Lily Longmire for Student Vice President!

Spoiler Alert:  Lily won Student Council Vice President!!!

Okay now for the journey.

About three weeks ago Lily came running in from school and informed Bob and I that she wanted to run for Student Council.  Without skipping a beat she said, "Mom and Dad, I want to run for Student Council Vice President!"  

No I will admit, my first thought was, are you sure you don't want to maybe start at treasurer? or secretary?  or maybe just class representative?  I mean to run for Vice President is a big thing, and what if you don't get elected, and what if its scary.....and......and.....and.......

Thank the Lord I did not say one of those things to her (I realized my own insecurities should not be hers!) and instead replied calmly, "Awesome kiddo, but this s something you have to go all in on.  I can't do it for you!" 

Lily had to write a 1.5 minute speech, make posters, and figure out how to get the vote of her classmates.  The speech was the most challenging part.  I sat down with her one evening and taught her how to organize her thoughts through an outline.  Together we brainstormed what she wanted to include and she took all of our notes and wrote her speech.

I seriously cannot begin to tell you how proud of her I was for taking on the challenge and running with it.  Grandma and Grandpa Longmire even sent her flowers of encouragement while she was building her campaign.

She made 2 fabulous posters to hang up at school and spent a couple of lunch and recess hours talking to kids from 3rd to 6th grade confidently asking for their vote.

On the day of the vote Lily was up against 7 other kids for the position.  Several of them were 6th graders, but she confidently recorded her speech and believed in her message.

And by golly, SHE WON.  Of course she did!  I mean this kid is absolutely brimming with purpose and poise.  I am so excited to see her lead and make changes.  Her strength is in her confidence and empathy.

We need more kids like her to rise up and lead!  

Congratulations Lily Longmire Student Council Vice President!

Amelia faces a dragon.

Life has a way of happening when you least expect it.  Every day is truly a gift and there are so many times that life hits you square in the face and you find out what you are made of.

This Summer I helped my dear friend Rebekah and her family move to Dallas Texas. It was so wonderful to be a part of their next adventure and equal parts deeply sad as they moved on and away.  But life just does things, and in August Amelia, Rebekah's oldest daughter was diagnosed with a brain tumor on her cerebellum, and life really took a turn for them.

Amelia was dealt 2 brain surgeries within a week.  This is one tough kid.  Thank the Lord the tumor was benign and the surgery to remove successful, but the trauma and fear of that week mixed with the long road to recovery has shaken not stirred this family.

I was able to finally get myself down to Texas this past month for a few days spent with them.  It wasn't enough, but I am so grateful that I had the chance.

This little girl fought her dragon and is on her way to a full recovery.  The storms of this life happen, but we must keep on standing in the face of them!

Getting the Band Together

Girls, Mom is drowning in blogs and so many stories.  Our lives are so busy that I just can't keep up with it all the time.  But like I have said before a picture is worth 1000 words and I am determined to keep these pictures flowing!

Both of you girls have taken on music lessons this past year and I LOVE how much you are enjoying them.  Evie you are loving your piano and your ukelele and Lily you are thriving with your violin!

Both of you take lessons with Miss Julie and absolutely love her.  I am so grateful for her and man is she smart.  Full sized candy bars are just the incentive you both love!

Music is such a special thing girls,  I cannot wait to see what you will do with it.  
 

Summer 2021

I need to close out our summer so that I can fully move forward.  I have so many videos of Lily and Evie doing their summer sports, but just cannot get them all on here so memories will have to do.

Evie joined swim team this Summer while Lily tried Synchronized swimming and Diving.  

Lily absolutely loved synchro and will be joining the Fall recreational league soon.  Diving was another deep joy and very challenging. She grew a lot.  Her biggest challenge was figuring out how to do a forward flip.  Lily struggled finding her success and spent many a morning crying over her inability to get over her fear.  She wanted to quit, she was so frustrated, but we worked day in and day out to remember that it isn't a case of can....its a case of practice.  The most frustrating part for her was seeing all of her other friends achieve the flip while she was still stuck.  It was such a beautiful time for her to realize that everyone's journey is different, you just can't quit!

By the end of the summer, she did it and was throwing competent front flips with the rest of them.  So darn proud of her!

We had a wonderful visit from Bob's dear childhood friend Ryan and his family.  The visit was terribly short, but such a wonderful time.

We spent our evenings at the tennis courts watching the girls learn to play tennis.  They each had their own night to play and we enjoyed the park and dog walking.

The girls participated in our church's VBS.

And Bob played golf, lots of golf.

Lily and I took a riding trip up at Memaw's together.

And we did lots and lots of yoga!

Our Summer was full of all the things.

And lots of hamburgers.

Back to school night finished our summer and gave us all something to look forward to! Its a new school year!