Spring!!!!!

Well Spring has sprung around the old farmette.  I so love this time of year (though you will NEVER hear me complain about winter cause I'm not a fan of 85 degree weather-a year round 65 might be nice but I digress).  My tulips make the driveway look like little Holland!  And there is nothing better than laundry on the line.

The year has gone by so fast....Hannah just had her last lead, in her last musical, of her high school career....unbelievable.  I found myself teary of course, wishing my folks could see her perform, welling with pride for the incredible job she and the others did.  It was quite an ensemble piece and she was so happy to be a part of that ensemble-not prideful and wishing for more stage time-I'm really so proud of her.

And she's driving.  Really- you might as well rip out my heart and send it careening down the highway. Enough said.

And this week there's prom and then the last pops concert and then quilt presentation at church and honors night and baccalaureate .... whew!  Break out the tissues!

And another sad fact....I am now the shortest person in my house.  And Ethan has hairy legs and a mini mustache.  Really.  And both boys are busy and playing beautiful things on the piano but I don't know how long that will last and I think Hannah has Wil convinced to audition for choir.  Joy.  Rapture.

And I'm not thinking about August when Hannah leaves for Grand Valley where she will be wildly successful and come home only to do her laundry which is how it should be.  But maybe she'll remember her little, old mama singing in the kitchen now and then.....

I have many delightful, wonderful aunts.  3 on my Dad's side and 4 on my Mom's (only one "blood" uncle-no wonder the women in these families are so strong willed!).  But my aunt Maxine, in particular, is a nut!  She is so funny and whimsical and we love her to death and today I realized that the "apple don't fall far" from the proverbial family tree!

My good friend Tootie says that especially now, in autumn, as she looks out her window, across the barren fields, she can picture Laura Ingalls comin' across home.  So this morning I put on my apron and my bonnet and drove down there and snuck out back and "came across her field"!  She threw open the window giggling and said-"why howdy Laura!  Come on inside!" and I went inside and we had coffee and chatted and didn't do housework!

And I realized-I am a nut too.  And I crack myself up!  And I might be becoming my Aunt Maxine!  And that is a very good thing!

Missing...

So my lovely daughter found out that she has the lead in the school play which is really quite awesome    and what I really wanted to do more than anything was pick up the phone and call my momma to tell her.  But I couldn't.  And it is times like this that I have to say that I really miss my mom.  I don't dwell on it.  I'm not the kind of person who is stuck on the "why me's" of life, and I didn't "why me" today either....I just wished I could call her and tell her  cause she would be so incredibly proud of her and she would say such wonderful things to her and call her sweetie pudgin' and love her up so much and I'm sorry she is missing out on that.  The upside is that I called my super wonderful mother in law who is 2nd only to my momma and I called my Mungie momma and they both were super excited and incredibly proud of her and they will say wonderful things to her and they will love her up so she is a pretty lucky gal in the end.  But I guess I will have to call her sweetie pudgin'.   Miss you mom.

end of summer reflections......

Sigh......

Summer is done-well it will be in a few hours.  Labor Day will be over, officially, and it will be the first day of school.  Ethan will be a 7th grader and Wil will be a freshman.   Hannah will be a Senior.  No more "going to be".  "Is".  Ouch.  Where did that time go????

Anyways....thinking about what  great summer it has been and just saying a 'thank you Lord" for all of the blessings.....

Recap

*A fabulous VBS-such a blessing for me.  Our volunteers...such wonderful spirits.  Wonderful kids.  Just saw one today "hi Miss Kim.  your VBS was the best.  i can't wait for next year.  i am coming every day!!!"  Me too!
(Oh and my right hand man-Dan the Man -already scored a sweeet prop for us for next year!!!!  He rocks and his wife is pretty special too!!!)
Did I say that one day I had 13 kids here after VBS for the afternoon.  In the pool.  I smiled.
(When we were growing up we had a pond.  In the winter, our pond  would be lit with lights, pickups parked everywhere and 15-20 guys playing hockey at night.  My mom must have been smiling.)
Sorry i digress.....

*A summer filled with family and friends and lots of pool time!  Thank you for the pool but thanks even more for the ac mom and Fred!!!!

*A fabulous family reunion-love, love, love culminating with church on the farm.  super, duper love!
(Plus got a lot of honey do jobs done in preperation! )

*Welcoming a wonderful new Pastor and his wife to Hope.  So excited to be in ministry with them!

*Another reunion and celebration for my sweet Aunt Esther's bday

*A wonderful, restful 2 weeks at Arsenic City.

Now a part of me is welcoming the fall and the opportunity to be back on a schedule, but..... not.

Sigh......