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!

October Fun

I don't think I remember an October in the life of our family that has been any busier than this one. This past month I had to come to the realization that I must enjoy these times I have with my kids even if it is in my Honda Odyssey van. So many times I kept wishing for those days when I had them at home and there were not so many activities to be involved in. We obviously have passed this point in our lives, so here we are. Our October was filled with lots of ballgames to cheer for, field trips, a trip to see grandparents, fun runs, and Halloween. We are beginning to slow down a little now that November is here. Here are some pictures from our crazy October.



Kevin's parents came for a visit one weekend. We went to a festival that is held every year during October in our town. Of course we had to stop by the park on the way out for Aaron.


Even though they don't always act like it, I really do think these three love each other!

I love this picture. I loved watching my mother-in-law jump on the trampoline with Aaron. When she comes to visit, Aaron takes full advantage of his mamaw's attention. And she loves every minute of it, even if it means jumping on the trampoline or laying on her belly to watch a cartoon!


Let me introduce you to Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, and Wonder Woman in Pink! Yes, I do realize that Tink has grown a lot from her usual size! Just wish I could have talked Wonder Woman into playing the part of Wendy! Peter Pan did have a hat, I just couldn't figure out how to make it stay on his head.




As I have been working on this post, we received a call from one of Kevin's sisters that their grandmother was taken to the ER by ambulance. She has a pacemaker and apparently it did not work this evening. They had to shock her several times at home. They have her sedated and intubated. All of the family is at the ER with her now. Please say a prayer for her. Thanks!

Happy Birthday, Papaw!

Today is my papaw's 87th birthday! He has had quite a year and we are so thankful that he has recovered well from his surgery back in May. He is taking chemo every other week and is tolerating it well. I think Grannie keeps him on a strict schedule on those weeks.

During fall break we had to make a trip back home to see about Kevin's grandmother, so we were able to spend some time with my papaw at his home that Saturday evening and then on Sunday at lunch at my mom's. I have lots of pics to post from that weekend, but due to my schedule the last week and a half, I have not had time to post. It has been a month where I feel like I can't get my "head above the waters". So I will hopefully in the next couple of weeks get to catch up on what we have been doing.

This quick post today is for my papaw. We love you, Papaw! You look great! We hope you have a wonderful birthday! I know Grannie has baked something sweet and delicious for you today. I hope she made your favorite: sweet potato casserole. We love you both!

Our Sweet Mrs. T

We just received a phone call about 30 minutes ago that our sweet Mrs. T has been ultimately healed and is with Jesus. I thank you for your prayers and ask that you continue to pray for their family. Pray for us as we share this news with Alli in the morning as well as other parents having to do the same. Pray for our school family as we minister to the family during this time. She will be missed and we look forward to the day we will see her again in heaven and receive one of her sweet hugs. We love you, Mrs. T!

An Update

Here I am again asking for you to pray for Alli's first grade teacher and her family. The test finally confirmed a diagnosis of ovarian cancer and the family was told it is terminal. She is not responsive at this time and hasn't been for several days. We have been told that hospice is coming in today and they will start decreasing her meds tomorrow. The last few days have been really rough for her family as they have had to make decisions. Unless the LORD sees fit to intervene, our sweet friend will experience ultimate healing and be with Jesus.

Our school had a benefit dinner last night. It was incredible! God is doing so many amazing things thru our school. One of the things that amazed me so much was that the daughters of this sweet lady were there at the dinner last night. One of them actually took part in the program. We were able to talk with them afterwards. Please pray for these girls. They have some rough days ahead. But I can see how God has placed this school and the people from this school in their lives to be His hands and His feet for these girls. Please pray for their dad as well. It is so heartbreaking!

A friend and I will be going to the hospital in a little while to see her. Please pray for us as we do this. And pray for all these kids, like my sweet Alli, who have been loved on by this sweet lady. It is going to be so hard for them. I talked with one mom last night whose child was in Alli's class last year and her family is close to this family. The child is questioning her mom about why God will not heal her. Pray that God will use us to minister to our children and to this family.

Thanks for listening. I appreciate your prayers more than you know.

Please Pray

I have been wanting to post all week, but I simply have not had a chance to sit down at the computer and take the time to type it out. We have had so much going on the last few weeks. We have seen some activity with our old house and we received our first offer last night. We will counter offer tomorrow. This has brought some excitement to our home the last week and a half. We are trusting the LORD to work it all out. If I get the time in the next couple of days I will post some pictures and tell more about what has been going on, maybe even throw in a little of what the Lord has shown me thru Isaiah. If it weren't for the peace that God promises those who know Him, I could have come home after Bible study this morning and been depressed the rest of the day. Kay's message this morning made my heart very heavy. She talked a lot about God's judgement on America. More on that later.

I am writing this post tonight to request prayer from those of you who may read my blog. My heart is very heavy tonight for someone who has meant a lot to our family, especially my Alli.
Alli's first grade teacher from last year has been in the hospital the last couple of weeks. She is very, very sick. They believe she has ovarian cancer. She has other health issues. She is not stable at this point enough to have surgery. She has been receiving dialysis which means her kidneys are not working well. Her blood pressure is very low. Please pray for this family. She is married with two daughters, one is in high school and the other will begin college soon. She needs a miracle. God knows what is best for her. We know that. We are trusting Him. I can tell Alli is concerned for her teacher. But she has told us that she knows her teacher knows Jesus and that she will be okay. Please pray for all of the kids who have been loved by this teacher. She has had such an impact on so many people. Thank you for your prayers!

Still Here

I have had emails and comments from friends wondering when I would blog again. Since my last post was about going to the beach for a little vacation, you may have wondered if we had returned. Well, we did return, in time to start the new school year. We haven't stopped since.

Hannah is in the fifth grade. So far, this year doesn't seem so bad. Fourth grade was a complete adjustment phase for us, so this year we already know how she needs to study. Our school is trying to get a football program going, so Hannah is now a cheerleader for the Pee Wee football team. I will post pictures of her as soon as I remember to take my camera to the football game. We had the jamboree this past Saturday and the first game is tomorrow. At some point Hannah will be part of the running club at school and I hope will be able to play basketball with the middle school team. One of the newest things for Hannah is taking allergy shots twice a week. Hannah has had a horrible cough all summer and it is still lingering. Her lung function tests have not been great, but they have not diagnosed her with asthma, yet. Her doctor told me that allergy shots would hopefully keep her from developing asthma, so I decided, along with Kevin's approval, that we would begin these as soon as we got back from vacation. We have to go twice a week for 8 weeks and then it will go to once a week. So the afternoons are a little crazy. I hope by the time we get to the end of the 8 weeks that her symptoms will improve. I think Hannah is enjoying this year. I can tell a difference in her maturity level compared to last year. It blows my mind that I have a 10 year old.

Alli is in the second grade, so she has moved to the upper campus with her sister. She seems to have made the transition without too many problems. We have left our homework at school one night and misplaced our agenda. I think this is all part of learning to be responsible. We learn from our mistakes. Seems like every time I look around Alli is reading a book. I will say that my girls have my love of reading. Alli and Hannah are taking piano again this year. Before I tell you something about Alli, you must understand that my kids love to watch old shows, such as "Andy Griffith", "I Dream of Jeanie", and "Gilligan's Island". I am all for this because these shows are great clean shows. One afternoon I picked Alli and Hannah up after piano. Alli ran to the car with such excitement. She said, "Mom, guess what song I am learning to play." Of course I had no idea. You got it, the theme from "Gilligan's Island!" Nothing could have pleased her more. She continues to be my butterfly and sometimes I gently have to pull her head out of the clouds so she will pay attention to me. I love that she enjoys life so innocently. One of the things I want my kids to learn now is the love of exercise. Our school has a running club, so Alli will begin this soon.

That brings me to my four year old, Aaron. I could easily see someone criticizing me for putting my son in preschool when I am at home all the time. But preschool, five days a week, full days, has been the best for him. He is having a great year so far. I love it when he brings his papers home and I can see where he is trying to write his name. He writes two big A's, two little r's, an "o", and a "n", followed by the first letter of his last name. I am not sure where he got the extra "r". Maybe he thinks since he has two a's, he can have two r's. We had a practice session last night. I am trying to get him to write his name in the correct area of the worksheet. He is growing up so fast. He will continue to have speech class every Wednesday. Aaron has made great strides in this area over the last year. He is talking clearer than ever and uses words that sound so big for him. One of the things I want to remember about Aaron at this age is the way he gives me kisses. Aaron loves to snuggle with me and give me sweet kisses. However, he has taken on a new way. He now asks me to close my eyes. I close my eyes and always wonder where he will plant his kiss. It's usually on the nose or cheek and it's so sweet! His big brown eyes will melt your heart!

So there you have it! This is what we have been up to since vacation ended. And I didn't even mention church on Sundays and Wednesday nights, choir, and Awana.

Kevin has been busy working. We still have our old house for sale and we have had to go clean the house in the past week, even though we have someone living in it. I am to the point where I just pray for God to show us what to do. I trust that He knows His plans for this area of our lives. It has been on the market for a year and a half.

As for me, I am enjoying a few hours to myself during the day before I run my shuttle in the evenings. Those few hours don't seem to last long because they are full of housework and laundry. My mind and heart have been preoccupied lately due to a Bible study I am involved in. Perhaps this is why I haven't blogged in a while. If you ever have a chance to participate in a Kay Arthur Precept Upon Precept Bible study, I encourage you to do so. There's lots of homework, but is worth all the time you put into it. Our church is currently offering her newest PUP, Isaiah. Living in the times we are living in, Isaiah seems so scary. But God offers so much hope at the same time to those who live for Him. Several times when I was watching the Olympics and I would see a medal ceremony where we had won the gold and our anthem was playing, I would cry. This was not my usual sentimental "I love my country" cry. It was a cry for a country who has turned its back on God. God is still God. He has never changed. If He will judge His people who continually turned their backs on Him, will He not do the same to us? I am a continuous work and God is using Isaiah to show me some things in my life that have not been right. I truly want to make Him the focus of my life, to love Him with all my heart, soul and mind.

I may go back and write a post about vacation, but in case I don't, here are a few pictures to enjoy from the trip.

Busy, Busy!

We are taking a break for a little vacation before the kids go back to school. Meanwhile our computer will be worked on while we are away. Seems like I always have issues with my computer. I will catch up with my blogging when I return.

This week we have been running around town every day for appointments with the dentist, new teachers, and even the hair stylist. We had an interesting morning yesterday. A friend of ours is studying to be a photographer. He asked if he could take pictures of the kids for a little practice. We went to a local college, an absolutely beautiful site to make pictures. We went to a spot where our friend, Deana B., took photos of the girls in 2002. As I was standing there, I thought about how young the girls were. Alli was only 10 months old. I can still see her standing on the bench in the gazebo peeking over at us. Hannah was three. I can't wait to see the new photos. And of course, we would have a water mishap while we were there. This time it was Alli. One of their poses was around a water fountain. We let them put their feet in. Alli even stood in it. She held her dress up. I helped her get out. I turned my back for one second and heard a splash. She decided to get back in to wade in the water one more time. However, she tripped and fell in, getting her dress completely wet. Our friend's mom was there assisting him. She taught me that you can take paper towels and use them to dry the dress where it will not look wet. So we were able to take more pictures. I am learning that all you can do is laugh sometimes. It's useless to get upset. I just gently reminded Alli that this is what happens when we do not listen to our parents. After my gentle reminder, I remembered that I don't always listen to my heavenly Father as I should. Funny how God uses your kids to give His reminders.

Our Cousin MC

I must introduce you to my cousin's baby, MC. She just turned one this month and on Sunday the 13th, my mom had my grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousins over for lunch. So we got to meet her for the first time. What a cutie she is! She was so much fun to watch. Her mom blogs, so we get to keep up with how much she is growing at Miley Minutes.

It was so good to see my grandfather that day. He looked a lot better than he did when we saw him Mother's day weekend. He is thinner and weaker, but his appetite is good and he is starting to gain some of the weight back. His dementia was not as bad either. He received good news from his CT scan report this week and began his chemo this week also. They did not find the cancer in any of the other organs. He doesn't have to go back to the oncologist till August 21st. The home health nurse will draw blood for his lab work, so they will not have to travel to the doctor's office every week, which is 30 minutes away. This will be a tremendous blessing to my grandmother. She is hanging in there with him. I just wish she would learn to sit and prop up her swollen ankles for a little while every day. Here's my grandfather in a picture where the kids are playing. He always enjoys playing with his great grand babies while he sits in the recliner.

And this is Aaron with his great Grannie!

Cousin Time

My brother and his family got to spend the night while they were visiting at my mom's. On Sunday morning we had some play time with the cousins. My brother has remarried and so I now have a new nephew and niece. Will's daughter, HJ, usually does not have much to do with me when we are there, but this time she loved on me and wanted me to play with her and tickle her. For the longest she would not let me take her picture, but I grabbed her and asked my brother to take our picture. I was successful in my endeavors as you can see.


We really enjoyed getting to know his new wife and her two sweet children. They make a beautiful family. We wish them the best as they begin their new journey as husband and wife and as a family.

And last but not least, I must share a picture of our three dogs who traveled with us all the way to see Nana. Aaron is not asleep in this picture. He just doesn't want me to take a picture of him. I want him to remember when he is older how much these dogs meant to him as a child. He will probably try to deny it!