A first

When Jeff's mom called yesterday to ask if the kids and I wanted to go to the lake with all of them my very first thought was, "no". And truth be told if Kayla and Kyle weren't leaving for home in a few days that is probably what I would have said.

I hate the water. It's beautiful to look at, and I love to hear the sounds that it can make, but to get in, it's not for me. Especially the lake. If I can't see my feet then I have no idea what just swam across it. You should know that once when Jeff and I were just kids I literally tore a necklace right off of his neck. We were swimming at a friends pool, well I should say Jeff was swimming and I was trying to appear cool and a part of the large group while only hanging onto the edge at the deep end, when Jeff came over pulled me off the wall and tried to dunk me. As you know it didn't end well. I hate the water.

I already had expectations of how today was going to go. Bear would try it but once he saw Kati's refusal to go in he would follow along. Now I didn't come to this conclusion because the kids know I hate the water, they have no idea, I came to this conclusion because the very first thing Kati said after I told them where we were going was "I don't think I am going to like it because there are going to be snakes in the water." Like any good parent I lied and said there wouldn't. How do you explain to a child that there probably are going to be some snakes but not to worry because the chance of one bothering you is very slight, even though it is still a possibility. Now my thoughts on Timothy, Timothy is fearless. I had no doubts that Timothy would want to get in and go full steam ahead, but I wasn't sure that I was going to be happy with that. Maybe it's a never quit attitude or lack of good sense but the boy just wont stop. He loves the water and cries when you get him out. Not a tiny little baby whimper but a full on scream sometimes. I had no doubts that he would want to get right in.

Since I had a feeling we would all be spending our time outside of the water I packed lots of sand toys to play with while everyone else had there fabulous time in the water. And then I went to pack my swimsuit. It was missing a piece. An important piece. A missing piece that would have made me not modest is hottest. A piece that you wouldn't dare show up in fort of you daddy, brother in law and children without. So now what. Now without a swimsuit I am going to have to be a bother and rely on someone else to take Timothy way out like he is going to want to do and I hate needing other people, I always feel like such a bother. But I stop and take a deep breath and remind myself that Kayla and Kyle will be gone soon and I want to soak up all the time I can with them.

We load up the car and hit the road. Daddy calls me ten minutes before our meeting time to ask me if I have left the house yet. He has a right. Jeff and I can't seem to get anywhere on time. But none the less his call makes me smile. We meet up and he slips his blue grass cd in to my player while we wait for Jason and I can feel more frustration about the day fading away. I watch him talk to my children about mandolin players and Ricky Scaggs and watch their eyes dance while he teases. All is right with the world. Jason's diesel truck pulls up behind us and I can hear the rumble, knowing my sweet niece and nephew are just behind me. As Jason walks around to my window the sun light catches the red in his hair that is just peeking from beneath his John Deere cap and I wonder why on earth his wife would have left him. Sure he has his problems just like the next guy but he is a good christian man. Jeff and all his brothers are good looking, there isn't a dog among them, not even a half dog. Good looking and Christian, what more could she ask for.

He reaches in my window and presses the button to roll down the kids window and leans in. He immediately goes to teasing because that's how this family is. And then he took my mood of stress free to sunny. As he was talking to the kids he explained that the water was very shallow, and how they could walk for a long time and the water would still only be to their knees. I was filled with relief knowing that Timbo would be able to get out and play and I could follow right behind in my capri's. Kati and Bear could just be boring if they wanted too but I was determined to enjoy my day.

We all load up and head out to the lake. When we pull up there is no one there but us and I love it. I took Timothy from Kayla and set him down in the sand and in typical Timothy fashion he just took off. He didn't even look back to see if anyone followed. He needs no one. I slather my kids with sunscreen and to my surprise they just headed out there, following behind their fearless cousins. That's not to say that there weren't scaredie cat moments but they did great. Bear went really far out, about up to his neck. Even though Kati spent a lot of time up on the sand she did really well too. I don't really need to tell you how Timbo did, you already know he is fearless. He drank a third of the lake and some sand too but he wanted no help and was determined to keep at it. We had a great day. It got even better when Jeffrey showed up to join us.

Whoa, this turned into a really long and rambling blog. Your a trooper if you made it all the way threw this. Sadly I don't have any picture to share about the day. This is how I want to blog all the time, with more words to go along with my pictures, but I fall into the habit of few words and lots of picture because it is faster. Once I write a blog and spell check it and read it 7.3 times for errors (and still miss half of the mistakes) I have three hungry kids and dusty bunnies attacking me so I just fall into the habit of quick posts. Hey look I'm still rambling, you really are a trooper. I should go to bed.