Pure Love

I went in to check on Forrest during his quiet time and found him just like this. He had opened the shutters and thrown all of his blankets off the bed. Adorable. I love him so, so much.

My sweet, sweet Forrest. I love being your mom.

Mommy and Summer Time

Today I dropped Forrest off at preschool and took Summer to the beach for some much needed "Mommy and Summer time". I worked on some things for my class and Summer played in the sand. She loves the beach. This is the beach that I grew up going to almost every summer. It was so fun to watch her play in the sand and walk on the pier that I loved so much when I was her age. It was a really fun morning.

Asheville

I loaded up the kids in the car and drove 6 hours to Asheville this week for a few days. It was heavenly.  A much needed break for all of us. The best part was surprising my mom. David had to work so I had both kids to entertain. Our rooms were overlooking Cold Mountain and the Blue Ridge Parkway. I grew up with these views and appreciate them more now than ever.  My parents made everything easy.  The kids had a blast complete with a tire swing (Summer's favorite), the playhouse (Forrest's favorite), feeding the horses (Summer's favorite) and swimming at an indoor pool (Forrest's favorite). My mom and I stood outside with jackets on while the kids played. It was COLD outside. They watched lots of movies and just had fun together. I loved hanging out with my parents and that my kids were with their grandparents. It was a perfect way to spend spring break.

Awesome

This morning I heard some yelling coming from the shower. I went in to find Forrest in his swim goggles shampooing his hair, yelling "This is awesome!!" He does NOT like getting shampoo in his eyes and figured this little trick out on his own. Hilarious. I don't know what was cuter... how he looked or his pure joy and excitement. It made my day.

Airplane Sandwich

Yesterday Forrest was grumpy. I mean, really grumpy. I was trying to get him to preschool and he was just not cooperating. Everything was going wrong in his opinion and he was completely irrational. He hated his breakfast, his shoes were itchy, his pants were too long, the snack I packed was gross, he thought Summer was being mean, it was just one of those days. I put him into the car and he was still grumpy. I finally pulled the car over, turned around and said, "Forrest. what's going on today. You can tell me." He crossed his arms, pouted his mouth and said, "You really want to know?  Are you sure? Cause I'll tell you." I reassured him that yes, I REALLY wanted to know. He looked at me, started crying and said, "You NEVER, EVER make me airplane sandwich!"

What?!

I couldn't help but smile (which didn't help things) because I had NO IDEA where that thought was coming from. He has never in his life asked for airplane sandwich. I would make it for him (with some creativity) but it's just never come up. It was so random. So I said, "Oh that IS pretty sad. Ok, I'll make you a deal, if you calm down and bring the happy Forrest back I'll make you airplane sandwich tomorrow for lunch." It worked. He was then totally fine. His 3-year old mind was relieved.

And guess what my Forrest got for lunch this afternoon... airplane sandwich.

Barracudas

Summer is spending the majority of her winter in the swimming pool. She is on the Barracuda Swim Team and loves every minute of it. She goes to swim practice 2 nights a week. As soon as I tell her it's time for swimming, she jumps into her suit and is ready to go. She LOVES it. She has so much fun swimming which is cute to watch. I am so happy that she has found something she loves.

... And Back

A few days ago, Summer learned how to ride a bike. I know... a little late but that was our fault for not teaching her sooner.  Our house is tucked away from the cul de sac so it was hard to learn in our yard. David took her to the street and she picked it up in just about 20 minutes. She was more than ready. I love that I have a picture of her with her bike. She feels really grown-up now that her bike does not have training wheels.

I was saying good bye to Summer before sending her off to school this morning. Summer said, "I love you all the way to my bike and back." With that little sentence I immediately hugged her. She loves riding her bike and I could not be more thrilled.

Pillow Talk

Each night, David and I switch off putting Forrest and Summer to bed. It is our special time with the kids. I love the talks I have with Forrest as he dozes off to sleep. He keeps his horsey in one hand and wraps his other arm tightly around my neck. Nose to nose we have some pretty cute conversations. He loves to talk about when he was a baby and is fascinated by the whole circle of life concept. He often tells me, "I used to be a baby, now I am a big boy, next I will be a teenager, then a daddy, then a granddaddy and then I will go to heaven". His view of life is so sweet and so simplistic. I love it. I tell him how lucky I feel that out of the millions of little baby boys in heaven, daddy and I were sent him... the smartest, funniest, most handsome one to come to our family. Wow, what are the chances of that!? Well, that little conversation really stuck with him because last night as I put him to bed, he had been quiet for a while and then he whispered to me, "Mama, you're really special to me. Out of all the mommies in heaven, grams got the best one to go to her tummy". All I could do was smile and kiss him on his little forehead.

5 1/2

If you ever run into Summer do not make the mistake of thinking she is 5 years old. She is NOT 5. My Summer Antoinette Schultz is 5 1/2. She reminds me constantly and of course all of her friends. I took this picture of her on our way out the door to church this morning. For the first time she let me style her hair curly. We used hairspray and curling iron. She felt very grown up and in her own words, very "fancy". I asked her if anyone in her class told her she looked extra cute and she said, "No, but I bet that's what they were thinking".

My Miracle

I almost lost my mom.

It has been 30 years since we were hit by a car. I have not written down the events that happened that day and I want to record it. We were on our way to the dentist one afternoon. I was 3 and my sister was 5. Usually I sit on the right side with my sister in the middle in the back seat. This arrangement worked well so that we both could see my mom. That morning my seat belt was not working so I was moved to the other side.

On the way to the dentist I fell asleep with my head resting on the left side door panel. My sister was sooo excited, reading a HUGE Snoopy book that had just arrived in the mail that day, signed by Charles Schulz himself (a friend of my dad's). My mom stopped at an intersection with a stop sign. There was a glass company truck on her right side. She turned her head to the left and did not see a car coming, then proceeded to move forward to go over the intersection. At that moment a car had come up from the hill (invisible from my mom's position when she looked) and rammed right into my mom's side. My sister said she felt a shook, put her book down to find my mom's seat twisted around facing us. The book had shielded my sister from the flying glass. She saw me waking up and getting out of my seat to crawl onto my mom's lap. I kept rocking in her lap and not wanting her to drift away. It was horrible.

The police arrived quickly as did the ambulance. They put my mom on a stretcher. When we got to the ER, my mom was not in a good shape. The doctor told Hope that they had to take out a "fly" from her head (not to scare her) but it was a piece of glass that got stuck. Hope luckily escaped the accident with minor injuries and stayed at the hospital for an overnight. I was badly hurt. The left side of my face was broken. I could not open my left eye for a month. It could have been worse. I could have lost my legs if my seat belt was working that morning. The impact from our car onto the glass truck had scattered glass all over the right side of the back seat. The police concluded that if I had sat there my legs would have been severely damaged to the point where they would have to be cut off. I felt God was watching us that day.

My mom went into coma.  She was put on a ventilator because she was unable to breathe on her own. The doctors' main concern was trauma to her brain. I stayed at the hospital for three weeks. What I remember the most was the last day of my stay. I remember my sister gently waking me up. When I woke up I saw all of my teachers and friends in my room. They all were cheering for me that I had made it through. I remember my dad staying with me some nights with a murphy bed right next to my bed. I remember wheeling out a shopping cart from the hospital into the parking lot while standing on the rim with my dad behind me pushing the cart. I remember talking to a tape recorder at home saying "I love you mommy", "Please, please, please don't leave us", and some prayers. Our neighbor, Gwen, was a nurse at the same floor where my mom was. Gwen took the recorder into my mom's room and played the tape over and over, as many times as she could. My mom was in coma for three months. When she woke up she said she heard us talking and that kept her alive. The doctors said that she had pretty severe trauma to the brain and that she would never be able to walk again. As strong as my mom is, she fought the unthinkable and learned how to walk, write, drive, eat, and cook. The simple things we take granted for. To see your own mom struggling with something as basic as walking, is hard. I will never forget the many, many people that sent us their love, that kept us in their prayers and were so, so kind.

My mom is my miracle. She is in our lives. It wasn't her time to go. It just wasn't. I got to be her daughter for 30 years and more. For this gift, I will be forever grateful.