Thoughts for the day

The last couple of weeks has been extremely busy for some reason. I seem to be running in so many directions but never actually going anywhere. I don't like it when life gets like that. Greg has been working late hours so we haven't seen each other too much. He's had a big project at work he's been working on that finally finished up this week - Praise God - so perhaps things will get back to "normal" (whatever that is?) and slow down a little.

Tina, Bryant and baby Bailee flew into town yesterday afternoon. We met them at CiCi's Pizza for a late lunch. They don't have a CiCi's in CA and Bryant was craving their pizza. As soon as Bailee saw Uncle Dakota she reached for him and wrapped her precious little arms around his neck and wouldn't let go. He kept trying to put her down because she would get heavy and she would cry for him. She LOVES her Uncle Dakota! I forgot my camera (GASP!!) so these pictures were taken with my cellphone.I tried to give Uncle Dakota a break by holding Bailee for a few minutes. She wasn't interested in me though and she kept looking over my shoulder for her Uncle!! To keep her entertained I took a dozen pictures of her and let her look at them. She loves to say "cheeseeeeee." They do learn young don't they?
Bryant's mom is getting remarried on Saturday. She hasn't been married in a long time. This will be a big change for her because she is extremely independent! Tina has been taking cake decorating classes in CA and loving it so she is going to bake the cake for the informal wedding. this was the cake Tina made last week at her class. She and Bryant don't want to eat all the sugar/calories from these cakes she is making every week so she delivers the cakes to the barracks at the Marine Base where Bryant works. The guys love it!!

I am leaving in the morning with a group of 11 girlfriends from church for a road trip to Jacksonville. It's about a 6 hour drive. We are going to a Beth Moore conference for the weekend. I love doing Beth Moore Bible studies but this will be my first time seeing her in person.

Dakota has his annual eye appointment in the morning. He's been wearing glasses since he was 3-yrs-old. When we went to his appt last year he asked his doctor about wearing contacts. The doctor said he would like for Dakota to be a couple years older or at least to the point where he is taking care of himself (his hygiene) without being told by me or dad because wearing contacts is a big responsibility. I'm not sure if that was the incentive or if Dakota is just reaching the age where it matters to him but this last 6 months he has gotten much better about taking care of himself. I very rarely have to tell him to take a shower or brush his teeth. Most of the time these days I'm telling him to "GET OUT OF THE SHOWER!" He's even taken to wearing deodorant and cologne now before he leaves the house.

When I told him last month that he was going to his eye doctor this month he said he was going to ask him again about contacts. I told him I would give my approval this time because he has showed great improvement this last year and I was proud of him. I'm not going to be at his appointment now though because I am going out of town. My mom is going to be taking Dakota. I can't imagine him without his glasses. He wears them all the time. He can't see without them - he has double-vision so he never takes them off. Not even when he falls asleep. We have to go remove them from his face after he has fallen asleep or they stay on all night. He doesn't like to wake up and not be able to see anything in the middle of the night. If he is allowed to get contacts tomorrow this will definitely be different!