Breathe In & Breathe Out

Now that Randy's home, I can take a moment to decompress and breathe in and breathe out!

As I mentioned in my last post, the 10 days that Randy was out of the country were hand's down the busiest 10 days of my adult life.  Let's just say... I'm glad I'm not a single parent, because I don't think I could ever possibly manage it all AND keep my sanity at the same time. If I wasn't coming, I was going... or waiting... or attending... or driving... GOODNESS, the driving... and very little sleeping.  Throw in a dog-sitting gig on behalf of my mom and dad who have been on vacation these last 9 days and you have the makin's of a very tired and very frazzled mom.

About 12 hours after Randy got home yesterday, it all caught up to me and I balled like a baby.  I didn't realize how stressed out I was, until I didn't have to be stressed out anymore.

I have friends who husband's are military men on active duty and I honestly don't know how they do it.  (Erica McM... you amazed me when Chris was away!)  I also have friends whose husbands work off-shore or travel consistently for their jobs... Again, how do they manage? All I can say is THANK THE LORD I have a husband who works a great job, who has great hours and who takes my kids to their team practices!  I know not everyone is as fortunate and trust me... I do not take it for granted.  Not now, not ever!

Speaking of traveling... in less than two months, we'll be heading out to Disney World for our family vacation.  We are beyond excited and can't wait to go back.  I mentioned to Randy that I was hesitant to mention  to anyone that we were going to Disney World (again) because we just went in May 2010. But he reminded me that we sacrificed vacations for nearly 10 years (both due to finances and his job schedule) and that we should not be ashamed of taking another vacation so soon... even BACK to Disney World, if that's what we choose to do.  Goodness knows, we seem to sacrifice a lot around here, or at least a lot more than most people, so I agree... I'm not going to be worried what other people think about our family's vacation plans!

With that said... I'll probably talk a bit about Disney planning in the coming week, although, I put so much effort in planning the last trip, I think most of my planning is already done for me!  And this time around, I'm not planning the trip for 9 people... just us four this time!

And that's about it for now.  Busy weekend and next week seems to be booked up already.  When did I get so busy?  (Are we the only ones?!)

The longest birthday on record!

Right now, my husband is on a jet plane flying over the Pacific Ocean on his way home from Taiwan. Words cannot express my JOY of having him home today!  The 10 days he has been gone have been hands-down the busiest 10 days in my adult life.  *Yay me!  I'm just glad it's coming to a close... and soon!  (But, more on that later!)

This trip to Taiwan was not planned.  In fact, we were at my girls' soccer game on Saturday morning when he got a call from his BIG boss asking if he could fly out to Taiwan on Monday to fix an equipment issue for one of their clients.  Randy has earned the reputation of being the 'cleaner'.  If you got a problem, he'll clean up your mess and fix the problem that got you into the mess!  And, that's what he did.

So, now, he's flying home!  Yippee!

And today is his birthday... He celebrated his birthday in Taiwan yesterday (Sept 21). And, he's celebrating his birthday in the U.S. today (Sept 21).  He is officially celebrating the longest actual birth date on record.  There's got to be some kind of special reward for that... perhaps DOUBLE FUDGE chocolate cake?  Perhaps, perhaps!

So, happy birthday my man!

You ROCK my world in more ways than one!

Just had to share

We're having a low key birthday celebration for Kyla this year, but I still wanted to design her a birthday party invite to send to her 2 invitees! 

I love how this turned out and I just had to share!

Gain some perspective girlfriend!

Dang, we're already 3 full weeks into school and I'm already feeling the stress and over-burden of it all.  IT... meaning... school, homework, commute, emails, homework (yes, I said it twice), meal planning/preparing, school activities, school sports, club sports, practices, games... etc. etc.  Seems like I'm meeting myself coming and going.

And, y'all... this is my FULL-TIME job.  Being a stay at home wife and mother.  I honestly don't know how working mothers do it, but bless you for doing it.  I'm fortunate enough to be a stay at home parent, otherwise, believe you me... our lives would be in a tailspin if I ever attempted to work full time in addition to what I'm doing now.  Because truth be told, I gave up my pursuit of the "Super Mom" title a long time ago.

But, even though I'm no longer pledging to be Super Mom, I still find myself stressed out, over-burdened and in a slump some days.  And that feeling, my friends, stinks!

So, on Monday it just kind of hit me like a ton of bricks. And that is... PERSPECTIVE.

When my stressed out funkiness comes out, really I all I need to do is stop and think PERSPECTIVE.  It's all in how we perceive our chaos.

So, I choose, this week (and beyond) to stop and take a step back and say... "Gain some perspective girlfriend" and begin handling my life stressors in a way that will benefit those around me, rather than be to their detriment.

Because as I'm quickly learning... it ain't always about ME.

Catching up

It looks like our summer hibernation just might be over... or at least, on the verge of being over.  I'm so glad for cooler temperatures.  Now, if we could just get some rain...

Speaking of rain, dear God, please send us some rain.  Not only to help us with the drought situation, but also with the raging wildfires that are plaguing this area.  We need you on this one Lord!

And speaking of wildfires, one of Randy's friends lost their home to the fires in Bastrop on Sunday.  Thankfully, they were out of town for the long weekend and no one was injured.  I cannot imagine what they are going through... them and the 500+ other families going through the same thing all throughout Central Texas.  I pray that the loss of life continue to be minimal and that the fires will be contained quickly.

In other news, it has recently come to my attention that I have not posted pictures from the girls' first day of school.  Better late than never?  I know, I can hardly believe that I have been remiss in adding their back to school picture.  It's certainly NOT like me. The girls are loving school this year, which is always a blessing.  So happy to have kids who not only love school, but who want to do well and work hard. 

Elisan (5th grade/age 10)

Kyla (2nd grade/age 7)

As you may recall, Elisan made the "Rock the Flock" praise and worship team at school.  Their first time on stage was this week and they did an amazing job!  I was so proud of my ROCKER!

And since I don't want to leave out my youngest, here's a picture of Kyla hard at work during soccer practice.  Randy takes the girls out each evening and works with them for about an hour.  Their skills have vastly improved and it's been a good bonding experience for him and them.  I'm so thankful for a husband who takes time out of his day to spend time with his kids!

We covet your prayers here in Central Texas.  Please remember us.