For my Dad

Late night basket ball in our p.js is a favorite memory I like to pull up when I’m thinking about my Dad. The reason I could win an essay contest on why I have the Best Dad is because he always seemed to make my “things” his “things.” In return, I soaked up everything he was interested in. Like every father, my Dad is not perfect. His way of showing me love ( being interested in me) made that imperfect part more bearable as a child. Also my Dad made certain I knew a couple of things and he reinterated them frequently. 1. I could always call him if I needed help and he would come. 2. He would always be on my side, he believed in me.

My Dad hung out with me, talked with my friends, looked the boys I dated in the eye and made sure to talk with them.(sometimes privately). I didn’t have a simple curfew. No way! The time I had to be home was the time the event I was attending was over. This did not leave any room for “ just hanging out” with boys. That was only allowed in my living room with the rest of my family in attendance. Also, he was always waiting for me when I returned at night. No slipping inside quick to my room. I had to greet the man I loved and respected most, at the door after every date. This consistency effected my behavior with boys tremendously.

The key ingredient in my relationship with my Dad, even today, is deeper than communication. Bottom line..... he likes me and he has shown that since I was a little girl.

My purpose in sharing my own Father with you is in hopes that you will remember how your own Dad or other male influence in your life has invested in you. Fathers have a huge job and frankly I get down right mad when I see or hear the role of a father being undermined. T.V. rarely holds “the man of the house” in high respect, but rather portrays him incapable and foolish. The role to lead a family strongly is of upmost importance for the health of our society. It would be amazing to watch the outcome if wives and children began to really honor the men in their house. Building the men up in our life will only make them stronger. And who in the world doesn’t want a strong man on their side?

My latest article in the Island Moon ( island newspaper)

Celebrating Us

A Bad Start
“Oow ” I blurt out, as tears seep out uncontrollably. We were in the very beginning seconds of our Carribean get away/ 10 year anniversary trip , and I have whacked my head while not quite ducking into our taxi. Ugh, gosh that really hurt I stammer as I try to will the fog out of my head. My husband squeezes my hand and looks at me pitifully. You see the head whacking thing is a constant in our travels. To be honest it’s a constant no matter where we are, just a bit more memorable and inconvenient while traveling. So, I get through the blur of our taxi ride through the mountains of Roatan, quite perturbed that my head is screwing up my ability to relish all this new scenery. We find our cozy cabana which is the closest one to the beach (Yay ) and get ready to take in the bluest of blue ocean I have ever seen. Well, to make a long evening short, I had to take a nap to sleep off the pain and still felt discombobulated until the next morning. After that long nap I realized I had: 1. Forgotten my favorite swimsuit, and 2. Left my makeup in some unnamed spot , leaving me foggy headed , plain faced and clad in my second choice swimsuit- which after I put it on should have been my, “never purchased” suit. This trip was clearly not supposed to revolve around me and my desire to look great. Changing this focus gave way to 3 days of surprises and more fun than Lonely Planet could guide me through.
It Got Better
We ate barefoot at local restaurants, snorkeled a little, strolled markets, and my favorite, took a scooter for a whole day discovering the entire island of Roatan. We rode from isolated mountains to small neighborhoods with narrow streets. This place was amazing. The people were going about their daily lives , working, playing, keeping house. It was most definitely less developed world looking except I was impressed with how clean it was. Small humble homes scattered the coastline with dignity. Little girls played on porches braiding each others hair and reading magazines. Women did laundry, rocked babies and swam in the ocean with toddlers. It was very serene, very tranquil. The guys at the scooter rental advised us to stay out of the neighborhoods and keep to the beaches. He told us about various bars that served great drinks. Well we had already seen a lot of beach and I knew as soon as the guy said “ don’t go that way” my husband would no doubt go THAT way. It was great. At one point we were at the top of a mountain and could see the ocean on both sides. My husband pulls out 2 local brews that he has kept cold with frozen water bottles in his back pack. Much better than a watered down Margarita at a bar. Private view, with a local drink and my favorite person in the world.

You Feel what You Focus on


I had decidedly switched my focus to my husband. After all, the purpose of the trip was to celebrate us. What we both like to do best is go somewhere and embrace it. We both highly dislike going to a different culture and being bombarded with American food and music. My husband has the gift of fitting in really well in foreign places, esp Latin ones because he can speak Spanish. It was freeing to embrace him and his ways. While dating I thought every single thing he did was magnificent. When we traveled, I was star struck at how he walked to his own beat. It always ended up more fun and adventurous. Besides the fact that he could speak language he also has his first degree in Aquatic biology and a deep love for botany. So I had a personal tour guide both in the mountains and in the water. Over the last 10 years, work, kids and home life being our focus I haven’t had much time to goggle at his knowledge of the coral reef or relish in our love for new places.
Reminders of our Roots
As we sat on our balcony eating fresh avocado and sweet cream in corn tortillas flavored with fresh limes I remembered who WE were. This was us. We had taken a water taxi to a local supermarket to pick up some essential items and come back at sunset. No weird tour with strangers. Just us on a small boat coming back with groceries. Bliss. I watched my husband’s blue eyes sparkle as he took in the ocean. As he described the wind movement on the water and patterns it made I thought back to a time we were in Africa, just engaged, at a local supermarket. We were sitting on the steps waiting for a ride, drinking a soda. I will always remember seeing my husbands eyes sparkle as he went on about Zimbabwe agriculture. He was highly excited to be where he was. He saw things in this new place I could not see. I felt uncomfortable, hot, and a little scared. He was invigorated with a new place. I tried to embrace his attitude. In Africa it was much more difficult for me, but I remember trying desperately because I saw the value in his attitude and I wanted him to be glad I was his future partner for life, not let down. Back to this trip- On the balcony, I realized how easy it was to embrace this attitude, it was the Carribean for goodness sake. I was overcome with joy that right then we were both totally happy to be together in this beautiful place, and we lacked for nothing. Truly a gift. The gift of who we STILL are.

may things

May has been very celebratory. Birthdays, graduations, and anniversaries. Mothers day was a blast having my family down here to celebrate and have a 20th B-day party for Meg. Our newest addition , Gracie,( Whitney's baby) loved the beach!. Claire graduated Pre-school and we celebrated our 9th anniversary. Claire was very serious and adorable. She told me "No Pictures until it's over" but Kirby sneeked this one anyway.
Kirby and I enjoyed an awesome weekend in downtown Austin, while family cared for the kids. While in Austin the kids caught a baby turtle by the new waterfalls downtown. Gwen had a publishing party in her class to close out the school year. She and friend Abbey, wrote and illustrated a book that they read out loud to the parents. She was great of course and her story was so good, I was a proud mama.

I can feed pets and people but not WILD PIGS

Generally I enjoy feeding people, hosting, making my home comfortable for others. I have even taken a liking to feeding the cat ( mostly because it's the same thing 3x a day and he still gets excited) but the hostess didn't stay at her mostess when Kirby brought home a wild baby pig.
First I thought it was gonna be pink and tiny. So it isn't either one of those but I will admit it is cute. And it has taken a liking to the turtle which is pretty hilarious.
Nevertheless, it is a PIG and wants to eat ALL THE TIME! I don't like this feeling and I can tell he isn't into a lot of fruit and veggies which is a lot of what I got, so we just kinda stare at each other when I throw the stuff out there. In the pic he is eating Cat food which is the other option for him. I am kinda scared of him to. He likes to charge you when you feed him, so for someone who is even scared of dogs sometimes this freaks me out.
So I know they get Gigantic and the plan wasn't to keep him very long, but............I can tell Kirby loves him. OF course. However my love for Kirb couldn't override my feeling of discontent to see a pig eating my new and very expensive grass. Kirby has agreed to make a hole in the fence so he can leave but also come back if he likes. Hmmmmmm................
Like my girlfriend Mariah said, "Kirby brings adventure to you Sunny, you never even have to leave your house for it!" I did kinda sign up for this when I said I do, I guess.

Later 08' we're off to new adventures in 09'

Spending a piece of New Years day at the beach is imperative for our family. This year the kids sported their new scooters and raced along the seawall. Well Race hardly races at all on his scooter but at least he can scoot it.

Lots of travels over the break. My sis had her baby, (pics to come) and now I am the proud Aunt of baby Gracie Lane Cannon. Gracie decided she wanted out before Christmas so she could cash in on the gifts and give Mommy Whitney a sigh of relief. She came 10 days early! Whitney and Jason on doing great , and adjusting to sleep deprivation. Whit says " I read all the books but nothing prepared me for this!" HA! She is right.
Looking forward to January, not a lot on the schedule which is terrific. My New Years Resolutions are as follows:
1. Read through the bible this year. ( using the Bible in a Year )
2. Write for our local Newspaper regularly ( have been asked to write for the kids school )
3. Routinely practice Spanish as to feel comfortable speaking it on vacation in May
4. Read minimum 12 books
5. Continue and get better about praying 3x a day
6. Lift more weights and keep within my ideal weight range the whole year( key word being RANGE)
7. Keep in better communication with sisters and Mom through out each week
8. Learn a good rhythm for cooking dinner and recipes my family enjoys
9. Submit at least 3 pieces to various Magazines for publishing
10.Be a more romantic wife

I'm only Blogging this so you people will ask me how I'm doing and so I have a reference. I realize 10 resolutions is kinda steep but these are all things I struggled with in 08 and I would at least like to attempt to get better at them. Perfection however is not the goal. Speaking of perfection I will leave you with these 3 perfect faces.
Happy New Year!

So not a baby girl anymore

Gwen wanted an old fashioned Birthday party complete with limbo, 3 legged race and musical chairs.........oh and her rendition of a cake walk. Lots of prep but not too much stress. She had the girls from her class and her smile in this pic made it all worth it!

unbelievable

That this fur ball takes up residence in MY home. The things you say you will NEVER do......
I actually took it upon my self to adopt this fellow for the purpose of killing a gopher in my backyard. Little did I know little kittens cannot become indoor/outdoor cats over night....something about coyotes and living on the island. So he's hanging out inside more than I had expected and he's actually kinda fun. I find I'm attracted to beings I must chase to get their attention.

At Claire's Thanksgiving feast she showed me their thankful wall. This was her spot. I was a proud Mama!

Girl Scout Investature

Gwen had her first ceremony for Girl Scouts. They said the Girl Scout Promise which lasted a total of about 10secs! It was the best ceremony of my life. Then we had cake that they made. The wearing of the vest was quite an ordeal , as you can imagine, but she decided she would live with it and I compromised by letting her wear her favorite outfit under it. Have you ever seen such a hip girl scout?

November

Kirby went on a mission trip to Mexico. He helped repair spring box wells for a community. The trip was with Living Water International ( very cool organization).
He was welcomed home with a banner, balloons and a cake. We felt like he had been gone a month! One night while folding clothes, Claire ran in a snatched one of Kirby's tees. I then found her in her room crying in it. " I smell Daddy!"

That's Right, that's GRASS you see my children sitting on! We are now the proud owners of a backyard which is sticker free!

These are just cool pics I happened upon. Gwen could win a world record in hullahooping and I had to take the one of Race and Claire cuz they were just plain precious.

costumes

This is one of the times I am so grateful for living in a small community. We have an annual Truck or Treat at the school and then an annual party with our friends where all the kids where glow sticks around their necks and we bombard a couple of streets with about 30 trick or treaters at a time.



Claire would have won a costume contest but there was none. She was the hit of her school, since the girl who always acts like a dog, got to actually look like one for a day! Gwen was the only Hannah Montana believe it or not and Race started out a football player but wouldn't wear the costume because it itched. So we made him a baseball player and he still had no idea why we were putting face paint on him. The only person who really appreciated my Kirby costume was Gwen. I thought it was pretty good. We ended the day scrubbing Paint off Claire for an hour and some very tired parents. This morning I have had 3 cups of coffee and am enjoying lounging around while the kids play outside and ask for candy every 3 minutes.

what we've been doing lately

Pumpkin Carving was always something my Mom did with us, so I did the honors of cleaning the guts, but Kirb did the art work.
A week ago the girls were in a beach wedding. Here's Kirby, Race and I, pics of the girls to come.


October always brings in the fog so here's a cool shot of how it looks every morning here on the island.

pumpkin patch kids

Did the pumpkin patch today. Even got my girls to put on semi-fall clothes. Which was a chore! We chose a giganter and even got carted out, kids and all!
( notice Gwen's jeans: she has been wearing these since she was 2!)

Gwen wants a Poll

Gwen is not sure her Hanna Montanna wig looks good. We haven't found a way to slick it down ( if anyone has any hints please tell) She wants to know if she should wear it with her costume or not. Mostly she wants her Mimi's opinion but she wanted me to go ahead and post it. She also doesn't think the bangs look Hannaish, but I did buy the Hanna Montanna Wig, so............. I don't know.
" please comment!", says Gwen

Race is Two

No more babies in the Reed house. Race turned two this weekend and he was so fun to spoil! The girls treated him like a prince , Kirby put a car together for him and I sang Happy Birthday to him at least a hundred times. Here he is on his special day.
Race is so fun and such a little man. He loves his blanket, his spiderman couch and to watch Blue Clues and eat goldfish. Oh and his Spiderman light up shoes ! Everyone who is around him knows he loves to say, "I go Fast!"
Wow, how appropriate.

Better Mariah?

This picture was for you girl. Blonde enough for ya now?

My little sister has a bump!

Last weeknd was my sister's baby shower. It was beautiful. Her sister-in-law hosted it at a gorgeous house in Buda, TX. Tons of wild flowers set amongst green grass and stone water fountains speckling the landscape. My girls had a blast running around and we enjoyed seeing old friends, eating yummy cookies under delicate shade coverings with my Mom and sisters and giggling while Whitney opnened presents and Meggie tried to be grownup sitting beside her recording the gifts. Whitney is the prettiest pregnant lady I have ever seen! She is doing great and we can't wait to meet our new nephew/niece. ( Yeah, of course she is not finding out, she is my sister!)

Also I am upset there are no pics of my Mom here. Somehow she always manages this. Mom, people want to see your pretty face!

Fall

We started Fall off right with a trip to Austin and a pile of leaves in Grandma and Pop's yard. Way too much fun!