A crazy few weeks

The last few weeks have been an absolute whirlwind. We finished up IGNITE at church and my life just went into crazy land. School begins on Monday!

This past Tuesday my princess turned 5. That is F I V E! I remember when I was having the ultrasound during her pregnancy where we found out she was a she. I had such a flood of emotions. I was scared to have a girl on so many levels. I had two boys and boys and boy things were all we had in our house. I knew how to parent boys. I knew what they liked and I knew what made them tick. Now, we were going to take my blue world and throw in a splash of pink ... threw me for a loop. I remember the next day after I dropped the boys off at pre-school, I walked through carters and actually cried. I know, crazy pregnancy hormones. I didn't even know how to SHOP for a girl. For the boys I could grab things and mix  and match them. Didn't need a different pair of shoes for each outfit. Didn't need accessories and I didn't have to do much when it came to HAIR! Now, I was having to re think my whole parenting world. :)

She had been so worth it! I wouldn't trade a day of the splash of pink in our lives. Kennedy is all girl but she can throw down with the boys while she is all made up in her princess attire. She loves to wear dresses and loves bows in her hair. I don't know what I did to deserve a daughter but man am I a blessed momma! So thankful for the past 5 years with this little lady. I pray that I can continue to be the momma she needs me to be!

Pace is about the same. The eating plan didn't change the way he was feeling or the abdominal distention so he was able to come off of it. The doctor is now looking to see if he has a motility issue. So yesterday we had two tests run. One was a gastric emptying study and one was a contrast enema. He is such a champ! He teaches me so much as I walk through this journey with him. Hopefully, we will know the results today of those tests and can move forward from here. I'm tired of going to GI dr's and tired of going to the hospital. I KNOW that he is too.

School begins on Monday and there is so much to do between now and then. Hope y'all have a great weekend!

IGNITE 2013

This week at our church we are having our kids camp week. We call it IGNITE - it's like VBS but so much more than any VBS I attended as a kid. This is like a youth camp but geared toward Kindergarten through 5th graders. It's AMAZING!

I love watching the kids worship. They are all in and hold nothing back. They are expressive and they have joy on their faces. They are alive and in the moment. So many times on Sunday morning, I look around and think, these adults need some kids to come in and show them how it's done! I really think that our kids could teach us how to worship. I know that during this time with Pace, I am learning a lot just by watching him as he walks through this time. His faith amazes me daily. I guess this is why scripture teaches us to come to Him with the faith of a child. It's totally pure and I love it!

This week I have also been blown away by our volunteers. They are coming out of their shells and having so much fun with these kids. We have over  80 volunteers from our church and 53 middle school students with Chaperones from VA here helping us pull this week off. It's amazing to watch as people come in straight from work, feeding their kids from a drive through, and sometimes not eating themselves - to serve for 5 nights. I love it!

Two more nights and we are going to blow the roof off! It's TIME TO SHINE!

And my heart broke ...

This morning on the way to school, I had to fight off the tears. Our neighbor across the street asked if his daughter could ride with us this morning because he had an early morning appointment.

Two years ago his wife slipped and fell and has been in bed ever since with her injuries. She sleeps most of the day because of the pain meds she is on. She has very little interaction with her husband or her kids.

This morning as we were driving to school I overheard the kids in the backseat talking. As they were talking the friend kept telling the boys how much she loved their mommy. Then what brought me to tears is she asked them if she could live with us because she wanted a mommy that wouldn't sleep all day.

I just felt so sorry for her ... my heart just ached for her and the missing role of mom in her life right now. I pray that God will heal her mom and that she will be able to be back to being a daily part of her daughters life soon.

I also drove away after dropping them off and thanked God that I have not had to work outside the home. I was just crying out to God and thanking him for allowing me to be available to my kids 24/7 .... what a blessing I have taken for granted!!!

If you think about it please pray for my neighbor and their family ... please pray for this mom and that she will be able to be more a part of her families life. That God will take away her pain and that she can be more present in her daughters life because she definitely needs her.

Weekend Re-cap

This past weekend we celebrated KK's third birthday. It was so much fun. This year she was SOOOOO very excited about her birthday. It has been all she talked about since May - seriously! As it got closer and we had it planned she was inviting people we didn't know to her party - our cashiers, anyone who walked by us at the store, you get the picture? It was fun to see her joy and excitement as she approached her 3rd birthday. It looked like it might rain Friday afternoon but thank the Lord it did not. Very thankful that God kept the rain away and allowed my girl her night to celebrate!

Saturday we took her out to eat and the restaurant staff sang to her when they brought out her dessert. The smiles just could not be contained. I loved watching her take it all in!

We started a new tradition this year on her birthday. I've read about friends and others that do this and so I wanted to incorporate it into our family. So Sunday morning as we were eating breakfast we all went around the table and told KK how thankful we were for her and one quality she had that stood out to us. It was so much fun hearing the boys lift up their sister - and to watch her face as they did it! AND the best part is they are looking forward to the next birthday when we can do this again!

One other moment to cherish from this weekend happened at her party Friday night. One of our friends little girl fell and got hurt at the beginning of the party. I was with my friend as she tended to her daughter and tried to figure out what steps to take next. Another friend came up to me and said that one of my boys went to Jeremy and asked him if they could pray for her. My heart melted. I love that all 3 of my children believe in prayer and aren't afraid to ask for prayer or to pray for something or someone. I pray that they will carry this with them throughout their lives.

And by the way .... God answered his prayer and their little friend is doing just fine!

Bad Blogger

I've been a bad blogger lately, B.A.D! Bad! It's not that there is nothing going on in my world .... it's that there is TOO much going on in my world. 3 kids, school for 2 of them, tea dates with a princess, errands, house to clean, friends to see, time with God and time with my man leave me little to no time to sit down and chronicle what is going on in our world. In fact life has been so busy that I have not picked up my camera to take pictures of my 3 in over a month .... gasp ... did I just say that? Yes, I did and sadly it's true!

We are just in a crazy busy stage right now ... but in just a few days life will pause for about 7 days while my man and I get away for a few days. The in-loves are coming in to care for my 3 while Jer and I get some much needed R&R! To say I'm looking forward to it would be an understatement!

So I'll see y'all on the flipside! Sorry the blog has been so non-existent lately ... I'll work on that when we return. Have a great day y'all!

3 Little Valentines

These guys make me smile each day! They are an absolute joy to parent and I am so blessed to have them as mine!!

For Valentines this year I got to go on two dates. One with my Big V Valentine, and one with my 2 little v valentines. Jeremy took me out first and then he helped the boys ask me out on a date the day after Valentines day. My two little men brought me a balloon and a few flowers. It was so cute as they asked me to go out on a date with them. Jeremy put money in Ryan's pocket and told both boys how to treat me on a date. We had such good conversation.

While we were out on our date, Jeremy asked a little 2 1/2 year old princess out on a date. He showed up after work with an orange rose and off they went. She was so excited to go out with her daddy. By the time this girl gets to the age of 20 or 30 and she is allowed to go on her first date, she will know how to be treated by a male because her daddy will have set the bar so high! Jeremy said she talked the entire time they were out, I don't doubt it at all because she has so much to say. She doesn't like a quiet moment, she talks ALL.THE.TIME!

I love that my children know my first love is with Jesus, my second love is for my husband and that they fall in line right after him. I love that they get to see their father date me and love me and that they get to go out on special dates with us! I love the look in their eyes when we are together ... they know they are special, they know they are loved and they know that will never change!

I love my family!

Happy 2011!

Merry Christmas and Happy new Year! I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and will have a wonderful 2011 as well! I'm not doing great at keeping up this blog lately. Life has just been so insanely busy! So much is going on and I feel like I have so much going on to write about ... just not enough time to do it all in!

We have had a wonderful Christmas break and I cannot believe that Monday my boys have to go back to school. It's been so fun having them home. Although, it has been exhausting as well. Those three have more energy than I know what to do with sometimes!! We are incredibly blessed to be able to parent these 3! I love every crazy minute of it!

I hope that you have had a wonderful time with your family and friends over the past few weeks as we took time to pause and celebrate the gift given to us so many years ago!!

Have a blessed 2011 peeps!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you and yours! We have had a busy few weeks that began with thanksgiving and will end sometime after the new year. So, the blog may be a bit quiet but I can assure you that it is NOT quiet around our home. :-)

We are preparing to celebrate Jesus birthday around here. Don't shoot me e-mails I know that it's not his actual birthday, but it is a time we have set aside and we celebrate it. Our culture has made it so hard to remember the "reason for the season" (in my head I'm singing the old song - he is the reason ... sing with me won't you).

A few years ago at a moms group I attended, the leader brought this statue above and I fell in love with it .... I love the idea behind it and the meaning it holds. It's about Jesus!! I love little reminders that help us all remember the true reason that we stop and celebrate on December 25th ... it's not for presents under our tree, those are nice, but really not needed. For the best present we have ever been given, came and was born of lowly stature for you and for me. He left it all for us! Let's celebrate that!

O come, O come Emanuel! REJOICE!

Lessons from a 6 year old

Today at 4:08 am my baby turned 6! The last 6 years have absolutely FLOWN by! In 6 years Ryan has lived in 3 different states, in 5 different houses, he has gone to 4 different schools, and 4 different churches (not counting all the ones we visited trying to find the one) He has the biggest heart and is ALWAYS striving to do his very best at everything he does.

This year in April Ryan decided to give his life to follow Jesus. His heart has been transformed so much over the last year .... I have seen such tremendous growth. We have had our periods of trial and error but he is learning and his heart is being softened. The best thing is that I see his mind working and I see his heart bending towards the things that matter to the heart of God.

Each year at Christmas, our children get 3 gifts, to represent the 3 gifts that the wise men brought to Jesus when they visited him. Its our way to teach them many lessons at Christmas. They also give away 3 of their toys at Christmas ... it makes room for what they will get but it also teaches them to give to others who do not have as much as us - they get to pick what 3 toys are given away. (we also buy new gifts to give away, so don't think we are scrooges)

This year as Christmas has gotten closer and closer we have talked about the various ways as a family we can help those around us who are in need. One of the things that we talked about was Ryan's birthday. We talked to Ryan about how much he has and how blessed he is compared to so many. (God had already been working on his heart) We asked him if he would mind asking others to bring a gift not for him, but a donation for others. He was more than excited about this idea.

Saturday, was his birthday and everyone who attended brought a donation for a local rescue shelter in our area. We had toiletries galore! Soap, razors, deodorant, toothpaste, tooth brushes, etc ... all for a 6 year olds birthday! He was so excited when we got home and looked at everything that had been brought. His brother even commented how he wanted to do the same thing for his birthday!!

Fast forward to today ... his birthday ... we picked him up from school and took him to deliver his donation to the rescue shelter. We had so much stuff that Ryan couldn't carry it in. We walk in and the staff greeted him with such a grateful heart .... the woman who runs the shelter came out and told us that the Lord told her to pray over Ryan and our family. She prayed the sweetest prayer over him. I cried. I was blown away with how she prayed for my son. I have prayed some of the same words but he is MY son, I should pray those prayers. This lady had no clue, zero, who this child was, she didn't know him before he walked in the door and she has no connection to him. But the prayer she prayed ... WOW! She spoke a word over my son and I cannot wait to see how God brings it to fruition! I've known God was doing something special in his life, but to hear a stranger also testify to that ... WOW is all I can say, WOW!

Today we were blessed so much more than we were a blessing! I love how God encouraged us today as parents through this womans prayer over my son! I loved seeing the JOY on my childs face as he received nothing but gave away instead. I loved seeing how it trickles down to the other two. I love how his heart is changing and growing!

Thanksgiving Vacation

Last week we went on Vacation! It was wonderful! We had 7 days of rest and relaxation and 2 days of jammed, packed crazy fun ... all in all 9 days of priceless memories! We finished our photos for our Christmas card and I can't show the pictures until they go out in the mail ... don't want you to see them before you receive them. But the picture to the left was just a fun out take from one of our photo sessions.

We were able to go to the beach, visit with family, swim, see Santa and a few other surprises as well ... it was a MUCH needed week off! We also went to a place on the beach that had dancing lights ... very cool!

It was fun to just hang with the kids and Jeremy! No agendas, no meetings, no schedule to adhere to ... just down time! That's what I call a nice vacation! Hope you all had a wonderful week and a Happy Thanksgiving!

Great-Grandparents

Grandparents are the best! I have such fond memories with both sets of my grandparents. My mom's parents and my dad's parents were best friends and so I was lucky enough to be able to spend time with both together. My grandparents made time with them special and I am so thankful for the time I had with them. I'm still blessed to have one set still alive but their health is failing fast. It's sad watching them fade and knowing that I can't just call the other set on the phone and talk whenever I want. I miss them so!

My kids are blessed to have both set of grandparents and to have 3 grandparents in their lives. I LOVE seeing my kids with my grandparents and Jeremy's grandmother. There's just something special about it. I love how much they love them and no matter how much time is passed between seeing them .... they never shy away from them. It melts my heart!

We are so blessed!

Hello

How are you? Hope that you guys are all doing well. Life around here is simply ... BUSY! The boys are both in school. Ryan, 5 days a week and Pace 4 days a week. Ryan has homework like you would not believe ... can't believe that a kindergartner has so much! It's crazy! Then you throw soccer practice and soccer games on top of church and life and you have a FULL week!

Thankful for the fullness though! For those who have asked the doctors office called today and my blood work came back in the negative numbers which is what they want after a miscarriage I do not have to have any further testing. We are still processing the loss and trusting God through it all.

Well, I have all 3 in bed and yes it is 7:27 PM! Jeremy is out at a meeting and I have the next 2 hours by myself. :) Time to veg!

Enjoy your night y'all!

Our weekend

Our weekend was FULL, yet so much FUN! We needed a weekend like this! Friday we were able to enjoy a date night thanks to some wonderful friends who picked our one son up from school for us and another set of wonderful friends who kept ALL 3 of our kids.

Saturday we headed out to Ryan's first ever soccer game! It was a hoot! 14 kids all chasing this little ball and kicking each other in the shins .... hilarious! Ryan did great and had a wonderful time playing. He was given best defensive player star for the game. We just love Upward! The kids get devotions at every practice and they also learn Bible verses each week. We came home and enjoyed a lazy Saturday with football and I was even able to get a pedicure .... oh it was wonderful!

Sunday we were at church and then spent the afternoon with friends watching football, eating wings and the guys played Rock band. Definitely some fun memories were made.

It was definitely a much needed weekend. Today we are back to the grind with a busy week! I go to the DR today to have my levels checked .... don't anticipate any problems, just a routine check up.

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

A better place?

Is there a better place in the world to dance than on your grandfathers toes?

It's somewhat quiet

It is somewhat quiet around the house this week. The boys are with their grandparents this week. They are two peas in a pod and honestly, best friends. It's different not having them here.

I say it's somewhat quiet because well, honestly, Kennedy is talking a mile a minute and there cannot be any silence where she is concerned. If she is not talking, she's asleep. She doesn't have her brothers to talk to so I naturally, have taken their place. I love it, don't get me wrong ... but you can only hear some things so much before going bonkers :)

I've said many times this week that having the 3 is much easier than having the 1! :) And I'm not even kidding! We are having some fun girl time but I know that I have my work cut out for me this fall in teaching Kennedy how to play alone for a few minutes at a time.

Well, I've been invited to a tea party with a princess, so I better not hold her up for very long. Have a great day!

Alone

This week I'm alone with my girl! It's just the two of us during the day and daddy at night. The boys are off visiting their grandparents. I began missing them terribly about 5 minutes after they were gone :)

I'm not the only one missing them though! Kennedy misses them like crazy. She doesn't like being the only child at all. Jeremy and I were commenting last night that she doesn't know how to play without her brothers. This morning I tried to take her to the pool before the rain popped in and she threw the biggest fit because the "boyz" were not with us. She kept calling out for Ryan and Pace. We didn't last long because she couldn't handle it without them.

I think it will be a long week with the boys gone. By the time she learns how to cope .... it will be time for them to come home. :)

I'm looking forward to some alone time with her though! Maybe we will go get our toes painted together ... there will definitely be lots of tea parties and dressing up :)

Life has been busy!

Life has been incredibly BUSY lately!! So I have declared today a day of rest. I thought we might go to the pool and then go run some errands but I have decided to do neither. My kids need rest, and so do I!

Jeremy has been SO very busy at work. It's a good thing, however, he is working longer hours and is drained when he gets home. After this month is over life will slow down for him. Hopefully, we can get some down time together soon!

Last week, I kept a friends little girl all week who is 16 months old. She is such a sweetie but I got a close sense of what it would be like to have twins. :) It was fun but oh so busy and my evenings were full doing things I normally accomplished during the day. All worth it though to help out a friend.

Then on Friday, we had a family drive in to spend some time with us while they house hunt and get to know the area. It has been great having them with us and we are still enjoying our time with them.

Friday of this week, Jeremy's parents come into town and we will spend a few days with them along with celebrating Fathers day!

Next week is VBS ... this summer is certainly flying by and packed ... So the blog may be a little quiet these days but my life is definitely not! Hope you all are enjoying your summer!

Patience

Patience is not a virtue that many little people have ... in fact it's pretty hard for some of us big people :) Yesterday, my brother and SIL were close by so we drove over to spend the afternoon with them. All 3 of my kids LOVE the beach!

My brother is the perfect uncle and is a big kid at heart. He had Ryan out on his boogie board in no time flat. Ryan LOVED it and enjoyed riding the waves in. He was so impatient though. He couldn't wait on the big waves he wanted to ride each and every single one. He was having fun though. We just might have a surfer on our hands!

We had such a fun day. Uncle Benjamin buried both of the boys and then they buried him. Kennedy had fun running from the waves. She got knocked down once but she got right back up.

There's just something peaceful and calming about being at the beach!

Conversation with Ryan

This weekend we were driving and Ryan saw a motorcycle beside us. He began talking about "when he was a parent" he wanted to own a motorcycle. I told him that "when he was a parent" he was welcome to buy himself one. He then said he would buy two ... one for him and one for his wife. We all just smiled and talked about it for a few minutes. Then I told him that I was going to pray that God would take away his desire to have a motorcycle .... He then commented ...

"NO MOM, please don't pray that. Mom you can't pray that. Mom DO NOT pray that."

He knows that God answers prayer! :)

Wonderful Weekend

This weekend we spent some time with one of my closest friends at the beach. She is one of those friends that challenges you in every area of your life. She is someone that I look up to and respect more than she will ever know. She has taught me so much in the last 10 or so years that we have been friends. She is definitely a "balcony friend" - one of those friends that will cheer you own pushing you forward not pulling you down ... I just love her. Everyone needs a Karen in their lives. I'm blessed that she is a part of mine!

And what's better than that is that our kids love each other too. It was so fun watching our kiddo's play together on the back porch swinging, in the ocean, in the sand or walking around town. As we were driving home my boys were asking when we would see them again. They were sad to know that it would be a while as they just loved their time with them.

Karen, Chad, E & C we love you guys! Praying for you as you journey into your next chapter of your lives! Cannot wait to see what God does in and through you and how he blesses your obedience and answers some of the desires of your hearts! I won't comment on the fact that you are moving the wrong direction ... well the wrong direction for me! I know you are going where God has called you to and prepared for you and I'm excited for you ... sad for us!

Thanks for being such wonderful hosts! We had a blast! Love you guys!