Live in the Present
Mother’s Day…you know, that one day where we are celebrated. The boys made me cards, bought be flowers, and a gift card. It was my 13th Mother’s Day but honestly, everyday is Mother’s Day. These boys make me a proud mom everyday. Yes, the days can be so long but the years are so short. We only get a short amount of time to ‘mother’ them on a daily basis so I will do whatever I have to to make sure they are equipped to one day not need me on a daily basis.
We all were excited when this school year came to an end. It was the longest, craziest, hardest, emotional school year to date. We are happy to see it come to an end and look forward to 8th and 4th grade as a normal school year. Or course, with Rick working from home, the summers can be long for him as we are home with him. It is also a blessing because he can be present for us when we need him and the flexibility of his job is great. He was even able to help coach on Max’s flag football team.
Both boys have continued with football during the summer months. They were in a flag league followed by a 7 on 7 league. Both of their teams made it to the championship game. Max’s team unfortunately came up a little short but Roman’s team won it all. It was a very long night and many rain out days in between but the love of the game made it all worth it. They are both now in another flag league. They are both playing QB and doing an awesome job.
We have the boys being coached by an amazing coach who has taken them under his wing. There are few people who will invest so much into your kids and when you find them, you count it a blessing. Both boys have done some football camps this summer to work on their skills and to just get out of the house.
Roman has been on a role this summer with projects and working on his ‘business’. He found an old BMX bike and was determined to fix it up. Well, after many hours it ended up not working out but it is lessons like this that will stick with him for life. He also will find things on the side of the road that people are throwing away and feels them. He is one creative and resourceful kid. He wanted a big ticket item so he decided to make some money to be able to buy it. He started mowing lawns again like he did last summer and he also expanded to doing pressure washing. He was able to make his purchase as well as save and have money left over. There are few kids I know his age who would do what he does. He gets on his bike and knocks on doors and tells them what he can offer. He will give free estimates and then get to work. Each job he has takes about 3-4 hours and he will do this multiple times a week. This is in between his workout with the coach and playing on his football teams. Seeing his work ethic and determination makes me so proud. Max is a bit jealous of all his money but I guess that comes with the territory of having older siblings.
The summer has been filled with lots of time with friends (for us and the kids), trips to the water park, attending football games, sleepovers, eating snow cones, swimming, and just making memories. Max had the opportunity to go see the Houston Texan’s football training stadium which was exciting. We took a short weekend getaway to Austin with friends where we swam in the coolest water hole and explored some of Downtown Austin. We look forward to seeing more of this massive state in the future. The last thing on my summer bucket list is to see an armadillo (a live one). I have yet to see one. It has become a joke with our friends and they all love to send me pictures of ones that they see. I mean, you can’t live in Texas and say you have never seen an armadillo so the quest is on to see one and snap a picture myself.
Reflection is why I write the posts. So as I reflect on the last couple of months, it is just another reminder that memories are being made regardless of what we are doing. All around us we are bombarded with other’s memories of vacations and other things that make us say, “oh, I wish we were doing that.” I get caught up in that myself. But, it’s the everyday connections we make with others and the joy we find in the present moment that make the memories memorable.
Texas has been so good for us. Who knew that 3 months after we moved that a pandemic would hit and we would face 2020 the way that we did. This state has been a perfect place for us during all of this. We have found so many friends with common ground that made this past year an amazing year despite all that is going on in the world. We have always been blessed to find ‘our people’ wherever we have been. It truly is a fact that God places people in your life exactly when you need them.
We are good, we are having fun, we are trying to stay cool in this Texas heat, we are making memories, and we are living in the present!
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