My favorite picture

This is not my favorite picture from this soccer season...even though it shows amazing Coach Jason, wonderful Coach Colleen, and Madi and her soccer team with their winning trophies.

As in season's past, Madi played both Saturday games of the tournament. But she chose not to play on Sunday. And though she's made the same decision for every tournament since first grade, it doesn't seem to get any easier. The feeling that her team needed her and her loyalty to them has only grown stronger over the years. But, though Madi LOVES soccer and her team, she loves Heavenly Father even more.

That's why this is one of my favorite pictures...
And this one... (Thanks to Shaun Maher - photographer extraordinaire - for capturing these moments!)
You see, Madi and I drove to the soccer field after church on Sunday. We arrived just in time to watch the last two minutes of the final game. And it was a nail-biting close game (2-1). When the ending whistle blew, Madi threw her orange flip flops to me (they would have slowed her down), and sprinted across the field, barefoot, to congratulate her team. When her teammates saw her coming, they ran to meet her and encompassed her in a huge hug. The scene got all blurry for me. To watch my daughter win is one thing. To watch my daughter make a good, but really hard, decision is another. But to watch my daughter be accepted, surrounded by her teammates, her friends - oh what a joyous moment.

And then there's this picture...
The girls spontaneously linked their arms and walked like this to the end of the field where they received their trophies. I don't have to tell you how symbolic this picture is. Suffice it to say, it is my favorite picture of the season.

All good things

Today, two said goodbye to first grade. And I said goodbye to Mrs. Chunta who has been the first grade teacher to four of my children. That is a big deal to me. So with plastic leis around our necks we dined on fruit kabobs. I watched as Meya bounced around the room passing out goodbye hugs like candy. Then Mrs. Chunta announced that the books they'd been writing for the past two months had arrived "fresh off the press from the publisher!" And I sat in a small, first-grade chair and listened to my children read their books to me.

Today, Madi said goodbye to fifth grade...and Hamilton Elementary School. Oh the celebration! (This school may be small in population, but it does everything BIG). There was the 5th grade skating rink party on Tuesday, the pool party on Wednesday, and the graduation ceremony with "Pomp and Circumstance" playing in the background. We pulled Leasie out of her 3rd grade class so she could watch her sister.
And I'm left feeling so grateful to this place and to the people who have molded my children's lives. Mrs. Kessler was a brand new teacher to Hamilton this year, and I confess, I was skeptical. But she turned out to be exactly what Madi needed. She was fun. She LOVED science and math and made it cool. (She even kind of looked like Madi.) She was a great teacher and an even better role model.
How could I not get teary as I looked at Madi with her group of friends? She's been with five of these girls since Kindergarten! They are so grown up and beautiful - all of them!
Yes, I'm sad to leave Hamilton. Yes, I'm worried about what the future holds for my children. And yes, I wonder if what we're doing is the right thing for them. But, here's what I do know. With all the learning, friendships, firsts, and lasts, there was a lot of good in this goodbye. This has been a good place. My son's smile on the last day of school says it all.

Breathe In, Breathe Out

Deep breaths. That's what I need. We've been on a whirlwind of getting all things ready for our next adventure. It started with the house. We decided that as long as we were getting it ready to rent, why not try out the housing market and put it up for sale?

We pulled long 16 hour days painting, cleaning, sorting, de-junking, gardening, and hauling. We made late-night dumpster runs. And many friends came to our aid as painters, cleaners, and the all-important moral supporters. We enlisted the help of both grandpas - they spent one afternoon together painting Tman's room and the hallway. Then Grandad came an extra week to help replace light fixtures, replace basement windows, and tons of other projects.

But the house looks great! (All those projects I swore I'd do the first year we moved here, are finally done.)

And in the meantime, life is whizzing by. Tman and Leasie ended their soccer season. Tman emerged as a talented soccer player (and he literally smiled almost every second he was out on the field). Leasie, the tallest member of her soccer team, enjoyed the social aspect as well as the competitive aspect of the game. She was a solid player and a stand-out goalie, making some excellent saves!

The girls and I completed our run of Scarlet Pimpernel. I loved crying together with them during the prison scene, singing with them during "Madame Guillotine," and watching them throw flowers during the wedding scene. Madi ended up being indispensable as my backstage costume helper.

We've become pin-cushions with all our shots. I just had my 7th and 8th shot yesterday.

And the passports are in process.

Life surges forward. And I'm left trying to catch my breath each day. Even though the kids have one week left of school, summer is here with strawberries and blueberries. We've had our first cook-out, eaten our first berry pie, and taken our first barefoot walk.

Here's to one more month of stuffing our life full of preparations and parting memories.

A Reunion and my First Goodbye

A decade ago I was a new mom. And I was as neurotic and protective and clueless as most new moms are. But I had something quite special...a group of wonderful women who were all new moms. We set up playdates, ran a thriving joy school, and most of all, just relied on each other as we all tried to figure out this new life experience.

During that time of my life, both my husband and I were in graduate school. We were poor. We shopped at Aldi's and consignment stores. "Eating" out was a trip over to a friend's house for dinner. But for the most part, all of us (this group of new moms) were in the same situation. And so we called each other about sales, congratulated each other on thrift store finds, and planned dinner dates on a regular basis.

I look back on this time as one of the best in my life.

This week I made a quick trip down to DC to visit one of these dear moms. We're both veteran moms now and our lives are much different. I have such a tender place in my heart for this woman, because of everything we went through together in those crazy early years.

We talked and talked as CJ ran through the museum to her heart's content. It was wonderful to laugh about our first-year-mom mistakes, commiserate about recent heart aches, and celebrate successes. And when it was time to go, I shed tears. It was my first official "goodbye" before our family leaves for Indonesia.

I have been blessed with good friends through my life. And I am so grateful.

Liberty

She took my breath away...this Lady Liberty, standing tall and proud on the water.

We climbed all 156 steps (Meya counted them outloud) to the platform beneath her feet. We looked up at the massive book, the torch, her generous hand. I tried to imagine what it was like for those thousands of people who came from all over the world, seeking freedom, and seeing her for the first time.

And I was grateful--grateful in an awe-struck way. Grateful for my freedoms and my liberties, which (though cliche to say) I take for granted much too often. I read a quote in the museum and have not been able to forget it, "Liberty is not doing what you want, it is the desire to do what you can."

The city spread out before us, the skyscrapers miniature from our perspective. And I think my children caught a glimpse of the magnitude of their incredible fortune to be born in this land of freedom.
And for that, I am also grateful.

A Day of Possibilities

We purposefully left the day completely unplanned. I explained to the girls as we drove into the city, "The day is like a blank page just waiting for us to fill it up!"

With Karen's encouragement, we went on a GREAT DOUGHNUT QUEST which led us to Chelsea. I dropped off Karen and the girls at The Doughnut Plant and circled the block (I was only honked at once!) Karen came back to the car with a cardboard box holding a baker's dozen. The first one I tried (yes, I tried more than one) was their most popular creme brulee. They "torch" them so that there is a crunchy crust before the soft dough. And the filling! Oh. My.

My other favorites (yes, I tried more than two) were the coconut with coconut cream filling, the strawberry one with fresh strawberries in the frosting, and the chocolate which was like biting into a moist, chocolate cake (okay, okay, I tried five different doughnuts!).

Now I like doughnuts and have enjoyed my fair share of them throughout my life. But these doughnuts were amazing - truly. "Gourmet" doesn't do them justice. They were so good that I will go out of my way to return to The Doughnut Plant the next time I'm in NYC.

Here's Karen echoing all of our sentiments: "These are SOOOO good!"

The day was too beautiful to not go to Central Park. The girls jumped, slid, and climbed all over the giant rocks. Madi commented, "I remember them being...bigger." Ahhh, she's three years older and much more grown up. But they all managed to enjoy themselves immensely.
My wish list item? Watch the Tartan Parade on the Avenue of the Americas. My Scottish roots made my soul soar as I listened to the bagpipe music. Men in kilts - am I the only one who finds them sexy? And our favorite site...the street full of Scottie dogs.
We hadn't planned on seeing a show. But by the afternoon we decided to try our luck at the Wicked Lottery. At 5:30pm the odds were NOT looking good. There were over 100 people entered in the lottery with only 13 lucky names to be drawn. We crossed our fingers and I'm sure a couple silent prayers were uttered. Name 11 to be chosen: MEYA!! We whooped and hollared! It was so perfect that for Meya's first time in NYC, hers was the name chosen. We made a quick decision. Karen and Meya went to see the show (front row for $26.25 each!).
Which left Madi, Leasie and I with decisions and possibilities. We decided to try to find a good deal for a show. We went to three different box offices looking for last minute deals, we rushed to the TKS window, and finally with only 10 minutes till show time, we went back to the Phantom box office. The nicest man with a head of distinguished white hair, checked and checked looking for three open seats. Finally he gave me a deal I couldn't refuse...front row seats at the cheapest ticket prices in the house. Yes, on the front row, we saw the chandelier fall, we saw the tears on Christine's face, we made eye-contact with handsome Raoul, and we saw the spit fly. It was wonderful!
A couple more memorable moments/quotes:
* Madi: "We're pottying our way through NYC!" (yes, I think we visited every public restroom in the city).
* The salad lunch at Rockefeller plaza was nothing short of divine!
* Me: "Now if we could just hear the organ" (the St. Patrick cathedral organ began to play "You Raise me up"), Karen: "Now if only we could hear someone sing" (a soloist began to sing). Miraculous!
* Three girls asleep before we reached the Lincoln Tunnel.
* Karen and I sneaking a few more bites of doughnut on our drive back to the hotel.

That blank page? We filled it up front and back until there was no room left.

NYC 2011!!

DAY 1
Three years ago Madi, Leasie, my dear friend, Karen, and I traveled up to NYC for a girls weekend. I was pregnant with CJ and sooo sick. We basically ate our way through NYC. But in spite of the sickness, we had such a good time that we planned, saved, and determined to go again.

Here we are ready for the five hour drive. Now let me just say, the drive was great fun. Karen and I told stories, the kids laughed, we found a Panera Bread in Allentown just when we needed it, and we didn't even turn on the DVD player until the last hour and a half.

We all came to NYC with a wish list of to-do items. Meya was the first to check one off her list: go round and round through a circular door.
The American Girl Store--ahhh the joy! The girls had saved their money and with a little extra cash from Grandma (thank you Grandma!), they ohhed and ahhed and painstakingly made their purchase choices. There were customers there who were picking out dolls and entire wardrobes for their children (it always floors me!). But I dare say, my girls were just as grateful and thrilled about their selections, if not more so.
The dinner was better than I remembered (but of course, last time I was sick!). The warm, buttery cinnamon rolls, the lovely crudite platter, the tilapia on a bed of spinach and brown rice, and the dainty dessert plate with our favorite chocolate mouse flower pot. One thing I had forgotten was the incredible NOISE level. Wow a room full of happy, squealing girls creates an ear-splitting decibel level. Karen commented, "It's like we're at a Lady Gaga concert!" Indeed!
There was only one member of our party who did not fare so well. Poor Molly. In Meya's enthusiasm for the dinner, she had difficulty sitting still. Which meant that Molly tumbled from her chair, not once, not twice, not even three times...but FOUR times. Molly ended the dinner terribly disheveled. (I laughed so hard, I cried.)