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June 30 Girls WeekSteve has been on a YA trip to Utah all week. We enjoyed a visit from his family before he left and his youngest sister, Cindy, stayed with me this week to help out with the girls. It was a fun week just the girls! Cindy really made Steve's absence bearable for me...she was great with the kids and helped out a lot. I was able to go to work, cook dinners, keep up with the housework and laundry...with my sanity in tact!
As you can see from the pics we put out our new slip n slide which Hannah loved. Em was a bit more cautious and was content to just hang out in her kiddie pool! At one point Hannah bumped her foot on the cement steps and said, "OW!!! Mommy, I scraped my thumb toe!" I thought that one was pretty cute.
Tonight I took Cindy home and dropped my girls off with my parents for a little vacation and I came home to an empty house. With Steve being gone for 7 nights already I'm feeling pretty lonely. I decided that I should maybe call some girlfriends to hang out with. I tried to think of who I could call, who would be available, who wasn't busy with their kids...and realized that all I want is Steve. My heart longs for him and being with anyone else right now would just be like going through the motions. I can't live without him! I can't wait to spend 3 days with him without our kids here when he gets home.
If you think of it, please pray for his safe return Sunday-Monday as he will be traveling through the night. Thanks for reading this!
June 23 GraduationOn Thursday, June 21st, I picked up my 5-year-old from kindergarten for the last time...and I cried. No more little tiny girl with a huge backpack...she's grown into it. No more walking her to her class...she knows her way around the school now. No more practicing letter sounds, shapes, or colors...she is READING.
Today I attended the local high school's graduation. I took pictures and cheered on the kids that I knew as 8-year olds singing in the church musical when Steve and I moved here. They are all grown up and I know their parents remember kindergarten like it was "yesterday."
So "tomorrow" I will be the emotional mom cheering on her little girls all grown up. The time flies and I want to cherish every minute. Both my girls are at such fun and wonderful ages. I've said that with every passing year as Hannah has grown. I hope that continues. I want to treasure these days with little ones, but I look forward to the friendship we will develop as mom and young adults! June 12 Amy's Newborn AngelsAmy's Newborn Angels is the name of my fledgling photography buisness! I just finished a website for it and I hope you will take a minute to check it out.
What do you think? June 10 Cruisin' !!!We spent four amazing days on a cruise from Miami this past week. It was single handedly the best vacation we have ever had. I can't say enough about how great it was, how much fun we had, how relaxing it was, and how much we weren't ready for it to be over!
My parents came to stay with Hannah and Emily at our house for the week and the girls were as excited as we were! Staying with Grammy and Grandpap is a vacation for them too and it made it easier to be away from them knowing they were being spoiled and having a blast! We left early last Sunday morning for Philadelphia where we flew to Miami. We hadn't flown since our honeymoon 8 years ago, so that was a treat in itself.
In Miami we met up with the rest of our travelling buddies...Jay and Cheri LaScolea and Adam and Virginia Schrader. Adam and Ginny have 2 kids the same age as ours and they were getting away alone as well! What a blessing! We all stayed in a hotel in Miami and left to board the ship on Monday morning.
We boarded as early as possible and ended up at the pool deck of the ship and we stopped cold and never made it any further for the rest of the afternoon! We lounged by the pool, tried the waterslide, and dipped in the pool to cool off for hours. It felt like heaven to really relax and soak up the sun! We finally headed to our rooms for the first time, showered and dressed for dinner.
Dinner...I'm sure you've heard about the food on cruise ships... everything is true. We sat down to an "as many courses as you'd like" dinner. Literally they let you try as many different things as you want, if you don't like it you can send it back and order something else. You can order 2 or 3 of a dish if you really like it. The menu was different every night and the service made you feel like royalty. I love getting dressed up and going out with my husband, so this was my favorite part of each day!
But to elaborate on the food, if you don't want to eat in the restaurants or you need a snack, you can get food at the burger and dog grill anytime all day, breakfast, lunch and dinner buffets, 24 hour free room service, 24 hour pizzeria, or 24 hour deli. Whew!! I honestly didn't have enough empty stomach time in the four days to try everything.
Tuesday we stopped in Key West, Fl and we spent the afternoon at the beach and shopping. I was getting so excited for the next day's snorkeling excursion that we had planned because I finally got to swim in the beautiful blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico and it was warm and heavenly!!
Wednesday we stopped at Calica, Mexico and learned that Tropical Storm Barry that came through last week churned up the water so much that snorkeling was going to be pretty disappointing. We opted to get our money back and spend the day on our own at the beach. I couldn't help crying I was so bummed...snorkeling was the one thing I was looking forward to more than anything else, but we ended up having a great day.
The beach was awesome! We couldn't get enough of the water. Then we went shopping and I got my hair braided. I'll probably keep it in for a couple of weeks...I love it! It is always off of my face and I don't have to do a thing with it in the mornings! Where can I get this done permanently around here??!?! Emily particularly loves it...she keeps telling me I am so pretty!
Thursday was our last full day at sea and we took advantage of it by just RELAXING!! No agenda, no responsibilities. We laid out on deck all afternoon soaking up sun and napping. As a mom I hardly EVER get to do that. It was a much needed respite. The whole trip was. Steve and I connected and really enjoyed each other's company. We had fun and no stress. This vacation had a little bit of everything I like to do and it was perfectly suited for me. I am so thankful for God to provide the money and time for us to get away. I'm so thankful for my parents being willing to help with the kids and for our friends we got to share this with!
Friday morning we left the ship early in the morning and headed through Miami on an Art Deco tour. Interesting stuff, but we really wanted to get on with the rest of the morning...at the beach! So we spent another couple of hours at beach #3 - South Beach. This was on the Atlantic and had great waves! All of us love the ocean so we had to pull ourselves out begrudgingly when the clock said it was time to go! We took a bus to the airport and began the trip home.
Just as we were getting to our gate a bad thunderstorm rolled in and our flight was delayed about 2 hours. With the late start from Miami, we were too tired to drive all the way home from Philly, so we ended up spending the night in a hotel on the way. We woke up refreshed after a full night's sleep and then arrived home to 2 adorable, squealing daughters who gave us a WARM welcome!! It felt so good to hold them again. I missed them surprisingly less then I thought I would, which just contributed to the free feeling of truly being abale to experience relaxation.
My "tanks" are full and it was a fulfilling week. It was so important to spend time on us...our marriage, our needs, our feelings, etc. This was truly not just a vacation, but a therepy session and I believe the Lord wanted this for us. He wants us to rest and fill our "tanks" every Sunday but how often do we really make that a priority? I know we don't. It seems like we can't most days...kids need care, responsibilities at church, house needs attention...
I'm working on seeking out the important priorities and spending my time on that. I'm also learning that there should be no guilt attached to taking a break. It is not being "lazy" or "selfish" to take time for yourself. If we tend to our needs and take the needed breaks to do things that really fulfill us then we are in a better place to give to the kids, our spouse, and our ministry. That's what this vacation did for me and I 'm praying it will set the stage for how we take care of ourselves in the future!!
Thanks for reading!! |
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