Welcome Distractions & Breaking the Rules..

This past weekend and early part of this week held a very exciting distraction for me! For all of us really....

Breeanna's All Star team made it all the way to States! It was such an amazing experience for these girls...we broke the rules a bit and let her play even though her hand was still in the healing process. Just and "eggshell" of new bone growth over the break as we were told....I left it up to her, and in true spirit of her mother she said "I am fine...I can play!!"..

She did AWESOME when she played, the coach was very reserved with her playtime because of her hand, but she did AWESOME every time she took the field.

Pop Fly's...no competition for her!

Line Drives....no competition for her skill!!!

As you can tell - I am a very PROUD mama!!

She bat for the first time in 5 weeks and had an amazing double and then also had a line drive to first...she was OUT on that one...oh well!

Notice...no brace...it was NOT Allowed!! But I promise she wore it right after she got off the field!! Now if I could just get her to sit up straight!

Our Trip also gave me the chance to have a little fun and decorate some new shoes for Lily...and make FUN hair bows!!!

She wouldn't put the bows in....she would rather have had her hair in her face in the 103 degree temp! Yes, I said 103...they played in the blazing sun! They would have had to call the game when it got to 105....Seriously people! 105!!!
The weekend also held a few other welcome distractions like Treasure Hunting in this UNBELIEVABLE antique store! By far he had the most incredible collection of china and pottery I have ever seen! Crazy.... Hayden and Lily were with me and they loved it! Both found treasures to bring home! However, Lily has expensive taste...I am going to have to work on that a bit. The man who owned had this shop for 49 years....can you believe that????




And this Beautiful Sunset...you can't tell as much in this picture but there were clouds floating so close to us...it was really quite beautiful. Made me have lots of inspirational thoughts....

Today

Today was the day, "The Day" that we shut our doors to our adorable little shop. It was a day filled with laughter, lots of tears, and lots of great people.

I am completely drained....I still feel like life is swirling around me a bit.

I am so happy and grateful to have met the people that we have met over the past 2 years....they have kept us going in more ways that I can count.

I am so sad for my mom today, she invested so much into the shop that she will never be able to recover. There isn't enough time for her to ever rebuild her retirement...

I know that I will land on my feet and keep moving forward. I have thoughts already for something in the future, just not ready to take the leap, I need a few months to recover from this.

One of the Ladies that I have enjoyed so much over the past 2 years told me to "take my time to grieve" after we shut our doors. I never thought of it that way, but it is true...I feel like I am losing an actual person in my life...this is such a huge part of our lives!

The men had the most difficult time...we had a bit of a men's club that came to visit us every morning. I loved seeing them sit among the Polka Dots and yarn...they were very sad. One had to take his coffee to go today and could only manage a pat on my head as he tried to tell me that he would see me around town.

Lily told everyone that "The Firemen are tearing down The Java Stop"....this is not true, she just feels that if we aren't there - nobody should be there!

I could go on and on, this could become a very lengthy post, but I am going to go curl up with my kids and watch some TV and try to sleep some tonight.

What..?? Where...??

............Did the time go!

Life has been unexpected and crazy around this house lately...although, it is always a bit crazy, hence the name of my blog!

Over the past 3 weeks we have had Birthday's, Broken Bones, Best Friends visiting from 3000 miles away, Sleep-away Camp (two times), complete renovation of my house (with only items already owned by us...LOTS of furniture moving!!) and quite possibly the hardest...the decision to close our family shop. DEEP, Bittersweet Sadness is the way I describe that loss.... Everything seems to be moving very quickly around me, spinning around, and I am getting a bit motion sick!

A few highlights...

Birthday Boy - Hayden turned 10!

One Sleepy Afternoon in the Backyard before too much chaos had busted loose!

My Petite Inspiration Boxes arrived!!! OHHHHHHH, how I loved them!! They were such a welcome treat!

From Pam...

Box from Connie

Boy Camper #1

Lily WAS convinced if she sat on him long enough they couldn't make him stay...she was VERY sad to leave her brother behind. Note to self: Next year, leave Lily at home for camp drop-off!

Boy Camper #2

My Best friend from High School - who lives all the way in California. I miss her so much! She came to visit us for the weekend and we had so much going on that I feel like I missed her....

My Cute little shop that I miss already!! The Winter of 2009-2010 and the "Economic Climate" that we are living in has ended our dreams for our cute little hometown boutique!

Doors close on July 18th....hopefully I will be able to see through my bleery eyes to see all the Wonderful things I still have in my life!