Where Has This Year Gone?

I can hardly believe how fast this year has gone. Here is a recap of what has been keeping us hopping for the past 11 months.

Homeschool - well so far we have survived 2 and a half years with no end in sight. This year has by far been the easiest with so many break throughs for Sydney both socially and academically. She is making enormous strides in reading, handwriting, math and dare I say spelling?  Some experts say that many children just aren't ready for school when they are 6 or 7. I totally believe this to be the case with Sydney. When she hit 9 last year I really began to see changes especially in reading. This year she is blasting through math and doing much better with spelling.

Dance - Dance is one of those things that may or may not always be in our lives.  As long as Sydney is reaching for the stars physically and mentally I will encourage her to stay. If she decides next year she wants to try gymnastics or karate that's okay too. I have to say she was quite a trooper with a broken foot. She went to class every week and worked on the moves and placements that she could.

Swim Team - this year was Sydney's 2nd year of swim team and she had a blast eventhough there was a little drama. I saw Sydney and her swim team buddies acheive trememdous growth in their ablilities and efforts. It was fun and it was very, very hot at some of those swim meets. All the pics I took at swim meets this year were with my phone and they are still in my phone

Friendships - Sydney has learned the hard way that some friendships are only for a season others seem to never end no matter how much time you spend apart. This is true for her and Taryn...they have a very strong bond.  She has also learned that it's okay to have more than one best friend...just like her mama. We have both learned sometime it's just best to say goodbye. Not always easy and not fun but sometimes needed. Dance had a surprise new friend this year. She has a new "best" dance friend named Marina. Marina is the daughter of one of my sister's best friends and the neice of one  of my mom's good friends.  I am looking forward to see what the 3rd generation of this friendship brings for my little girl.  Also, we discovered that you don't have to look hard to find true friends. Here are a few of her favorites

Sydney and Taryn they really are BFFs

Brooke - also a longtime BFF

Romeo, her newest friend

Griffin, her oldest friend (even before Taryn)

Catching a nap with daddy after a sleep over at Brooke's

Swimming in Lake Granbury

Ready for Halloween as a woodland princess

Singing at church

Feeding her chipmunk friends in Creede, CO.

I am officially the mother of a pre-teen now, a girl in double digits and it's so hard to believe. I am looking forward to being the mother of a teenage girl.  How's that for optimism?

Master Bath Remodel

We have been renovating our house a room at a time since early June. Renovation can be scary but you need to look at it as an adventure. In the past we have replaced our patio, added a door and replaced our patio door...nothing too scary...well, there were a few moments during our patio replacement that were more crazy than scary considering our contractor's helper put his foot through our ceiling twice! Not really a big deal since Jason, our contractor fixed the problem quickly.  The other problem is that we had a full grown rooster running around the back yard that summer. That is a long and stupid story for another time but it involved baby chicks from Sydney's first grade class.

On to Rick's bath. When we made the decision to renovate, we started at the back of the house in the worst room ever built. There is only one word to describe our master bathroom...small, ugly and pink! Oh that 's three words isn't it.  It has been a problem we tried to work around our "vintage" bathroom but there is only one cure for this kind of ugly!  At the time our house was built in 1965 most homes didn't have what we now consider a "master bath". They were typically a shower, toilet and sink...think powder room with a shower. That's what we have and my husband is the primary user. I just tried to pretend it wasn't there. So this is where our adventure begins...

Pink shower with white trim from a previous repair

 I warned you it was ugly what you can't see here is the pink tiled floor. When we moved in there was carpet on the bathroom floor.  Don't get me started on how much bathroom carpet grosses me out!

 The beginning of the demolition derby

 Jason picked up a supervisor along the way...Romeo inspected every step of this project

 Ahhh...pretty and not one spec of pink! We started out with lighter grout and went to darker. Since this picture was taken we have colored the grout on the floor and it now matches the shower. Not much need for decorations since Rick uses this bathroom. Brown towels are all he really wants. And  I moved my Pottery Barn Pub mirror in there for him.

 Perfection! We do have a fabulous glass shower door but for some reason I don't have a photo.  Maybe later...I also just noticed this photo was before we painted the shower ceiling.

 A shower floor any man could appreciate

Jason put thesed cool inserts in for soap, shampoo etc....

After it was all said and done, we are thrilled with our newly renovated, bathroom complete with an exhaust fan (extremely emportant in this house)!

There you have it...we have also completed the hall bath renovation which was equally gross but in different ways.  We are 90% finished with the kitchen and it is a dream. The rest of the house involves new floors, removal of paneling and A LOT of painting. I will share the other bathroom with you soon.

Joe Turner is Cancer Free!

I have had the pray for Joe Turner on my side bar for many months now and I want to thank all who have prayed for him.  It has been a rough year for 7 year old Joe Turner but it looks like his troubles are behind him. Joe finished his chemo and had a CT scan and other tests and he is CANCER FREE. Nothing is harder than to watch a little one suffer. He has been so cool and so brave during this time. Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow! If you are interested in more details please read this post

for today:

outside my window... the sun is shining and the air is fresh.

i am thinking...that I enjoy being home with my daughter and how blessed I am that God chose me for her.

remembering...when when we bought this house 14 years ago and all of the plans that are finally materializing.

i am wearing...cotton capris and a soft cotton t-shirt.

i am creating...memories for my daughter and husband.

i am reading... Beth Moore Esther Bible study.

i am hoping...Sydney's friend Taryn is feeling better...she left here this morning with nearly 102 degree fever.

i am hearing... the fans around the house...and Sydney playing with her figurines!

one of my favorite things...when Rick comes home in the evening and we have a few minutes before the evening chaos begins

a few plans for the rest of the week: lunch with Jill, church, remodel of my kitchen beginning!

10 Year Old Quote of the Day!

Today over lunch Sydney said to me "I don't think I will be able to be a brain surgeon because I would hate to make a mistake with someone's brain." "And I wouldn't be able to eat lasagna anymore."  She does paint a  vivid picture for you doesn't she?



Update on Joe Turner

If you are in need of a little (or a lot) of inspiration you can read about a brave 7 year old right here. I promise you will be blessed! Thank you to all who prayed for Joe all of these months.

Look at these beauties!

 I purchased these today and I can't tell you how happy I am about this.  First of all this means that we are on to the next phase of remodeling our house which was built in 1965 and had really not been updated since.  We have completed 2 bathrooms which I haven't posted about...that will com soon.  I am looking forward to using both of these beauties after they arrive on the 20th. Our very gifted contractor is building new cabinet doors and drawer fronts to replace the super ugly ones we have now as well as tearing out a section of our cabinets to open up a little into the den. I think when it is all said and done, every room in our house will be different in some way. Stay tuned...