Safe and Sound

Well, we rolled in to Tennessee at 11:06 p.m. yesterday. How do I know the precise time you may ask? Well, allow me to tell you...

We left the gas station at 5:05 from home last night - Craig remembered this. We proceeded to drive the entire trip WITHOUT stopping! Can you say "crazy"? We kept waiting for one of the kids to need to go to the bathroom and nobody asked. They fell asleep about an hour and half out, so I knew there was no stopping then. We made a usual 7-8 hour trip in 6 hours and 1 minute. Seriously, I was not a good traveling companion - I was ready to get out!!!! I was working on a serious tension headache and a major diet coke and chocolate craving - it was not good! Craig was laughing at me so I turned mean! I made him listen to Reba McEntire and my singing for about 50 miles!!! I told him that if he didn't stop that Faith Hill was next, and then I was going to bring out the big guns... The Judds!!! It didn't work, he just kept right on rolling. I told my mama that if I thought that my hips would have fit through my window that I may have hurled myself out of it into oncoming traffic!!! My sweet mother had diet coke, chocolate, and snacks out when we got here, bless her Lord!!!
Craig is off to his mom and daddy's today to tackle a bathroom repair project. I hope I will see him some this weekend, but this is a major project for them. It is a good thing that our parents only live about 15 minutes apart! Mom and I and the kids are off to run some errands and do some shopping. Hope everyone has a good day! And to Holly...don't stress, I remembered to pack for myself AND everyone else!!!

The Weekend Run Down

We had a great weekend! It was mostly relaxing except for a few minor episodes. We went to church Sunday morning and then decided we would take the kids to the lake for the afternoon. We stopped to look at a few houses on the way to the lake - we are still waiting for God to drop that dream home in our lap! We got up to the lake and hiked for awhile. The kids are so funny to take hiking. Tyler is a maniac - he wants to pick up every single stick and rock along the way, oh, and I also think that he noticed every single pine cone along the way also! Kayla is more subdued and likes to take in the more less noticeable scenery. Like for instance, she found two bugs that were, um, enjoying a personal moment! She thought it was really cool that they were "hooked together". Anyway, it seems that God's magnificence is multiplied by thousands when you are walking through the woods. You notice so much of His creation - it was quite enjoyable. We left the trail and drove all around the recreation area until we found a spot that had a bench swing, a swimming area, and a picnic table. Craig and I got to relax on the swing while the kids played in the water and the sand. Fun stuff!
Yesterday we went to Janna's for a cookout with the Hyder's and the Mack's. It was a very relaxing laid back day until Tyler had explosive diarrhea all over his clothes and clear up his back. He got to spend the rest of the day in his pullup and sandals - yeah, cute! I tried not to let that ruin my afternoon, but honestly, my humor in the potty training department is pretty much gone. I am frustrated, fed up, and mad - not a good combo! Anyway, we did have a good time yesterday though. Ryland is getting so big and is such a cutie. Mom and Ruth - ya'll should hear him talking -he is so smart!!! Kayla and Kendall had a big time playing and we didn't see much of them - they were pretending to go to prom! Yikes, it is a little early for talk of that isn't it?
Today is Kayla and I's first summer Mother's Day Out day. Tyler goes to Mother's Day Out and she and I go and do something fun. However, today is not going to be the funnest day that we will have. We are getting ready to go visit the folks for a few days, so she and I are running a couple of errands and then coming home to clean the house. We are going to break for lunch though. My daughter loves to go out to eat - I don't know who she gets that from!!! Must be Craig!

Very Productive

Today has been a very productive day. I was up at the church at 10 this morning to get all my stuff for Mexico that I have to pack. We all divide up all of the supplies and stuff that we are taking. The bag was so heavy that I could barely get it out to the van! Ran a few errands after that and then came home to fill embroidery orders and also do up some towels for a wedding that we are going to next weekend. I got that done and ran back out to do a couple of more errands. After dinner I got all of my Mexico stuff together and all in one place. I started putting some of it in my suitcase - I'm glad it has wheels! I also got together all of our gifts to go to Tennessee next weekend. Along with Mother's Day and Father's Day, between May and June we also have my birthday, Craig and I's anniversary, my parents anniversary, his parents anniversary, his mom and dad's birthdays. It is always a little insane! BUT, I am so thankful that we are traveling there instead of having to mail everything.
Craig has been working on getting all of the glue remnants off of the walls in the kitchen - what a messy job. I think he done now though and ready to sand! Talk about a messy job - that won't be pretty!
Memorial Day plans??? Some friends have invited us over for a cookout and I'm so looking forward to it. Craig and I have been seriously lacking in fellowship lately so I am ready to get together and laugh and have some fun!
Hope everyone makes time for some fun and fellowship this weekend!!!

EEESSSHHH!

Well, let's suffice it to say that my week has not gone as planned. After Tuesday night, I was pretty much spent, depressed, and just in an overall very bad mood. I spent all day yesterday doing absolutely nothing. I had a meeting at work last night and then stayed at the office and worked by myself for a couple of hours. There was nobody else there so I had a couple of hours of solitude even though I was working. That was very theraputic! That is my word for the week, I'll say it again - theraputic. Don't even know if I spelled it right, but .... theraputic! I can go with the flow for a pretty long time, but I eventually have to take a time out and have a mental and sometimes emotional breakdown! Yesterday was that day for me! I was a whiner, a cry baby, and a grump, and I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed my funk until I got home from work last night and then I just couldn't stand myself any more! So today I woke up rip roarin' and ready to go! I took Tyler to a friend's house while I went up and worked at the church on getting stuff ready for our Mexico trip. Then she met me up and the church to do her shift and I took the kids for the afternoon. The kids played so well together and the work at the church was indescribable. I cannot explain how much preparation it takes to put a medical trip like this together. From the most mundane tasks to testing the medical equipment, everything requires someone. For instance, I have no medical skills at all, don't like blood or needles, so I was stuck with some of the more mundane tasks, but it didn't feel mundane - do you know what I mean. It was like kingdom work. I went around the room and tape name tags to the walls so everyone would know where to find there stuff. That is about as mundane as it gets, but it felt so purposeful. I opened pediatric tongue depressors and I loved it! It is just getting more and more fun but the day and each step closer that we get, I get more excited!
Tonight was crazy! I had a 5:30 appointment across town, Holly brought Gert back to me at 7, 2 customers between 7:30 and 8:30 and now I am embroidering the last of some birthday presents for a friend of Kayla's whose party is tomorrow afternoon.
Tomorrow will be much the same as today only with extra kids. We will try to be to the church by 9 tomorrow morning to sort more meds. Kayla has a friend who will be coming with us. Their are some very sweet girls who have said that they will watch wild man on the playground. We'll leave there take the girls to the party, drop papers off to a client, go by the post office and Blockbuster, pick the girls up from the party ---- and then, my husband and I will collapse and veg out in front of the TV tomorrow night with some fun movies. All in a days work! Um, where was my cape?

A Marathon Maybe

I left soaked with sweat, hair mussed, and my muscles trembling from the strain they had been under. Did I run a marathon you ask? No, just simply making it through a 45 minute honors night at Kayla's school with a wild four year old. I have to go on a tangent for a moment. You know, when we go to something like that we at least TRY to keep our children quiet. I mean I know that you can't always keep them quiet, but at least TRY instead of letting them talk at the top of their lungs and squeal and everything else. Like I said, we TRY to keep Tyler quiet at these kind of events, but he is four and it is totally like a four year old to loudly announce, "I have to go poop-poo." Yep, he sure did. Which would have been great if he had actually had to do that, but it was simply a ploy to get out of the cafeteria where it seemed it was a hundred degrees and not a breeze in sight! Enough said on this subject matter, let's move on to the next.

We left the school to go and get ice cream. Seemed that everyone else had that same idea and we met up with several people from church and school at the ice cream shop. One such "from school" person was there and that led into a discussion on the way home with our daughter about how choosing the right friends can make or break you. I, apparently, completely screwed this discussion up! So, now I have probably ruined my child for life; okay, maybe I'm being a tad bit dramatic, but you know what? It sucks to be the mean parent! It sucks to be the one who is always do the talking and the disciplining. Don't get me wrong - Craig is very good at all of that while he is here, but let's face it, I'm here with them the most. When he gets home it is like they are meeting a celebrity at the door. Today I have been told that I am a loser and that I am hated. Nice, huh? Mother of the year award please! It has just been one of those days today where you feel like a major screw up and in turn I feel like I have run out of nice words, so I am just trying not to talk. That is why I here blogging instead of talking, b/c at this point I think it is better if I just be quiet! Let's see what else I can get off of my chest...

Tonight was the two hour season finale of NCIS and the final performance night of American Idol. The children were both bathed early and in bed right at 8:00. I sat down with my bowl of ice cream b/c I didn't have any at Brusters. I was ready to go, ready to relax for two hours in front of the tube. Well, about 20 minutes later it began to lightning and thunder. At our house that means that at least one, if not both of our children will be up until the storm passes. Mix that with the weather man interrupting every 10 minutes - doesn't make for a very relaxing time. I finally just gave up!

Wanna know something else? I know that at this point you are probably begging me to shut up, but I am on a roll...Why is it that when you are down somebody comes by and kicks you? That is about how I would sum up our life right now. I know, especially in light of this past week, that we have much to be thankful for, and don't get me wrong, I fully understand and appreciate that, but that doesn't stop us from being where we are. We are in the midst of just having one thing after another it seems. These are not things that I care to go into detail about, but just personal things that it seems like just keep getting worse and worse. We have both been praying about something very specific that is affecting our lives in a serious way right now and I really think that God is just continuing to say "wait". Ugh, I hate "wait", but I did hear this past week that while we are waiting, God is working. I'm thankful for that, but I just feel so defeated right now that I am having a little trouble keeping it all in perspective. If my mother was hear she would tell me to take five minutes to feel sorry for myself and then get over it. I will get over it, because I know that God has a plan, but tonight is just for wallerin' in the mullygrubs as our pastor would say!

Day 2 - Not so Good

You know, I went on ahead and let myself get excited yesterday when Tyler did so well and now today has not gone well at all. We did have one successful depost in the right place and two in the very WRONG place. One of those required a bath! TMI I know, but, hey, such is the life of a potty trainer and potty trainee! He has fought me tooth and nail about even GETTING on the potty today!

On a less smellier note, tonight is Honor's Night for Kayla. She is getting an award of some sort. I will let you know what it is when I find out what it is. Today she is celebrating have the most AR points in the third grade for this last grading period. She gets to have lunch in the library with the librarians and they are bringing lunch from Burger King. She was so excited! She is also having her end of the year party today - they are having a luau! She got to take her flip-flops and beach towel with her this morning and they also made grass skirts. I had to send in a pineapple and apples - I wonder if they are roasting a pig?

I am in a weird mood today. Trying to be filled with joy, but not sure I am getting there! What is wrong with me????? Ahhhh! I hate days like this where you just feel blah! I think I'm going to go find my book and try to get wrapped up in someone else's drama rather than my own!

Day 2

Onto day 2 we go! Yesterday was a very successful day. There was no deposits in his britches and two successful deposits in the toilet! Yea Tyler! I pray that today goes just as well!

From the Rocking Chair

Tyler was up fairly early this morning and wanted to "rock-a-bye". So we went to the big green chair to snuggle and "chat". He is so funny. He is still a little bit wrapped up in John Peter, though we don't hear about him quite as often as we used to. So, you mix John Peter with all of the stuff that has been going on with Denny and Vickie this past week and this is the conversation that you get:

"Mama, something happened to John Peter when he was a little baby. He died just like Denny and Vickie's little baby."

"Really Tyler, that is that so sad."

"Yea, it broke my heart when Denny and Vickie's baby died."

Oh, my. What sweet, sensitive words can come from our children. This conversation was followed up with one about salvation. Tyler is beginning to get curious about asking Jesus into our lives. He had asked a question about Jesus coming into His heart. He wanted to know if He went through your mouth to get to your heart! I was explaining to him that when Jesus lives in our lives and He forgives our sins that we get to go to Heaven to live with Him forever and ever. His response:

"What day do we leave?"

Priceless!

Potty Training Praise

Yea! Tyler has done so good this morning, and just before nap, he dropped the motherload!!!! Sorry, couldn't resist! He has given me very little grief about having to sit on the potty every half an hour and the fact that he went this early in the week just shows me that God is hearing and answering our prayers! You may think that it is a silly thing to pray about, but nothing is too trivial for God - not even potty training!

First Day of Summer

Well, it our house, it is the first day of semi-summer. Kayla still has four days of school left, but it should be a very easy week for her. Tyler's last day was Friday and I don't have to go into work! So, it was so nice this morning to get up and be able to go for our walk early while it was still cool out. We got home and watered all of the outside flowers. Just in case some of you are wondering all of my flowers ARE still alive! Whoo-Hoo! I have even planted some more and they are looking pretty good. Maybe I will have to post some gardening pictures soon! You know, I am finding that it is so relaxing to stand out there with the watering can! And seriously, just being able to enjoy part of God's creation in that manner has been so fun! I hope everyone has a great day!

Potty Training Boot Camp

Well, we are at it again, so please be prepared for many stories about poop this week! If anybody would have told me that I would one day have a four year old who was not trained to do his number two's in the potty, I would have said, "Oh no, not me." Oh my, in the wise words of Shannon, "never say never"! This week I am armed with prizes, incentives, charts, and disciplinary action! I will keep you posted, but in all seriousness - please pray for us this week. This has been on ongoing problem for us for the last two years, yes, I said TWO YEARS! He is not trained for lack of trying! We have so much fun stuff planned for this summer and I hate the thought of having to worry about poopy pants every time we go somewhere!

A Writing First

I haven't updated on my writing class in a while I don't think, so let me tell ya'll what has been going on. This class is hard!!! I submitted an assignment a few days ago and literally have been sitting on pins and needles waiting to see if I passed it or failed it! I got my grade last night and I made a 100% - I was shocked! The last assignment that I submitted the instructor didn't care for and I totally screwed it up and ended up with an 80%. This time she had 15 books off of America's top seller list and you had to categorize them by their genre. Huh??? So, I basically had 15 books that I never heard of and only a couple of author names that I recognized, that I had to go through and categorize what kind of "story" it was. Let me just tell ya'll in case you didn't already know - there is some serious junk reading material out there. I will stick to Family Christian and Lifeway thank you very much!

Anyway, I got inspired a few days ago by something that Tyler had said and yesterday I sat down and wrote "my story" of the freedom in Christ that I have been blessed to find over the past couple of years. It is called Dying to Bloom, and I submitted it to an online magazine yesterday afternoon. I don't know if anything will come of it, but it was an awesome experience for me to be able to put into words how God has changed me. I still have so far to go, but thankfully, we are always a work in progress, and we serve a God who is so full of grace and mercy that he gives us a million second chances! I am also mailing out the manuscript to a magazine this week. I hate to use the word manuscript, because it is only 4 or 5 pages, but it is what it is!

High and Lows

The weekend was definitely a mixture of highs and lows and ups and downs. Friday night we were at the funeral home to show our support to Denny and Vickie and their family. It was packed - we waited in line for a full two hours. How awesome to have that kind of support and love; I can't imagine how overwhelmed and loved that they must have felt. Craig and I were both shocked at how tiny the casket was - that was one of the worst things that I have ever seen. We have never been to a funeral for a child or a baby and it was so heartbreaking to see that tiny casket - it just seemed so wrong, but God is incapable of doing any wrong thing so I know that He has a plan. We were blessed with a sweet friend and her two daughters who watched the kids for us on Friday night at their house. Not only did they babysit them, but they loved on them and entertained them and my kids had a blast. Friday night I was up until the wee hours of the morning cooking and baking for the weekend and finishing laundry, etc, etc.
Saturday morning was spent finishing cooking, cleaning up around the house, working on the van, and doing Graceful Designs stuff. We left for the funeral that afternoon and took Kayla with us. That was her first funeral and I was a little nervous with how she would handle it. She did great! I was very proud of her. The funeral was a "great service", but it was so hard. So hard to see your friends and your pastor hurting, so hard to see a heartbroken father stand up and say goodbye to his little girl. And he didn't just say goodbye, he worshipped a Holy God during the few moments that he spoke and he also gave a very clear plan of salvation. What an incredible testimony. When you get home from something like that it is almost impossible to do anything else except fall into bed and sob. Craig and I were both spent; I cannot begin to imagine how Denny and Vickie felt at the end of the day. However, there were still things that had to be done. I finished baking for my AWANA leaders and made sure that all of our AWANA stuff was ready to go. We played a rousing game of Yahtzee with Kayla and she completely skunked Craig and I. She loved that!
Sunday was truly a day of rest. I told the kids that we were exhausted and we were just going to relax and take it easy. And we did. Last night was the AWANA program and even though several awards got mixed up, we were able to fix it and it is now over. Craig and I love AWANA but it is so nice to have a break for a couple of months!

From Salvation to Mustard

Oh my kids are just thrilling my soul this week! Last night I was trying to get some work done on my writing class. Our computer started freaking out and I really thought we crashed it. So, I finished reading my lesson, looked over my assignment and decided to just go to bed since I couldn't take the exam online, nor submit my assignment online. I woke up this morning praying that the computer would come on, because it is less than a year old and it is essential for my business, my job, and my class. Praise God it started! So I sat down to submit my exam and assignment before I forgot everything I had read - I have the retention capability of a, ???, well, I don't know what - but it is bad! So, I'm sitting here doing my assignment and listening to the kids get their chores done before school and all of that. I finished it and went to sit in the living room with the kids and wait for my friend to come and pick Kayla up (we carpool). I notice that Tyler is sitting in the rocking chair all skooched over to one side and he is kind of whining at Kayla to come on. I watch as Kayla sits down beside him and begins to explain the plan of salvation to her four year old brother. It went something like this: Well, you know, we are all bad because we are disobedient and so God decided to pay the price for us because if He didn't do it then we would have had to do it. So, God sent His Son and He died on the cross for us so we wouldn't have to and then He rose again three days later. All we have to do is believe that Jesus did that and invite Him into our hearts. To which Tyler replies - How does He get into your heart? Kayla didn't even miss a beat - she said, well, Tyler, you just have prayer a prayer like this.. and then she proceeded to pray a sinner's prayer. Out of the mouth of babes! One day when Tyler accepts Jesus she will know that she helped to plant the seeds! In my sweet four year olds mind this conversation was finished - he just is not quite at the age of fully understanding a need for a Savior, so his next words were, "now can you tell me a story". Mom - you would be proud, Kayla did a great imitation of the "Mustard Goes to the Chocolate Factory" story! My mother has told Mustard, the Dog stories for years. One day we are going to write them, and have them illustrated and published!

Other sweet words from this morning:

"Mama, bring your face down here!" - This was from Tyler looking for my cheek so he could kiss it!

"Out came the sun and dried up all the rain" - also from Tyler this morning as he stood looking out the window and the bright sky and the deck wet from last night's rain.

The Poetry Tea

Today I was invited to a Poetry Tea in Kayla's class. What fun! They all worked so hard and wrote such great poems. Kayla was the narrator for the whole program and got to introduce each person and tell the name of their poem. Her poem was called "April". The boys in her class escorted all of the parents in and then the girls served refreshments and passed out programs. At the end, Kayla got to help her teacher pass out awards. I thought that this was so cool - her teacher had picked up on each child's strong character traits and had awarded them with certificates. Like, for Kayla, she got "The Most Generous". I thought that was a great idea - her teacher teared up through the program several times and I just couldn't help but think how blessed we are to have had such great, caring teachers. Here are some pictures from the program:

My New Toy

Okay, so I have this new toy! You know it is so fun to have Mother's Day and a birthday so close together, because you just get spoiled rotten! For Mother's Day I got outside stuff that I had asked for. I have been wanting a hummingbird feeder for quite awhile. My dad has hummingbird feeders and they are just so fun! So the kids bought me a really pretty feeder and a shepherd's hook to hang it on. Craig mounted the shepherd's hook to the deck and voila - there we go! So far I haven't had any visitors but I will keep you posted!

A Big Praise!

I got some good news today! Most everybody knows, I think, that I work part-time as a paralegal. My boss has been so good to just take whatever hours that I can give him. I usually work two of the three mornings that Tyler goes to MDO. Well, with summer fast approaching, Tyler will go to MDO just one day a week to give me some time with just Kayla. The past few summers I have gotten one of the girls from church to babysit for me and the kids love it. However, the first summer I just about gave myself a nervous breakdown (really!) running here and there and everywhere. I decided that was for the birds so last summer I went to just one day a week. Well, I just haven't been able to get a peace about what to do and yesterday I decided that I would talk to my boss about letting me work from home this summer and just come in to meet with clients when I need to. It was the first thing that I had truly felt a peace about. So, today I asked him and he didn't even hesitate. He thought it was a great idea and was very supportive. With our embroidery business continuing to grow and move in different directions, I'm hoping that it will work out where I can keep on this stay at home schedule. We'll see. I'm sure there will still be days when I have to go in, so, Kimberly, if you are reading this...:o)

Broken Hearts

Wow - today has been a rough day. I'm not sure where to start. We have some friends here, actually, he is on staff at our church as the Minister to Seniors and Singles, there names are Denny and Vickie. They had a precious baby girl two months ago today. She was born with a skin condition called EB for short. Basically it is where they develop blisters all over there bodies. She has had a rough two months, but tonight she will rest peacefully in the arms of Jesus as she left this world this afternoon. How do we, in our human minds begin to grasp this kind of heartache? I have continually reminded myself today that this was always God's Plan A - He is not surprised, He didn't mess up, He knew Emma's days on this earth would end today. He could have stopped it, but He didn't. Why? The only reason that I can come up with is that somehow His glory is going to shine in her death. I won't pretend that that is very comforting right now. I trust Him, I know He will get them through this, but sometimes you just wonder why. It's funny though, I thought about how God has already walked this road and how He suffers with Denny and Vickie right now also. I know the Bible says there are no tears in Heaven, but I can't help but wonder if God had tears in His eyes when He welcomed that sweet baby home today. Did He remember what it felt like when His Son breathed His last? And just as He did then did He look ahead to see what good was going to come from the situation? I think He did.
I have to tell you that I got to see something today that was so incredibly overwhelming and emotional to me. My very good friend, Janna, is extremely close to Denny and Vickie, so when she called, I piled my children in the van and drove like mad to get to her house. When I got there, me, Jannna, and another friend sat in her room and wept together over Denny and Vickie's loss. When Denny called and asked Janna to come to the hospital, I went to round the kids up and bring them home with me. What I found was this - my daughter, Janna's daughter, and an unsaved friend just beginning to wrap there arms around each other to pray for Denny and Vickie. There are tears in my eyes again at this very moment just thinking of it. I told Janna, "there it is, there is some good coming from this already; there are our sweet babies out there praying in the midst of a little girl who they know doesn't know Jesus." Wow, you know, sometimes you wonder if your children are getting it and you think you continually screw up and then when you see them turn to God immediately when the going gets rough, it just makes you want to praise Him! Please lift up Denny and Vickie tonight. Even if you don't know them - they are brothers and sisters in Christ and they need to feel the prayers of their family in Christ. And while you are praying, hug your children extra hard, read an extra bed time book, rock for five more minutes, and tell them that you love them every day - they are a gift!

The Weekend

Well, my husband played in a golf tournament today and WON! Way to go babe! Their foursome pulled it off and came home with these very cool trophies and some other prizes. He was gone most of the day and got home in time to get cleaned up, have a bite to eat, and then we had some friends over to play cards and have dessert. That was a fun time and it also gave the kids some time to play with some friends. After we got everyone to bed I finished counting my meds for Mexico. THEY ARE DONE!!! Yea! They are all in nice, neat little labeled bags ready to go to church with me in the morning!
Last night Craig and I went out to celebrate Mother's Day and my birthday and we had a great time. We went to Outback for dinner and then spent the remainder of our date at Lowes! I'm becoming a lover of Lowes! We used to go to Wal-Mart on our dates - now we go to Lowes. Anyway, we finalized the choice of color for our countertops. We are not in agreement as to the edging on them though. That will have to be discussed further before we order them. Craig also got some primer to begin working on the walls in the kitchen. The home improvement stuff has been put on hold for a few weeks, but I think we are about to gear back up!
I hope that all of you moms out there have a great Mother's Day tomorrow. I am so incredibly blessed to have a wonderful mother and also a wonderful mother-in-law. I praise God for each of them and hope they know how much they are loved!

Parenting 101

I'm getting ready to bare my soul so watch out! Seriously, I have been having some major struggles in the parenting area as well as in my personal walk with God. Do you have those times when you know something isn't right? Maybe you don't know why or what it is or maybe, like me, you have an idea of what it is, but you are not sure you are ready to go down that road? My life just took a turn down that road. Between the video that I posted several days ago and several devotion entries that I have been reading over the past week things have come to head. Let me see if I can put into words what I have come up with. First of all, I hope that you took the time to watch the video about Audrey. I cannot thank Abbie enough for posting that on her blog - it has rocked my world! It really made me stop and think about what a blessing my children are. So much of the time I get frustrated and impatient because what they are doing isn't what I would like them to be doing - maybe it is interrupting me, maybe I forget what age they are at, maybe...., you get the point. That video really made me realize how important they are to me. I cannot imagine my life without them. But, it also made me realize something else. Todd and Angie lost their little girl, and it is so obvious from their video and their blog that, yes, they are indeed grieving, but they are also shining for the Lord. I can't help but think about what their kids are seeing in them. That made me think about what my own children see in me. What am I reflecting? It is so easy for me to sit back and say I have good, well behaved children, because, for the most part, I do. It is easy for me to say that we are raising them in a Christian home because we are. BUT, I have really stopped to think about that verse in Proverbs that says, "Bring up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." I have heard that verse my whole life and I think somehow I have begun to add my own interpretation to it. You see, I always think, I discipline my kids, I teach them to be respectful and mannerly, I have them in church, so we are doing pretty good. I began to get really convicted though because it seems that I see so many families just like this and when their kids get older they DO depart. Why is that? You know, that verse is a promise. It doesn't leave any room for misinterpretation. God very clearly says, "If you do this, I will do this." So, that brings me to the "in the way he should go" part of that verse. Craig and I went out on a date last night and we spent a ton of time discussing this - what is the way they should go. Yes, it is good for them to be in church, it is good for them to be respectful, it is good for them to be disciplined. However, what do they see in me on a daily basis? What are my attitudes and my responses teaching them? What do they see me watching on TV or what do they hear me listening to on the radio? You know, I am a huge country music fan and I never really thought that much about it until I heard Tyler singing, "She thinks my tractor's sexy." It's kind of funny until you really stop to think about it. Is that something I want my four year old running around singing? You know, we often say, would you be doing that, or saying that if Jesus was sitting beside you? How often we forget that He really is. So that is my challenge and my goal for this point in my life - I want my kids to see Jesus in me. I have heard ugly things being said around my house and I fussed about it the other day until I realized that Kayla was talking to Tyler the same way that I sometimes talk to her. Ouch! That was not a pretty realization, but a most needed one.
So, that is where my thoughts have been the past week or so. I can feel God moving me into a deeper walk and relationship with Him and it is so sweet, but it doesn't come about without change and change is difficult and sometimes painful, but so worth it! Keep me accountable!

Co-Pays, Bulging Ear Drums, and More

The medical field is getting rich off of the Churchill family! I think we have all been to the doctor more in the past couple of months than we have in the past year. With that being said, let me also say that I am not going to complain. I know too many people right now who have either lost children or who have children in the hospital. Therefore, I will not complain about an hour long visit! And praise God - He does always provide the co-pay money! With that being said, I spent the morning at the doctor's office for a minor procedure that my doctor wanted me to have done. My sweet hubby went with me to hold my hand. I don't like the doctor's office at all. I don't do needles or pain well, so Craig went with me to hold my hand and make jokes with me. That's what we like to do - sit in the dr's office and make jokes. He is so much fun and keeps me laughing. The medical staff either laugh with us or look at us like we are morons - we like when they laugh with us! Well, I came home to rest and Craig went to get Tyler from school. We got him home and he was crying because his ear hurt. So I took him to the pediatrician this afternoon and he has an ear that is so infected that it is bulging. OUCH! He has such a high tolerance for pain that usually when he says something hurts he is ready for medical attention. So Craig just left with him to go back to the pharmacy to pick up his prescription and then to pick up dinner. We will all be laying out of church tonight to rest and relax and feel better. Honestly, I do really praise the Lord that this is minor stuff. I can totally handle ear infections and the Tylenol seems to be keeping the pain at a bearable place for Tyler.

Crash and Burn

We had our first roller blading crash and burn over the weekend. I was at a shower and a VBS meeting for most of the afternoon on Sunday. Apparently while I was gone Kayla was roller blading in the garage and went chin first into the scoop on the front of Tyler's tractor. She has a pretty ugly mess on her chin, but is otherwise fine!

My Little John Deere Boy

Tyler has been cracking us up on his little ride on tractor. We bought it for him for his 3rd birthday and up until a week ago, I would say that Kayla probably rode it more. Not so anymore! He is just like a little old man out there plowing the fields or something. He just rides around and around the yard! It is so funny. I will have to try to get some pictures of him on it to post. Every once in a while he gets stuck and has to get off and push and pull and tug and then he gets right back on and resumes circling!

Playing Catch Up!

Yesterday and today have been days of playing catch up and I am loving every minute of it. The past few weeks have been so busy that I have been meeting myself coming and going. Last night I worked on my end of the year AWANA stuff that I have been putting on the back burner all week. Today I got to sleep in until 9:30 - IT WAS AWESOME!!! I put dinner in the crockpot, caught up with Shannon and Mom on the telephone and then headed off to a birthday party. The birthday party was a lot of fun; the kids both got to play and I got to visit with some ladies that I don't always get to chat with - that was nice. I got home from the party and Kayla went to play with Erica and I got to rock and sing Tyler to sleep - I love that I can still do that to him when he is 4 years old. I was getting the house straightened up when Craig got home from work. He has been outside doing more yard work and I have been inside mopping floors, working on my writing class that I have been neglecting, and also getting some more medicines counted for my mission trip. This has all been stuff that has been hanging over my head for the last couple of weeks and it feels so good to get it done. My house is so quiet today! My house is rarely quiet and I must admit that it is nice for a little while...

I Had to Share This

I hope this link will work. A friend of mine posted this on her blog the other day and it has just meant the world to me. It was so heartbreaking, yet so encouraging at the same time. Craig and I have had so many "plan b's" over the last several months and I am ashamed of how I have handled them in light of this family's testimony. If only we could all remember that our Plan B's were always God's Plan A's for our lives - what a comfort. This is about a 20 minute video, but it is worth every second of it - it will bless your heart and hopefully change it too!

Smith Family Story from Matthew Singleton on Vimeo.