Yikes...its been a while

It has been a while since my last post... yikes, I have become one of the awol bloggers! things have been quite a roller coaster here and I have not found too much time to write, seems a lot of people are having the same problem...we have been plagued by a miscarriage, the death of our dog, and a lot of sickness BUT we have also been blessed by many teachable moments for both us and our children about God's promise in our lives and God's unwavering faithfulness. I don't even know which topic to blog about since it has been so long... should I blog about the disappointing start to The Office Season, the exciting news out of spring practice up in gainesville, the hopes of an awesome summer, thankfulness in friends, the new family ministry stuff going on at Calvary Jupiter... too many things. I guess I will write about my promise to never let my blog go this long without a post!

What is her father thinking?

Last night we watched Idol Gives Back... I was enjoying the show until something really blew my mind. Miley Cirus came bounding on stage and I could not believe it. This cute little 15 year old girls was dressed and made up to be a 23 year old woman. She began singing a song ( along with all the 6- 10 year olds in the audience) about some guy she cant wait to see again, this guys that rocks her world, takes her breath away, on and on and on... they had guys all around her dancing, she was all over the stage in this crazy seductive way, I mean come on she is fifteen! Her father was backstage watching this? His little girl transforming into some kind of sex symbol? Where did cute Hannah Montana go? Why is it that these young girls get swooped up into singing songs about everything from "oops I did again" to " I can wait to see you again" . From the best of my knowledge Ashley Simpsom even did one called "you make me want to la la"... what happened to father's protecting their daughter's hearts, preparing them for the groom God created for them? have we not learned enough from watching Brittney, Paris, Lyndsey derail? Shame on dad and his achey brachey heart!

Really Funny Blog

Check out my friend's Paul and Elise's blog here. They are hysterical! First time parents and awesome writers! You will get a big kick out of it! Enjoy.

Run Emily, Run

Some girls shop, some do spas, me? I run. When I was pregnant, people always wanted to give me a jogging stroller. Even now, people say "so can you recommend a good jogging stroller?". No way. Running is when mom is off duty. Running is my time to be with the girls. Through running, I am able to really bond with other women, we can talk about our kids, marriages, sports, faith, pop- issues, politics, anything and there are no kids to interrupt, no phones to answer, no email to respond to. Just us, the pavement and the gift of gab. I love running with the girls. I love knowing that we all have different walks of life, that we all can be completely honest and up front with each other about our opinions. I love that when I come home, I am refreshed, I have sorted out all the junk that girls need to sort out, I am ready to be a wife, mom and friend. I don't know what it is that running does or why it feels so good when you are done. Maybe it is the camaraderie of getting up at the crack of dawn with someone and hearing each others joints crack and watching each others bodies awake. Maybe it is the ability to just talk and to just listen. Maybe it is knowing that no matter what happens the rest of the day, you accomplished one goal. Maybe it is knowing you burned off the mid- afternoon snack that is definitely not going to be the perfect " protein to carb diet food". Maybe it is just knowing that as you put one foot in front of the other, you have put time into friendships but also distance between you and the junk in your life. I love running and I love the girls I run with. Each of them has a unique and important role in my life. One is my best friend, I could write a post just on her, she downright rocks! She will always be honest, she will always put me in check, she knows when I am not be true to my God and myself, she supports me and pushes me when I want to give up not only in running but in many other endeavors.. I love her for all this. One of my other running girls is the queen of " style". I say this because, you never know what she will show up to run in. I love this about her, because it so truly represents her personality. You never know what you are going to get when we run as far as conversation, advice and humor. But you will always get optimism, unwavering truth about her opinion and sincerity. She is the truest friend in that she will tell you like it is but will love you through it all. She has awesome quirks and awesome knowledge about all kinds of cool things, nature, plants, travel... She is always in a good mood even when she shouldn't be. My newest running buddy is " mini- sports me". Yeah, this chickadee loves sports like me. That makes her "a chosen running buddy" just on the merit that she can talk sports. We differ on teams but not on too many other things. She will listen to my endless gab without getting too annoyed and has years of wisdom to offer in my areas of struggle even though she is ? years my junior. She gives me hope that my kids have a fighting chance to grow up with a biblical mindset and with a pure heart. She loves to push herself and isn't afraid to try something new. Competition drives her.. .this is key.
Like I said, some women shop, some women spa. Me? I run. I run so that I don't race through life without girlfriends and the amazing things they teach me in these early " girls morning's out".

Eureka

We have been waiting for a few days to hear this word... it has never come! One of the kindest guys from our church, Art Perry, has been working his tail off trying to find a leak in our pool! He has swam, drilled, ( I am sure prayed), listened, enlisted friends and endless other things to find the lost leak... but to no avail. We have a small wading pool now, a great place to breed some frogs but no cure for the leak. Art is our new hero... he tried super hard and we really appreciate him. It is nice to see someone really do their best when doing their job, always with a smile and a sincere attitude. Even though we still don't know where the leak is and our neighborhood pond and surrounding grass look great, we got to know someone that show's God's heart without being all watered down! Thanks Art!

Car Racing

We went on a small adventure Saturday night. We took the boys to a Formula One Car Race at the Homestead Speedway. I have always been one to bash car racing. I have always said "it is not a sport ". Well after being their this weekend, I am still not 100% convinced it is a sport in the traditional aspect but I will say those guys (and girls) are pretty amazing. We arrived about a 1/2 hour early and went straight to our seats. On the way in, I was blown away by how many people were there and how many of them were "FANatics". I have grown up a Gator Fan, I bleed orange and blue, we have fans like no others, but these people were over the top! After all the hoopla of introducint sponsors and drivers, they announcer called for the drivers to start their engines... Pace jumped a few feet at the start of the noise and immediately begged to go home. Lucky for us, my dad had received sky box passes so he was able to sit inside and watch. Dash, Trent and I stuck in the ear plugs and anxiously awaited the flag. Once they were off, it was amazing. The cars raced around that track in excess of 225 mph! You cant even look at them straight on. Their were crashes, near misses and lots of swerving. Dash didnt move for over an hour (this is a first!!!!). The pit crews were awesome, they changed tires and I am sure did a whole lot more in less time it took me to figure out which car was in the pit ( I wish Stewart Toyota could train from them). By the time it was over, we were exhausted. Mainly from just trying to figure out who was in what position and which car was which. Overall, it was a blast. We had a great night as a family, saw a new "sport" and had some time for Dash to actually sit!

Pictures

It is so hard to get a photo of three kiddos under 5 where they all look good at the same time! One will inevitably be pouting, crying or pulling someone else. I tried a different approach, perch them up on a table, where no one can get down, move or lean on someone else. Also, I loaded them with Easter Candy and then held their baskets ransom until they smiled. Seems it worked!