Go buy a Frosty

Participating Wendy’s stores will be donating 50¢ of every Frosty product sold June 14th & 15th to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. The funds are being used to help the foundation find permanent, loving families for children in foster care, "so they can find rockin' Dads" as Wendy's celebrates Father's Day in a unique way. : )

Check it out!

Vacation Pictures

We went on our first vacation in FIVE YEARS last month. It was the first time the boys had seen the beach. I wil have to post some picture here and more later. I took almost 600 pictures with my new camera so it is very hard to pick my favorites.

The kids and our sweet friend Logan who went with us. We had a blast with her.

We all built a sand castle or a sand village. I think the most fun was the kids breaking it down.

Yes, it was way too hard to pick my favorite pictures of Grace. There is one more that I will post later. You can just call it her Marilyn Monroe picture.

This is my favorite pictures of the boys togther (without fighting).

I know this looks like a zoo picture, but oh no. This was our little friend in the pond near our condo.

Probably my favorite picture overall. I love looking at this hunk of a man with my babies!

Poor Litttle Blake

About the time I enter back into Blog world we all knew that something would have to happen. Last week on Tuesday the kids went outside to play after dinner. About 30 minutes later Gavin comes running in the house, "Mommy! Daddy! Blake is hurt!" Chris and I both took off fairly quickly because Blake is the child that takes a lick and keeps on ticking. When we get outside we find that the kids had been riding big wheels down this steep hill behind our house. Blake looks kind of beat up with a cut on his face and lots of scratches on his back ( he had his shirt off). I took him him and bathed him while he screamed. After the bath (still crying....) we realized that he would not move his right arm. Being the great parents that we are (and him being the 3rd child) we waited a good three hours thinking that any minute he would jump up and start waving his arms. No such luck!

Off to the ER we go. Hesitantly. But, we go. After some time the Dr. informed me that our Blaker broke his collar bone. Apparently a pretty common break, but oh no he had to do it right. Most children of his age crack this bone, but Blake had to break it clean through. With this comes a lot of pain. Yeah!

So...we figured he was not in enough pain so we proceeded with his tonsilectomy on Friday. I'll let you guess what I have been doing for a week and a half. All I can say is THANK YOU THAT IT WASN'T GAVIN!!!

This breaks my heart

I was checking the weather this morning before I left for NC and found this article.
http://www.wbir.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=58368&catid=2

For those of you who do not know Steven Curtis Chapman, please visit his website and pray for their family during this terrible time.

http://www.stevencurtischapman.com/

Maybe I will try this again!

It has been so long since I blogged that I may have forgotten how. I have been inspired to get back on the horse after reading a friend's blog. I began blogging because it was a wonderful way to "talk" about what was going on inside my head. It was a neat way to journal and to save some of those special thoughts, moments, and prayers. The past six months have been so hectic that our lives are far from normal. However, I have come to the place that I realize normal is just a "setting on the dryer" and if I wait to live life until everything comes back to normal I will die still waiting.

To catch up just a little bit here are some very very brief catch ups of the past 6 months:

• My grandparents moved from their home across the street to a new home
• We moved from our 600 sq. foot house to our much larger house
• The house we are living in is being torn apart ( in some areas down to the ground) and remodeled or rebuilt which ever you want to call it
• We finished our 2nd year of homeschooling
• All of my babies had birthdays. Now we have a 3 year old, a five year old, and an 8 year old
• Chris' truck broke three times and now we are buying a new to us truck
• Chris' 18 year old cousin, John, has moved in with us
• Most of all I hope that with six months passing we have moved closer in our relationship with our Lord Jesus and are learning to trust and love him more

Speechless

Sitting down to blog is something that I do enjoy but simply do not find enough time to be diligent at it. Some days I just can't wait to spill out all of my thoughts, idea, trials, and daily experiences and other days I just want to write to feel my fingers on the keyboard.

In the midst of doing this work to prepare the land to move my grandparents and move our family I am finding a strange feeling inside myself that is new to me. Actually it is not just new but, quite strange. I am finding myself at a loss for words and sometimes even emotions. For me to be at a loss for words is not something that happens frequently so to be that way on a regular basis is not something I am accustomed to. What do you say when you have nothing to say? What should you feel when you have no emotion inside of you? I think I am living out my weakness. That is quite funny when I hear myself say that because just tonight Grace (7) asked me what my gift is? The fact that my birthday was this week made me answer, "What gift honey?" She immediately reminded me that I have told her time and time again that God blesses each one of us with a gift. In being honest I told her that right now the only gift I could think of that I have is being so weak that I have no other choice but to let God do all of my work for me.

Thus, it leaves me pondering: What is my gift? Is it wrong to admit that you have one? What does it mean if you can't think of anything that you are gifted at? (I'm not saying that I have one or not, but it is a thought).

Well Are You? I'm NOT!!

I have been thinking recently about where I am today. Not literally like my address, but more of who I am. I am a wife of 10 years, a mommy to three children, a stay at home mom, a homeschooler, a sold out Jesus lover, and all in all pretty content.

Sounds absolutely wonderful, but….It is not at all where I thought I would be if someone had asked me ten years ago.

I figured that I would still be married in ten years, but I really wasn’t sure that I would be happy. That sound pessimistic, I know, but really I didn’t know many people who had made it to ten years and the ones I did surely were not even close to happy. How did I expect to be different?

I don’t think I ever really thought about having children. I was not one of those women who swore never to have them, I just never thought about it. I have dear friends that cared for baby dolls throughout their childhoods just waiting to become a mommy, but not me. I wanted to be a lawyer. Even when I got married children just didn’t cross my mind; unless of course you count those times I thought I might be pregnant. Then when I began to feel the urge two seemed like plenty. I mean why in the world would someone have more children than they have hands? Then came the working thing. I could not imagine why any woman would finish college and want to stay home with her children when there were “perfectly good child care centers” out there. I just couldn’t imagine not interacting with real people all day long. I would be so….bored!

When I was a child I had an Aunt that homeschooled my two cousins. (Yes, for those of you adding my dear “Aunt C” was our pioneer. She had truancy officers come visit and didn’t have 5000 different kids of curriculum to choose from.) Anyway, I remember thinking that they were just weird. Those poor deprived children. So sad that they couldn’t possibly have friends. Even when Grace was little I never thought I could do the homeschooling thing. Well, in fact I still think that many days.

I guess the only thing that I listed that ten years ago seemed even slightly attainable was that I would fall in love with Jesus. It seemed awfully hard in those days. I was still in that pattern of no commitment and doubt to the point that I couldn’t dig myself out. It was an elusive dream that one day I would be a woman that couldn’t go five minutes without talking to my Lord. I still struggled to remind myself to pray in those days. Now I really understand what it means to pray without ceasing.

Enough about me. Where are You? Are you where you thought that you would be?

Giving up Control

When I started homeschooling I had this ideal situation all planned out in my mind that Grace would be preforming at least a year or two ahead, learn another language, type, know all the states and capitals, all the countries in the world, and of course do Calculus at 8 years old.

And then....reality sat in. The truth was that she would not listen when I read, take 2-hours to do one page of math, constantly need to use the bathroom, and would, oh my goodness, surely not, be a REAL CHILD!

Well this year my expectations were less, but nevertheless they were way too high considering that we are trying to prepare land to move my grandparent (who have saved everything they have ever owned in their 78 years), do a major remodel to a house, and move. So, as of this past weekend I decided that it was okay if we did not study the human body and Western Civilzation in 2nd grade. We are going to go back to the three R's and then learn about some real life. I have been assured that she will benefit greatly from learning how to hammer, paint, cut up trees, pour concrete, hang drywall, and other such things.

I think the hardest thing for me is to let go of what "traditional" school should look like. I want her to know everything there is to know about everything. Such silliness! This too is God stretching me and teaching me to realize that many times things don't work the way we think they should, but He is always in control! To God be all the glory and Praise!

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Phillippians 4:6-7

I can see the light....

Glory be to God! I have waited and waited to post this and I hope I have picked the right time. As many of you know we (all five of us) live in a blessed little 600 sq. foot house that my grandfather grew up in. When he lived here it was his parents and 5 of the 6 children still at home. I still don't know how they did it, but I am sure it had to do with Mamaw's sweet and content spirit.

Well, we have lived here for 9 years. When we first moved in we thought it was small, then came baby #1 and it was doable, but tight. Then baby #2 came and we just were not sure how it was going to work. Then baby #3 came and oh I cried, because I could just see Chris and I moving into the living room on a pull out couch. Well, as we had said many times before, "We live in a rubber house and it just stretches." Now, however the stretching has ceased.

We are in the process of moving my grandparents into a mobile home across the street from their current house, remodeling the house that live in now, and then....then....then....

WE ARE GOING TO MOVE!!!

It is still not real. We are picking out cabinets, flooring, bathtubs, light fixtures, and a multitude of other things. We dropped off our refinance papers today on OUR house to do all the updates. ALL PRAISE BE TO MY JESUS, BECAUSE HE REMINDED ME THAT HE DID NOT FORGET US!

Go! Fight! Win!

Last week we had our 2nd annual Cheerleading Camp week. Grace had a ton of fun. It is still funny seeing her cheer for my old high school's biggest rival. But, Grace loves that she is a Bobcat.

Daddy is not the least bit upset that the biggest thing she struggles with cheering is being able to shake her behind!
This year they had a huge group of girls and they took a picture for our local newspaper. Those of you who are our neighbors keep an eye out in the paper.

This is the same little girl that will argue to the death that she is not a "girlie girl."

On Thursday night, Grace's squad dressed up like Hula Girls. I think our little baby girl was the only one with no tummy showing.

They had a blast last week. The highlight of my week was the fact that two of Grace's "Big Cheerleaders" were acutally toddlers at the childcare center I worked at before I got married. I really don't feel old until something like that comes up. It is just a good reminder as to how fast these years are going to fly by.

Go Bobcats!

Are you kidding me?

I was having a conversation the other day with my cousin who has a son the same age as Grace about learning bible verses and this is the story that she told me.

Her son was learning a bible verse for bible school and she asked him to say it slowly so that she could learn it along with him. He looked at her and said, "Mommy don't you know that one?" When she replied no, he said, "I thought you knew all the verses in the bible!"

This led me to ask Grace how many bible verses that she thought I knew and then she replied, "All of them." I told her she was crazy! ; ) I only started really to learn the bible about six years ago and even then I only know a tiny tiny portion.

It is amazing at the pedestal she has me on when she is given evidence every minute of my sin!

A New Toy

This past weekend my Sweetie bought me a new toy because my old one broke. I am very excited that I have this beautiful (way too expensive) toy to cool my food. I am just praying that this one will last longer than the previous one (it only lasted 5 1/2 years).

Enjoy the tour!

It is a Kenmore Elite, Stainless Steel, French door, with a bottom freezer

The inside is huge. The water is in the little spout on the left hand side. To much room to fill up ever so quickly.

I love the bottom freezer. It is not quite as big as my side by side but it is big enough to hold ice cream from Marble Slab!

My Absence

I know I have been gone for quite a while. I have been in mourning. That is all I can say. So I suppose that an explanation should be given. When I went on my very first Mommy trip at the end of May (to NC to a homeschooling book fair) I received a very troubling phone call from my children. Here is your hint:

Before I left for NC, Chris and I had a random conversation about loaning our crib to a friend that was going to have twins. I had already offered it to her, but also knew that she would not need it for some time. When we talked about taking the crib down I said, "You're going to have to do it sometime when I am not here because I just can't stand to take him out of it."

Apparently Chris took me a little too seriously. When my children called me in NC, Blake said, "I seep big boy bed." I immediately asked for Chris!

Why you may ask is this such a big deal? HE IS MY BABY, HELLO!!!! I planned on him sleeping in that crib until he at least went to middle school. You know nurse until he is 5, diapers until 7 or 8, and crib until 11! How else can I keep him my baby?

One way to remember that he is still a baby is multiple times a night we find him like this:

Sound asleep with his giggy, I mean blanket. I think I need another infant in this house! Just don't tell Chris!

Now that my grieving is finished I will try to begin catching you up on our summer: bible school, swimming, cheerleading camp, OUR 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY (WOOHOO), and all the other fun stuff. Hold me accountable, b/c you know that this blog is my only responsibility in life!

WARNING! VENTING IN PROGRESS!

So...this is suppose to be our first night of bible school and by the way it is the first year that Gavin can attend. Chris and I talk about it and decide that he is perfectly capable of going so I will just call the person in charge (who by the way I know) and talk to her about his food allergies and his other issues. So I call her and ask her who his teacher is going to be so that I can get there early to talk to he or she about things. She ask me what is up so I begin to tell her about the food allergies and then I go into THE CONVERSATION.

This conversation should not be a big deal. Gavin is very normal in so many ways that sometimes Chris and I even forget that there is anything wrong. But, when you are trying to explain Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) to someone you might as well be speaking in a language from Mars. So, I have reverted to saying that he is on the Autism Spectrum, but that he is Very high functioning. I usually go on to say that he is perfectly normal until he is not, meaning that most of the time he acts like a rowdy 4-year-old boy.

The problem is that when people hear Autism they see Rain Man. All they hear is the word and then they stop listening. Back to THE CONVERSATION. The lady wanted to know if he was verbal, and I assured her that he was. I also assured her that I would not bring him unless he could function well there. I really do want success for him and he can be successful at this. In fact he can be more successful at this than a lot of children that I see at Walmart that have no diagnosis!

Now, for all of you positive peeps I know that this is an attack of the enemy on me, b/c I have been struggling with my sweet Gavin. So, here I am sitting and I am going to pray that I will go and hang out with him tonight, and not be spiteful, enjoy the extra time with just him, and pray that the fruit of the Spirit will be evident in me.

Just remember that we all know you can't judge a book by it's cover and you can't always judge a child by his or her diagnosis! Love You All!

"Stolen Kisses"

For most of you I am sure you are asking yourselves, "What in the world is she talking about?" But there are a handful of you that know my sweet Gavin and our struggles with his unique qualities. One of those blessed qualities is that he is not affectionate in that he rarely receives it and even less often gives it. It has only been in the past 4 months that I have been able to kiss him on the top of the head and him not have a complete meltdown. Well, I am pleased to announce that for about the past week I have been able to "steal" some kisses on the top of his forehead and the side of his face!!!! It is almost as if he doesn't even notice, but hey I'll take it.

Like I said you all can celebrate this V-I-C-T-O-R-Y with me and continue to pray with me that one day he just might kiss me, but until then I'm going to enjoy my "stolen kisses."