So much to blog about... so little time

Good grief! It's been TOO long since I've blogged and my head is full of stuff to say... Here are some snip its.

Crazy Life (!) and Summer Bliss (?)
Yes, my life is crazy. Not much more than most of you out there reading this, but crazy nonetheless. It seems we go from one event/practice/recital to another, someone is always sick/ getting sick/getting over being sick, and family dinner time is for the most part MIA ... and I've even said "no" to a lot this year! We're having fun as a family most of the time, but I'm thinking I need to exercise that "simplify" muscle a bit more in the months to come.

Then on top of craziness, there is this HUGE thing looming in my being... SUMMER! It's quite the mixed blessing for me. On the one hand, it's great to have 2.5 months with no school or regular activities - our chance to slow down, discover each other again as a family unit, and do some fun things we don't usually get to do. On the other hand, I have FOUR KIDS to entertain 24/7 for those 2.5 months! Yikes! it's enough to make me crawl back in bed, throw the covers over my head, and wonder why I ever wanted the responsibility of being a mom in the first place. I mean, when there are regularly scheduled activities throughout the school-year weeks, there's something to keep me going, a reprieve to look forward to in a few hours, or tomorrow, or tonight. But when the schedule is wide open, there's this abyss of seemingly endless hours I feel compelled to fill - lest we fall into the marathon addiction that is TV and/or I'm forced to endure countless "Mom, I'm bored"s pouring forth from the precious mouths of my offspring.

SO, I plan. (And I pay$.) I book day camps and play dates (Mom's Day Outs!). I schedule our vacation. I make lesson plans and organize theme weeks for the days spent at home. And I maneuver the calendar, shifting here and there to make the pieces fit so that one child isn't left out, and everyone has fun things to do, and mom doesn't go insane.

Lest you think I'm some fictitious "super mom," you must know that, as with most of life, plans often fail. So I'm likely to have many-a-day of boredom and sibling unrest and overwhelmed mommy stress and too-much-TV-guilt. But I'm putting it out there right now, that I am at least praying and planning for a great summer, filled with more smiles and less unrest, more board games and less TV, more family dinner time and less fast food, and I think I'll throw in some devotionals and discovery, too.

We'll see how it goes. Wish me luck!

20 years! You've got to be kidding!
Yes, in a week and a half I'm heading back to Stonewall, La. for my 20th High School Reunion. !!! It just isn't right. I can't be that old. It just can't have been that long. I still feel like a 20-something at heart. Hey, I even realized that I've got good friends who were preschoolers the year I graduated from high school! I'm beginning to understand why "50 is the new 30" or whatever it is they say. I'm 37 now and really happy with who I am and the life ahead of me. All these are just numbers, and what really matters is what you're doing with the time God has given you on this earth. Are you becoming who He created you to be? Are you gaining wisdom and learning from the experiences you've had and the years (few or many) that you've been given?

I'm hoping that this reunion will be a fun time to reconnect with old friends. Though I want to look my best, I'm not on a diet. I'm not obsessing over what people will think of me. I'm just going expecting to have a good time. And I'm going with an open mind about who these classmates are. I mean, I know how much I have changed over the years, matured in my attitudes and ways of thinking, and I really am excited to discover who we all have become with another 20 years under our belts. :) I'm hoping that those stereotypical labels from the high school years won't rear their ugly heads, and that it'll just be a time of building relationships with some old friends in new ways.

Once again, we'll see how it goes. Wish me luck!

Sensational Safari
There's still so much to blog about my trip to Kenya. I have to share one of the highlights of our time on safari....

After we flew in a tiny plane into the Masai Mara Preserve, landing in the fields among the animals, we headed to the camp, put our things in our *tents, and met our guide for our first game drive right away. It was another surreal experience of our week, driving in a big open-air jeep through the savannas, marshlands, and woodlands among the water buck, the cape buffalo, zebras, giraffes, warthogs, and so many other varieties of wildlife. We were already on an emotional and spiritual high from the incredible week spent with the Maasai people in Illmamen, and as we drove along breathing in the fresh air blowing in our hair, now we we felt like we were being given a special extra-sensory gift from God to top off our trip. Being with the animals in their natural habitat, peering into their world, getting a glimpse of God's creation in it's purest forms, was an experience beyond words. At times I felt as if I were floating. At times I felt like I was resting in the palms of God's hands. The wildlife was simply spectacular.

Especially the lions. What a thrill it was when our guide spotted two lions resting on a mound among the grass. He drove us right up to them, 10-15 feet away, and turned of the motor to let us gaze a while without disturbing them. It was a mating couple, he said. Wow! We sat and stood as still and quiet as possible, with no noise except the clicking of our cameras and the purring of the lions - yes, we were close enough to hear their deep rumbling purrs as they nuzzled one another! Quite an amazing moment.

Then the female got up. We first reacted with a bit of apprehension by retreating deep into our seats, but apprehension quickly turned to astonishment and we then rose to our knees and feet inside the jeep to witness absolutely the most incredible moments of the entire safari. The female walked around the male, nuzzled him with purpose, then swanked away for him to follow. The male stood with gusto and followed her with like purpose in his steps. Realizing what we were about to see, we began to gasp and whisper to each other with excitement (and a little embarrassment). Before we could even comprehend the magnitude of the moment, it was over. She knelt down with him towering above; she roared; he roared, and it was done. He walked away and she rolled over. Yep, procreation had happened, in the wild, right in front of us! Amazing!

And there is still plenty more to share.... later.

* Oh, one more thing about the safari tents: the were not really tents, or at least they were nothing like the tents we'd been in all week. These were small houses with a tent zipper for a door. They had hardwood floors, a real potty, sink and shower, closets, robes, and nice beds. Ahhhhh. That's my kind of tent.