Fun Times!

The end to another fast, fun-filled day in the Horton home. After my mentoring group left this afternoon, the kids and I enjoyed lunch together and then I began reading a book one of my mentors gave me. It's amazing how similar our tastes in literature are! I started out thinking......"well, I'll read while the kids are napping, maybe fall asleep".....having no idea once I started this book I would be captivated for hours! I read nearly 100 pages, through the 10th chapter and can't wait to head to bed and read more. I used to hate reading. I mean really hate reading. But when I was in school I realized that I had to embrace reading purposely so that I could legitimately define my own voice. Who I am, what I believe, what makes me unique, my passions, my fears, my desires......they've all been refined through reading, understanding, and that amazing thing called "discovery" that happens when you are challenged by a good book! Well....Mrs. Susan. Quaker Summer is just the book I needed today. And I'm so "engaged" in the author's journey......this is just what I needed to jump start my brain again! I had grown complacent to only know what I had previously known....now my appetite is back!

Anyhow, after spending a while reading, Aaron came home. We picked veggies from the garden, marinated some Atlantic Salmon, and headed off to the grill! It was wonderful....and so nice outside that we ate on the back deck with the kids. Will just kept looking up to the sky! We then decided to go swimming over at Mom and Dad's, but only if Hannah would agree to go down the slide. It's pretty big and quite intimidating to a youngster who's turning 4 next week! But she did it. And so did Will. However, he didn't have much of a choice. I simply carried him to the top and gave him a nudge. Now before you get too out of sorts......Aaron was there to catch him and not let him go under the water. Plus, he had on his Mega-Floaties that would float an airliner!

Now to the best part. Aaron's Ipod stays prominently in the kitchen on the docking station so that I can use it whenever I please! And tonight, I came in with the kids and decided to "Party like it's 1999"! We hit the 80s Gold collection and never stopped. I taught the kids how to do the robot. Yes......the robot. Pretty funny. And then Hannah went outside and stood on the opposite side of the window from me....while we did crazy dance moves back and forth! Emma was rapping....well, rhyming anyway. Will was spinning in circles. It was all a complete 80s Craze! I miss being so ridiculous that you can just laugh at yourself!

All this time I'm thinking.......Oh boy. One day these girls are going to be giving me grief of all kinds. Either they'll find out I'm not all that cool. Or they'll decide that I'm still cool, but that's not enough to keep them around the house. I've only got so much time with them. I sometimes get all caught up in my ideas about this or that, what that family over there is going through, how I NEED to be there for so and so.........and you know, that's all good stuff and stuff that God sends my way. But sometimes I don't have to "sing on key"! I can just be me.....ridiculous me. And you know what I realized.......my kids love me that way! Life's not all about rules, making sense of the sun and how it rises, keeping up with the Jones' (no pun intended considering that's my maiden name), where I live, how my self image is, or even how "good" I can try and be.

Sometimes life is just about experiencing and loving myself and the people around me for the goofy things God placed in their personalities! My husband is a complete OLD MAN.......and I love that about him. There's nothing he loves more than golf and cigars! You be surprised at how often and in what context those two things come up! Ha. And I completely love him for those things. It's part of what makes Aaron.....well, Aaron. How he constantly corrects people's grammar, laughs histerically like his Grandma Bonnie, plays with Will's Thomas toys as if he were the 18 mth. old, heads out to Books-a-Million to pick up his new Harry Potter book at midnight, often sleeps with his socks on, throws a complete tantrum if the cards aren't falling correctly when playing Shang-Hi, and even how he sips his milk rather than drinking it quickly from the bottom of the cereal bowl! I could make a similar list for everyone in my household. And they could do one for me. Why? Because we LIVE together! There are no rules that govern how we DO family. Aaron and I just used a ton of trial and error coupled with prayer.....and after 10 years have a pretty good clue about what works and what doesn't. God's been gracious to us....we can still laugh at one another.

Fun Times in the Horton home!