Kids, Family, etc...

You know, it seems that no matter what age you are...childhood seems like yesterday. It feels that way to me, sometimes, anyway. I lived with my Gram & Papaw (my dad's parents) for a while when I was very young and I was very close to them. Much closer than typical grandkids, I think. I try to get over to Gram & Papaw's house as often as I can (it's a 5 hour drive). My Papaw is in his 80's and my Gram is in her late 70's. Neither are in pristine health. Over the past year or so, I've come to the grand realization that my grandparents are not going to live forever! This has been very hard for me. I can't imagine not being able to pick up the phone and call my Gram. I can't imagine her not being here to see pictures of my grandchildren. It is just so hard to think about. But I know that they are both Christians and I know where they are going for eternity, when they are no longer on this earth with me. I guess that's where God's comfort "surpasses all understanding".

I look at my own kids. Lace, Josh & Cami.

Lace makes me so proud! I have only been in her life since she was 12...but, wow, all that has happened in these almost 10 years. She has grown from an indecisive, insecure, young girl...into a decisive, secure, sometimes overly opinionated (wonder where that comes from) beautiful woman! I am very blessed to have her as, not only a daughter of mine, but a friend. Now, I just can't wait until her & Julian have kids of their own...in their own time, no rush...but, they will be fantastic parents!



Josh is my miracle baby! There is no doubt in my mind that God spared him for a reason. According to doctors and 'modern medicine', he shouldn't be here today. He shouldn't have gone beyond 8-10 weeks gestation. Then, with pre-term labor a serious concern...he 'tried' to come, 'tried' really hard to come constantly between weeks 22-34! God was protecting him. My full-term baby was born on Thursday, October 24, 1997 at 4:12pm...8 lbs. 3.5 oz...23.5 inches long! I love that boy more than words can say. He has been with me through thick & thin...literally. I truly believe God has great things in store for him. I love to watch him play football, even though I'm the mom, sitting in the bleachers, saying "ooh, don't hit my baby"...lol...John thinks I'm crazy...and I embarass Josh...but the thought of my baby boy, hurt, just hurts me. We rarely see eye-to-eye, mostly because we are so much alike. The memories we are making with him are priceless...he is getting in a habit of praying at night...John prays with him every night at bedtime. He is the most thoughtful kid, ever. He has the biggest heart...though, he doesn't just show it to anyone. I just hope that one day he knows how much I love him, from the bottom of my heart, I love him.



Camille...my little monkey! My my my...she is how I know that God has a sense of humor! I begged and begged for another baby, even.after I knew that I would not be able to carry any more. I still knew there was some way to make it happen. It happened...and she's ours. And, boy, does she keep us on our toes. God must know that I need a challenge...I don't always like a challenge...but apparently God thinks I need challenges! Cami 'can be' a sweet girl. I am so very thankful that she is ours, we love her dearly...she most definately completes our family. She provides us with so much laughter. She loves to read books...she's learning her letter sounds, so she's learning to put them together in books...she'll be reading to me before too long! She brings so much joy to our lives. I hope, one day, that she will know how we longed for her, how she truly completed our family.



Finally, my sad thought...my kids don't have the privilege of having a relationship with their grandparents like I did. John's parents are awesome, but they live far away...they will always be a part of the kids' lives, but they are not in their day-to-day life. My dad & Kayla, pretty much the same thing. They adore the kids...but they are a good distance away, and Kayla (having MS, it limits her) does what she can, but isn't able to travel much. My mom isn't far away, but isn't really the 'maternal' kind...sorry mom, if you're reading this. My mom is one of my best friends, I love her dearly...but, you know it's true. My kids simply don't have the grandparent influence that I did, as a child, and that makes me sad...because I know how much joy my grandparents brought to my life...and still do. I look at some of the ways that I do things...I took a lot from my Gram. My kids only have me to look up to. I'm okay with that, but it still makes me a little sad.

Answered Prayers...and other thoughts

Do you ever wonder how God chooses what prayers He is going to answer, when and how? I do.

I try not to be selfish when I pray. But we all pray the "God please will you..." prayers. I make sure that I truly thank God for everything in my life. Some days I mean this more than others, but I think it is very important that we whole-heartedly thank God for the life He has given us.

This brings me to my last blog post. I got on here today because I haven't blogged in a long time. Almost a month, to be exact. What's funny is that I got on here to blog in reference to an answered prayer. A constant prayer that I've prayed for many years. Something I've cried out to God about. When I re-read my last blog, I noticed that I had mentioned this very request! A very important part of my prayer was answered yesterday! A big, bold burst of God's voice spoke in my life. As I said in my previous post, I am not at a point in my life to share with the world as it is a very tender topic to me. However, I am getting there. If you are close to me, feel free to ask me about it...I just might share. God deserves the credit here, not me or anyone else!

Other than that...well, life has been pretty hectic. We made it through Homecoming...it was so fun! We had our very first Homecoming Dance, here at school. It was so fun...and ALL of the kids behaved themselves. It is awesome to see all of the changes taking place here. John and I are very blessed to still be a very active part of Happy Hill Farm Acadamy. We truly love our jobs and the entire work that God does here.

Things are looking up for Josh. He's still having some struggles with his grades, I have a feeling that school will always be a struggle for him...a constant prayer that we will have, I'm sure! This boy of mine has always had a mind of his own..."Strong-Willed" is what James Dobson calls it! lol I'd say that is an understatement to anyone who truly lives with one of these special children! We had a really good talk the other day, a really good heart-to-heart. I can tell that he is really trying...and we are doing our part.

Parenting is hard sometimes. That is an area that I am not used to handing over to God. I am working on that. God gave these children to us, he trusts us with them...that's the key. I am dedicated to trying to make God proud of how we raise His children. A difficult concept, sometimes. I think it's a little easier with our little ones'. It's much easier for me to look at the sweet, innocent face of a baby or toddler and just know that God has blessed you with that child. That sweet, innocence diminishes over time. Then, at least for me, I took over more control and quit handing it over to God. I couldn't be more wrong! No matter their age, they were God's to begin with and they still are. We are simply entrusted, by God, to bring them up into Godly men and women. That is our jobs...one of our most important jobs. Thank you, God, for trusting me enough to bless me with kiddos to raise and minister to.

To end my blog today, I'm going to copy down they lyrics to a song that has spoke to my heart today...quite often lately...I hope it can bless someone else too:

WHAT FAITH CAN DO
Kutless

Everybody falls sometimes
Gotta find the strength to rise
From the ashes and make a new beginning
Anyone can feel the ache
You think it's more than you can take
But you are stronger, stronger than you know
Don't you give up now
The sun will soon be shining
You gotta face the clouds
To find the siver lining

I've seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn't ever end
Even when the sky is falling
I've seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That's what faith can do

It doesn't matter what you've heard
Impossible is not a word
It's just a reason for someone not to try
Everybody's scared to death
When they decide to take that step
Out on the water
It'll be alright
Life is so much more
Than what your eyes are seeing
You will find your way
If you keep believing

I've seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn't ever end
Even when the sky is falling
I've seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That's what faith can do

Overcome the odds
You don't have a chance
(That's what faith can do)
When the world says you can't
It'll tell them that you can!

I've seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn't ever end
Even when the sky is falling
I've seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That's what faith can do
That's what faith can do

Even if you fall sometimes
You will have the strenght to rise

It's been too long...

I have really been so busy, that I haven't had a chance to write. I'm sure I'm not the most entertaining writer out there, but it is very relaxing and therapeutic for me...so here we go, this is what's on my mind.

Both of my kiddos are in school now. Josh is a big, Jr. High-Schooler now...which means Mom & Dad are idiots, because (of course) we've never been 12 before! We are working through some behavioral issues. We are holding out great hopes that he has learned a great lesson recently. Last Friday, John and I were getting ready to pack all of the Jr. High football players into the bus to leave for an 'away' game when we got a phone call. Josh had been disruptive in class, along with a few other boys and had been sent to the office. His consequence was that he wasn't going to be allowed to play in the game, but he had to sit on the bench and watch the game...support his team. Whoa...I must admit, I was NOT happy about this. My heart immediately wanted to jump to his defense and say "no way, that is too harsh". He loves football! But then, my brain kicked in and said "he has to learn a lesson, it is not acceptable to behave that way". So, I was okay with this decision -eventually- after my battle with myself. Until I ran into Josh in the hallway, after school had dismissed. Oh Lord, I was not prepared for meeting him in the hall, crying. He was so distraught. He was broken-hearted. And ultimately, very disappointed in himself. After I hugged him, we talked for a few minutes and he loaded up on the bus with his team. We had an hour-long drive ahead. He pretty much sulked the entire time. By the time we got to the school, he perked up. He ended up supporting his teammates and encouraging them during the whole game! I was so proud of him. Hopefully, this is the one and only game he'll have to miss due to his behavior! Here's a pic of our 3, after the game...



We finally had some boys move into our house...thank God. We haven't worked with boys for quite some time and I didn't realize until now how much I missed boys! This age group ranges from 8th grade to 10th grade. One of our greatest concerns was the residential kids and our personal kids getting along and living well together. I think this group will be fine...they are good with Cami and Josh seems to like them too. We will have our 'moments', but I am very optimistic about it anyways.

So, we have had our days to ourselves lately, since the kids are in school now. We aren't the greatest at communication. At all. Thank God that we have this weird knack for reading one another's minds! It's funny, we seem to (almost always) just happen to be on the same page. God sure does make us for eachother, doesn't He? No one has ever known me the way my husband does...he just 'gets' me. In no way do I claim to have a perfect marriaged, and after one failed attempt at marriage, I'll never feel 100% at peace with 'forever'. But, God is the only One who heals and there is a peace that only God can give.

I don't have any real topic tonight...just my rambling ways. Today is a very tender and emotional day for me...not anything I can/will share in an open, online forum like this...it's too personal. But, please pray for me. I am praying for peace and forgiveness...forgiveness for myself. I know God has forgiven me, but a mortal, human mind never forgets things.

On to tomorrow...it's going to be a good day!

1st week of school...

I'm learning that no matter what your position is regarding school, it is always hectic! Teacher, nurse, principal, bus driver, coach, MOM, DAD...you get the point. Everyone seems to run around like mad! So, thank goodness the 1st week is almost over, never to be seen again (until next year, of course).

Josh is growing into such an awesome young man...I can't believe I'm calling my baby boy a 'young man'. His elective classes are Agriculture and Drumline. He has been really wanting to be in AG since we've been here...finally, now we'll see how it goes! As for drumline, I am so glad for this class. For any of you who may not know my 'baby boy', he's not the type to just relax. He is constantly in motion. And believe me when I tell you, he has ALWAYS been this way...since conception, I am not kidding! Even when he's not running around, he's tapping on something. He is always tapping on something! As hard as I try to just ignore it, I just can't. I cannot just ignore the constant tapping of a pencil on the cabinet, his foot on the floor, anything...it just drives me insane! So, thank God for drumline! He gets all of this tapping out...and it is a class in school. Where he gets a grade for it! I knew all of his 'practice' for all these years would pay off, eventually. HaHaHaHa...I still can't stand tapping!

Camille...my baby girl, Cami. O my goodness. I thought this baby girl would be at home with me forever! We are all still adjusting to her schedule. She's had good days and bad days. She's had great nights and not-so-great nights. It has just been all over the place this week. Never knowing what to expect next. I guess that's what Mom's of girls experience, huh? WOW...boys and girls are so different! Seriously, Josh was still my baby boy in most of elementary. Cami...ha...she thinks she's grown! Overall, though, she's doing well. She adores her teacher. She seems to enjoy her classmates. It melts my heart when I walk up to the 'exit' door to pick her up for the day, and she runs into my arms saying "Moooommmyyyyy"! I love it! And let me tell you how simply adorable she looks in her school uniform! Just precious! You'd think that kids who wear uniforms to school would have a relatively easy time choosing clothes in the morning? Not so much with MY daughter! Basically, there are 4 choices...and I guess this is too many. Skort, jumper, shorts or pants...that's it. And the colors and designs are the same. Cami LOVES the skort...and wants to wear that every day! At least we can change up the hairbows :)

So, now I should be more productive during the day...except for my work schedule that keeps me playing 'catch-up' during the day at home...but that will be better soon. I hope. We'll get all moved this weekend, and hopefully things will calm down for us. Hectic is making me tired...I need just a little bit of a routine for a minute!

I'll post some pics from this week in another entry...I'm on someone else's computer right now and I don't have my memory card! I say that after I just went to the photo downloading icon and tried to look for my photos in 'my' folder...duh!

Our baby is 5...

It's been a little while since I've blogged...we have been crazy busy!!

John is driving the bus here, finally got his CDL. He will be making trips to Granbury to pick kids up in the morning and drop them back off in the afternoon. I will assist in coaching the Cheerleaders...AND we are moving back to a boys house soon!

God sure is teaching us a lesson in PATIENCE, a very important trait that I've never posessed before now...and I must say I'm not really good with it, yet. I'm working on it. God is surely working on ME.

Besides all of that...today was Cami's birthday party, our baby is 5!





We decided to have a cookout. John loves to grill, and we don't really have enough room to house a large group in our home...so, outside it was. It was HOT. Cami chose Barbie decorations. I ended up rushing around so much beforehand, that I didn't use more than 1/2 of the stuff I bought for the party. Refunds, tomorrow! Cami had a few friends from Pre-school come to her party, and her Pre-school teacher came and was Cami's suprise guest. Cami was very glad to have her. The kids drew with sidewalk chalk, squirted one another with water guns, played in the kiddie pool...and the final,big HIT of the the day...SLIP N SLIDE...they had an absolute blast! And, of course...cake and presents.





When all of Cami's guests left, we cleaned up quite a bit...but there is some left for tomorrow...we were really exhausted. Then, she and Lace kicked back and relaxed on the couch to watch "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". Cami slept for an hour or so, but it wasn't quite enough, she was pretty cranky off & on for the rest of the night. We went to dinner with our friends, Emily & Brad. Got back home a little later than I had wanted to, but I guess it could've been worse. Lace got ready to leave and Cami started to just melt down. Oh my goodness...it was not a pretty sight. Poor thing, she really misses her big sister. She cried and cried. I layed down for a while with her, but she wouldn't go to sleep. We moved into the living room and Daddy rocked her for a couple minutes and she fell sound asleep! That's where she is right now, passed out with Daddy.



Tomorrow is Cami's first day of school and Josh's first day of Jr. High. I really hope Cami doesn't cry. I really, really hope she doesn't cry! Josh will be just fine...my little boy is not so little anymore. He is in AG this year, and SUPER thrilled about it. I am looking forward to watching my little ones learn and grow this year. I wish I could rewind the years sometimes, but since I can't, I'll cherish the moments I have.

I love my kiddos...all of them...and I have the greatest husband in the entire world!

The rest of our vacation...

I realized that I hadn't blogged in a few days! Let's see...

Wednesday was a day of shopping and just chillin' out! John's brother, Jack Jr., took us to the Smoky Mountain National Park. We went to a little part of the river, where you can swim and just relax in the cold water. We got some tubes for the kids and headed to the river. It was the best thing ever! I wish we had known about this spot earlier in the week. I think we would have visited this area more than once. It was not only beautiful, but tranquil and just amazing. Josh would walk upstream and ride the river down to where we were. He had so much fun...until his raft popped! He was going down a small waterfall area and he hit a rock. He had a great attitude though, and kept on exploring...this kind of thing is right 'up his alley'. Cami wasn't a huge fan, she's not too fond of water anyways...and cold water was definately not exciting for her. She was a trooper though, for the most part. Thankfully, Grandma didn't mind sitting with her in the most shallow areas. Grandma sat in the water and played with rocks with Cami. We all ended up having a blast that day. By far, my favorite day of the entire vacation!







Thursday, we cooked out again, washed laundry and packed. Grandma & Grandpa celebrated Cami's birthday all week! They 'casually' gave her a gift every day of the week. On this last day, she got 2. She was so excited...she was dancing around the cabin, singing "This is the best birthday of my life!!!"...so funny.





Friday, we left early in the morning to head home. We drove to Little Rock, AR where we found a Best Western and spent the night. We went swimming in the hotel pool that evening and went to dinner at El Chico's...Mexican, my favorite!!

Saturday, we finally arrived home around 3pm!! The kids were very ready to be home, we were too. It was really funny...I told the kids that we would need their help unpacking the car...Cami whined a little, so I said "Cami, you can either help out or you can go to bed", she was asleep within 10 minutes! I guess she really didn't want to help. When we got home, the kids did help out...and we actually unpacked right away! By 5pm, everything was put away and the dirty clothes were washing...I was very pleased.

I went grocery shopping today, there is never any food in the house when you return from vacation! Now, we are getting ready to get back to work...John had airport duty tonight, picking kids up from the airport. We're planning to 'try' to get our kids on a school-like schedule over these next 2 weeks. Josh starts back to football practice tomorrow, with two-a-days!! That will put him into schedule-mode because by 8 or 9 at night he will be so exhausted that he'll beg to go to bed! This will be the 1st time Cami's ever been on any kind of schedule! She is very excited about starting school. Our plan is to have Cami in bed by 8:30pm and Josh by 9pm. I'll get back to you on how that goes!!

Overall, our vacation was awesome! I think we're going to try to plan a vacation with Lace & Julian sometime in the next year. I'm sure we'll go back to Gatlinburg again, this was our 2nd trip and the stay in the cabin (vs the hotel) was much better. So relaxing...exactly what we needed!

Gatlinburg, TN...

We arrived in Gatlinburg, TN on Saturday afternoon (7/31) after driving in the rain for several hours! Not fun, especially in the mountains of Tennessee. We met up with Mom & Dad Minder and Jack Jr at WalMart in Pigeon Forge, TN to get groceries for the week. Then, we found our cabin and got settled in.

Sunday (8/1) we did some shopping in Pigeon Forge. Josh got his first pair of real boots! Grandpa bought himself a pair and the store he went to has this awesome deal...buy 1 get 2 free! John & Josh got a pair too. Dollywood was next. We spent several hours there. It was fun, but hot and way too humid. Being from Texas, the heat is something we deal with all summer. But the humidity is another story. It is so humid here, it feels like all of the liquids are literally sucked right out of your body within minutes! We dealt with it though...Josh went on with Uncle Jack to ride the 'big kid' rides, so unfortunately I didn't get any pics of him at Dollywood. John and I took Cami to the kiddie section of the park where she could only ride 3 rides! Not because she wouldn't ride them, but because she's too small to ride them. It's irritating to pay nearly full price admission for a child that is 4 but the size of a 2 year old...and the 2 year old is free! Amusement park prices should really be based upon height rather than age. It didn't seem to bother her too much though, when we told her she was too small to ride, she said "oh well, maybe when I'm 5"...lol...maybe! When we got back to the cabin afterward, we just relaxed...sat in the hot tub for a while (yes, eventhough it's hot out, it was still nice)...and then we all crashed.





Monday (8/2) was our full Dollywood day. Well, it was going to be...but we decided that it was really too hot to just hang out there all day. So, we went a little later in the afternoon. We didn't have as much energy that day! We met up with Nic & Tori and their family and some of their friends. We took Cami to play in the water, where she literally got soaked...she had a blast! Josh was a great sport that day...he didn't have anyone to entertain him that day, but his attitude was awesome. We left Dollywood in the evening and went to get dinner at McDonald's, then we headed back to our cabin for the night.



John's brother, Jack, went to have dinner with Nic & Tori on Monday evening. John was messing around the cabin and was playing with the black bear rug. He, being the playful guy that he is, decided that he was going to scare Jack when he returned for the night. Mom, Dad & I laughed SO hard watching him in anticipation for Jack to get back. We ended up sitting on the front porch when Jack pulled into the driveway...John was around the corner of the cabin (with the black bear rug draped over him, acting like a bear) wanting to sneak up on Jack to scare him. We started talking to Jack, acting as if nothing was going on when John started growling and scratching the ground...Jack realized it was him! It didn't work...but it would have been hilarious if it had! No matter how old brothers grow, boys will still be boys!



Today, Tuesday (8/3) was just a 'do whatever' kind of day. First, we drove into Sieverville (sp?) to the helicopter place. Jack wanted to take Josh on a helicopter ride as a suprise! We kept it from him the whole ride there. When we finally got there, Jack asked him if he wanted to take a ride...of course, he said yes! It was a quick flight, but I'm sure he'll remember it forever! His smile says it all...I sure do love my boy.





After the helicopter rides, we went into Pigeon Forge to do some shopping. We just browsed around...and I searched and searched for some jeans for Josh. That boy is growing like a weed...seriously, he is in a size 14 or 16 boys jeans depending on the style. Today I was looking for slim/bootcut...jeans for him to wear with his new boots that Grandpa got for him! I found some in a size 14, but they JUST fit. As fast as he is growing, he'll outgrow them before we get back to Texas! So, I wanted to get him the size 16's but, of course they didn't have any of the style that we liked. Skinny jeans don't look so hot with these boots! I guess we'll look some more tomorrow...because at that point I was tired of shopping.

We had planned a cookout with the whole family back at our cabin. We had hamburgers, brats and hot dogs. It was lots of fun! I got to hold little Colton for a long time...he is soooo sweet! Cami played with Nic & Tori's friends little girl, Bree...they played really well together. Josh just entertained the little kids for a while, then he ventured out and played games outside with the big boys. All in all, it was a great family dinner! I wish we could spend more time together. It stinks being so far away from your own family that we have to explain who these people are to our kids! I guess that internet is a good thing, a good way to stay connected. Anyways...we had a great evening. Now...my son is crashed on the couch, my daughter is snooring in my bed and I'm getting off here. I love my family...goodnight!