This is just the life for me!

Blake was playing soccer one night with Tim and said, "Dad, this is just the life for me!"  My sweet boy was on cloud nine.  That's what I feel like lately.  We've been busy and life is crazy but this is just the life for me!

  The kids are finishing up the school year and continue to amaze me with their love of learning (not sure I ever had that).  We went to an open house night at school where we got to see some inventions the kids made.  One of them was a truck and trailer pulley system and you had to see how many wooden blocks you could stack on the trailer and still reel it to the truck without them falling off.  Their teacher told us that they couldn't figure out they had stacked the blocks to keep all of them on there.  A bunch of kids tried it together and eventually gave up.  Tara and Blake figured it out.  Good job, guys!  Blake continued to play with it until he had figured out two more ways to stack the blocks successfully.  One of the ways was a tall tower, and I never thought it would work, but it did.  I was thinking that I was content with "we can't figure it out" and marveled at these beautiful little people who had the patience and determination to find a way.  So proud of them!!!! Not sure they are genetically linked to me now . . . but still.

  A funny thing happened that made me laugh because . . . you just are who you are and isn't it great how God wired us so individually.  Tara and I are very much alike in many ways.  If we play a game we will want the other person to win so they aren't sad.  When she and I play against each other we usually have to just call a tie because neither of us wants to beat the other.  The boys think we are crazy.  Last Sunday, Tim was gone for the day and it was time to get ready for church.  The problem was that I was sick and feeling really crummy.  So we were trying to decide if we should stay home or go.  Blake says, "Ok, we'll vote.  Close your eyes and raise your hand if you want to stay home.  Now raise your hand if you want to go to church."  Turns out it was a tie.  The funny part is that Tara said she couldn't decide so she never voted and I couldn't decide so I voted for both!  We voted again and got the same result.  (Finally I decided not to infect everyone and we stayed home.)  I thought it was pretty hilarious.  Maybe it's not even our personalities . . . maybe it's because we are girls.

  Our babies have joined a track team.  They love to run and they are good at it. (Another trait that did not come from me.)  They have their first track meet this weekend.  Blake knows all the kids in his class by name and rank.  "That's Tyler and he's the 3rd fastest.  Jennifer is 5th fastest, etc."  I asked him how he knew and he said they race at recess.  Tara is not so verbal about wanting to win but when she runs you should see her face.  The determination is there.  Tim runs marathons so it isn't that much of a surprise that our children like to run too.  They all have a goal.  Tim wants to do a marathon in 50 states and all 7 continents before he turns 50.  The kids have a goal too.  To beat Dad.  Tim told them that every year around their birthday he would race them in the 100 meter dash.  When they beat him, he will take them on a trip anywhere they want to go. (We asked Blake one time where he might want to go on his trip and he said Nebraska! What in the world is in Nebraska?!)  Tim told me that he could beat them for probably 10-15 more years.  I told him he'd better start saving his pennies because all they needed was incentive.  He did not count on them joining the track team.  He also did not count on the boost his girl would get from new track shoes and running outfit.  Tara ran 4 miles last night.  You should have seen the glow on Tim's face when he was telling me about running with his baby girl.  He said, "I think she was thinking that this was the life for her!"  I can tell you for sure that her daddy was thinking just that.