A few weeks ago we had an end of the season party for my son’s T-ball team. I planned the party and chose a local park as our venue. The downside is I had to hang out with our tables till everyone got there…the upside is the park is great. I had no idea how nice it really was, and packed full of people for an early Sunday morning. It’s calm, very peaceful. Instead of dreading this time spent “hanging out” I enjoyed it. I set up the tables, read my bible, and got to catch up on some writing. Right across from me is a group of elderly Asians who have been doing what I can only describe as tai chi aerobics. They are doing it to music; their movements are quick but very fluid and graceful. They did for at least 3 hours. It’s beautiful and inspiring to watch. Not something I would expect to see here in my little local park. I understand why as a culture they live so long, seems like their health priorities are right in order.

5 years ago today at 9:05am Aidan made his exuberant but uncomplicated debut. Those words still describe him pretty well today. He is full of life and wonder, always exploring and excited to learn new things. He’s kinda like an easy going energizer bunny. I guess moving so fast you don’t have time to sweat the small stuff Aidan came into our lives like he had always been there. We didn’t miss a step going from one child to two. Aidan just fell right into his place. He is an amazing little man, loving and brave. I am so proud of him and so proud to be his mom. The last five years have gone by very fast but have been blessed and extremely happy! I love you Aidan!!!

I realized something the other day…Evan & I are our children’s first teachers. Ok so I didn’t realize that…but I did realize that the teaching goes beyond the lessons we intentional give. They are learning from us 24 hours a day 7 days week. Every waking moment they are watching and taking in. Which unfortunately leads to some bad lessons, and don’t mean like they were punished for disobeying, nothing like that. I mean I am guilty of unintentionally teaching bad behaviors. Maybe some of my reactions were given before thinking. If I am rude to the people around me, they will be rude. If I am close minded, negative, and judgmental, they will be too. If I always act without ever considering the consequences, they will to. I am not perfect, but I think now that I realize it, I will work harder to be better. Being conscious of these things is so important, because we never stop teaching. We continue to teach them long after they are grown, and I really want the majority of my lessons to be good. I want to give all the tools they need to be successful. One very important one is holding myself to a higher standard, so they will grow up respecting my example and decisions. They will feel secure in me as a resource. I also think for every lesson we teach them, they teach us two or three…always learning!

Day tripping…

Messing around