Begin Again and Again and Again...

My daughter Katie competed in her first triathlon yesterday. She rocked it!! I am so proud of her. Katie was really worried about swimming in the lake. She is not a big fan of weeds or fish :) However, as you can see from the smile on her face in this picture, she conquered it! Katie did very well on the bike and run as well. She ended up 6th out of 16 in h er 11 - 12 age group!! She stayed strong and positive the whole day! I think she might be hooked :) I'm not sure what I was expecting, but there was everything from bikes with streamers and baskets to tri bikes. It was a great experience (except for the wait... Kate's group was last and they waited for all of the other age groups to finish...). I am humbled and inspired by my daughter. WAY TO GO KATIE!!! :) Trish

My daughter, Katie, is a study in contrasts. She is the shiest of my girls, and yet is a forc e to be reckoned with. She makes friends easily, but prefers to spend time alone. Her little sister has learned to be her voice in public, but knows that if it comes down to it, Katie is there and totally has her back! She is a one of a kind girl and I hope she knows it!! The pictures with braids was the day before the other. She wanted her hair short for school!! :)

If you've read my profile, you know I am a nurse in an operating room. On occasion we need to tear down a sterile set up. Some of the items are reprocessed (re-sterilized), some are sent with docs on their mission trips, some are sent to research labs and inevitably some are thrown out. I rescued a few things from the trash the other day to bring home for the girls. (Don't freak out here, people, it is clean and I didn't actually take it out of the trash ;) Anyhoo, Mackenzie loved it and has been playing "doctor" ever since. So, without further adieu, here is Dr. Mackenzie: Isn't she adorable? On other fronts, I think I am back in action. Creatively, that is. I have been in a slump. I finally received a new fabric shipment, so I've been doing some sewing and have started making some new collages and some jewelry. I've posted a couple of new necklaces in my shop today: I've also added one skirt to my other shop , Sewin: I am working on more skirts ...

I was looking through my pictures to find one I wanted for a post and found this picture of my oldest daughter. I guarantee she hates it. I think she is beautiful. Her spirit shines through even when she is trying to act cool. At 15, it is all about the right hair, the right clothes, the right friends, and always being right . Such tough standards. I wonder if it makes her as tired as it did me? I hope she knows how very much I love her and that she is perfect and smart and beautiful. No matter what. And then I found this picture and it made me think "ya, I guess she's handling the teenage thing all right!!" :) Peace... Trish p.s. if anyone mentions this post to my dear, sweet daughter, she will freak out. So shhhhh....