Throwback Thursday

Wise Words

We're baaack!

Do you remember that 6-month period of time where I fell off the face of the blogging world?  Honestly, I don't even have any grand excuses.  Life happens and then you don't make time to blog.  Here is a very brief recap of our last 6-months:

March:
•Basketball season comes to a close for Sophie and Bella.
•Dance competition season begins.
•Mia wins a Young Author's Award for her fictional story "Lulu the Mermaid."

April:
•Dance competition season continues.
•A FaBuLoUs trip to London with my mom for Spring Break!  We did some marathon sightseeing, enjoyed a spot of tea every chance we got and even squeezed in a day trip to Paris!  Heaven!
•Welcome Home!  3 of the 4 girls come down with pneumonia - arghh!
•Our beloved, furry friend Einstein passes away.
•Soccer season begins for Sophie & Mia.

May:
•Recitals, concerts, assemblies, talent shows and soccer games - oh my!
{No parent feels they are ever going to survive this month and then, amazingly, you do!}

June:
•School's out for summer and I have officially completed my second {and final} term as PTO President - yahoo!
•Sophie goes to basketball camp at the Air Force Academy and visits grandma & Papa for the week.
•A fun Marus family reunion down in Colorado Springs.  We were so thankful to get to visit many of the places that were subsequently destroyed by the infamous Waldo Canyon Fire.
•The Waldo Canyon Fire gets a little to close to my childhood home for comfort.  A stressful couple of weeks; my parents are evacuated but, thankfully, their home is spared.  
•Bella & Hannah continue a grueling Stadium of Fire rehearsal schedule.

July:
•Hannah & Bella perform in the Stadium of Fire show {broadcast to the Armed Forces world-wide} in Provo, Utah.  It was an awesome, inspiring experience!  The girls' favorite part - watching Scotty McCreery perform {he's so cute}; the grandparents enjoyed the Beach Boys {Yes, they are still kicking it after 60+ years}!
•We are home 1 day from Provo and travel to Laramie for a wedding and get to hang with our besties!
•Sophie goes to another basketball camp and gets to visit Aunty Em, Uncle Zach and baby Ted.  Then she gets to hang with our great friends, the Yeends.
•Justin's grandmother turns 90 AND we both graduated from high school 20 years ago
{All of which get scheduled for the same weekend - go figure}!
•We leave for Boston where Sophie and Hannah spend a week at Harvard for the People to People program.  Amazing experience for them!
•Bella & Mia get to travel with Grandma & Papa to Georgia and North Carolina where they also get to visit their great-grandmother!

August :
•Sweetwater County Fair
•The girls take a trip to Jackson Hole with grandma and then get to go to California to visit cousins - lucky girls!
•Dance season officially begins for team girls.
•Bella finally gets her bedroom re-decorated {she is almost 10 after-all; a "big girl" according to her}.

September:
•The cheer heard around the world - school starts - yippee!  Everyone was ready.  Although, I will admit having a Junior High student is slightly baffling to me!
•Football begins and so begin our day trips to Laramie to watch our alma matter get slaughtered, oops, I mean play.
•Fall soccer begins.
•Dance is back in full swing.
•Choir begins.
•Piano, saxophone and French horn lessons begin {Are we seriously considering adding violin too? Yes, yes we are}.

There it is - more than you probably wanted or needed to know, BUT life is grand and we are ready to tackle another year!

Junior High....

In my 3 weeks of Junior High, I have realized that I'm missing sleeping in until 7:00 and the bus coming at 8:30.  My schedule is now 5:45 - wake up; 6:00 - be dressed and upstairs; 6:30 - eat breakfast and brush teeth; 7:00 - gather saxophone and back pack; 7:15 - walk to school.  Yep, no bus.

Sophie's Poem

The assignment: to write a 4-line poem in which the first and third and second and fourth lines rhyme, respectively. LOVE what she came up with!

WYOMING
Horses that run wild and free,
under an endless pink sunset.
With coal on a train for a fee,
and cowboys riding broncos without a fret.

Simple Abundance

I have recently decided to re-read Sarah Ban Breathnach's Simple Abundance. I love this book and it really brings in to focus what is important and how to rid myself of things that are weighing me down. In particular, I love taking a moment, at the end of each day, to write down 5 things I am grateful for each day. This simple task forces me to recognize all of the amazing things that happen throughout the day and, in turn, become a more positive person.

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow."

~Melody Beattie~

Reading

Do you ever find that there are so many good books out there that you want to read but just can't find the time? I have so many books that I am trying to get through right now and many, many more on my 'to read' list. Some are for enjoyment and some are for self-improvement, some are light reading and others are more emotional and/or thought provoking but, I think each is worthy of my time. BELOW, are some that I am currently reading and ones I hope to get through in the recent future. I'll keep you posted!

CURRENTLY READING:

I AM CHARLOTTE SIMMONS

THE HUNGER GAMES

DAVE RAMSEY'S BOOK(S)

RICHARD & LINDA EYRE'S BOOKS ON FAMILY & VALUES

and the Grandaddy of them all...THE BIBLE {in a year}

WOULD LIKE TO READ:

SARAH'S KEY

THE TIPPING POINT

THE GIFT OF AN ORDINARY DAY: A MOTHER'S MEMOIR

ONE FOR THE MONEY

7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and likewise, 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families