There are now four teenagers in the Tyson home.

When my girls were young, I was often told to enjoy these days because it is oh so much harder when they are teenagers. While I do think those days went by quickly, I do not think they were the easiest. They were the busiest, most difficult days of my adult life. Little ones are demanding creatures and added to that is their daddy. They were great days that I wouldn't trade, but I don't want to go back to those days.

Teenagers are another breed that brings a new set of problems. For one thing, they develop opinions and they express them. I try to remind my kids that it is not what they say but how they say it but that takes a while to sink in. Then there is the selective hearing. They never seem to hear my instructions and often to my response to their negligence I receive the "I didn't hear you" response. The biggest issue now is the driving. I have two driving. This does make my life much easier, for example, I used to take them to tennis practice and have to stay or return. Sometimes they can play for up to 5 hours and still want to keep going. Now I can stay home and get things done. On the other hand, with the driving comes worrying on my part. The consensus of the members of my family is that they don't have to worry because I do it all for them. I do worry about them and driving. They are very responsible and have been taught to be a tough target but there are really crazy people out there.

One of the worst things about teenagers is that they are closer to being out of the house. I am not one of those moms that are counting down the days to my "freedom". I will miss my girls as they take their place in the adult world. They may stay close, but they may not. Regardless, their roles will change and I am sure I will adjust. Until then I will Love them while I can and remember that These are the best of times.

The Choices We Make

Our lives are all about the choices we make. Our daughters play tennis. In Florida, tennis is an all year sport. Tournaments happen on the weekends. To advance in tennis the conventional way, you play tournaments. Saturday is not always a problem for us, but Sunday is. The ministry in which God has placed us happens on Sunday. Consequently, the girls have never participated in a tournament. Currently, Andrea is the best tennis player in the house. She has been blessed greatly in spite of our choices which are not understood by most in the tennis world. She really wanted to play in the Deerwood Fall Classic which took place this weekend. We entered her. When the draw was posted, all the 18's matches were on Sunday except one, the one Andrea was in. This was a single elimination draw and we hoped she would pass the first round and maybe play a second on Saturday. It didn't appear that that would be the case. Andrea's opponent was, we thought, Russian. She was not seeded. We had no idea what she would be up against, but I was very concerned that she would only play one match. The second round was 11 am Sunday.

When we got to the match, Jimmy and I were talking to the girls father. What an amazing story. The girl, Anastasiya Kharchenko, is actually Unkranian. She is the number one player in the Ukraine and fifth in Europe. Her "father" Scott Paschal is a pastor in Palm Coast. He heads and organization called International Christian Tennis Association. He brings in kids from all over the world and teaches them tennis. Back to Ana, he rescued her. She played tennis in the Ukraine until her parents ran out of money and they arranged for her to come to the United States. She was given to coach that abused her and eventually left her in Juarez, Mexico. This is where missionaries from Scotts organization found her and brought her to him. He eventually adopted her. She has given her life to be a missionary to the tennis world. She is a great tennis player and will probably be seen in the pros soon.

When we told Scott that this was Andrea's first tournament, he was concerned about her. He wanted to make us understand that Ana was not what she would normally meet in tournaments. She was there as a missionary and to help the local tournament. We, unlike most people, have a different prospective. This, to us, was a blessing from God. Our hearts are with missionaries of all kinds. Scott has a unique plan to get the gospel to the Godless tennis arena. He has a website that tells it all christiantennis.net. It may be an opportunity for Andrea to use her talents for God. God blessed our decisions and when we decided to enter a tournament, through divine providence we met a wonderful group of people. What a blessing, she only played one match, but that match was profitable for more than tennis.

Krista

Krista aka Kwistamo will turn 13 on Monday. It is so hard to believe. For so long she has seemed so young, but this year has been a year of changes. For one, I think she grew about 5 inches, she is exactly the same height as me. She has quit talking like a child and now talks like a teenager. Speaking of teenager, she entered the youth group too. This was difficult for me when each of the girls started youth group. Krista has always been Krista, not quite like everyone else. She lives in her own little world, maybe she will let you in and maybe she won't. You can tell her something to do, tell her again, and again and she will still forget. She has great intentions but they often don't get fulfilled. On the other hand, Krista is very loving and has a servants heart, just ask Andrea. She loves dogs. We have four. Her personal pet, Lucie ( I call her Loonis, but that is another blog all together) is just like her. The dog lives in her own little world too. Krista loves sports and can play anything she wants to. She has taught her dog to play soccer, basketball and tennis. It is really incredible to watch. Krista spends much of her free time playing tennis. She is very good and will play her first year on the tennis team this spring.

Happy Birthday Kristamomo, my beautiful brown eyed, black haired, brown baby. I love you!!!!

Sarah Palin in Jacksonville

We saw Sarah Palin yesterday. It was a grand experience. We arrived at the Landing around 6:30. We stood in line until it began moving at 7. We went through airport style searches. Krista caused agitation at the checkpoint. She brought her ipod and DS to keep her entertained for the several hours we had to wait (this included and old phone of ours that no longer worked). They wanted all electronic devices turned on. Well, the old phone didn't turn on, and she neglected to turn on the DS and Ipod. The lady checking it was irritated and spoke to my oldest daughter. I had already gone through the line and my cell phone rang on the table, I was dealing with that and saw none of this exchange. Briana reacted in classic Briana form and proceeded to tell me that I needed to deal with my child and do it exactly like she thought it should be done. I reacted in the classic Melody form and ignored her.

We made it inside and found a great photo taking spot. At the beginning there was plenty of room but as the day went on it became very crowded. There should have been many places to exit as the area was round with steps leading out all around. As it turned out ours was the only area where the volunteers were keeping a space open for entrance and exit. As the crowds increased this became the only place to enter and exit. Paramedics, coffee fetchers, bathroom goers etc all passed by us. Every time they came by, we shifted and moved closer to the media pit beside us. Needless to say by the end of the day we were quite close.

I, normally, am not much for crowds and people, but on these types of days I resign myself to situation and enjoy it. The people you talk to in these situations will probably not be seen again, so it is easy to converse for me as there are no strings attached. Two of the ladies beside me were democrats, but clearly in our park politically. There were alot of young people there. One thing I thought was ironic was the presence of minorities. There were none with the exception of a fairly decent representation of the Asian community. I saw one sign in Spanish and one talking about the islanders coming across the ditch. I am not completely sure what this meant.

I was slightly distracted with photographs during the speech but here are some of the things I picked up. She spoke to our strong military crowd admonishing Obama's poor view of what our guys are actually doing in Iraq. Promised to support the troops as she has a son in those ranks. She addressed the gas situation by promising to support alternative methods of energy. Nuclear was very popular with that crowd. It gets such a bad rap, but she is for it and I heard no negative comments from the crowd. At least one of the other politicians mentioned it too. She is in support of drilling off shore, "according to what the state desires". I did like her reference to this being a state decision. She spoke of education, very similar to Bush's "no child left behind". She spoke of lowering our taxes and quoted my favorite president, Ronald Reagan. Actually I was very surprised at how often Reagan and his ideas were discussed favorably.

She is a lovely personable woman. I have issues with McCain but am impressed with his choice of Palin. The crowd was behind McCain as a hero. I so love these types of rallies. They are so American. When God Bless the USA was played hands were raised everywhere. The local NFL football coach led the pledge of allegiance followed by a beautiful rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. We only saw respect for the flag and our country. There is no place like the United States of America.