First Day of School - 2015

It's already back to school time at the Wagner household.  

We had such a wonderful summer and I am sad to see it end.  I truly enjoy having the girls home with me during the summer.  I feel like a big 'ol mother hen, having the chickadees at home with me.  That's the way it should be... or at least, that is how I feel.  There are days that I feel that I would have been perfectly content to have homeschooled them, but then I realize that I am not equipped to teach. So, off to school... and the world they must go.

I enjoy the summers because it is a time for them to get back to the basics.  By the end of the school year, it seems they are so tired, stressed out and moody.  Plus, we get the added bonus of attitude and mouthiness, to which I blame their friends.  It's true as I've seen it time and time again.  Once summer hits and they've spent the first two weeks at home, the attitude and mouthiness completely disappear.  Like, it's a stinkin' miracle!  So, yeah... I'm never too excited to see school start up again.

The last couple of weeks I have watched Elisan talk incessantly about high school.  She is so super excited to be a Freshman!  I'm glad to know that she loves school as much as she does.  Granted, her graduating class will be less than 30 students so her "idea" of high school is a bit skewed.  A friend of mine said her kid's 9th grade class at Round Rock High School was over 900 kids.  That just blows me away.  JUST THE 9TH GRADE CLASS!  I think Elisan's hair would catch on fire if for some reason we had to enroll her in public school.  I just feel blessed that we are able to continue her in private school where she can receive a solid CHRISTIAN education, that values morals and Christ-like behavior.  

Kyla has been a bit reluctant to starting school again.  Although she's a really smart kid, she had an incredibly busy year last year with her school schedule, school sports, club soccer and additional training she did.  She literally did not have a break all.year.long.  It was maddening for me to watch, but she and Randy were all gung-ho about it.  However, by the end of the school year, she was done.  She was done with her extra training, done with her select team (they weren't a nice group of girls to spend time with - on or off the field...) and the school work seemed never ending.  She was tired and I feel, we, as her parents were to blame.  I think that is why she was reluctant to start up again. Not necessarily school as much, but the crazy schedule that accompanies it.  But, this year, Randy and I are working to make it not as stressful on her.  Plus, we encouraged her to take study hall as an elective this year to help with the homework/study load.

All in all, I think it will be a great year for both of them.

This year, I am planning on taking off from most of my volunteer roles I have accumulated over the the years.  Last year, I was homeroom mom (3rd year in a row), Booster Club board officer (2 years in a row), track coach (4 years in a row) and graphic designer of all things Booster Club related (two years in a row). 

In my now free time, I've signed up for a new Bible study called "Discerning the Voice of God: How to Recognize When He Speaks" by Priscilla C. Shirer.  I'm excited about it, because let's be honest, we could all hear from God a bit more these days.

I'm also going to focus more on my photography business and I can't do that if I'm spread too thin.  It's something I enjoy and think I'm getting pretty good at.  I've already had 4 parents say they want to book me for senior sessions and that is AMAZING to me.  It's exciting.

I would like to find a volunteer/serving role that uses my gifts and talents, so I'll keep my eyes peeled for that opportunity.  Until then, I'm going to be an official homebody and that's okay!

Happy Birthday Kid

So, yeah, this happened yesterday.  My girl turned 14.  

I remember being 14 and I just cannot believe I have my own 14 year old daughter.  

Life was hard when I was 14 ... I cannot hardly imagine how hard it is now.  No need to get into the social media aspects of it all... that's crazy enough.  But, the reality of having information at your virtual fingertips at all times is mind-blowing.  But, that's all my 14 year old has known.  There is no life before the internet for her and that's weird.

I mention this because MY fourteen is way different from HER fourteen.  And while her way of life is very different from my way of life back then, her LIFESTYLE is way more sheltered than my LIFESTYLE ever was.  Does that make sense?

For example:  When I was a pre-teen/teenager, I had my own phone and phone line in my room.  It was a phone line that my brother and I shared, but essentially, I could call anyone (anytime) that I wanted.  And vice-versa... including boys!

I can say without a doubt say that Elisan has not had a phone conversation with a boy to date.  Never. And, I can say without a doubt that Elisan has only had ONE text "conversation" with ONE boy and that first time was just last week!  

So, yeah... her 14 year old lifestyle is different from what my 14 year old lifestyle was.

Another example is sleepovers.  I participated in sleepovers nearly every weekend.  Either at my house or at a friend's house.  That was just a given.  (At which time, we'd call boys, etc... on my own private phone line... )

Elisan has never had a sleepover and has never been to anyone's home for a sleepover.... EXCEPT for her 8th birthday party in which we had a moment of weakness and allowed a sleepover at our home.  Oh, and wait... she did attend a sleepover when she was 7 for a friend's birthday...and, I was there, spending the night as well, helping my mom friend manage all of the girls.  So, that one really doesn't count, does it?

So, yeah...call us over protective parents, I don't care.  But, that's the thing.  This whole WAY OF LIFE (i.e. current modern living that has been thrust upon us) vs. LIFESTYLE (the way we as a family choose to live) has really rocked the apple cart in the way of parenting.   What was acceptable 30 years ago, is no longer acceptable... at least not to me.

Now, girls are not just talking on the phone to boys until the wee hours of the morning... they are using FaceTime to communicate with boys... and doing/showing God know's what to God know's who.  That scares me.  Like, really scares me.  

And so, there are those who think that we are über strict in our parenting style, but ya know what?  I'm okay with that.  Because right now, it feels right.  And as she grows, we will grow too.  And as trust is developed, we will trust more.  It's not that I don't trust her now, but we have held back on the opportunities for trust to be developed.  I'm sure it's there... its just the opportunities have not presented themselves.  As an incoming Freshman to high school, those trust opportunities will become more and more available.

So, happy birthday kid.  There is no other person in this world that loves you more than your mama.  Those many hours of crazy pregnancy labor coupled with your horrific birth experience and non-stop crying for 4 months have paid off.  You are a beautiful, kind, sweet, incredibly smart and amazing young lady.  I'm honored to be your mom... even when I thought you would never stop crying.

Wagner Road Trip 2015 - Vacation Recap

Okay, okay... so, I've been gone an entire year... but, a friend asked me if I was going to blog about our recent road trip and I told her I would. So, without further ado... here's a quick recap of our Wagner Road Trip 2015!

First stop, the Pacific Northwest. Mount Rainier was beautiful and we saw it on a (mostly) cloudless day...something I'm told doesn't happen too often! The wildflowers were also just starting to bloom. The Grove of the Patriarchs trail was phenomenal... So many massive trees!

Ruby Beach in Olympic National Park off the Pacific coast was beautiful. The rugged rocks off the coast are called sea stacks. The water was cold and as you can see, we definitely needed warm clothes. The starfish, sea cucumbers and sea anemones could easily be seen because it was low tide. The bottoms of the rocky sea stacks were covered with them!

Hiked through the HOH Rain Forest of Olympic National Park. Lush and green! It's amazing how the landscape can change so dramatically!

Possibly one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. North Cascades National Park was a definite favorite. The water in this picture was truly turquoise (No Photoshop needed here!) Roaring waterfalls were at every turn from the melting snow. It was very beautiful! (My heart goes out to the victims of the recent ice cave collapse that occurred in North Cascades National Park. Such a tragedy.)

Words can hardly describe the beauty of Glacier National Park in Montana. We hiked and explored as much as we could in our two short days there. The bear in the picture was foraging alongside the road and we were lucky to be close enough to get a great picture of him. The picture of the reflected mountain is a totally legit picture taken by me.

White water rafting in the Salmon River. Randy's friend owns a rafting and guide business in Stanley, Idaho and he invited us to spend the afternoon rafting! So much fun! 

Arches National Park in Moab, Utah is one of the most extraordinary places I have ever been. What must have occurred here thousands, upon thousands of years ago to form these incredible arches and rock formations is truly mind boggling. If you ever have the opportunity to visit this national park, it is well worth the visit! 

Canyonlands National Park in Utah was such a stark contrast to Arches NP. Canyonlands is literally across the highway (or the Moab Fault) from Arches. After checking out all of the canyon overlooks, Randy convinced us that his GPS tracked a "shortcut" back to Moab that was only 18 miles. Um, that shortcut was an off-road 4x4 trail that was NOT a shortcut at all. We spent over two hours off-roading on Little Canyon Road. Fun? Maybe for Randy...

Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado has been on my bucket list of national parks for quite some time. These cliff dwellings were established approximately 800 years ago. And trust me when I say, they were under a cliff overhang, over a deep canyon! The Ranger guided tours were very informational and interesting. Hard to imagine people actually lived there!

And finally, 

Thank you to this guy for researching, planning and plotting our road trip adventures for the last four years! 25 National Parks and counting...

Photo Dump

Here's some pictures of what we've been up to...  

Randy's brother Andrew got married.  He married a gal named Larinda... which, incidentally is my middle name.  Weird.

Kyla was inducted into the Elementary chapter of the National Honor Society.

Elisan was inducted into the Junior High chapter of the National Honor Society.

Kyla had awards chapel. She was awarded the award for outstanding performance in Physical Education, the highest average in Bible Memory and the Presidential Achievement award for maintaining all A's for the entire school year.  Great job!

Here I am congratulating my girls' track team for finishing FIRST place in the district track meet!  We had such a great meet!

Also, Elisan's award night was a big success for her.  She was awarded highest average in Bible, Math, Science, English and Spanish.  She also received the Presidential Achievement award as well.

Kyla's team recently had a soccer tournament and finished first place in their division.

Her team also finished in a three way tie for first place in regular season. 

During the tournament, Kyla crashed the goalie.  It was pretty intense.  (She's the one in black... flying over the goalie.)

Kyla also recently had tryouts for her new team.  She made the TOP team in her age group... basically in the top ten group of girls out of 200+.

Here's Elisan diving for the ball.  She had an amazing soccer season this year.  Her coach actually told her that she was the best goalie in the league!  WOW!  That's amazing... especially coming from her former professional soccer playing coach who once played with the world-famous Pele'.

And that seems to be about it.  Only 1.5 days left of school and I could not be more excited for some down time!  (If only that were true...)

It's SPRING Break!

So, the girls are at soccer camp this week. All week.  All day.  And they are having a blast so far.  This is their third year to attend this Spring Break camp and it has been all Elisan could talk about for the last week of school.

I think they needed a break. Having multiple ice days and late starts at school was no consolation to their need for a break.  However, I'm a little bummed that Easter is so late this year...  That means our next break is still a long way aways.

Over the weekend, I brought the girls out to buy a dress.  Randy's brother is getting married in early May and I wanted to get them a dress as soon as the new Spring dresses hit the stores.  So, Kyla is basically a stick with legs up to her neck so finding a dress that fit her in all manners of speaking - length and bodice was no easy feat.  In fact, when we found a dress that fit her in the bodice, I pretty much decided that we were done with her.  And truth be told, it's a cute little dress and she will be beautiful in it.  That is, if she can keep her shins and knees from getting banged up between now and the wedding.

Elisan was a bit more picky about her dress.  The first problem is that she is 12 and in 7th grade and doesn't want to shop in the girls' section any more.  She wants to shop in the juniors section.  Unfortunately, she's just a wee bit small to fit into most of the jrs. clothes.  Thankfully, after trying on... oh, I don't know 20 dresses, she found the dress she wanted.  (A word to the wise... take pictures of them in every dress they try on so they can remember what they loved and didn't love about each one!  That's my TIP of the day!)

The picture doesn't do this dresses justice but I did want to show you what we ended up with!

Elisan wants to wear a long turquoise pendant with this bright coral dress and her cowboy boots.  Hmmmm, I'm okay with the pendant, but the boots?  At least not for the wedding.

In case you're wondering... and I know you are... YES, I'm still counting calories and I'm still working out like a crazy woman.  And, YAY ME, I'm really beginning to notice changes in my arms, shoulders, butt and legs.  FINALLY.  This 40-something business is cramping my workout time-line. I was hoping for these results in February... NOT March.  But, it's all good.  I'm just glad my body is still capable to lift weights and run.  40-something isn't all that bad.

In honor of Spring Break, I've begun advertising for my SPRING MINI-SESSIONS!  I'm so excited about offering these mini-sessions!

If you want to book a spot, mention that you saw it on my Haphazard Happenstances blog and I'll take $10.00 off the session... making it only $65.00!  For more specific details, click on over to my photography website.

I'm off to my craft room to sew my little heart out.  I'm working on some super cute bunting to use in my spring photography sessions.  I'll be sure to post pictures of it when it's complete!

Happy Spring Break, y'all!

Another Win!

Elisan's team won 1st place in a tournament over the weekend.  They played an older age bracket... and stomped the competition.  Fun weekend for them.

Force 03G

 Grace, Nayeli, Aria, Katelyn, Jewells, Elisan, Haley,

Addie, Hannah, MacKenzie, Elizabeth, Erin,

Carlyn and Aislynn

Elisan being congratulated by her coach for a great save!

Priceless!

Highlight Reel

Yeah, yeah... I realize it's been nearly three weeks since my last update.  So, here's the highlight reel...

1.) Randy finally shaved his beard and cut his hair.  Man... that was a long time coming.  He looks so much more handsome without all of that hair covering his face.  And, several people confirmed that he looked better beardless and that he looked younger without it!  Hallelujah!

2.) Basketball season is coming to a close.  Elisan's team is undefeated.  There are 5 very phenomenal 8th grade basketball girls on the team and they have led the team to victory after victory.  Of course, Elisan and her fellow 7th graders get plenty of playing time and they are having a lot of fun.  The 8th grade girls are great role models for the younger girls and I'm so glad that Elisan decided to play basketball again this year.

3.) I mentioned that Elisan had her science fair last month.  She placed 6th out of 35 kids.  Not bad!    Her project was comparing the national brand laundry detergent (TIDE) vs. store brand (HEB) vs. homemade detergent (Borax, Washing Powder and Castille soap) on various stains.  The national brand was the clear winner, while the HEB brand and homemade version results were equal. Interesting stuff!

4.) We all ran our very first 5K race on February 1st in Georgetown.  It's called the Cupid's Chase.  We all ran such different times that we ended up running solo by the end of the race.  I'm so proud of Kyla and Elisan for their hard work!  They did amazing and I think they may have caught the 5K racing bug.

Our results were:

Kyla finished 1st place (out of boys and girls) in her age group 1-10 yrs; Time - 24:51
Elisan finished 2nd place in her age group 11-14 yrs; Time - 27:15
Erica finished 4th place in her age group 40-44 yrs; Time - 28:40
Randy finished 7th in his age group 40-44 yrs; Time - 25:17

5.) I've really been hitting the gym hard lately.  And, I'm still tracking my food and calorie intake.  My weight lifting as really come along and I'm amazed at home my body has "muscle memory" as I'm doing these weight lifting exercises I haven't done in over 18 months.  I've noticed my definition coming back in my arms and legs and it's a nice surprise.

6.) Randy and I just finished booking all of our travel stops for our summer vacation "ROAD TRIP 2014 - CALIFORNIA HERE WE COME!"  We are traveling to Yosemite National Park and making stops along the way to Death Valley National Park, Las Vegas, Sequoia National Park & Kings Canyon, Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park.  We'll be making pit stops in Flagstaff and Albuquerque as well.  The driving will definitely be more grueling this time around, with two very long days on the road, but it's all worth it!

I'm so glad that Randy and I decided to do the National Park tours with the girls. This will be our third summer trip in a row to do this kind of trip. They are old enough to remember it, yet young enough to still enjoy it... if that makes sense!  Last thing I want is a teenager in the back seat making the trip miserable for the entire family... and lucky us, Elisan won't be a teenager until after this trip!

And that's about all for now.

Brain Dump (1st ed. 2014)

Y'all, if I had not experienced the relief myself, I wouldn't be a believer.  Because how on earth does a strip of stretchy kinesiology tape (or KT tape) make your muscles feel better?

But, one day Randy brought home a roll of KT tape to use for his plantar's fasciitis (which I also suffer from) and he swore it worked.  So, I tried it out too and it does!  I have been able to run pain free since I began using it.

So, the science fair is today and I'm sad to say that Elisan did not require any help from her mama.  What?  Last year, we worked side-by-side for many hours making sure her project board was interesting and balanced and visually appealing.  But, this year, she refused to let me help or offer my opinion.  That stinks!  I mean, that's great.  I'm glad she's taking initiative.  

Speaking of Elisan... she placed 2nd in area-wide competition for "reasoning" in Math Oympics.  She goes on to regionals next month.  (Last year, she took first place in the regional competition, so she's hoping she can hold on to her title!)

Kyla has become a rainbow loom bracelet making expert.  All weekend long she watched rainbow loom tutorials online and practiced step-by-step with the instructor on making new and fascinating bracelets.  She can now whip out an intricately detailed bracelet in no time. 

Randy told me he'd consider cutting his beard and hair on the first day of Spring.  Y'all, that's 2 months away.  What?!  I'm not sure what's gotten into him, but I'll have to post an updated picture of his bear and hair soon.  He doesn't even look like himself anymore.  It's a little disturbing.

You may have noticed my "budding photographer" button on my blog.  Well, that's because I have decided to offer my photographer services for hire.  This is a huge baby step for me, but I feel good about it.  My rates are really low right now... I already had a friend chastise me about it (hah), but I set the rates low enough so that as I hone my skill/talent, I will have room to raise my rates when the time comes.  I'm excited to see where this road takes me.  In the meantime, check out my website here.

Oh, and an update to my last post about Elisan running track this season.  Well, as it turns out, a little (positive) peer pressure has made her decide to run track this year after all.  There will of course, be soccer conflicts, and soccer is the priority right now since she is the goalie, but I think track is such a fun sport, I'm glad she signed up!

And finally, a bit about what I've been doing at the gym these days... Jumping Rope!  Love it!  I've always been good at jumping rope.  Must of been all of those "Jump Rope for Heart" fundraisers we did every year in elementary school  (Thanks Coach Hammerly).  But, nonetheless, I've really enjoyed adding another layer of cardio to my workouts.  Jumping rope is a full body workout and it takes a lot of endurance.  So what I do is jump rope for one minute and rest for one minute.  I do this for 10-15 minutes.  By the time I'm done, I'm done... literally.

First Place!

Elisan's basketball team finished first place in a tournament over the weekend!

Where art thou?

Ooops, has it been a month already since I last posted on my blog?  That dang instagram is getting all of my love these days.

I wish I could tell you that life around here has been more than soccer practices and games, with a little bit of school volunteering thrown in for added stress… but I can't.  Because that's what the last month has amounted to.

I do admit, I have had a fun thing or two tossed in for good measure, but truthfully… not a whole lot going on.

However, in short, here's quick recap of the last month…

Fall soccer is over.  Kyla's team finished 4th place out of 11 teams and Elisan's team finished 4th place out of 12 teams.

Elisan's team had a amazing season with only 9 goals scored against them in 11 games.  (To give you a perspective… the first place team had 14 goals scored against them - they just won more games.)  And since Elisan is a goalie… well, that means she did a great job (along with our rocking defense.)

Kyla's team did well this year.  They came up against some fierce competition, but held their own. In fact, here's Kyla holding her own in last weekend's game.

I've had a few photo shoots this month and I've been very pleased with the results.  

There are times when I "think" I want to do this professionally (i.e. get paid), but I need to do a few more things (in the photography area) before I start.  One, upgrade my current camera.  Take a class on lighting.  More hands on training.

I recently had the opportunity to assist a friend who is an amazing photographer for a recent outdoor family photoshoot and a newborn photo shoot in her home studio.  It was such an awesome experience and was really eye opening into what needs to take place to get that perfect shot.

I believe that my photos have come a long way in the last two years, but I still have a ways to go.  Until then, I'm saving every dollar and selling anything/everything on eBay to save up enough money to upgrade my camera!

In other news, over the weekend, Randy brought us girls to the qualifying round for Formula One.  The Circuit of the Americans was JAM PACKED with people… and it wasn't even race day!

 I have my camera on a high shutter speed to capture this shot.  

These cars were going SUPER fast!

Sebastian Vettell… he has won 8 consecutive F1 races this year alone,

including the on in Austin over the weekend.

Finally, my birthday is coming in up in three weeks.  I'll be forty-one.  Yikes.  That is totally surreal to me, especially considering the fact I still feel 30.

First Day of School (already)

They were so ready for this day to get here...I was not. (sigh)

My beautiful girls!

Elisan 12, going into 7th grade.  Kyla 9, going into 4th grade.

Happy Birthday Elisan!

Time keeps on slippin' slippin' slippin'...

It's already June 10th.  Heck practically June 11th from where I sit.  Did y'all know that?

Goodness, it's been a busy couple of days... Randy's in Taiwan, heading back tomorrow and we've been busy with our summer vacation planning.

But, in the middle of all of that, we've had lots of fun.  Been swimming, biking, running and hitting the local parks.

Randy bought us girls mountain bikes about a month ago and already twice this week, I've loaded the bikes in the back of the van and we've hit the biking trails around town and the nearby town.  LOTS of fun.  I never thought I'd enjoy bike riding so much, but I truly have.

Last weekend, my friend Cyndi and her kids Joey, Suzie and Elizabeth came for a visit!  We were so excited to see them.  Even though, they only live in Houston, we still don't get together but about once a year.  Sad, I know.

Anyway, I've known Cyndi since her oldest was 6 months old, so not only do we go way back, but the kids go way back as well.  What's nice is that their friendship (much like Cyndi's and mine) is seamless and we all pick up where we leave off every time we get together with them.  That's the mark of a true friendship!

Some exciting news on our front... Elisan made the TOP soccer team in her age division.  In two years, she has worked her way up from the third team to the first team.  That is virtually unheard of around here... but I tell you what, she has put forth the work required to make the leap she made and we are incredibly proud of her.  Her new coach is a fellow by the name of Wolfgang Sünholz a former professional soccer player.  (He even played with Pelé, probably the most famous Brazilian footballer of all times, back in the 70's.)

Speaking of Elisan, for posterity sakes, I wanted to publicly commend her for a fabulous school year.  This year, Elisan received the HIGHEST AVERAGE award for 5 of her classes - Math, Science, English/Language Arts, Literature and History.  At one point, they just asked her and another boy to just stay on the stage as they passed out her awards!  Talk about a proud mama moment!

Kyla was in the school's talent show the last day of school.  She was part of a trio of girls who danced and sang on stage!  She was so cute and I'm very proud of her for getting up there and performing.  (She says she suffers from "stage fright".... um, okay?)

And finally, I leave you with this... we had a free weekend morning and I brought the girls out to have their (better late than never) Spring pictures.

My girls are growing up... sniff, sniff.  (And, yes, they are wearing a smidgen of make up.)