Stop! STOP! STOP!

The Labor Day weekend is over and tomorrow school starts for Wil and Ethan.  Wow.  10th and 8th grade.  They are such wonderful boys.  I keep telling Ethan I am calling the little boy store to order me a new little boy.  He laughs.   He says I can't.  I know I can't but I wish I had 2 little boys to snuggle with sometimes.  My baby girl came home for her first weekend from college.  She loves it and for that I am so very thankful but it is very quiet here without her.  On my Dad's side of the family we had a beautiful wedding....I got to spend wonderful time with the family I love, even if I did stress too much about the weight I haven't lost yet, etc, etc.....  Several family members have had significant health challenges this year and it is an all too real reminder to hold the ones you love close while you can.  We all danced the twist and everyone commented that it wasn't the same without Uncle Bill there and I wished he were there to twist again one last time.  We sang "We Are Family" loudly and it was a good thing.  On my Mom's side of the family there was a wonderful 60th anniversary party for my Aunt Maxine and Uncle Chuck who never seem to age and who still, after 60 years are delighted by each other.  I got to see lots of cousin's on that side that I haven't seen in awhile and that was a blessing.  Many have travelled a hard road but have come out on top and for that I am thankful.  We played music, my brother Tyler and I.  He-very well, me-fairly badly but my family loved it.  My mom would have loved it.  Someone told me I smile like her and I wished she were there to smile with us.  The older I get the faster it goes and there are just sometimes that I would like to shout STOP!....just for a brief moment, so I can take it all in.  My heart is so full and I am so very blessed.