Friday, July 23, 2010

swim day and this and that...

Yesterday, the girls and I spent about the whole day at Mimi's and Papaw's. Faith and I swam maybe 6 hours in their pool. Hope "swam" maybe 3-4 hours (not sure)... was scared at first, then was having a blast by the end of the day. Charity was practically forced by me to "swim" for a couple of hours, but the deep water (at least to her) was too much, and I gave up trying to teach her... I could hardly even get her to relax... maybe another time. She enjoyed just watching Faith, Mimi, Aunt Shenna and her two girls, and I swimming... and, she enjoyed playing with the water guns, etc. I was hoping to teach them to swim this Summer. Faith is getting there (even swam a little without any floaters! That is a big deal for a 6 year old who is only about in the 5th percentile in height and barely gets her head out of the water), Hope with her floaters was kicking herself to the part of the pool she wanted to be at, so she is getting the idea, but Charity has a terrible fear of the water... not at the shallow side of the lake or in our small pool at home, but in deep water. That's okay, we'll get it. The girls have been instructed to never get near or in a pool without the presence and permission of an adult... just so you know that. Faith had so much fun, I think she would have just kept on swimming, but we had to stop at some point, you know... she LOVES, LOVES to swim!!! With floating gear on, she would stand on the ladder and leap into the pool. She also managed to choke on the water numerous times, but after heavy coughing, would continue to swim. Mind you, we had lots of help in the pool yesterday, so everyone was well supervised. Faith and I got an overdose of sun on our faces and arms. Kinda hard to burn areas that are well covered, so we got farmer's tans.
On another note...
I thought of someone else who helped majorly at our wedding... she is a friend of my mother, named Cheryl Adkins. You wouldn't believe the work she did... she was our caterer and filled in many blanks at our wedding... She did a fantastic job! She picked out our cake knowing what colors we wanted and did an excellent job, helped us get some of our wedding decor, and the food she made was delicious... couldn't have asked for a better reception.
Michael and Linda Schaub became photographers at our wedding, helped decorate, make brochures, I believe, and helped organize.
Seth and Melody Yates went shopping with me and helped me find my dress, make corsages, seed bags, favors, and was actually key to me and Ron even getting married... call them the match-makers... HA! Really, God put us together, but He had great helpers. They rescued me when I overdrew my bank account trying to buy all my wedding stuff... they gave me a loan until I could pay them back... that was humbling. I was young and trying to figure all this stuff out, and it was tricky with Ron living back in Dayton, Ohio, and I was living in New Mexico. It was for the best, cause I was strongly attracted to Ron, and might have tried to marry him in two weeks or something... at least, I had time to organize a nice wedding. If I could change one thing, I think I would have rather had my wedding at the church I had attended as a teenager and grew so much in... the 8th Street Wesleyan Alliance Church in West Portsmouth... but, we had it at a church I don't think I had ever attended... anyway, it turned out fine overall. Still remeniscing (is that how it is spelled) here, I guess.
Would you believe that I will be 29 next week... that means I will only have 1 more year to enjoy my 20s... why does that make me feel sad? Guess I am a bit of a kid at heart sometimes. Dear me, and I am turning grey already?! Whew! I sure have managed to have a busy time since I entered the 20s... graduating from college, trying nursing school, doing missions work, getting married, having 3 children, being caregiver of my hubby as he fought for his life against the big C, working with him in different ministries in our church, seen way too many people pass away... two of Ron's grandparents and one of mine and lots of family, friends, and acquaintances... life is no longer a little girl's playground all the time, working some part-time jobs here and there... not for the last few years though... my family, home, and ministries take up my energy, and starting this fun blog as a journal to be shared. It's been quite the trip, and I wonder what the last year of my 20s might bring my way. If you keep your eyes open, you can see God's fingerprints throughout the journey... I have been seeing them a little more clearly the last few days, as I have been trying to draw closer to Him and teaching my little ones from His Word... I just get excited. The devil has thrown his fiery darts and my vision gets a bit cloudy now and then, but I am seeing that praising God is helping to clear the fog.
You know you are getting old, when you wake up the morning after a big swim day, and your whole body aches! Maybe 6 hours of swimming was a bit much. It was just so fun and relaxing, I couldn't help myself.
Oh, now, we are having a fight about dolls and their carriers... grrr... nothing like a "Mom, she took my baby! Waaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!" to ruin a fun blog moment.
Until next time... leave other people's babies alone :-)