The End

Well, today marks the end of Madison's Middle School years.  In just three short months, she will be moving on to High School.  I've felt so many different emotions today - pride, happiness, sadness and longing.  I'm struggling to stay happy because even though the summer is about to begin (and I'm lucky enough to spend this time with her) time is going by waaaay too fast and this makes my heart ache!  The past three years (the middle school years) have gone by in a flash; I don’t even want to think about how fast the high school years will go by.

Yesterday morning I took a few pictures of Madi before she went to school.  It was her 2nd to last day and she looked so pretty that I had to capture the moment.  It hit me then - that sadly the end of her middle school years was here.



"Oh no, here she comes with that camera!!"



Laughing at me because I made a big deal about her cute little braid .

Finally, she looks IN the camera and smiles her pretty smile! 

School let out at 1pm yesterday and after a choir party from 1:30 to 3:30, Madi and I spent the rest of the afternoon baking cupcakes for her teachers and cookies for her friends. I was so thankful for her help - she's getting good at this baking thing! 

Our Vanilla Bean Cupcakes for the teachers.



Cupcakes and cookies

Cupcakes in cute little black and white boxes.

 

Snickerdoodle cookies. I got the packaging idea from Pinterest. We filled cellophane pouches with the cookies and then folded and stapled pretty scrapbooking paper over the top. Turned out nicely!

This morning, Madi was ready to go enjoy her last day of middle school – she didn’t want to take pictures (imagine that!), but I made her stop for a moment so that I could get a few pictures of my 8^th grader for one last day! You’ll thank me for it later in life, Madi. Of that, I am sure!

the last time she’ll be dropped off at this spot in the morning!! L

Bella’s sad about it too!  

 As you can see, she’s grown SO much this school year!  She’s almost as tall as I am (5’7”)!  I’ve got a feeling that grown chart that I did on her back in my first semester of college is correct – she’ll be at least 5’9”!  But, we’ll see. 

*Madi , it's hard to believe that another year has gone by and that middle school for you is now over!  This has really been a great year!  You have accomplished so much; you've kept your grades up (well, there was that one C on your report card!), you swam two to three times a week, ran on the Cross Country Team as well as the Track Team, you made it through an entire year of athletics (only missing one day) and survived the athletic couches! You got 4 out of 4 stars (stars or checks??) on your algebra EOC (WOW! that's super awesome!) and you completed three years as a choir member making Mrs. Martinez's "Three Year Choir Kiddo's" list.  You've stayed true to yourself and have made some hard decisions; like where to go to high school and whether or not you would swim on the High School Swim Team or run on the High School Cross Country and Track Teams.  You've surprised your Dad and I with both of your decisions, but we have supported them as they are both great ones - it's just not what your ol' Mom and Dad had envisioned.  We had plans all mapped out for you (since you were in 5th grade); you would be a swimmer all through high school, as well as at A&M where you would go to college, and you would be graduating from Belton High School rather than Belton New Tech.  Though it left our heads spinning for a few days, you’ve made some great choices for your future (with our constant guidance), and so we're okay with the changes and are proud of you for having the courage to explore other options and step out of your comfort zone. You’re so brave!  Your Dad and I couldn’t be prouder...well, if it weren't for that one C, we couldn't be prouder. ;) 

We love you completely, Madi.  You make our lives so much fun!

Wordless{ish} Wednesday | In a Shady Nook By a Babbling Brook

Early morning view of Nolan Creek - a collage of photo's taken Monday, May 14, 2012.

Wordless{ish} Wednesday | The Lion Sleeps

In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight.

Wordless{ish} Wednesday | Yellow Haze

Because yellow is cheerful and I could use a little cheer today!

5K Trail Run - Salado, Texas

Madi and I ran our first 5K - The Bell County Bar Association Paralegals 5k Trail Run -together on Saturday, April 14th.   We met up with some longtime friends, Vanessa, Tony, and Mona, who also took part in this fun charity run.

Here's our group:  Madi, Me, Nessa, Tony and Mona. 

This was my third 5K run for a cause, but it was Madi’s very first.  So, needless to say, when she signed up for this challenge, I was super proud of her courage and determination.  THEN, when she PLACED 3^rd {I’ll get to that in a minute} in her age group, this Momma was overwhelmed with pride!  Her Dad was pretty proud too, of course!


Our group started the race in the back of the crowd of runners/walkers.  I think there were a handful of ladies behind us when the starting whistle blew. 

Personally, I like to start off in the back because 1) I start off pretty slow and build up my pace little by little and 2)  because I like to pass people.  As I pass them, I get a little bit of a rush to continue on forward to pass the next person.  I’m very competitive and so putting people behind me is what gets me through.

Jack took this picture while he was waiting on us to come back around to the finish.

Madi and I stuck together, side by side, for the first two miles. Then, because I tend to go a little faster around the second mile, I had to go on ahead of her {after making sure with her that it was okay} in order to get into a comfortable run for myself.  I think she needed me to go on ahead anyway; later she said I was “talking too much”! LOL - She likes to get into a zone and doesn't like for me or her Dad to talk to her during our runs.  I usually respect that, but I just wanted to keep encouraging her since it was her first competitive run!  I pointed out neat things like a hawk, the brilliantly blue sky and the pretty flowers to try and keep her mind off the actual running.  But, it wasn’t working, I was only messin' with that zone of hers and ultimately it helped her that I went on ahead.

 Here I come, in the orange,up the final, dreadful hill.   I was so mad because I couldn't catch up to the couple in front of me.  Ugh.  Well, they weren't in my age group anyway - they were 10 years younger than me. I guess that should make me feel better, but it doesn't!

I could her Jack cheering me on and I could see in his face how proud he was of me.

I finished the 5k at my slowest time ever for a race (34.17), but by some miracle, I still placed 3^rd in my age group!  I was thrilled that I placed, but I was not thrilled with my time. 

Once I was finished, I walked back a little ways to cheer on Madi and the rest of the group as they came up that final hill.  Within minutes Madi came charging up it!!  

I cannot tell you the pride I felt as I watched her run up that hill - she was so determined and focused! It was a moment I will never forget! Never.  I jogged alongside her (as you can see - over on the left) for a minute, just yelling like a mad woman “GO MADI!”  “YOU GO THIS!” “COME ON, BABY!!”  “ALIGHT, ALIGHT, ALIGHT – LET’S GO, LET’S GO!”  I’m never ashamed of cheering her on – I’m always (maybe to the annoyance of some) vocally supportive (aka - loud) and always very, very proud, of her no matter what because she's my girl!

 Madi-girl is a BEAST!!

Madi did so awesome, that she came in 3rd in her age group!  Woot!  Way to go, Madison!  You did awesome kid!

Next came Tony, looking strong up that final hill...

He has some bad knee issues that he's been dealing with – I have no doubt that he would’ve finished this race waaaay sooner - way ahead of me!  He's a pro at these 5k's!

Next up the hill was Nessa!

I love that after 3.1 miles, this wonderful lady is SMILING!   She's pretty amazing like that!

She even did a little shuffle dance on her way through the finish!  Jack, Madi and I were laughing and cheering at the same time. :)

Here comes Tony and Mona.  After Tony finished his run, he turned right back around and jogged back to find Nessa and Mona.  What a good guy, huh?!  Nessa was doing alright when he reached her, so she asked him to keep running back to find Mona; which he did.

Mona's almost at the finish! 


The amazing thing about Mona is that this is not only her first ever 5K, but it's her FIRST time really running!!  She's not a runner.  She walks for exercise and has recently lost quite a bit of weight in doing so.  But, not until this day has she really run!  So what she did on this day is something truly inspiring!

Mona crossing the finish line as Nessa does a victory cheer for one of her bestfriends!  What a great moment!

Nessa and Mona after the race.




















Madi and me after the race.

All the girls after the run.

Shy ol' Madi getting her 3rd place ribbon! YAY Madi - You should be so proud of yourself!

Our beautiful sweet child!  3rd place in her first 5K!

Getting my 3rd place ribbon!

I laugh when I look at this picture - I look like such a dork, giddy with my little 3rd place ribbon! 

Me and my almost-as-big-as-me yougin' rockin' our 3rd place ribbons!

And this - this is my very favorite picture of the day - possibly my very favorite photo ever!  Nessa took this photo and turned it into something too amazing for words!  I cried when I saw it - I love it dearly and will forever treasure it!! 

I'm so glad to have this memory! I can remember, back when I first signed up for this 5K, writing on Facebook about how excited I was that Madi and I were going to do it together. I just knew we would have a good time and would make some awesome memories while doing it.  There are times when I wish Madi was still a baby or younger - because it seems as if she's growing up way, way too fast.  But, there are also times (like during this race) that I am happy she is old enough (and that I am young enough - for now) to enjoy stuff like this together!  As I had hoped, we did build some pretty awesome memories together as well as with friends, and that makes me very happy!

The Elusive Blue Jay

I finally captured {sort of} The Elusive Blue Jay that has been hanging around our front yard.  He is super shy and only comes around when everything is calm and no one is around.  I've been waiting for him every morning for a few weeks now. Because he is so shy, I have to keep the blinds in our office tilted/just slightly open so that he can't see me through the window {which is why the picture attached is hazy}. I sit in the office, drink my coffee, facebook, do homework or whatever and wait. 

Finally, this morning, my waiting was over!  I was able to grab my camera, click it over to the manual focus  {so that it would focus on the bird and not the window blinds} and take four shots all while just hoping for the best.  Unfortunately, the only photo of the four that is worth sharing is this one; with the Blue Jay facing away from me.

Regardless, I'm pretty excited to of finally captured The Elusive Blue Jay in my front yard amongst the Jerusalem Sage and the Daylillies!    

Wordless{ish} Wednesday | Morning Visit

My Wednesday morning visitor ~ a female hummingbird. 

We visited over coffee {for me} & nectar {for her} and she didn't seem to mind me taking pictures of her first thing in the morning; bed head and all.