Long Time Passing

And someone said I would have more time this year?  I'm not sure what nut job said that (oh, wait, I think it was me), but whoever did seriously needs to come live my life!

LOL

A couple of weekends ago, we loaded up the younger boys, the older boy and his homework and laptop, chairs, cooler and various and sundry items and headed to the lakes.  The snowbirds have a spot up there and we had not been all summer long.

This is by far, one of my favorite pictures of these two.  Huge thanks to hubby love for capturing this moment on film for me.  Both boys caught a few fish and we got to spend time with my mom and dad.  Also special that day was having Javi, the college boy, on our trip with us. 

He's quickly learning that Life goes by fast and demands you keep up.

Bless his lil' heart.

Ignore the flash spot at the top.  I wanted to put up his just now taken "senior" pictures for the family members who follow along.  Yes, you will get copies, but I just wanted to share what a good lookin' kid he is!

Guitar lessons started up last week for Middleman.  Bean is now the proud student of the French horn.  God help me!

First soccer game angsted over.  I told Middleman four things would happen hoping this would calm his nervousness:

You will make mistakes.

You will survive.

You will learn a lot.

You will have fun.

We have another game tomorrow out of town.  Javi will be batching it while we're gone.

Joan of the Indianapolis Quilt Guild sent out these vibrant batiks for her August blocks.  Just a simple little thing that packs a punch!  I will mail this back to her as soon as I can get to the post office.  I promise.  No.  Really.  I do.

I have been working away on Shelby's memory quilt.  It's over half-way pieced.  This one wasn't speaking to me.  I think clothes say a lot about a person, and this mom, loved her family.  I think she was a quiet sort of person.  With a servant's heart.  I took a leap of faith and I'm adding bright, happy fabrics from my stash to the four squares.  The quilt likes it better that way.

A sneakpeek of what I've been doing when I have 5-10 minutes of down time.  They're easy to cut and piece, and I love sewing curved seams.  This might become a wall hanging.  If it tells me it wants to be.  If it wants to grow up and bigger, well, we'll just see what happens.

Remembering nine years ago driving home from dropping Middleman and Javi off at school.  Bean in his car seat in the back and NPR on the radio talking about a plane flying into one of the World Trade Towers in New York.  My best friend in the world calling me from work asking me if I had heard the terrible news and sharing with me what he was seeing on the tv in someone's office.

I didn't want to be alone.  So, I drove to KT's house.  She was there with her little ones and we cried in each other's arms.  I remember not calling her into the room when the first tower fell, because I didn't want her to have that memory.  But then, we both shared the horrible vision of the second tower falling.  Who knew?

My prayer is that we always remember how we felt 9/12 that year.  The resolve to stand together.  The unity.  The compassion and compelling need to reach out and connect to those around us.  Looking for sanity and safe harbor in a world gone suddenly wrong.  Let us not forget the victims, the heroes and their families and friends.  That freedom is not free and seek to shelter and minister to the weak, the weary, the needy while encouraging them to grow stronger and learn independence is priceless.

God bless America.