Beach Reflections 2009 (and a little more!)

Our week at the shore ended all too quickly...but the golden memories shall live on forever. We packed a lot into the week...lots of beach time (where Lia mastered her boogie board for the first time...and consequently asked for a snowboard for winter!), good seafood, a quick trip to the R*ainforest C*afe in Atlantic City and a day trip to a local children's amusement park. Lia was thrilled when her friend Hannah came for their very first sleepover. The girls were great...if not slightly overly excited! They closed down the beach (when high tide nearly swept away my beach bag!), munched on pizza for dinner, enjoyed an evening movie and went right to sleep. Almost. :-) We have blocked out the 10 pm call to Hannah's mom and the retrieval that almost occurred. I finally won Hannah over with a promise that she could help me crack the eggs for breakfast. She told me she was a "good cracker"...and frankly...she may be a better cracker than I am! We all survived (and kudos to Hannah's mom, who fielded such a teary call...and still trusted us enough to keep her girl through the night!)...and I think it was the highlight of Lia's trip!

We returned to a busy week here. Lia is taking Science and Art Fusion Camp this week and also started gymnastics for the first time. She has been asking me for awhile to take gymnastics so we enrolled her in a summer class to see how she likes it. She was awake and dressed in her leotard at 6:30 this morning. She was just one hoppy, happy little girl...and I think it's safe to say that we will be adding gymnastics to the fall schedule for Lia...and some anti-anxiety classes for me most likely. :-) Gosh they look so little climbing on that large, dangerous looking equipment!

We will be heading out at the end of the week for another week away with our parents. After ringing in the 4th, Lia is so excited to be attending Nature Camp with her cousins. It promises be a fun-filled, busy week...just the sort of dreamy days we fantasize about all winter long.

These are some random photos from the beach. If you click on any of them, it will take you to my flickr stream (my new obsession!), where you can see more photos.

Happy summer to you all!!! I hope you are having a good one!!

Summertime...and the livin's easy...

I know, I know...two posts in one day...and all after months of sporadic updates...but we're at the beach and I finally have time to breathe. It was too cold for Lia to swim...but she couldn't wait to get her tootsies in the sand...so off we went...





It's hard to complain about 40 when the day ends as perfectly as this one. It's going to be a good year indeed! :-)

Happy Father's Day...in Blue and White!! :-)

Happy(early) Father's Day to Papa and Grandpa...both proud Penn State alumni!! Our Father's Day gift this year includes a little walk down the old Blue and White memory lane...so turn up your speakers and re-live some of your glory days!!

We love you both and hope you have a fabulous Father's Day!

(My Dad...playing a hot game of Candyland with Lia...we won't mention the allegations of card fixing Dad...)



Grandpa is a serial camera avoider...but I can't believe I don't have ONE picture of him! Shine yourself up, Grandpa, because I will be fixing that little problem when I bring my camera and come home next month!! :-)

...and now I bid you all good-bye for now as we pack the car and head for a week of beach bliss!! Let the summer fun begin!! :-)

Reflections of a middle aged mom...

40 sucks. (Sorry mom...I know you REALLY prefer me to say sucks eggs as somehow that seems more polite to you...but, well, tomorrow I turn 40...so feel free to let go...no one blames you anymore for my questionable language... :-)).

It is the kind of birthday that causes one to take stock of one's life. Examine where you've been, where you haven't been, what you've accomplished...and well...the sucky part...what hasn't been checked off the life list.

Admittedly, the tail has wagged the dog a bit in my life. I still wake up occasionally and ask myself questions like, "How did I end up with such a wonderful husband?", "Is this beautiful child REALLY my daughter"...and "I traveled where to bring her home??"

In those two people, my life is very complete. It is the dream that I held for many years. But I realize that I am guilty of running on auto-pilot a good deal of the time. While I don't, for one second, take my family for granted...I am not always great at slowing down and enjoying the small moments...the laugh over macaroni and cheese with Lia or cuddling with Jim and enjoying some trashy reality tv. Those are the moments that make memories for a lifetime. And I am determined, in my new found wisdom of 40, to enjoy them.

So...yeah...I am not thrilled about turning 40. But in taking stock of this life, my life...it is a good one. I am blessed beyond reason with riches that go way beyond the financial or the material realm. I have had more adventure than I could have ever hoped for (and really...I am not an adventure seeking kind of gal). I have a wonderful family and friends that enrich my life more than I could ever explain. My heart is full with anticipation for our second daughter that will join us from China (sometime before my next milestone birthday I hope!)...and the opportunities I have to take some chances and step out of the box so to speak. I feel so lucky to have found a hobby, photography, that brings me so much joy and satisfaction. My life is full and I am happy. In many ways it is not the life I envisioned for myself...but indeed, it is a life full of gifts I could never have been capable of imagining...and I am grateful. I am thankful. I am humbled. I. am. happy. :-)

So feel free, my dear blogger friends, to join me in a celebration of life's little moments...for one day those will be the big moments we reflect on. Join me as I dance like no one's watching. Sing loudly with the car radio. Laugh freely at myself...and only kindly at others (except maybe my mom...she is fun to laugh AT, all in good fun of course! See first paragraph above! :-)). Live mindlfully and creatively. In ALL things be grateful. Love more. Play more. Help more. Just be.

After all...you only turn 39 again once...and I am determined to live every second to the fullest!