained up river because the water was muddy and this means the fishing won't usually be any good. That didn't stop the kids from trying. Once we were back at camp, I started to get the tent situated on the inside. That is what Mama's do. The batteries in the air pump died before I could get enough air in the mattresses. Bryan called dibs on the most inflated one. We took a while to get a good fire going but eventually did and prepped our dinner, campfire hobos.

hamburger, potatoes, onion, carrots...

rolled up into a foil pack...

and cooked over coals from the campfire..

 These are so simple but they are so good. You can hear them sizzling away in the fire. We never eat these at home because it's against the rules to eat camp food unless you are camping. Yes, that's a rule at our house!!
It started to rain while we were eating so we hurried and got in the tent. That lasted a few minutes until Blake and Maddie were bored and decided to roast marshmallows in the rain.
It's nice to get in the woods and relax. It seems like the world is shrunk down and that as far as you can see around you, that's all of the world there is. The sound of the river, the smell of the fire and the laughter of your kids, that's all that matters. Sweet memories for sure...

home away from home for a night

~Tara

Update on Sadie

We got an update on our unborn puppy Sadie this week.

 

Looks like we are T minus 2 weeks on her ETA. I admit to being nervous about getting a puppy. I've got a lot of preparing to do. 

~Tara

Hair

I'm not good at doing hair. I can do a simple braid and pony tail. Maddie and I watched a few hair tutorials and experimented with her hair.

 

This one is so cute but it makes her look so much older than she is. And her hair falls out of the bobby pins so easily.

From this side view, you can see how beautiful her hair color is. She doesn't realize how lucky she is.

She liked this double braid also but we couldn't get the bobby pins to hold well here either. I think a clear elastic holder would work better. Add those to the shopping list...

~Tara