YOUR Gonna Miss This… Moment… Week 57

Last night James played his last high school football game.

It was a tough game in the wind & driving rain (at least it was around 60 degrees).  Inches of water covered the field.  The small visitors stands were packed with AC fans, hoping for a repeat of last week.

I didn’t happen.

So, the season is over.

Somehow, it is not quite as hard as it would have been without last weeks amazing victory.  That game was so amazing.  And I am so glad I was there, and they could experience Victory like that.  We all need victory every once in awhile.  And it would have been so sweet to get to the sectional finals.

James seems to be handling things very well.  It was hard for a few minutes but he’s ready to move on to swimming & weight training (says James)

As parents many of us spent countless hours last week feeding, meeting, preparing, planning, & supporting our team.  There is a large part of me that finds relief in not having to do that again this week… even though  I would have and it would have been great to win.  It took a lot from my family and my younger kids spent too many evenings at home without me.  It takes it’s toll.

In my heart I will miss seeing #81 on that field every week.  I am so blessed to have been able to be there for every part of it.   And I have no regrets.  That’s all we can do.  Life moves on.  So once again… I embrace the quote of Dr. Suess…

“Don’t cry because it’s over, Laugh because it happened.”

I’ll leave you with this video of the pep session Thursday night that Leah took… I am the one in the skinny jeans, vest & beanie… yes, we dressed in our son’s clothes… sorry for the quality of video.

 

James looks much better in them than I do…

 

What about you?  What’s going on in your world that you need to take a minute and write about?  What would you like to share?  Here is your chance.  Link it up here & get this button in my sidebar…

 

Loving me a quiet morning…

Because NOTHING is going to be quiet about the rest of my day… or the rest of the weekend for that matter…

Yes, the weekend has started around here.  Fall break & a 4 day weekend.

But it’s after 8 am, and my house is still quiet… there is one little munchkin in the kitchen crunching cereal, but so quiet compared to how it will be.

Sometimes the noise is more than I can take.

But, if it wasn’t there I know I’d miss it dreadfully.

So, I pray, “help me to embrace the noise”… because it won’t always be quite so full or quite so complete.

The noise of the mower & the leaf blower working on leaves.

The noise of voices that just don’t seem to stop and all go at once.

The noise of the squeals jumping in the record breaking pile of leaves we will have once they are all swept up.

The noise of the vacuum cleaning up the leaves that get brought inside on shoes and clothes that have rolled in them.

The washer and dryer that never stop.

The noise of cousins joining together for birthday celebrations… singing at the top of their lungs.

The noise of parents, cheerleaders & student body cheering on our football team to victory.

The noise from the shakers we made last night for the fans to shake during the game.

The noise of the band at our school going to Indy this weekend for state championship.

Noise.

Thank You, God for quiet mornings… time in Your Word…

And now… let the noise begin…

Leaves, Football, Laundry… and other fun activities…

We live in a woods.

We have leaves.

Lots of leaves.

I worked a couple hours on them this morning.

It’s raining.

Rain & Leaves.

Can’t tell I worked.

I think I hurt my back.

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We get to have a pep session on Thursday night for the football team.

Senior mom’s do skits at pep sessions for football games.

I am a senior mom.

I am going to embarrass myself and my son on Thursday night.

Should be fun.

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Laundry is taking over our house and will soon consume us.

Thanks Leah for folding a ton of it today.

Rinse, Wash, Repeat.

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Had teacher conferences.

School seems to be going well.

Except for Jadon wetting his pants.

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Traveling an hour away for Friday night’s game this week.

Feeding the players 3 times this week.

Feeding my own kids would be a good idea too.

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Someone is yelling “MOM”…

Better go…

WE WON!!!

It was so amazing!!  Here are some clips from the news…. HUGE UPSET!  THEY were rated #6 in the state!!!  WE DID SO GREAT!!  GO JETS!!  Look for #81’s catch!!  It’s close to the end of the clip!

By the way… this means the SEASON IS NOT OVER AND WE PLAY AGAIN NEXT FRIDAY NIGHT!!!!!!!!!   Somehow this made up for all the rough games!!

YOUR Gonna Miss This… Moment… Week 56

A while back I found the quote that became a theme of this carnival, popping up all over…

Don't cry because its over, Smile because it happened!
Dr. Seuss

This is one of those weeks that I have to keep that in the front of my mind.

While it is fun to have a Senior, be a Senior…& you are sure glad they made it this far & are growing up and becoming adults…

Don't cry because its over, Smile because it happened!
Dr. Seuss

It is hard some days.

Because Last Games come. 

Last times are hard to think about.

Reminds me of that book “Let Me Hold You Longer” that Karen Kingsbury wrote & read to us at the E-Women conference…

I am crying just thinking about it…

Watch this if you can handle it…

 

Dear James,

If tonight is the last night you put on pads & jersey #81 for the AC Jets, I just wanted you to know that I have loved watching every moment of the season.  I am so blessed to call you my son.  And I am so proud of you.  And yes, I am crying… but that’s what mom’s do.  I love you son.  I pray that you will be safe tonight & not break anything!  And that you will have so much fun & make lots of catches!

Love,

Mom.

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Won’t you join me… Link up here… I’ve gotta go find a tissue…

Custom Christmas Cards

I have been teaching myself how to design Cards.  A customer requested them and I am learning…  I did these today of my own kids…

If you are interested in having a card designed by me, please let me know!!  (I can even use your photos if you like)  Pricing is based on the type of card you are looking for & a small design fee. 

Pam

Helping your brother smile…

If your brother is having trouble smiling for his picture…

Sit on his head…

That helps…

To all you mom’s out there with boys… give up.  You aren’t going to stop them from antagonizing each other.  It’s what they do. 

The End.

Pam

Supporting Each Other…

What a weekend.

I wish I had more pictures.

Where do I start? 

With that sea of elementary children’s faces??  And the standing room only gymnasium filled with grandparents & VIP's coming out to support their children?

With the first benefit we attended on Saturday and the jam-packed cafetorium at AC?  All there to support 2 boys who are battling life threatening illnesses?

The House of Hope… “for the boys” benefit?  A room full of people, Leah’s singing with 2 other girls “Potters Hand” & Tom Sharing his heart for hurting teens & his vision for our city & the work that their ministry is seeking to do in lives.  Doors to open on December 1.

The two friends who both called me last week in tears… “I can’t do this”… and me being able to be prayerful support back to them for all the days they were to me.

Sitting in church and finding out that a family that our church supports on the mission field had a motorcycle accident… there were injuries… and before the service ended finding out that a 5 year old boy had lost his life… the second child this family has lost to death on the mission field.

Sometimes it’s all too much to think about…

Then you have my parents… endless means of support to their family and so many others… choosing to come to the HOH banquet with me & Leah, on their anniversary.  Coming to game after game after game of my kids and my sisters…

Community supporting one another.

It is an incredible thing to witness.

Pam

A commenter shared this, and I thought it was worth adding to the post… thank you Krista.

“When your faith endures many conflicts and your spirit sinks low, do not condemn yourself. There is a reason for your season of heaviness. Great soldiers are not made without war. Skillful sailors are not trained on the shore. It appears that if you are to become a great believer you will be greatly tested. If you are to be a great helper to others you must pass through their trials. The uncut diamond has little brilliance, the unthreshed corn feeds no one and the untried believer is of little use or beauty. There are great benefits to come from your trials and depression ." ~Charles Spurgeon

YOUR Gonna Miss This… Moment. Week 55 Senior Night

With a Senior in the house Moments to be missed are quite easy to come by.  Moments to be agonized over can be quite easy to come by.

You will be happy to know that I didn’t even think about crying last night at Senior Night!!  I was so proud of my son… I could cry now!

Our Superintendent, congratulating James & thanking me for sharing him with them.

I am so blessed.

I am dealing with some anger at James’ dad for missing it…. as nice as it was for me to not have to deal with him, it was wrong for him to not be there for James.

His loss.  I know James missed him being there.

Hard.

THE TEAM WON LAST NIGHT!!!  FIRST WIN SINCE THE FIRST TWO GAMES OF THE SEASON AND THAT WAS FOR SURE SOMETHING TO BE EXCITED ABOUT!!! 

James was disappointed that the ball didn’t come to him more & its hard to be in that spot as a senior, knowing your next game could be your last, and will probably be really hard & you have the skills… that’s been our biggest disappointment and hardest thing to understand and keep a good attitude about this season.

The odds are stacked high against us next week.  Playing an hour away, against a team rated 6th in the state with a record of 8-1.  Its gonna me a hard one.  I am gonna miss it, I am sad that James didn’t get more passes thrown to him.  He does such a good job. 

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What do you have going on this week that you need to take a moment and treasure??  This is YOUR chance to share.  Link up here so others can come over and see what you are treasuring today… & perhaps be encouraged to treasure themselves…

Add a link back here to your post, use the code on the sidebar for this picture for a quick link…

Lots of BIG stuff!

The coming days are bringing LOTS of BIG activities around here!!  Busy, Fun, & New.

This afternoon is Grandparent/VIP day at the elementary school.  Jadon’s first.  Lucas’ last.

Grandma & Grandpa, Kiahna and I, will be there!

Zach wanted to know if the high school gets out of class for grandparents day.  Sorry.  But, I did offer for G & G & K & I to come in and eat lunch with him.  He said he’d pass.

Zach had his last freshmen football game last night.  It was a really tough season.  Not one win.  Uhg.

Tonight at 6:15 the senior parents have to start lining up on the football field for “senior night”.  A first for James & I. 

I won’t cry, I won’t cry, I won’t cry… I’m gonna cry.

James’ dad has other commitments and can’t be there.  He did send James a nice card yesterday.  (no comment)

Tonight is our last regular season game.  Next week is sectional.  We drew a team that is 7-1, and rated 6th in the state.  And we play there.  A worse draw there could not have been.  Praying for a miracle.

The weather forecast for today.  40’s today with drizzle.  Low of 31 tonight.  Chance of snow.

Tomorrow morning, Lucas has a soccer game.

Tomorrow afternoon Zach will have finished his classes for drivers ed.

Tomorrow evening there is a benefit for 2 boys at our school who are experiencing severe medical needs.  One is undergoing chemo, and the other is radiation for a non-cancerous tumor in his brain.  The school has been raising money all week, and tomorrow evening there will be an auction, pizza dinner, T-shirts, & free will offering to help offset their medical expenses.

Also, tomorrow evening is the House of Hope Banquet.  The one that will benefit the soon-to-open boys home in our town.  The same organization that our family has attended out-patient counseling through in the past year and a half. 

Leah & Lucas made some pottery that will be auctioned in a silent auction.  Leah will be singing “The Potters Hand” with 2 other girls.  My photos are going to be used in the slide show that was created to display during the meal. 

I have also been asked to take photos of the evening to submit to the local newspaper. 

This will be my first big advertising of my photography, also.  A photo shoot with me is going to be included in one of the auction packages!  & I have had business cards designed & ordered (hope they get here in time)

On Sunday it is my hope that the sun is going to come out and warm things up again around here for awhile!  And I am really hoping that I can get my own 6 kids out to the park for a photo-shoot!!  I have all these great pictures of everyone else's kids that I love, and I am lacking in some of my own!!  Another miracle needed!!!

Speaking of photos of other people’s kids… I am so excited about some of the photos I have been working with.  My niece Samantha is one gorgeous girl.  I’ve done a few of hers and they will be on my photo blog today.

I think these two cousins look pretty good together…

A few have asked me what program I am using for my editing.  I am using Photoshop CS4.  My friend Jodi, & fellow photographer, designed my logo & my business card.  Isn’t she amazing!!  

I will try to find a moment to post my, um, well “moment” tonight or tomorrow morning!  I’ll probably use a few pictures from a few events that have not yet happened!!

Pam

One for the wall… & I told you there was mud…

You do understand that all this photography business began with wanting to take James senior pictures… I have had him out 3 times taking pictures… I haven’t hardly even worked on his edits!!  Today I decided to work on one I took of him on Sunday that I really love…  I am pretty sure this one is going to end up on my wall…  unless I get a better one! :)  How do you choose just one though!!

I’ve been working on at photo shoot I took for my cousin of her family… as I was working this morning, I became inspired by this picture, and had to add a verse to it…

I want one like that with my kids in it!!  O, and I want my kids to live together in unity too… but I am afraid mine would be pinching, pulling, or grabbing if I asked them to stand that close!! :)  See more of these on my photo blog!

I got my hands on some pictures from last Friday night’s foot ball game too… the one that was so horribly muddy…

The Brown & Red Team…

James…

Drawing for the sectional was last night.  We drew an away game and a team that we probably cant beat.  Is it bad to pray that by some miracle we pull it together enough to go a few games into sectional??? 

This Friday is Senior/Parent night.  It’s supposed to be in the 40’s and raining.  Wanna come watch?  Yeah.  Rinse, wash, repeat.

Sigh…

Pam

Lord… I am Amazed.

The beauty of autumn is upon us.  It is truly incredible to see the color come out of the trees… This year, I am seeing it through the lens of my camera.  And that is a first.

My eyes are becoming more in turn with what is around me.  Everywhere I go I think, “I’d like to take pictures there.” or “no, that wouldn’t work”

Realizing I have a hidden love of old barns & textures I never new existed in me.  It’s really quite something.

The business that I started about a month ago is going full force.  Busier than I would like to be on a “normal” basis, actually.  I know it is the time of year & don’t expect it will continue on at this speed.  Not thinking I really want it to! 

I love the photography time!!  LOVE IT!!  I am loving meeting new people, getting to know people I didn’t really know very well.  Getting in to the heart of people that I wish I knew better and finding a bond with them.

Last night I was photographing a family.  I had a short little shoot with only the parents.  As they asked me how they should pose, I thought, I don’t really want to “pose” them so much as I want them to be them.  Sit like they sit.  Be yourself. 

My favorite pictures are not the ones where they are perfectly smiling at the camera, but the ones that they are being real.  O. And that the camera is in focus.  That always helps. :)

Then you have some kids that really shouldn’t be taken in public… really…

Some people it’s just better that I don’t capture them quite so “natural”!

Poor Sam… she really wanted to smile without showing her teeth… how could you with HIM around! 

  Not to mention, random bike riders!!

And anyway… I think your teeth are beautiful, Sam!!

I am amazed.  Amazed as I look through the photos that came through my lens.  I see things I didn’t even know were there when I took the shot.  Gifts.  Blessings.  I am amazed.

I have lots of work to do.  2 families & 4 seniors sit in my laptop awaiting edits.  Another family is pending for tomorrow evening, and one is almost finished…  keep watching over at my photo blog, I am sure you will be seeing some new work over there real soon!! 

And I am amazed.  God is Amazing.  This is all His idea, and I am so blessed to be a part of it!! 

Pam

YOUR Gonna Miss This… Moment… Week 54

Welcome to another week of posting those moments in our lives we know we will miss one day… so what ya got this week?  Can’t wait to read about it!  Link up at the end of this post.

Last night at 11:15… after sitting and watching our football team be defeated by a team that hadn’t won a game all year… in the misty rain… on a muddy, muddy field… I mean SO muddy that when James had his catch (YES!!) the announcer said it was number 57!  Just how much mud does it take to turn #81 into #57!  LOTS!! Sure glad parents don’t wash the uniforms!! 

So, at 11:15…I have one boy ransacking the house in search of a learners permit that “SOMEONE TOOK” he didn’t lose!  And another saying, “you got me a calculator for the SAT’s in the morning, right?  I told you this morning”

AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!   Not an evening full of moments to miss!

I had to go in and buy a calculator (Zach is using the one we had bought for the last test at school).  The closest Wal-Mart is 15 minutes away.

Not an evening full of moments to be treasured.

But, in the midst of it, I did get to give a congested little Kiahna a breathing treatment and cuddle her on the chair… THAT I will miss.

Chaos, Defeat, Disorganization, Miscommunication… not so much.

Help us Jesus.

So, today James is taking the SAT’s for the second time.  (bet he won’t miss that)  Praying he does well… do you know how much more financial aid you get for descent SAT scores…. please oh please do well James… knowledge, wisdom & depth of insight.

Your turn… what will  you miss??

Pam

Friday Football Fotos

Been thinking a bit about football…

Hopes & Dreams & Futures…

Displaying Godly Character to our children…

As we are disappointed…

frustrated…

crushed…

to watch boys work so hard…

and face defeat…

week after week…

and still hang in there…

never giving up hope…

believing that you can…

knowing that you will…

do whatever it takes…

to finish your race… season… career…

with dignity…

knowing you gave it your all…

every time…

you got the ball…

Our record may not show it… but these boys have worked so hard… and learned so much… sometimes the hardest but longest lasting lessons are learned in the face of defeat.

I for one couldn’t be more proud of my son & his teammates… I am red &white to the core… win or lose…

I’d like to see what kind of character traits we can develop from winning a few game now though!! :)

READY FOR ANOTHER NIGHT OF FOOTBALL TONIGHT!!!  GO JETS!  BEAT TIGERS!!!! 

And I hope it doesn't rain!!

And I haven’t been holding out on you with these pictures.  I didn’t take them.  A sister of another senior parent took them.  I got access to them last night.  Aren’t they amazing!!  So happy to have these!!

Pam