Under the Sea!

It is quiet at our house tonight. Kevin is on a mission trip. Hannah is at camp thru Friday. Alli is at a friend's house, and my little man Aaron is asleep. This is the week during the summer when I have mixed feelings about my husband and daughter being away from me. I am excited for these trips they are making, but I am so reminded that I am not in control and I have to trust the Lord to take care of my crew. The past few days I have sat around like a teenager hovering over my phone waiting to talk with my husband for just a few minutes. I am so glad to get to talk with him today and know that everything is going well for him. They saw 58 patients today and hoping for 60 plus tomorrow.

Hannah left for Centrikid Monday. She is having a great time. She absolutely loves this camp. It has been quiet this week without her. She is growing up so much. We are now shopping for the same size shoes. She still has 8 inches to catch up with me in height.

Alli is in cheer leading camp this week. She has spent lots of time with her best friend, A. They have been doing a lot of bike riding this week. The child enjoys life fully with a smile, except when her mom tells her it's time to leave the pool.

Aaron just loves to stay at home and chill. He does enjoy the pool, but he also loves the old cartoons his dad and mom grew up watching. Of course, there's the Wii and the DS--Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, etc. Aaron's personality continues to amaze me. He has a little OCD about him, but in a good way. One of his favorite things to do right now is take out all the kitchen washcloths from the drawer, throw them on the couch, and then refold them into squares and stack them neatly back in the drawer. He also told me that he was not going into kindergarten next year, that he was still in the 4 year old class. He says he is ready to go back to school and he loves the work. I can't wait to see what he says come August.

This weekend my mom came to visit for a few days. While she was here, we made a trip to the aquarium, which is also hosting the Titanic exhibit this summer. The kids really enjoyed seeing all the sea creatures, watching Deepo's 3D movie, and seeing the Titanic exhibit. Aaron did not care for the exhibit much. Before you go into the exhibit they give you a boarding pass that has a person's name on it who was actually on the Titanic. Towards the end they list all the names of the passengers and whether they survived or not. So you get to look up your person's name and find out if they survived. We all survived but Aaron. His person had two sons with him. He had been going thru a divorce and custody battle. The sons survived. The man thought that when they got to America things would work out and he and his wife would be reunited. I could have spent a long time in the exhibit reading all the info, but some little boy I know kept pulling me forward. He was ready for lunch!

P.S.- This post was started on Tuesday evening, but didn't get finished till Wednesday!

Back to Reality!

Unfortunately all vacations must come to an end, so Sunday we bid farewell to St. George Island and made our way home. I think I could have stayed for an entire month. I think St. George has been our favorite beach vacation so far. We hope to return again at some point in the future. It truly is a vacation from the hectic world we live in. We did cook, wash dishes, and wash clothes, but the rest of the time was sitting on the beach, playing in the pool, fishing, reading, watching t.v., playing the ds nintendo, and taking a few naps.

I won't forget our fishing trip that Kevin chartered with a guy at Indian Pass. It was planned for Friday morning. I agreed to go as long as they had a bathroom close by the dock. If you have had several babies, you will understand where I am coming from. Well, Kevin checked it out and asked if there was a restroom. The lady told him, "yes, there's one at the dock." The lady also told him we would be fishing on the bay and we would fish for fish we could eat. We finally get there and I asked Kevin to find out where the bathroom was, so I could take care of that issue before we got on the boat. He came back to the car and said, "Karen, there's your bathroom over there." Oh yes, it was a port-a-potty. I could just imagine how long it had been sitting there. I survived and decided I had been in one in Atlanta when I participated in the Peachtree Road Race that had smelled worse. So we all loaded onto the boat, ready to catch some big fish! Well that little boat carried us out into the gulf, not the bay. After about 30-40 minutes, Aaron starts whining about his tummy hurting. To be honest, I think all of us were a little on the nauseated side. You couldn't stand up on the boat without getting knocked around by the waves that were tossing the boat around. After two and a half hours of fishing, Kevin had caught one shark. The guy must have felt bad because he started fishing for sail cats (catfish) and by the time our time was up, the kids had caught 10 sail cats. The guy would cast the line, hook the fish, and then let the kids do the rest. We enjoyed our little trip, but I think we were all exhausted. I slept for about 3 hours when we got back to the house.

We got a late start to our day on Saturday, but we packed a lot in after lunch--beach, swimming in the pool, riding bikes, cooking catfish, pictures on the beach at sunset, and washing laundry. Saturday was a big day for me because I finally tackled something that I have wanted to work on for a long time. All three of my kids know how to swim. Their mother, however, has been dog paddling for years with a fear of putting her head in the water. This has bothered me forever, but I never have been able to overcome this fear. Since we had a private pool at the house where we stayed, I decided this might be the week for me to work on this issue. It took me all week to work up the nerve to put my head in the water. Well, Saturday, with my three little encouragers in the pool with me, I put my head down and swam. I think they were as excited as me. I enjoyed this sweet time with them. What a blessing my kids are to me!

Well, I truly hated leaving Sunday morning. I love the beach. I love to sit and listen to the waves roll in. It's so peaceful! When I am sitting there, I can't help thinking about how big our God is and how great He is! On a funny note, if I was planning life for Kevin and I when the kids are all grown up, it would be for Kevin to get a job on a cruise liner(such as Disney), and then retire and live on St. George Island. Hey, nothing wrong with dreaming! You can tell where my favorite two vacations have been.

So Monday morning, we were back to reality. The girls are enjoying a week of basketball camp and today we got to spend a few hours at the pool with friends. I am savoring these summer days!

Walking On the Beach at the Cut

Pool Time

First Fishing Trip

For some reason I was awake by 6:30 this morning. I had told myself that I would get up early and go walking; however, I talked myself into reading and savoring three cups of coffee. I had several quiet hours to myself which is unusual in the morning. No one else got out of bed till around nine.

After a little breakfast, Kevin and Alli decided they would go out on the pier and fish. Hannah and Aaron joined them for a little while. Aaron decided he wanted to swim, so we got his swim trunks on and by that time Hannah decided she would swim, too. By the time we made it to the pool, Alli was running our direction while yelling that daddy had finally caught a fish. Yesterday when Kevin bought his license, he also purchased a book that tells all about the fish you are able to catch here. He had his brochure out trying to decide which type of fish he had caught. He thinks it was a pinfish. It was funny to this country girl because I only know catfish, bass, bream, and white perch. Later in the afternoon he went back for a few more minutes and caught another pinfish. We didn't get a picture of that one, but he said the first fish could have eaten the second.

By the time Alli joined us in the pool, the rain began. The rain got heavier and the thunder clapped, so inside we went. We finally got to go back to the pool later this afternoon. It was a little chilly!

Kevin picked up our dinner from BJ's Pizza and Subs. We enjoyed staying in for dinner and not having to clean up afterwards.

Our quick dinner gave us some time to ride our bikes down to Bob Sikes Cut and walk a few minutes on the beach. It was so beautiful and the temperature was just right. The sound of the waves and the cool wind blowing added a nice touch to the end of our day. Looking forward to tomorrow. Ready for a little rest now.

A Quick Catch Up

I keep saying that one day I am going to blog on a regular basis. It just never happens, so I am not going to say that. However, school is out for the summer and we are on vacation, so I have slowed down long enough to type a few words.

I think the last time I blogged was about a possible contract on our old house. I can't describe the relief we felt after closing on that home on April 17th. After signing the million papers we had to sign, there were hugs exchanged between me and the new owner and our real estate agent. Our real estate agent, KD, goes to church with us and I think the world of him, his wife, and all of their family. I know he was just as relieved as us to finally sale the house. Even his wife has been praying hard for us to sale the house for those two years and two months. After we started the contract process, we had an appraisal done on the house that didn't turn out as well as we had hoped. I was pretty disgusted (so was Kevin) by the whole deal, however, that is the way the cookie crumbles these days due to the economy. After the closing was said and done, I was convinced that God was in it. The lady who bought our home is divorced with two young boys. They were so excited about the house and to be part of a neighborhood with lots of kids. I think there will be lots of support there for her and she won't have to worry about the boys. They will be out in the front yard playing with all the kids in the neighborhood, because the front yard is where they all come to play. I hope to go by one day and see how she's painted all the rooms. The one thing that I gave up with the sale of the house was my mirror above the fireplace. We left it there to help sale the house. The plan was to bring it to the new one and put it in the master bath. Guess I will be headed to Kirkland's to find another one!

Of course April and May are busy birthday months for us. Aaron turned 5 on April 1st. We had a family birthday celebration with a little Mario cake and played the Wii. Mine was next on April 24th. We celebrated at P.F. Changs, one of my favorite restaurants. It was a wonderful day for me and turned into an even greater day when we got a text message saying that a dear friend's mom had awoken from a coma. She and her husband had been hit by an SUV in New Orleans on Palm Sunday weekend. I am still moved to tears when I think about all this family has been thru and how they are still touching the lives of those who know them and even those who don't know them so well.

Well, May is a big birthday month for us, too. Alli turned eight on May 2nd and Kevin had a birthday on the 3rd. The night before Alli's birthday, we hosted a mother/daughter scrapbook night in our home. What a wonderful night we had together. It was a complete success and our next one is scheduled for June 12th. I have decided that with my girls helping me I might actually get caught up with scrapbooks for all the kids pictures before they leave my nest. We have no furniture in the front part of our house (formal dining and living room), so I just leave my tables up the majority of the time because we have scrapbook nite once a month for the ladies. Hannah and Alli continued to scrapbook on Saturday (Alli's birthday) and would scrapbook every day if we had the time. The night of the mother/daughter scrapbook we had birthday cake for Alli. She requested the strawberry cake I made her last year. It's a recipe from one of the sweet ladies in our church. I also made 24 cupcakes using the same recipe and used my cupcake stand. It was a fun weekend. We had plenty of cake for the weekend!

We celebrated Mother's Day weekend with a quick trip back home to see all the grandmothers. There was really not enough time to spend with everyone, but it was enough to last us till July. I did get to go to my favorite restaurant on Mother's Day; yes, it is P. F. Changs. I will have to enjoy Newk's next time because there wasn't enough time to hit that one. I think we will have plenty of time in July. Looks like I will be there for 10 days!

So, here, we are enjoying our summer vacation on St. George Island, Florida. It's our first trip here. We have friends that come here every year and they love it. It's our kind of vacation. Our house is on the bay. We are surrounded by palm trees and pine trees. We have an enclosed pool outside. It has to be enclosed due to the mosquito population. We drove down yesterday and arrived around five. Kevin cooked shrimp last night. Just a side note, out of the blue on our trip down, Aaron asked if he could have a green vegetable when we got to our house. This is shocking because he has wanted nothing to do with vegetables. So, Kevin told him that we bought the asparagus and the broccoli just for him. Aaron wrinkled his nose up at the broccoli. But to my surprise, he actually decided it wasn't so bad. After dinner, we all put our swim suits on and headed for the pool. The pool is heated, and this is a good thing, because Kevin is actually swimming with us. I think he really enjoyed it. Of course, Aaron went thru his "I'm scared" phase, but when it was time to go in, he wasn't ready to leave. I told him his name was "Nemo".

I am about done savoring several cups of coffee, so the kids and I are going to head towards the beach. We haven't got to see it yet. I hope to post some pictures while we are here, since I have my computer with me. Kevin is working on the schedule for he and his cohorts for July thru September. He will also have to study for his board exam. He's not much on sand and sun. He hasn't had any time to do these things, so he will have to work a little while here.

I have tried to arrange the photos, but blogger won't let me. These are pics taken on Mother's Day weekend at my grandparents' home. The first picture was taken at Bop's. We met my dad there for a few minutes and had some ice cream.

Time for some sun!

A Praise to Remember

After waiting two years and two months, Kevin and I signed a contract tonight to sell our old house. The wait has seemed forever. It has definitely been a lesson in putting our trust in the Lord for it to be in His timing, not ours. We still are awaiting appraisal and inspection. The closing is set for May 1st. We are trusting Him that this will go thru without any problems. The family who is purchasing the home is excited too. So, right now, I am overwhelmed with thankfulness to my Lord for all that He has done for us. I am amazed at how He brought all of this to fruition within about 2 weeks.

As I praise Him for this miracle in our lives, I pray also that He will lift the burdens from our friends who have homes they are trying to sell. Waiting is so hard and trying to understand the "whys" is hard, too.

A Few Pictures From February

Here are some of our February moments.

Aaron got to go on a field trip to the Center for Puppetry Arts. He had been excited since before Christmas when his teacher began telling them about this place. He got to make his very own sunshine puppet with a little assistance from his mom. Then he got to see a cool puppet show about the weather.

We have spent every Saturday at our church's family life center playing Upward basketball. If you look closely Hannah is sticking her tongue out. I guess that is suppose to help her dribble the ball a little better. I love watching her play ball!

And here's my Alli trying to sink one in the basket. It was a great effort, but it did not go in the basket. I love watching both my girls play and improve every year. Upward is a great program. Next year Hannah will play for her school's middle team and Alli will still be at Upward. Aaron will get to start basketball next year. I have already purchased him a 27.5" basketball that is blue and grey. He is working on learning how to dribble. Next year will be a fun one, adding this boy to the mix! I just pray he shows good sportsmanship!

Pictures from January 19th Snow

Here are a few pictures that were taken of our little dusting of snow on January 19th. Hannah missed out because she was in the shower. There wasn't much left to play in by the time she came back upstairs. Alli and Aaron had a blast for a brief few moments. We learned that Aaron doesn't like to be hit with a snowball!

After two months......

After two months of no blogging, I thought I would post something today. I am actually in the mood to do so. January and February were very busy months for us and everyone else, too, I am sure. Upward Basketball is almost over and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I can't express how ready I am for summer. This mommy is tired of homework, running kids everywhere and packing lunches every morning. I am ready to have my kids at home with me where we can enjoy some peaceful time together. And this mommy is ready for spring! I had strep throat back in January and this week I had another bout with it again. Not fun at all! But I am thankful for antibiotics and mine worked quickly, like a charm. I am thankful also that the Lord healed me in time to be at the hospital with a friend who delivered her little miracle by c-section last night. I posted about my friend back in July. She was never supposed to be able to get pregnant--- ever! But the Lord opened her womb and she had a healthy red headed 8 lbs, 10 oz, 21 inches long little girl last night. And she is beautiful! We are so excited for them and look forward to seeing her grow!

These last two months I have not stayed in God's word as much as I should have and I can tell. But the Lord is continually showing me my need for Him and His word, drawing me to Him. This morning I am so thankful for his mercies and that they are new every morning. We have so much to be thankful for. This morning my heart is thankful to Him, because He has brought healing to some places in my life where I have been crying out to Him for this healing for over a year. I trust Him to continue that healing. This morning I am overwhelmed by God's goodness. As we (friends of the family who had the baby) were sitting around waiting for the baby last night, I couldn't help but think about how God has blessed us thru the people we have met since we have lived here. We have been here since '99, so it's been 10 years. I am definitely overwhelmed by His goodness!

As for my crew, well, it can be a circus around here, I tell you. Kevin is working a lot right now, because they are short one man. They will have a new guy in April.

Aaron is learning how to read. I can't wait for the light bulb to finally turn on and I can quit explaining what a blend is. He is trying though. And he is very smart, so I know he can do it. I just hope I am patient enough. We also found out that he will be our neatest writer out of the kids. He can write a "5" better than either one of the girls. I don't try to compare, but it is neat to see the differences. In his leisure time, he is a Mariokart expert. If he thinks you will sit and listen to him, he will corner you and tell you all about Mariokart, the levels, the characters, etc. He is better at this than his sisters, and it amazes me. This is also one of the areas we use to discipline him. It works pretty well and I enjoy the break from the Nintendo DS and the Wii. He is growing by leaps and bounds. And I can't wait for warm weather. We are trying to make it to shorts wearing weather, so we don't have to buy size six in pants till the fall.

Alli is doing great. She is playing basketball and loving it. She gets better every year. She is growing so much and doing really well in school. She loves being outside and has finally gotten accustomed to being outside with our dog, Fudge. Fudge has been getting more loving these days. His surgery has tamed him down a good bit. I am so glad because Alli loves animals and she will be good to him. After I dropped Hannah off at school at 6:20 this morning, Alli and I got to go to breakfast together and that was really nice. I don't get much alone time with her. She's such a sweet girl with a sweet heart! However, she can get feisty if she needs to. Alli is also doing really well in her piano. I think she enjoys it, which is awesome!


And there's Hannah, my tween! She stays so busy for a 10 year old. She is looking a lot better this year in basketball. She is playing on a team that consists of 5th thru eighth graders. There is actually a ninth grader that is home schooled who is playing on the team they play every week. So it is like watching junior high basketball. I can't keep my mouth shut while she is playing. I have tried. It just doesn't work. I feel like I am on the edge of my seat the whole game. I love basketball. I love to watch it! Hannah is doing great in school. I will be glad when we have the science project complete. Hannah is two hours away this morning for the ACSI spelling bee. Kevin had to work the 3p-2a shift last night and I couldn't go with her. She is growing up way too fast. I am somewhat apprehensive about the stage she is in now, but I am enjoying our talks we have. She is now 5' 2". She has nine inches to go till she is my height!

Life is full right now, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Just looking forward to a break!

A Man and His Deer

I had to post a picture of Kevin and his deer. I don't think Kevin has killed a deer the times he has hunted since we started dating. So it has been a while!

A Boy and His Goose Plate

Back in November I took the kids to Christmas Village in Birmingham. We went last year and enjoyed it. I had their picture made again with Santa, so the kids got to tell Santa what they wanted. When I say kids, I mean Alli and Aaron. Hannah didn't really want to be in the picture, but she did it for her momma. Anyway, later Aaron told me what he asked Santa to bring him. Never in a million years would I have guessed what he was about to tell me-----a GOOSE PLATE! I am thinking, "Where did he come up with that?" I kind of dismissed this, thinking it was something silly he had said just to say it. Well fast forward to December and I am at church one Sunday morning. A lady named Carol who gives Aaron gum every Sunday morning came up to me and told me that Aaron told her he was getting a goose plate for Christmas. Now I am thinking, "Santa I hope you took him seriously!" I am still trying to understand where he got the idea of a goose plate. When Kevin found out about this request, I don't think he could comprehend the idea of a goose plate. He asked Aaron multiple times where he got this idea. Aaron has not given us an answer yet! So here's the boy with his goose plate and it's the one present that he has been the most interested in. The goose plate won over Spike the Dinosaur!

A Little Christmas Fun

Sadly our Christmas holidays are coming to an end. The kids will go back to school tomorrow. All of our usual activities will start back and we will add Upward basketball practice this week. I have thoroughly enjoyed the kids being home with me and we enjoyed having Kevin off for a week. We spent six days with our families in Mississippi. We stayed three nights with my mom and three with Kevin's parents. Our days were filled with catching up with extended family members. My grandfather seems to be doing well. He seemed a little on the tired side, but it was his chemo week. Kevin's grandmother was doing okay. She had lots of swelling in her lower extremities. The kids really enjoyed catching up with all of their cousins. My nieces and nephew have grown a lot since we last saw them in July. My brother and his wife are expecting their fourth sometime late summer.

We were able to spend a few hours together as a family on Christmas Eve. The kids and I made sugar cookies for Santa. (Thanks for the recipe, Erin!)

It has become a tradition to make chicken and dumplings for our Christmas Eve meal. So I sent the kids to the shower to wash all the flour off. You can't see in the picture, but Hannah had it all over her face. I began to work on the dumplings. Soon Kevin arrived home from work and we ate our dinner and a few more sugar cookies. We did save Santa several of the best cookies. After dinner we let the kids open two gifts--new games for the Wii and their pj's for the night. This is our silly pose in our new pj's! We concluded our evening with the movie, "The Nativity." I can't begin to describe how I felt as I watched Mary in pain as she was giving birth to Jesus. I think I cried through all of that part, especially when she held Him in her arms for the first time. The story of Jesus is so amazing!

After we opened gifts on Christmas morning, we had our monkey bread and scrambled eggs. Then we loaded up the car and headed home to our families. Of course that was a little after lunch time here, so we were hungry by the time we made it to Gadsden. Thank goodness for Waffle House. Kevin ordered sandwiches while I went to the gas station and bought gas, drinks, and chips. Crazy I know, but the BLT was great! Nana had dinner waiting for us when we got to her house. The next evening my dad, brother and his family came over. My mom built a fire and we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Kind of strange for Christmas, but it was actually a great change. She had made soup also, so it wasn't just hot dogs. And it was very warm while we were there. My new do did not fair very well for a couple of days. I had the frizz going on. On Saturday, the hottest of the days, we went to my grandparents and caught up with my aunt, uncle, cousin, and cousin-in-law and her little girl. I always enjoy getting to see them and we don't get to see them real often.

On Sunday we headed to Kevin's parents and enjoyed lunch with all of his siblings and their spouses and our niece. I enjoy my mornings at their house. My mother-in-law brews coffee and has it ready when I get up and then I sit at the table and work on the puzzles in the Clarion Ledger alongside my father-in-law. My new sister-in-law was there to join in the fun on Monday morning. She and I worked on a crossword puzzle for about two days. Kevin went hunting twice. Once with my dad and on that Monday with his brother. He actually lucked up and killed an eleven point. It's about time!

We were in Jackson on Monday and Tuesday evenings visiting with Kevin's grandmother. Our niece also stayed with us the whole time we were at my in-laws, which we enjoyed. Monday night we ate at P.F. Changs. It was great! And we ate at Newk's on Tuesday evening and it continues to be one of my favorite places to eat when I go home. Wish they had one here. We left early Wednesday morning and made it home by 3:00. So glad to be home!

This picture was taken at my mom's house. Somebody was a little tuckered out! The picture represents how I have felt since returning home. I think I will always blame it on the time change and our habits of staying up late to visit.

I Made It!

Well, it has been a long year of waiting for this moment. There were some days I didn't think I would make it. But I am finally getting to share something that the Lord has always blessed me with---lots and lots of hair!

Yesterday I had nine inches of hair cut for Pantene Beautiful Lengths. They make wigs for women who lose their hair due to the chemo they take to treat cancer.

Patsy put me in three pony tails and started cutting. Here is my before picture.

And here is my "after" picture.

I have had several friends who have donated their locks--Deana B., Julia, and Pam. So they were inspirations to do this. And then in May this year my grandfather was diagnosed with colon cancer. I probably would have to have more than two hands to count all the people who I know personally, who have been diagnosed with cancer. So this gift to Pantene Beautiful Lengths is in honor of my Papaw.

We Are Still Here

One day I am going to blog on a regular basis. The purpose of this blog is to keep family and friends up-to- date with our growing children and to help us remember the events that occur in our family. We did make it home from our trip to the mountains on that Sunday morning. I will remember this return because we had to come home a little earlier than we were scheduled. We had a call from our pastor on that Thursday morning before we left requesting me to sing "It is Well" right after he finishes his message on Sunday morning. Our trip to the mountains had already been cancelled once. Now my preacher was asking me to cut the trip a little short. For several minutes I battled this one. I really didn't want to come back early. We would have to get up early to make it back. I wanted to sleep late one more morning. However, my preacher calling me is almost like God calling me Himself. I figure that the preacher has been praying about this message and God has laid this song on his heart. At this time there were people at our church going thru divorce and losing their jobs, plus the economy issues and election are concerns to the people. God had laid a message concerning hard times on my preacher's heart. So, I felt compelled to say, "yes". I am so thankful we came back. The message touched my heart and singing that song was good for my soul. "It is Well" is a common funeral song, but it is so comforting at any time. I would have missed out on a blessing if I had said "no."

We had a great Thanksgiving. Kevin had to work, but the kids and I went to our friends house where we usually spend Thanksgiving and Kevin joined us later after his shift ended. We enjoyed great food and the kids had a blast with our friends' kids. Riding four wheelers was the highlight. Aaron actually calls them wheel barrows.

That Friday night Kevin picked up our Christmas tree and I started scrambling to clean up for a surprise party we were having for a friend on Saturday. Thanksgiving break was great and I feel like we got to enjoy each other and get some much needed rest.

So here we are in December. The tree is finally decorated. My mantle stills needs some work. I am adjusting to being the sole housekeeper for our home. Since Aaron was a baby, I have had a lady come in every other week to clean. It takes me forever just to get everything picked up. We had to let her go last week for reasons I will not discuss. I hate it had to happen. For some reason, I always come out of situations feeling like the guilty one. However, I know we did the right thing. I just hope she will see it someday. So, anyway, it may take me several days to get my house clean, but I think I am going to like this better. We will see.

This past weekend my mom was here. The girls had their piano recital Friday evening and our children's choirs at church had their program Sunday evening. It was a busy weekend. The girls did great and the children's musical was wonderful! Hannah played the part of head cheerleader. She did great on her speaking part!

Hopefully, I will post pictures soon. I haven't started putting pictures on the laptop, so I will have to work on that. I will try to post more often this month.

Getting Away

Today has been a nice lazy day for us. We finally made it to the mountains for our fall break. We made reservations for a cabin back in October but were unable to come due to Kevin's grandmother being critically ill. The couple who own the cabin were kind to let us reschedule for this weekend.

We left yesterday a little after 5:00 p.m. Yesterday was a nasty, rainy day and with it came a terrible fog! It is a lesson learned for us. Of course it was already dark as we got closer to our destination and the fog had gotten worse. "Molly," my beloved gps system(we have a love/hate relationship), that I depend on way too much, failed us. We were in the middle of no where (where she took us), and she went dead. As I was scrambling to figure out what was wrong and why she was not running from the cigarette lighter, we discovered the plug-in was missing several pieces. Meanwhile I am praying, "Lord please help us. We are stuck in the middle of no where. We can't see where we are going and we don't know where to go now." We were all very hungry. It was already after 7:00. I knew we had a few cookies left and a pack of Ritz Bitz crackers. We also had a couple bottles of water. If you know me well, you know that my car is not really neat. I consider it to be my office since I stay there a lot. So Kevin and I cleaned the middle tray that was between us and lowered it to see what was under it. Kevin found one piece that he thought went on the end of the plug. Then he found a fuse. He said, "Karen, there's got to be a spring some where." At that point, I panicked. You see earlier that day, I had found a spring under my leg on my seat. When I found it, I thought, "This must go to one of the kids toys or an old pen. I will just throw it away." The reason I panicked was because I wasn't sure if I had already emptied the trash from the car when I was getting the car packed. So I grabbed my little black trash bag and went thru all the Kleenex and paper. I found the spring at the bottom. What are the chances of Kevin finding all the little parts and me knowing where the spring was located. By the way, I almost emptied that trash at a gas station when I stopped to get gas. For some reason I decided not to! Kevin reassembled the plug to the gps and plugged it in. "Molly" was back in business. She brought us to our cabin, but due to the fog we missed our cabin several times because we could not see. I truly believe the Lord is the one who got us here safely. He definitely knows my weaknesses----organization and neatness being two. Glad we are running on His strength, not mine. The car will be cleaned out well when we get home.

As we were riding thru the darkness and the fog, I couldn't help but think about the spiritual darkness that so many people are in. I thought about how God's Word/His truth shines light for us to see. As Christians we have seen the Light, but we need to keep reading and studying His Word/truth so we can see and know what to do everyday. We have to let God use us to shine for Him so that those who are in the dark will see.

As I said, today has been a lazy day. We got out of bed around 10:20 and we have just enjoyed being together and not doing much of anything. Tomorrow we will get out and go hiking. We may even see if there are any apples left! I will post pictures when we get home.

Congratulations to our friends, The McElhaneys, on the birth of their new little one. We are excited for you guys. Can't wait to see her in person! Glad everything went well. She's beautiful!

Fun Moments for Aaron

Aaron had his first field trip of the year during October. We visited a local dairy farm. They had two different tours: the flower tour and the dairy tour. The dairy was definitely his favorite. They fed one of the calves with a bottle. And then the kids got to feed the calves corn husks. Aaron and I were not dressed warm enough for this field trip. I had heard we would be getting some rain the day after the field trip, so in my mind I was thinking the day of the field trip would be warm. Boy was I wrong!



This picture says it all. And let me add.......this was not a warm wind! I tried so hard to enjoy this field trip, but I was so glad when I was able to get back into our van. Needless to say, Aaron had his picnic lunch on top of the beach towel I laid across his lap, while we traveled back home.

We have a fundraiser called the "Fun Run" at our school every year. Aaron ran 41 laps this year.

This picture is from our trip home to see Kevin's grandmother. We stopped at Wendy's with Uncle Darin and Aunt Jessica for a frosty. Aaron ordered the vanilla frosty. Aunt Jessica had the chocolate frosty. Aaron decided he wanted some of both. So he ate with two spoons from two different cups! The boy loves the cream!

This is what happens when you have to stand outside the bathroom and wait on your sister for what seems like an eternity. I have several more pictures of this that would tell more. We are in TJMaxx and there is a full length mirror to Aaron's right. Basically, he stood in front of this mirror with his newly discovered skull cap on his head making funny faces in the mirror. Yes, I did buy the skull cap! He loves it!

You are so much fun sweet boy! There's never a dull moment with you! I love you!