A Season of Celebration

I've alluded to the fact that my life has been busy lately.  Since August I have felt as though a cyclone tore through and I got sucked into the spinning of life's craziness.  If you've spent any time here at NEM, you know that I savor stillness and desire for my kids to enjoy being kids.  I haven't changed my mind on those topics, but sometimes we have to lay aside our preferences for a season.  August through October has been my season of laying aside myself.

I'm okay with crazy as long as crazy is only a season and not a lifestyle.

The whirling dervish has slowed to a pleasant breeze and I am finally able to release my grip and enjoy the view.

Here's what our family is celebrating:
1. My oldest daughter attended her first high school Homecoming dance.

 Her beauty, inside and out, took my breath away.  It was hard on her daddy to see her so grown up.

 The dance just happened to fall on opening day of deer hunting season.  It made for a fantastic picture.  I wish I had taken a better photo with my Nikon camera.

 

She went with a group of friends and one of the girls' parents hosted dinner on their back porch.  The scene was blog-worthy.

2. Our other amazing daughter decided she'd like to try volleyball this year.

 She spent many hours at practice and we became much closer through the various road trips for her games.  It was a crazy, wild ride but so worth it.

Her team was good.  Really good.  As in they never lost a game or even a set.  It forced her to play up and was a great challenge for her.

All her hard work and dedication paid off.  Over the weekend, her undefeated team won the state championship.  So proud of these girls.

The greatest blessing of all wasn't the trophy or title.  It was her teammates.  My sweet girl had previously endured a year of mean girls but the girls on this team were such a sweet balm to her tattered heart.  Yes, so worth the season of crazy for me.

3. My baby turned 10 this week.  I can hardly wrap my momma-heart around the fact.  When he was a toddler I'd see older boys and dread the coming years because I was sure that the sweetness would run out by that age.
I was wrong.

He's all boy.  He's tough and wild and free.  

But he's still precious and sweet and tender.

What a privilege it is to be his mom.

4. Our newest batch of foster puppies arrived this week.

We are smitten.