It might just be time...

Today it feels like fall is coming. I think we have squeaked out every last bit of summer around here. I mean it is almost Oct. 1st and we are still pushing 90 degrees outside. I think that is all about to change this week and I can feel it in the air. Fall is going to make her way into town. So it might just be time to......

can the last of the tomatoes
trim the raspberries
plant some bulbs
till the garden
winterize the pool
put up the patio furniture
clean the deck
OH and best of all get my craft table!

So as fall makes her way into town we find ourselves curled up inside just a little more. Football blaring on the TV and it might just be time for me to cut into some fabulous fabric and start making some Christmas gifts or that Mermaid costume that my daughter wants for Halloween. What better way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

~Scarlett

9/11….just those words render feelings in all of us. Thoughts about that fateful day 8 years ago... 8 years, it sounds like a long time yet seems just like yesterday. I know we all have stories about where we were that day when we heard the news. I was somewhere between rocking babies and standing in line for my Starbucks, heading off to work and listening to the radio announcer say things like the Pentagon has been hit. I remember thinking this is the United States of America, planes do not fly into the Pentagon. I watched TV just like the rest of the world and my heart ached for those families. I felt a special connection to those women who lost husbands that day and all those little faces we saw on TV, the little ones who we came to know as the babies of 9/11. You see my little girl was just three months old. I wondered what would happen in her future and how the world would look. I wonder what happened to that America. The one where we all had flags flying and we supported our troops. I remember listening to George W. Bush and feeling proud to be an American. He brought this nation through one of the most difficult times in history. We are back to complacency. Congress can’t get anything done because of the division in parties, the economy is in the tank and Obama is not proving to be the Savior everyone hoped for. In spite of all of this I hope that America can reach down deep again and stand together. I hope that we will pray for our troops and remember those men and women not just fighting in Iraq right now but all of those that fight everyday of their life, those that fought in Vietnam, Korea, and WWII. All of the people that serve us every day and keep us safe. Today, my little girl is 8. She remembers nothing of 9/11. It is something that she will learn in history and I will tell her stories about where I was on that day when she is older. She doesn’t understand the threat of terrorism. She goes to school in a safe place and says the pledge of allegiance. She learns to sing the Star-Spangled Banner with sign language. She studies the Presidents and makes Abe Lincoln’s hat. She comes home and sleeps soundly at night. She knows that her great-grandfather fought in WWII and Korea and her grandfather fought in Vietnam. She knows her daddy was in the Navy. She is an all American girl. One day she will understand the sacrifice that they made and she will be thankful just like I am today.

~Scarlett

Perfect Imperfection

I am a perfectionist, yes I will admit it. I can’t just let something go it has to be perfect. Ask anyone, my husband, my kids, my mom…they will all tell you that I am a perfectionist. Sometimes I love it other times I dread it. There are bare walls in my house with no art because I cannot find the perfect piece and I don’t want to just stick something on the wall. I have repainted, resewn, and revamped many an item because it was not just the way I wanted it. Yeah, seems like a lot of work but once it is perfect, I am happy. If I leave it I just see all the imperfections and it drives me nuts. I will admit though it is tough being perfect especially with a house full of kids, family, dog, cats, rabbit, pigs, life. I have learned to overlook a lot to keep my sanity and occasionally I stop and ask myself…does this really matter? Who cares if the beds aren’t made or stacks of clean laundry sit in the laundry room…life will go on and it does. The world does not fall off it’s axis and we all manage to survive but have you ever experienced perfect imperfection? You know where you plan for everything to be just so and it doesn’t work out yet somehow the moment is perfect? Things fall into place in a way that you would have never imagined they could. I love these moments. They keep me humble and human and help me to remember that I really have absolutely no control over this world or my life. I try but in the end…no control! This week was one of those weeks. I planned, prepped, and prepared the best I could for the first day of school. Lunches packed, backpacks filled, clothes laid out, alarms set, bedtime stories, and goodnight kisses. I even reminded myself to set out the camera for those first day of school pictures. The morning went smoothly and we all made it out the door in time, excited, happy, anticipating that first day and guess what, yep not one photo. I check facebook that night and everyone is posting pics of the kiddos smiling with their new school attire. What did I have….nothing. Nothing but lots of hugs and kisses before the bell rang, a million mom I am going to miss you’s, and two will you please come see me at recesses….see perfect imperfection….who could ask for more. So, maybe today or tomorrow I will break out the camera and get 4th day of school pictures but for now I will cherish the fact that they will miss me and yes, I will go peek on them at recess.