My Junior

Maddie has had a wonderful three years in Girl Scouts.  In large part due to the fantastic troop leaders that she has.  I know that many of her wonderful memories of elementary school will be of these girls who have played such a big part in her many adventures.

Last night she bridged up to Juniors with her friends.  It seems like yesterday that she was a tiny Daisy, then a Brownie and now she has earned her green Junior sash.  I know that many awesome adventures await her in the next few years.

 My baby Daisy in 2010

 Singing her Brownie fly-away song.  Last moment as a Brownie

 Ms Jennifer putting on her Junior Sash

 Ms Donna pinning on her Girl Scout pin

                                       

 "On my honor, I will try to serve God, my country, and to live by the Girl Scout law."

My sweet girl and friend

Blue

Blue

Blue tastes like juicey blue berries

Blue smells like beautiful cotton candy

Blue looks like big puffy clouds in the sky

Blue sounds like someone that is very unhappy

And

Blue feels like the ocean rubbing against your skin

Maddie Gamblin

8/25/11

3rd grade

Wicked!!

My love for plays and musicals come from my mother who used to take me all the time to the Civic Little Theatre at home in Pennsylvania from the time I was a little girl. I can sing all the words to Fiddler on the Roof, have cried my way through Steel Magnolias and even know what the Rockette's look like doing their high kicks in the annual Radio City Music Hall Christmas Show.

I did not however, marry a man who loves plays or musicals. Nor does he really feel the need to go with me. Don't get me wrong. He would if I insisted but it wouldn't be his first choice of things to do. I don't get mad because I hate sporting events and he doesn't make me go to those.

I remember when I first had Abby that I thought, "Finally, someone to go to the theatre with me." Never mind that it would be quite a few years before that would happen. We have done little things over the past few years. Several trips to Disney on Ice shows, a children's theatre production on High School Musical and even the Nutcracker this past Christmas. But never a "real" musical until now. And it was well worth the wait.

Through Girl Scouts we were able to get tickets to see Wicked at the Fox Theatre, one of my favorite places in Atlanta. Abby and Maddie went with me. Wicked is based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. The story is told from the viewpoint of the witches of OZ, Elphaba, the poor misunderstood green girl and Galinda, later named Glenda, the beautiful ambitious and popular blond.

Getting into the city on a busy Sunday afternoon is an adventure in and of itself but we made it, found parking and made our way quickly to the beautiful old theatre. Imagine my surprise when I found that our seats were not on the balcony but actually on the floor and in row O. Fantastic seats that would allow the girls to see the very expressions on the actor and actresses faces.

As the curtain rose and the musical began I found myself watching the girls faces as much as I was watching the stage. I saw them fall in love with the magic of the theatre much as I had at their age when my mom took me. I am looking forward to many more years of theatre with them.

Our date was capped off by heavy snacks and dessert at the Melting Pot. The girls agreed that we had to do this again.

The beautiful entrance into the Fox

The girls after the show

The Fox Theatre

The remnants of our cheese fondue pot

Despite warnings about how to behave, they still acted up a little bit

Chocolate Fondue to die for!

The remnants of our dessert place. Only a few lonely marshmallows left!

Soccer 2011

Maddie has been waiting for this weekend for a long, long time. This weekend was the start of soccer and in her opinion, it couldn't come fast enough. She moved up this year to an Academy team. More intense frequent practices and more money :)

She is enjoying playing with this new team. A group of girls who play just as hard as she does, who understand the importance of a good pass. Watching them all together on the field at practice is sheer pleasure.

This weekend was a taste of what is to come for our family. Tournaments and games that are farther away and necessitate a 6:00 wake-up call to make it out the door on time to make the game.

The first game in this weekend's tournament was a little bit rough. The girls are still learning to play together, still learning how to really play soccer as a game and not just get the ball and hope that you make it to the goal. By the second game, the girls started to find their groove and even though they didn't win, they played hard.

Bud and Maddie returned this morning for the last game in the tournament and they shone today. Final score 9-0. Maddie had a goal and two assists and played fabulous defense according to her dad, her second biggest fan next to her mom. Their team placed third in the tournament. We are excited to see what they do as this season progresses.

Here's to another season of watching my baby do what she loves and doing it well

Warming up with her teammates

Our girl

End of Day One

The team before Sunday's game

Get the ball Maddie

After her third and final game and after dumping water on her coach.

First Day of School

Usually, I am ready for school to begin. To pick out new pencils and pens, binders and notebooks, new outfits and shoes. To watch them get on the bus and come home excited about new friends and new teachers.

Not this year. This year I wanted to hold onto summer just a little longer. The girls have had such a great summer this year. The little girls ( I guess I can't call them that much longer because Abby is now 11) went to a new camp that they loved. Destiny had her first job and while she didn't love every moment of being a mother's helper, she grew so much and I think matured. All the girls went to horse camp courtesy their grandparents. They spent time at White Water with friends and with us, the girls and I went to Pennsylvania to Blue Mtn. "my favorite place ever," they often say. Late nights, swims in the pool, ice cream cones, hanging out with friends. It was a wonderful summer and I wasn't ready to let it go yet.

I was also sad because this summer has brought changes. Dear friends moved and while they haven't moved all that far away, they are not at our school any longer. Their two older girls are the same ages as my two younger girls and they have been in class together and played soccer together and we miss them so much. Never so much as this week when we realized that we wouldn't be seeing them at Sneak a Peek or on the bus :) Love you Spencers!

I also wanted to hang on to summer because my first baby was headed to middle school. It seems like just yesterday that I watched her climb on the bus for kindergarten and now she is headed to middle school. This is also Destiny's last year of middle school and my baby, baby is in 3rd grade. Seriously, when did all this happen?

Time waits for no man though and especially not me. The song "Times to Remember has been bouncing around in my head, "These are the times to remember, cause they will not last forever. These are the day's to hold onto and we won't altho we'll want to." And hold onto them I will. Look out 2011-2012 here we come.

The only pic of all three girls together. The older two hadn't done their hair yet and were not thrilled that I made them take the photo.

Maddie Grace. 3rd grade.

My Booda

Maddie and her good friend Logan

The bus my baby crawled onto. Not only would she not let me take her to school and walk her to class. She wouldn't even let me walk her up to the bus stop. I had to snap this pic from afar

Abby Elizabeth. First day of 6th grade

My beautiful girl

Abby and her friend Sam

Destiny -8th grade

So pretty!

Girl Scouts

Abby became a Girl Scout in second grade. She had a wonderful troop leader, Miss Kathy for her first few years and enjoyed the outings and the projects. Her interest really waned in 3rd and 4th grade as her old troop leader left and she went to a troop where she wasn't quite as comfortable. This year she was quite clear that she didn't have the interest to participate and so she moved onto other things.

I had always assumed that Maddie wanted to be a Girl Scout and I had talked about it before she was even eligible. Being my reserved child though, she told me that she didn't want to be a Girl Scout because she didn't know anyone. However, joining Girl Scouts got new priority when one of her closest little friends from Kindergarten had a mother that was going to be an assistant troop leader. Maddie agreed to give it a try and in first grade, she became a Daisy, the first step in Girl Scouts.

She has had such a wonderful two years. They do a great mix of activities, trips and fun things without it being too much for the girls. She has sold nuts and chocolates and Girl Scout Cookies. This year she was the top seller in her troop which made her quite proud and left Bud and I wondering what we had been thinking when we agreed to let her sell and had to deliver all of the cookies :)

I feel fortunate that she has two wonderful troop leaders that care about the girls and I am thankful that they are such positive role models for her. They do all of this without pay and really without much thanks. Being a troop leader is hard, hard work and they do it well.

This year was the first year that she was old enough to go to Camporee the two night Spring campout. I was nervous because she's the baby and also because they predicted strong storms all weekend. I think I even wanted to ask her if she wanted to stay home but Bud wouldn't let me. She was leaving after school and Friday and while I normally don't get the girls that early from the after school program I made sure I was there for her send off. I got a hug and a kiss and a "bye" mom after taking a few pictures. She obviously was not worried at all.

Getting ready to push off with her best bud's

Maddie and Emma, best soccer friends in the whole world

Getting their rowing instructions

Out on the water

In their decorated cabin on the bunks

In the barn before their horse experience

The theme for Camporee was "Around the World" and they were Italy. Here they are singing "On Top of Spaghetti"

My Athletic Girl

I have meant to write for awhile about my athletic girl. I know that her dad truly believes that her athletic prowess comes from him. I know that it definitely didn't come from me.

At 1 year, Maddie could dribble a ball across the room with both her feet. From the time she was 2 years old, she constantly said, "I pway soccer Mama?" We put her into soccer at age 4 and I didn't have any high hopes other than that she enjoy the game. To our surprise (or maybe just my suprise) she took to soccer like a duck to water.

Each season she seems to improve a little bit more and more people comment on her ability. I am still amazed by it. How can the child who can't walk the recycling down with her sisters without complaining, run around the field for an hour barely stopping to grab a drink of water?

I love to watch her play. Pure poetry in motion.

She decided that she wanted to play basketball in between fall and spring soccer and since basketball is truly her daddy's sport, we signed her up. She played last winter and did well and then returned this year for a second season.

And once again, poetry in motion.

Fast breaks, dribbling, shooting, our girl does it all and does it well and I have loved watching her every minute of every game.

Sisters

Bud called me to the kitchen the other night and handed me a writing piece that Abby had done for one of her classes. I don't think it was quite finished but it was too precious not to record and share.

One of the most special gifts in life is siblings, especially sisters. Friends are okay but, siblings are better. You can share life with them. My name is Abigail and I have 2 sisters but today I am going to talk about my younger sister. She is special in our own way so let's take a journey to see why.

My little sister is a pretty 7 year old. Her name is Madeline (Maddie for short). My little sister is special because she is the youngest and most athletic of my family. She plays basketball and soccer. I have a story for you about how my dad learned that Maddie has been born into the world. It was a bright, sunny monring and my mom had gone into labor and was about to give birth to her second beautiful baby girl. Beforhand my mom had made a shirt for me that said I'm a big sister as as soon as my dad saw me in my tiny little shirt he knew he had gotten a gift from God too, and now he had 2 loverly daughters.

Oh how I love that they love each other. For every moment they fight, there are moments like these.

Happy Valentines Day 2011

Happy Valentines Day to all of our loved ones, friends and family.

This year we went simple. Simple gift for Bud (a new Georgia Tech chip and dip set for his man cave) and Georgia Tech shirts for the two little girls and one Georgia shirt for the bigger girls with earrings for all three.

We had a wonderful time creating Valentine boxes on Sunday afternoon in our pajamas at the kitchen table. I loved picking out the scrapbook papers with them and deciding what creations to cut out with out Cricut to make the "best Valentine's boxes ever".

Our mess

Abby's box

Maddie's box

Maddie girl

Sweet Abby

Beautiful Girls

It seems like I spend a lot of time lamenting how big my girls are getting. And it's true, I do. It just feels like each day flies by more quickly than the last one. I can almost feel myself trying to hold onto them.

It isn't that I don't want them to grow because I have enjoyed every stage of their sweet lives. I loved kissing their newborn heads, propping their chubby six month old selves on my hip, holding a one year hand as they learned to walk, delighted in those first words that quickly gave way to sentences, watched proudly as they rode a bike for the first time, hid my tears as they went to school and each year get a little big bigger. It's just that....I don't ever want them to leave.

Funny because when I was a teenager I was in such a hurry to grow up and go. I think back now on how hard it must have been for my mom, a single parent, to leave me at college knowing that she was going home to an empty house, to say goodbye to me as I headed off to my first job in Florida as a nurse. I didn't know because I wasn't a mom and I didn't know how hard it is to watch them get big, to watch them grow, to watch them not need you as much as they used to.

So I will be grateful for the time that I have. The time to snuggle with them, to love on them and to tell them how much I love being their Mama. They are my beautiful girls.

Maddie and Abby, Black and White Girl Scout Dance

Abby

Maddie

The girls and their Daddy before the dance

Off we go

Off we go

into the wild blue yonder,

Climbing high into the sun;

Here they come zooming to meet our thunder,

At 'em boys, Give 'er the gun! (Give 'er the gun now!)*

Down we dive, spouting our flame from under,

Off with one helluva roar!**

We live in fame or go down in flame. Hey!***

Nothing'll stop the U.S. Air Force!

What an absolutely beautiful weekend for the 2010 Wings over Atlanta Air Show at Dobbins Reserve Air Base. Abby and I couldn't go because of a last minute cheer practice but Bud and Maddie and Destiny and our friends, the Harris and Eady's went and had an absolutely wonderful time.

Maddie in the command seat of a C-130

Flight Engineer Harris (not sure if it is Flight Engineer Michael or Brandon?)

Maddie in the safety harness in the back of the C-130