As the teeth fall out...

What a way to lose a tooth, on a boat on the 4th of July.  The tooth decided to come out after weeks of being wiggly and it only took some Doritos.  As you can tell from the orange mustache above.  She also learned that her Italian grandmother will promptly pay you $5 on the spot.

Red sky at night...Sailor's Delight

At night on Lake LeAnn when the sun is setting, I always try to grab my camera but something always grabs my attention away and I end up putting the camera in the bag and waiting for next time. I finally was able to grab a piece of the sunset on a Friday evening. As I sat there in a beautiful July summer night, the lake so quiet and calm, the dew starting to accumulate on the grass...it was just me and my Canon stretched out on a blanket hoping that my camera was catching all of the colors I saw.

Stones and Pebbles...Pieces of You

"But what minutes! Count them by sensation, and not by calendars, and each moment is a day." -Benjamin Disraeli

So maybe I am thinking way too much lately, but I am trying lately not to overthink every aspect of my life. If you know me I twist and manipulate, pull apart and dissect. I always feel that things have a shiny layer to them but underneath there is an unpolished pebble that needs to be turned over. Under that pebble lurks the true identity of something, and I love things that are raw and rough.

I have a vase full of stones that I was able to collect with my Aunt and Uncle during a trip to Grand Marais, MI and if you know me you know that I hang onto very few things. I remember it like it was yesterday, a little chilly, rain misting in the air we spent so much time walking on the beach looking for these stones. My aunt would tell me to look at the stones in the water as you could tell how beautiful they were and she was totally right because the stones that were dry all looked the same.

Every year I take them out of the jar, rinse them off so that they are shiny again and hold those memories in my hand. Rocks look so beautiful when they are in water, you see the colors, the details and the shape. They are beautiful and unique. I lost my Aunt and Uncle in my early 20's way before I should have but what I do have is one of the most unique memories I own...

I spend every weekend pulling rocks out of the water at the lake, making a bonfire pit with the odd shaped ones, placing the beautiful ones in the landscaping, making rock walls in the water with the ones that show their true self when water glistens over them.

I am going to try and leave things shiny, covered in water, all of the imperfections hid.

Fridays...Fridays...Fridays

Since I have been in the lovely world of work, you hear so many references to Friday. TGIF, Hump day halfway to to Friday...you get the point. I have never been this person as I always have been big about enjoying each day and to me even though the weekends are fun, the weekdays are filled with experiences that my children have at Summer Camp or school, my friends at work, Joelle Ladner making me laugh everyday, talk radio in the morning, picking flowers, making dinners in 20 minutes or less, blogging when the kids go to bed, watchin Cam read to Cait, getting a pedicure on a Wednesday evening why the kids eat next door. But now I dream about Fridays, because right after work we head to the Lake...to my beautiful escape. We officially moved in over Memorial Day weekend and have spent every weekend since then putting furniture together, putting things away, decorating and constantly cleaning. I clean so much, it's like a shiny new penny that you don't want to get dirty. I am thankful for Bill Stuard and his amazing home building skills, I am in love with my kitchen (you know your sick when you dream of cooking there on the weekend), I love my wood floor and most of all I love that my kids can't wait to go there, when are we going back always starts on Tuesday. I have an amazing sense of calm and peace that consumes me when I am there...I wish I could bottle that feeling :-)

Flying through the desert

While we were out in Arizona for the Sigma conference, Terry and Tony took to the skies to fly around the dessert.  They found an airplane junkyard that the military uses for their out of service plans.  it was over 100 degrees that day and the plane felt like 120...I was laying by the pool!

I am the mother of a future Kindergartner

Well it's official, my baby is heading off to Kindergarten. When Cam graduated Pre-School, I didn't shed a tear because I was holding Cait as Cam walked across the stage with diploma in hand. When you watch someone you love more then the whole universe not be a toddler anymore I felt comfort in knowing that I had this one year old who still looked at me as their whole universe. This time was definitely different as all I had was my camera, and because of that tears rolled down my cheeks, I wiped them away because I was so excited to see that big smile that was ever present on her face.

With Cait we have went through so much: bacterial menigitis at 1, adenoids, tonsils, tubes at 2 then more surgeries to follow to correct her hearing that was damaged by the adenoids, broken femur at 2 1/2...she taught me what I needed to be as a parent. When Cait would be taken from me as she went in for another surgery, I would almost feel like I was going to lose my grip...tears building up behind my eyes wanting to pour out but if I did that, she would have felt fear and been scared. So I would stand there and smile, tell her how much I loved her and that I would see her before she knew it. As soon as she was out of sight, I would break apart as I would give anything to switch spots with her.

I always thought that my main job was to make sure that my child turns out to be this great adult...but in reality being a parent is holding their hand through the rough times and letting them know that it is going to be all right. To clap, smile and cheer when they accomplish something and above all to tell them you love them everyday. I believe in my heart that if you do those little things then the future can't be anything but amazing.

I am so proud of this little one, she is loving and caring, sooo smart, beautiful and bashful, loud and sometimes shy...I have been blessed to LIVE with her, she makes me LAUGH everyday, and I couldn't LOVE her more!