Mother's Day 2012

I am so blessed to be able to spend mother's day with my mom & my mother-in-law at the same time. My mom & mother-in-law get along great and I am one blessed girl because of this. Growing up both my grandmother's were the best of friends. I never knew what bickering between jealous grandparents were and I am so thankful that my little one will not know either. Thank you mom & ma-in-law for being the best mothers & grandmothers & for loving each other. 

my mother-in-law, me, & my mom

                                                 the fanstastic breakfast my husband cooked

                                           

    Kai giving me a card. I was not prepared! I am sitting blow drying my hair and not anything else! 

Kai finishing my mother's day gift

Me and my true mother's day gift

Dear Summer

I have wanted to write a letter to my younger self for a while. You have Dave Ramsey to thank for this. I was listening to his radio program (if in the car by myself during the hours of 6-8pm I listen, YES I AM A NERD!) and he made the statement "your 28 yr. old self will thank you." He was talking to an  early 20 something year old. Well it got me thinking about what I would say to myself. A few weeks later a blog that I follow did this very thing. She wrote a letter to her teenage self so again I was inspired. I'm choosing the teenage Summer to direct this letter to.

Dear Summer,
          Relax! Its not the end of the world if things don't go your way. The stuff you're stressing out about now will mean nothing in a few years. That guy who doesn't give you a second glance, well he's not the one anyway, you find your Mr. Right. With that being said stop dating losers! You can't change them, you can't save them, so stop right now and enjoy the nice people around you. Every guy you date, you will not marry. If a nice guy asks you out, go and enjoy the company! If a loser asks you out, stay and enjoy your parent's company! Join more clubs in school. Care a little more about your grades. Scholarships are fantastic! Your 30 something year old self will thank you for those scholarships when its time to pay those student loans. Yes, can you believe they actually make you pay these things back. Oh the horror! Stay in a youth group. Many a decision you make will be based on the friends you are around. Hanging out with those that are grounded in Christ will be influential. Speaking of Christ, get to know him now! You do get to know him personally a little later in life but knowing Jesus personally the sooner makes for the better. Keep the faith that you have, you gonna need it a few years. Life does get a little tough at times but the foundational faith that your parents planted in you will keep you going. Oh your parents, ease up on them. They didn't create the world. They know you love them and you know they love you but there will be some times that well you drive them crazy. Just skip all of that.
         

          Don't care so much about what your peers think of you. Guess what?! They're just as unsure of themselves as you are of yourself. Most of your friendships now will fade away but that's ok, that's how life is. Some remain a constant fixture in your life and its wonderful but as time moves on so do most people but you will become friends with others who are amazing. Thanks to technology you get to reconnect with others from your past and present and constantly know about everything in their lives :) Facebook is cool, you don't know what I'm talking about right now but you will and it will be a worldwide phenomenon. I know its hard to imagine when right now you don't even have a computer in your house. So anyway some of the folks you thought were cool turns out...not so much and people you thought were snobby...pretty down to earth. They are all just like you right now, trying to fit in without knowing who they really are so take chances and befriend someone you might not normally.

          Remember Mr. Right he comes along later than you thought but nevertheless he sweeps you off your feet. Many years later he gives you a gift you were never really sure you would have or want. Its a son! Yep, you become a mom and you are blessed beyond measure. 2011 will be your hardest year to date. Spend as much time with your parents right now because you will lose your dad much sooner than you are ready for. The personal relationship you have with Jesus that you found years back will be oh so important during that time. Faith will lead you to the joy again. 2011 you will lose another one of your most favorite people in the world, your cousin Cheryl. Again during the time you work with her, relish every moment and laugh y'all have together because it will be over so much sooner than you want it to.

          Life is going to throw some curve balls but you're ready. You are much stronger than you think right now. It may sound like you have alot of regrets, you don't. A few (remember the peace corp recruiter you suppose to meet with) but you turn out ok. You still got alot to learn and now at 32 you still are unsure about some aspects of your life but you make some awesome decisions along the journey. Stay true to yourself, don't sell out for the easy path. Remain grounded in Christ its gonna be your saving grace. Let go and enjoy your ride of life. Now your 32 year old self (that sounds so old to you right now but you will feel like that awkward teenager at times) needs to read this and read it again to remind herself to sit back and enjoy the ride. Oh I just remembered I need to go text someone. You need to go do what?!!!!!

Love your awesome, God loving, husband loving (weird I know), son loving (even weirder), self,
Summer

can't believe I posted this, Senior Picture 1997

                                                            

Life is the life of Life

Just some pictures of our life as its been happening the past few weeks. We've had wonderful weather since Feburary so we've tried to take advantage as much as possible because they predict it will be an extremely hot summer.

                                                               feeding the kack kacks

                                                                   painting the deck

                                                             painting artwork & himself
                                                            

                                                                   showing off his swag

                                                            the beginning of water play

                                                    the middle, had to lose the shirt

                                                    the end, had to wet his whistle

going Narnia

                                        Confucious say: to paint birdhouse you must become bird

                                                        Kai and friends, going for a ride

                                                             beautiful Falls Park

                                                               beautiful weather

                                                      finally getting to meet our nephew

                                                     learning how to blow the petals

                                                look see dad, its raining. Playing in the rain

Encounter of another kind

I had the wonderful pleasure of hearing Joyful Sound from North Greenville University perform this morning at church. If you've never heard them you are missing out. If you ever get the chance please go, you will be glad you did. Lately I have found myself wanting to write a blog but for some reason the words were just not coming to me. I mean, I can talk about Kai all day but for whatever reason the words just have not be flowing well in written format. So back to hearing Joyful Sound. I kept tearing up while they sang the beautiful songs especially It is Well with my Soul and Holy of Holies. I wasn't sad with hearing these songs just overcome. What I kept noticing was that the singers, a young group of people were worshiping their Lord. Various singers would raise thier hands, point to Jesus, touch their chests and other forms of worship. Just singing isn't enough. Alot of people feel compelled to worship their Savior in different ways. It occured to me while this group of talented young people were singing that the reason I was emotional b/c I knew what they knew. I have felt what they have &/or are feeling. Its an "encounter" with Jesus Christ. (Thanks Kenny for the right word). Its hard to describe to someone who has never experienced it but, man, once someone does its amazing. That encounter is something to sing about. Now granted I am not a singer. I tried the church choir for a few years and finally decided to give the people around me a break. When I get to heaven thats one thing I will be overjoyed about, the beautiful voice I will have, I probably won't stop singing til well...forever :) That encounter is something to get excited about.  I love seeing people worship   their Savior. I know that feeling. Because of Jesus and the encounter I have had with Him I can boldly go before the throne and bow. Like one of the singers said you can chose to bow now before Jesus or bow later because it clearly says in the bible every knee will bow (Romans 14:11). I chose to bow now and enjoy the pleasures of Jesus and all He has to offer. My prayer is that everyone will chose asap to bow and call Jesus their Lord because simply put that encounter is BETTER THAN CHOCOLATE CAKE!

"These things happen"

I hesitated on writing this blog but as I go along the journey of motherhood I'm learning that..."these things happen." Sunday (almost 3 weeks ago) I cannot remember the date, we went to the bro-n-law's house for lunch and time together. Once we ate the kids wanted to jump on the trampoline, they asked if Kai could jump and Andy (aka husband and baby daddy) said no. He decided to take Kai out to watch the other kids jump. I know what you're thinking "yeah right, watch" but Kai actually seemd content with just this. After a while hubby decided to get on the trampoline with Kai and let him be bounced. As soon as Andy let go of Kai so that he could get on himself one of the other kids jumped and it made Kai buckle. Kai immediately would not put his foot/leg down. He never really cried but he just never would put the foot down. We gave it all night and the next morning and decided we needed to take him to the doctor. Kai does very well at the doctor so far except this time we had to have xrays. He did not like this. I could not lay with him and as a mother this is tough. Although the xrays only lasted a few minutes when your child is crying and wanting you to hold him a few minutes might as well be few days. Anyway after that they decided to take his blood as well. I thought, oh boy, but Kai is a trooper. He never flinched when having that done. The doctor told us he couldn't see anything on the xray but it concerned him enough that Kai still wouldn't put any weight on it so he was gonna send us to the orthopedic office. I feel for people who have to frequent these offices often, the wait is crazy. I know we were a work in but a follow up appointment was not and we waited just as long (ok off subject) anways the ortho. doctor said he could see something on the xray. He wasn't sure if it was a fracture or swelling but he would prefer to go ahead and cast Kai's leg. WHAT!!!! Oh I was stunned. I guess b/c I've never had a broken bone or even a sprang I was just really surprised. The tech came in asked what color we wanted the cast to be, well thats when I about lost it. Andy had to pick the color, I just couldn't do it. Don't know why getting asked that question brought a lump to my throat but it did. So what color did daddy pick....black of course. Kai had to wear the cast for 2 weeks. The doc said once he got it off and they took xrays again he would know for sure if he broke it based on the fact that if the bone looked to be healing then it had been broken. 2 weeks later which was this past tuesday...xrays showed that it indeed had been broken. He's not completely out of the woods yet, for the next 3 weeks we must be extra careful so as not to reinjure it. This should be fun! Kai did awesome with having the cast on, the doc. told us the 1st night with a cast a child usually cries b/c they want to be mobile. Kai never cried with it, he was walking on it in a matter days. It was so cute, he looked like a pirate with a peg leg when he would walk. We were also told that when having the cast removed kids usually cry and again Kai did not. He just sat watched. Andy and I both know that "these things happen" but that doesn't stop us from feeling like we failed...sometimes. Andy had been extra careful with Kai that day but as the doc. told us everything that could have went wrong in that moment did and well..."these things happen." Its gonna take alot of getting use to having a rough & tumble boy. I grew up with girl cousins that were my age, we had dance parties and beauty salons. I don't see those in my future. Andy grew up with 3 brothers, he's use to cuts, scrapes, stitches and punches but that still doesn't mean he's ok with his little buddy getting those things. Kai, my love, keep me and your daddy straight b/c apparently "these things are gonna happen" and I don't know if my nerves will be able to handle it but you being so calm and well awesome it should be easy peasy but hopefully "these things happen" will be few and far between.

Oh Pinterest, How you've taken over my life!

Ok so I said I would start blogging about some of my passions well let me tell you Pinterest has become just that! I'm obessed in a crazy kind of way. If you do not know what Pinterest is, check it out. I wish I knew how to do that "if you wanna read about this click here" but thats little more computer savvy than I am right now but soon...maybe :) So anyway I love all the craft projects, recipes, pictures, everything on there. What I don't like is how once I see a project I feel I can do it. I am not very crafty but I like to pretend to be and now thanks to Pinterest my lack of skill but zeal for want is constantly being fed. The following pictures is not my first attempt at a project I've seen on Pinterest. Months ago I covered our file cabinets in wrapping paper. I'm realizing now that w/o a picture this sounds very bizzare. The front the cabinets are wrapped in the paper. The picture I saw on pinterest used scrapbooking paper, I did not have any on hand (and I try to think I'm a crafty person w/o scrapbook paper, tish tosh) anyway all I had was black & white wrapping paper. It turned out amazingly nice. I told my family just not to use the filing cabinets for the next 6 months :) Now onto the next project. I saw a picture of child's feet painted onto canvas and made to look like reindeer, it also had the year painted on the canvas. I thought "this is really cute but..." I wanted to add something more. So I bought a big piece of canvas. This is so every year we can add footprints to the same piece and watch our lil feet grow. I also bought it the size that I did with the thought if we have more children (hint hint husband) their footprints can be added as well. Thank goodness I have a talented artistic husband. Husband was & is willing to venture into many of my projects. Here is the end result. Not to bad for the first artisic project, if I do say so myself.

Kai wanted to paint as well, so he "painted" a Santa Claus

I got the canvas at Hobby Lobby AND it was 30 % off (another place that makes me think I craftier than I am)

The Difference

Jan. 5, 2011changed me. The day I lost my dad will forever be one of the hardest things I've experienced. On this day my family & I experienced intense pain, pain to the nth degree. It wasn't until many months later that I could look through a different lookin glass, a less shattered & broken looking glass. On Jan. 5, 2011 while I & my family had incredible intense pain, my dad experienced quite the opposite. On Jan. 5th, 2011, my dad experienced incredible and intense joy. Immeasurable joy. Joy we here on earth can't even begin to understand. It took me a while to see things from this perspective. All I focus on was my pain. I'm so glad that now I can think about the opposite. Just what exactly did my dad experience on that morning? We we won't know until we, ourselves gt to see our sweet Jesus face to face but I believe that my dad jumped with 2 new knees that had no more pain in them. I believe that his heart skipped beats & leapt from his chest with joy. I believe that he cried tears of joy when seeing Jesus, quite different from our tears. Ouite different from our heart skipping beats from the sadness, quite different from our bodies literally hurting from the pain.
          On July 18, 2011 we as a family experienced yet another heartbreaking loss. One of the sweetest women to walk the face of this earth left us to go home with Jesus. My cousin Cheryl fought an 8 year battle with breast cancer. Its very hard for me to say she lost her battle on July 18 because truly SHE won. We lost our hero, our champion, our fiesty angel but again Cheryl got to experience incredible and intense joy on July 18 while we was experiencing quite the opposite. Her passing I still hurt from, as I write these words tears fall but I do know that her body is new again and will forever be cancer free and she's chillin with Jesus :) AMEN!
         2011 has taught me that I'm not immune to heartache, that God allows me to experience these things because 1. I'm human 2. because it draws me closer to Him and 3. I have alot to learn and God will use bad situations to teach me about His amazing Glory and His sovereignty.
          So on Jan 5th, 2012 we chose to celebrate my dad's life not mourn his death. I wanted to find a way to honor and remember him that would best represent him. Soooooo...I donated blood. I've tried for a few months now to donate and I have low iron sometimes so I haven't been allowed to donate in a while. I was keeping my fingers crossed when I went. Thankfully it was up enough for me to donate. Lucky?! I think not! What could be better than giving blood, something that could save another person's life on the anniversary of the day my dad met the One who shed His blood to give us life. I plan to go and donate on the anniversary of Cheryl's passing as well (I hope to donate in between now & then) but definitely go on July 18. If you've never donated blood, please consider it, its free (plus you usually get a tshirt or movie tickets or something, bonus!) and its lifesaving. OK thats my PSA for the day! Ok so back to celebrating my dad's life. That evening we had all his favorite foods for supper. Cracker Barrel's fried chicken, homemade mashed potatotes, pinto beans, biscuits and so on. It was a purdy good lil ole snack!
          I started this blog last year out of grief, a way to express my hurt and anger. Although I miss my dad dearly the hurt has eased. I plan to continue this blog but with different intentions. I still want to write about life's experiences but also other things. Things I'm passionate about, like: cooking, my awesome fanstaically (yea I made up that word) kid, my fine husband, working out (can't believe that has become a passion) and crafty stuff. I'm not that crafty in general but I do have my moments. And I hope to find new passions along the way and share them. So without further ado.........Lets get this party started!
You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11

                               the delicious celebratory spread, my dad would have be proud

we also released balloons to celebrate but Mr. Kai had other plans so we had a balloon to play with