...clear eyes, full heart, can't lose

Courtney & Carrie

Happy Birthday to my fabulous niece, Carrie, & my fellow Dillon Panther/Tim Riggins fan! You're awesome!

i can't wait

...sneak peak

I haven't had professional pictures taken of the girls in such a long time - don't even ask how long it's been. Jordan has such a talent for capturing great moments, and I think she is awesome. So she was the perfect choice for a photo session with Mallory & Jillian. Kirstin came too, and it was so much fun to watch the girls and Jord & Kirst together creating some fabulous shots. I can't wait to see the rest! Thanks Jord!

Moments with Mallory

Mallory Paige

Yesterday I had lunch with Mallory. It's not that we don't have lunch together. We do - at home, when we're out shopping, with Peter, with Jillian, with family & friends, but lunch yesterday was different. It was an intentional "date" & time with just Mallory - inspired by someone who I respect & love learning from (thanks Carla!!!).

School this year is going to be hard with some tough classes & a heavy work load. I know that Mallory will be able to tackle the job ahead of her and succeed, but Wednesday night she was feeling a little overwhelmed. She cried & we talked on the way home since she and I were the only ones in the car (these are some of my favorite moments). I gave her lots of "teacher" advice & practical mom advice about how to plan, organize & make choices about her busy schedule. Then I realized that maybe I just needed to be a mom, not a practical, experienced & wise mom - just a mom.

So we made a date for lunch the next day. I picked up Chipotle, picked her up from school and headed to the great park nearby. We didn't talk about school or classes or homework or projects. She talked about her friends and parties and of course, driving & the old Volkswagen bug or "hippie" van she REALLY wants. I loved spending that half hour with her, and she asked when we could do it again. Now not only does she get to have her "daddy daughter dates" with Peter, I get to have those special times too.

When she kissed me good-bye (love that she still does that) & walked into school, my prayer for her was that she would be surrounded by people who would build her up & encourage her, that the "burden" of school would be light & most of all that her heart would continue to be tender & Jesus would shine through her.

What a privilege it is to be her mom, pray for her and share this role of parenting with Peter!

Sophomore - Day 1

Yikes! I can't believe she's already a sophomore. It sounds so grown up, and Peter keeps reminding me that in 3 years she'll be off to college. I wish he'd stop doing that. I love the woman she is becoming & hanging out with her is one of my great joys.

Mallory, unlike Jillian, was not totally prepared for today. She was finishing the final part of her 2 summer assignments last night just before bed (she did not get her study habits from me)and has decided that shopping for school supplies AFTER the first day of school makes much more sense than BEFORE. And to top it off, she decided a couple of days ago to rearrange her room, and her "small disaster" (her words - not mine) is still in the clean-up stage.

One of the great things about Mallory is that she embraces most everything with such passion & excitement (even when rearranging her room), and this 1st day of school was no different . . . except I think the surprise of her new laptop made it even better.

Jilly's 1st day of Junior High

Lisa, Jilly, Lexie, Hilary & Morgan
Hilary, Morgan, Jilly & Lexie

Jilly & her cousin Lexie

Jilly & her BFF Lisa

There's something so great about the first day of school. I don't know if it's the new clothes, new school supplies, seeing old friends, a fresh start and/or the excitement & nerves for what lies ahead. It's a feeling like no other, and even though it wasn't my first day today, I had that great feeling this morning when I dropped Jillian off for her first day of junior high.

She had a hard time sleeping last night, and I could hear her taking big deep breaths in the car on the way to school. Jillian loves structure & order to EVERYTHING she does (check out her room & closet and you would see what I mean). All of her school supplies were labled, packed, checked & rechecked several times - days before school even started. Not knowing where her locker was, who she would eat with, who her teachers were and generally what to expect for an entire day was stressing her out. Once we got her locker organized, made sure she could unlock her locker and found her friends, all was good. When she & her friends walked off to the assembly with the other 400 plus 7th graders, she was happy and relaxed.

Hope she's still smiling when I pick her up at 2:33.

Australia 2009

Coolum Beach
Mallory's favorite place in the world (besides the mall) is the beach.
New Farm Park
Madie, Jilly, Callan & Mallory in one of the fabulous fig trees at the park.
Silly Mallory, swimming in the middle of winter!
Eleanor, Megan, Madie, Jilly & Mallory at the park. Love this one!
Dan, Jilly & Callan - buddies since they were 4 & in preschool.
Mallory, Madie, Jilly, Eleanor, Callan & Daniel in front of Freestyle Tout for afternoon tea on our last day in Brisbane.

Sticky Date Pudding - our favorite dessert at Freestyle & a perfect way to end our trip.

All good things must come to end . . . or so they say. Our short trip to Australia was awesome, and though I was looking forward to sleeping in my own bed, I was sad to leave. This was really a trip just to be with family and friends - lots of cups of coffee/tea & glasses of wine with great company.

australia = home

Coolum Beach

New Farm Park

It's a little strange (but in a really good way) to be back in Australia. Everything feels so different and yet so very familiar all at the same time - the feeling of being back home again. Spending time with Peter's family was great - quiet & relaxing before we hit Brisbane and were on the go. We saw all of Peter's siblings and the nephews, and one of his sisters stayed a bit longer and went to Coolum Beach with us. Mallory LOVES, LOVES, LOVES the beach & ocean in Australia and cried because she misses this place so much. Though I'm not a big fan of the sand, sitting on the beach while Jilly was digging in the sand next to me, was so peaceful and calming in a way that nothing else is.

We are now in Brisbane with our friends the Baddeleys & the Forrests, and it feels like we never left - except that all the kids are bigger. The day after we got here, Eric ended up in the hospital with 2 blood clots in his lungs. We picked up Madie & Callan, got meat pies & chips (french fries) & went to New Farm Park for the afternoon so that Jenny could be with Eric. Peter took Phil to the airport for his quick trip to Sydney, and Jan cooked dinner for Jenny & her kids & us. It's so much how we were part of each others' lives, and I love how it all just came together with no planning or effort. I was watching the 6 kids last night and was amazed at how they too fell back into a comfortable routine of being together - laughing, wrestling, arguing, talking, etc. God knew what he was doing when he put them in our lives.

Today Peter is at a meeting & having lunch with a friend; Madie & Callan are at school; Mallory, Jillian, Eleanor & Dan are at the EKKA (Queensland State Fair), and I'm having lunch with Jan & Jenny. Tonight we get to celebrate Callan's 12th birthday with tacos & s'mores (we even brought the graham crackers). I love being back!