Day 2

Boats on the Black Warrior. I thought these were tug boats, but they are dredgers.

Yesterday the kids and I rode the Riverwalk trail (5 miles!), K was invited to play softball with some friends from church (they won, by forfeit), and my sister Sara and her kiddos came to town (yay, cousins!).

Much Love,
J

One-sentence, Day 1

So, I'm going to need more than one sentence. Just be warned I will break the one-sentnece rule, often!

Holdyn earned his Compass points badge, one compass-point, and three other activities pins at scouts last night.

Evie finished Bud, Not Buddy, which has 19 chapters.

Kallie and Evie are practicing roller-blading and getting pretty good at it.

I'm trying to convince K to join me jogging because I'll need a new exercise partner come August.

Much Love,
J

Beginnings -- Summer

Yesterday was the "real" first day of summer break for us. I've been out of school since early May and the kids finished up on May 23, but with two days of room cleaning, a busy weekend, and Memorial Day, yesterday was our first, do-nothing day of summer.

Hopefully, I can convince him to spend a lot of time like this over the summer!

We're reading, playing Uno, and trying not to spend too much time watching TV and playing video games (Holdyn). I've made a schedule. We stuck to it yesterday and I blew it this morning, by sleeping waaaay too late, of course.

I've been reading Gretchen Rubin's memoir, The Happiness Project. I really like it and have found some habits I'd like to cultivate. Foremost of those is keeping a one-sentence daily journal. I already keep a sort of Commonplace book or junk journal filled with to-dos, quotes, ideas, musings, scattered thoughts, whatever. But, I'd like to record our days and be better about keeping this blog, so maybe a one-sentence journal style will work.

My resolutions from New Years have been hit or miss successes. Hits -- I have kept up with exercising and I'm pumped about that! My friend, Mallory, and I have just about finished couch to 5k and are scheduled to run in the Color Run on Labor Day in Birmingham. I'd planned to run a 5k BEFORE my 35th birthday last year, but it didn't happen. The Color Run is Sept. 3, so I'll at least run a 5k DURING my 35th year. Revision is a great thing, no? Misses -- I have not been faithful in writing everyday and the take a photo a day project fizzled after about a week. To be fair, I write A LOT. It just doesn't happen everyday. I'm ok with that right now, but once I begin my dissertation that will need to change. Thankfully, a friend gave me the book Write Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day. It will be a huge help when the time arrives. As for the photo project, I have no excuse except I guess I wasn't as interested as I thought I'd be. I'll try it again sometime, though.

Well, that's a VERY brief update. And I've left out a ton, beach trip, trip to Nashville, 5th grade graduation, end of the year awards, Memorial Day with the family.

Tomorrow...summer continues and the one-sentence journal begins!

Much Love,
J

Push My Button

I recently found this really great site, the Mormon Women Project. The site is a collection of interviews of the amazing, diverse women who belong to my church. I love it! Being a Mormon means we have a lot in common, but being human means that we're different, too. At different times in my life I've struggled with feeling like I'm not enough...not faithful enough, not devoted enough, not Mormon enough. Thankfully, through prayer, scripture study, and faith I've come to realize that it's Heavenly Father who has a plan for me and that's what I should be concerned with, not what Sister So-and-So or Brother WhoBob thinks I should be doing. That's the fantastic think about having a personal relationship with God! Through personal revelation and the Holy Spirit I can be comforted, guided, and assured.

That said, over there on the right side of the screen there's this "I'm A Mormon" button. If you want to know more about my faith and my life as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints then you really should press my button. You'll be linked to the site Mormon.org where you can read my profile and then read profiles of other Church members, too.

Of course, if you ever want to talk to me about what I believe and how it influences the way I live all you have to do is ask. So, go ahead -- push my button!

Much Love, J

To Kallie

February 22, 2012

Dear Mrs. T’s 3^rd grade class,

I’d like to tell you a little bit about Kallie. First, you probably already know that Kallie has an identical twin sister name Evie. What you may not know is that Kallie and Evie were born two months early and weighed just over four pounds each. Kallie was born 5 minutes after Evie, so technically she’s the baby of our family. I think she likes that because she frequently reminds us that she’s our baby.

If you know Kallie then you know that she is a really sweet girl and tries to do things to help others. Kallie also loves animals and wants to become a veterinarian when she grows up. Giraffes are her favorite animal and she has a huge collection. At least 10 stuffed animals and several statues. But, what Kallie really wants is her very own, real, live giraffe.  She’s even made me promise that if we ever move to Africa that we’ll buy a pet giraffe!

Kallie likes school, reading, and soccer. She likes to ride her bike and play with her brother and sister. She’s very helpful and she gives great hugs. I really love her, and I’m glad she’s mine!

I could write pages and pages about how great Kallie is, but I don’t have to tell you – you already know her. Thanks for letting me tell you just a few things about my special Kallie!

Sincerely,

Jennie Vaughn (Kallie’s mommy)

A self portrait of my "baby" girl

This week Kallie was chosen to be "Star Student." She got to do something special each day this week and on Wednesday special thing was have a letter about her read to the class. I enjoyed writing the letter about my girl. I don't often take the chance to just sit and think and write about what makes each of our three special. It was a really special experience. I decided to publish Kallie's letter here, and I want to write one for Holdyn and Evie, too.

What things do you do to make your sweeties feel special? Do you find that writing can help you refocus your priorities or rekindle your emotions?

Much Love, J 

Power of Pink

Friday night the girls and I had the opportunity to attend a really awesome event, UA's Power of Pink gymnastics meet. Back in 2004 gymnastics coach Sarah Patterson wanted to find a way to help under-served West Alabama women receive breast cancer screenings and treatment. The Power of Pink match was born and has since spread across campus and throughout the entire SEC. Now the UA women's athletic teams each have one "pink" event each season, but the gymnastics meet is the biggest. We joined 15,075 of our closest friends at Coleman Coliseum Friday night and cheered on cancer survivors and the Tide lady gymnasts. It was a pink-filled night of fun (and maybe a few tears). AWESOME! Evie said it was the best girls' night out EVER! I agree.

Coleman Coliseum all "pinked out."

Best girls' night out, ever!

PS Sorry for the photo orientation! I've tried to fix them but to no avail. If you have any hints let me know.

Much Love, J

Valentine's Round-up

I do enjoy crafting. Really, I do! I just don't get to do them that often. Usually, I save up crafts for when school's out, but then acting as chief cat herder is so exhausting that I never enjoy our craft projects. But somehow, this Valentine's day was different. I don't know if it was because I organized myself (via Pinterest), had most supplies on hand, or just got shot by cupid's arrow, but we had a regular crafting sweat shop here on Monday afternoon. Here's what we made:

All the fifth grade padawan's got light sabers.

The third graders got fortune tellers,

or cootie catchers, whatever they're called.

The teachers got "diamond" rings,

and so did my friends.

Then on the big morning the girls sported heart pigtails. Thank you Pinterest and all you crafty folks out there for making our Valentine's day cheery and crafty! (PS All this V-day craftiness cost less than $10.)

Much Love, J