"Me Time"

I am yearning for "me" time. I have been so consumed with everyone and everything else that I am wanting time to do all the things I enjoy doing. I am sitting here daydreaming of cooking a nice fanciful meal, tending to my flowers that look pitiful, sitting and beading or scrapbooking for hours without looking at a clock to hop into the truck to run an errand, work or run someone to practice. To all you other mom's out there......how do you find the time to be you, or should I say figure out you?..

The temperature here in NC has finally dropped out of the 90's and 100's. It is so peaceful sitting out on the porch with a cup of coffee and watching the birds fluttering around and singing their graces. Once I relax, my mind turns back to the thought of work looming at 9:30.

I wish I were a hot air balloon!! Floating up above the craziness of the earth. Maybe in July when we head to NY I can hop aboard one again and float away. It literally takes your breath away. The pictures are from the Wellsville, NY Balloon Festival that I took last year.

Craziness-Beginning with Dance

Jillian and her BFF Carly

Modern Class

Company Legs - Motivational

True Colors

Well unfortunately I haven't posted anything in a couple of weeks as it literally has been insane in the Ackerman household. Our visitors have all finally headed back to their respective homes. I don't really know how to recap all of which occurred. It looks as if it will be split into a few different blogs.

I will start with Dance Recitals. We survived 3 long afternoon/evenings of dress rehearsals and 6- 2 hour shows. Yes, that's correct 6 shows. There are over 800 students and Jillian is in the company so they performed in all.

We were so excited that Jared was able to dance. Two weeks prior a young man decided not to follow the directions in PE class and decided to tackle Jared in a game of flag football. Jared ended up fracturing his foot. Thankfully it was not a supporting bone and he was able to go into a boot. He did 1 dress rehearsal in the boot and the day after he was told he could dance by the orthopedist. Thankfully his doctor is the same doctor for the Carolina Ballet and he is familiar with the sport. Jared does ballet, tap and jazz which he has been doing since he was 5. (He will turn 13 in July.) He finally has realized how attractive that makes him with the girls.

The overall craziness of the recital weekend was well worth it when Jillian was awarded 1 of 2 full scholarships for the upcoming season. YaHoo!!!!!! We are so proud of her. She has worked very hard, and she finally had an opportunity to see that it pays off.

A Work of Art

Jillian is on the left, along with her friends Kelcey and Shea.

Calm before the Storm

It is recital week!!! Wednesday begins 3 days of dress rehearsals and then between Saturday and Sunday there are 6 shows. However prior to that my parents fly in for a 2 week visit...Hmmm.. Now don't get me wrong I am appreciative that they want to come visit and see the kids dance but 2 weeks is a mighty long time. To add to it, my Aunt & Uncle, along with their 3 grandkids want to be apart of the action as well, so they will come in on Sunday for 1 week. Then, to top it off Shawn and his family will fly in for a few days,to add to the mix as well.

The Writing Is On The Wall

I am so excited!!! I connected yesterday with a friend that I met when I was a counselor at a Girl Scout summer camp in Arkport, NY back in 1990. The majority of the staff was international. I was going through a bin of memory items that I have been hanging on to. I googled her name and she came up right away. (Her first name, Comfort, obviously is not too common). We all had nicknames and hers was "Southern" Comfort. Anyway, I took a chance and placed an email to the most recent address listed.

I firmly believe in the concept of "the writing is on the wall." For Mothers Day my family and I have sponsored a young girl who lives in Central African Republic to help with her needs for survival through our church. It just so happens that my friend Comfort is the deputy director in Africa for the International Centre for International Justice. I firmly believe that this was a sign that we made the right decision to help this young girl.

http://www.visiontrust.org/

Boys

Father and Son

Jared get's his love of fishing from his Papa Jim.

(Back row in the middle)


How do you reassure a young man that he will eventually grow? My son so want's to be that "macho man." Well we have had to resort to x-rays and blood work to hopefully set his mind at ease. I wish his school had a wrestling team so he can get out some of his frustrations. (Any memories Tracy?) He turns 13 in July and weighs only 77 lbs. In his chorus concert in the fall he asked his teacher to allow him to stand on the top riser and she agreed, however she put the tallest boy in the class next to him. Jared came up to his belly button. Jared is well aware of the law of 8 or 80 lbs when it comes to carseats.

His mother's day gift to me was agreeing to get his hair cut. The aftermath was ugly as far as his emotional state goes. I think the haircut looks handsome but he did not agree. (The fishing pic was taken about 2 weeks prior.) I think the hair is the one thing that he feels that he can control as it makes him feel older and look more mature.

An Eye Opening Read

I have just recently joined a book club and our first book that we began to dive into has been quite a doozy. For those that are spiritually minded, I definitely give this a thumbs up. Dangerous Surrender by Kay Warren puts life in perspective, specifically if you feel something has been missing, and/or you have been waiting to take your life to the next level.