Best Investment

I don't like the way fortune cookies taste, but I LOVE Chinese food. So all the extra cookies go in a drawer at our house and they are a "free" food that Amelia can have anytime she thinks to want one. Yesterday her fortune read, "your best investment is in yourself".

I disagree.

The best investment one can make, is in their child.

The way I see it, by the time (most) people are having kids, a quarter of their life is gone, spent, done. But the child is brand new. If they were to then pour everything they have into their child, they are making an investment that is sure to grow and prosper well into the future. And when their child has children, if they chose to make the same "investment" the cycle repeats itself, generation after generation long after the parents are gone.

This is my goal. To raise children who not only go on to do well in life according to society's standards, but who see the real value as the relationships they have with those they love.

So on that note, I want to document a few of our recent adventures :-)

A little more about our Friday night. Abigail is not a shopper. But I have started to see little changes in her personality lately and I realize she is not only getting bigger and smarter everyday, but growing up. there was something different about Friday's excursion. We went to Kohls to get flip flops for my hobbit feet and ended up looking at clothes for Abi. She saw a pair of shorts (long athletic ones) and got excited. Then she saw a dress, and a shirt and a swimsuit. WHAT?! Yes, it was crazy. She was trying on clothes and picking out accessories...I thought I was in an alternate universe! Of course I went over my budget because it was a defining moment for my girl. When we left she had a purse, earrings, sunglasses, a romper, a dress, 3 shirts, 2 pairs of shorts and a new found confidence that was priceless!

This momma rode a wave of exhausted, happy, blessed and a sad tears to bed Friday night.

Saturday we went to Dallas for a graduation party and the salve for my grieving heart was watching both girls swim, and getting in the water with Axel. Last summer I did not get my fat, beached whale self anywhere near a pool. This year, getting in that pool was like going home. Splashing around, chasing them, being under the water, watching their faces light up and hearing their laughter= awesome! Abigail told me, "I forgot how much fun it is to just mess around and play in the water!". I told her we would be sure to make the time to play swim and not just do laps this week. :-)

Sunday was a chill day. Ryan smoked ribs and the kids and I pulled all the weeds in the front yard. Whew...talk about a workout! Who knew pulling weeds would literally be such a pain in the @$$...even more so the day after! My glutes are still screaming!

And finally last night, Abigail and I went to work out just the two of us. It is becoming more and more important to her to have one on one time with me. I am more than happy to oblige. We were both still super sore from pulling all those weeds, so we did an easy workout and she played a bit, but I was also able to get some technique instruction in also so I felt like it was very productive practice. Ryan had requested dessert so we ran though Starbucks. I love that she orders a chai tea latte, but sneaks sips of my frappucino.

In other news, I am annoyed beyond words at the girls Dad. He wants to limit Abigail and judge me for a decision that my parents made over a decade ago. My parents, who both held degrees choose to home school my siblings and I, which has led certain people to think I am uneducated or worthless. Once upon a time I made a HUGE mistake by confiding in "genius boy" my insecurities regarding my education because I trusted him, as my husband, to be my safe place. Years later, he is using that info against me to limit our daughter when she wants to be home schooled because she is bored out of her mind at public school. I didn't go to college because I wanted a family, not because I wasn't smart enough. Abigail wants to be home schooled for reasons she came up with all on her own. He thinks he can just tell her "no" and she will roll over and play dead like I did. But she gets her determination from her Daddy. She is still thinking of things to tell him and ways to show him. And honestly, my parents may not have given me a "politically correct" education, but they gave me the best possible education to home school my own child. I know exactly what not to do. UGH...now I'm irritated again, and I have nothing nice to say so I'm gonna shut it.

Finally, Thank you Ryan. For seeing us as the investment we are. For investing in us and in our family. For being the man we deserve and for putting up with all of our baggage. You are amazing and we love you! Thanks for cooking grilling and smoking yummy food when I don't feel like cooking and for being so handy and building the hurdles for Abigail to jump in the talent show. We are so blessed to have you in our lives.