Catching Up

I am so behind on blogging that it's time for a catch up list. Here is what we have been up to (in reverse order as I try to remember!).

- Yesterday was Field Day at the big kids school. They look forward to this day and enjoy it. Jeremy always goes and helps with the same game every year and he enjoys it too! It was rainy yesterday so I took dry clothes and lunch around 11 and stayed to watch Cara run in the school race. She was super excited about the whole day and was up at 6:30 to get ready. She also went to a friends for a sleepover *her first* and was distracted the whole day with excitement :). We are so thankful that she has made some sweet friends this year at school. The change in her attitude about school is a huge blessing! What a difference a year makes :).

Heading out in the morning. 

- On Thursday I took the little two strawberry picking with a couple of girlfriends. They really enjoyed this and we got lots of yummy strawberries.

I have no comment on Abby's outfit other than I lost :)

- Last weekend (Memorial Day Weekend) was our favorite weekend of the year. The POOL opened and we were there all three days!

Our crew on opening day! 

Last Friday was Abby's last day of preschool!! She is now a big Kindergartner! I can't believe it. Where has the time gone? She talked for days about riding her bike to school on the last day so Jeremy rode with her. 

- Preschool graduation was Thursday night. Abby did a great job on her line and songs. 

- The girls and I enjoyed Mother/Daughter zumba the weekend before Mother's Day. They had lots of fun! I enjoyed doing something fun with them.

- We enjoyed ending our lunch days (Thursdays) for the year by taking B with us. He spent many Thursdays with a sweet family near the school that loves him a whole lot while Abby and I went to do lunch duty at the big kids school. Braxton had become quite the distraction for the big kids. Everyone knows him and he spent his time walking around giving high 5's and fist bumps which caused the big kids to take forever eating. We started taking him about once a month towards middle of the year and that worked better :).

- Here are a few more random pictures that I found on my phone that I never posted :).

- Recently my business got really busy. It always felt busy, but it got busier about 6 months ago and I decided that I can't do everything and do it well so I figured out what the most overwhelming task was around the house. Then I decided to get some help and God seriously brought me an angel. A neighbor lady in her 70's has started coming to our house on Monday mornings and doing the laundry. It has been a life-changer for me! It causes us to keep the house more tidy and organized because I know she's coming. We sort the laundry by person in the baskets below. She washes, dries and folds and leaves it in the basket by person and we put away. It is AWESOME and a huge BLESSING in my life right now!! I am going to cry when she goes to Florida for the winter! For real! She had just started coming right before we were robbed. Those first couple weeks were hard. She was such an encouragement to me. The Monday after the robbery she came in and hugged me and cried a little for me. I was so glad to see her that day and just have her presence in the house. She plugs her little radio in and sings. It is nice. She's a keeper!

- Uncle Rob came in town for a couple of days. Always a fun time! 

 

Jake always smiles and laughs a ton when he is with Rob. They are kindred spirits :). Lord help me!!

So, that is most of what we did in May and maybe some of April! I can't even remember. Things are non-stop around here and we are so excited for summer to come!

These Two.....

How cute are they??

They really do love each other, but they also drive each other nuts. It doesn't help that Braxton can take Abby down. He is about 6 lbs less! Poor Abby. She loves him, but they are not always kind to each other. She tries, but her 2 year old brother just follows her all day and wants to do everything she does and play with everything she is playing with. They are a work in progress. I love when I catch them being kind to each other. It's a sweet thing. Praying that as he gets a little bigger and she gets a little older they will become better friends :). But goodness.......they are so cute together!

What a Month!!!

God has allowed me to face some of my greatest fears in life over the last few months. The last month has been a tough one! God has been so kind to give me a boatload of grace throughout.

Around this time last year, I had growths on my ovaries. We suspected that the endometriosis that had been previously been removed had finally taken over my ovaries, and sure enough when I had surgery to remove the endometriomas, we found out that was the case and my doctor had to remove both ovaries which sent me into instant menopause. So.....the last year has been a challenge, but I was finally feeling back to my new normal when another crazy set of symptoms started. I have had some swollen lymph nodes that have caused some concern and led to some appointments. LONG story short, I had some irregularities going on and some test done to make sure they were not cancerous. They were not. Again, thank the LORD.

This situation had me freaking out a bit. I tried really hard not to be anxious, but I was. I read my Jesus Calling devotional along with the Kids version that we read at night with J, C, A & B. All of this was hugely comforting to me and I would pull it up on my phone throughout the day. I also wrote scripture on notecards to carry in my purse when I went to different appointments. Along with that, I had friends I could text and say, "I'm nervous" and I knew they would pray for me. A blessing.

I'm a big fan of people being real and genuine and this is me making my best effort to be that way. Sometimes, because I prefer a glass half full mentality, I paint a rosy picture of life, but our life (awesome as it is) is not always rosy; it's hard and its messy and scary at times. I'm learning that it's okay to be all of those things, and it's okay to find the good in it, but sometimes it's just hard. You know?

Fast forward to last Thursday. I made it through my first mammogram and thankfully my lumps were cysts from my menopause induced hormone stuff. I was so excited and floating through my week. I had a great time catching up with old friends at a party Saturday night. Life was good.

At around 5:30 am on Sunday, Jeremy walks in the bedroom and with the most calm and gentle voice I have ever heard he told me he thought I needed to get up and go to my Mom's. By the way he was talking to me I thought my Dad had died. It was a completely terrifying moment for me. When he told me someone had come into our home and robbed us I almost felt relieved. The night before we had let the girls spend the night at my parents and a friend of Jake's had gone home feeling sick. Just the boys and Jeremy and I were home. As I headed to bed I noticed a big, dirty, metal dustpan had been set on the kitchen counter. I thought in my head, "Why would they leave this filthy dustpan on my kitchen counter?" I set it down in front of the door from the playroom to the kitchen and thought I'd put it away in the morning. Well, the stupid jerk who came into our home while we were sleeping came in the wrong door (THANK GOD) and tripped over that dustpan which woke Jeremy up. He only had time to grab my wallet and camera on his way out. If I let my mind go to the what if's I panic. I am trying to focus on just the what. What did happen. What did God do to protect us. What will I do now to feel safe..... When Jeremy and I were first married I struggled with it. I had to constantly give it over to the Lord when Jeremy traveled. I memorized scripture like, "when I'm afraid I will trust in you." I saturated myself with scripture related to fear and I can truly say that God helped me to overcome this. I had setbacks every now and than that caused me to haul the kiddos over to my parents for a night or two, but overall, I had really done great. So, when this happened I was so disappointed to be starting over on that this struggle.

While we are doing lots of new safety improvements around here like a security system and a fence, I know that ultimately, my hope and comfort comes from the Lord. I can do all these things and someone can still get in if they want to. I have to trust in the fact that God is ultimately in control of every event in my life. Just like I posted on FB last week from Jesus Calling for Kids, "I have lovingly created a path for your life. Nothing is by accident. Every twist, every turn, is part of my plan...Today is the day that is filled with my glorious Presence." I know this is true. I cling to it. I know that there is good that will come from this. I have already started a list of things that I am thankful for. I'm still scared. I'm still on edge. It's hard. It makes me furiously mad at this 27 year old. I want to come home and not wonder if someone is in my house. That really ticks me off that I don't have that anymore. Pray for us. Pray for our kids. It's hard to process this and a lot of the stuff other kids are saying to them.

This was taken after our neighbor, T, also the cop who made the arrest, came to tell us the good news that he had taken him to jail!! He said when the call came through that our home had been robbed, he booked it over and he did. He made it in about a minute. Thankful. He has worked some major overtime on this case. He's coming over tonight to talk with the kids and try to reassure them they are safe and to give them some safety tips. Love this big guy :)

** Disclaimer - in the past being "real" on the blog has caused a couple relatives to wig out and tell my husband I'm depressed. I'm not depressed. I'm ticked off. A jerk (Jeremy told me to take off the bad word I used, but I am still thinking it ;) robbed my house while my family was inside. I hope he sits in jail for a long, long time. I hope that his parents move out of my neighborhood. I felt bad for them on Sunday, but now I don't. My Mother's Heart hurts for them, but I was shocked to find out that he has been arrested over a dozen times in the last two years for things like assault and burglary. He had felony charges and was let out due to overcrowding. I was shocked to find out that his parents bail him out of jail. I was also flippin' mad to find out that he has written horrible, scary things on his FB page about the cops in our area who keep us safe. **

Have a great day! I am trying to :)

Celebrating!!

We had a blast celebrating our little boys adoption with family and friends! He is a treasure and we wanted to celebrate BIG because it was such a complete blessing to be able to have him become an official part of our family. 


My friends, Cara and Paula, helped me with the food and planning. Thankful doesn't quite express my deep gratitude to them. Every time I say I'm throwing a party or I have an idea, they just get involved and make things happen. We actually didn't do any of it together, but somehow it all came together. 


My sister-in-law drove herself and the two babies in from St. Louis and helped me out quite a bit too!! I couldn't have gotten everything done Sunday morning without her.


I did an open invite because so many people have supported us, encouraged us and prayed for us along the way. It was hard to know who might want to come. It was fun to have our foster care trainer, Braxton's CASA worker, and several other foster family friends there. 


We had planned to have the party at our house and were working on several projects in preparation. We had our floors refinished and a wall put up in the basement along with some new stairs. When I am wanting to get things done around the house, I have learned that throwing a party usually gets the job done....if you get my drift ;)! As the RSVP's came in, I realized our house wasn't big enough so we reserved our local community center which worked out great!


I rented some fun things and hired a balloon artist and he was a hit with the kids. All around, it was a great day! We had lots of balloons because Braxton LOVES some fun balloons. He was in heaven and as he and my Dad let some go afterwards he yelled, "BYE, loons!" So fun!!


My friend, Kate, took pictures for me which I will cherish because I didn't get a single one! Proud of myself for thinking ahead and planning for a photographer to come. It was great to not have to worry about documenting the day myself. 

It was a WONDERFUL day celebrating this thing that only God could do. Who ever would have though that our son would be born 20 minutes from our home ??? We thought for sure our 4th child was in El Salvador, but God had other plans. It took us 4 long years, but it is good and we are crazy thankful that we get to be his parents.