Life Lately

Well.  A lot happened since my post on Tuesday.  I am so grateful that the Lord allowed me to wake up so early that day, because He knew that I would need Him.  When Andy the Wonder Dog woke up that morning, he was much worse that usual.  I feel like he had slowly been leading to this day, but on Tuesday, he was worse.  I called my husband and he agreed to come home and that we would just let that day be when we had him put to sleep.  (He had a neurological disease that made him partially paralyzed in his back legs, his arthritis was out of control, and he had lost a lot of control over his bladder.)

He had suffered too long already, and it was cruel to allow him to go on.

So, Todd came home, we said our tearful goodbye's, and he and Graham drove off with him in the back of the Bronco.  Here's a picture I took of him that morning.

He was born in December of 2002 and we got him in April of 2006.  He was the most gentle, loveable, one hundred and thirty something pound of pure teddy bear.  He loved us well and we loved him well.  We were his second owners, with one lady from our old church as a temporary owner in between his original people and us.  He is already missed.  I keep finding myself listening for his bark, or hearing him sigh as he lays his head down, and when I remember that he's gone, I get all teary again.  

And Crash is doing okay, but he is a tiny bit weirded out by his food bowl being gone.  We've only left Crash alone twice since then, and both times I put the gate up, to keep him downstairs.  Going upstairs is when he gets into trouble, so I thought it was a good idea to keep using the gate.

We're all okay, though, as much as we can be~Jonah came downstairs sobbing last night, and I keep tearing up, but that is to be expected.  

To get out of the house on Tuesday, we loaded up and went to my in-love's house for dinner and swimming.  It did all of us good.

In other news, over the weekend, I got my hair cut.  

And then yesterday, I got highlights.  :)

I love it.  There is nothing quite like sitting in a salon chair and letting someone else do this for me.  I could have fallen asleep as she washed my hair afterward.  

I also took the boys to Academy yesterday~they were in need of some athletic shorts, and they have the best ones.  An hour later, I questioned my decision.  You wouldn't think it would be that difficult to pick out athletic shorts, but apparently, it's a big deal.

And yesterday, the coolest thing happened.  Jen Hatmaker invited all of her new book's launch team members to her house in September, for a launch party.  I would LOVE to go, but I'm not sure if it'll happen or not.  I guess we'll have to get a little closer to that time.  

Last night was church and today is helping a friend with some stuff at church, then maybe swimming, then laundry and packing, and a nap, if I can help it.  (Drew woke me up at midnight and we texted for a while.)  It's a busy day, because at eleven fifty-nine tonight, we will take Jonah and Noah to church.  They are leaving for Panama City Beach at one a.m. tomorrow morning.  I am so excited for them!  My babies are growing up.  Graham, Drew and I leave on Monday morning for our camp in North Carolina.  

Fun things are happening around here!  It's exciting, this time of summer.  It's definitely my favorite time of year.

Love to all!

making use of the time God provides

Are you like me, and aim to wake up early and spend quality time with God, and then fail in epic ways most mornings?  I'm just keeping it real, friends.  If you are like me in that way, know that you are not alone in this.  I used to be so good at waking up extra early for quiet time, and little by little, I started sleeping in a little later each day.  Which would be okay, except for that I always have a house full of kids who get up right after I do.

That is why, when I woke up at four a.m. this morning and laid there for an hour, I got up and came downstairs.  I started the coffee pot, but I didn't pour a cup until just about ten minutes ago. Last night I started the third installment (for the third time) in the series by Neta Jackson that I so love, The Yada Yada Prayer Group, and one of the last things I read was an excerpt out of Isaiah 43.

"Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are Mine;
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the LORD your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior..."

(Verses 1-3)

I sat down with my Bible and my journal, and I read all of that chapter.  And then I started praying, because I felt a burden to pray for the counselors and students going to camps from our church over the next seven days, all of my family and myself included.

I don't always wake up so early and I certainly don't always feel such a heavy burden to pray, but when I do, I figured I had better do something about it, and the only thing I know to do in these times is to pray.  I feel like that's probably the whole reason I woke up in the first place.

Do you have moments like this?  Do you ever wonder why you suddenly wake up in the middle of a really great night of sleep?  I occasionally do this, but rarely do I feel the need to actually get out of my bed and come downstairs.  This morning I was praying specifically for a few girls by name, but in general, I prayed for all of us who are going to camp.  If you would like to join me in prayer, I would appreciate it!  Todd, Jonah and Noah are leaving at one a.m. on Friday morning, for camp in Panama City Beach, Florida.  Monday morning, Graham, Drew, and I will be leaving for Student Life camp near Asheville, North Carolina.  I already know that I will be with and will be teaching the eleventh grade girls during our small group time.

I just pray that these girls (and my own kids) get the goodness of God, and that He draws them to Him.  I know that not all of them are where they need to be, in regards to their relationship with God, and I want that so much for them.  Especially because these girls are about to be seniors in high school, and statistics say that the years from 18-23 are the hardest, and it's in that time, usually, that they pull away from God.

Please, please, please help me pray for them.

I decided that since I was already up, and will be teaching them during our small group time, that I would take some time to study.  I had already looked it all over and gotten through part of day two, but I needed to finish.  I wish I could just share all of what the lessons are, on here.  I might do that after camp~share some notes, or some of the highlights.  The lessons are amazing and I know they have the potential to be life-changing for the students.  I am praying that God will work in all of their hearts while they're at camp.

It's not often that I get such awesome time alone with God.  I am almost ashamed to admit that, but I do sometimes let busy-ness and other things creep in and steal that time.  (Email.  Facebook.  Extra sleep.)  I pray that this changes, and that He will start to wake me up each morning.  It's crucial to spend time alone with Him, reading His word, reflecting on it, (for me) journaling about what I've read, and then spending time praying.  I know all of this, but knowing it and following through are two totally different things.  That is why I thought it was so important to make the most of the time God gave me this morning.  I know He doesn't just do this for me, but for a lot of you as well, and I challenge you to look for those moments and then act on them.

I promise you, your day will not be the same.

Love to all.

Life Lately, Weekend Edition

The last week was nothing but a huge blur.  I will be honest~during the week, we stay home most days so the boys can finish their school work.  When last week found us on the go every single day, once we got to the end of the week, I was beat!  I thought I would share what the last few days has looked like.

I spent some sweet time with one of the girls from our youth, and we went to this sweet little coffee shop on our town square called Square Beans for coffee and cinnamon rolls.  This thing was every bit as delicious as it looks in this picture.  When we were done, I took her to the shop where my mom works and introduced them and we looked around.

After five weeks of no washing machine, the hubs and I went to pick out a new one at Lowe's.  The insurance company we were fighting with finally agreed to send us a check for a new one, and we acted immediately.

And Crash got to go with us.  He loves going with us to Lowe's.  His tail pretty much wagged the whole time, especially when a couple of kids came over and petted him for ten minutes.  Kids love this dog and he loves their undivided attention.

We celebrated the start of summer vacation with a fun night at church on Wednesday night.

And I dealt with this dog who hates thunderstorms.  He gets so scared and pretty much stays glued to my side.

I watched this little boy while his parents and movers moved them out of their house.

And we said goodbye to our favorite neighbors.  Well, I didn't say goodbye to them and they didn't say goodbye to me, because we all hate goodbyes.  So we just sort of walked away and then before I knew it, they had driven away.

On Friday, I was so glad to have made it past Thursday.  I had dreaded that day for so long that I was glad to see it gone.  We went to an eighth grade graduation to see a sweet girl graduate.

And I made Drew be still while I took a picture of him with Emma.

We went to my mom-in-love's house afterward and the kids all swam.  I stayed as far away from the sun as possible and still managed to get some.  We came back home and got dressed, went to a graduation party, then went to one last graduation.

It's not everyday that students get to see their youth pastor graduate from seminary.  We had a few extra's with us.  :)  As always.

It's been a fun and extremely busy week, so I am glad for a day of nothing.  This week I am sending kids and my husband off to camp, we're swimming, we're shopping for shorts, we're packing, we are hanging with friends, and I am studying for the Bible study I'll be teaching to the eleventh grade girls next week while we're all at camp in North Carolina.

I do believe summer time has arrived, and I do believe this is my most favorite time of year.

Love to all.

our weekend getaway

This past weekend, Todd and I went to St. Louis for one night.  His brother Tim celebrated his forty-first birthday on Thursday of that week, and as a surprise, we met them in St. Louis along with Tracy's brother and his wife.  I was shocked that he didn't pick up on the surprise, because they arrived at the same hotel at the same time.  And her brother and his wife kept having to hide from him, as they would spot him walking through the garage or the lobby.  Todd and I got there first and checked into our hotel, then took a cab to their hotel, which was a lot closer to Busch stadium.  They arrived at the hotel and we all met up for the surprise at the restaurant at the top of the hotel.

Here are all of us.

From the restaurant, we walked to the stadium and up and up and up, as we made our way to our seats.

It was a gorgeous night, once the drizzly rain went away.  The Cardinals lost and a woman got mad at us for standing up during an inning (I didn't even know that was a THING) as we went to buy ice cream, but it was a really fun night.  Here are Tim and Todd.

We were on our way out of the stadium when I took this.  Tim was dancing prior to this, hence the laughing smile you see on his face.  We went back to their hotel and had Starbucks afterward, and finally, at almost midnight, we made it back to our hotel.

It was a really fun night away from home, and St. Louis has some beautiful buildings.

We slept really good, and woke up at nine the next morning.  We got dressed and grabbed some breakfast, then began the drive home.  The smile on Tim's face as he saw us made the whole trip totally worth every penny.  We love spending time with them and always have fun when we're all together.  I wish it could happen more often!

Love to all.

Show & Tell Tuesday

I am linking up with Andrea from Momfessionals for this post.

Momfessional: a confession about being an imperfect mom.

This is a post of random things that I do as a mom that I have never publicly admitted to anyone before.  Consider yourself warned, and please, no judging.

I have never been the kind of mom who had a bedtime routine when the boys were little.  We would go say goodnight, but aside from that, there was nothing sweet of extra special about it.  We would pray with them sometimes and kiss them, we would say I love you and goodnight, and we would come back downstairs and watch our tv shows.

Or sometimes, we would make some of those break and bake cookies and eat the entire package.

We've even been known to turn it to Disney and watch Hannah Montana, back in the days when Miley Cyrus wasn't gross.

I have never been the kind of mom who makes breakfast.  I mean, I do sometimes make them pancakes or something special, like a breakfast casserole, or sausage and biscuits, but usually?  It's cereal.  And cheese-it's with a glass of chocolate milk.  Don't knock it till you try it, either...might sound gross, but it's oddly delicious.

My house might look awfully put together in my pictures, but it's because I'm a bit of a freak about it.  I get on to my kids way too much for messing things up around here.  I know, I know...someday they'll be gone, and then my house can be perfect, but I won't lie~I like things neat and orderly.  I freak out a bit when I come home from somewhere and things are messy.  Ahem, Saturday, when my kids were alone and I came home from St. Louis.

I tend to get REALLY mad at my kids and I am hard on them.  I feel like I am, anyway.  Sometimes being a parent sucks, especially when the teenage years come.  Not always, just sometimes.

I do not love animals.  I sometimes wish we didn't have any, but my husband INSISTED that we let the boys have dogs, and I caved.  And now that we're about to have to make a decision on the oldest one, I really hate it.  I didn't want the dogs and I am the one who is super attached.  And deciding on whether or not an animal should keep on living or be put to sleep is another thing that sucks.  The things we do for our kids...

I sometimes sing things to my kids.  Like, instead of telling them what to do or how to do something, I sing it to them.  And. They. Love. It.  ;)

I secretly take pictures of them all. the. time.  I'm so good at it, seriously.

As much as I love them, I feel the need to get away from them, every once in a while.  I am thankful that I have teenage girls to hang out with, who humor me.

When they were little, I was glad I had someone to watch all those awesome animated movies with...The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Toy Story...now that they're older, I have been known to sit and watch my favorites without them (Tangled).

I have secretly picked out the girls I think they should pursue, and someday, marry.  And I pray for their future wives forever, and I have since they were little bitty.

Well, my brain is done for tonight.  It's been a long day!

Love to all.

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday!  I am excited about this weekend...but more about that on Monday.  ;)  I'm linking up with Andrea at Momfessionals for the writing of this post.

This week has had some laughable moments.  Lately, if I don't laugh, I might cry.  I choose to laugh.

One of my favorite moments to laugh about happened on Wednesday.

I had been cleaning the glass on this door and I stuck my head out to tell Jonah and Noah something, and when I shut it, this thing swung around.  I thought it was on the inside and I about had a come-apart.  Turns out, he was outside.

Whew.

Another favorite moment that we laughed over this week was this girl.

This was at church Wednesday night.  There's an ongoing debate over who Emma loves more~Chandler (left) or Todd.  Of course, if you throw Drew into the equation...then he wins.  ;)

It's mutual.  I adore her.

The greatest laughable moment of this week was yesterday morning.

We looked like the Clampet family going down the road.  We had our house bombed for bugs yesterday and we had to get out for four hours.  We had to take all four animals to the vet (Andy in the trunk area, Crash in the third row, Skippy in a carrier on the second row and Twinkles in Drew's lap, because we don't have another cat carrier) to get them out and to have baths, and because THIS. IS. WEEK. FOUR. of no washing machine, we had all our dirty laundry to take to my in-love's house to wash.

And I was smiling.  (Remember what I said earlier?  If I don't laugh, I might cry!)

We are like a zoo around these parts.

It's been a great week.  I hope yours has been too!  Love to all.

life lately

On Friday of last week, my mom-in-love and I went to lunch, and to a nail place to get manicures and pedicures.  I don't often do this, so it was a splurge that I enjoyed very much.  In a very unlike me moment, I chose different colors for my hands and toes.  On my toes is a pretty coral color called My Chihuahua Bites, and on my fingers is this lovely shade of green by Essie whose name I do not know.  It's just now starting to come off, so on my list of things to do today is to re-do my my fingernails.  :)  This was a lovely Mother's day treat.

Also on Mother's day, after church, we went to lunch with our moms.

This was a treat, too!  We went to Booya's, where I ordered a tilapia taco and enjoyed the yummy salsa that I could just about drink.  The line was so long, but it was worth the wait.  I love these two ladies so much.

It's been a pretty low key week around these parts.  School is winding down for us, with all the "big" subjects having been finished already, so we've been just hanging out, trying not to watch television all day.  We've been reading and the boys have cleaned and gone through things and have slept late.  One thing they've enjoyed is being able to stay up late for the Grizzlies games.

While they watch those games, I read.

I finished this book on Monday night.  (Having A Mary Heart In A Martha World.)

Last night I started watching a new show on Netflix.  I'm pretty sure I watched three episodes in bed, which is why I didn't want to wake up this morning.  I would tell you the name, but won't, lest you judge me for it.

I laughed at Andy when he took possession of the antler Crash has been chewing on.  He held it in his mouth and just sat with it that way.  I finally had to take it from him, because his teeth are really brittle, and we've been told to not let him have things like that anymore.

This old guy has some life left in him yet.

That's about all we've been up to this week.  I hope yours is going good!  Love to all.

Mother's Day

To my family and friends who are single moms, to my family and friends who have kids but may have been forgotten today, and to my friends who long to be moms someday~

"The LORD bless you and keep you;
the LORD make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the LORD lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace."

(Numbers 6:24-26)

I am fortunate to be able to celebrate my mom on this day.  I am even MORE fortunate to be able to celebrate both my mom and my husband's mom together at lunch after church today.  I do not take these moments for granted, and I thanked God for them this morning.  I also thank God for my sweet and lovely step-mom, who is another mom to me, and who is a wonderful helpmate to my dad.

I am blessed, and I am grateful.

(Left to right~Phyllis, me, Mom.)

And to the ones who made me Mom~

"I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers."  (Ephesians 1:6)

These boys.  I am thankful to God Almighty, Who entrusted me with raising them up in the way they should go.  I want to give them a lot of things, but what I most want to give them is Jesus.

I pray that in my life, they see Him reflected.  I pray that they model after me in loving Him, in serving Him and in reading and studying His word.

I want them to have and know and love Jesus all the days of their lives.

I don't want them to ever know even one second without Him at the center of their lives.

I pray that they walk with Him continually, and that they long for Him, like the deer longs for water.

I pray that their future wives are being raised up in His ways, and that they will beautifully compliment them in their walks with Him.

I give thanks to Him for the gift of being their mom.

Love to all.

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday!  I am linking up with Momfessionals for this post.

This week is one big blur.  We haven't done that much, but we have also done so much.  We are trying really hard to wrap up our school year, so the boys have done a lot of school work.

My first favorite moment of the week is this.

I got to spend time with Trish and my mom on Saturday.  And then I got to see Trish again last night.  My sweet friend Tawnee got us tickets to Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith last night at Hope Presbyterian.  We went to McAllister's before and ate, then met up at the church.  Another of my sweet friends, Laura, was there as well with her daughter.  It was such a fun night!  I will admit to crying through the entire concert.

The reason I cried is because I love to worship God in song.  Some of the songs they sang took me back to my childhood, and I could remember my grandmother singing some of them.  Amy Grant talked about her mom passing away and her dad who has Alzheimer's and that made me cry as well.  I am a mess.  But God is so good and some of the words to the old hymns just go right to my heart.  Words like:

"Great is Thy faithfulness,
Oh God my Father
There is no shadow of turning with Thee
Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not
As Thou hast been, thou forever will be!"

How could I not cry during that beautiful song?  God has been so faithful to me, even when I have not been faithful to Him.

Sigh.  He is good.  He is loving and kind and gentle.

I got a few new bottles of OPI polish last weekend, on my excursion with Mom and Trish.  This is one of them, and will be a new favorite for the summer:

I love the name.  Chiffon My Mind.  It's really bright white and sparkly.  :)

I pulled out my old, beloved and favorite series of books this week.  I will finish this one today.

This series of books is like coming home.  I love the people woven throughout the pages.  This will be my third time of reading through this series.

A favorite moment from this week was seeing my friend Abbey twice on Wednesday and once yesterday.

She gave me her keys to unlock one of the youth doors Wednesday night and I accidentally drove off with them in my purse. Oops.  We had to go into Memphis to pick up Todd's truck, so when we got home, I picked up Graham, and we delivered her car to her house.

Another favorite time was yesterday, when I got to see these sweet ladies.

This is part of my small group from Renewed Moms.  We were missing a couple of people, and one of these ladies is new and was visiting with us yesterday, but oh my goodness.  I love them so much!  Yesterday was bittersweet, because it was our last day to meet this school year.

And next year, things will change a bit, and I do not love change!  But God stretches me by allowing me to not be too comfortable, so that's a good thing.

I love the building where we meet.  Such a beautiful, old church.

Well, that's about it for this week!  I have been strangely quiet on here...I'm not really sure, except I wonder if y'all get tired of reading the same old, same old every week?  I've heard crickets chirping lately.  ;)

I hope your week has been great.  Love to all.

weekend

This weekend was great.  The weather was beautiful all weekend long and there was time spent with family and friends.  That's pretty much the perfect weekend in my book.  (We did miss Todd, though, since he worked all weekend at Music Fest.)

We normally have our community groups on Sunday night, but because of church events and Mother's day, they have gotten cancelled for three weeks in a row.  Because we are trying to finish a book with our girls, we decided to meet on Friday night at my friend's house.  These girls are so different on a Friday night!  They were all wound up and super chatty, which was cracking me up.  And the conversations that took place...oh my goodness!  I cannot repeat them.

My phone was hacked by Abigail, and I found a bunch of selfies.

They are so funny.  I love them so much, and I love our community group time.  Out of all the things we do, community groups are my favorite activity.  I love the closeness of the small group, and the relationships we have built with these girls.

On Saturday, I had made plans to go out with my mom and sister.  I needed something from the state beauty supply place, and they had a couple of stops to make.  We got our goodies from State, then we went to lunch.

This place has been my favorite Mexican restaurant for as long as I can remember.  The only one left in Memphis is on Summer Avenue, which is in a way different part of town.  It is totally worth the time that it takes to get there.  Their cheese dip is out of this world.

We went to Macy's for my mom, then our last stop was Target.  I broke my sunglasses two weeks ago and have been needing a new pair, so I picked some out, then Trish and I went to look at makeup.

We were laughing so hard in this picture.  We had a really great day together.

I came home and did my nails, then the boys and I went to Mom's house for dinner.  And I did laundry.  Lots and lots of laundry.  I was all caught up again, for a brief time, and now I am about to need to do it again.  Hopefully we will hear from the insurance company today about what they're going to do to repair or replace the one we have.

Yesterday was church, and last night was something we had called discipleship intensive.  We chose three break out sessions to listen in on and we had dinner.  We all enjoyed ourselves immensely.  We came home and had ice cream for dessert, and caught up on The Amazing Race.

And that was our weekend in a nutshell.  We were all kind of spread out and all over the place, which is our new normal, but I am okay with that for now.  I have to be.

Have a great day!  Love to all.

Friday Favorites

Good morning and happy Friday!  I'm linking up with Momfessionals for this post.  I am looking forward to a beautiful and relaxing weekend.  It's been a great and productive week around these parts.  I love weeks like that.  We are in the process of winding down our school year, and we are finishing off some subjects and working hard to finish others.  (Math.)  I am already looking into what I need to purchase over the summer for our next school year!  It's hard to believe how fast this year was.

I haven't blogged a lot this week, so I could save up for this post.  :)  It might be long, so beware.

One.

One of my favorite things that I've done this week is write in my gratitude journal.  I have had much to be thankful for this week.

Two.

I don't often brag on my boys, because nobody likes those people.  But excuse me, while I become one for a moment.  I am so proud of all my boys.  They are such hard workers, and this week, they were all paid for jobs they have done.  Graham and Drew are cutting yards this summer to earn money for Guatemala.  They finished one job on Monday, and they're doing another one this afternoon.  Even Jonah and Noah earned money~there were a couple of days a couple weeks ago that they all went to Todd's warehouse and cleaned out and organized some shelves.

One of my favorite moments about that this week is this picture above.  Drew's face is so funny, as he is about to partake in his giant bowl of nachos.  They ate a late lunch on Monday and they were starving!

Three.

As our homeschool group wraps up for this school year, I have three more Bible studies under my belt.  We studied spiritual gifts in the fall, and 2 Timothy and Titus in the spring.  I enjoyed all of these studies and I learned so much in them.  One truth that has stuck out to me over and over is that we are to BE the church.  "Church" isn't a building we go to~it's us.  We are the body of Christ and we are to extend His love and grace and mercy to those around us.  Especially in light of this dark world we live in.  This image above is one of my favorite things I've seen on the internet all week.

Four.

My favorite Crash moment of this week is this.  This is just a typical day in the life of us.  He is fascinated by Twinkles.  They have a love/hate relationship and he drives her bonkers.  They were having a Mexican standoff on this night, and I caught it just in time.

Five.

This picture reminds me of one of my favorite hymns that I've been singing all week~Great Is Thy Faithfulness.

Six.

Another of my favorite activities from this week included taking Drew to see his best friend's choir concert.  I mentioned their friendship on Tuesday, but I am thankful for moments like these.  I pray my boys are as good of friends as their friends are to them.

Seven.

One of my favorite things of all time is having a freshly mowed yard.  I posted this on Instagram this week and said, "This is the baby of the family, looking mighty grown up."

How time flies.

Eight.

This was a favorite and not so favorite moment, all wrapped up into this picture.  I love how cute he looks, but oh my stars.  He scared the living daylights out of me a couple times.  I don't really know if it was him or me being super sensitive.  We must try again, though, or fear will take over and I do not want that for him.  I know that practice makes perfect.  Feel free to pray for me!  I will have earned extra wrinkles and gray hairs by the time his sixteenth birthday come.

Nine.

I love so much about homeschooling.  So, so much.  It doesn't take all day, so rather than sitting idle or playing on electronics, I love that they find things to do.  One of my favorite activities they did all week was taking apart and putting back together this bike.  It took them the better part of three hours, but persistence pays off.  They were proud as punch at what they accomplished as they rode the completed project down the street to test it out.

Ten.

This is my most favorite moment all week.  Mrs. Audrey is our adopted grandmother for our eleventh grade girls.  She is precious and what she feeds into them through cards and prayer and coming to talk in Sunday school occasionally is priceless.  I love these people so much.

I know that was long, but those are my favorite moments from this week.  Love to all.