Gratefulness

So, my vow to get back into a regular blog routine was somewhat disrupted by summer vacations, and the flurry of back to school activities and (seemingly endless) forms!

Now the second & third weeks of school for Ben & Josh respectively, sports & music lesson schedules are established, and sleep patterns are (mostly!) where they need to be.

I recently subscribed to a (free) virtual personal trainer  that I learned about from my "FLY Lady" membership, and the first daily coach e-mail I received contained a link to this Video - entitled "A Good Day".

Upon reflection, and to give a little insight into what my summer vacation was like - I will give a list of some of the (many) things I am grateful for (in roughly chronological order):

1.  A birthday dinner with my mom (and lobster & fresh corn on the cob & angel food cake)

2. A sister and her husband who selflessly and generously entertained our boys for a week in NJ & NYC.

3. Beautiful gardens, and the generous people who opened them to the public in Kennebunk, Maine, to raise money for the Child Abuse Council.

4. An amazing group of "in-laws" with whom we spent a long weekend in Kanab, Utah - water skiing, eating & catching up - some of whom drove very long distances to be there!

5.  The cousins (numbering 23 - did I get them all?) ranging in age from 9  mo to 19 yrs!  And the fact that they were all there with us!!

6.  My husband's wonderful parents who, though they could not be with the rest of the family at the reunion this year - are living close to us - in Richmond, IN for a year - giving us many more opportunities to visit with them than we would normally have!

7.  The beauty of the Grand Canyon - which I saw for my first time this year - and the realization of what a tiny time we have on this planet in comparison to the 2 billion years since when its depths were formed.

8.  2 Wonderful boys who helped so much when their dad was out of town last week.

9. The arrival of cooler nights and sleeping with the windows open!

10. Jeff Silva & the rest of the Immanuel Band for the inspiration and enthusiasm to keep this newly formed group a vital part of our church worship.

11. Discovering that "Popcorn" in French is "mais explose" (accents excluded - due to formatting issues)

12.  The time (& energy) to fit in a walk during my son's soccer practice tonight!

13.  Tips from my sister on how to track exercise & where to stay in Brugge.

14. A wonderful husband, who after working a full day, cooked dinner for the rest of us to eat when we got home from practice & who fixed the hub bearings on his bike's front wheel at the same time!

15. Conversation with my 14 yr old about his day, and how his World History teacher is bringing the subject to life for him - and his passion to sit around the table with us after dinner to talk about it!

16. The quiet evening, after everyone has headed to bed, when I have time to sit and write in this blog.

Au revoir.

Jersey Boys

I took the boys to the airport yesterday to go visit my sister Amy & her husband Todd in NJ. They went to the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and the Liberty Science Center yesterday. Today they learned about Pierogi's for lunch, crossed daylilies in the AM, and picked blueberries and raspberries - tomorrow they are going to make ice cream to go with the berries, and go into the city to see "Young Frankenstein" on Broadway.  Today they also did some swimming, took a 10 mi bike ride, and played mini-golf.  I think they will be sleeping well this week!

Last night Todd & I went to Habenero for dinner,  a wonderful little locally owned Tex-Mex place up the street, then came home and watched the rest of the shows on the Star Trek Voyager disk that we had - it is a series of 4 related to the Borg (7 of 9 makes an appearance, and plays prominently in the episodes).   This morning was my hedonistic AM - massage,  pedicure......then came home for lunch with Todd, and in the afternoon, rearranged the bedroom (trying to be more Feng Shui).  Todd put up some bike hanging hooks in the cellar.  Had a lovely dinner with Todd tonight,  and then watched a few episodes of Flight of the Conchords - which I find to be incredibly funny - an HBO series about a two man band from New Zealand who has come to make it big in NYC. 

it is strange how leading up to a period when the boys will be gone, it feels like we will have all of this time on our hands, and get all sorts of things done, but when it comes down to it , the time goes at just the same rate that it does when they are here.......I am wishing I was with them doing all the fun things with my sister - but it is good for all of them to get to spend time together without Todd & I.