Happy Birthday Aspen!

Yesterday my daughter turned 14! 14!!!! I am the mom to a 14 year old!

She had a great day and I am so proud of who she is and who she is becoming. Her favorite gift was a new phone with texting privileges. We switched our plan around so we have unlimited texting. She was so excited she didn't even really notice the stipulations. It has to be in the kitchen charging at 9:30 on week nights, 11 on weekends, not aloud at the dinner table and of course if grades slip it's gone till they come back up. She was understanding of the rules and at 9:30 on the dot she was walking out with her phone!

I made her favorite cake. One that I only make on her birthday. It is a chocolate, chocolate chip cake. A recipe that came from a person at another church who came down to help with VBS 5 years ago. The cake was so good I sent an email kind of like this:

"Someone at your church was here helping with our VBS. While they were here she made a very good chocolate cake! I don't know her name but could you please help me find her so I can get the recipe?"

I got the recipe with in a week!! It is Aspen's favorite birthday cake. One year I ordered a cake from a friend who does cakes. I then had to make a second cake that year because Aspen didn't want to miss her cake. I only make it on her birthday because she kinda dubbed it "my cake". If I make it all year long it wont be as yummy and special.

She broke up with her boyfriend of maybe three weeks. For two of those weeks she didn't even know his last name! Anyway she said he was really nice..... to her. He teased and made fun of her friend. So she broke up with him! Yeah Aspen!! I hope  pray she continues to have the strength to do the right thing and stand up for other people. Such a proud mommy moment! Oh and she has three A's and two B's on her progress report:)

Beach and Band

     What a busy day! I do admit it started off lazy. For the first time in a long time I did not roll out of bed till 10! Shane was home this morning. I didn't sleep till 10, just had the opportunity to be lazy and enjoyed it very much!
     After that exciting morning Matthew and I went to the annual church picnic at the beach. It was weird being just the two of us. Aspen had to be at the school early to practice for the competition. So Shane took her than took advantage of the quiet house and did homework. We had fun. It is fun seeing people outside of their Sunday best.
    Then home for quick showers and off to the competition! The kids did awesome! It was our first time seeing the whole performance together! Our marching band won many awards at the competition. Best color guard, best percussion and best music something (can't remember the word). They also won in the division AND won the whole competition! It was very exciting to watch! I never realized how much work goes into the marching band till Aspen started this year. The kids all did great and they made performing in 90 degree weather look easy!

WAY TO GO SIS'!!!!!!!!!

NO SHOES, NO SERVICE

Matthew is always barefoot! Living in South Carolina this is easy to do at least half the year. He hates wearing sneakers. He has outgrown sneakers that were worn just a few times. We also don't wear shoes in the house. So for him it is much easier to run outside without shoes on. Aspen also likes to be barefoot but not as much as him. She will at least keep her shoes on till we get home then throw them in the basket. Or drop them inches from the shoe basket!

There have been occasions when we got someplace and realize Matthew forgot his shoes. Easy solution, put him in the shopping cart. Since then we have tried leaving them in the car. That worked for a few months. He takes them off as soon as he gets in the car anyway. So instead of having him bring them in and put them in the shoe basket, he keeps them in the car and that ends the shoe battle. Then last Sunday he forgot to put his shoes on before church. I stayed home during Sunday school because I had a headache. I get a call from Aspen.

"Mommy, when you come to church can you bring Matthew's shoes."

I'm thinking it's church! How can you not remember your shoes for church! So my son was barefoot in his Bible study class! His teacher Monna thought it was funny though. She told Shane about her son when he was a teenager forgetting his shoes for church! He drove himself to church and once in the parking lot reached for his shoes and they were not there. So He called mom to bring them.

I guess living in such a warm place near the water many people enjoy going barefoot! I never saw tan feet before I moved here! 16 years later I still love the tan lines on my feet from my flip-flops! Nothing says winter is over like a flip flop tan line!

I thought about this post because as Shane and Matthew were leaving to bring Matthew to school, Shane ran back in the house to get........ yup Matthew's flip flops!

Where were you 9 years ago?

I woke up this morning and thought about what today is. 9/11 As I watched a little about 9/11 on The Weather Channel the images made me cry. It was like 9 years had not passed and I was seeing it for the first time again. It made me remember what I was doing this day 9 years ago.

I stopped by my old room mates house to pick up something and Kazu and Michelle were watching the first tower on the news. It didn't really register at first. It first sounded like a plane accidentally crashed into the tower. So off to class I went. On the way to class I heard on the radio the announcement of the second plane crashing into the second building. I felt so scared, shaken and alone. I had to pull over to a gas station just to be around other people and hear them talk about it. They had a radio on with the news. It felt like time stood still. It of course did not and I was late for class! I walked into class 20 minutes late! Shortly after another professor pulled our professor out into the hall. It felt like he was gone forever. He came back in and told us the Pentagon had now been attacked. He said if anyone has family who works there they were excused and it wouldn't count against them. A girl left class in tears, her uncle worked in DC but she wasn't sure where (I don't remember the details but he was okay). After class I went to work. Everyone was in shock and didn't really talk about it. I worked at a preschool and we didn't want to let on to the children what happened. It was a very forced day at work.

I just wanted to take a moment and share my memory of 9/11.

Please Vote

I took this post right off my friend's blog. Sorry Mel if I messed up:)
          "Friends & Family,

You will be blessing so many families and children with special needs by voting for The Center for Courageous Kids for the 50K grant from Pepsi!!



Please click on this link to vote:



http://www.refresheverything.com/courageouskids



You may also text your vote, as well!



Text this number: 102408 to Pepsi (73774)



Our family was blessed to attend “family weekend” back in 2009, and then the triplets got to attend the “Physical Disabilities Week” this past May. CCK provides a fun, safe, and medically sound camp experience for all children with disabilities. CCK does for children like ours what Disneyland does for yours! Please, think of the joy and happiness that your child experiences each time they go to a theme park, camp, etc… your vote today (and hopefully every day until Sept 30!) is helping special children like ours to continue to experience “a little slice of heaven on earth” each year at zero cost to our family! What a blessing. Please, take part of this action to bless others. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! "

I am still trying to figure out blogging and wanted to help Mel out. CCK is currently in 28th! They need to be in tenth in order to recieve the donation from Pepsi. We are a Coke family but I think this is cool what Pepsi is doing:)

Happy Anniversary to us!

Today Shane and I celebrate our 8 year anniversary:) It has been eight years since we said I do. And I would do it again:) I feel like I am the most blessed woman in the world. I have a hard working dedicated husband and 2 awesome kids. Thank you Shane. I love you so much!

Happy Labor Day!

Looking through all the Facebook pictures many of my friends spent their holiday outside. We were no exception, well the kids and I. Poor Shane was working. We, of course went to the beach! While we were there Aspen looked for shells, I looked for shark's teeth and Matthew brought me garbage. Both of my kids can't walk by a piece of garbage on the beach. If they see trash they pick it up and throw it away. We usually go to the state park because there is less garbage and they can enjoy themselves more.
We found four shark's teeth at the beach today. I finally googled "why are shark's teeth black" and learned something new! I learned in Florida every spring there is a Shark's Tooth Festival. The festival even has a 10k for you runners out there! When we find shark's teeth on the beach they are usually black. I learned this is because when the tooth falls out of the shark's mouth and settles on the ocean floor it becomes the color of the sediment. The minerals in the sediment replace the dentin and enamel that makes up the tooth, then the tooth turns that color. Off our coast that is black. I did not know there are other colors of shark's teeth. Interesting!

Friday Night Lights

Lat night I went to my first football game since, well since I was in high school. I am not a football fan. I try but it seems the more questions I ask the more I annoy Shane so I stopped asking. High school football is even more confusing because it seems the plays happen so fast and because it is in front of you and not on t.v. with the instant replay a bazillion times! I think any live sports event is confusing. It took me FOREVER to finally understand off sides in soccer!
We went to the game because Aspen plays in the marching band. She plays the baritone. A large brass instrument that hides her whole head when she plays! The marching band did a great job last night. I am looking forward to more performances by them. I hope next time we get to see them in full uniform. Lat night the wore jeans and their marching band tee's. I know Aspen was relieved!

State Park

Today after I picked up Matthew from school we went to the state park to check out the waves from Hurricane Earl. We saw some cool things at the beach this afternoon! I was surprised at how busy the beach was! No one was in the water. I think this had something to do with it.

The red no swimming sign. Warning people not to go into the water. It was cool to see a guy get fussed at by the lifeguard to get out of the water.

Of course the waves were cool! Here are some larger than normal waves.

We also saw some cool stuff washed ashore. The birds were enjoying dining on Sargassum seaweed till Matthew came along!

We also learned a little something today! We learned the Sargasso or Sargassum seaweed lives off shore. It was washed ashore in large quantities by the storm. We found "seashells" attached to the Sargassum. We learned those are called Gooseneck Barnacles.

Sargassum with a Gooseneck Barnacle attached. The berry looking things on the Sargassum help it float.

We saw some girls do something creative with the seaweed.

I love the imagination of children! It was a great hour spent at the beach. I need to start packing play clothes in the car for spontaneous after school trips like this.                                                                                    

Go Away Earl

Sounds like the title to a kids early reader story book! We will be lucky and the only effect of Earl we will feel is wind and rough surf. The surf is good for people who want to surf but not for people who had planned a last trip to the beach for the summer. Aspen is at the age were she doesn't understand the impact but was hoping for a day off of school. She wanted to have the storm then look at the damage. She doesn't understand the impact that has on lives. I was an adult before I realized storms are not fun. It's not just a day off of school or work. It is possible lost income for weeks after. We have been very lucky and have not been hit by storms in a long time. I pray our "luck" continues. I also pray for others along our coast. I pray it gets pushed further out to sea than predicted.