on a lighter note...

Today has been busy!  Good, but busy.  I should start this post off with the fact that Todd worked last night and it stormed like crazy during the time I would normally be falling to sleep.  I didn't sleep very good, needless to say.  Because of that, I slept late, and it was glorious.  :)  The boys slept in a little too.  Once they all woke up, we spent the first half of our day cleaning.  I did the downstairs and they did the upstairs.

I love having a clean house!  It never stays that way for long, though.  But at least then it'll be a messy clean.

I made the boys a yummy lunch, and after that it was time to take Drew to orientation at Chick Fil A.

Doesn't he look so handsome?  I love him in this shirt.  My day was made when I ran into my sweet friend Andrea!  That is the second time that has happened in as many weeks...and since she lives in Cordova and I live in The Ville, it's not all that common for us to bump into each other.  I loved seeing her for a few minutes, and catching up.

I had plans to stay and wait on him, but after the two hour mark, a whole Sunday school lesson later and a dog that needed to use the bathroom, I left and made plans for Todd to pick him up.

And speaking of Crash, the dog just about gave a poor kid and me a heart attack by barking ferociously.

Does that look like the face of a dog who could such a thing?  Well, it is. 

As I write this, my sweet hubby is on his way to get Drew, then we will be enjoying a quiet evening at home.  We were going to have grilled chicken, but the weather made that a little more tricky, so we're switching to hot dogs on the inside grill.  I am, if nothing else, roll with the flow when it comes to all things dinner.  And thankfully, my husband is too.  ;)

I hope you had a great day!  Love to all.  

on being disappointed

One of my favorite phrases that I say to my kids all the time, is "Suck it up".  It's probably not the nicest thing I could say to them, but it's a true statement.  Because let's just face it~sometimes life can be disappointing.

So what do I do to "suck it up"?

Well, there are many things I can do, but my two favorite ways to overcome this feeling are by prayer and reading God's word.

You know how I love to memorize Scripture?  This is one of those times that it comes in handy having some verses right there in the treasury of my mind.  I was disappointed by something by tonight, and I couldn't stop thinking about Romans 12, especially the part in verses nine through thirteen that talk about "taking delight in honoring each other".

Honoring each other goes hand in hand with honoring God, and that is really something I have been thinking about a lot lately.  There are so many ways one can honor God, and there are so many ways that I have not been doing that.

I came home tonight and read Romans 12:9-13.  Want to read them for yourself?

Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.

Sometimes I need to be reminded~am I the only one?

Well, that is my little nugget of wisdom for tonight.   To lighten it up a little, I will leave you with a picture I took of Noah and me today while we were waiting on Todd and Jonah to get back to the car.  Because what's a post with a picture in it?  ;)

Graham should have been in this too, but he chose to hide from my camera.

Love to all!

summertime traditions

There are many things we love to do in the summertime at our house, so I thought I would start sharing one or two things a week that we love.

One of the things we most love is something we only started last year, and that is the summer concerts on the square of our sweet little town, The Ville.  I adore our little town; the only thing I adore more is the town square.  It's the meeting place of all meeting places.  On it are some of my favorite shops: CJ Lilly (the BEST flower shop in all of America), Hewlitt & Dunn (a cowboy store, if ever there was one) and some of my favorite places to frequent: Square Beans (a coffee shop that would give Central Perk from Friends a run for their money), The Silver Caboose (who is famous for "Fried Chicken Friday) and Yolo's (a frozen yogurt place).

We go here in the summer for these concerts, we go in the fall because of the changing of the leaves, we go at Christmas for the tree lighting event the first Tuesday night of every December and we go in the spring because the kids love to place pennies on the railroad tracks and climb on the trains.

I am telling you, I love this town.  Have I convinced you to move here yet?

I also love the fact that The Ville has that small town feel.  It's big enough that there's lots going on, but it's small enough that everywhere I go, I run into people I know.

All that being said, last night we met some friends on the square for the first summer concert of the season!  I was beginning to think we were going to get rained out, but thankfully the rain went away and the Lord provided for us the perfectly cool evening to sit and enjoy some great music and sweet fellowship.  And, I took some pictures.

This is a huge event, and while we always take a picnic, you can eat at one of the local restaurants on the square or you can purchase food from the vendors who set up nearby.  I'm thinking we might do that next week, just to mix it up a little.  Since we took a picnic, I gave Jonah and Noah some money and they walked to a little store-front place to eat called Mensi's.  They have really good ice cream, so they each bought a milkshake.

While we were there, in walking around a bit, I ran into some pretty awesome teenagers.

These were some of the occupants from middle school camp last week.  Drew's friend-girl convinced these three guys to walk up to the square and join them.  She's on the right...isn't she a cutie?  I think so.  :)  These sweeties have been together everyday this week, since coming home from camp on Monday night.  I love their friendship.

It was an awesome night, made complete by Toddley getting "hit" by a bird.  And as in "hit", I mean pooped on.  And then the same thing happened to my friend Lori's husband, though he got "hit" twice!  Hilarious.  If you're local to me, you should come with us next week!  We'll be there every Thursday night in June and July and I can tell you where we can be found.  I hope you enjoy your day!  We'll be hitting the pool in a little bit.  Love to all!

the pictures from my phone's camera (it should really say my 'camera's phone', which is way more appropriate and true)

I have taken several pictures the past few days that I haven't posted to social media.  Since I have nothing else to write about, I thought I would make a post all about the pictures on my phone.

First up, a picture from Drew's camp from the weekend.  I totally took a screen shot of this guy Chandler's Instagram post, so please forgive that.  It's his picture, not mine, but it's the best picture of my boy!

God did something so huge in the lives of these boys over those few days they spent on the beach.  Every one of them came back different.  I am so proud of all of them!  And does Drew not look amazing?  I believe he does.  ;)  The guy that took this picture is such a Godly young man!  His example in the lives of these middle schoolers goes a long way.

Second on the list of pictures is one that Graham posted on Instagram.  Are you seeing a theme?  I took a screen shot of this one as well.

Nice room with an even better view, right?  Must be nice.  Their camps are so much different from the one I grew up going to!  There is absolutely no comparison between the two.

Thirdly is the yummy fruit we had with our lunch today.

For your information, Kroger in The Ville has these on sale for $1.19.  I got one, but I'm thinking I should have gotten two.

Fourthly is Crash.  I took Jonah and Noah to their friend's house today and he rode with us.   I let him stick his head out the window and he was so excited that he was shaking.  This is the picture of pure, unadulterated joy.

Why yes, that is a reindeer air freshener you see.  Don't judge.

After I ate lunch and did some Bible study homework, I took a nap.  I took a selfie of me laying on the couch because I was going to text it to Toddley, but then I changed my mind.  And I will spare you that image.

Last on the list is my current nail polish.  It's Marshmallow by Essie.

Before all this happened, I had my last post op appointment.  I don't have to see my doctor again for a whole year!  Which is kinda funny, because I'm almost at the one year mark that this long journey with my problems started.  I really am married to my Super Man...not only is he my hero, he deserves the husband of the year award.  I am so thankful that the Lord was with me through it all~iron infusions, iron shots, many medications~one of which that debilitated me for an entire month, an ablation, more problems, then surgery.  He truly never leaves us nor forsakes us!  Over and over again He showed me that His timing is perfect and His ways are good.  He is always so faithful, but in the last year I have had to lean on Him as never before.  Mixed in with all the issues I was having were also some scares with my blood pressure and heart and some cancer scares.  I've had EKG's and I've had several (SEVERAL) biopsies.  Praise God it is all behind me now, but because of this last year, I have grown in my relationship with Him.

When I started reading the Bible chronologically in January, the Lord started showing me that I had trust issues with Him.  Sure, I thought I trusted in Him, but I found out I really didn't.  I only trusted Him to do what I wanted, and on my terms.  But He doesn't work like that...in fact, He often strips me down to nothing but just me and Him.  When I have nothing else to stand on, I can stand on Him, my Rock, my Redeemer, my Strength and my Strong Tower.  When I am weak, then I am strong, as Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians.  I am weak on my own, but with the Lord standing beside me, I am strong!

So...all that to say that He is good, all the time.  Even if things had turned out much differently for me health wise, if those biopsies had not been benign, He is still good.  Praise God that when I breathe my last breath here on this earth, my real life will just be starting.  Because the things in this world are temporary~the good stuff happens when we pass from this world into Glory (Heaven).  I am not scared of death because of what lies ahead for me.  (And for you too, if you so choose.)

I praise Him for his goodness.  And I pray that these words reach deep into the heart of someone who needs them tonight.  Don't ever give up, instead, give it all to Him.

I will leave you with one more picture, a couple of verses I just so happened upon today.

Love to all.

reasons why I love summer

1. It's 8:39 p.m. and Todd and I are alone in our house.  Graham is at camp, Drew is at the park with a ton of kids from church and the youth pastor, and Jonah and Noah are swimming.

2.  We can swim, and if we swim at night, well then the level of coolness was just multiplied by a hundred.

3.  We spend a lot of time with friends.  A lot.  Today we swam with a group of people from church, and as always, fun was had.

4.  I love that the boys get to stay out at night.  Drew is at the park right now, and it's dark, so the fact that he's still allowed to hang out is way cool to him.

5.  I get to participate in an online summer Bible study!  It's going to be really good, and even though I'm still doing the chronological Bible reading plan, this paired with it is not too much.  I started it tonight~I'm doing Beth Moore's latest study, Children Of The Day.  It's on 1 and 2 Thessalonians, and already I can tell you that it's going to be amazing!  I purchased the session one download from Lifeway and watched it tonight.  She's my favorite.  I took a picture of my afternoon view while dinner simmered away on the stove.

6.  I have no reason why I should go to bed at a reasonable time.  Well...except for tonight.  I have to get up early to go to my last post-op appointment in the morning.

7.  I read more books.  I always read books, but our schedule in the summer is much more relaxed, so I have all the time in the world to sit and read.  Well...after I've made myself do everything else that needs to be done, like housework and laundry.

8.  The kids have friends over.  I love that they always want to have friends over!

9.  I don't have to wear makeup much, because I have a little sun on my face.  I wear sunscreen, yes, but I still get a little darker on my face and it takes away the need for makeup.  I still wear some, on special days, but I love just lathering on some coconut oil and going.

10.  My kids seem like they are always at church.  Or with someone from church.  And if ever there were a place to be or a group to hang out with, this would be it.  I love it and I am so thankful for our church and pastors.

11.  I was going to go with ten, but I thought of another, and that is camp.  I love all things camp and I am so glad our boys get to go each year!  This kinda goes along with number ten, and once again, let this be a huge shout out to the church leaders we are so blessed with.  I love all of them.

Love to all.

fun day Monday

I feel so much better about myself as I write this post~I finally met the new neighbors last night!  For those of you on Facebook, you might remember a post about me not feeling Martha Stewart enough and not wanting to meet them because of that fact (dumb, I know, but at the time I was hormonal).  And by that I mean that everybody else took them something, but I am not that with it, and that thought never occurred to me.  Anyway, I met them last night and we ended up talking for almost an hour and a half.  I even got a tour of their house, which I have never been inside, in the eleven years we've been here.  (I love looking at other people's houses!  Random tidbit about me.)

Yesterday was a really fun day for us, even though it was so long for me!  Graham and I had to wake up at five a.m. to get him to church by six fifteen.  I kinda thought I would nap later, but later never came.  :/  I took Jonah, Noah, and our next door neighbors Myles and Zander swimming at my mom-in-love's neighborhood pool.  We had to run to the grocery store first for dinner ingredients and sinus medicine for my dad-in-love, we came home to pick them up and drop off the groceries, then we ran some medicine up to him at the golf course he was at.  There was a tournament yesterday for a rehab center here that he's on the board of, and he was stuck there with a headache.

We ate lunch then headed to their pool.  And all proceeded to get sunburned.  :(  Seriously, I really did use sunscreen on all of us.  I took a few pictures.

My happy place~outside by a pool.  Any pool, in fact, not just this pool.  We get to do it all over again today, this time with friends from church.  And with LOTS more sunscreen, to prevent a burn.

We came home after this and I got started on dinner for us and for a friend.  But imagine my surprise when I came home and found this goodie waiting for me on the front porch.

I was a member of the launch team to get the word about Beth Moore's latest Bible study, and as a 'thank you', I got this for free!  I can't wait to start it.  :)  I love me a Beth Moore Bible study!  This one is on the books of first and second Thessalonians.

After dinner it started pouring down rain, but with no lightning and thunder, so I let the kids do this:

They put on their swimming trunks and ran to play in the puddles of water on our street.  This is what life is all about for kids~these little moments of unexpected joy.  That is the kind of thing memories are made of, and I am so thankful for that!  The laughter and the looks on their faces filled my heart with such happiness.

Have I mentioned how much I love summer?  I do.

Today we're going to swim some more, and I plan on maybe us all having game night after dinner.  What are your plans for this hot day?  Whatever they may be, I hope you enjoy yourself and take the time to soak up the moments with your kids.  I know I plan to.  Love to all!

on the go

Much of my life is wrapped up in those three little words~"on the go".  I remember when my kids were really young, thinking how crazy my life was with them all under the age of six or seven.  But looking back, it really wasn't a big deal.  I was easily able to contain them, and at that time, they had zero social lives.

After years of being warned, "Just wait until those boys are teenagers!", I can say that the time has officially arrived.  I feel like my life is spent on the road.  As crazy as it is, it's also wonderful.  I am so thankful for this season and I'm soaking up every minute.  What is so strange to me is that this time next year it won't be this way~Graham will be driving himself everywhere by then, in his own car.  He'll be able to drive his brothers around too.  Something else that is insane to me is that in the fall, Jonah and Noah will be moving up to the youth group.  (How did that happen?  I still forget and accidentally call them "the babies".)

Anyway, I thought I would share the highlights of our weekend.

Saturday found us at home with three of our boys.  Graham had to work from two to seven, so after we took him to work, Todd made arrangements for us to meet some friends at Jerry's Sno Cones.  (And no, there is no picture to prove that we were there, although I've certainly taken them in the past!  I figured if you've seen it once, you've seen it a million times.)

I did take a picture of Jonah's face after he ate his shock tart flavored snow cone, but I promised that I would not share it.  I am a mom of my word, if nothing else.

We started heading back home afterward, but Toddley was kind enough to stop at Lifeway for me to buy a couple of non-fiction books to add to my summer reading list.

Multiply, by Francis Chan and Kisses from Katie, by Katie Davis.  I'm already on chapter three of Kisses From Katie.  I started it Saturday night and had to make myself put it down.  I try to read at least one non-fiction book a year.  It's not my favorite, but I feel like it's just something I need to do, because of all the other books I read each year.  I know, I'm weird.

Jonah, Noah and I went to my mom's and step-dad's for dinner.  Todd stayed home so he could pick Graham up from work.  I took this picture on my way home from their house~the sky was amazing!  It had been raining on and off, and there were some dark clouds that stuck around.

Sunday morning found me up at the crack of dawn for a shower and a homemade breakfast.  I made a double recipe of this stuff:

We love monkey bread!  I left some at home and took one pan to church for the ninth and tenth grade girls.  We had both classes that morning in our Bible fellowship class.

After church, Jonah and Noah invited their friend Ben over, and I think Crash was glad~Ben found this toy in our backyard.  This is his favorite toy, I think, and he seemed so glad to have it.  :)  I love how he appears to be holding it.

I had a Backyard Kids Club meeting at church at 4:30, then after that we had our first small group swim party of the summer.  We didn't have anything planned for the Bible study portion of our night, so we spent time writing Bible verses and prayer requests on note cards.  We exchanged cards and are going to memorize the ones we received.  I also suggested that we keep them in our Bibles and that it'll serve as a reminder for us to pray for one another.  Afterward we spent some sweet time in prayer for the things going on this summer.  There are so many opportunities for these amazing kids to serve.  I am so excited at what all is going on...it's such an exciting time to be a part in their lives.

And here are some of the awesome girls I am so privileged to get to feed into:

Some were at camp as junior counselors for the middle school kids, some were at home packing for their trip to camp they left for today and some just couldn't come.  But I love them all and am so thankful I get to be a small part of their lives.  I don't know if they know how much I love them~I mean, I think they do because I tell them all the time and they tell me the same thing back, but I LOVE THESE GIRLS!  Words cannot express how much.

Graham and I finally made it back home by nine ten, and he packed up for camp.  And this morning we left home at ten minutes until six to go to Kroger for snacks and for him to get some cash from us.  I also took him and Jonah to Chick Fil A for breakfast.

I said goodbye, hugged him and put him on this bus.  And at seven ten, they pulled out of the parking lot and began the trip to Gulf Shores, Alabama for five glorious days in the sun and sand.  I am a bit jealous, I must admit.  Next year I will be accompanying them, mark my words.  I will not be recovering from surgery so that I am able to do that!  Also, this is the first year in eight years that Todd has not gone with our boys to camp.  Sniff, sniff.  They really are growing up.  I am so thankful for the fun they will have and have had this week...Drew should be home tonight by about nine thirty.  I cannot wait to see him!  I have missed that boy so much.

Well.  I guess I had better get off here and get started on my day.  I've been enjoying the peace and quiet, but Noah just woke up.  He informed me that Jonah was back in bed, sound asleep.  God love him...he insisted on going with me to take Graham to church this morning.  He said he was going to stay awake, but you see how well that turned out.

I hope you have a great day!  Hopefully we'll be going to the pool with my mom-in-love today.  :)  Love to all!