Reminiscing & Missing

I grew up in a fairly large family.  I have two brothers and two sisters.  I am the baby.  My mom called me the caboose.  (Insert eye roll here!)  I used to be soooo embarrassed by that, but I have overcome that....maybe!
Growing up as the baby, my sisters were eleven and ten years older than me.  We weren't super close.  I suppose we were when I was a baby; my mom says Sue basically raised me! Thanks Sue! 
Sharie and I fought a lot.  I think I was nothing more than the bratty little sister.  In fact, when she started teaching at my high school, we all thought it was going to be a disaster.  The funny thing is, she became my best friend.  I loved having her there with me.  It was fun being her student!  As we grew up, I got married and she had a baby (she was already married).  About 18 months later, along came Ruthie.  This just brought us even closer.  She was my go-to when I was having mommy issues.  She is a great mother.  We also started scrapbooking.  We would get together and have scrapbooking nights.  Or at least try!  Usually Simon and Ruthie would fight and our nights would end early or we would just get NOTHING accomplished.  I sure miss those nights.  
I was SUPER close with my brother Joe, who was and still is my hero.  Growing up, he was my EVERYTHING.  My world spun on his shoulders.  He hung the moon. I used to think he would love me more if I was a boy.  I wanted to do nothing but impress him.  He taught me to ride the bike up Denning Hill and hooped and hollered when I made it, making a scene.  He would walk me to the middle of the hallway where I turned left and he turned right and would give me a kiss on the cheek every day.  He was the best.  He helped me through our trying times, and was always there to threaten to beat up my boyfriends if they hurt me.  In fact, Randall was more scared to meet Joe than my dad.  He just knew how much Joe meant to me. 
Here's the issue-  Sharie and her family moved a few towns away; just a little over an hour away.  Sad to say, we don't make it there often enough.  I miss her dearly.  We were working for the same school district.  She transferred schools, which I don't blame her at all.  It seemed like we saw each other a lot more often b/c we would meet up to deliver certain things or just to say hi.  I miss that.  I feel like she is so far away.  I didn't realize how much I did need her.  Yes, I realize an hour away isn't that far, but we are all so stinking busy.
Joe also moved about 1.5 hours away.  He is raising two precious girls and our sweet Eli.  It absolutely breaks my heart to watch them grow up through photos.  Don't get my wrong, I am FOREVER thankful for technology for this sole reason.  It's just hard b/c I never dreamed either Sharie or Joe would be so far away.  I really miss the both of them. I miss their spouses and their children.  It's funny how you take so many things for granted.  Growing up in such a small town, I just never thought we would all be spread out over the state.  I miss them so much.  I am very lucky to have Sue and George close by though!  I love this!  I have just had a really difficult time lately dealing with not having Sharie and Joe nearby.  However, I am VERY thankful for the time that we do have together.  I am thankful for all my siblings, their spouses, and their children.  General idea here- don't take your siblings for granted.  Enjoy every single moment you get with them and treasure it.  Make time for them.  Love you all!

Ruthie, Haley, Alex, & Simon

Haley, Alexis, Ruthie, and Josie

Summer has begun!

Have I mentioned that I love summer time?  Well,  I DO!  I am off during the summers, thank goodness.  I love the fact that God allows me time with my precious kiddos!  The past few summers I have let summer pass me by.  I don't know what happened, but we didn't do much together.  This summer, I am fixing that!  I plan on being busy, but not too busy.  Perfectly busy.  I want to enjoy our time together!  So far that has meant ball games and the pool.  We are not going to let life pass us by!

Just sharing a few photos of our summer so far!  Let's just say my kids have been FILTHY and FULL OF JOY!

Enjoying the evening by coloring on the trampoline!

Randall and I on our 9th anniversary!

Um, nice get-up Randy!

Waiting to head to the pool!

Pouting b/c she was scared to jump of the diving board even though she did it a million times last year!

Playing ball with a tball bat, football helmet, and a small soccer ball!

LOVE this one!

Haley playing ball!

Pappy attempting to convince him to get in the pool!

He was NOT gonna get all the way in!

Al doing his crazy flips!

Enjoying an empty field before Hay Hay's game!

Simon doing his crazy flips too!

Enjoying a little dirt and sour candy at Hay Hay's game!

30/52 + GIRL Cousins Sleepover!

Summer has just flown by and I am struggling so much with the thought of Ruthie going into Kindergarten.  Man on man, I am NOT ready.  She is, 100%, but I am not.  Any ideas on how to help me get ready?  Seriously, anything will help. 

Here's my P52 photo for week 30. 

We had a GIRL cousin night the other night and it was sooooo much fun!  I never get to see my precious nieces from my brother.  I finally got to keep them both overnight!  Haley got to join us as well!  We had a blast.  We giggled, rode the four wheeler, jumped on the trampoline, sang songs, did fashion shows, ate good food, watched a movie, and the best part- we prayed together!  They are all such beautiful ladies!  I enjoyed every.single.minute.  It was hard to let them go back home.  Especially since they said they wanted to stay with me FOREVER!  Plus, I am the best aunt ever!  (That's what Josie said anyways....for that moment!)  This was honestly one weekend I will never forget.  I pray they don't either.  Here are some more photos from that weekend!

 On my piano, we spell out what we are thankful for.  Alexis put "families", Haley put "cousins", and Josie said she was thankful for ME!  So, I spelled out "Aunt Sadie" for her!  I was smiling from ear to ear and I still am! 

Lazy days of summer

What are you supposed to do on hot summer days?   Visit Grandmama & Pappy's pool of course!  We always have a blast!  The boys are constantly doing crazy tricks off the diving board, while my two kiddos play in the shallow end and relax.  Soooo thankful this pool isn't too far from my house.  To make it even better- our kids get some good G-mama and Pappy time!!!! 

My nephew Alex doing his crazy tricks!

 COUSIN time!!

 Randall's not too fond of the pool, but he doesn't mind a nice cool dip every now and then!

 Ruthie and her HayHay!

 My Randy boy being a turkey as always!

 Sunbathing while making "drinks" (Pepsi and Dr. Pepper) for everyone! 

My nephew Simon dancing on water!  Love this shot of him!!

Stop, Go, Stop, Go

That's my life, but I love it! Of course, I am feeling it this morning, but oh well. I am having a hard time keeping my eyes open!

Let's see....where do I begin?

We had so much fun this weekend! We had my nephew S stay the night Friday and attend our middle school dance. The kids had a BALL! Ruthie and Randy both ADORE S! Turns out, S has some MOVES! Saturday, we picked up my niece A b/c my brother J has been coming down to help out our parents on some weekends. This time he brought A! Ruthie was soooooo excited. A and Ruthie get along really well. Poor A was in the car all weekend long, but she was a good sport. We had my other niece A's, b-day party, just to leave that one and attend our friend J's b-day party. It was crazy, but so much fun! Sunday we attended church of course. We honored a man who is about to head back to the war. It was a very, very emotional service.

We had to drop of A after church b/c they were headed back to their house. A cried so hard and she made me cry. I miss having them close, but we will have to make an effort to visit them more often. A is such a sweet little lady and so much fun! We grabbed flashlights and as soon as Randy was asleep Saturday night, we snuck outside and we jumped on the trampoline. I sometimes think she only likes us for our trampoline!

All and all, we had a fun-filled cousin weekend. This weekend got me thinking about how much time I have off during the summer, and how little time I spend with my nieces and nephews. I really think that I want to try to do some sort of cousin camp......

See, cousins were a HUGE part of my childhood. I have 2 older sisters and 2 older brothers. My brother J was closer to me in age, so we were closer growing up. This might get hard, but I feel as though I need to explain what cousins mean to me.

We had a cousin named Eli. (You can read some about him here) See, Eli was everything to me. He was my favorite person in the world. I think J and I shared that. I used to think that if I was a boy like Eli, J would have loved me more. Cousins were a very important part of my life. I can only dream that Ruthie and Randy can have cousins like I did growing up. I truly think that I need to step up and be the aunt that always has my nieces and nephews over. I want to have a close relationship with them and I want Ruthie and Randy to have a close relationship with them as well. I had an awesome aunt teach me how to be an awesome aunt. I hope that I can be fun like she is. I could write on and on about how much Eli and M meant to me. I so want that for my kids.

Wondering and hoping

The future. I find myself thinking about the future a lot lately. Mainly b/c I look into my daughters eyes and know that time is going by so fast, it will never slow down. I do find myself worrying quite often b/c of things happening around here, bad things. I worry for her. But, what's most important is what is happening with her NOW. We have to teach her right, show her the way, and let her know that God is always with her. I can honestly say she loves the Lord. She is always talking about Him and she loves to pray for others. She has such a soft, soft heart.

Here's an awesome example: (this may seem silly to you, but if you would have seen her face....)
The other night, we had my niece, H. Ruthie totally adores H. She was very upset when she had to leave. Apparently H told Ruthie she would leave a note for her at our house. When we got home, I found the note. When I showed it to Ruthie, she teared up and said, "H didn't forget to leave me a note!" Se was so excited, she just cried. It made me cry. A simple note made her night. She loves to be loved!

I often find myself wondering what will our relationship be like. Will she trust me as a teenager? Will she keep secrets from me? Will she talk bad about me, and not want to be near me? Will she still love hugs in front of her friends? Will she want to be with me?

I find this age hard right now b/c she isn't sure if she wants to be grown-up, or if she wants to be a baby. It's hard. I hate admitting it, but it's rough. But, I know that in order to have a great relationship with my daughter, I have to understand this age.

What I mean is I really want a good relationship with Ruthie. It's so easy to get wrapped up in the world today, and not spend that quality time with your children. I worry that I will let other things get in the way. I just pray that she will lean on me through everything. That's what I meant.

I realize this is an odd post, but it's weighing on my mind. I love Ruthie so much. I know Randy is growing up fast too, but it's harder on me to watch Ruthie. She's my baby, and always will be. I adore her.

So, for this loooooonnnnngggg post, I added some of my most recent favorite pics of my sweet, precious, baby girl.