brothers – Nancy Tart: Writing for Life

The Miracle of Friends

The Miracle of Friends – aka down to one car on a meet weekend with college and work too!! #2023 #Family #Friends #Friend #Blessings #Blessing #TheBlessingOfFriends #TheMiracleOfFriends #OpenHearts #FriendshipIsAwesome #GymnasticsMeet #SavannahTrip #Kupets2023 #GodsHandIsInEverything

March 21, 2023

The Miracle of Friends

It was Wednesday, March 1st. I was on the floor stretching with my little preschoolers and talking about what color butterflies they were pretending to be today.

My phone, however, received this from my oldest daughter who was on her way to work from college:

Car trouble rn

I am going to be late to work. I actually don’t know if I’ll get to work.

Followed thirty minutes later (I still hadn’t come off the floor so hadn’t seen these) by:

Daddy has me.

I’m not gonna make it to work

Letting Thea know

Thirty minutes later (I still hadn’t seen anything):

ACTUALLY

Nvm

I will be there right on time.

I only saw her arrive at her normal time (4pm) as I was working. I didn’t even know something was up until about 7pm when I finally looked at my phone!

Our Buick decided to shut all electrical systems down on the interstate! We had a meet in Savannah that weekend! Louis and Christina took it to the closest dealership because this poor car was new when Louis got it but has spent a greater percentage of time getting fixed than any used one we’ve had! (Nice that it is still under warranty!)

Thursday arrives: at noon, the dealership still hasn’t even looked at the Buick! Christina has to go to college on Friday. Louis had requested the day off work Friday to take Jillian to her meet in Savannah. All the potential rides for Jillian weren’t able to do this one. (So many meets would have been missed without all of the amazing friends who have driven one gymnast or the other over my three years!) We looked into renting a car for the day – so far out of budget. Christina looked into staying over with a friend so she wouldn’t need a car for college but no one could get her back to work in time and she just doesn’t drop school or work. I was going to ask Jillian’s coach how to go about scratching (missing the meet, we’ve never done that), when Louis called (I was sitting at a school waiting for kiddos to get in the bus). He had contacted the dealership at 2:30 & they said they would look at the Buick on Monday. He had told his boss he didn’t need the day off because he didn’t have a way to get Jillian to Savannah – his boss loaned him a van!

Jillian didn’t even know. She didn’t know how close she came to missing her first meet. (She did hear the story through when she’s like, “wait where’d we get this van?” on Friday in the wee hours.) She and Lucas went down with Dad and had a great time!

Sometimes we get busy and forget about the amazing miracle of friends. God gives us friends. People who honestly care about us and whom we care about. The miracle of friends is that they are always there. Sometimes we miss out on a blessing and being a blessing because we forget to ask. How do we know someone needs anything unless they ask us? How can friends know we need anything unless we ask? I love how children don’t have these “I shouldn’t bother them” issues because they ask friends everything! From, “your sandwich looks good, can I have half?” to “help me fix my ribbon, please!” to “I’m sad, can we sing?” and everything else in between.

A scene from an old movie makes me smile: a girl says “oh I forgot to buy a ladder!” and turns to go back inside the general store. Owner of said general store laughs, picks up his ladder leaning against the wall and says, “country folks don’t buy ladders, they borrow them.” He is trying to impress on this family that people around care about them and want to help in any way possible.

I love that God gave us the miracle of friends. Sometimes we don’t see them for a long time (ages, it always seems) and sometimes a pop-in visit is needed and God arranges that.

I’m so thankful for the friends and family around us. Our people bless us so much! I pray we can return blessings when they need them!

Thank you for reading!

Type at you later!

~Nancy Tart

Floor Blocks and Imagination

#2023 #Family #Pictures #Encourage #Imagination #FloorBlocks #HouseBlocks #BuildingHousesOutOfFoamFloorMatSquares #ProblemSolving #Boys #WatchWithWonder #Children #TheFascinatingImaginationOfAChild

January 29, 2023

Floor Blocks and Imagination

Uncle Buddy was purging his apartment and there were two truck-loads of stuff he thought we could use. (Yes, we could, not that we knew it before it came) One such item was three packs of floor blocks, you know, those spongy warm mats that you cover hard floors with to have a softer play surface. We already had six squares of it under our swing in the back yard to keep feet from digging a ditch under the swing and nine squares in the playroom to bring out when it was too cold for bare feet on the hard floor.

Lucas has a fantastic imagination and turned said floor cushions into… A house. The original one was 1×2 squares in a perfect rectangle with a “door” panel they sealed behind themselves and “busted” out of with a sharp kick from both feet.

It started in the living room, but there is more space in the playroom! The house became 2×3 squares with a “portal” doorway complete with blanket carpets and pillows so they could sleep in it!

Louis shook his head, “I don’t think they were made for that.” And I shrugged, “no, but they work fine, don’t they?” (Until a rambunctious boy-who-will-remain-unnamed dropped on the ceiling and broke it aka caved in the roof, made Thea cry and Jillian mad, and they had to rebuild said house.)

Soon packing boxes (also from Uncle Buddy) were added to make rooms inside the house and prop up the roof as going bigger than 2×3 meant less stability in the middle. They were finding ways to overcome the structural weakness and still expand their play house! I loved all the problem solving that was going on!

These large blocks also store in their bags when not in use. I don’t know how often this will happen, but what I was saving for play surfaces in our shed while moving and in our future house when we finally get one, is now a house-building toy. Lucas is always building big complex structures in his mega blocks, duplos, and legos. I’m hoping to get him interested in carpentry or construction because once his football career (now he wants to be a football player in high school and college and the NFL – he better pray he gets height from Great-Grandpa Jim and Boompa!) is done, he might enjoy building things. I totally encourage any type of hands-on skill as even though yes, the foam block houses won’t last long, the building and problem solving will present itself in other forms.

What neat things have your kids done with their imagination lately? I love to watch with sonder as they explore new things! Sit back, let them play, and watch a world of wonder explode from their untamed imaginations!

Thank you for reading!

Type at you next time!

~Nancy Tart

First Meet of the 2023 Season

Meet Season 2023 here we come! Long car rides, friendship bonds, encouraging teammates, and even little brothers stinking up the car…

January 20, 2023

First Meet of the Season

On January 12th I was working, but Jillian was on a long car ride down to Tampa with her teammate (I love the bonds our team sisters get!) to rest up for a 7am arrival at her first meet of the season!

First off, I was coaching so my ten-year-old actually left the gym without even telling me bye! No wave, no nothing, just run out with Kate and load her stuff in her friend’s mom’s car and go. (My mom-self wasn’t sure what to think of that – but, I do raise my kids to be independent.)

Secondly, I’m so thankful for my other Silver Moms at WGV Gymnastics! Our girls practically live together and they love each other like sisters! They do so much together. We moms help look out for each other – even if its texts like “I4 is a nightmare, take xyz exit and get off” or how to navigate the strange new parking garage.

This meet, I wasn’t physically there. So two of my friends were sending me videos, pictures, and scores! Did I mention how blessed I am to have my Silver teammate moms?

Louis drove Kimberly down for her 1:30pm time. They left at 9:30 with a very exuberant Lucas. His choice was “go to gym, do open gym, then come home and hang out with Becky and play video games” or “7 or 8 hours stuck in the car.” Lucas squealed with delight and said, “7 or 8 hours in the car with you, Daddy!” (My Mom heart almost exploded on that one… although I do know he really just wanted to fart Kimberly out of the car and eat everything on any billboard he could talk Louis into stopping for.)

Jillian got to watch Kimberly (she got dropped back off at the meet for Louis to drive her home). Louis was giving me a play-by-play.

Pictures because why not? (all photo credits are either Kate’s Mom or Saedi’s Mom)

Fun memories and challenges! I love the start of Meet Season! *Actually, today, Jillian and Kimberly are at the Conquistador Classic (our local meet, yippee!) one competing and the other volunteering. Jillian will finish the day volunteering after she’s done showing everyone how much she loves gymnastics. Can’t wait to see pictures from this one!

Thank you for reading!

Type at you later!

~Nancy Tart

Boy Hair Day

March 20, 2022 (Timewarp story from February 21, 2022)

Boy Hair Day

Every so often, Lucas decides that when Daddy gets a haircut, Lucas will also get a haircut! This day was one of those days. Lucas’ hair was long enough for a ponytail. Louis says, “hey, want a big boy haircut again?”

Lucas says, “no,” as he runs his fingers in his hair. His brother cousins are visiting and Isaac laughs as Lucas’ fingers catch a tangle. “Maybe.” Lucas shrugs.

Maybe turns into all three boys watching Louis’ hair get trimmed. Then Lucas says, “I want Dad’s haircut!”

He is soooo much more wiggly at 6 than he was at 3!

Louis gels his hair up in the style he wanted. He gels Isaac and JJ’s hair too.

And Lucas’ hair…

The evening turns into boy hair play day! Cute pictures following…

I love when the brother-cousins get to hang out and do goofy stuff that makes lots of fun memories!

Type at you next time!

~Nancy Tart

Thea and Her Love

February 22, 2021

Thea and Her Love

Thea is by far our youngest lover of all things fashion. Her sisters got her bows for Christmas. She had to put them on everyone. Lucas patiently lets Thea do anything to his hair – he did let Christina and Becky color it green (supposed to be blue dye, but his brown hair turned more of a turquoise). Jillian and Jaquline often end up being Thea’s models now that she wants to do their hair too!

The big girls have “always wanted” (they shared Mary’s giant stuffies for a bit as littles) an oversized stuffed animal. They got one for Thea for Christmas. They called him “Mister Pickles” and the name has stuck. (I have no clue why a giant koala is named after a cucumber treat, but it is.) Thea loves him. This girl loves all things tiny but took to the giant stuffy like a pro. He sleeps in her bed (she sleeps on him)! Grandma got her started on “squinkies” because she loved the tiny squishy quarter-puppies at gym & she has always loved legos.

Lucas said “you are my love, Baby Thea!”

Lucas has been leading Thea everywhere since day one, literally (the picture on the bottom right is when she was not quite an hour old). They are snuggle buddies. One of her first full sentences was “Lucas come play legos with me!” They explore things together. What Lucas does, Thea has to try – even splits and carpentry!

Our little baby is two years old now! Time races by. Life is about enjoying the time we have with each other. Life is about making happy memories even in times when life is tough. Life is about friendships that you continually water even through spells of distance. Life is love. Thea reminds me of that with every smile.

Even this morning, when her 17-year-old sister is driving us to work and playing music to which Thea’s feet are dancing; I saw her huge smile and remembered how pure love is as little ones show it. Genuine smiles are a tiny glimpse of heaven’s love! Thank you Jesus for the time I’ve had with each of my children, each of my siblings, my parents, and my friends! Thank you for new opportunities to build memories and laughter as each day speeds along! Thank you for love!

Type at you later!

~Nancy Tart

God! Help!

January 5, 2021

God! Help!

This blog is for those moms, big sisters, teachers, coaches, etc. who have ever raised their hands up in the sky and demanded with tears streaming down their eyes, “God! Help!”

If you’ve never done that, please leave the rest of us in our private knowledge of complete crazy… nothing to see or read here… Thank you.

Now that I’m addressing those of you, who like me, know that they only get through life with God’s routine and very often injections of aid: understand that you are really, really not alone!

There are way more of us out here than you know.

But people don’t always see that. Still. That doesn’t mean we don’t completely loose it and at least internally… SCREAM for HELP!

Ever had a friend compliment you by saying, “wow, you were so calm.”

Your mind goes, “um.. what????” And you realize that only God saw your frantic desperate prayers as you grabbed napkins, wiped up your child’s blood trying not to freak out at her big sister’s just-started party while on your way to meet said child in the bathroom with unknown injury as you realize another daughter is already cleaning more blood (MORE BLOOD?? God, let me not scare her, make me calm.) on a gym mat. You realize that the frantic prayers were interpreted as deep breaths – thank you Jesus for oxygen and working lungs! Said child cries and you are thinking, “God, this injury is serious, help me!” but when you clean it and she whines, “I don’t want to go home! I want to play with my friends!”

Then there’s the serious prayer as you fight the urge of laughter-that-borders-on-insanity, “God, give me patience with this child!”

Bloody head wound clean. Check.

Bleeding stopped. Crisis averted. Check.

10,000+ frantic “God, you better help me” prayers in the span of 45 seconds while dealing with said child who doesn’t see that this is an INJURY and wants to GET BACK UP AND START FLIPPING! Double check.

Super glue, band-aid, and the older kids are like, “do we need to go?” Decision time. (This was supposed to be a food party & dinner & home is 45 minutes away plus party will be over & have to pick up actual party-goer in about 2 hours.) Stay.

Instant heart attack what feels like 5 seconds later when said injured child is about to show off her routine on bars – “DO YOU WANT TO LIVE TO ADULTHOOD??” (No, I didn’t scream that.)

But. I WANTED TO!! Instead it was “GOD HELP ME!” in my frantic brain while I think I may have jumped the knee wall to grab said child and firmly direct her back to my table in a solid seat (DID YOU REALLY JUST LEAN THAT FOLDING CHAIR ON TWO LEGS!!!???) beside me to watch her. Calm. Breathe. “GOD! HELP ME!” (Of course, that was a mental scream again.)

End the frantic night. (Thank you, Jesus!)

I’m laying in bed, praying that her head heals well and there’s no infection. Reading Proverbs for whatever chapter the day was (you know, when you can’t think of anything but Proverbs has a chapter for every day in the month?), I came across timeless wisdom that basically said (my brain translated the words to the following, it is NOT a direct quote:), “give everything to God and know that you aren’t perfect without Him.”

Truth.

Give over my worries. Give over my fears. In. Real. Time.

If I just write it on paper (or type it in a blog), that’s just words. What shows that I do trust God is in real time. When my toddlers decides to tilt her head back and scream bloody murder with a huge smirk because I’m on the phone. (PATIENCE, PLEASE!) When my boy is annoying his sisters for the bazillionth time in one minute. (Please, God, don’t let them kill him.) When an attack comes and it feels like the life-breath from my lungs is being sucked out by a giant vacuum. (Calm. Breathe. God. Help. Me.)

This is trusting in real time.

This is choosing to know that I cannot do anything without Jesus.

This is knowing that with Jesus I ca do all things. I can breathe. I can parent. I can mother. I can coach. I can love. Without Him, I can’t do any of those things.

So, yes, I know I’m imperfect. (I’m FAR from perfect!)

But…

I trust in the perfect one. I ask Him for help daily (um… thousands of times a day, in every situation I get stuck in!) and He answers with comfort, ideas, calm, and love.

Take a breath. Breathe in Jesus, breathe out, breathe in love, breathe out; now face your challenge! (As I hear a squeal from the kitchen followed by a crash… doesn’t sound like anything broke… “MOM!”) God, they are your children; HELP ME! I need to parent them to lead them to You, show me how.

Type at you later!

~Nancy Tart

P.S.: Those who were there, yes, I was freaking out inside. Yes, she is okay and nothing left to point at proudly and say “look what happened to me!”

Building Buddies

December 28, 2020

Building Buddies

When we think of toddler, stuffing every unknown object into their mouth is standard, right?

I had two where the answer was shockingly “NO!”

They both loved all things small – squinkies, legos, and polly pockets.

The thing I like about small items is that they are easily portable! A small pencil box could hold an army of squinkies, a city of legos, or a family of polly pockets.

You can’t exactly take giant mega blocks everywhere! Well, maybe one or two blocks, but really… tiny is better for portable applications. I love tiny toys to keep littles entertained when on the go. For most of the kids though, tiny toys were not an option until the everything-in-the-mouth stage was finished. I love starting off with tiny toys!

We have been building large mega block forts with the same blocks for over 16 years! From Christina under 1 to Thea now at almost 2… I shake my head at that – yikes! That’s too many years of building forts and garages and houses with mega blocks! (Maybe that’s because mom doesn’t want to admit to that many years of kid toys!)

The building buddies right now are Lucas and Thea. Lucas gets very creative with the big blocks and super detailed with the tiny legos. He’s made Becky even get interested in coming back in because he occasionally gets a sorting bug and sorts their collection! When sorting happens, Becky is like, “yippee!” or comes to show Lucas how to best sort them. She had taught him well.

Thea is not so big on sorting small things into smaller groups – but one type of toy always must go in its correct bin. Grandma gave her a collection of squinkies for Christmas. Those stay in one bin along with their little eggs. Her gravity propelled horses that walk down tracks are in another bin, teething toys (sadly, very few of those left) in one bin, socks take up one of the toy bins (Thea’s idea, not Mom’s), and other small collections in the small bins. Thea keeps a baggie of legos and a few assorted squinkies in her back-pack. (This was another gift from Grandma this year and she carries it literally everywhere now.)

What I love to see is the building buddies when two or more of them are sitting in the little ones’ room surrounded by legos and building their respective creations on boards or the tops of the containers, in a “giant land” as Lucas calls it. (I guess city isn’t big enough.) Becky, Lucas, and Thea, or Kimberly, Jillian, and Thea, or Jaquline, Jillian, and Lucas… all with their own bits in their tiny toy world.

And, yes, Mom ends up in there often too, building some castle-hidden-in-rocks or house-hidden-in-trees on request. I load mine with secret tunnels or passageways, treasure, tiny details, and stories! I love building models of some story land my characters are in and acting scenes out with Lucas and Thea. They always come up with neat ideas that I’m forgetting.

Building buddies are the best! Taking time to encourage the creativity and imagination of little ones is a wonderful thing to be a part of.

This Christmas as I was building some huge lego tree with robin hood and castle pieces (who can remember those cool sets?) with Thea and Lucas, I remembered being about three and building the gray castle in the basement/garage in Cherry Hill with my Daddy. The black castle followed when I was four along with Robin Hood’s hideout (Daddy called it that, not sure what the name is that goes along with the set, but I know the number!) – classic sets I can actually print out instructions for from the lego website now! He took the time to build with me (and boost my ego… I was very proud of building a set that had an age on it higher than my current age.) and full circle, I’m taking time to build with mine.

Maybe I haven’t ben fishing with my kids as often as my brothers and I went fishing, but I’ve been building with them! So maybe we are “Building Buddies” instead of “Fishing Buddies” – and in my crazy brain I see five Golden Retriever pups building forts with mega blocks!

Type at you later!

~Nancy Tart

(P.S.: for those wondering… my computer has been down since just before Thanksgiving so I’m a little behind on by release of Devonians #6, but thanks to an awesome gift from a friend – old laptop too old for games but perfect for writing! – it is now just waiting on a cover!)

Sunsets and Rainbows

What I see in sunsets and rainbows!

November 13, 2020

Sunsets and Rainbows

Sometimes when you want to feel amazed, just look up. Seriously. Up at the sunrise or for me at work – the sunset. The sunsets over the intersection of interstate 95 and International Golf Parkway are amazing. It often happens with a bold artist palette of vivid colors like deep purple, bright blue, orange, yellow, pink, and red. Because this is Florida, we often have moisture in the sky (aka raindrops) that hide clear rainbows in the opposite side of the sky.

I’ve seen more double rainbows outside the doors of my gym than everywhere else combined. God’s promise of mercy.

When sunsets come, they remind me of the awesome things God has given us that all too often we brush off. It also reminds me to slow down. I have to take the time to enjoy the blessings I’ve been given rather than race through life as if being chased. I’m not being chased by anything! I’m in an amazing point of my life where I’ve stopped chasing the pipe-dream of home ownership and realized that it really doesn’t matter. I’ve been able to slow down and enjoy. I love the job I have! (stepping outside to see sunsets and rainbows is definitely a sweet bonus) I get to work around smiling, happy faces, hopefully instill confidence, positive work ethic, determination, and excitement in the hearts of the children I am honored to coach, encourage my coworkers as they encourage me, and watch my children grow in skill and confidence (and getting to see them every break is tremendous)!

I have chosen to focus on relationships. I am trying to connect with my family and friends at every opportunity. I want my children to understand the importance of relationship with encouraging believers.

I have chosen to focus on writing again (my computer that was fixed ended up with the cable to the display being pinched by the metal bracket that supports the display because it was moved when “repaired” and now the cable is shorted… so back to borrowed computers until I can repair it myself). I felt such a surge of writing energy – going from less than 5,000 words to over 22,000 in only one story in just a few off days since it was repaired? Wow, I feel like God has opened my creativity again. Despite computer issues, I will be writing!

I sold one ebook through Amazon! First sale in over a year, so that’s positive!

My boss has graciously let me put up a display of real books at her ProShop (At least 50% of sales price gets donated to the gym program!) and I am supposed to have illustrators (*clears throat*) working on drawings for my children’s books.

At this point, I’m trying to study my children, show them how I depend on Jesus, study my husband more so I can love him better, and develop or water friendships I cherish with my sisters, brothers, and friends. We’ve been able to get Becky’s braces, get Christina’s adult dental stuff started, we discovered Kimberly needed glasses & got those, and are planning to start Jillian’s and finish Lucas’ dental needs too. God is providing as we need it. Provision will come. “Give us this day our daily bread.”

Rainbows remind me of mercy.

Remember before the flood there was no rain? All the world was watered from the ground. Mists, fog, who knows, but the Bible says “the water rose up from the ground” to water the Earth. So imagine Noah and his family – they had never seen a rainbow! NEVER. This was a first for them. It was recorded as God setting His rainbow in the sky as a promise to every living thing on Earth that He would never again destroy the whole Earth by water.

That is mercy. Mercy is showing undeserved favor. Parenting teaches mercy on a whole new level.

Consider when someone is saying and doing things to cut you down constantly, hurting others you love, cutting deep into the hearts of you and those you love with their words, irritated with life but taking it out on you as if it is your fault, doing things and saying things that hurts them, etc. This irritates and saddens you. You love them still. You can’t stop loving them. You carried them and prayed for them and watched them be birthed and loved and cared for them and slowly watch them grow. You know you have to slowly release them and you hate yourself because you feel they aren’t ready but this is where you have to let go and trust God.

This is where you understand mercy. Love when you are undeserving.

You then see that is how Jesus sees you. You hurt His heart with some choices and actions or words. You hurt yourself. You hurt those He loves. You pull away when He is trying to patiently guide you yet it feels wrong or you decide to follow another. You do not deserve His love. You deserve judgement for those you have hurt. Yet Jesus showers us with mercy; new mercies each morning.

This is what rainbows show me.

My heart still hurts for the pains I feel my teens are feeling. I wish I could get them to talk openly and listen as openly. I wish I could once again kiss the hurt and it go away – but that doesn’t work anymore. They now need to allow Jesus to wrap His arms around them and comfort them. They need to allow Jesus to lead them and guide them.

I have to love them.

I also have to protect the hearts of my younger ones. Yes, sometimes from the words or actions of an older sibling. That really hurts.

I’m not going to kick them out of my house and never out of my heart; just as Jesus has not kicked me away and has loved me through all of my mistakes. I need Jesus’ mercy every day.

Rainbows remind me of this.

Thank you, Jesus, for sunsets and rainbows. Thank you that we get to see them almost daily. Thank you for love, mercy, and forgiveness. Thank you that you teach me daily in this task called parenting.

Thank you for reading!

~Nancy Tart

Leaving My Little Love

September 8, 2019

Leaving My Little Love

I’m looking at the man cross the coffee table as I talk. I knew even though he said it was okay to bring my baby (at this point, I’m 8 months pregnant) to work with me, there would come a time when my baby would be better off with Daddy and her siblings than at my office with three doggies, a kitty, and office phones.

Almost seven months later, I’m answering Louis’ call while at work and we are discussing Christina and Becky’s schedule for the night while Thea, hearing Daddy’s voice, is yelling at the top of her lungs. Louis says “She really doesn’t need to be in the office.”

We’d been discussing it, but I was very reluctant. See, I can’t stand being behind a desk… I want to be active, moving, teaching. Other adults don’t help. I hate being still. (Maybe why I don’t listen to midwives or doctors saying “get bed rest” and instead I’m riding to gym with my girls and Louis – yes! He drove! – when Thea is hours old to watch their practice.) I wanted Thea with me.

Kitty shows up & Thea is in her play seat. Kitty has stayed away from her the whole 3 months the kitten has been in the office. Kitty jumps up on the table of the play area and Thea giggles, excitedly pets Kitty, and rubs her hand over her face and head. Spots break out – a rash… my baby is allergic to cats! Now I won’t jeopardize her health so from then on she stays home.

I’m sure that was God saying, “quit being stubborn! Listen to your husband.”

Leaving her home is the hardest thing ever for me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m totally thankful for my job, I’m just sad that I can’t have my little love with me.

I’m seriously living for the day when I can come into the office at 6am, even 5am, and leave at noon or 1pm. That is my working goal. I don’t care if that means less pay… I want to be home with my children. My loyalty instinct keeps me returning to work. I LOVE teaching. I LOVE coaching – and I get to take all my children! I feel that with the way the company wants to expand, I will be able to move to 5am to noon or 6am to noon one day soon. I’m praying that’s soon. I’ll even work from home on weekends or evenings if needed. I want to be home.

I think that’s an issue a lot of us women feel but are afraid to say. We just want to be home when they are home! We want to be around our teens so we can learn about these amazing young women. We want to counsel our preteens and research their deep questions alongside them. We want to guide and protect our elementary kiddos and watch our preschoolers, toddlers, and infants with wonder and awe as they grow and explore. We want to help mold their little characters as that is the reason God gave them to us. He knew we could mold them the way He wants. He gave them to us so we could be a part of their lives and our heart knows that. We desire to teach our children.

I feel a great empathy with those who can’t stay home or make their schedules work the way they want. I watch my single sister (who has an amazing daughter she pours everything into, by the way) struggle with the “failure” she feels for not being around as much as she wants to be. Girl. That is me too. I can’t stand being away. I wanted a job where I could keep my children with me. (Running a cab company, I was always home! Even gym coach, my kiddos are there with big sister or awesome ladies/young ladies or now, Grandma!)

God is teaching me patience. Also that I can’t be everywhere at once. He is also teaching me to look from all angles.

Louis has been working 60 to 80+ hours at 2 or more jobs since Christina was born. He’s been so busy or sleeping between jobs all their lives. Now, he has one job at evening/night leaving as we are going to sleep. He gets to cook amazing meals, homeschool them, and watch them grow. He took Thea home one afternoon instead of leaving her with my mom and Paige in the afterschool/babysitting room at gym. He said he loved it. “I can see why you miss taking her to work.” He said. He loved “hanging out” with Thea for five hours by himself. She ate two jars of baby food, some rice, some apple, played all kinds of giggling games with Daddy on the bed, and then snuggled with him and fell asleep on his tummy. Louis said he loves this part of being a Daddy.

I was smacked upside the head with the realization that I was being rather selfish in my desire to always be with her. Louis wants to be just as involved in our children as I do. He loves the baby giggles, snuggles, and laughter just as I do. He feels powerful and insignificant and totally blessed just like I do when one of our angels falls asleep snuggling. We are of the mindset that each may be the last – but honestly, there is a feeling of finality with Thea that wasn’t there for anyone else. (I’m not saying we won’t have another, just being honest about feelings – I am totally open for whatever God wants) I need to let Louis have as much baby time as he wants.

So, in this season, it’s the hardest of all for me; I’m away from my children ten hours a day. I’m willing to work for the day when we have four teams, a location I can show up at to make sure the vans are stocked, the teams are off with all their supplies, and I’m joined by someone else in the office who allows me to leave at noon. This is what I hope for. A little more at 8 to 4 and hopefully, I’m early morning and working from home.

My Thea, my little love, is at home. I rest securely in the knowledge that her Daddy is relishing his time with her, and her big sisters and brother will help see that she’s entertained and well fed!

Type at you later,

~Nancy Tart

Pearson Christmas Party 2018

Picture overload! My family’s Christmas party 2018.

December 22, 2018

Pearson Christmas Party

Imagine twelve adults and thirteen children racing around a beautifully decorated house and every single one of them is acting like they are somewhere in that magic child age around 5 to 8. That was our Christmas party this year. It was the best!

My amazing sister and brother hosted.

Katy is always ready for a picture!

Livy painting faces! Anastasia is concentrating on being very still. She was rewarded with a beautiful butterfly!

Jaquline got snowflakes to match her dress!

Mrs. Claus and helpers! Tina, Christina (Christy the elf), and Mandy (Elsa-elf!)

Liam was here, but jumped out of the way! Brother-cousin time L-to-R JJ, Lucas, Isaac

This video shows our baby sister’s personality – it matches the hat!

Group Selfie! Tina, Ray, Becca, Charles, Allison

The teenage grandchildren (Becky, 13, and Christina, 15)

Bouncy Hat plus Sherlock Pipe (both with accents…)

The pro (Aunt Becca) teaching JJ how to take a selfie… (He knows he’s adorable!)

Mom and the boys (silly faces): L-to-R Nathan, Ray, Tina, Charles, Louis, and Andy

Mom and the girls: L-to-R Mary, Kayla, Katy, Allison, Tina, Becca, and me.

We did not get a group picture, or a full cousin picture, because everyone was just having too much fun! The girls (my pictures come from Christina, Becky, and Kimberly) managed to get many active shots.

This was our first year without my Daddy. Katy and Andy had set up the layout so that he would have a comfy chair, a central view, close to food, close to everything in what Kimberly called “Santa Boompa’s throne.” (The chair with the footstool, Mom’s seat was supposed to be the matching one next to his.) From this view you could see Livy’s facepainting station (she is so talented), the Selfie station (which was hilarious), the “dance floor” (right in front – so much fun!), the food and beverage buffet area was to the left (easy access to refills and the silly shenanigans going on in there), and the covered porch area was just behind it (where not just the boys were showing off their strength… or trying to).

Even though he wasn’t there, I didn’t feel like Daddy was missing. I heard him in my brothers, Mom, and several of the children. I heard his laugh when the boys were showing off. I could hear him cheering each one on. I felt his smile as Anastasia passed out gifts for each of the sister- and brother-cousins. The little ones ran around giving drawings, toys, and hugs to each other and I felt him smile because he loved to give. I felt his heart as Kimberly reminded me she needed my phone to “take pictures and movies for Grandma,” because “Granddaddy always likes to get pictures for Grandma!”

My Daddy’s legacy lives as the humor and fun he always had rubbed off on us kids and our children. We love to see each other smile and laugh. We encourage each other. We share with each other. We love.

This makes me so happy I cried on the way home.

Daddy isn’t really gone. I miss him so bad; I miss being able to talk with him. No one listens to me chatter away about the story ideas I have like he did. Daddy didn’t seem to mind if it was the fifth – or fiftieth – time I told a cute something the kids did or a neat thing I learned; he never said “I’ve already heard that.” I miss that, yes.

But he’s here. I keep hearing the sing-song voice from the Disney cartoon: “he lives in you.”

Daddy lives in all 25 of us that were there (and the 4 who weren’t) in some way. His legacy is us.

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

Tag: brothers

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