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Team Up ~Spring~

Oh, I have been a team -up slacker these past few months.  I admit it.  As you can see from my last post (here), my plate has been rather full these past 8 months or so...I have been mom, dad, and solitary adult to run a house full of kids and animals and take care of EVERYTHING.  Pretty much almost every appliance, utility, vehicle that can have a problem, has had a problem. Lol. I am spread so thin right now, I think I can see through myself....hence, the slacker-like nature of my blog and the iPhone photos for team-up:)

Amy's is this sweet little foal. Spring brings all kinds of baby animals out..I love it.  I love the smell of a new horse...even an old horse...just horses.  Ha!  Mine is the iPhone photo of one of the tress on the way to the mailbox.  I loved the colors of the flower against the sky that day. I used instagram to take this photo.

So, forgive me for being such a slacker and bear with me for a few more months.  The real me will be back soon...with a new photography business and a new blogsite!

How Do You Do It?

Since the beginning of our relationship, Josh and I have had to spend time apart whether it be for school, the Army, or his job as a pilot. You know what? It works for us. He has had many deployments that have lasted 3-6 months and is now on his second 15-month tour. At least twice a week I am told, “I don’t know how you do it!” Well, this is how:
1) When he is away for long periods of time, we get to know each other all over again. We get to know each other through our words, our support, and our caring actions towards each other that reach over the miles. All of our interactions are based on our words to each other…not how we look, not physical touch, just our words and our hearts. I always think it is like old-fashioned courting.
2) During time apart, we get to know ourselves again. It is so easy to blend yourself with your spouse and your children and sometimes completely lose who you are. I have done this before. I simply became “Josh’s wife” or “so and so’s mother” and although I do love being all of these, I am still utterly and totally me. While we are apart, we each get to really concentrate on those things that make us individuals. We work on personal growth and taking care of ourselves, and that ultimately makes us better partners and parents.
3) He’s a bad ass. When I picture him doing all his soldier duties…leading over 300 soldiers…Hell Yeah! I think he’s a bad ass (and I like it).
4) He thinks I’m a bad ass. I do a lot of things alone. I fix the garbage disposal, jump-start the cars, mow the yard, build garden beds, fix sprinkler heads…all while looking pretty and raising three kids! Yeah, he thinks I’m pretty bad ass too!
5) We LOVE our country. I grew up in the military and have lived all over the world in some beautiful and amazing places, but love our country fiercely. The Star Spangled Banner makes my eyes leak every time. Fire works at 4th of July give me goose bumps. The history of how our country began and how we fought for our independence makes me nostalgic and leaves me wishing that, if only for a brief moment, I could go back in time and see what it was like to be alive during that time. Josh loves our country so much that he is willing to leave his family for over a year at a time. He is willing to leave a job and a life that he loves here at home. He is willing to die for you. Without question. Without a doubt. Just because he loves the United States.
6) We know what he is doing teaches our kids about honor and love for your country. It teaches them that our freedom, to live like we do in America, requires hard work and sacrifice. It is not just given. They understand that even though it is very hard and scary for him to leave us, he does it because he loves them.
7) When our kids see what I’m doing here at home, they learn what it is to be resilient, they understand that life WILL hand you disappointments, but you pick up the pieces and carry on the best you can. They see that when things don’t go your way, you can still smile and laugh. They see that even though they are not directly a part of the Army, what they do by supporting their father makes a difference to our country.

8)Every time he returns home, it is like we are newlyweds again. We get to know each other in person all over again. It is not always easy, but it is exciting. We have both changed and we get to see these new changes for the first time in person while we still recognize the person we have known for 16 years. After nearly 16 years together, I still get excited little butterflies every time I get an email from him, every time I hear his voice on the other end of the phone, and every time I get a package or a letter I know he has touched. I don’t sleep for days when I know I am about to see him again and spend a lot of time making myself beautiful before he gets home…just like when we were 21. Each time he returns, it is that “new love” feeling all over again , but mixed with our “old love “ comfort we have developed over the years.
9) Although we are apart, we continue to grow together.

Upside-Down ~Team Up Thursday~

Amy's son was being goofy and hanging upside down for her.  Look at that face!!!!

I like how objects appear upside down in water drops.  I originally used settings I saw on a blog tutorial, but they did not work for me ( I also do not have a proper macro lens).  Getting this picture ended up taking hours of adjusting light, shutter speed, ISO, aperture, yoga moves, and even some pilates.  Although I used my tri-pod and my remote shutter, I still had to balance, stretch, and contort my body to get this photo.  I'm still not 100% satisfied, so you know I'll keep trying. 

Everyday Beauty

This week's theme for Team Up Thursday is Everyday Beauty.  Amy appreciates when the neighborhood kids come over to play and it is not CRAZY, but nice quiet fun.  I agree that quiet is a beautiful thing:

This the view from my lap every morning.  Just my youngest boy and I, in a quiet house enjoying our time together. He is the third and the last and next year, this little chicken flies the coop for the big world of kindergarten. He has been my buddy everyday since he was born.  I will, undoubtedly, miss him.

My Heart is Catching Up

When she left for school yesterday, she was five years old. When I picked her up, she was almost eleven. For some reason, I have frozen my children at certain ages in my mind.  She was always a 5 year old.  My son, who is 9, will forever be three. My baby, who will be 5 in July, is always a toddler.  My brain knows and understands their real ages, but my heart has not caught up to my brain yet.

Yesterday, as I watched her run towards me, with her back-pack slung casually over her shoulder, my heart stopped for a nano second and my breath caught in my throat. I was, for a few seconds, overwhelemed and stunned that she had become a young woman in a matter of hours.  My heart and my eyes finally acknowledged what my brain knew all along...she is gowing up.

I stared at her and hugged her and told her she was beautiful, right there in the middle of the school parking lot with tears in my eyes. Right there in the middle of all her friends. She hugged me right back and didn't let go until I did.

As I drove them to our favorite ice cream shop, I could not stop staring at her through the rear view mirror.  I still could not process when and how this had happened.  My heart was running a marathon, still trying to catch up with what my eyes were seeing.  As we ate our ice cream, I snapped this picture with my phone so I would not forget the day I suddenly realized she was growing:

I still cannot stop looking at it. This morning, I thought I had accepted the fact that she is no longer 5.  Then she bounded down the stairs, full of life and ready for her day, and stopped right in front of me.  Being just a few inches shy of being the same height as me, she pats the tops of my head and says "Good Morning my pretty little mama"....I do not think my heart will ever catch up.