Julia - The Dancing Cowgirl

Thought I would share a picture of Julia as she is today!  All of her bubbly personality from the top of her head to the toes of her beautiful pink cowgirl boots!  She refuses to take them off most days, but they really are stinking cute - don't you think?  Thankfully, I was able to take them off of her for her dance class - she was alright with that since she could put her "tappy" shoes on.  What a trip she is!!

Julia - The Smarty Pants

Just thought I might share and brag a bit about my littlest one, Julia.  We constantly say that Julia has Sophie's personality with Anna's attitude.  At this point in time, I'm not quite sure if that's a good or a bad thing.  :)  Julia is in a nutshell - hysterical.  She is such a sassy girl, but in the next instant you just want to squeeze her and give her hundreds of kisses!  She is by far the most mature out of the girls at this age.  I attribute that to the fact that she has two awesome older sisters to look up to!  That's not always a good thing mind you, but she won't let anyone walk over her - that's for sure.  She is fire and ice combined and her new word to throw around is - hate.  We've been working hard on teaching her that it's not a nice word - we'll get there!  I love her orneriness and her spark of life - she's amazing.  Her love of the Winx and video games at this moment is so odd!  She's a  little teenager in a three year old body!  I'm posting a video of Julia singing her name.  It's not a new one, but it does show her personality.  I love this little rascal!!

School Pictures

Here are our school pictures for the 2012-2013 school year!  I always find it funny that my mother still puts up my class picture every year.  I guess I'll never truly be "out" of school!!  Anna is in 3rd grade this year (crazy) and Sophia is in 1st.  It's hard to believe how fast they are growing.

Running Fever

Last year after Nancy passed away, I decided I was going to take up running.  Running?  I absolutely hate to run.  I was the kid in gym class that would intentionally walk every mile that the coach would make us run - thus my wonderful grade in PE.  I even tried out for the track team in middle school - why, I have no idea!  After my first real run practice I threw up all over the ground next to my dad's truck.  That was the END of my running career.  Until now...

Like I said - after Nancy passed I decided it was time to do SOMETHING that I had control over in my life and that was running.  Charlie used to tease me while I was training for my first 5K - The Santa Dash - he stood at the door at my parents house and pretended to run right along with me while I was on the treadmill.  What a goof he was!  I loved it.  When he passed away I stopped running altogether.  I gave it all up and just stopped.  In May, my running buddy and friend Lynette talked me into doing the Founders Day run in Union.  What a joke that race was!!!  We weren't ready for it and I ended up with a scar on my knee that will be with me for the rest of my life.  After that we decided it was time we got serious and begin training!  And we did!!  We've been running ever since.  We completed our first run together in August.  It was the Cheapskate Run!  Not really an "official" run, but it was all I needed to get me motivated to keep running.

My friend, Lynette, has been my support through all of this running business!  She keeps me moving.  She said it wouldn't be right if we didn't do the Santa Dash like we had planned last year - so we are!!!  I'm glad I've made this change in my life - how refreshing, rewarding, and mind refreshing.

Back to it...

It's been so long since I've posted anything on this site.  I have to remember that writing for me is like a drug - an anti-depressant really.  It helps me vent, cope, laugh, and it helps me to remember.  From now on THIS will be my scrapbook.  I'm going to try to make sure I update it so I can print it out and have it for the girls when they are older.  Then they can catch a candid glimpse of their crazy mother and all her ramblings!!  Donald and I have been discussing that since technology has improved so much over the past few years, that we haven't taken "real" pictures with our "real" camera in what seems like forever.  Poor Julia is gonna wonder why all of her pictures came off of our cell phones!!  The same goes with our videos!!  So I'm going to make an honest effort to make sure those pictures get placed somewhere that the girls will always be able to see them - you know how trustworthy technology can be!  Well - I think that's all for the moment - I'll be back on tonight so I can download some photos to share.  Gotta slow down and enjoy life while I can - stand back and take a break - enjoy my family and my friends and share my joy with others!!  See you later...

Trust in Him

I guess God gave me this song for times like these.  I am sharing it - if I haven't already.

Here is the link:  www.lesliebaptistchurch.com

Go to More and then video/audio images.  Scroll down to the song, "Trust in Him".

Life... Is too short

Well I have to admit that my husband put me up to this. I haven't written since May and really I've had no excuses other than plain laziness. Well - not laziness exactly - I've been up to my neck chasing kids and transporting them from one place to another, changing diapers, and other odds and ends that go along with being a mother. But really - that's no excuse. Donald informed me the other day that I needed to write again. He says he enjoys hearing my "voice" in the things that I write and that one day the girls will love reading about all of their misadventures and what not.

So here goes:

I have to admit that this has not been the best year that the Gerling's have had as a family as of late. I always pictured my family to be perfect. I have the perfect parents, perfect sibling's, perfect husband, and perfect children. We lived in a pretty perfect little bubble that I had created all on my own. You know those things that "other" people have to deal with? Not my family. Of course I would feel exceedingly sorry for my friends when trouble would come to them and their families. I would say a prayer for them and think, "thank God it's not MY family." You see my family is perfectly perfect. Or was...

Tragedy can happen to anyone at even given time. I think the fact that I lived in my "bubble" just made this fact all the harder to understand and comprehend. Bad things DO happen to good people and families suffer heartache everyday. This just happened to be our time.

On October 1st - Donald, me, the girls and maw maw set out to do some apple picking and pumpkin picking at Eckarts. It was a beautiful day and the girls were so excited. We got to Eckarts and began our day. We were mid-way through the day when my mom received the terrible news that Nancy (my sister-in-law) had passed away the night before. Time stood still as we watched the girls with big smiles on their faces enjoying their special day - yet knowing that our little bubble was starting to leak ever so slightly. We watched in the next few days as my brother took control over planning a memorial service for Nancy and trying to figure out how he was going to adjust without his wife. It was very hard to see him have to handle all of things he was doing. Picking out the clothes he wanted her to wear, her jewelry, what kind of urn to buy for her ashes and on and on. We watched him struggle with trying to get on with his life day by day. But he was. Slowly. It really did seem like things were starting to take a turn for the better. After all - even though my bubble was leaking (just a bit) my family was still ultimately in tact. Everyone was getting better. As the month went on I noticed how much my brother interacted with my girls. He would put puzzles together with Sophie, joke with Anna, and wrestle with his best bud, Julia. Oh, how she adored him. On October 31st - exactly 30 days since Nancy had passed - Donald called to tell me that Charlie had not shown up to ride together. I called my dad who in turn went to Gerald to check on him. I can still hear my dad say that when he rounded the corner on the street where my brother lived - he knew something was VERY wrong. On that day my one and only brother passed away in his sleep. As I think back on that time it feels like a dream. Actually it still does. Surely this "thing" did not happen. Surely any minute we will wake up from a terrible dream and everything will go back to the way it was. I would never have envisioned sitting with my parents in the funeral home "planning" a service for my brother (for anyone for that matter). Now I watched as my parents battled with the same things my brother had not more than 30 days before. When were we going to wake up? Unfortunately life does not work this way. God had his reasons for taking my brother from us and no matter how much it hurts or how much we wish it didn't happen - it did. It's been a little over a month since Charlie has passed away and I can only hope that the healing process will begin real soon. I miss his smile, his crazy sense of humor, and his laugh. My girls miss their uncle Char Char and Julia doesn't understand why her favorite buddy no longer comes to visit. Life has a way of showing us that our lives are not perfect. Nothing is. My little "bubble" doesn't exist anymore. It has popped and has left me grasping for anything that will take all of my doubts and worries away. I know that God is in control and that only HE can heal our family, but right now my heart and the hearts of my family are constricted. How do you go on as if nothing has happened? Thanksgiving has passed. Christmas is upon us. God grant us the peace and serenity to get through these trying days and to try to understand the plan that has now been laid before us. The path that we were on has forever been changed. Please show me that this path is a good path - despite the tragic turn of events that led us here to this place and time. Goodbye Charlie. We love you so much and will FOREVER miss you!!!!!