An Open Letter to My Graduate

My Dear Senior,

You are getting ready to graduate and leave high school behind.  Life as you know it is about to change.  For 13 years, you have been getting up in the morning (okay, I have been forcing you to get up in the morning) and heading off to school with your backpack and lunch (except on the days when you forgot your lunch, and I drove it up to school for you).  Then you’d come home, grab a snack, FaceTime your friends who were with you at school all day, and at some point start on your homework. 

And now we are picking out bedding and a mini-fridge for the new place you’ll come home to every day after class.  No one will be there to ask you if you have homework.  And (you’ll love this part) no one will be there to remind you that even though you hate science, it is something you need in your life, and you need to apply yourself.  You’ll have a newfound freedom that you never had at home, but you’ll also have the responsibility that comes with living without your family. (Like when you can’t find something, I will not be there to magically know where it is… you are definitely going to miss that.)

You ask why I cry when we talk about graduation.  You ask if it’s because I’m sad you are going off to college.  There is definitely a part of me that is sad you will not be living under my roof anymore, that there will be an empty seat at family dinners, and that your room will stay perpetually clean because you won’t be here to mess it up.  There’s a part in every Mother’s heart that does not want to let go.

And some of the tears are sadness because as you graduate, I – in a way – graduate too.  You are saying goodbye to your high school, and I am as well.  Think about it -- everything you’ve been involved in, I have been involved in as well, and I have gotten to spend time with my parent friends as we volunteered countless hours, went to football games and pep rallies, and cheered our kids on together.  So, just as you are sad to leave your friends, I get sad too, to leave the community I have come to love over the past 4 years.

But mainly the tears are gratitude.  I’m grateful for the time we’ve had with you.  I’m grateful you have grown up into a responsible human being who will, for the most part, make good decisions when you go off to college.  You have found your passion, and you figured out what you want to be when you grow up, and I got to watch all that happen right before my eyes.

I remember when we sold our last house after being there 12 years.  I was excited to move into our new “dream” house.  But the day I had to close the door on the old house for the last time – wow, that was a hard day.  Not because I wanted to stay but because we’d lived so many moments inside those four walls. So many cherished memories.  And it was hard to say goodbye. I knew a piece of my heart would always be there.  And it’s the same with you graduating.  We are so proud of you and realize – truly – the best years of your life are still to come.  But I have so many cherished memories with you, especially during these past 4 years, and, even though great things are waiting for you, it’s hard to close the door on those moments for the last time.

So for now, let me cry. I know it’s embarrassing, but I think you get it.  Everything you know is about to change, and, at some level, that’s a little scary, right?  For me too.  I don’t know how life will be without you here every day, but we’ll figure it out together. 

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.  Be adventurous. Try new things and make great life-long friends.  Work hard and ask hard questions.  Occasionally eat some vegetables, and please get enough sleep. 

I will be cheering you on, ever grateful for who you are and who you will become.

Love,

Mom, your biggest fan

(and yes, I am crying)

Why I will not make my kids' lives happy any more

After surviving life as a middle school Mom for three years, I'm happy to say that being a Mom to a high school Freshman has been way better.  Like Off-The-Charts and I-Don't-Drink-Nearly-As-Much better.

As this Freshman year comes to a close, we attended one of the oh-so-many end of year banquets (why didn't anyone warn me about all the banquets??) to celebrate a fantastic year of Drill Team.  Being in the Drill Team has been one of the best things ChellBell has done this year.  Her Directors are amazing, funny, supportive, talented, consistent, and disciplined.  And they are aiming to produce 60 girls who are the same.

Chell has been very happy in Drill Team -- happier than I've ever seen before.  It is incredibly satisfying to see your child that happy.  I have spent 14 years aiming to make my child happy.  That's been my goal.  "Let's go here -- she'll love it!" (AKA "It will make her happy").  "Let's buy this -- she'll be so surprised!" (AKA "It will make her happy").  "Let's ask her what SHE wants!" (AKA "Let's make her happy!")

Not that there's anything wrong with that.  Happy Child = Happy Mom, right?

We started watching the slideshow (that's what you do at Banquets), and I saw this quick photo go by of my daughter in her uniform.  Her head was held high.  Her shoulders were back.  A slight smile on her face.

And I realized

What I hadn't realized in my 14 years of being her Mother.

It's not her Happiness that matters.

She wasn't wearing a look of Happiness in that uniform.

She was Proud.

She was Proud to wear the uniform.  She was Proud to be a Silver Wing.  She was Proud that her hard work paid off.  She was Proud to represent her school by doing what she loves -- dancing.  She was Proud to be part of such a wonderful group of talented girls.

She was Proud of herself.

Later, the team gave out awards (they do that at Banquets too).  Her team gave her the "Best Leaps" Award -- called out of 60 girls as the dancer with the best leaps...  And I saw that look again.  She was so Proud of herself.

I realized in a moment that my goal has been all wrong.  My goal need not be her happiness -- it should be letting her discover opportunities to be Proud of herself.

Instead of rescuing her from potential failure or giving her the answer, I need to be constantly challenging her to do what makes her Proud.  When her response or attitude is a little off, instead of trying to make her happy or telling her what she needs to do (essentially so she'll be happy), I need to challenge her -- "What can you do in this situation to be Proud of your response?" or "When you think back on this, will you be Proud of yourself?"  As the clock nears midnight, and she still hasn't finished that project for school tomorrow, I can encourage her to "Push yourself to do the job that will make you Proud when you turn this in." And when her friends start making less-than-ideal choices about what they do, say, or who they date, my goal is that she will ask herself, "Will I be Proud of the choices I'm making?"

Because when she does things she's Proud of... she's happy.

I guess she wasn't the only one to learn things this year...

The Beauty of 156 (and that is not dog years)

Dearest Cella,

When you were younger, and I was an active blogger with much more time on my hands, I would write a post to you on the 4^th of every month to celebrate one more month of the world having Cella in it.  Today makes 156 months of having you in our family and also, if you do the math, makes you a teenager. 

Your name “Cella” comes from two words that mean Beautiful – Bella and Calla – and then we threw that "ch" sound in there to throw people off from the fact that we are actually German and make them think we are a fancy Italian family.  Before you were even born, I told your Dad, “I want to make her life Beautiful!” And with that, we knew you would be called Cella.

I took it as my mission to bring beauty to your life – the dresses you wore, the room where you slept, the pictures we took, and the memories we made.  I’ve wanted so much to surround you with all things Beautiful.   So it surprises me to realize that it's actually YOU who has brought Beautiful to my life over and over again during the past thirteen years.  Your name has ended up portraying exactly who you are and how you have impacted our lives so much more than any world I could create for you. 

There is such beauty when you dance and when you sing.  There is beauty in your passion.  There is beauty in your vulnerability and also in your secret strength that continues to surprise me. There is beauty in your determination to be different and silly and march to beat of your own, unique drum.  There is beauty in the way you give love and receive love.

Okay, so there is also a lot of drama, and I find very little beauty in that J, but I stirred up my share of drama during middle school, and thankfully there is an expiration date on drama for most people. And there can actually be beauty in the maturing process.

You are a Beautiful girl, and you make me incredibly proud to be your Mom.  Thank you for making my world Beautiful and for letting me be engaged and present in your life.

I truly love you to the depths of my ability to love.

xoxo Mom

Follow the Bouncy Ball

Our school district made the decision to issue iPads to all the 7^th graders this year to use for school work.  Good-bye “Mom, I left my History book at home!” calls, and Hello “my child is ALWAYS on that iPad.”  I wish I could say that ChellBell only uses the iPad for school-related activities, but looking at her folders, she is getting plenty of use playing all kinds of games. 

One of her favorite games these days is Bouncy Ball, where you bounce the ball certain ways and navigate through a maze and get to the finish line.  I don’t get it – it has no appeal to me – but she is completely absorbed.  Or was completely absorbed, until she got to level 34. 

Up through Level 33, Chell was pretty good at whatever Bouncy Ball techniques were required to nail each level and move on.  She mastered the ball-bouncing-and-maneuvering tricks and quickly moved from level to level. 

But Level 34 seemed to be a different (bouncy) ball of wax.  She struggled to get that ball to bounce high enough at the right time, time after time.  I saw more frustration from her than any school-related assignment has caused her this year, and I swear she would have thrown her iPad across the room last week if I had not intervened.

Being in seventh grade, and seventh grade being, well, the one year most of us would never want to revisit, has challenges of its own.  Chell and I were talking about some of those challenges and frustrations yesterday.  I reminded her that God allows us to have challenges in our lives because that’s how we learn the lessons He needs us to learn.  How He makes us stronger.  How He makes us more like Him.  And then we take those new-found skills and life-lessons  into the next set of challenges we face.

Life is kind of like Bouncy Ball.  Really.  Sometimes we coast, and we master the challenges with ease and think, “Oh, this life thing isn’t so difficult!” And then we hit level 34, or the seventh grade, or a new work situation, or new challenges in our marriage, and every technique we used to get us through before just won’t work.  And we get frustrated and want someone to fix it – or let us skip this level – or whatever we can do to make it end. 

But to get to the next level, we have to master the challenge in front of us, work through the problems to find the solution, evolve, change, grow up  – whatever is needed -- until we “get it”.  Face the challenges head on, learn the lessons, become a stronger person (or a more humble person, or a better friend, or a better communicator) until we master this level. 

So stop seeing your challenge as a frustration or a road block.  See it as a level for you to master, a time to learn more about yourself, who God is, who He wants to be in your life, and what He wants to do through you.  And look forward to mastering this level so you can move on.

One bouncy ball at a time.

It's better than starving, I suppose

Question: What do you get when you ask two 4th graders what they want for their last-school-night-sleepover dinner?

Hint: it takes some of these (super-sized crispy taco shells)

and some of this (spaghetti with meat sauce)

with heavy influence from this TV show

and looks like this:

Answer:

Spaghetti Tacos

That get a thumbs-up from these girls!

And just like these two girls, spaghetti tacos are actually a pretty fun combination that I'm glad I didn't miss out on.

That Face!

I love having a long weekend to spend time loving on this girl







And this girl







How blessed we are!

More flips and flops, and a Guest Blogger

Guess What?! I wasn't the only one to make out like a bandit in the Bloggy Flip Flop Exchange at The Texas Darlings. Here is my Guest Blogger to tell you all about the package that arrived in the mail for her:

My Mom told me about a flip-flop exchange, and I was excited. Me and Evie (over at Harried Mom of Four) got paired up and we are about the same age, and we sent each other flip-flops. When my Dad got home from work one day last week, he looked on our front steps and saw a package with my name on it. I was so excited to open it up and see the new flip-flops and read the note that Evie wrote me. If we lived closer I think we would be really super duper friends. She sent a bunch of things from Virginia where she lives and I learned about her state. And she sent some yummy apple candy that my Dad kept trying to eat. I love the flip-flops she sent. I will wear them everywhere. I am very excited to have a new pen pal.

Here is a picture of everything she sent. Nothing is any cuter than this.

Thanks for including the kids this year, Becca. And Jen/Evie, thanks for a fantastic package! Those flip-flops are already having a great summer!

Home Alone

Since ChellBell is on Spring Break, she and Chris ventured to Misery Missouri to see Chris' Grandma and cousins for a few days. Chris' sister, Marci, made the long road trip with them, along with her puppy, who no doubt was entertainment in the car and at Grandma's house. (Grandma asked if Marci would leave her dog there. Not sure if Grandma thinks it's customary to leave a parting gift, but I'm thinking that dogs are not on the list of appropriate things to give or to ask for.)

So while the house was quiet -- well, not so quiet, because I had the Big Dog and Little Dog with me, barking at every blowing leaf, squirrel, and passing neighbor -- I got a few things done. The major one being that I cleaned out our garage refrigerator, which now tops my list of least-favorite-things-to-do-while-my-family-is-out-of-town. I also got to hang out with my friend Michelle and do a little shoe shopping, Cheesecake Factory eating, and St. Patty's Day party attending. (Thank goodness she's pregnant, so I had someone to help me stick to my decision to give up alcohol for Lent!)

No offense to Michelle, or even the fridge in the garage, but the funnest thing I did during my time at home alone was this:



I can't wait for ChellBell to get home tonight and see it! Eeeks!

$3 goes a long way

Like so many things in parenting, our allowance "program" has been less-than-consistent from week to week. In the past, ChellBell's allowance has at times been in response to completed chores; sometimes it's been based on her attitude/responses; and sometimes we've just completely forgotten to give it to her. And the sad thing is that she wouldn't remember it either. Net-net, it was not working for us.

After polling several of my friends, Chris and I decided on a new allowance program. Here's how it works: Every Sunday is payday, and ChellBell is given $9. That money is divided evenly into 3 jars, labeled Save, Spend, and Serve. Save is the money she will put away and hopefully help with college expenses one day. Spend is the money she gets to use for whatever she wants. On the last day of each quarter, Chris and I double anything ChellBell has in her Spend jar as a way to teach her that it pays to hang on to your money and wait until you can buy the big things. Serve is the money she uses to serve God and people. She can give this money to the church, use it to buy a coat to donate, etc -- she gets to decide how she wants to use it, with the understanding that it is used to make the world a better place.

ChellBell's school is having a food drive this week, which of course has been turned into a competition between the classes in each grade. ChellBell decided to take this week's Serve money and see how much she could buy with $3 to donate to the cause. What an educational, eye-opening shopping trip for her! Chell was of course motivated to get as many items as possible for the competition, but also so she could have more to donate to the Food Bank. So for $2.98, she was able to get 12 packages of chicken ramen, a can of green beans, and a can of corn. In contrast, while we were at the store, Chris called and asked us to get him a 12-pack of diet coke. That "sleeve" of soda set us back $4.38 -- $1.40 more than all of Chell's food!

When we got home after shopping, ChellBell wrote about her purchase in her Serve diary -- she is tracking everything she does with her Serve money over the course of the year. She wrote, "I spent $3 to help feed a family for 12 meals! Or 14 if they will eat corn and beans for a meal. But I wouldn't." (some things are more difficult to teach -- we'll keep working on the veggies!)

Say Cheese!

PLUS

PLUS

EQUALS

And hopefully a "Most Creative" Award in the school pumpkin contest!

Great job, ChellBell!

The C Word

I was in the fifth grade before I owned a pair of jeans. And the only reason I got them was because we were going to my Grandpa's dairy farm, and dresses were not allowed. Up to that point, I wore dresses all the time. Never climbed trees. Did not make mud pies. Hated when my parents announced that it was time for yard work. And never, ever, ever pulled the legs off of daddy long-leg spiders like my sister did.

Girly-girl to an extreme degree.

So it is no surprise that I have grown up to prefer the indoors and am not a fan of that four letter word:

C-A-M-P.

But leave it to the Girl Scouts to get us all out of our comfort zone... When the chance came up to "Cabin Camp" with ChellBell and all the other Moms and girls in our Troop, the answer had to be "Yes." So I packed my sleeping bag, sheets (for covering up the already-slept-on-by-God-knows-how-many-people mattress), towels, and bug spray and headed off to Sky Ranch.

And, honestly, we had a great time (besides the bunk beds and bugs and the general outdoors...). We packed so much into a short weekend, and ChellBell and I made some forever-remember-these-moments kind of memories, just laughing and having fun. We zip-lined, kayaked, went horseback riding, played in the lake, jumped off a trapeze into the swimming pool, went on a hike, built campfires, and ate s'mores.

Not bad for a Girly-girl, huh?!

The tag line of my blog has always been "finding extraordinary moments in an extra-ordinary life." Mission accomplished this weekend. And I bet if I look hard enough, I can find some pretty-cool moments every single day, buried into my very normal, ordinary life.

I'm challenging myself to find the extraordinary moments every single day in September and blog about them. Hmmm... I wonder what tomorrow will bring?!

If it's from Disney, is it really Rock-n-Roll?

Joe, Nick, Kevin.

3 boys being talked about non-stop in our house these days. They have a few things in common. First, they like music. Second, they sell a lot of records. Third, they have the same last name.

Jonas.

ChellBell had the thrill of her first "real" concert this weekend when the Jonas Brothers kicked off their World Tour in Dallas. The concert happened to be only the 2nd event hosted at the new Cowboys Stadium which is, in 3 words, A - MAZE - ING. Completely amazing. We've heard all about the stadium being built for a year now, and we were dying to go. Even Chris suffered through a night of Jordin Sparks, the JoBros, and about 50,000 screaming pre-teen girls to go check out the stadium. And he wasn't disappointed (though 3 trips to the bar for Jack & Coke probably had something to do with him surviving the night with a smile!).

But ChellBell could not have cared less that we were in the Cowboys Stadium. We could have been in an airplane hangar as far as she was concerned. Her focus was locked on those three boys on stage, and she only took her eyes off of them when she closed them to scream. Especially for Nick. She thinks he's the cutest. (And I have to agree).

Miley popped in to sing a song with the guys, which topped the evening for Chell.

I don't know about you but when I went to my first concert, I was old enough to be dropped off and go with my friends. I'm so glad we did this with ChellBell while she was young enough to have parents in tow and actually be thrilled to be hangin' with us...

Here are some pictures of the night.
(Be warned: the disclaimers said only small point-n-click cameras, so I didn't get to take my good camera -- the pictures are evidence of that...)

Getting Ready - ChellBell picked out this new Ed Hardy skirt because it "looks like a rock concert" and, of course, had to pop on a hat...

Chris and ChellBell "resting" for a picture during our 3/4 mile walk to the Stadium

There it is...

Anxiously waiting for Jordin Sparks to stop singing, so we can get to the main act!

The guys had the coolest stage -- they even put a trampoline down for one of the songs!

This where the stage rose up over the crowd, and the guys sprayed everyone with foam from fire hoses!

Miley and Nick. ChellBell thinks they're getting back together (who knew that they were ever "together" in the first place?!), but she's sure that he'll realize his mistake and want to marry her one day. I think I could handle Nick Jonas as my son-in-law!

One very happy girl.

Which makes for one very happy Mama.

Just what the doctor ordered...

My Doctor told me to take it easy this week and avoid stress. I am back at work, so I am clearly not following Doctor's orders. Poor Chris was sweet and supportive during my out-of-nowhere break down last night, and then my parents "swooped in" and rescued us, as they always do in such a timely way.

Mom and Dad got tickets for tonight's RoughRiders game (our minor league baseball team) and invited me, ChellBell, Chris, and my nephew Nathaniel to be their guests for an all-fun, no-stress evening. The tickets were "Founders Club," so we had wrist bands that gave us all-you-can-eat-and-drink access to 3 different restaurants and great seats right behind home plate. Take a look:

Nathaniel and ChellBell

Sadly, someone in my family ate this as part of their dinner. (Not telling who, but it was definitely NOT one of the girls!) This was just the "first course" before we found the BBQ restaurant...

My sweet friend, my Mom (she just started a new blog, by the way -- you can find it in my sidebar under Lessons Learned in the Garden...)

The Cha-Cha-Slide

The guys, clearly NOT participating in the Cha-Cha-Slide

ChellBell and Daisy

Fun times, exactly what I needed. Thanks, Mom and Daddy, for always knowing how to make things better. You are unwavering sounding boards, genuine cheerleaders, my pier and beam. Thanks for walking hand and hand with me through life. One day, I promise, I'll "get it" and be able to respond to you the way you respond to me -- bearing all things, believing all things, hoping all things, enduring all things.

Mom's Day

This morning at church I was talking to one of the 6^th grade girls who helps teach Sunday School.  She was kind of bummed that it was Mother’s Day.  I’ve never known a child to actually voice the fact that they don’t really care for Mother’s Day, so I asked her why it was such an extraordinarily miserable day.  She started running through the list of all the things her Mother wanted for Mother’s Day.  It started with her and her sister cleaning the house yesterday.  Then they made breakfast this morning.  And they were scheduled for yard work this afternoon along with laundry.

Bummer.  I think I’d hate Mother’s Day too.

Realizing that some Moms use this special day as a teachable, ah-ha kind of moment to gain some appreciation from their kids for the physical labor that comes with the job description, I did some super-fast soul-searching to figure out what I want this day to mean both to me and ChellBell.

Mother’s Day for me is a normal day.  Dishes are cleared from the dishwasher, a lunch will still need to be packed for school tomorrow, hair will be inspected to ensure that it is shampoo-free, and bedtime stories will still need to be read.  All of those things are things I signed up for as a Mom.  I don’t get a kitchen pass from being a Mom on Mother’s Day.  Honestly, I wouldn’t want one. 

Being a work-outside-the-home Mom, I don’t get enough time with Chell, so Mother’s Day is all about hanging out with her.  Chris kind of feels like it’s Father’s Day because he gets “alone” time!  It’s a day where I can tell ChellBell a million times or more why I love being her Mom.  I can show her that she is my best little friend and that I love spending time with her.  It’s a day for me to remember how blessed I am to be a Mom, even though my hips are wider, my patience is smaller, and our bank balance lower.

It’s a day to think about the unrequited love that I have for my daughter.  A love she will never understand or have the privilege of feeling until she too is a Mom.

It’s a day to return as much love to my Mom as I can, now that I finally understand the love she has for me, a love strong enough to trump the frustration I undoubtedly brought her over the years.

It’s a day to soak in the absolute gift of loving so much, knowing that it will never be returned in full.

And knowing that given the chance, I wouldn’t have it any differently.

Sandwiched

ChellBell came up with this great saying that has become a staple in our vocabulary.  "Sandwiched".  When she curls up in bed with us, she is "Parent-Sandwiched".  When she sits between Morganne and Sarah, she is "Best-Friend-Sandwiched."  When she gets in between the dogs, she is "Puppy-Sandwiched"

Today I was Sandwiched.

Girl-Sandwiched.

Family-Sandwiched.

Loved-from-every-ounce-of-my-being-Sandwiched.

I was with my Mom and my Daughter.

With Mom on one side.  The woman to whom I owe life, but also to whom I owe Life.  She taught me about Faith, and she has shown me what it looks like time and time again.  She loves me unconditionally, but even more than that, she has always let me figure out who I am and who I am not, and she loves the Me that I find at the end of the questioning.  Not because she has to, but because she wants to.

Sandwiched with my Daughter on the other side.  Ah, ChellBell.  My heart aches from loving her so much.  For wanting her to dream big dreams and live every moment that comes her way.  To choose to be happy in every season of life.   To keep her innocence and her quirky sense of humor.  To jump in rain puddles barefoot and to lick the batter bowl.  

Two people I am truly, honestly privileged to have in my life.  Three generations just spending the morning taking pictures, catching up, sharing news, laughing...  It was a wonderful morning of being Sandwiched.

(Mom's hair is growing out!  Doesn't it look cute? Click here to read about my Mom's recent journey)

Month-o-Love Day 22: Short and Sweet

Day 22: I heart...

Home Sweet Home

It is nice to be home where the glitter, poms, and cheer bows of the weekend will be on hiatus for a while. ChellBell's team came home from the competition with another 1st place National title, which the girls definitely earned. No "Best Cheerleader" honor for ChellBell, but we were given the judges' score sheets, and they made notes on the things she did well and what she can work on for next year.

So we are now home, all glitter make up washed off, school clothes laid out for tomorrow, the Oscars on TV, dogs giving kisses. Just normal life.

Ahhhh, isn't normal life great?

Month-o-Love Day 21: Give me a C!

Day 21: I heart...
A confident 7 year old

ChellBell and I are on a girls' trip this weekend to Fort Worth for a National Cheer Competition. It is a 2-day event, so we will find out the verdict of her team's hard work at the award ceremony tomorrow. Regardless of the outcome, in my book, this girl is a winner!

When our cheer coach announced that there was an opportunity to compete for Best Cheerleader (by age division), ChellBell's hand was the first to be raised. It took me by surprise, because she's not that girl who is an attention-hog in front of large groups. She's not really all that comfortable in the spotlight when the audience includes more than her family and closest friends. But we paid our entry fee and went to work. That was, um, Wednesday. Yep, just a couple of days ago.

We put together a one minute routine (which doesn't sound like a long time until you're up in the stands watching your sweet girl out there by herself -- then it seems like a lifetime) incorporating a tumbling pass, a cheer, a dance, and as many "tricks" as she could do at her skill level. After watching the girl after her do a round-off-back-hand-spring x3, I am not confident that ChellBell will win this award, and I'm okay with that. And she's okay with that. She nailed her routine and had a great time doing it. What more could you ask for?

Here's her video (it's shaky -- sorry -- those aren't my nerves, as far as you know! It was just hard to watch and film at the same time!):

Month-o-Love Day 19: A random mix of things

Day 19:  I heart...

Before I tell you what I am "hearting" today, I will let you know that today was one of those "celery" days.  You know how celery is -- it's like crunchy water.  It makes some noise but has very little taste. No personality. Nothing to write home about.  (Sorry all of you celery fans...)  So today was a blah-like-celery kind of day with nothing really exciting or yummy going on. I thought to myself at one point, "I can't wait for tomorrow to come."  Tomorrow is Friday, so the thought was valid, but really I just wanted to get on with another day, be it Friday or not.

Bad Attitude, I know.

So to "heart" something today was going to be a real stretch. 

Until Becca called to talk about the crib.  The Crib.  It's my one heirloom-quality-pass-down-through-the-generations piece that I have contributed to the family.  It's an iron crib called the Paradiso -- it's pretty amazing.  And my sweet friend is going to use it in her nursery for her little Ian to sleep in when he arrives in May.  But here's the problem.  When we moved the crib to this house and put it up into the attic, the hardware got separated from the main pieces.  And the hardware has yet to be found.  I've been a mess, looking in every nook and cranny and box, like the shepherd searching for the lost sheep.  Stressing out about it.  But Becca was kind and forgiving and encouraging.  Don't you love a friend who doesn't yell at you when you majorly inconvenience them? (Now please go pray to St. Anthony, the patron saint of all that is lost!  And while Anthony is helping me find the hardware, maybe he will show me where I've put my brain).

So, I heart... my encouraging and uplifting friend.

After I got Becca's call and finished up some work for the day, I came home to practice cheerleading with ChellBell.  She is going to Nationals this weekend, and she decided to sign up for the Best Cheerleader competition.  That means she will be on that big mat in the middle of the convention center dancing and cheering to her new Jonas Brothers cheer mix of Burnin' Up all by herself.  No team mates, no coach, no Mama on the floor to help her along.  I'm proud and nervous all at the same time.  Having done a little cheering in my younger days, I absolutely squeal over the fact that ChellBell loves it, and that she gets to enjoy these fun moments.  

So, I heart...  Cheering, and getting to watch my favorite girl go for it!

I'm sure I will have footage after her routine on Saturday, but to tide you over, here are clips of ChellBell practicing some jumps on the trampoline and her doing a cheer after finding my pom-poms from high school (they're a little heavy for her!):

Month-o-Love Day 15: Blast from the Past

Day 15: I heart...

Mixing the old with the new

This generation definitely has the coolest stuff ever, and I am happy to jump right in and take advantage. I don't understand people who feel like life was better without technology. Seriously? Do they remember the days where we had to leave notes for each other because we couldn't text? And when we had to use pay phones? And we couldn't look up addresses on the internet? And we couldn't pay at the pump?

I am aware that our innovations and progress have tripled the pace of our lives, but I still believe, with all of our conveniences and ability to communicate, that this is a better day.

But in the same breath, I'll admit that every generation has contributed things that should not be overlooked or forgotten. From my Grandmother's generation, it is Frank Sinatra. From my Mom's generation, it is Elvis Presley. And from my generation, it's... well, there's a whole list that includes The Electric Company, Dukes of Hazard, and Pac Man.

I want ChellBell to seize every ounce of progress from her generation, but I want her to enjoy some of the things that I grew up with, too.

My new friend Jen over at Tater Tots & Jello introduced me to Hulu, my new favorite site, where we can download movies and TV episodes for free. ChellBell and I spent some time on Hulu today, and I introduced her to (drum roll, please) The Partridge Family. We sat and watched an episode of The Partridge Family on our computer -- what a great collision of the generations. There were a lot of parts in the show where she had that "huh? I don't get it..." look on her face, but when David Cassidy aka Keith Partridge started singing, she was as enamored as I was at her age. If I could only get some old Donny and Marie episodes as well...

I tried my hand at introducing ChellBell to Bewitched, but she quickly pointed out that there was no color on the show and got up, went to her room, and got on Webkinz while I sat there wiggling my nose just like Samantha, hoping, like I did at 7, that it would actually work.

Becoming well-versed

You all know that change is hard for me.  I live in a blissful rut of habit, going to the same restaurants, ordering the same thing, keeping my wonderfully boring routine.  But I took a big leap last year and changed jobs.  I am happy to report that it has been one of the best changes I have ever braved.  

I am working for a man who is known in the Dallas and IT staffing community for his level of integrity, commitment to quality, and genuine kindness toward everyone he comes in contact with.  He is one of the most devout Christians I know and has allowed Faith to be a visible foundation of the Company.

On a personal note, Dave has 4 kids (not really "kids" anymore -- high school and college), the oldest of whom has been sweet enough to babysit ChellBell from time to time when she's home from college.  It's interesting how much you can learn about a person by meeting their kids.  (I say that and then wonder what people think about me when they meet ChellBell...).  And what I've learned about Dave is that he has raised his kids very deliberately.  He thought ahead about the kind of father he wanted to be and the kind of people he wanted his kids to be, and then he mapped out life and his actions accordingly.

One thing he has emphasized is scripture memory.  He incented his kids to learn scripture.  And they did.  Maybe to earn a few dollars, but they memorized it.  And they watched him live it. And now they live it.  Very deliberately.

Inspired by this, our family has started 2009 with the resolution of having Family Bible Study once a week.  And memorizing a new scripture every week.  This is a great time for us to explain things about the Bible to ChellBell, and to give her a chance every week to open the Bible, find a verse, and then memorize it with us.  Funny story:  our first week, we had Chell read through the names of the books of the Bible.  Some how Titus was pronounced "Two-toots" and Corinthians was pronounced "Constellation".  

To make this fun for ChellBell, we've let her create her own blog, where she can post a video of  herself reciting the verses that we're memorizing.  Maybe there will be others who would like to follow along with us from week to week...  It will also help her retain verses long-term, because she likes to watch herself on video oh-so much, and she will hear these verses over and over.

Come visit her new blog, Well Versed, at: http://familyverses.blogspot.com