Guess who is now driving…

I am still in total denial that he is old enough!

He went and took the written test today to get his learners permit. He was so nervous but passed it with flying colors!

He drove home from the drivers station.  I must have had a moment of insanity because I let him drive home on the most narrow, winding road in our town.  He did good.  There were a few little directions given but not bad at all.  He is the typical new driver who HUGS the right hand side of the road.  Hugs it a little too tight sometimes…  Especially when you are right next to a drop off.  But anyway, he did very well considering the road we were on. 

He says now there is a REAL reason to carry around his wallet.    It does dress it up a little, don’t you think? 

Then tonight, in the dark, we let him drive us all to Taco Bell for dinner.  He did even better.  I keep telling him it just takes practice.  He has driven a lot in parking lots, etc but that isn’t great practice for the REAL roads and 65mph! 

If you are the praying type, feel free to go ahead and send up a little prayer of safety for all of us, and everyone on the roads!  You know… just for good measure! 

New blog…

There have been some issues with seamlessly getting the blog switched over where all the subscriptions moved over without error.  Please manually subscribe to the new blog.  You can do that through Feedburner here. 

If you wish to just visit the new blog – it can be found at www.sharianderic.com.  You can also subscribe from there – just look in the top of the left hand column. 

See you at my new home! 

Kendall. :)

Stepping back.

Being a parent has not turned out the way I had it pictured when I was a little girl dreaming about my future family.

I never realized just how much you could love someone until I had my three children.  They are my first priority.  I know there are times when they probably wonder about that, but I honestly do try hard to never let them forget just how important they are to me.  To get a hug from any of my three angels, is just about the best feeling in this whole wide world.  Seriously.  Unfortunately, it is a very rare moment that I get one from my teen.  It hurts.  I understand, sort of, but it still really does bother me sometimes.  Maybe it is just a phase and he will outgrow it and someday not mind giving me a little hug every now and again. 

One of the hardest parts about being a parent is stepping back.  Giving my children the chance to make some independent decisions.  I don’t always think they are the right choices, but sometimes they have to figure that out on their own.  And sometimes maybe it IS the right choice for them, it just isn’t what I want for them. 

For example, Logan decided not to continue on with football this fall for his freshman year in High School.  I was quite sad about that.  Honestly, I went through a mourning phase.  He is such an amazing athlete and I hated to see him put such a great talent up on a shelf.  I knew I had to do it though.  He is a teenager and he has to follow his heart.  He said it just wasn’t in the game anymore.  

Parenting is HARD work.  Harder than I EVER imagined.  And at the same time, it is even more rewarding than I ever imagined as well. 

Walking into the YMCA and having both of my boys stay back to hold open the doors for others.  One of the mom’s stopped me and congratulated me on raising amazing young men.  I don’t think I stopped smiling all evening.  I have many moments of self-doubt when it comes to parenting, so I cherish those little compliments very much. 

Having a friend (who was traveling on a mission trip with Logan) text me to say that I should be very proud of what an amazing servant Logan is. 

Being pulled aside by the vice-principal at my son’s school to tell me he sees GREAT things in Logan’s future.  That he is just an all around awesome kid. 

But, don’t let me paint a picture of him being perfect.  After all, we are ALL far from it.  We have had our share of issues to deal with, but it’s these proud moments above that remind me it’s all worth it.  I might not be the best parent but I am certainly doing the best I can. 

Logan, I love you with all my heart and soul.  I can’t even put into words how proud I am to be your mom! 

Swim Team.

Kendall and Noah are on Swim Team at the YMCA here. It is HARD work!  Kendall loves it.  Noah… well he is sticking with it but I definitely wouldn’t use the word “love” in his description of it. 

Today they were working on diving off the blocks…

Right after this photo, she climbed down and said she wasn’t ready for that yet.  She chose to dive from the edge of the pool.  However, tonight she is saying she will do it tomorrow.  We will see…