tidbits from the uninspired.

There are days when I have so much to say and my mind is spinning so fast that I can barely get my thoughts to quickly move from my brain to my fingers and into text.  Today I have hit backspace more than I care to admit and I am only on my second sentence...trouble.  It's not that I don't have a lot to say, it's just that I have so much going on my brain has spun into overload and is now in a mushy state of blah.  It's true.  With so much happening I am feeling uninspired.  There's lots to do, little time to do it.  I know...we all suffer from time to time with schedules that barely leave room for sleeping and eating...and while I could stand to go without the latter, I still require at least five hours of sleep a night.  Right now I am spinning out of control into our "busy season".  Our two biggest events of the year happen within days of each other...Kayla's birthday and the Buddy Walk.  By far my two favorite days.  So with all of my energy going into planning those events I am left with little brain power to be able to feel comfortable clicking that little "publish post" button...but I'll try to fill you in on what we've been up to...


KAYLA'S 5th BIRTHDAY PARTY
Here's a little sneak peak of our birthday party theme...

Stay tuned...the party is just a few weeks away!


BUDDY BOWLING
I know you may be getting tired of hearing it, but Kayla's Blue-Gold buddy, Amanda, is amazing!  Kayla just loves hanging out with her and each time they hang out Kayla doesn't stop talking about her until the next time they hang out.  This past weekend was Buddy Bowling...

At first Kayla was all about having Amanda help her roll the ball.  By the end she was clutching that 6 pound ball like it was her job, dropping it down the lane where it sometimes rolled half way to a stop...but she did it all by herself and to her, that was more important than knocking over even just one of those pins. 

And while I didn't capture all of the kids bowling through my lens, let me assure you it was a sight that would make your heart smile.  One sight I particularly enjoyed was a young boy confined to a wheelchair that had little control over his own two hands.  I watched as he extended his arms and pushed his bowling ball down a ramp.  He watched it go down the shiny wooden lane and smack into the little white and red striped pins.  Without him saying a word I knew what he was feeling...happy.  He cocked his head back and smiled up at his buddy who returned the same expression.  I was completely filled with that exact same emotion.  Watching Kayla and her friends enjoying the most simple moments in life that we sometimes take for granted is a reminder that we all need to live our best life. 


A TASTE OF THE SEASON
Those of you that have been reading from the beginning know how much I love my perfect cup of hot chocolate on cold winter days...and by perfect that means it must be topped with either whip cream or marshmallows and if I am going all out, I add some sprinkles {they make me smile}.  Well...I equally adore my ice cream on hot summer days.  In fact, I love it year round.  To me my best childhood memories were summer days...swimming, boating and eating ice cream.  Every weekend during the summer my Mom and I would drive past Mike's Ice Cream stand in Middletown on our way to the boat.  We would always get three soft serve ice cream cones.  One vanilla cone for me {with rainbow sprinkles, of course}, one twist cone for her and one vanilla cone for our dog, Muffin...I know there's probably something terrible in ice cream that dogs shouldn't eat but she loved it {and she lived to be 13 so it couldn't have been too bad for her...just sayin'}.  We would open the back hatch of my Mom's silver Volvo station wagon and eat our ice cream on the side of the road, watching cars zooming by...talking about our weekend plans on the boat where life passed by a little more slow, allowing us time to soak up each moment.  There is just something nostalgic about getting soft serve ice cream on warm days...I guess I feel like I am providing those special memories for Kayla, just as my Mom provided for me.

"Cheers, Daddy" {followed by a sampling of Daddy's cone}...

And do you know what I love now about ice cream cones?  Kayla's cute little chubby hands clutching the cone as ice cream and sprinkles melt down over her cute little fingers....

And what is better than watching her eat ice cream?  Listening to her little made up jingle as she enjoys her cone {and wiggles her hips from side to side}..."I love ice cream...I love ice cream...Yeah...I love ice cream...".  Ok, so it's a jingle that might not be headed to the Top 40 anytime soon but to me, those words sound so sweet.  


I just love all of these little precious moments in life.  I love planning the big events and enjoying the small ones.  I just love life.  I know not all days are filled with ice cream cones, rainbows and unicorns but that's life...and I wouldn't have it any other way.  So while I am feeling a little uninspired with this weeks to-do list being 47 items long {and growing}, I know that life isn't just about checking off the boxes on that list...it's about the path that we take and the journey to each destination.  Sure we could just follow our list of things we have to do, but doing things we enjoy is equally important.  That's why I choose to stop for ice cream and memories...life's sweet...eat it up!