Update

Time to update you all on our happenings this past month. Morgan is on a swim team. She attends practice everyday and she has made great progress. I hope this is the week she finds the courage to let go of her teachers and swim.

A couple of weekends ago, we visited with my friend Lacy and her husband Dave and their daughter Penelope. They took us to Dave's parent's house to ride horses. The girls had a blast. Then we drove to the mountains and camped over night. It was a fun experience until we tried to go hiking the next day. Both girls were exhausted and ready to go home. We will have to take them camping more often to toughen them up.

The other day, Morgan decided to do a project on her own. Greg was outside working in the yard and I was putting Taylor down for a nap. Morgan saw a video on how to make a princess using a sock and paper. She grabbed one of Greg's socks, a water bottle, paper, tape, scissors, tin foil and markers. The picture shows the result of her creative efforts. She was so proud of what she did that we could not be angry at her for climbing up on the counter to get the scissors. Greg thinks it looks like a character from "The Nightmare Before Christmas".

I hope everyone is having a fun summer. We look forward to seeing family and friends next month.

Ouch!

On Saturday, Morgan and Taylor were running around the house pushing each other, and Morgan pushed Taylor into the metal frame of the bed. The pictures do not do it justice. On Saturday, her cheek was swollen and blue. Sunday, she woke up with a little bit of black under her eye. Monday, it was even more black and blue and swollen. Today, it looks even worse. The pics were taken on Saturday and Sunday, before the beautiful blue, purple and green colors began to develop. She is fine and acts like nothing happened. I, on the other hand, am totally embarrassed to take her out in public. I feel like I should wear a huge sign that says, "I love my child, I did not beat her". I have a feeling this is just the first of many bruises, cuts and possibly broken bones for my little daredevil.

Birthday Girl

Tomorrow morning around 5:00am, marks my 32nd year on this earth. I usually am a little thrilled when it is my birthday because I can eat cake and open gifts. Who doesn't like cake and presents? This year though, I feel nothing. Tomorrow is just another busy day to me. There's swim class and play dates, a YW's activity and then a soccer game. I don't even think my kids know it is my birthday. I am not disappointed though. There is really nothing glamorous about turning 32. The carefree childhood days have long gone. My teenage years seem like they were in a different lifetime (maybe it's the 90's hairstyle). College and the 20's just flew by and now I am in the 30's. I remember being a young girl and thinking, when I am a Mom in my 30's, then I will be a grownup. Am I a grownup now? Secretly, I sometimes want to be a rock star with a bad attitude and lots of tattoos. Other days, I think it would be fun to join a motorcycle gang and travel across the country, wearing leather chaps and sporting lots of tattoos. Every once in a while I dream of playing on the U.S. Women's Soccer team and traveling around the world. Then I hear a child crying in the background and I am brought back to reality. Oh yeah, I have a husband and kids and something called responsibility. To those around me and especially to my kids, I appear to be an adult. Between you and me though, I am secretly a still a daydreaming kid at heart.