so long...

wigglesworth... out!

get lost.

meet wigglesworth, the tooth cale cannot lose. 

cale tried. i tried. aunt b tried. miss karla wants to try.

i'm pretty sure i can see wigglesworth's replacement when it moves to the side.

and yet wigglesworth insists on staying the course.

it sticks out, pushes in, and shifts both ways. 

it's holding on by a thread... root... whatever. 

wigglesworth... your days are numbered.

i get it...

i have had a VERY hard time facing this week... mainly because it's the week of my birthday. i am 

THIRTEEEEEEEEEE-FIIIIIIIIVVVVEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

actually, today is the day. in case you didn't know me then, ten years ago (and for many years before) we didn't just celebrate my actual birth-day. we celebrated my birth-month. and by "we", i mean everyone. everyone knew my birthday was on it's way. i made sure of it. then life changed and the pendulum, well it's been heading in the opposite direction for years. yesterday, that pendulum hit its end. i actually said i didn't want to celebrate my birthday. WHAT??? i know, grant and chay, the impossible has actually happened. 

i think a lot of this has come from quite a bit of self-reflection i've been doing lately. apparently i should stop. i certainly don't "feel" thirty-five, but then again, i don't actually know what thirty-five is supposed to feel like. i guess in my head it's a transition age.  things like no more babies, and actually old enough to have given birth to a high-school senior when, in my head i am only twenty-two. how the heck does this happen? where does the time go? how is it possible that my "first child" (hayden) is about to be 15? how is it possible that gracie is halfway to college? WHAT???? this is nuts. oh, there's more reflecting that's gone on, but you get the idea.

and then this morning, while in the shower, i had a God-moment... yep, the kind that aren't your idea. wanna know what the outcome of it was? it was the revelation that i today is not just another birthday i am obligated to, i get another day... because my Papa numbered them and He has good plans for me for today.

my Heavenly Father has blessed me with another day that i get to be His girl... i get the opportunity to say yes to Him and whatever He asks of me... i get to be part of a plan that brings Him glory...

today, i get it. 

tape and all...

i know it's hard to imagine, but my sweet little lily-bug got in trouble one recent evening and was sent to her room. i went in to talk to her once she'd peeled herself off the ceiling for having been sequestered, and found her sitting on her bed, leaning against the wall. it just so happened that she was leaning in the very spot i had taped up an art project she brought home from school... one of those sweet little finger/hand painting projects. so, as she was flailing about (oh, the drama), her hand caught a corner of the picture and it began to rip. i told her how much i liked it, and asked her to be careful so it wouldn't tear any more. wouldn't you know, that precious little angel that God gave me looked right at me... AND RIPPED IT INTO PIECES!!!! oh, girl... noyoudit-untt... SHE DID! i scooped it up and dramatically told her it was headed to the trashcan! and so i did. 

but then as i stood there at the kitchen counter, i began to think about what had just transpired. i thought about my own life... i thought about times i have done the same thing in God's face. BAM! how's that for a little dose of spiritual reality? i had an idea. the kind of ideas that you know are not your own... i decided to take the pieces out of the trash to see if i could put them back together. 

as i did, i thought about how sweet my Heavenly Father is to do the same for me... and for you.

i thought about how we can make a mess of a situation, sometimes it's intentional and sometimes not, but if we will allow Him, He will put our pieces back together... regardless of how disastrous it might seem... He is bigger. 

and before we start feeling ashamed of our dirty, junky pieces, remember that the tape and the lines are nothing to be ashamed of... they are evidence of God's work in us.

lily's picture is on the fridge where i see it several times a day... what a reminder of the grace we are given by our Father who love us unconditionally and longs for us to allow Him to heal and make us whole... tape and all.

Part 2: God is faithful... period.

you know those songs you've heard tons of times that you can hum the tune and maybe sing a line or two, but you've never really listened to the words?

well, this song was one of those for me until very recently. familiar? very. point of the song? dunno.

then... i found myself really hearing it during worship while i was visiting a friends' church. i was minding my own business, singing along, when... BAM! one verse in and it hit me... 

smack-dab between the eyes. 

this was it... this is it. this is our anthem for this journey with cale. if how i have felt... the emotion, the supernatural peace, the gratitude towards my Heavenly Father for preserving my precious son... if i had the right words and could put music to them, this is what it would sound like... 

oh, tooth fairy...

i have a sweet little somebody who lost a tooth! 

i don't know anyone who could look at that precious crooked, toothless, 100% boy grin and not smile...

happy monday night!

 

happy 9th birthday, gracie!

this is hard for this mama to comprehend... 

my sweet girl is 9 today!

nine. n-i-n-e. like one-two-skipafew-NINE!!!!! 

  

what a blessing it is to begin watching her God-given gifts begin to really take shape.  i see love, leadership,   kindness, and compassion really beginning to flow from her. 

i tell her all the time that i'm glad God let me be her mama... and i am.  i wouldn't trade this for anything in the whole world. 

happy birthday, baby.

God is faithful... period.

This is where we were 4 months ago...

Here's where we were today...

God is faithful, and He is always good.

The end.

My heart has been so full today watching my sweet boy get back to what he loves. I tell people all the time, "if you didn't know what happened, you wouldn't know." It's so true.

But four (very short) months ago, even though we knew Cale would be ok , we didn't know what our journey would look like. What has been reaffirmed to us is that God has always been and always will be faithful to His word and to His promises to us and our family. Today was another huge leap forward in this precious journey.

"The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies."

Psalms 41:2

happy birthday, cale!

yummy birthday cake pancakes...

for this sweet birthday boy!

how is this possible? it seems like just yesterday. time flies, doesn't it?

happy 6th birthday to my favorite boy in the whole wide world.     i love you to the moon and back, one millionbazillionkajillion times. 

putt-putt... putt-putt...

for all who know that i always have a plan... how's this for spontaneous??? it was actually my idea to head out for a little game of miniature golf, last minute.

thank you. not part of the plans for tonight, i know. sometimes things work out just as they should, not as i have planned. i even walked away from the freshly-cut grass all over my house (the inside of my house) for this. worth it, you ask? you bet those sweet little bottoms it was. 

question? do you have any idea how hard it is to play and wait, play and wait, play and wait, play and wait, play and wait, and play and wait behind the SLOWEST family on the planet? thank heavens someone in their group lost a ball in the "pond", which gave us a tiny window to "play through". I don't even really know what that means but, after tonight, i like it. 

it was soooo funny when  they realized that on the 18th hole, their ball was gone forever. it only took one ball for them to figure that out and then it was a mad scramble to keep any more from getting close and disappearing forever. no more time for putt-putt... the bellies were growling.

there's no more golfing... only time for one more picture.

so i said it once this week, and i'll say it again...
i'm a very blessed girl. 

third grade, here she comes!

third grade. third. grade. that sounds so big. third grade means a new building. third graders have lockers. third grade requires colored pencils. third grade just suits her.

kick me?

today, this was kinda funny. someday it will be funny to lily. in between those times, gracie had better look out. that little one, she's pretty feisty. not sure gracie realizes that she's messing with the wrong girl. 

what i love...

do you know what i love? 

i love a beautiful sunrise and round bales of hay...

i love a painted sunset enveloped in storm clouds...

i love these sweet babies (and their silly faces) that God has entrusted me with. they are my heart...

and i love this man who loves me and the wonderful, crazy, whirlwind life we live.

these are the things i am so grateful that God has blessed me with. sometimes i get so lost in the tasks in front of me  i forget what is truly important. i forget how gracious my heavenly Father was and continually is to allow me to live and relate on a daily basis with this precious family. i am blessed to be His daughter, i am blessed to be Kyle's wife, i am blessed to be the mama that God chose for my babies, i am blessed to have the family i have... i am blessed.

saturday morning cale says 

"hey mom, we did auditions at school yesterday!"

what???

"what kind of auditions?"

"you know, mom, auditions... like audition and subtraction!"

ahhhhh... addition. got it. i didn't have the heart to correct him.

 it was too cute. 

then he says, "and i used my ruler. i find one number 

and then count to the other to get the right answer." 

clever. 

"did mrs. blackburn teach you how to do that little trick with your ruler?"

"no, mom, i did that myself!" 

later in the day he asked for us to write down some

 "auditions" for him to work on. so we did. 

and he worked. 

 i asked if he used his ruler trick this time, but he said he didn't.

"i didn't need my ruler, but i did use my brain just a little."

glad to hear it, you brilliant little man.

CCS first day of school 2013

whew... what a day. 

new uniforms, new shoes, new routines...

new school, new backpacks, new supplies...

(no, that's not his backpack. he offered to carry lilybugs naptime stuff. chivalry lives on!!!)

new pencils, new skills...

new desks, new friends...

same sweet boy.

the "statue"

the harborwalk in destin is a crowded place. especially on the 4th of july. apparently a crowded holiday is also a good time for the creepy toga-wearing, painted lady to show up and pretend to be a statue. 

why would someone do that? 

because people pay money to take a picture with her. 

who the heck would pay money to take a picture with her?

ummm, well...

creepy statue lady shook hands with gracie and fist-bumped cale with the "bam" at the end. poppy tried to get lily to touch the creepy statue... yeah, she wasn't having any part of that. the best part though, was when creepy statue lady got down packed up her stand and started to walk away. lily's eyes were HUGE, and she says "ohmygosh... she's real?!?!?!?!" 

and people say a dollar won't buy much these days...

bucka-what?

beach vacation travel: day 2

look closely at the middle of that screenshot and you'll see a tiny dot on that map called "Buckatunna." real place... promise... hence the map for proof. back to my point... in Buckatuna, Mississippi they have a little convenience store right on I-45 called the Buckatunna grocery (see below). and in that little store is a deli... sort of. it's a deli in the southern sense that every item on the menu is fried... and it comes with sweet tea. oh, sweet mama... the chicken tenders were (i'm pretty sure) real fried chicken tenders like a little grannie makes, the fries were seasoned to perfection, the roll was just plain yummy, and the sweet tea tasted like it was homemade. oh, and that was the kids meal.

why do i tell you this? well for starters, i'm hungry and it still sounds good (a week later)... also because i just like sayin' "Buckatunna"... and cause it's good info in case you ever happen to find yourself just passing through Buckatunna, MS.

p.s... did you notice Vinegar Blend, AL? sometime i'd like to mosey through there and see what's going on. lemme know if you wanna tag along...

summer, summer, summertime!!!

three kids + one watermelon = a good summer night

**when you read the title, did you start singing dj jazzy jeff and the fresh prince in your head?
that'll take you back a little... or a lot.

... seven... eight... nine...

lily and i had a little detour to whole foods last friday evening, where she proceeded to talk me into some organic jelly beans. really? they're jelly beans. as if being organic makes that any better. anyway, we're in the car and she's begging for some so i hand her the bag. yes, the bag... but also with the stipulation that she can only have 10. ten. one-zero. got it? "yes, mama..."

lily: "one (chomp-chomp), two (chomp-chomp)... eight (chomp-chomp), nine (chomp-chomp), nine (chomp-chomp)... awwww, man!!!"
me: "what?"
lily: "mom, i lost what number i was on."
me: "well... (and then she cuts me off)"
lily: "it's ok mom, i'll just start again... one (chomp-chomp)..."

don't worry i took the bag away, but not before she made it to six... again!!!

somebody lost a tooth!

somebody lost a tooth... the first tooth. it's been flapping for days (hence the big boy tooth behind), but finally flipped out of his mouth when the caught it with a fuzzy on the towel while drying his face. 

he's elated... especially since gracie says "hey cale, the tooth fairy brought me five bucks when i lost my first tooth!" 

zip it, girl.