Life

Jonathan and I were talking last night and I mentioned that I hadn't written anything on the blog lately. I was thinking of all the things that had been going on and how much I had to write about. Well it's going to have to wait because life interrupted.

My sweet hearted baby girl decided it would be best to shorten her hair. Let me back up...the last few nights I haven't been sleeping well. Last night was filled with bad dreams and a lightning storm. So today the kids were busy playing with paydoh so I decided to lay down for about 20 minutes in the next room. I never did sleep but apparently I didn't hear what I needed to either.

When I came into the kitchen there she was playing, "Hi Mommy!" and all her beautiful hair was gone. Just gone. Shock would be the word I'd use. I gasped and covered my mouth. Her sister turned and apparently hadn't noticed and quickly began to cry over her sisters missing hair.

I went to the counter trying to decide my reaction...should I cry? should I tear my clothing in dispair? quickly I tried to place this in perspective. What would I think of this in years to come? I would laugh! So..I laughed, a lot. I think the girls thought I'd gone crazy. Then I logically thought, "I must photograph this moment!"







There she is just enjoying her playdoh like nothing in the world could be wrong. That is what I love about her. She is in the moment and enjoys every bit of life (except the sad parts) completely. Am I sad? Yes. Will I miss those beautiful little curls that she has when she's played hard outside? Very. Am I glad that she had short hair because she cut it all off and not because of poison that is in her system trying to save her life? More than I could have ever imagined.

She is bald, she is healthy, she is with me today and if God decides she is with me tomorrow.

a blessing

I was reading through my blogs tonight and felt this fit perfectly with life right now found here.


Psalm 103:1-5
Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits:
Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies;
Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Good morning!
I hope that you all are having a pleasant week. This week has been challenging for me in a variety of ways, but I am always reminded how faithful the Lord our God is! This morning, I would encourage you to meditate on Psalm 103:1-5 written above.
v.1: Consider what it means to bless the Lord. We are His handiwork, and the Lord has created us for His glory, for His good pleasure. We were created to bless Him!
v.2: Cherish all of His many blessings and benefits. He has done so much for each of us ~ it is far more than I may comprehend.
v.3: The Lord forgives us. The Creator Himself provided a way for all of our sins to be forgiven ~ every sin I have ever committed has been forgiven by Jesus Christ. I am forgiven. ♥ He comforts us, heals us, and takes away the pain.
v.4: Jesus has redeemed His children! His love is everlasting, His mercy is forever.
v.5: He alone satisfies our hearts. Jesus Christ fulfills us. He loves you so much! He provides strength when we are weak.



I have had calls the last few days of: we are closing on the house...we are not closing...we are closing...we are not closing.

Today was the last day on our contract and had a closing set for 3pm. Jonathan had moved his day off for the second time and we had arranged our day to be near town at 3. Two hours before the set time I received a call that the closing would not happen and it would be a while until things were cleared up.

I've been trying to have faith and believe that if God doesn't want us to have this then He should stop it. But I was sad and pretty ticked off and consumed by my little world. Then we stopped by a gas station and I got a reality check.

Jonathan noticed Thomas was choking. He is now sitting in the far back of the car and had been given a piece of candy. He probably tried to swallow it. We rushed to him and he coughed it up and was just fine.

Then it slapped me in the face...this is just a piece of land and a building. Look at how much we have to be grateful for and how blessed we are. We are blessed that we get to experience this trouble so long as we glean from it and use it to glorify Him. I don't completely understand what all that means but I am trying to.

We are now closing tomorrow at 5pm. We will see but I hope I am better at having joy when I have trials...although I don't really consider this much of a trial...just life. Praying for God's will.

she's 5...well almost

A tea party day in pictures...

let the fun begin

Check out those boots..belong to his sister.

So the work begins. Well really I've already been packing so I guess technically I've already been working. And I guess being a wife, a mom and everything else means I've been working. So let me say it like this...It's about to get much busier than usual.








We will be closing on our new home next Wednesday if the Lord wills it. And Jonathan has given me permission to get excited now!!!!!!!! those show my excitement!!!!!!!!

Ok, I'm trying to get it together.

Her other eye is just as blue

So to add to the excitement, this little girl, my baby girl, my momma's girl is having a birthday! She makes me look at life with such wonder. I want to enjoy life like she does. We're having her birthday party tomorrow. I can't wait to share the pictures....that little girl just makes me smile..and makes her daddy buy another gun.

This girl here, she's excited about going shopping with her daddy to get her little sister a birthday present. She's such a good big sister. And she started her daddy's gun collection.

I hate it for my future son-in-laws....it's going to be rough.

Aside from the big birthday celebration the kids are so excited about our new home. Every time we go there they ask "When they can we stay there longer?" and "Why do we have to leave?"

But for now I have little buster here show you our trampoline. See it over there? That's where Jonathan shot a skunk about 30 minutes ago. And to the right is our back porch. That's where I was standing with the spot light. And yes it still stinks in my house. Unfortunately, poor Jeb wasn't as lucky and is still trying to wipe the stink of off his face.

And this little guy, I can't imagine the girls without him. It's so funny coming from a having no siblings. I can't imagine any of my little ones without the other. They so complete each other and bless my life every day.

Lots of fun stuff going on around here. We're still waiting on the finalizing of the house stuff. We got to go by there today and see everything in the rain. I can't wait until we're there.

Since we've been pretty busy around here some things have, well, not been a priority. So yes I put my baby boy down in his crib with very dirty feet....it could be worse, right?

And the girls have been busy creating and enjoying life here so close to family. Cousin B stopped over the other day and helped the girls build a fun fort..that is still up currently. The girls have been sleeping together under it for the last two nights.

We also had a wonderful week spending time with Jonathan's brother. The kids absolutely adore him and I think the feeling is mutual.

A little hard to see Gamma's beautiful blues but they're there.

And Papa has a set of pretty ones too.

It's funny as I was looking through these pictures I realized (again) what beautiful eyes I married. Those bright blue eyes run deep through Jonathan's family and I just LOVE them!

It's also made me realize how few picture I have of those beautiful blues I love so much. It may be because of the death stares that I get when I aim my camera his direction. I'm going to have to work on that.

Sunray Farms, Piedmont, South Carolina

The kids and I took a break away from the house and went on a fun farm field trip to Sunray Farms.

 It was another group trip that our friend organizes. She does such a great job.

 We learned about horse/pony care. Amy McConnell opens her home to a wonderful time. The girls said this was their favorite field trip so far but it did tie with our trip to Roper Mountain Science Center.

Cinnamon labels Cookies upper lip.

We found new uses for stickers and played pin the sticker on the live pony. They each had a sticker to label the different parts of the pony named "Cookie". She was so sweet..ha..yeah that was awful but I had to say it.

It was a Green grooming session.

So proud that Emily let Cookie eat from her hand.

All the kids got a chance to groom Cookie and give her a treat for being such a good pony.

 There were some simply perfect play things for the kids to climb all over. Emily had the roping thing all figured out.

 Lauren was more concerned for the farm owners little girl who was sitting all by herself. She said she thought she was lonely over their and that she could be her friend.

 They have a small pond and creek and Thomas was thrilled to throw every stick he could find in it.

 The girls and Cinnamon were busy snake hunting. But the only thing that was found was a wasp that stung Emily. It was the first sting for all three of them. Emily still claims it was a brier. She recovered quickly and was soon roping anyone she could.

And what farm trip would be complete without a golf cart ride. Amy drove them around the pasture. She even filled up their water bottles.

I'm looking forward to more of these in cooler weather.