My daughter is a fierce competitor. Everything, and I mean everything can be turned to a competition with her. Last weekend when we were driving back to the camp site from training camp, Scott and I drove my parents van and let my parents follow us with the kids in our van. We pulled in to Dairy Queen as a fun surprise and she says to my dad, “Now’s your chance to beat them… keep driving Papa!

Of the 32 years I’ve been a Steelers fan, I only had the joy of being a hometown fan for only 8 of those years (5 of which I was 5 and under so it doesn’t really count in my book). My sophomore year of college, I moved to PA for 3 years. I was thrilled to get to watch the Steelers on a weekly basis. Unfortunately, this was during the Kordell Stewart, Tommy Maddox era, which wasn’t exactly the Steelers golden era of football.

Time and time again our fourth child has blown us away with his easy going, flexible, happy-go-lucky approach to life. It has made the transition to a family of 6, for this family on-the-go, SO MUCH easier—a fact I am truly, truly grateful for. This weekend, he really went above and beyond our expectations though. Not only did he fall asleep in the tent both nights, while the rest of us were out at the camp fire, but he even napped in the tent Saturday morning.

Years ago my Mom and I attended a Women of Faith Conference…I believe our first was when I was in college. We drove to Cleveland, OH to attend the conference. We left refreshed and inspired and vowing to make it a tradition to attend some sort of spiritual conference together as often as we could. Since then, we’ve attend Women of Faith, Beth Moore, and a few women’s retreats together. I appreciate the opportunity to worship, and grow alongside my mom.

The kids and I had a unique opportunity this morning to feed some orphaned baby piglets. The Momma Pig died at childbirth and the farmers were looking for extra hands to give bottles to the piglets. I literally leaped at the opportunity. And I am so glad that I did! What a delightful way to spend our morning! Even my youngest had fun with the piglets…

My youngest daughter turns 4 this week. I often joke that she was born trying to keep up with her sister and brother. It’s true though. She is always ahead of where she should be b/c she has never wanted to be left behind. As such, whenever her birthday rolls around I don’t have that typical, “How can it have been 4 yrs already?” feeling, more often we’re like, “Really, your just now 4… seems like you’ve been 4 for awhile now.

Growing up, part of me wished for a sister… one to share a room with, share clothes and secrets with…. maybe if I’d have had one, I would know better how to braid my girls hair… I had a great brother, and I would never have traded him for a sister, yet part of me at times felt like I was missing out a little… When I married Scott I instantly gained in my sister-in-law the sister I had always wanted.

While our world wind trip to and from Florida went off really without a hitch, the 48 hrs since pulling into our driveway have been anything but smooth sailing. Allow me to complain… We got home at 9pm on Sunday night… we unloaded what we had to, put the kids to bed and sat on the couch. Monday morning was back to reality… Scott had to be at work at 8, and the oldest two had to be at church at 8:45 for VBS.

Most people think that perfect beach weather is a bright sunny day, but we discovered unexpected joy in a trip to the Florida beach on an overcast evening following an afternoon rain storm. Shuttle launch in the morning, nap in the afternoon, beach in the evening, and free Chick-Fil-A right before bed… it was a perfect day in Florida… totally worth the 32 hours of driving it took to get there and back.

Ever since I was a kid and saw the movie Space Camp, I’ve wanted to see a shuttle launch. Last spring when Scott told me that NASA was cancelling their shuttle launch program and their were only 3 left, I began scheming a way to get there and see one. We planned our entire vacation around the November launch. And while our trip to Florida last November, was one of our best family vacations ever, we didn’t get to see a launch.