One of the Best Things

One of the best things about the way my kids have grown up is how close they are to each other. If they had left the house every day and led their own lives, being oriented to the peers who had the same reading or math abilities, they may have missed out on one of the best gifts in life - their siblings. Our move to Texas has played an even bigger part in this process, as during that first year they only had each other - the three of them. The girls share a special closeness as sisters that I only ever tasted briefly in the confidences of sisters whom I did not live with, but loved all the same. Here is a little glimpse at their closeness:

Kendra has had a job for about 5 months now at a little restaurant in a town not too far away. She wanted a job as soon as we moved, but since she was only 15 we tried our best to slow her down. It wasn't very hard as there are few jobs available for teenagers in our area that aren't in the fast food industry. She started working shortly before she turned 17. A couple of days ago she came home from work with an application for her sister. Kaitlyn is 14 - turning 15 in a few weeks. My first instinct was to discourage it, but then I realized, she always gets to do things sooner than Kendra because her sister has paved the way. They could work together and Kendra could look out for her. (Although if you know them, you know that it is probably the other way around!) The thing is, Kendra said she was so excited when the manager said he would hire her sister that her co-workers were perplexed, saying things like, "I'd kill my sister if she worked with me." to which Kendra replied, "My sister is my best friend."

Now if that doesn't just give a mama's heart warm fuzzies all over! The best part is that I know it's true. Kullen on the other hand was not too thrilled. In fact devastated might be a better way to describe his reaction. He hates his oldest sister being gone all the time, and now the possibility of the other one being gone more often was a bit more than he could handle. I won't say there were tears involved, but let's say that something on somebody's face was leaking.
We'll all have some serious growing pains over the next several years as they start making their way in the world a little more separated from one another than they are used to, but I think we'll come out on the other end, still extremely close at heart.

As a little disclaimer, the picture here is over a year old. They're both going to hate it!

I Miss Me

I have said that over the past week to two different friends. Sometimes busy-ness is overwhelming. This kind of busy-ness was good, but I am definitely glad that for the most part it is over. (Until the next time.) After such a lonely year last year it is very nice to be active again in things that we really enjoy. Typically two things like ballroom dancing and a performance would not be happening simultaneously.
Pride and Prejudice was fantastic. It went off without a hitch. I got to have more than a front row seat as I was able to sit directly in front of the stage to feed lines if necessary - which it really wasn't. The kids all turned on - and as is typically the case in theater, all the rough spots were suddenly smoothed as the threat of public humiliation in front of an audience was greater than any fear over dropped lines, missed cues, or awkward movements. I went back to my husband during intermission and he generally is a tough critic. He was SO impressed! At the end the kids were well rewarded by an appreciative audience on their feet with a long applause. Anyone who missed it truly missed a great show.
I have taken tons of pictures - but most of mine came out a bit dark. Even lightening them with Photoshop didn't prove to be much help. I couldn't get my flash to hit them well on the stage. My favorite characters are at top left. The picture to the right is of Kendra and her friend Trent - who played Jane and Mr. Bingley respectively. Trent was struggling throughout the play to portray how "taken" he was with Jane's character. At the end of the show, they posed for this picture for me, which shows how much fun they had. I love it! At the bottom, the Bennet family - to them I say Adieu! It was fun being a part of your lives and now I'm glad it's over!

Sistas!

Here is the post I eluded to yesterday...
A couple of days ago I got an email - the message subject was "long lost sister". My first thought sadly was to wonder what new angle the spammers were taking with this one. But when the email came up in my preview pane - I saw that it was from someone named Alisha. I have two (step) sisters named Alisha and Renae. We haven't talked since 1995. It is a long story - but let's just suffice to say that we were not encouraged to have a relationship with each other, and the parents who should have helped us stay in contact no longer have an active part in any of our lives.
Renae had been searching the internet to reconnect with some friends from high school, and somehow was routed to my blog! She is a homeschool mom of 4 - and it appears we have so much in common from movies and books, to homeschooling, to a love of history, to our faith. Alisha is the mother of two gorgeous boys. We may not have quite as much obvious in common, but we were always thicker than thieves when we were younger. I remember listening to our 80s music together, late night talks about french kissing and boys. Because I know how much these girls have overcome to become the tremendously special women that they are today, I am so incredibly proud of them.
I am so terribly sad at the years we have lost. But I am not going to waste one single moment grieving over that when we could spend it getting to know each other again. It's been too long. I love them. I am so thankful. I am so glad that they had the courage to make contact. I have made fruitless efforts to find them online. I guess that blogging has a lot of benefits we can't even imagine - and I am glad that I didn't blog so incognito that they couldn't find me. The last couple of days have been a flurry of emails about our lives, and sharing pictures of our children. It has been terrific.
We don't have a "family" picture of us together - although through the years we were able to share a few holidays together. I took some pictures of the three of us and made this little "Christmas" picture out of some snippets from Thanksgiving 1989. I was 19, Alisha 16 and Renae 14. It was totally the 80s! Can you dig that hair? Geesh. How did I hold my dang head up!
I hope you two are reading this and know how glad I am that we have found our way to each other again.

Scrap Happy - The Joy of Sisters

Woo hoo! I'm back! My hubby had to do some work on my computer so I could start digi-scrappin again - and today I made my first page in FOR-EVER. I thought you'd be so happy about it that I'd share it with you too.
For any of you fellow digital scrapbookers out there that might like this kit - I GOT IT FREE at one of my favorite scrapbooking sites - Shabby Princess. It's still available so go on and snag it! Shop around and buy some other stuff too - they have such gorgeous stuff there!

Rapid Return Rate

No, I don't mean banking – I'm talking here about swift and sure conviction. ONE of my daughters is so hilarious. She has such a tender spirit, that she experiences conviction so swiftly and surely that when she does something that deserves an apology, you can almost count 3-2-1 – and there she is making amends for whatever she did. Today she offended her sister in some way that only a sister can – and headed outside to take out the trash. The offended party was in my bathroom with me telling me all about the wrong committed against her, in dramatic fashion. I reassured her that if she just waited, her sister's sure apology would follow. A few seconds later, the guilty party appeared around the corner and just as I predicted…….. "I'm sorry." Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters.