All around me every day I see amazing people who are talented and organized and finding so many things to be amazing at. I have always had this quiet inner desire to be amazing at something--anything, and I've always been a bit mediocre. This isn't to complain, or to sound ungrateful for the gifts and healthy and strength and blessings that God has given me. In fact, I love to see the talents in others--people I am around every day inspire and motivate me to be a better person. People have talents in music and dancing and sports and creating, but I admire so many other talents that I notice in people. Fore example, talents in being organized and learning to be a better cook, and better frugal person, a funner mom, great talents in expressing their deepest thoughts and feelings. As a mom, there are so many things I want to be better at, and so many things I want to learn and wish I could improve all at once. I want to figure out how to teach my kids how to work hard and enjoy working together as a family. Chore charts--I stink at that so far....Anyway, In church a couple of weeks ago, Travis was giving the lesson about the Life of Christ. He started out by asking what a hero was, and what makes them a hero. I have so many heroes in my life and I cross paths with them daily. My home teachers, Brother Russell and his grandson Weston, who did so many things to help us while Travis was gone, and who even thought of little things like bringing a basketball to my boys and making sure it was a bright blue color so it wouldn't get lost as easily. Or my friend who has a new baby boy with a heart defect and she shows such faith and cheerfulness and gratitude for any time she is allowed to have this little boy in her family for however long God allows it. Or my many friends who continually offer to watch my boys, who truly care for them and and for me and love them and see their good qualities. My neighbor who mowed our lawn ever single week and made me feel okay about it because he sincerely convinced me I would being doing HIM a favor. My husband who is such a good person and a good dad does little things for me daily that make a big difference, and who makes me feel of worth. My heroes are also the people that I see who see
another's need so easily and are so quick to serve. They make me want to be more like them. People with the God given ability to love those around them. I was walking through the store the other day and started just looking at all of these people that I didn't even know, and thinking of how amazing it is that God knows each and every one of those people and loves them with a strength I don't even fathom. Anyway random thoughts on a Sunday afternoon.....
And how in the world did Grandpa convince Ammon to help bag leaves in the backyard. I would have had to threaten and bribe and use every trick in the book, but here I look out the window and Ammon was working really hard to help for a good 30 minutes...
We wasted the beautiful weather waiting for Trav to have a few days off, but those days off happened to coincide with tropical storm Ida combined with a Noreaster.....oh well, we did get to go and watch lots of jets taking off and landing the day before the storms started (jets flown by my very own husband), and that was very fun. I am pretty sure they would stay there and watch that stuff all day long every day if they could.
And we did get to show them a couple of cool places, like the moat that goes around Ft Monroe and the casemate museum there. And we did go to Jamestown...the moat is behind us.
The ocean from Buckroe Beach
Maybe I should just relax and not flip out about the beginning of the eight month candy binge. I don't remember my parents every throwing fits and becoming crazy candy policemen. We brought home as much as we could gather and ate what we wanted of it when we wanted to. I don't feel like it was a horrible thing, and yet I don't like it. Maybe part of it is that I am trying so hard to be healthy myself, and when the candy is there--I want it. Not only do I want it, but I EAT it, and it doesn't make me feel good. So the greatest solution would be for me to gain some self discipline, huh....
Regardless, these were fun and cute and the kids loved them and ate it all up, plus the leftover veggies that didn't fit into the skeleton. 
From last soccer season, it's been a huge difference. He has just been much more focused and been a great hustler. Challenges we had to address in the beginning: He cried the first practice because a team mate had scored more goals than he had. He kept track very closely. After just a talk or two, I noticed while he does get very excited and the testosterone flows freely, he also cheers his team mates. That's what he's doing in the picture above. He actually watches and cheers, which is a step from last season...
