Tuesday, September 20, 2011

grateful

we had one of those great weekends that left me grateful for many things. primarily that UGA is so close.

dan had planned on heading over to athens late friday night to bring savannah home.
she was needing to pick up her car, which was here for repairs and wanting to cheer on madison & emi in their debut cheer competition.
well, precious bailey worked out the logistics & drove from ole miss over to uga to surprise her & bring her home.
& surprise her she did!!!

they pulled in during the wee hours of the night while the rest of us slept.
saturday morning i woke up with all four of my girls under the same roof. i was able to walk into her usually empty room & wake her.
the little things.
while she's been home twice since move in day & writing wonderful things on her facebook wall including "is home.weird" and "thanks for the best boring lilburn weekend ever" ( to bailey).
i can't help but think she loves a little family time. 
especially since she was able to trade out one pair of my lucchese's for another.
truth be told, she loved being home. she said so.

it does my heart good to hear her over the moon happy & loving her college life.
it does my heart good to hear her live & in person, sitting across from the table from me too.

 (the name tag was just one of their silly shenanigans)



we headed out & cheered on madison & emily for their competition. they did great!
this is year #5 for us having at least one competing. madison spent 11 years in dance/ballet & loves the competition dance part of cheerleading. & freshman emi did fantastic too & never stopped smiling!
so proud of them!





we shopped & talked & ate out & hung with bailey & went to church together & ate some more.

one of the treats i was thrilled about was while bailey & savannah were home, it was abby's homecoming.
the four of us plus another close friend of mine spent our wednesday evenings for a couple years, leading a group of 18-20something middle schoolers.

i love abby. she holds a huge special place in my heart. & bailey's & savannah's too!
we headed over like weirdo creeper stalker people & made her laugh during her homecoming photos.
we yelled things like "make good choices" and "be a good girl" as she & 40+ other friends/adults all headed out. the great thing about abby is she's so awesome that i don't even think we embarrassed her. we embarrassed our selves, but not her.
abby's in a different school district so we really looked like weirdo creepy stalker people
i mean, who does that?
but
i haven't laughed that much in ages.
& yes her mama has a great camera
but i brought mine along too. of course.
abby looked drop dead gorgeous & those photos will deserve a post of their own.


caroline spent a considerable amount of her free time searching the perfect halloween costume online. & don't judge me, i haven't purchased it yet, but the leader in her book is the lady gaga costume.
for kids. of course. & no, it doesn't consist of red meat.



sunday afternoon rolled around entirely too quickly.
i hugged goodbye to bailey. wished her luck as rush at ole miss starts up next week.
saw she & smk hugging outside before she drove off. 
gets me every time.

trevor came by and said hello quickly.
between bailey & trevor, i could not ask for smk to be surrounded by two better life long friends.
i love those kids & love how they bring out the best in each other.
went outside to send them off & wondered at what point i'd be able to do this "see you soon. i sure love you" thing without being teary.  gosh i'm teary now.
& just to think...i get to do this again next year with my sweet abby.

may i never take wonderful great simple 
 "boring" weekends for granted.
~~~
my gratitude journal includes:
summer days slipping into breezy autumn afternoons
college kids home for visits
colleges that aren't too far away
life long friends
highschool senior girls who make good choices
& 6 people all under the same roof
xo

20 comments:

Sheri said...

awesome post paige. so happy you had your big girl home. what a fun weekend. your little cheerleaders are adorable. i'm looking forward to a weekend like yours, robert is finally coming home for a weekend. who cares about the 4 hour drive - i'm just happy he's coming. i should start baking tomorrow - LOL. the things we do. have a blessed day and thanks for being such an inspiration to us less experienced bloggers. p.s. i got tears reading about them hugging and saying bye and I don't even know them :)

Kat said...

Sounds like y'all had an amazing weekend!!! I know your heart was bursting at the seams to have all your girls together for the weekend. xo

Jodee said...

What a sweet post! Just reading about your weekend has me teary! Love, love, love the cheer pictures!

Between You and Me said...

love that you had 6 people under your roof this past weekend.....

Deanna said...

this post made me smile just reading it!

christina said...

so glad to see such beautiful life, happening in your home. ; ) i got teary eyed reading this. and thank you, for all your advice, this parenting gig doesn't come with instructions. ; ) lol
XO

Kimberly said...

Awesome weekend :) Thanks for sharing it!

smk said...

Unlike usual, I don't actually have something really funny to say. I just want you to know this may be my favorite blog post ever. I loved being home. I loved seeing everyone and cheering on Madison and Emily. And especially laughing with all the Pauls. Thanks for making this weekend so amazing and being such a wonderful mom. I miss you already and cannot wait to be home again. I love you!

Kelli said...

What a beautiful weekend. There's nothing like life-long friends and your sweet girls is definitely surrounded by them. How wonderful that you were able to soak up time with your favorite college peeps :) Way to go Madison and Emily on their competition...Jamison wants to cheer. I can't wait to see Miss Caroline in her Halloween gear...she'll do Lady Gaga well ;)

Kelli said...

And SMK's comment above mine...tear! You're such an awesome mom.

Micah Jamie said...

I love the way you love your kids, and from SMK's comment above she obviously does too. She's such a dollbaby!

Leslie said...

Awww... sounds like a sweet weekend. I am praying that I can keep Dayton local after high school! Your girls are amazing, those jumps are perfect! Hey, Lady Gaga is a halloween costume every day right!!? Why not!

Tiffini said...

my momma's heart is full of joy and overflowing with yours..we rejoice and share in your joy:)
xo

Alecia said...

Wonderful post....how FUN to be surprised by your bestie! :-) Glad you had a fun weekend with your girls!

Lori Lucas said...

To answer your question about the sending them off without being teary...the answer is--NEVER!! Really. Trust me, I know. Also, I do the "We are all under one roof thing too, and my kids are all in their 20's!" And then I lay there smiling in the dark, giddy that all is right in my world! LoriL

my2twins said...

When mine are home from college, I too have that "all's right with the world" feeling. I don't think that will ever go away.
Love Savannah's message to you, she knows just what mom needs to hear, (all of us moms)

Jboo said...

What sweet girls!! Hope and pray that my darling girl grows up as nicely as your girls! What a wonderful weekend!

Janet

Kristin said...

just beautifully written. love it that you adore your girlies so much.

Dawn said...

ok...first I am a mess over SMK's comment to your post...and second, it doesn't matter if they are 2 hours away or 5 hours away, we miss them no matter what, huh?? I loved reading how YOU got "filled up" this weekend too...and I really believe that coming home to some good ole "family time" really fills our babies up too!! xo

Jen Kershner said...

You DO have a lot to be grateful for! So happy you got some quality time with your college girl! And she with you!