I saw one ...

Last night there was suspose to be a meteor shower that you were suspose to be able to see really well around 2:00 am. Well ... 1:00 rolled around and I decided to wake up the girls and see if they wanted to go outside and look for "shooting stars" with me. So we grabbed a few blankets and head outside to the back yard and made a nice little bed on the trampoline. Harleigh was on one side of me and Breeanna was on the other. Just me and my girls ... then suddenly ... all 3 of us pointed up to the sky and screamed "I saw one". The girls were just floored and I honestly was surprised that we saw one. It was a big one, too.

Soon, we decided to pick up the blankets and go to the front yard and look there. There are no houses blocking the view from the front of our house or street lights ... so I thought we might be able to see another one. This time, I thought I would try to get Clint and Eythen to come out. I turned on the hall light and went to wake up Clint first. He was in such a deep sleep that he pointed to the ceiling fan and asked me to turn off the light (no light was on in the bedroom). So I went into Eythen's room and picked him up ... because I knew he would not get out of bed any other way. We crawled into the back of Clint's truck, layed some blankets and pillows down and all piled ontop of one another trying to lay down. Eythen put his head on my chest and asked if he could go back to bed ... so 3 minutes later ... Eythen headed back inside and went to bed. Like Father like Son.

The girls and I stayed in the front yard until about 2:00 and saw a few more. They were just little ones ... they did not seem to go to far ... nothing like the first one. Soon we headed in to get some water and take a potty break ... then we went back out at about 2:30 for a few more minutes. This time Breeanna saw 3 right off the bat and Harleigh saw 2 of the 3 that Breeanna saw. I of course ... was looking the wrong way and did not see them. Although, I did see 2 more while we were laying in the back of Clint's truck, cuddled next to each other under my pink fuzzy blanket, giggling at random things.

We finally decided to call it a night and head back in. As we were picking up the blankets, I told the girls to never forget this moment because I would not forget it. Harleigh looked at me and said "It is kind of hard to forget the fun things that are stuck in your brain." I could not have said it better than my 6 year old. She then informed me that the perfect place to see shooting stars would have been Papa Gene and Grammy J.'s farm. I told her that it would have been nice and dark there and we probably would have seen some more there. She looked at me and said "Well, it is also in the middle of no where so shooting stars can be seen in the big sky." (Yes, Mom ... you still live in the middle of nowhere according to Harleigh.)

As we were walking in, I whispered to each girl that I loved them and I heard Breeanna whisper "Good Bye Stars. Thanks for showing us the really big one in the back yard. Nothing beat that one."

The tan lines will fade ...

Eythen did swimming lessons for the very first time this year. He actually did really well AND passed to the next level.

Breeanna was bound and determined to pass her level in swimming lessons. I told her the only way that she could go to the "deeper" end of the swimming pool without me over there, was if she passed. And by gosh ... she passed!!! Harleigh went off the diving boards for the first time this year. I just happened to snap a picture at the perfect moment when she went off of it for the first time. Only Harleigh ... only Harleigh.

My 3 kiddos ... I could not love them anymore or be more proud!!!

Breeanna went to volleyball camp for the 4th time this summer. She really has a passion for the sport. She ended up playing on the Rec Center volleyball league later on in the summer.

The girls and their dance receital! They did an AMAZING job this year!!! I was SO VERY proud of them!

Eythen went to go see Thomas the Train again this year. This was the 3rd "Annual Father Son Day Out" with Clint and Eythen. I am not really sure who has more fun ... Clint or Eythen.

My sweet baby girl ... Breeanna. Her little freckles started to come out this past summer.

This little guys is as onery as they come ... but as sweet as they get!!!

This was the very first moment that Harleigh learned how to ride her bike without training wheels!!! She did it on our first evening outside for our Summer Vacation.

Here I am ... entering the last week of summer vacation with the kids. I can hardly believe that the summer is already coming to an end. It truely feels like yesterday that I was going to their last day of school activities. I just emptied their bookbags with all of the school supplies that they brought back home. I just bought a pool pass on the first day of summer break. I just got done spraying them down with bug spray on our first night outside playing of summer break. I just got done rubbing aloe lotion on them when they got their first sunburn for the summer.

Now ... here I am, labeling every single school supply with their name on it. Here I am, marking my calendar with PTO meetings and Open House. Here I am, ironing their first day of school outfits. Here I am, putting swimsuits and beach towels away for the year and soon winter clothes will be coming out of the storage boxes. Here I am, beginning another school year of blast ball, gymnastics, hip hop dance, tap, ballet, cheerleading, soccer and basketball. Here I am ... about to walk Breeanna to her 3rd grade classroom, Harleigh to her 1st grade classroom and walk Eythen up to the preschool doors for his last year there.

Even though Clint was layed off the entire summer and we were strapped for cash and did not get to go anywhere this year for a summer vacation ... it was BY FAR the best summer EVER with my kids and Clint. For one, Clint actually got to experience a summer at home with the kids. He got to see what it is like to figure out something for a bored kid to do. He got the chance to make breakfast for 3 kids, lunch for 3 kids and dinner for 3 kids. He got to see just how hot it gets when you are sitting at swimming lessons for a few hours (while the kids are in the nice cool water waving at you). He got the chance to see how quickly the laundry piles up when the kids are at home all day long. He got to see them laugh, talk, grow, giggle, watch their imaginations go wild, kiss boo boos, break up fights and hear all of the "I love you's" that I hear day in and day out. He got to experience something that he would never of had the chance to do ... if he was not layed off. NO amount of money ... can EVER replace those memories. They are PRICELESS!!!

Even though we pinched pennies to make ends meet ... we still did so many great family things. He flew kites, spent days upon end at the pool, make homemade ice cream, went for walks, played at the park, set outside nearly every evening while the kids had water fights and laughed till their tummies hurt, made playdough that you can eat, finger painted, drew numerous pictures on the sidwalk with chalk, had many family movie nights, had picnics on the trampoline, played in the rain, played in the sprikler in the front yard while Clint was trying to water the lawn, BBQed outside NUMEROUS evenings and had a great 4th of July party.

So ... I guess what I am trying to say ... is that the tan lines will eventually fade ... but the memories will last forever.