The Greatest of These is Love

Is January Almost Over?

2012-01-23T23:05:00.001-06:00

I need to post some recent events in the lives of this family, and unfortunately, tonight my mind is tired and my foot is wrapped in an ice pack, so I'm gonna post a few different things tonight for the sake of time. (I'll explain the ice pack in a minute.) :-)

Let me take this back to the START of this lovely month we call January...New Year's Eve was spent with some of our dear friends, the Whites and the Cranfords. We kept it simple, but fun, and I think the kids enjoyed every minute of ringing in the New Year! They LOVED the hats and noisemakers!!
Here's some pictures from our New Year's Eve "party".

As you can see, Jan is quite the "bearded one" these days. He says it's gonna stay until the grass is green. :-)We'll see about that.

Ah, yes! Upward Basketball is in full swing. Our family in spending every Sat. morning from now until the end of Feb. "camped out" at Oak Grove. I can say I have seen some improvements in the boys' "game" since last year. Especially, Jonah...People are no longer coming up to me and suggesting he try out for football since last year he thought the objective of the game was to "tuck and run" with the ball down the court. hehe I love this child!

I managed to get a still picture of Jonah in his uniform, but not John Owen. (I have lots of video, I promise.) Not sure what the "L" is for...I certainly hope he's not implying anything about the photographer.

And who celebrates Christmas in January?! We do, that's who! We gathered at Aunt Dinah's house in Somerville on January 8th for our last Christmas celebration. My grandmother, who is 92 years old, is seen here telling the great-grandchildren seated on the floor about her favorite things in the Bible. She is the BEST storyteller, and even still, she captivates her audience. (She told them all she was going to ask questions at the end to see if they were listening, and they all did a wonderful job.) Christmas with these folks is one of the things I look forward to the most.

Here the great-grandchildren showered Jenny with her Christmas gifts!

One last shot...everybody smile!

O.K., so here's some other things that have happened in January. John Owen and Jonah both did wonderful on their recent report cards...2nd time to make principal's list (all A's) for John Owen and all +'s for my man, Jonah! Way to go, boys! Mary Claire has started back into dance and is loving it! We have decided to wait until summer to continue with music lessons. Mama's daily planner screams "busy", and something had to "give" for the sake of some family time. But, the boys do want to try some gymnastics right after school, so we are going to give that a shot this week. It's close, it's convenient...
Jan is seriously improving in his running! I don't know if I mentioned this, but he decided to take up running after I did, and I think he is bound and determined to beat me! Well, honestly, he did beat me on our first Winter Cross Country Series race. It was 1.8 miles through the woods, and I made the mistake of trying to run TOO FAST at the start. Stupid strategy, I know. He passed me towards the end, and I just didn't have the "gas" to catch him. Last Saturday, he put in 11 miles in a single run, thus marking the farthest distance he has run and I am SUPER proud of him! He has signed up to do a half-marathon with me, maybe even 2 half-marathons this spring.
With that being said, let me explain the ice pack on my foot (which I have now removed as I finish this post). Last week, I ran 6.35 miles on Sunday afternoon, then turned around and ran 6.0 more miles the next morning. After the second run, I felt a pain in my right foot that I had never felt before. I kind of ignored it, and kept going. That night, I took Ibuprofen and when the pain didn't let up the next day, or the next, I decided maybe I should ask the professional opinion of someone. :) I made a last minute appt. with a foot specialist who did an xray and informed me that I have arthritis in my BIG TOE JOINT! The first question he asked me was if I had played sports most of my life. Well, yes, I'd say that's true. This, according to the doc, is fairly normal for someone who has spent years playing sports. But, not to worry. I have researched some exercises for my hallus limitus and I will try to "ice down" after my runs (which, oh my goodness, is probably more painful than the arthritis itself) and take my prescribed medicine so that I may continue to run. Heck, I've got a race this weekend and 2 half-marathons to train for. I can't let this big toe slow me down:) There's always hope that this might only be aggravated by colder months, right? Can you believe January almost over? :)

They Need Our Words

2012-01-14T22:07:00.001-06:00

It's sad to admit, but the new book I mentioned that I was reading in my last NYC trip post hasn't been picked up and read since the first part of December. Not that 52 Things Kids Need From A Mom isn't a good read, because it most certainly is, but the new book took a back seat to Christmas presents, cooking, multiple functions to attend, and somewhere in between all of that, an occasional sleep session. I picked up with my book this past week and thumbed my way through to where I left off.
I read the #22 thing kids need and the #23, and both offered wonderful insights to this mom of three, but I found the #24 thing kids need from a mom to be quite interesting. And all of you "blogging moms" out there will be happy to know that the author says that moms need to have a family blog. :) I laughed out loud when I read this, and I immediately told Jan what I had just read because he sometimes gets frustrated if I am on the computer blogging late at night. The author went on to say that she started a family blog because she believes our kids need our words.
I completely agreed with her that kids need to hear (or later read) about their family...the good and the bad, too. This is OUR STORY! And it's too quickly becoming our history with the days flying by as they do. They need to hear our story, even if they don't grow to appreciate it or truly understand it until later. (That's where the printing of your blog in a "family yearbook" is such a great idea. We pull ours out every now and then and look at the pictures and read the posts.) I want my children to read what I have written about the events in our lives and know how I felt about them and the times we have spent together. I want them to see how I dealt with joy, fear, and struggles when I pour out my heart in a post.
So, even if I have to stay up a little later at night to try to fit it in to my "schedule", I will do it. For the sake of my children and our family's story.

Our heavenly Father, I thank You for the gift of motherhood.
Help me as a mother to seek Your guidance for my children.
Grant me wisdom, strength, patience, faith and love.
Create in me the willingness to dedicate myself and my children to You..

What's Ahead?

2011-12-29T12:13:00.003-06:00

I am choosing to look at taking down my Christmas things as the process that takes place when getting ready for the New Year, for what's ahead, and trying NOT to think about how sad it kinda is to see it all come down. I love Christmas decorations!! I love the lights in the house and ornaments and everything! Today, I finished taking all the Christmas decorations down and simultaneously, putting up our "Let It Snow" (winter) decorations. (You know, snowmen, icicle/snowflake ornaments...leaving some red berries and greenery from the Christmas "stuff" up as they will work for another month or two, right?) Oh, and I always leave our Christmas cards up until well into January so I can look upon the faces of friends and family a little longer.
I have been working off-and-on since Monday. It's really hard to work without interruption around here, so that explains why I am just now getting it wrapped up TODAY! 3 Children to be played with and taken care of, a house to keep "afloat", plus the added interruption of an 8 week old puppy that needs to be watched like a hawk and taken outside frequently as we try to house train him. (What was Santa thinking?!)

Additionally, my grandmother has been in the hospital since Chistmas night. (That's another story in itself.) She had hip replacement surgery Tuesday afternoon, and she is recovering now. We hope she'll be able to return to the nursing home in the next few days. Her dementia has progressed to such a level that communication with her is very difficult, almost impossible. Last night, she smiled at me and she touched my face twice as I fed her, and I just hoped that was her way of letting me know that somewhere deep inside her she recognized me. For selfish reasons, maybe, I wanted her to recognize me. But the truth is, we all love her no matter what's ahead and will do what we can to make her comfortable. My mom has been the one that has been with her most since early Monday morning. When I went down yesterday, I took Jonah with me, and Mom and I left Jonah with my brother, Christopher, while we went outside to jog around the hospital. (I was glad I had worn some appropriate shoes! Not running shoes, but shoes I could jog in.) This Saturday morning, I have signed myself up for a 10K in Collierville. (Gotta end the year on a "running note", you know?) I have only run once and gotten on the elliptical two times in the last week and half. I might be dragging the New Year in!:-)
We don't have any set New Year's Eve plans yet. And it's not that important really. Having big plans for ringing in the New Year, I mean. What is important is remembering to celebrate God's blessings every day, every moment, in whatever is ahead...what He will give in what's left of 2011 and that to come in 2012.
From my devotional book: (And because I thought it pertained to this.)
May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face shine upon us. Psalm 67:1 NIV
No matter what lies ahead, Lord, I will trust in You and Your plans for me, my family, and my friends. I ask that You use me as You see fit, and that my heart be open to the paths You will lead me down. In good times and in bad, I will look to You. Amen.

Introducing...

2011-12-25T13:12:00.001-06:00

our new four-legged family member...

AMOS!

And you can see from these pictures, he is not in any way lacking for attention!

I looked up and they had all, including Amos, crawled into Jonah's bed and gotten under the covers. Worn out from a busy morning, I guess. :)

Sweet little face.

Welcome, Amos!

We already love you bunches!

Santa Shared a Secret!

2011-12-23T14:14:00.001-06:00

Santa called our house today, and the kids were so excited! He told them to get to bed early tomorrow night because he's bringing them a special surprise! John Owen said, "I think we should go to bed at 7:50!" :)

(Hey! That sounds good to me!)

And Santa shared a secret with Jan and me...

We are on pins and needles waiting to help reveal the surprise to these kids! If you PROMISE not to tell, I'll give you a hint.

He's cute as a button, black as coal,

has four legs...just a sweet little soul!

Can you guess? Oh my goodness!!

The kids are gonna go NUTS!

Santa says he'll be here Christmas Eve,

And his name is Amos!!

Kids' Christmas Party

2011-12-21T20:56:00.002-06:00

Today, we had so much fun celebrating Christmas with our friends! There were Christmas games including...

"Musical Pillows" (played to Christmas music),

"Pin the Carrot Nose on Frosty the Snowman",

and a "Freeze Dance"! (Dance til the music stops then everybody FREEZE!):)

Question: Where are the boys?!
Answer: Playing upstairs and not interested in the dancing...girls just wanna have fun!

But the best part of the party was the creativity put forth by all the kiddos in making the BEST gingerbread houses!
Houses like this one by John Owen...

And this one by Mary Claire...

And this one made by Jonah.

I just LOVE the little heart he made from candy canes!

See, making gingerbread houses is so much FUN!

Jonah and Bo "discussing" the design of their houses.:)

Mary Claire takes a break from working on her house and poses for a quick picture for Mom!

Every one did such a great job on the houses!

Great time with great friends!

'Tis the Season Part 2

2011-12-20T13:29:00.001-06:00

Last Thursday, we rushed to Millington right after school for trumpet and piano lessons. And since we didn't have enough time to get home and then back to our school by 6:15, we opted for dinner at IHOP. (Kids' choice, not mine!) Pancakes for everybody but me! Crazy face pancakes just didn't sound appealing for me at the moment. My face looks crazy enough as it is...

After we ate, we were off again! Dash away, dash away, dash away all! I changed Jonah into his "program clothes" in the teachers' bathroom just in time for him to make it to his classroom at 6:15. Whew! My little reindeer was ready to go! They all looked so cute dressed as Christmas trees, reindeer, little Santas, and snowmen. And they did a wonderful job singing several Christmas songs!

Best friends, Jonah the reindeer and Bo the snowman!

A quick shot of Mommy and John Owen at Jonah's program:)

And last night, we ventured out to Starry Nights at Shelby Farms! I had never been, and neither had my children. So, my mother insisted that we ALL go and run/walk through it. It was great! Jan and I ran, and MiMi and Daddy Nick walked with the boys and pushed Mary Claire in the jogging stroller. The weather was not too cold, and there weren't any cars to contend with since it was run/walk/bike night.

The kids loved this t-rex made out of lights!

Lots of lights! A beautiful sight!

Lots of holiday spirit!!

Merry Christmas!

'Tis the Season

2011-12-19T11:48:00.001-06:00

What a busy time of the year! Lots to remember to do... Last week, my day planner looked like a "big ole mess" with basketball practices, dance class, one last music lesson for both boys, Snowball Express at school, Singing Christmas Tree at Bellevue, remembering which day I was assigned to bring food for staff at school, 2 different pajama days for the kids, 2 different Christmas party days and the gifts for all 3 to take to teachers and classmates, and finishing the mailing out of our family Christmas cards. Whew! Pencil in Jonah's Christmas program at school, baking 12 loaves of homemade banana nut bread to hand out to the school office staff, baking our favorite cookies to go in Christmas treat boxes for our Sunday School teachers, Mary Claire's dance recital**see pics below**, and a solo for Sunday worship service, and VOILA...you've got a recipe for weakening Mom's immune system just enough to bring on a case of laryngitis and a sinus infection. Yeah, just in time for the Christmas solo I had been practicing for the last few weeks. I was put on an antibiotic Friday afternoon. (Thank goodness it was a half day of work so I could pencil in a trip to the Walgreens Walk-In Clinic). I thought it was quite funny how the nurse prac. looked at me, and then glanced at my 3 children sitting on the exam table, and said, "And try to get some rest." Now, I don't care who you are, THAT is funny!
I was up most of the night before my scheduled solo coughing my head off. It seemed everytime I laid down, the coughing began. Poor Jan got so tired of hearing me cough, he finally said,"You are gonna have to get up and do something." :) A glass of water, cough drops and Vicks Vaporub finally helped a little. Enough that I guess I finally rested for a few hours. Sunday morning arrived, and I got everybody ready for church, trying not to talk too much as I thought it might save what little singing voice I had left.

I prayed, "Lord, it's in Your hands. May the message of Your Son's birth come forth even if it sounds like that of a donkey. Not for my glory, but Yours."
And I am happy to say that God was with me. Thank you, God. Jan said he couldn't believe I did it!:) (He had heard my voice's condition all week and was very skeptical about my singing.) There was one point in the song I found it difficult to hit one of the high notes, but perhaps it wasn't too noticeable.

After the church service yesterday, I began to feel a bit more relaxed. After the last two weeks and the busy daily schedules of things, I am happy to look at my day planner and see lots of openings. :) It is a wonderful feelng of accomplishment when you think about it. Christmas shopping done, cards mailed out, programs attended and enjoyed, presents given to people we want to say a special "Thank You" to...this truly is a wonderful time of the year!
Merry Christmas to everyone! May the Lord bless you and keep you this Christmas season and may you not get too "bogged down" with the daily whirlwinds to remember the REASON we celebrate.

Oh, and here's the pictures from our Mary Claire's 1st Dance recital. A star is born!! She did so good and loved being on stage. She kept asking, "Is it my turn?" And a couple of times I had to keep her from going out on the stage when it wasn't her turn.:) She was only one who took a bow for the audience at the end of each of her dance numbers. I just couldn't believe it! (We really had no idea what to expect from her.) So, here's our tiny dancer...

I know this is a little blurry, but I loved the way she waved from offstage. And she wasn't waving to me! I was too far away for her to see me, so I don't have a clue who she was waving to. The other little girl's face just screams "I'm nervous!" :)

The beginning pose!

The little girl next to her didn't quite get into like Mary Claire did...

The whole tiny dancers group at the finish

The big finish!

Yesterday, we had some special visitors from Nashville. My friend, Natalie, and her husband, Adam, and their 2 girls, Emma Kate and Della Claire came to play! Mary Claire and Emma Kate had a good time dressing up as Snow White(s) and flipping over the couch. I think Mary Claire is trying out her princess act with Adam here! That look will get 'em everytime, honey. :)

I'll post some pictures of Jonah's program and our Starry Nights adventure tomorrow! (We are going to Starry Nights tonight to run/walk through it!) Should be fun! 'Tis the season!!

Let's Celebrate!

2011-12-11T23:14:00.000-06:00

It's almost here! Christmas Day is only 2 weeks away. Hard to believe...

We have had 2, that's right, 2 accumulating snows already!! I can't remember the last time this has happened here. It's certainly been a nice addition to the Christmas season.

Snow angels!

Snowball fight, of course.

Our super tall snowman! Notice two little people who enjoy eating the snow. :)

Our front door stockings. I just love these! I found these at Sam's 3 years ago for like $10.00 each and then added the greenery, ribbons, and berries.

Breakfast with Santa in our Christmas pajamas!

"Now, Santa, please pay attention. Before I sit on your lap so that my mom can take this picture, I need to outline what's on my Christmas wish list this year." :) Priceless...

Christmas 2011

(And despite her "talk" of sitting on Santa's lap this year, Mary Claire would only allow Mrs. Claus to hold her, and it took a little ~~bribery~~ candy involved to get her in the picture. Still cautious about the man with the white beard...)

Music recitals!!

I was so proud of John Owen and the spectacular job he did playing "Jingle Bells" on his trumpet.

Funny story I want to remember: The night before the recital, I told John Owen we needed to go ahead and lay out his clothes for his recital. He said, "I want to wear a tuxedo." With a smile on my face I replied, " Well, I don't think you have a tuxedo, son." To which he responded, "Yes, I do." And he went to his closet and pulled out the sportscoat he wore on Easter Sunday. I thought it was so cute, that I just said, "It's not exactly a tuxedo, but close enough. Let's find you a shirt to wear under it." Then he added, "I want to wear a tie." So we picked out a tie for him to wear, too. Doesn't he just look so handsome? (The tennis shoes with the outfit add a nice touch, don't you think?) I'm saddened, but happy, too, that my little boy is growing into such a big boy.

We laid out his outfit and he went to bed with visions of trumpet-playing in his head...

And our handsome little Jonah got up and played "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas" like a pro!:)

Wow! Good job, boys! We are so proud of you.

Our snowman with chocolate peppermint bark for the eyes, a carrot for the nose, and spice drops for the mouth.

Last night, we braved the cold and went uptown for the Dickens Christmas on the Square. I have never seen our square decorated so beautifully. I loved the candles and carols we sang and the people dressed like characters straight out of A Christmas Carol. I hope this event continues for years to come.

Today, we celebrated the season with our church choir's presentation of "Answer the Call."

It was a wonderful reminder of the REAL reason we celebrate Christmas...the birth of Jesus Christ!

Sure, Santa, decorations, snow and recitals are fun, but knowing that God loved us enough to send his Son in the form of a baby is the REASON for the season. Merry Christmas to you! May the love of Christ be in your heart this season.

Diary of a First Half Marathon

2011-12-10T15:13:00.002-06:00

On December 3, 2011, I did something I never dreamed I'd do. I ran 13.1 miles in the St. Jude Marathon Weekend in Memphis, TN. I have never been a long distance runner, never even liked the thought of being a cross-country team member in high school. I wondered what good reason those people would have to just run all that distance and time. So, go figure...I decided earlier this year that I wanted to start running and maybe enter a 5K. My motivation for this included several things, and perhaps the reason I could do it is because, I confess, I was at "that point" that I needed this. Consider it cheap, non-medical therapy...

I found a training schedule for novice runners and did some research on what to eat, what not to eat, etc. I asked for and listened to advice from others who have done it, and I am thankful for all the help so many offered in my quest to run my first race. Sometime this summer(and before I ran my first 5K), I set my sights on not just a 5K, but a 1/2 marathon...why not?! It was for a wonderful cause...St. Jude! I joined Team Lucy and set my sights even higher.

I did suffer some "minor" issues along the way as I trained. I lost one toenail due to the fact that I didn't trim my toenails before a 10 miler in October. Sorry if that's too much information, but this is my diary and I'm laying it all out there!! :) (I laughed to myself last Saturday as I ran the half when I saw someone holding a sign that read, "Toenails are for sissies!!" Does that officially make me NOT a SISSY?!)

I have never been so thankful for a new sports bra as I am for the $44.00(bought on sale for $10.00) sports bra I got over a month ago. Shoot, I even bought 2 of those suckers! I had had 2 or 3 chaffings from the previous sports bras and was at my wit's end with it!! Burns like crazy when the shower water hits it! I was in heaven the first time I put the new bra on. Praise the Lord, no more chaffing since!

I have had blisters, but none that have caused pain for me. I would just say that my toenails just don't look the same as they did this summer in my flip-flops. I wouldn't dare wear those flip-fops right now. Thank goodness it's too cold anyway!!

I have clocked over 50 miles run in races since August, and I couldn't even begin to tell you how many miles I have run weekly since this summer. It's kinda crazy when I think about it. I looked at my shoes the other day and thought, "Man, those shoes have carried me lots of miles, over lots of pavement, and up lots of hills." They have been good to me!
No longer "novice" is what I might say about myself now. 13.1 miles under my belt and in the ultimate time I wanted to finish in = HAPPY ME!! And what's crazy is, I have already signed up for another 1/2 marathon!!!
Yep, the St. Jude Country Music 1/2 in Nashville on April 28th, 2012. Nashville hills, here I come! (I have heard it's more difficult with the rolling terrain. What have I done?!) This is another St. Jude Children's Hospital fundraiser, so I am very happy that I can be a part of such a wonderful cause again. What's ahead for me is continuing to train and stepping it up a bit to prepare myself for the Nashville 1/2. With the winter season upon us, this should be interesting. My diary may read of different issues encountered next time. :) Guess we'll see...happy trails!!
**I don't know if this will work, but try clicking here to see pictures from my first 1/2 marathon. Not sure if I'll order anything:), but they were fun to look at. Such a neat thing done by Marathonfoto.**

Thankful

2011-11-24T23:50:00.000-06:00

For a lot of things...

Thankful to be home safely from NYC. (We arrived home late Wed. night.) What a great trip with memories I'll treasure for a lifetime! We had an almost 2 hour delay leaving the airport in NYC which in turn caused us to miss our connecting flight out of Atlanta. With a couple of hours to spare, I walked to a nearby book/magazine stand and began perusing the many choices of latest novels and bestsellers. I had already finished one book during our travel time...Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo. (Pretty good book and uplifting in an affirming-sort-of-way. I don't doubt that Heaven is for real, but I guess it was nice to hear about the author's son's experience and to see how they are sharing their testimony with the world. Jesus is for real!! Amen and Amen!)

O.K., back to my search at the bookstand...I couldn't believe I was even thinking about starting book #2! Woo Hoo! (I never have this much time for reading...) What's funny is that with the "leisure reading time" that lay before me, I WOULD choose something that relates to parenting. You can't run away from the season of life you're in, right? (And truth be told, I am thankful for the season I'm in.)

If you are a mom, you just might want to buy this one, too. (Heck, you can just borrow mine if you want to.) Well, at least when I finish with it. :) See, it's so good, I had to share it with you now, and I'm only about half way through it. The book is 52 Things Kids Need From a Mom by Angela Thomas.

Now, some of you reading this are great moms already. I know 'cause I am blessed and thankful to call you my friends, and I have witnessed your "mom skills". But I think this book can give (and already has given me) some good reminders and ideas for leading our children with God's love and grace. I am thankful for being called "Mommy"!

Happy Thanksgiving! Thanks be to the God in Heaven (who is as real as ever) and from whom all blessings flow.

Final Farewell to NYC

2011-11-24T23:25:00.001-06:00

Our last day in NYC was spent wrapping up some last-day shopping at FAO Schwarz.

(Below) Me and the life size Indiana Jones made out of LEGOS!

Jan and the LEGO Lady of Liberty

Then we decided to skip the walking endless blocks as we had been accustomed to and hop on the subway to head to Wall Street. (This turned out to be a smart transportation decision as the rain began to move in to the city.)

NYC Subway!!

With the rain beginning to fall, we strolled down Wall Street, admired Tiffany and Co., and then headed back up to Trinity Church and St. Paul's Chapel. (I said in an earlier post that I wanted to go back to St. Paul's Chapel and go inside, hence our trip back to the WTC site.)

Jan on Wall Street and in front of the NY Stock Exchange

Tiffany and Co.

The rear entrance to St. Paul's Chapel and the cemetary there..

I took the picture below from the back door of the chapel because it shows the spot where the twin towers once stood.

"They fell. One tower, then the other. They fell, fell, fell. They fell with a rush, and they fell with a roar. The sky was blank where they'd been before." (quotations from: The Little Chapel that Stood by A.B. Curtiss)

"Some say the giant sycamore wood

had saved The Little Chapel That Stood."

George Washington's pew and the Bible he read from.

"Since Seventeen Hundred and Sixty-Six, has stood this house of God and bricks."

"Rescuers worked through the night and the day. In the chapel they'd pause, then go on their way."

The view from inside the chapel. The beautiful chandeliers which could tell their own stories, right?

"It was something of wonder, a symbol of grace.

The steeple still there, not a brick out of place."

Being there is hard to describe. There were moments I cried when I read the letters left by family members searching for their loved ones and saw the pictures of the faces of people who lost their lives that day. And then there were moments I stood in awe and disbelief at what had taken place and how our country rose up from the ashes and destruction and at how people (Americans and people around the world) rushed to help in whatever way possible. Nothing I can ever write can accurately describe this experience...

After the St. Paul's Chapel experience, Jan had one more thing he wanted to do. So, we hopped back on the subway and headed to Chinatown. We did some street shopping...I just stood back and watched him bargain. haha This didn't last too long because the rain REALLY started to come down. We had thought we might head to Little Italy to eat, but we decided to call it quits and hop back on the subway to Times Square and our hotel.

When we reached our hotel, Jan's cousin, Clay, who lives in Brooklyn, called to say he wanted us to try to meet up with him before we had to leave. (He had just arrived back from being out of the country the day before.) We rested for a short while, and then once again, jumped on the subway and headed to Brooklyn. (I'm pretty sure I could get REAL good at this!) Clay and his girlfriend met us in the rain, and we all quickly walked a few blocks to a wonderful restaurant with a "fancy southern kick". We enjoyed some great food and time together. Jan and I opted for a cab ride back to Times Square instead of the subway. I'm glad we did because we got to experience coming across the East River on the Manhattan Bridge and seeing the city from a different angle. Even at night, it's an amazing sight.

So, there you have it...1st NYC trip is done!

Yes, I plan to return. Perhaps with my children when they are a little older and can "handle" this great city and possibly appreciate it for all its history and culture.

I LOVE NYC!!

NYC 2011 (Continued)

2011-11-21T23:15:00.000-06:00

Since the moment we planned this trip to NYC, I told Jan that one of the things on my "to do" list was to go to the top of the Empire State Building. I just love "Sleepless in Seattle" when Tom Hanks's character goes to the top of the ESB to look for Meg Ryan's character and that moment when they finally find each other. Remember that?! Ahh...we wish it were that easy, right? But it's just a movie. For a brief moment today, though, I felt as if I were playing the romantic role of a lover finding her soulmate atop one of the most iconic American landmarks.

Wow!! Love CAN be found at the top of the ESB!! :)

(It was only fitting that he kiss me since on this day 13 years ago, he asked me to marry him. Thanks for asking me, Jan. I'm glad you did.)

O.K., enough "mushy stuff". Besides, part of the reason I'm blogging about this is because my kids are reading this and seeing what we're up to in NYC!! hehe

Some other cool things we've checked off our NYC list in the last 24 hours include:

Christmas decorations in NYC!!

I videoed the Lord and Taylor department store windows today! They are spectacular!!

Grand Central Station

(And it's amazing what all is in under what you are looking at in the picture.)

Our first NYC vendor food! Jan bought some kind of gyro chicken thing...I opted for a warm pretzel.

This is a picture of one of the windows at the Empire State Building!

The model of the ESB here is made out of Christmas candy!!

This picture shows a comparison of the two structures Jan and I have traveled to the top of.

Today's experience was a lot different than our Eiffel Tower experience in Dec. 2004, but both amazing!

A beautiful day to look out from the ESB!

We decided to rent bicycles and bike through Central Park, and I am so glad we did. This was a great way to see the park and see it quickly, since our daylight was quickly fading!

I just loved my blue bike!!

We have walked and walked and walked some more!

Then after biking, we decided to find a good restaurant and sit down for awhile before catching this...

Our 1st Broadway show...The Phantom of the Opera!

It was fantastic!

A wonderful way to top off the day in NYC!

A Day to Remember

2011-11-20T15:54:00.000-06:00

Today, we embarked on a tour of the 9/11 Memorial. It was unforgettable. Our tour guide spoke of the events surrounding that day and the murdered men, women, and children on Sept. 11, and it was undescribably heartbreaking to think about the horror that took place here in New York 10 years ago. We saw the efforts New York has made and is making to rebuild from the horrific event on Sept. 11, 2001. As I looked around at the buildings and people and as we walked the streets around where the WTC once stood, I couldn't help but try to imagine what that day must have been like. I thought about the documentaries I have watched about 9/11, and my heart was overcome with grief for the helpless people who suffered this tragic event. I can't begin to imagine what it was really like. I hate that things like this have happened throughout history. Hate can bring about such devestation... I almost felt guilty in taking pictures at the memorial. I felt like this was such a sacred place where so much was lost. I cried thinking about how many names on the wall represented family members and friends for so many people. I do not know any of them, but I can identify with the sudden loss. If anything, New York is showing the world that out of such a tragic event comes hope. This is a picture of Tower One, the Freedom Tower which should be completed in a couple of years.

The 9/11 Memorial Museum is not yet open, but we walked past it on our way to the place where the Twin Towers once stood.

And this is the Memorial.

The water flowing into a deeper void, a representation of the void felt by those who lost someone they loved that day and the lives lost by a nation.

This is the only picture I got of St. Paul's Chapel which is next to where the towers stood. I read the Little Chapel That Stood to my students the week of Sept. 11th, and it amazing how this church suffered no damage when the towers fell. Our guide said it has survived city-destroying fires and the attack on the twin towers leaving it to be the oldest building in New York City, and it is believed to be God-protected. (Amen to that!) We are going to try to make a trip back there to go inside. (Our tour didn't include going in!) And I would like to see the Bible George Washington read from. :)

After leaving the financial district, we walked through the South Seaport area (beautiful) and boarded another boat to get to New York Harbor. On the way, we saw the Brooklyn Bridge,

the Manhattan Bridge,

and then...the Statue of Liberty!

(This picture is for you, John Owen, because you told me to send you a picture of the Statue of Liberty.:) I love you and miss you!!)

New York Times

2011-11-19T20:25:00.000-06:00

We are here!

Our airplane landed in New York City around lunchtime today, and we are having a great time so far.
The picture above was taken at Bubba Gump's in Times Square. We figured we needed to continue this tradition of eating here since we ate at the one in Kona, Hawaii almost 2 years ago. (Which also marks the last "just us" trip we have taken.) I can't wait to wear my "Run Forrest Run" t-shirt I bought...maybe I'll wear it in a future race or something. :)

Here's some of what we've done so far:

Admired the view from our hotel window!

Picture taking opportunity outside The New York Times building

Look, it's Covington!

"There's no place like home..."

Hey, kids, look...it's McDonald's!

Jan in Times Square!

Radio City Music Hall

(It was even prettier after the sun went down.)

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea,

but is visiting New York City just like me?

Who could be mistaken for a big block of CHEESE?

Nobody but the Spongebob and me!

Rockefeller Center

and the Christmas tree!!

We won't get to see the lighting of the tree, but I am hoping all of the scaffolding will be gone by Wed. so we can see the tree in all its glory before we head home to spend Thanksgiving with our family. I am also hoping to ice skate there before we leave. :)

Me at Rockefeller Center with "The Rock" in the background.

These people probably felt like royalty getting married in St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York!

My favorite part...the singing of "Ava Maria"! Beautiful!!

Oh, and the architecture was breathtaking, too!

A nice girl offered to take our picture together outside the NBC Studios which are housed inside "The Rock".

"The Ball" which will be dropped on New Year's Eve!

Times Square in New York City...check!!

On a Country Road...

2011-11-12T22:46:00.000-06:00

I ran my last race before the St. Jude half marathon---The Country Store 15K this morning at 8 a.m. in Olive Branch, MS, marking the furthest distance I have traveled for a race in the last 5 months. We have had 2 sick kiddos at home the last couple of days, and I thought just maybe the country road and I would never meet, but Jan was willing to keep the kids at home to allow me to finish this "thing" I have started.
I walked out the door at 6:00 a.m., programmed the GPS for the Country Store address, popped in a Christmas music CD (alone in the car time = a perfect time to practice for the upcoming choir special at church and the solo I have on Dec. 18), and away I went.

It was a nice day, a little chilly, but I would expect nothing less this time of the year. No trails today, praise the Lord! (Whew! I learned my lesson about trail races last Saturday.hehe) Today, it was just a long stretch of a paved, country road beginning at a small church in a slightly remote part of Olive Branch. 9.3 miles of paved road...

I knew NO ONE there!! Which I thought might be a good thing. :) So, my day began with short, casual conversations with a handful of complete strangers. And let me admit here, I'm guilty of being a "people watcher". I watched the people around me as they stretched and ran warm ups and talked to their friends. I saw others who, like me, were alone in this "adventure". I saw 2 "girls" driving minivans, and I smiled as I wondered if they, too, had left behind a number of children and a husband in charge of those children so they could be here to run this race. I wondered if any of these racers were training for the 1/2 on Dec. 3rd, too. I also wondered if anyone else was like me in that this race was their FIRST 15K? I felt like I should be wearing a sign or something that read, "This is my first 15K!" Wouldn't that have been a sight? Bet I would've gotten some looks or maybe even sparked a few extra conversations with that.

And broadcasting my 15K maiden voyage might have bought me some sympathy in the end 'cause this group of runners, as I quickly learned after the start of the race, was a fast group!! Honestly, I just couldn't get myself in a "groove" for the first 3 miles today. I saw all these folks passing me and moving ahead quickly, and I thought to myself, "O.K., you are not here to win anything, just finishing this is your goal. Chill out!"

I have kept up with all of my finish times, and it's safe to say that I am presently averaging 9 1/2 to 10 minutes per mile. That's not fast, but it's not too bad for a start, I guess. If I could drop some pounds, I might could run faster. If I weighed 125 pounds or LESS like some of these other girls that run, imagine how fast I might be. Instead, my weight, which is currently almost exactly what I weighed in high school, would probably put me in the "Clydesdale" category of women who run races! When I told Jan that some races have this "Clydesdale" category and what the requirements are and how it depressed me that I could easily be a member of that category, he tried to make me feel better by saying, "See what you can do, Nicole!! I'd like to see how fast those girls would run if I strapped a 25 or 30 pound backpack on them and told them to run with it." Thanks, sweetheart. :)

Anyhoo...let me get to the end of this story and this day so I can take my sore knee to bed.

I finished in 1:33:00 today which from the looks of the group already at the finish and enjoying their "after race" food, was probably in the bottom portion of the race finish times. (I haven't actually seen the results at this time, so I can't be for sure.) I grabbed some grapes and a bottle of water and headed to my car.
The "unknown racer" makes her quiet and quick exit...haha
Goodbye, country road race and all you FAST country "bumpkins". (Oh, and no offense intended with that "bumpkins" comment... I am a certified "bumpkin" myself!)

What does the near future hold? Well, I don't have another race scheduled until the half! My plans for the next 3 weeks include: 1st- resting this sore knee, enjoying a trip with my husband next week before celebrating Thanksgiving with my family, and doing some running on my own before I tackle the 13.1 miles on Dec. 3rd!
Most importantly, I have learned from this "race training" experience that so much in life requires perserverance and faith and hard work. I have been reminded that God is good all the time and that even when we find bumps in the road, He's there. Maybe He even put that bump there to get our attention. My "bump in the road" or the thing God has been working on most in my life since January 2010 is: trust. Fearing tomorrow or what could happen tomorrow began eating away at me over a year ago when our Mary Claire was diagnosed with cortical dysplasia. I let fear take over in many ways due to the lack of control I had on the situation and her diagnosis. It was, and still is, something I deal with everyday. But with God's help, I know I cannot fear the future. I trust He's already there and He already knows and He already has a plan for the things I know nothing of. I will simply thank Him for the blessing of today, for His grace, and His mercy.

With Age Comes Adventure

2011-11-06T15:03:00.002-06:00

The first part of this post is for my husband who just celebrated his 41st birthday this past Thursday, November 3rd!

Happy birthday, Jan! I love you more today than yesterday, and I cannot imagine my life without you in it.

And I think your little girl loves you, too!:)

Several weeks ago, I told Jan I had signed up for a 10K trail race in Dyersburg. I had never done a trail race before, but the website described the course as "easy" and "a beginner's trail run". So, Jan and my mother decided to sign up, too. Jan kept saying, "41 and DONE!" (Only because of his 41st birthday and because he's not as into this running thing as I am.) He's done some 5K's this fall, but he was claiming this would be his last race and highest mileage to run for a race.
I think Mom signed up just so she wouldn't be left to watch all 3 of our children while Jan and I

ran the race. hehe

No, really, she enjoys the races probably more than I do. And she's good!! Age certainly hasn't slowed her down. I hope when I'm 64 years old, I am still running 5Ks and 10Ks or, dare I say, even 1/2 marathons!

I hope Mom doesn't kill me for putting her age on here. :)

Yesterday's race day was cold, but beautiful. The drive to Dyersburg was foggy, but the fog lifted by the time we arrived at Fyrne Lake Farms. It was a family affair as my dad joined us, too. He had been "assigned" the task of watching the children, so his role in this was especially important. We made sure to stop at McDonald's for "Daddy Nick's" senior coffee with creamer before this adventure began. With all of us packed in the minivan, you would have thought we were setting out on some small vacation, but no...just a trail race in the woods was our destination.

There weren't as many racers probably due to the fact that this wasn't a Memphis run, and this was the first ever Fyrne Lake Farms 10K, so we should have felt like pioneers, right?! Hmm...Now, here's where the story takes a dramatic turn.

We were instructed to follow the guy on the four-wheeler. That is, if we could keep up with him. HA!

If not, then follow the little orange flags marking the trail. A slight feeling of relief swept over me when I spotted the flags ahead of the start line 'cause I knew there was no way I was gonna keep up with the guy on the four-wheeler. I wish I had pictures of the start of the course, but my description will have to suffice. There was no pavement, only grass(wet grass) and one small gravel road. Most of our course was grass through the woods, hills up through the trees, and a SMALL, VERY SMALL trail through more trees. There was mud! Slippery mud! About half way through, I even paused for a second to try to wipe some of the mud off on the grass. And it was about 1/2 way through that I began to worry...not so much for myself, but for my husband and mother! What had I gotten them in to? This did not seem "easy" to me! I passed my mom as I looped around from mile 3 and she exasperatedly said, "I will never do this again!"

It got worse from that point, and I just kept thinking, "O.K., God, I trust that You are gonna see us through this. As soon as I finish, I'll run back to find them and make sure they make it to the end. Please don't let either of them get injured."
The last hill was extremely steep, and I was afraid of slipping. Once I made it to the top and out of the woods, there was a man at a water table. I took a cup of water, and he said, "You've got it! Only about 1/4 of a mile left." That was what I needed to hear. I threw my cup down and started running again. Now, I think I have run enough to kind of gauge a 1/4 mile, and let me tell you...that guy lied!!:) Yes, I was close to the end, but I am pretty sure it was more than 1/4 mile to the finish. (My thoughts were confirmed when Jan said the same thing after his finish. That guy had told him the same thing!)
I gave some cute little girl a "high five" as I neared the finish, and gave it all I had at the end. I filled out my card, grabbed a bottle of water, and headed back to find my mom and husband.
It didn't take long to spot Jan. He was doing great! As I got closer to him he said, "Go find your mom!" (He was worried, too.)
I made my way back to the guy who lied about the distance left. He gave me a funny look, and I simply smiled and said, "No, I am not a glutton for punishment! I am going back to find my mother." Down the slippery hill I went and back through the woods. I passed a few people on the way, some smiling, some with crazy, exhausted looks on their faces. Finally, I found my mom. She thanked me for coming back, and I told her she was close to being finished. I think she said, "This is crazy. It'll be a miracle if I don't twist my ankle." I informed her that there was a monster hill coming up.
We walked the monster hill together. And when we reached the top and walked out of the woods, Jan was standing next to the guy at the water table. He had already gotten her a cup of water and was waiting to continue to the finish again with us. She crossed the finish at 1:30:00. The oldest person at the race that day and the only person in her age group... I think that is something she should be very proud of!
My time was 1:06:58 and surprisingly, I won 3rd place in the 30-34 female age group. My first award! Granted, there weren't as many racers as your typical Memphis area races, but hey, it's a start. And I have a ~~tacky~~ lovely custom plaque to show for it. :)
Mom also won a plaque for first place in her age group and...GUESS WHAT?
Jan won 3rd place in his age group!!! His time was approx. 1:13:00.
I couldn't believe that we all 3 placed!
We drug ourselves through cold temps, trekked through mud and woods, up unsightly hills, over holes, and down slippery slopes to great finishes for our first (and possibly ONLY) trail race!

We all laughed and laughed about it on the way home!
(I am thankful we COULD laugh about it. hehe)
Everytime I think about it, it brings a smile to my face.
What a great adventure!
Oh, and by the way, Jan says he's done with running, but I wouldn't count him out quite yet. I think getting an award yesterday might just push him to do this running thing a little more.
Happy birthday, Jan! Age brings adventure, don't you agree?

Happy Halloween 2011

2011-11-05T17:53:00.001-05:00

We had such fun this Halloween dressing up as superheroes, attending the annual Fall Festival at church, and trick or treating in our neighborhood with our friends, the Bondurants and the Dawsons. I liked that Mary Claire was more into the games at the Fall Festival and she LOVED going from house to house this year trick or treating. We still have lots of candy left!! Oh my! Here's some Halloween memories from 2011...

My superheroes!

"Mary Claire, is that really how you feel about taking these pictures?" :)

Captain Amerca giving Supergirl instructions on Mission: Fall Festival!
And notice Green Lantern is still posing as instructed for the picture. Go, Green Lantern!

Well, looks like Supergirl doesn't like sharing the spotlight with that guy called Superman!

Best friends Carter (Indiana Jones) and John Owen (Green Lantern)

"The Crew" on Halloween
(Mr. Skipper's finger)hehe, Carter, John Owen, me as Fancy Nancy, Jonah, Shelby, Mary Claire
AND if you look real close you can see Jan and Ginger peeking out through the doors behind us.

Halloween cupcakes!

10 Miles and My Inspiration

2011-10-23T16:11:00.001-05:00

Today marks the day I completed my longest run in my half marathon training. 10 miles before 9:00 a.m. CRAZY!! I must be dedicated seeing that I bid my bed farewell at 4:50 this morning and began to prepare myself for a 10 miler in Shelby Forest. iPod...check, energy gels...check, jacket (cause it's very chilly)...check, hydration water...check...forget it, you get the idea. I ate two oat and peanut granola bars on the way and drank a Sunkist, two of my favorite snacks. I turned up the KLOVE on the radio and meditated on the words to each song that played. My God, my inspiration. I was reminded more than once this morning that He should always be my inspiration. I have said before that when I run, I use this time to talk to God. I know I don't have to run to talk to Him, but I have found this to be a good time for me. Whatever brings us closer to Him, right?

As I ran through Shelby Forest and tried NOT to focus on the miles I had to run, I chose to focus more on my surroundings. The sun rose just before we started the 10 miler, and the scenery was absolutely beautiful. Trees changing colors and deep forest all around...it was actually kinda easy to keep my mind off my feet hitting the pavement with the scenery. After 3 miles, I started thinking, "Man, that's a 5K. 2 more 5K's to go.(Plus one mile.) I can do this, I can do this." And then I started praying again. You see, I think running requires almost as much mental preparation as it does physical preparation. Praying helps me with the mental part. Somehow, I don't remember the miles between 3 and 6. Mile 6 is wher they passed out the GU, the energy gels. I had brought some different energy gels, but I took one of the GU's and tore it open. I squeezed out a bit, and let me say, they don't make these things to taste good. I made myself take another shot of it, and then tossed the rest. Mile 7 and then mile 8. I almost choked, not due to the drink of water from my water bottle or energy gel I was eating, but from the tears almost cried as I realized I was almost finished and that I had actually run this far and this long. No crying, I can't spare the energy for it. :)

Mile 9 was a doozy! We had mastered a few hills, but the hill on mile 9 takes the cake! I turned to my friend behind me and shouted, "O, M, G!" (Oh, my goodness!!) That's all I could say at that moment. It was no hill, it was a WALL! I, along with everyone else I saw around me, walked this "WALL". Once I got to the top, I caught my breath and began running again. About 3/4 mile left to go!

I glanced at the clock, crossed the finish, and turned in my chip. I went straight for the Gatorade and water. I asked my friend, Anna, for the time and she said it was 9:00. I knew that if I hurried, I could make it back to town for worship service at my church. I told Anna good-bye, found my jacket that I had tossed about halfway through the race, and got out of "the woods". I was determined to put as much effort into making it to church that I had out into running those miles. After all, God allowed me to run those miles. I made it to the choir room just before they were ready to go out to the sanctuary. Whew!

So, 10 miler...check.
My time: 1:48:47
I did it!:-)
God is good!

Meet Me in St. Louis

2011-10-13T17:55:00.001-05:00

We just returned from a very last minute, but AWESOME (according to Jonah), trip to St. Louis! The kids loved it! We surprised them with packed bags after breakfast Tuesday morning. I had packed clothes the night before so that we could try to get away as early as possible Tuesday morning. We had a blast! The zoo, the arch, eating downtown, seeing Busch stadium, and tackling The City Museum were all packed into 2 days of St. Louis FUN! It was a great getaway for Fall Break, especially when I had not planned on us going anywhere at all this time. :) Here's some memories I'll treasure from this trip...

I guess it's hard to NOT act like a monkey when you are at the zoo...right, Jonah?!

My three "monkeys" posing for a Halloween picture at the zoo

And everybody said,"Awww!" when the baby elephant came out! Mary Claire said it the loudest. hehe

Spotting butterflies with our handy-dandy "Species Identification" guides

Caught a beautiful butterfly hanging out on a leaf

Mary Claire liked the goats.
She called the little white baby goat a lamb, and the zookeeper guy got a kick out of it!

Jonah liked the guinea pigs

Family fun at the zoo

Glorious picture of the Arch

I wonder what the man resting under the arch next to us thought...

Daddy and Mary Claire at the Gateway Arch

Lots of stairs surrounded by ART!

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can be like a hamster...
I am seriously considering this type of contraption for my half-marathon training. Hard work!

Mary Claire going down the monster slide!

The biggest underwear I've ever seen! Hmm...modern art?

A Big Boy! (Our kids have never seen one, but Jan and I remember him.)

The worlds largest pencil! A real eraser and lead, too!

And that's when my batteries in my camera DIED, and I did not have the spare ones with me...UGH! So, the rest of our pictures from the day at The City Museum are whatever my husband took with his phone. I would highly recommend this museum to any one with children! Just be ready to climb, crawl, slide on your belly (at times), and squeeze through small spaces. My knees hurt after all the crawling I did! And just when I thought my inner child was gone for good :), "she" resurfaced as I slid down slides and slides and more slides. "Come on, Momma!" was the phrase for the day, and we were so happy to run into our friend, Ella, there, too! In addition to all the climbing and sliding, she and John Owen rode the ferris wheel together on the top of the museum, and I rode with Jonah. Now THAT was an experience! Being 10 stories up in the air already and then getting on a ferris wheel. Man! I was overcoming my fear of heights in a big way at that museum! Maybe that's why the "boy" running the ferris wheel gave me a "thumbs up" with a questioning look on his face as my car came around. I am guessing my expression said it all...
Seriously, the boys and Mary Claire LOVED it, and that's all that really matters. It was well worth the soreness. (A little ALEVE can fix that, right?)

All in a Day's Post...

2011-10-05T22:35:00.001-05:00

Let me just say that I have so much I need and want to post right now, but the truth is I am gonna have to pull an "all in one" due to my lack of time for posting. Let me catch us up real quickly...
I have been continuing to work on training for the St. Jude 1/2 marathon. I am up to running 4 or 5 days a week with 3 short runs during the week and working on longer runs on the weekends. I just completed my longest run yet this past weekend...6.6 miles in 67 minutes!! I literally almost cried when I finished. I did it, and 6.6 miles is a lot for this novice runner! Jonah was so funny when I told the kids I was going to run from Daddy's shop to our house. He responded with, "But Mommy, that's running from Brighton!" (Yes, that's right, technically I did run from Brighton...Jan's shop being one of the first Brighton addresses right outside of Covington on Hwy 51.) I felt like Forrest Gump (smile) as I ran past the fields along the backroads. "Run, Forrest, run!!" It wasn't until mile 5.8 that I felt my muscles in my legs beginning to wear down some. Which means I still have a lot of work to do. Someone suggested energy gels at mile 6, so I might experiment with that on my next long run.
LeBonheur Pumpkin Run 5K this Sat., and I am excited about it. I am excited about being a member of Team Lucy! Lucy, and the other children at St. Jude and LeBonheur, are why I'm running. I won't give up even when it hurts and I'm tired. This has almost become my addiction and my therapy, I think. If I could run these miles and remove the fact that any child would ever have to get sick, I would run and run and run and run! I am thankful for hospitals like LeBonheur and St. Jude who work so hard to treat precious children and save lives!
Go Lucy Go!

This past Sunday we celebrated my grandmother's 91st birthday at Uncle Davie's house. I wish I could include all of the family pictures I took, but instead I'll just include these special moments:

Uncle Glenn, Mom, Aunt Dinah, Uncle Don, and Uncle Davie
with Grandmother

Mary Claire, Jenny, and Olivia

All of "us" (grandkids) with Grandmother
Melanie, me, Christopher, Matthew, Geremy, Machelle, Marcy, Alex
(Jim Isaac always with us in spirit...)

ALL of the Caudle great-grandchildren (except Avery who had ball practice and had to leave early).
As far as we know, there are no new ones expected anytime soon...hehe
Think I can name them all in order? Let's see..Mary Shields, Max, Brooks, Isaac, Christopher (yes, we have 2 Christophers), Avery, John Owen, Grant, Jonah, Cooper, Olivia, Mary Claire, Harris, Hardy, Henry...Is that everyone? :-)

Aren't these 3 year old cousins just SWEET?!
Harris, Mary Claire, Hardy, Olivia

Group hug!

We had such a great time Sunday afternoon and are looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas together.

The boys started flag football this past Saturday, and here are some pictures from their first game!
I think they are liking it so far.
Go Tribe!

My two boys

To end this post, I must introduce you to the "Hula Queen", Miss Mary Claire Hensley!
I don't know exactly where she learned this, but she has not given up on this, and I am amazed at her skills with her "hoop loop"(This is what she calls her hula hoop!) Now, everytime she picks the hula hoop up, she is going longer and longer! I am starting to think maybe we should set this hula hoop act to music and enter her in a talent contest somewhere. :-) America's Got Talent maybe?! Video is not uploading, so a couple of action shots will have to do for now...

Music to My Ears

2011-09-25T14:17:00.000-05:00

Since I last posted, our boys have officially begun music lessons! John Owen was intent on learning to play the trumpet. That's right, I said the TRUMPET! Who would have thought?! I tried to convince him to maybe start with the piano or guitar, but he wouldn't have any of that. So, not wanting to hold back on what might turn out to be his God-given talent, I signed him up for private trumpet lessons, and he is doing great! I wish everyone could have seen his face the first time he played some notes for us. He was happy and proud, and I could see it all over his face.

The only trouble we've had is keeping baby sister from sticking her hand or foot in the trumpet while he tries to play. She thinks it is quite funny!

Please pay little mind to the old pajamas he is wearing in the picture. He was already dressed for bed and he loves those Super Mario pj's...even with a hole in the knee.

Jonah chose to start piano lessons, and he is doing great, too. I am able to work with him and teach him some at home since I do have some knowledge of this instrument. (John Owen's on his own with that trumpet. hehe)

I liked sitting beside Jonah today on the same piano bench that I learned to play on. The piano was my grandmother's. It was moved to my mom's house for me to use, and has recently made it's home at my house. I am having a piano tuner come soon to make sure everything is in working order for Jonah. I have to tell this...When I went to Lane Music to buy the piano books that Jonah's instructor requested for him, I was greatly surprised to see that the cover of the books was EXACTLY THE SAME as it was when I took lessons! Same pink color, same font and print, same picture...GEEZ, LOUISE! :-) Amazing,after all these years...

Anyhow, again please disregard the fact that my son is in his pj's in the picture. You never know when your photo opportunity will be.

If you look close, you will see an extra arm reaching for those keys on the piano. She's everywhere!!!

I guess I'm going to have to find an instrument Mary Claire can "practice" with to keep her occupied and out of the boys' way while they practice at home.

The boys seem to be happy and learning even after just 2 lessons. And that makes all the exra effort for the lessons worth it! It's definitely music to my ears to see and hear them learning to play an instrument and liking it!

Checked Off the List

2011-09-17T21:37:00.000-05:00

2nd 5K...check. And I was so surprised to have improved my time greater than I expected. 28:43 this time, and BOY! were there more hills than the 1st 5K. (These are some pictures from the day first, and of course, a story to follow.)

Mimi and Aunt Dinah pose together after Dinah won 1st place in her age group.

Mimi cheered us all on!

That's me...almost to the finish.

Jan's almost there, too!

Aunt Dinah nearing the end

Mary Claire watching runners go by from the tree in Jenny's front yard.

My grandmother (who will be 91 next month) and my Jonah

Mary Claire checking on Daddy after his race. :-)

Mary Claire and cousin Hardy "cutting up"

Aunt Dinah helped Mary Claire make a doll out of corn husks.

This was the Somerville Cotton Pickin' 5k, and 9 of my family members ran/walked the race. A family affair...:-) Mom agreed to watch the children for us at my grandmother's house since the race would start and finish on Grandmother's street. We pulled out chairs and they sat and watched everyone run the start, then cheered us on at the end! I thought of my grandfather as we ran through the cemetary. He would have been 95 years old that very day. My Aunt Dinah won 1st place in her age group. It was fun to see her receive her award. She and my mom are amazing to me. I hope when I am 60 years old, that I am still doing/still able to do things like this.

After the race, we played with our cousins for a little while, watched the race awards ceremony, and walked around the square to visit the booths set up for the Cotton Festival. Then Mary Claire, Mom, and I spent some time eating lunch with Grandmother on her back porch just talking. That lasted unitl Mary Claire showed signs of exhaustion. Frankly, I was tired, too. She was asleep in the car well before we got to the city limits, probably before we got past the town square.

A great day with family and a great race, too! I am already looking forward to next year's Cotton Pickin' 5K. That is, if I don't kill myself getting ready for this half marathon and give up running before then. :-)

In This Life

2011-09-04T15:11:00.003-05:00

I had an idea, as I celebrate my 34th birthday this September 4, to write about the days of my life. A type of reflection, if you will. As I have thought about this life God has allowed me to live, I feel indescribably BLESSED! God has allowed me to live and learn and experience so much.
**This is written for the sake of our family scrap/blog book, just in case there comes a day that my children are interested in reading this about their mother.**

Somerville, TN was my first HOME. It's where my parents lived when they brought me home form the hospital 34 years ago. I have no recollection of the little house around the corner from my mother's parents and the family farm on Hwy. 64, but the house is still there, and I still think of Somerville as HOME.

However, the house that built me, as Miranda Lambert so well put it, is on a little street in Covington, TN. My parents and I moved to it when I was 6 weeks old. The rest of my life as Nicole Phillips was spent in that house. My parents sold the house to Justin Timberlake's grandparents in 2003. (That's right, THE Justin Timberlake has played football in my old front yard and rested his head under the roof that I slept under for 22 years. Even the likes of Cameron Diaz and Jessica Alba have crossed the threshold of that house. I just thought that was kinda interesting. hehe) I haven't been back in the house since my parents sold it, but many times I have driven past it...so many days of my life were spent there, so many memories...

Running from the front door of that house, I picture in my mind a 5 year old version of myself with pigtails and a blue sailor suit to match my idol, Little Orphan Annie. My mother made the suit, as she did many of my dresses, and I wore it proudly as I sang "Tomorrow". (It's still one of my favorite songs!)

I loved roller skates, especially my Mickey Mouse skates with the Pom-Poms! And I have a scar on my left thigh from a nasty fall while roller skating down my street. I lived for Saturday mornings at Rollies Skating Rink with limbo and the hokey-pokey. I took gymnastics for 9 years and piano for 5 or 6 years. Unfortunately, I have nothing to show for my training in tumbling (no more flips and handsprings for this momma!), and the best thing that came from piano lessons was my ability to read music and my deep admiration for music.

I loved and lived for spending time with my friends as a child, and I am so thankful for the friendships I developed that have lasted a lifetime already. Those were the days!! So much of my time with friends was spent doing things like snow sledding, jumping on the trampoline, riding 4 wheelers, swimming, jumping from cliffs, slumber parties, water skiing, playing tennis and softball, etc.

I was great speller at a young age and a good reader. I was in my first "big school" spelling bee in 2nd grade, and I can still remember how I felt standing on the big stage in front of everyone and spelling into the microphone. I didn't win, but my parents bought me my first Cabbage Patch Kid for trying my best. (The word I misspelled still haunts me to this day!) I made good grades in school without really having to try very hard. This I think I took for granted in later years. I wasn't the top of the class, but I always made the honor roll, was part of academic clubs, and graduated with honors. I probably could have and should have tried harder.

I asked Jesus into my heart when I was 8 years old and my dad and an evangelist from my church played a big part in my decision to become a Christian. I rededicated my life to Christ in Feb. 2010 after I felt like God was convicting me of not placing my whole trust in Him. I have struggled with some of the choices I have made in this life and the experiences life has brought my way, and I realize that I need Him more than ever to just make it every day. Only He is in control of every passing minute, hour, day, month, and year.

Here's some gruesome stuff...I had eczema as a child and the breakouts were worst on my FEET!(Yeah, that was F-U-N!) It got so bad one time that I had to use crutches to walk and I couldn't wear shoes, only cotton socks, until the sores healed. Thankfully, I have outgrown some of that and have only experienced occasional episodes in other places such as my hands and scalp in recent years. I broke my right arm when was 13, and I have broken 2 bones in each hand. I knocked my big toe nail off at the pool one day while leaping over a lawn chair. I had to have 4 permanent teeth pulled before wearing braces for 2 years, and I had my first root canal as a junior in high school. Yuck!!

Oh, and here's something extremely gruesome...are you ready? I loved NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK! I can probably still sing most of their songs. Sad, isn't it? As fate would have it, I went to one of their concerts around the age of 11 or 12, and rode on the elevator at the Peabody Hotel with Donnie Wahlberg, one the members of the group! I was so frozen with FEAR and DISBELIEF that I didn't even get his autograph. Dang! He was probably laughing at the fact that my friend and I were in such a state of SHOCK!

I was co-captain and captain of the cheerleading squad in 7th and 8th grade, but gave up cheerleading to play volleyball in high school. I wish I hadn't had to make a choice, though. I loved both! With volleyball and softball, I traveled lots of places to play against lots of teams, in lots of tournaments even as far away as Hawaii to play in a tournament as a freshman in college. For a time in my life, I lived and breathed these sports it seemed...

I used to visit the salad bar and make a salad with no lettuce--only bacon bits, eggs, cheese, croutons, raisins, and RANCH dressing--Weird, I know. I have since graduated to eating lettuce with my salads now. :-) I can drink hot cocoa no matter what month of the year it is! I love a Coke Zero with Diet Cherry flavor from Sonic. It takes me back to the days of Roper Drug Store on the square in Covington where my dad was pharmacist for 30 years. I spent many afternoons after school there reading Archie comic books, helping pull cotton from medicine bottles, and enjoying ice cream and drinks at that green counter at Roper's! I miss those days terribly!

I've driven 8 different vehicles since turning 17 and have not ever wrecked one! (Superstition has me knocking on wood right now! I pray I didn't just jinx myself.) My Papaw Phillips helped me pick out my very first car, a red Honda Prelude that my friends and I named "Peppy". I don't know why we gave all of our cars nicknames! Silly girl stuff, I guess.

I have been a teacher for over 10 years in the same county where I was educated in grades K-12. I attend the same church I've been a member of for 34 years now. I have lived in 5 different houses, 2 dorms, and one apartment in 3 different cities over the span of these 34 years.

I've visited 15 different states and 3 different countries so far, with experiences such as looking out over the beautiful city of Paris, France from atop the Eiffel Tower, watching the glorious sunrise atop Mount Haleakala in Maui, and snorkeling with manta rays in Kona. I've had my feet in the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. And yes, I've been to Disney World and making plans to go back SOON :-) I love the beach and everything about it. San Francisco is one of my favorite cities...I wish we had their climate here!

And sadly, I have had my heart broken. The first time I heard that song, Fifteen, by Taylor Swift, I thought about myself. "When you're 15 and somebody tells you they love you, you're gonna believe them. And when you're fifteen, feeling like there's nothing to figure out...I've found time can heal most anything and you just might find who you're supposed to be. Didn't know who I was supposed to be...at 15." Since then, I have learned alot about myself, and I have found the person God had picked out for me. I met Jan when I was 19, and we were married when I was 22. (What did I know about love or anything else at 15? NOT MUCH!) I married a man who adores me, and sometimes I wonder why he loves me so much. I've given birth to 3 children--John Owen in 2003, Jonah Wade in 2005, and Mary Claire in 2008.

In 34 years, I've experienced happiness, surprise, loss, hurt, fun, fear, death, pain, confusion, assuredness, peace, trouble, joy, and sorrow. Isn't that what life's about? Experiencing life fully and looking to God in all of it. In this life, I have been loved and am loved by my Heavenly Father.
And these folks, too...

Thank you, God, for allowing me to live this life and experience so much, the good and the bad. Thank you for loving me through each phase of my life and never once leaving me. It is by Your Grace alone that I take my next breath.

Here's some more birthday celebration shots from this weekend:

The girls at dinner Sat. night. Our husbands were with us, but I neglected to get a whole group picture before the night ended. OOPS!

Three birthday girls celebrating birthdays at Marlo's. Laura turned 32 on Aug. 30, Summer's birthday was Sept. 3 and mine on the 4th. (It was really Laura's surprise birthday dinner, but she was gracious enough to allow me to be celebrated, too.) Thanks, Laura! I am glad we have birthdays so close to one another.

I am so thankful for good friends!

Laura and I got to blow out the candles together. Christi made a wonderful cake, and we enjoyed some good time together Sat. night at dinner and on Christi's patio.

A cake made by Mrs. Baugues

My mom surprised me with some Christmas decorations for my birthday! Thanks, Mom! Mary Claire will also enjoy these, I'm sure! :-)

Me and my boys

My family at the birthday dinner Mom had for me today. Granny came too!!

One last birthday shot...

ROAR!

2011-08-24T15:32:00.000-05:00

The cutest lion ever! :-)

A little sassy with the tongue stuck out!

A little lion strut goin' on here!

I now have a picture of each of my "little lions" in this same costume. We get our money's worth out of these Halloween costumes we have bought over the years! hehe We can't wait for Halloween 2011!!!

My First Race

2011-08-20T17:06:00.011-05:00

I did it. I ran my first 5K in 32 minutes. I know that finish time leaves room for improvement, and that's why I'll keep on "truckin". Eventually I will improve my time, but for now I am thankful for being able to finish a race. What I love most about running is the time I get to think while running. I use that time to think about everything...my kids, my family, my friends, but mostly my God. I look at the sky above me in amazement at His creation. Whether it's stars at night, clouds, a sunset, a sunrise, it's all amazing. I think about all the struggles we face on this Earth and how beautiful Heaven will be one day. I can only imagine...

Here's a couple of shots from my first race that my husband took with his phone. Thanks, Jan, for going with me and taking the kids to watch "Mommy" cross the finish line. I almost cried as I approached you all standing there cheering me on. :-)

(Don't know why the pic cut off my legs! hehe)

Filling out my card at the finish

This next week, I begin my "novice" training for the St. Jude half marathon. As I run, I will be thinking about our sweet Lucy and all of the children being treated for cancer and other diseases. I will be praying as I run. I downloaded several new praise/worship songs to my ipod last week. I will admit that I get overwhelmed with emotion when I hear certain songs, especially my favorites, The Revelation Song, I Will Rise, and Shout to the Lord. If you see me running with my hands raised to the heavens, you'll know I am listening to one of these songs and losing myself in the words and music. If you see me crying while running, it's because I cannot contain my emotion. Or maybe I'm needing medical assistance of some kind. :-) Just kidding.

So, my first race is complete. Next up... a 5K on Sept. 10th - the Cotton Pickin' 5K in Somerville. (Don't you just love that name?) Keep praying for Lucy, and pray for other children "running the race" in their fight against childhood diseases. If you would like to donate to "Team Lucy" for the St. Jude Marathon weekend, click here. Oh, and if your Lucy bow is showing any "wear and tear", Hometown Flowers (901.476.1212) in Covington is trading worn Lucy bows for new bows for $5.00 and donating the money to St. Jude.

iMOM

2011-08-13T08:50:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to share this with all you MOMS out there! I heard about iMOM on a christian radio station at the beginning of the summer, and I signed up to receive iMOM emails. It is really cool and provides some good advice for moms as well as a feature called "Pillow Talk" for your relationship with your husband that might be worth trying. :-) I know we are all super busy MOMS, but if you have a moment to spare, take a look. I thought you might like it,too. Below is a link to the latest iMOM email I got. Have a great weekend!

10 Super Healthy Foods for Kids | iMOM

Ground-Breaking Day

2011-08-11T22:22:00.000-05:00

This past Sunday was an important day in the life of our church. It was Ground-Breaking Day for the new church building at the Hastings Way and Hwy 59 location. The Family Life Center is already there, and now it looks as if God has paved the way for the next phase to take place in the building of our new church. As exciting as it is to see this happening for our church, it is a little sad to think about NOT going to the location on the square. My entire life has been spent at that location. I was baptized there, married there, dedicated each of my babies there, and my oldest child was recently baptized there...a place that has been quite an important part of this (almost) 34-year-old's lifespan! I know that change can be a good thing, and I believe that God's gonna bring about some great things for our church in making this change. We celebrated with a ground-breaking ceremony and fish fry. (You know we just couldn't call ourselves Baptists if there wasn't some food involved, right?) Certain people were chosen for the "shoveling" at the ground-breaking, and I was especially happy that John Owen was asked to be one of the children on a shovel. It was history in the making, and he played an important part in representing the future of our church.

Maybe one day when John Owen's grown and has a family of his own, he'll look back at these pictures and be proud to have been a part of this and thankful to be a child of God.

Meant to Be a Monkey

2011-08-11T21:02:00.000-05:00

I can't believe I'm saying this, but Jonah started Kindergarten this week. He is excited about his new adventure and his new teacher, Mrs. Mandy. Jonah came home from his first day of Kindergarten with his new M.O.N.K.E.Y. (My Organizational Notebook Keeping Everyone informed for the Year) binder, and I couldn't help but smile as I saw it. The first thought that came to mind was...He was meant to be a monkey and meant to be in Mrs. Mandy's class. You see, he has loved monkeys for a long time. He even sleeps with his special "blue monkey" every night. When he was 3 and 4 years old, he spent A LOT of time dressed up in the monkey costume his older brother wore for Halloween one year. (He put that costume on the other day, and it was TOO FUNNY how it fit him. He has grown so much that the legs of that thing came up to his knees, not to mention the tail is coming apart at the seams. But he insisted on wearing it.)

My little "monkey" is off to school!

A quick picture with Mommy!

His name on his box!

Finding his name on the table!

Daddy even came to walk him down to class!

I love you, Jonah! I hope you have a wonderful Kindergarten year. I am so glad God gave you to me, and I am proud of you and the sweet, fun-loving boy you are becoming. God's got big plans for you... You are God's child, and He loves you infinitely.

"I'll love you forever. I'll like you for always. As long as I'm living, my baby you'll be."

Love, Mommy

Surprise!

2011-08-06T21:30:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday, we held a surprise party for Jan's dad, Mr. Jimmie. He turned 70, and we tried to celebrate this milestone in his life in a special way. Jan pretty much orchestrated the surprise plan...He would take his Dad to the new cowboy hat place on the square to pick up his new cowboy hat while everyone arrived at our house. We would have all the food ready and be in our places when they returned for the BIG SURPRISE! Christi made the cake (see her handywork below), we ordered BBQ, and everyone brought a little something to go with the BBQ. As usual, we had ALOT of food. Everyone arrived on time except the birthday "boy". hehe I'll spare you that story. Let's just say we were all waiting and waiting and waiting and an hour later then expected, Jan pulled into the driveway with his dad. He said later that when his dad saw all the cars, he hung his head and knew right away "what was up". :-) Surprise!

Mary Claire and cousin Bella waiting on Granddaddy to arrive!

This picture is so blurry! Sorry! But it's the only one I got as he entered the front door.
SURPRISE!!!

I am so glad this shot was not out of focus. This is Mr. Jimmie hugging his baby sister, Nellita. She drove from Mississippi, and we were so glad she came. Mr. Jimmie teared up when he saw her standing there. (He purposely did not take off the sunglasses when he came in, and I knew he was hiding his eyes from us.)

Granddaddy Jimmie talking to his granddaughter, Jade, and her fiance. Probably asking her about the upcoming wedding plans! Two Hensley grandchildren getting married in the next 7 months!

Happy 70th Birthday, Granddaddy! We love you, and we wish you many more!

Let's Go!

2011-08-06T21:01:00.000-05:00

All right...here we go. One work week down for me, and everybody else starts this week. Here's my boys with their new backpacks stuffed with school supplies!

We actually had a good time shopping for supplies this year. I usually tackle the school supply shopping job on my own, but this year the boys helped me shop. Then they "pooled" their birthday money (Jonah's) and Summer Reading Reward money (John Owen's) and picked out a new wii game, Donkey Kong Country Returns! Admittedly, they were more excited about the wii game than the school supplies. :-)

We are ready then, I guess! We know who are teachers are going to be, and we are sooo excited! John Owen got to meet his teacher and spent some time in his classroom meeting classmates this past Wed., but Jonah won't meet his teacher until this Tuesday. (They stagger start days for Kindergarten, so everyone will not start full time until next Monday, August 15th. Gotta ease into this, right?)

2011-2012 school year, here we come! Hope everyone has a wonderful year!

A Summer's End

2011-07-31T22:34:00.000-05:00

Friday is almost over. Kids are asleep and so is the other 1/2 of this husband and wife pair, I might add. My house is extremely quiet right now which is nice, but kind of wierd. No T.V., no sounds of children playing, no washing machine/dryer running, nothing but the sound of my daughter's classical bedtime music CD playing softly over the baby monitor in my room. And I think it's on the last song now. Before I turn in, I wanted to remember this week. I purposely tried to get stuff done at school last Friday and 1st thing Monday morning so that it might allow me these last full days at home and with my children. Undistracted as much as possible. I planned a couple of fun activities for us, but mostly we just spent our time at home together swimming, playing, cleaning, etc...just normal days, I guess. Tuesday night, a swim party for a friend, and then Wednesday, I took the boys and my nephew, Owen Thomas, bowling and then to lunch. Owen Thomas was so proud because this was his first time to bowl and he won! I was glad he won. Jonah enjoyed this day especially since it allowed him to skip naptime. (Yes, this child still takes/needs a daily nap!) And wouldn't you know it, but I forgot to take my camera AGAIN!! What is wrong with me?! :-) So, I don't have a picture of our bowling fun. (I don't have a smartphone, and my almost 3 year old phone doesn't take the best quality pics.)

Then, at the last minute, we were invited to go and play a game of LaserQuest with the Dawsons on Thursday, and I just couldn't say no even if it meant over-indulging my boys. Two days of FUN and GAMES...WOW! They better enjoy it now! Next week means a change for Mommy and the end of these consecutive days of fun!

I asked my boys tonight as they ate their dinner and settled in to watch the movie they had chosen for Movie Night, "Well, boys, do you think you've had a good summer?" I was glad to hear a big "YES!" as their response. :-)

Next summer, I have an idea to make a SUMMER FUN budget and "Fun Things To-Do List" and see how that goes. Maybe have them save up their own money for things they know they want to do. (Gotta work in some responsibility in this, right? Momma's pocketbook isn't a bottomless money pit, you know? Plus, I have just recently started a new household budget idea, and I'd like to try to teach them to budget, too.)

As I reflect on this summer, most of all, I am overwhelmed with thankfulness for my children, their health, and the time we have had together. I am thankful to have the job I have where I can spend the summer days with my children. Thankful to God for keeping us safe this summer as we did so many things.
It is laid upon my heart to just write out the prayer I pray right now, so..
Thank you, God, for these summer days you have allowed us to enjoy together. Help me to always remember to cherish every day with them and to cloak them in prayer everyday. If it is Your will, I ask that You protect them from destruction, disease, and injury, Lord. I pray for the teachers they will each have this year, that You will give them wisdom, patience, and guidance. I ask the same for myself, Lord, as I teach the students You have chosen for me to teach this year. I know that You have already laid out the paths we will travel in this life on Earth, and I ask You for guidance, as a mother and teacher, that I might not hinder my children's growth (or the children I teach) as Christians, but lead them in a life where they will know You and desire to serve You with the talents You have given to them. I place my faith in You to see all of us and our friends and family, too, through this next school year safely. Thank You for Your many undeserved blessings upon us. I do not fear tomorrow because I know You are already there. Amen.

2011 Tunica Swim

2011-07-27T16:41:00.000-05:00

This will be my last swim team post for 2011. The boys finished up their swim season this past Sunday with the 2011 Mid-South Swim Conference held in Tunica, MS. We arose early Sunday morning and headed out around 6:30 a.m. Mary Claire spent the might with Mimi and Daddy Nick as I had been told this would probably not be something a just-turned-3-year-old would enjoy. We stopped at McDonald's for breakfast which is considered a "treat" at this house, and by the way, if you haven't tried the Fruit and Maple Oatmeal they are offering on the menu now, you should! It was pretty darn good, and healthier than the sausage & egg biscuit I might have ordered. :-)

My mouth dropped, figuratively speaking, when I walked into the Henderson Aquatic Center in Tunica. Wow! What a nice place! I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves...I sure wish we had something like this around here! (Casino dollars probably helped fund the center, though. Ever noticed that the highway to the casinos is the nicest highway to drive on? Probably the nicest in Mississippi?! O.K., maybe not THE NICEST in th whole state, but it is really nice.)

The view opposite from the swim race lanes. This was where the Olympic dive platforms were.

The view from the seating above the swim lanes. The coaches are seated along the edge of the pool.

Post-race picture of my swimmers. Jonah with his trophy, making a silly face of course!

A certain 6-year-old got sleepy and took about a 15-20 minute cat nap between races! :-)

That same 6-year-old thinking about jumping from the 2nd tallest diving platform...

The HUGE score board which posted the results of every race. This one shows John Owen's relay team coming in 1st place! Way to go, Covington Swim Club! (CSC)

The full view of the diving platforms

Yes, he jumped! They both did! I imagined Kate and myself, probably about John Owen's age, jumping off the cliffs at Heber Springs...Remember that, Kate?! :-) I bet the cliffs were at least this high or higher! Maybe it felt higher as a small child, though.

Jonah and one of his coaches, Mrs. Lisa. I think it's funny how she called him "Little Jonah" when she announced his award to the rest of the team because he is the youngest swim team member for the second year in a row! My "Little Jonah" now, but not for long.

The Cheesy Picture!
We were traveling home and passed this statue of Yogi Bear just outside the Jellystone Camping Ground, and we just HAD to stop and take our picture with him!
I encouraged Jan to get in the shot. "That's right, Boo-Boo!" One day, he'll be glad he did. haha

I included this to show everyone what a "typical" picture of my boys looks like these days! You know, the one BEFORE I say, "O.K., now serious smiles and no silly faces, please."

Well, that's it for swim team this year. I wish my boys could swim all year, and I am contemplating and researching some options for them. We'll just have to see what our schedules will allow, though. Or maybe just keep ourselves conditioned with other sports until next May rolls around and swim team cranks back up. It's been a great season, and I am thankful for the coaches and parents and all of the hard work they put into making swim team fun for all its members. We've even done some recent brainstorming on how to increase membership and possibly sponsorship for next year. My ultimate dream is that we could convince the city to build an indoor facility that would allow swim team to continue throughout the year, while at the same time, provide a great recreation for people of all ages in this county! I can dream, right?

Go, Covington Manta Rays!

Just keep swimmin', just keep swimmin'...

Close to Home

2011-07-25T23:37:00.002-05:00

I have grown up in the city I live in. This is where I call "home". My parents moved from Somerville to Covington when I was 6 weeks old. That move would mark the last time I would live in the same city with my grandparents. You see, my maternal grandparents have roots in Somerville, where my almost 91 year old grandmother still lives. And Jackson, TN is where my paternal grandparents raised their family and lived their lives.

But tonight, my "Mamaw" whom my children call "Granny", is a little closer to "home". Her dementia has worsened in a way that the doctors didn't advise that she return to her assisted living in Jackson. Today, an ambulance transported her to Covington. I went to see her tonight, and honestly, I couldn't believe the progression in a week's time in this disease she has. I know she recognized me, and I know I saw her eyes light up when we made eye contact. I know she asked me about my children even though her speech has been greatly affected. I just simply told her that when I put Mary Claire to bed I told her we would get to go see Granny tomorrow morning and that Mary Claire responded with a big, excited smile! I think Granny smiled, too, when she heard that. I am sure she never imagined that she'd make this kind of move from the city she calls "home" to Covington, the city we call "home". Nevertheless, I am thankful she's here. Close to home so we can spend more time with her, take care of her, and love on her and vice versa. :-) I don't know what the future holds and I certainly don't know if this disease she has will improve or progress, but one thing I have learned in life is that it's out of my control anyway. So, we'll try to make each day count and be thankful for being closer together on Earth for as long as God allows. As you lift your prayers, I would ask that you please say a little prayer for her and for my dad, as I know this is probably hardest on him. Lots of decision-making, and watching his mother's state change so quickly has got to be heart breaking. One of the clearest things she said tonight was, "He, (and I think she even called him "Nicky", his childhood nickname), has been so sweet and tender." (I wish everyone could have seen how she looked at him when she made eye contact with him tonight. I think she almost cried.) Time has certainly turned the table, and now the child she took care of is taking care of her.

The Countdown has Begun!

2011-07-20T15:37:00.000-05:00

Well, only a little while left before I start back to work and the children start to school. The countdown to school has begun...

This has certainly been an eventful summer!

Some personal things I want to remember from the summer are:

1. Kicking the Diet Coke habit (I no longer drink Diet Coke, and those who know me know that this was top priority for me every morning for the last several years. I don't drink coffee, so this was my source of caffiene.) I just hope I can stick to this after school starts.

2. I set a goal at the beginning of the summer for how much weight I want to lose and vowed to begin seriously training for the St. Jude 1/2 marathon this December. So far, I've lost 6 pounds, and I am running almost everyday even if it's at 9:00 at night. Whenever I can work it in. A friend advised me to treat it like my JOB...something I must do everyday! I still have a lot of work to do before Dec. gets here!

3. I passed my School Leadership Series Praxis!! Still praising God for that!

4. Cleaned out all the kids' closets, reorganized the playroom, made donations to missions, made some additions/rearranged the dining room and cabinets with my Mamaw's (my paternal grandmother) things she gave me several months ago. This was a little sad for me as I pictured these things in her house, the house that she will never be in again, that I will never visit her in again. Someone else is there now, and my Mamaw is not doing well as her dementia seems to be worsening. I wish she could be here in Covington, closer to us, so that the children and I could go see her more. My goal is to try to get to Jackson more in the next few months so that I can see her and she can see her great-grandchildren more often.

5. As a family, we have accomplished many goals this summer in VBS week, baseball camp, basketball camp, swim team, a small version of Kindermusik, the celebration of birthdays, family vacation time...whew!

A wonderful summer!

With Mary Claire beginning preschool this year, we will all be in school somewhere for the first time! Yay! I am hoping that we'll all fit into a schedule nice and easily as the coming days draw closer. One thing's for sure, we have got to go to bed earlier at night! We have been allowing the kids to stay up later and later, and my kids are not late sleepers no matter what time they go to bed the night before! They wake up at the crack of dawn almost. Mary Claire is my only one who has been somewhat of a "late-sleeper" usually waking between 7:00 and 7:30. There have been some mornings she makes it to almost 8:00. :-) My boys are so good in the mornings, though, that they will not wake her up, or me (if I'm still asleep). They go straight to the playroom and start playing Star Wars or superheroes, you know, the typical "boy stuff". Yesterday, I went up to tell them breakfast was ready, and they had pulled out a board game and were playing it together. I love these summer days! Days when we can be carefree in the mornings, days when I don't worry too much about putting on make-up or fixing my hair, or what I'm going to wear. Comfortable and COOL are key!

But lurking in the distance is the REAL world, a world where I frantically get myself "together" for a day of teaching young children and my own 3 ready for a day of learning (Yes, this is where I live a pretend life of a single working mom since my husband leaves the house before 6 a.m. everyday. Listen, all you single Mommas out there or you Mommas who have a husband who is out of town with work a lot, you are at the tip-TOP of my SUPERMOM list!), a world where we leave the house at 7:00 a.m. (Hopefully with everything we need for the day!), spend the day in our perspective "places", and then reunite every afternoon for the journey home or to the next scheduled music, dance, or sport activity. I hope I don't sound like I am complaining for that is certainly NOT the case! I love my God, my children, my husband, my job, my life as it is. And it is what it is for a reason, I believe that. Sure, there are some times I have looked at another's life and thought, "O.K., what did I do wrong that prevented ME from having that type of life?" or "Why didn't God allow me to be a stay at home mom?" (I think I'd make a good one.:-) But God is still teaching me that He chooses specifically what He wants me to have, and I am just extremely THANKFUL for it all! I certainly don't deserve any of it! So, on the anticipated mornings that I'm probably going to not want to face the day or rush to get ready to rush out the door, I will give Him all the glory for it! For each and every day whether it be CRAZY or not so crazy.

And along with these three, I'll be counting down the days to next summer!

A Super 6th Birthday!

2011-07-17T14:24:00.000-05:00

Jonah turned 6 yesterday!

Happy Birthday to my superhero!

We celebrated with friends and family last night and had a SUPER good time!!

Jonah loves all things superheroes hence the theme of the party. It was fun planning it!

Here's a look at the invitation we sent to friends and family:

And here's some pictures from the party:

My SUPER birthday boy!

We surprised him at breakfast yesterday with this Captain America suit for his birthday! He loved it. I might be a little partial, but I think he makes a perfect Capt. America. Jan thought the little boy modeling the suit on the front of the package looked just like Jonah! hehe

Watch out world! The Justice League superheroes are here!

Of course, I used this opportunity to go ahead and get our 2011 Halloween costumes lined out.

Be on the lookout for these superheroes to reappear around Oct. 31st! Gotta get my money's worth out of these, right?

The cake!

I was so pleased with how it turned out. And it tasted good, too. Those of you who know me best know that I did not make this. (And I know the thought didn't even enter you mind that I MIGHT have made this). Sweet Scentsations in Munford (901.837.4306) did it. I sent them a picture, and they created this masterpiece at a very reasonable price.

Super Jonah cookies!

The cake/cookies table

The food table with chips and DIP!, "hero" sub sandwiches, fruit, and every superhero's favorite candy...LIFESAVERS!

I don't know if this picture turned out too dark, but I caught Jonah swooping his little sister up and giving her a BIG hug during his party. This is just a small example of how he is with her most of the time. If you read my previous post, this is exactly what I was talking about.

4 generations of girls

I wa so glad that my grandmother, Mrs. Mary Virginia Davie Caudle, was able to come to Jonah's party! She will be 91 in October, and she is extremely special to me. So are the other two girls...Virginia Marla Caudle Phillips (my mother) and Mary Claire Hensley! I am so blessed to have these girls in my life.

Supergirl flies down the slide!

Surrounded by friends for singing "Happy Birthday!"

The superhero blows out his birthday candle!

The SUPER crew!

A great group!

Thank you to everyone who came and made Jonah's birthday special!

Jonah and Mommy

Forget what the comic book says...

In this story, these two heroes fell madly in love!

(I never said I wasn't CHEESY! Right, Jan?)

I included this picture of my friend, Christi with me to say THANK YOU to Christi for helping me out so much in getting ready for the party. I was running so late getting started Friday afternoon, and she came through BIG TIME in helping me! I couldn't have done it before "go time" if she hadn't helped me. She is a super momma and super friend! Always thoughtful even to those who are not thoughtful to her. Super giving, super sweet, super cook, super creative! Thanks, Christi! Love you!

One last thing...

Jonah, I love you with all my heart! You are a SUPER special little boy with super special qualities. You are kind, tender-hearted, funny, loving, and you show a special interest in family and knowing all the family connections we have. You love your big brother and little sister so much and you are not afraid to show them! You like adding numbers which just confirms my suspicion that you are "wired" a lot like Daddy. You

like to spend time with friends and you love anything VANILLA! (I think it's so funny that you specifically request vanilla frosties at Wendy's when everyone else asks for chocolate.) I love the super cute things you say and your super cute little bottom in your Speedo swim team suit. (Yeah, one day that will embarrass you! Sorry!) You amaze me with the things you remember that people tell you about the Bible and Jesus and you ask questions about things I don't even think about sometimes. I like that we both LOVE peanut butter so much that we will eat it right out of the jar with a spoon! Forget the jelly...

You love to use the ipad to record moments with our family and I love that you love your family so much!

Never lose sight of what's really important.

Happy birthday, my sweet Jonah!

Love,

Mommy

When I Need to Remember

2011-07-14T15:38:00.002-05:00

Maybe it's because my baby boy, Jonah, is turning 6 tomorrow, but I am feeling like there are so many moments with my children that I need to "bottle up" while all of my babies are still young. All of my "baby birds" have birthdays in April, May and July, so with Jonah's birthday celebration tomorrow, we will end another year's worth of planning kids' birthdays at this house. (Jan and I are both Fall "babies", but of course, birthdays are much different and less celebrated as you add candles to the cake. Only the milestones get the most attention in adulthood. Thank the Lord for those milestones, though.)

This blog is intended to help us remember the moments we spend together while at the same time allowing our family and friends to share in the moments. (If they so choose...) So, today I just wanted to post some recent moments with my children that I know one day I'll need to read again. One day when I need to remember them this little and this innocent and this sweet.

Wait a minute!!! I thought I said SWEET!

Oh, brother...

Hold on, sister! We are not gonna rush this

growin' up thing.

The princess who is spoiled silly getting a royal "push" from Daddy Nick.

After I put her to bed last night, she called out, "Daddy! Daddy!"

Jan went in and she said, "My covers came off. Cover me up." (Note to self: Keep working on "Please" and "Thank you".)

So, he did as he was instructed. (Of course!)

Then she looked up at him and said, "Now my dreams will be better."

THAT was all he needed to hear. Boy, can she play a good game.

I want to always remember how Jonah has been so sweet to his little sister. He caters to her as if she were his child, asks her if she wants anything (which, of course, contributes to her being so spoiled), tries to explain everything to her while using a "baby voice" which just proves the extent to which he goes in "babying" her. It is sometimes too funny! I have listened to their conversations over the monitor in her room when he goes in to check on her in the mornings and sometimes after her nap. He's so sweet and unfortunately, she doesn't always reciprocate. She doesn't truly realize what a wonderful big brother she has. Maybe one day she'll understand. For now, it's a little comical the way she will argue with him,

"bite his head off" with a SASSY response, etc. (I have told Jan that they almost have a love/~~hate~~ dislike relationship.) It's funny to watch them in action...Jonah trying to nicely tell her to do something and her "snapping" back at him. Don't worry, though, he holds his own with her. And he doesn't hesitate to apply the "eye for an eye" method if she dares to smack him or pinch him.

Jonah: "She pinched me right here, Momma! So, I just pinched her right back!"

Here's my "big man" who says he wants to be a scientist when he grows up. At least that's what he thinks right now. He went yesterday to meet with a trumpet instructor to see if he's ready (old enough) to start learning to play. He is excited that the instructor says he is ready! Right now, I think it's safe to say John Owen is in a "silly stage"...do all boys go through this?! I probably did, too, but I seemed to have blocked that from my memory. hehe

He is CONSUMED with Star Wars and knows things about the subject that sound like a foriegn language to me. He also LOVES video games!! (I dislike them VERY much, but it's something he enjoys, so I have to get over myself on this one. Plus, it's something he must have genetically inherited from his Daddy because Jan's like a kid when it comes to video games.)

Oh, yes, let's remember this and laugh at it when you are 16 years old and throwing a different kind of fit!:-)

Can we say strong-willed and determined?

See what I mean? Silly boy!

Nevertheless, one REALLY GREAT swimmer!

This little boy is happy doing whatever his big brother is doing...even acting silly!

As a result, double dose of silliness for Mommy!

I am sending out an SOS!!

Jonah has a wonderful sense of humor and sometimes doesn't even realize how funny he is without trying to be funny. Mom and I laugh at his expressions a lot! A few days ago, he made a terribly funny face as I put some summer squash on his dinner plate and told him he had to take a bite. I think I said something like,"Don't knock it til you try it." He took a bite, made an even worse face as he chewed and then said, "My taste BUGS don't like it, Momma." :-)

(Gotta love those crazy taste BUGS!)

The swimmer, John Owen, in action!

John Owen has God-given talent and an ability to make friends so easily. I pray that he'll begin to realize his talents and not take them for granted or be lazy with them and use them to the glory of God.

Mary Claire and Lucy taking turns spraying each other with COOL water! Mary Claire got a real kick out of spraying folks while saying, "Take that!" Such good manners, I know.

I believe God's gonna use these two little girls in a special way.

I know most of you reading our blog also read my friend, Kate's, blog. And I know you probably know Lucy's story. God is good! He is the Great Physician! Please continue to pray for God's healing and safety for Lucy as she wages a war on brain cancer. Since February of this year, our daily (hourly!) prayers have lifted up Lucy and her family. Her family is so special to me. We love you, Wucy! (It's so cute how Mary Claire says her name.)

And I couldn't leave out a picture of Blue Monkey. I hope we never forget him! This is Jonah's special "sleep buddy". He has had Blue Monkey since he was 1 year old. Today, I laid down beside Jonah in his bed at naptime and watched him fall asleep clutching Blue Monkey in his arms. That moment is probably what spurred this post. Thinking of another birthday to be celebrated tomorrow and thinking that one day I'll look up and there probably won't be a "sleep buddy" or a special blanket or "I want to hold you, Momma" or "taste bugs". I need to remember this. I want to remember all of this.

I Passed!

2011-07-12T23:16:00.000-05:00

Celebration time! I passed my School Leadership Praxis exam! I know I haven't blogged abut this, but this is something I added to my "to do" list this summer. :-) I took the test on June 11th, and I have been waiting for 4 weeks to find out if I passed or not. Because there is always a story behind everything, I must share this...

I actually finished my graduate work in Educational Leadership almost 8 years ago! I gave birth to my first child 3 months before I finished! Thanks be to God for his birth and my finishing graduate school that year. To complete my licensure, though, I was supposed to sign up for and pass the Praxis exam for School Leadership. I had just had a baby and was really just beginning my career in education, so I put off taking the exam. After all, I had no immediate plans to go into administration. What I didn't know at the time was that God's immediate plans for me would be that I would spend the next 5 years teaching and giving birth to 2 more children. The School Leadership Praxis exam was the furthest thing from my mind, as you can imagine.

But in March of this year, that all changed when I recieved an email stating that this Praxis version would "phase out" in June 2011. I panicked! Oh no! I could have kicked myself for procrastinating, whether intentionally or not. I signed up THAT SAME DAY to take the exam at the University of Memphis. I spent the next 2 months catapulted into a frenzy of events that didn't really allow me ample time to study or refresh myself on the coursework I had completed almost 8 years ago! Before I knew it, there were just a couple of weeks left before my scheduled exam. Even my husband doubted my time put in to preparing, and warned me that I was probably setting myself up for the possiblity of having to take the test again. I was so consumed...I prayed that God would just show me a little mercy on the test. I specifically prayed that He would grant me a clear mind and that He would guide my thoughts and answers. And if it were His will, that I would pass the first time. The week before the test, and while leading the music at VBS at church, I used every "spare minute" a mom of three small children could find to study. Saturday, June 11th arrived, I left my house at 6:00 a.m., set my sights on the U of M, and hoped for the best. The testing period was approx. 4 hours (2 timed sections), and I was mentally tired after I finished. I drove home in the quiet car praying that I had passed just so I wouldn't have to go through that again! Then the waiting began...4 weeks I would wait to know the results.

Yesterday, for the first time in 4 weeks, I checked the website to see if the results had been posted, but they hadn't. I read where the approx. posting date was July 12, 2011, (the next day!) Problem was that I would have no internet connection during the day until the serviceman came...sometime between 1:00 and 5:00! Why not wait a little longer, right? He showed up at 4:00, got the internet up and going, and AS SOON AS I LOCKED THE DOOR BEHIND HIM, I took off to the computer! Draggin' Mary Claire behind me and saying, "Come on, Mary Claire! Cross your fingers. Let's see if Mommy passed her test." She didn't have a clue what I was talking about as I logged onto the computer, but I made it sound exciting, and the excitement was contagious. I will never forget the look on her face as I screamed and started jumping up and down when I saw my passing score. She thought it was too funny! And it probably was funny to witness her mother jumping up and down in pure delight. The boys heard the racket and came running into the room asking, "What's the matter, Momma?" I continued to jump and say, "I passed my test, I passed my test!" And they smiled at the sight. John Owen was so sweet to come over at that point and hug me. It's funny how his hug said it all, "I am happy for you, Momma." They had no idea what this meant, but they knew it meant something special to me. And we all enjoyed the moment.

So, one more thing checked off my "to do" list, I guess. I believe God has a way of preparing us for where He wants us to be, and I can't help but wonder where He'll lead me with this in the future. One thing is for sure.. it feels GOOD knowing that I have this DONE! What a relief! I passed! Now, what will I do to celebrate?

Farewell for Now

2011-07-07T10:06:00.001-05:00

We are spending the morning at the beach and pool here, and then we'll say our farewell to the beach. This has been a wonderful trip full of good times, relaxing times, scary moments, and laughs. We have enjoyed having Mimi and Daddy Nick with us for the trip. I don't know who enjoyed afternoon naps better, Daddy Nick or Mary Claire! :-) I always dread the last day...I love the beach! It seems as though the time flies when you are here, but I guess that's true of anytime when you are having FUN! I feel at home here. I know I'll be happy to be back home when we get there. Plus, home really is wherever these people are...

On our last night, we decided to go on a dolphin cruise.
Mary Claire getting a little help putting on her life jacket.

Mimi and Mary Claire on the boat and ready to see dolphins!

Flippers Restaurant at Bear Point Marina
This was the marina where our dolphin cruise was stationed.
(The food was really good, and the free homemade ice cream was a special treat.)

We saw dolphins! There was a baby dolphin, too, which made Mary Claire's day.
This cruise was very nice. Small, family-owned, only 16 people on board, and the kids got to "drive" the boat. I got some really good video, but the batteries on my camera were going out so these are the only shots I got. With the video, we got good footage of the dolphins jumping out of the water and playing in the wake of the boat. I would recommend this company to anyone...Skipper J's Dolphin Cruises in Orange Beach! Nice husband and wife team own and operate it.
Speaking of husband and wife team...

I love you, Jan! Thanks for being a wonderful husband and father. (My "teammate" for life!)
The adventure is never ending!
Now, I'm off to sink my toes in the sand one last time...

Readiness for Independence

2011-07-06T22:46:00.001-05:00

In the last couple of days, we have celebrated the wonderful gift of independence that this country has been blessed with since our founding fathers signed the piece of paper that would forever change and mold the United States of America. At that point in history, the American people had reached a time of readiness for independence. As a Christian, I believe that it was with God's help that our ancestors were able to achieve and maintain independence over the years. And the gratitude that I have for all of our service men and women is indescribable. Brave men and women who gave their very lives to protect their country and its independence.

Much like a parent who would go to any lengths and even give their own life to protect the life of their own child.

Today, my heart (and the knot in my stomach) is heavy with the thoughts of my own child's attempt at exercising his independence, if that's what you want to call it. I know he is getting older, and I know there will come a day when he won't rely on me as much or need to ask my permission before doing things, but today, he is 8 years old, and his independence has not been won yet. **I share this personal experience only because I know many of you who read this are parents, too. And I know this will raise your awareness as it has raised mine.**

Yesterday, as we were enjoying time on the beach and the boys were riding the waves, my husband decided to walk down the beach with our 3 year old daughter. When John Owen, my 8 year old son, saw them walking, he asked if he could join them. I could still clearly see them, and I agreed that he could run and catch up to his dad and sister. He took off, leaving Jonah with me. I watched as he caught up with them and then turned my attention back to Jonah. Several minutes passed, and eventually, John Owen made his way back to me. I could see Jan and Mary Claire were trailing behind John Owen, as a 3 year old who isn't too crazy about the sand in the first place will not walk quickly down the beach. John Owen stopped and talked to me for a second, and then headed off directly behind me to the other set of chairs and umbrella we had. I assumed he was ready to help himself to a snack. A few minutes passed, and Jan made it back to our chairs with Mary Claire. He then asked me where John Owen was. I looked at the other set of chairs and did not see him. I looked out at the ocean in front of me and did not see him. I looked down the beach in both directions and did not see him. My heart sank...

Jan quickly went up to the pool which consists of a walk up the boardwalk, a pretty good distance. Surely he would not have gone to the pool without telling me first?! That's what my mouth said, but that wasn't what I believed. He'd never done that before. Not only did Jan check the pool area, but he jumped on the golf cart and raced back to the house to check there and fetch both cell phones. In the meantime, I grabbed the binoculars, started looking out in the water and down the beach, and started telling groups of people around us that I couldn't find my son and described what he was wearing. I can never describe to you the feelings I had at that moment. I cannot type this without tears and the fearful feeling that I had returning. I COULD NOT FIND MY SON!! I don't know how much time had elapsed...maybe 7-8 mins... maybe a few more! In my heart, I knew it had been too long...

I watched nervously for Jan to return on the boardwalk with the hope that John Owen would be trailing behind him probably with his head hung down from the trouble he would surely be in for going somewhere without telling me. But when Jan appeared, I could tell right away that he did not have John Owen. I could tell by the way he was moving. He ran from the boardwalk to me, handed me my cell phone, and we agreed to split up to look down the beach, me going to the right toward the Beach Club resort, Jan going to the left in the direction in which my parents were leisurely walking. Jan was hoping John Owen had run back to catch up to them. I asked the young mother next to me to please watch Jonah and Mary Claire, and I took off nervously watching the ocean water. I cannot type the horrible thoughts that I had as I looked at that water. My son is a good swimmer, but anyone knows that the ocean is no place to test your ability to swim. Two thoughts raced through my mind. A: He's drowned in the ocean and with the time that has elapsed now...well, I just can't type that... or B: Someone has taken my son and I might never see him again. WHERE WAS HE?!

I jogged along the beach, looking out at the water, stopping periodically to ask someone if they had seen him. That's a terrible feeling...describing your child to a stranger. "He's 8 years old, black swim shirt with a shark on the front, shark printed swim shorts, dark hair." No one had seen him until I came to an older couple fishing along the beach. "I think I saw a boy come by here a few minutes ago by himself that might fit that description." And he pointed down the beach even closer to the Beach Club. I started to run. As I was running, I spotted someone small in the crowd of people that begins the crowded beach of the Beach Club resort. I started SPRINTING! I haven't run like that in years probably. I know people were turning their heads, and not for the usual reason someone might turn their head at the beach when they see someone. Oh no! They could probably see my PANIC and wondered what could spur a woman to run like that! As I got closer, I almost fell over with relief when I saw that IT WAS MY SON! He looked up and saw me, and immediately saw the state of panic I was in. He was shocked, I could tell. I wrapped my arms around him, fell on my knees, and just bawled all the while saying, "Oh my God! Thank you, God!" I knew I had to call Jan, so my trembling fingers dialed his number, and all I could say was, "I found him!" Jan freaked out when he heard me crying and all I said was "I found him." What I should have said was "He's o.k. and I have him." (Jan had already called 911 when he didn't see John Owen with my parents, so he immediately called them back to tell them our child had been found safe.) I took John Owen's hand and began walking back. When I thought I could talk again, I asked him why he had walked so far away, and he responded, "I went looking for Daddy." My response was, "But if you had only told me that that was what you were going to do, I could have told you that Daddy wasn't down that way. You cannot ever go off without telling one of us where you are going. I thought I had lost you forever." The feeling we experienced yesterday was one of the worst, scariest feelings we've ever had as parents. After that, we had a long talk with John Owen about the dangers of what he did and how and why it scared us so much in the hopes that something like this won't happen again. I know that in his naiveness he felt independent in his decision to take off down the beach by himself and we tried to explain readiness for independence in a way that I hope he understands.

Jan and I have discussed how yesterday's event was an eye-opener in a way. Not that any of us take our children for granted, but when something like this happens, it makes you a little more aware of just how precious a gift from God each of our children are. And to not take one minute with them for granted. I am so thankful that God protected John Owen yesterday and that He allowed us to find our son safe.

Beach Days Cont.

2011-07-05T18:08:00.000-05:00

Happy 4th of July!

A little game of chase in the sand!

Jonah desperately trying to catch Daddy.

The boys!

I caught you, big brother!

Can you see fireworks yet?

Mommy and Mary Claire

Me and my three babies

Mary Claire rests her head on Daddy in the ocean.

Go, John Owen! Ride those waves!

Going back for more!

Breakthrough at the Beach

2011-07-04T15:42:00.001-05:00

Breakthrough, in that Mary Claire now seems to be opening up to the feel of the SAND!!! Can you believe MY child does not like the idea of white sand between her toes?! Let me back this story up a bit...Last year, she wouldn't walk barefoot in the grass, and we discovered this while having professional family pictures made. It made for one ~~miserable~~ FUN photo session with her screaming every time we tried to get a shot of her in her sweet white dress, barefoot with the rest of us. Whew! I was worn out after that session. And when we brought her to the beach last summer, we quickly realized she held the same feelings for the soft, white sand. As a result, we took turns carrying her around lest she show everyone how she feels...and we wouldn't want to ruin anyone else's vacation, now would we? :-) But, I am happy to announce that TODAY after much diligence and patience (maybe), she has finally shown signs of accepting that maybe it's not that bad to play in the sand. See?

Step 1: Feet in the sand and Mommy's reassurance:-)

Step 2: Big brother's help in showing her how much FUN sand castle building is.

Step 3: "OK, maybe I'll try a bit of this myself."

Success!! Off she went to the water with Jonah!

And they played...

and played...

I squeeze a little water on your head,

and you squeeze a little water on my head!

All 3 kiddos busy playing in the sand!

Sweet Jonah taking good care of his little sister!

Happy 4th of July!
God bless America!

Beach 2011

2011-07-03T21:39:00.000-05:00

Well, I have decided to try to document as the week goes along on our beach trip this summer. (It'll help keep from having an ultra-long post at the end of the trip, right?) So, here's some snapshots from the past two days.

Family pictures on the beach.
(The final product never truly demonstrates the chaos that goes into trying to get one "good" shot. AMEN?!?)

This is one of my favorites! See how much fun picture taking is?

Two big cranes decided to join us for pictures. Jonah spent some time trying to get as close they would allow him. I thought it made a good picture. :-)

My three babies

The picture I must take every year that we go to the beach. It's fun to go back and look and the same pose from past years and see how much they have changed. (It's also kinda sad at the same time.)

My parents-Daddy Nick and Mimi

Of course we had to make the trip to Souvenir City AKA the "shark's mouth".
They love this place for some reason, and Jan and I try make the trip to it as short as possible! hehe
I think we set a record tonight...15 or 20 mins. at the MOST! Jan told each child he/she had a set limit of money to spend on ONE item. Then off we went to eat seafood at...

Doc's Seafood Shack!
We usually go the original Doc's, but tonight we decided to try out the newer location. The atmosphere was different, but the food was still GREAT!

Getting ready to eat!

Back from eating and one last picture of our group before "hitting the sack".

Dear Tooth Fairy,

2011-07-02T22:00:00.000-05:00

This is John Owen. The night before we left for vacation, I lost my 3rd tooth! I was so excited about going on vacation the next day that I told my mom I wanted to wait until I got to the beach to leave my tooth out for you. I hope that's o.k. with you. (I also wanted to show my Mimi and Daddy Nick before you took it away.) My mom took my picture, and I brought my tooth pillow with me. O.K., Tooth Fairy, I have got my tooth in its proper place now. Please feel free to come and take it away. If you choose to leave me a little something in place of the tooth, that'd be great, too. (hint, hint)

Thank you!

Love,

John Owen

Summer Snapshot

2011-07-02T18:23:00.000-05:00

Well, let me catch up in one post the things we have been up to this summer. Just a snapshot of our summer so far...

Of course, we have been busying ourselves with swim team as I posted before, but we've been working in some other fun times, too. For starters, we finished VBS 2011 at church the first full week of June. The theme was "Big Apple Adventure", and we loved it! I had to enlist the help of "Miss" Andi Katherine (Thanks, Andi Katherine!) to help me get the boys from swim team to VBS during the week since I was leading the music for the worship rally every morning and then teaching music for grades 1-6. It was a lot of work to prepare for the music and choreography, but so rewarding to see how much fun the children had learning praise songs for Christ. I hate that I don't have any pictures of VBS! I was too busy leading the group on family night, and the other half of this husband-wife team videoed, but didn't take pictures. Oh well!

Mary Claire splashing around at the Memphis Jewish Community Center where the boys had a swim meet last week. What a nice place! Baby sister was more than entertained while the boys waited for their races.

My little fish!

Mary Claire will begin going to a new school this August. The school offers daycare as well, which is something our family needs since this mommy is a full-time working mom. The school really looks like it will fit her needs and ours as well. She will be in a 3 year old class in which there are 2 teachers, and the school uses the Wee Learn Christian curriculum. In order to secure her spot at the school and get her acclimated to her new environment, I have been taking her on Mondays and Wednesdays some. One thing she is struggling with is naptime. I know this will take some time as she is only used to napping in her own bed everyday. I know her, and she probably sees naptime at school as not "sleep time" but yet another opportunity to socialize. hehe The teachers have reassured me that "sleeptime" will come. I tell you all this to lead into this part of the post where I want to share some of the things the boys and I have done together during the time Mary Claire is gone to school. I decided to use this as a time to spend some time doing things with my boys that we might not get to do with little sister in tow.

Trip to the Museum

When I asked the boys what they would like to do first, John Owen responded, "The Pink Palace!"

So, off we went! (I had obtained the FREE trial membership for the summer, so this trip didn't cost anything except gas and lunch.) Jan decided to go with us at the very last minute, and we were glad he joined us. Here's some snapshots from our museum trip. We are planning to go back to the IMAX before school begins.

We are also planning Jonah's 6th birthday bash! Here's a hint of what's to come...

(Can't believe this little boy is turning 6!)

I hate to admit this, but on another Wednesday that we set out to do something fun, I realized I had forgotten my camera at home. I don't have a smartphone and my phone just doesn't take the best pictures, so I have no shots of the fun we had BOWLING! But we had a blast!!

This was Jonah's first time to bowl, and he got a strike! John Owen is pretty good as well. He was right behind me the whole time with his score.

We had a coupon for one free game, so this was also a relatively inexpensive event. We are planning to go back with friends very soon.

I'll close this post with one more thing.

We have now begun our beach trip! We've been counting down the days this past month...literally. My boys have been asking me almost everyday, "How many more days 'til we go to the beach?"

Mary Claire barely made it out of Tipton County when we left before she fell asleep.

Now, we are spending some much needed time together relaxing and enjoying the sun and surf.

Here's some snapshots of our trip so far:

Jonah with his net

John Owen setting out to catch a wave!

Daddy and Mary Claire in the ocean

Jonah beginning celebrating his birthday by dancing on the table!

Thirsty anyone?

Mommy and Mary Claire

Mimi and Daddy Nick

Uhh...can anyone say bubbles?

More to come...

A Year Gone

2011-06-25T16:07:00.001-05:00

Today, June 25th, 2011, marks one year since we lost Jan's mother. A year she's been gone, and yet, it seems like just yesterday that we set out to endure one of the most difficult times we, as humans, will experience...the sudden, unexpected death of someone you love. I think it's inevitable that we will all at some point or another experience this. With my grandfather, we knew he wasn't going to live on this earth much longer when he became sick. If it's truly possible, we prepared ourselves for our final time with him on Earth. But when Ms. Sue died, we didn't get that "preparation" time for saying good-bye. I don't which is easier (or harder), knowing and trying to prepare or not knowing at all. My heart breaks for Jan, her only child, who was the one with her a year ago tonight. One thing she and I could say we had in common was our love for Jan! (And then the grandchildren, of course!) In my mind, it's only fitting that his mother's face was the first face he saw when he began his life in the world, and his was the last face she saw. I could only wish, as a mother, that when God calls me home that my children's faces will be the last thing on this earth that I'll see. I know that even if they are not standing around me, though, I'll see their faces in my mind's eye.

For the last few weeks, I have thought about this day, June 25th, and the approaching mark of one year. We've had some moments of grief shared quietly between us, and talked about "Mamaw" with the children a lot this past week. I know she would be excited about going back to the beach with us this Thursday. Because that's the last thing she and I talked about that Friday afternoon before she died, preparation for the beach will forever be a time that I think of her. I know when Jan walks the beach picking up shells next week, he'll be thinking specifically of his mother. I couldn't help but laugh at how he teased her for how many shells she would collect, wash, then dry and then try to bag up to bring home with her..."We don't have room for all the extra bags of shells, Momma!" Oh my goodness...:-) We found shells and shells and more shells when we cleaned out the shed back behind her house. I'm not sure, but I think she had plans to make things out of the shells to give to people. That's one thing I can say about Ms. Sue, she was always wanting to give you something. It was not always an item of great value or need, but it was something. Because of this, we had engraved on her tombstone, "...for God loves a cheerful giver." II Cor. 9:7

As we began the daunting task of cleaning out her house, we came across boxes of heirloom quilts she had packed. She had included notes to Jan in which she described the quilts and who made them and when. They are beautiful, and I will admit it was hard to read the notes from her when we found the boxes. I guess it might have been a BIG dose of reality for us both. I read them out loud, as Jan listened. Those quilts and their notes are now safely residing at our home which is where I know she would want them. We brought other important things home with us, but let a lot of things go to someone else who might have a need for them. And again, I know that is how she would have wanted it. The house has just recently become occupied by someone else, and the children and I haven't been by there in over a month or so. But, it's just a house, and while our memories hold that house in them, the truth is, it's a material thing. It doesn't need to be visited. Instead, I think we'll more often visit the moments in our minds, when we do something she would have done with us, go places she would gone with us, when we place flowers on her grave, when we eat "pistachio pudding" or anything resembling the concoction (hehe), when we drink sweet tea made with REAL sugar.

A year gone, but always on our minds...

Swim Team 2011

2011-06-20T20:14:00.000-05:00

(I started this post last Tues., and I am just now finishing it! This start to our summer has been pretty busy...)We have officially entered our second year of swim team! Go Covington Manta Rays! Last week was the boys' first meet in Jackson. They did great! Jonah is the youngest person on the swim team again this year, and he's making wonderful improvements. (Bless his heart, you should knowhe is like a ROCK, weighing about as much as his big brother, and swimming a race is hard on a little person who's frame is like LEAD. Just try picking him up the next time any of you who know him see him...you'll think LEAD, too. Or maybe you shouldn't try to pick him up. Save your back!) Anyhoo... we had fun at the first meet and just finished our second meet here in Covington tonight. Mimi, my mother, has made it to both meets which has proven extremely helpful with "Miss" Mary Claire running around. Thanks, Mimi!

Ready for their races!

Now, John Owen was built for swimming. He is lovin' swim team! Tonight, as he was completing his freestyle race, his goggles came off of his eyes and were hanging down around his mouth. When I saw them, I was afraid he would stop and "fiddle" with them until he got them fixed, but he didn't! He kept going and finished, winning second place in the race! I was so proud! Good job, John Owen!

John Owen after completing his first 25m freestyle race in Jackson.

Jonah is on the platform and ready for the start of the race!

Jonah completed his first ever backstroke race at the last meet.
He amazes me! 5 years old and swimming with the "big boys".

John Owen swimming the backstroke race

May Days

2011-05-31T22:14:00.000-05:00

Well, the end of May is upon us. This has been one "doozie" of a month, if I must say so. Lots of things going on simultaneously. I have always looked forward to vacations at the beach, but this year, I must admit I am looking forward to it more than ever. June 30th can't get here fast enough! A couple of "May things" left to post on this here family blog are:

John Owen's Award Day at ATES!
He received the Principal's List Award for making all A's on his report card all year the Excellence in P.E. Award! He has done great in 1st grade this year, and we celebrated with a "lunch date" last Wed. after his last 1/2 day of school. Pizza and ice cream at a restaurant for just Mommy and John Owen. Goodbye, 1st grade...2nd grade, here we come!

I spy John Owen in a "sea" of 1st graders! :-)

His P.E. Award!

A smile from his teacher, Mrs. Rachel Coats, as he looks at his awards! Thanks, Mrs. Rachel, for a great 1st grade year!

We are so proud of you, John Owen! Keep up the good work!

And...here's some pictures from our last weekend in May!

Memorial Day Weekend 2011

Warmer temps=warmer water in Mimi and Daddy Nick's pool!

John Owen showing off his moves

Dripping wet all weekend!

Who's that cutie in the swimsuit? :-)

Maybe surfing will be her sport?

See what I mean? Now, where and who has she seen demonstrating surfing techniques? Maybe we need to take up residence at the beach. (Just kidding!)

Jonah's silly moves!

And his twist and kick jump! I give it a "10"! hehe

What a great way to kick off Summer of 2011!

We got some sun, ate some barbeque by the pool, caught an afternoon showing of the new Kung Fu Panda movie with friends, and spent some much needed time together. Now, on to June...VBS week, camp, swim team, and VACATION AT THE BEACH!

Hope everyone reading this enjoys this summer and time spent with the ones you love!

Mary Claire Turns 3!

2011-05-28T15:04:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, our Mary Claire turned 3!

(Thank you, "Miss" Lee and "Miss" Andi Katherine for the CUTE puppy dog cake! It's PERFECT! ha)
**That's what Mary Claire said when Miss Lee showed her the cake! Too funny!!**

Sidenote: Admittedly, it's hard for me to write that my baby is turning 3. I have been busy for a few months now making decisions about Pre-K for her. Trying to make the right decision is not the easiest in that we have to consider my work schedule, Jan's work schedule, her transportation to and from school, the best environment, etc., etc. (You all know what I mean.) Not to mention that after her medical diagnosis last Feb., we didn't know what lay ahead for her, developmentally, and if she would need to be in a special setting or not. I haven't written about this much, frankly because I just really had a hard time with it all last year. The neurologists were "throwing" all kinds of scary things our way after her MRI and EEG study at Le Bonheur. (Not to mention the risk of seizures that they said she could, or "would", experience.) My mind raced. The only way I have found peace is because I turned to God, and I had to give it all to Him because after all, only He knows what Mary Claire's future holds. (And I believe He's got great things planned for her!) After somewhat "coming to terms" with this, I have made a valiant effort to make sure I have done everything I can for my daughter. I set up a monthly evaluation to be done in our home for Mary Claire. Every month for a little over a year now, we have had a specialist from Le Bonheur come out and evaluate Mary Claire's development. (Thanks, Endia! Mary Claire will miss you and the bubbles!) I am counting my many undeserved blessings! I am thankful to tell you that Endia and the "others" agree that Mary Claire has development typical of other toddlers her age and the best part is...she has not experienced a seizure! I am just praising God for His goodness! I look at my daughter everyday and I thank God for her life. You would never know she has a medical diagnosis by looking at her or talking to her. She is so funny and imaginative and full of energy! Oh, and did I mention SASSY?! Yes, we are praying for her Pre-K teacher. hehe

Dear Mary Claire,
Happy 3rd Birthday to my beautiful, sassy, funny little girl! My wish for you is that your life will be filled with wonderful things, wonderful people and wonderful times! I pray that God will protect you from any disease, destruction, and injury and that He will raise you up to be a servant of Him. Your life means so much to Daddy and me and we love you more and more everyday! Happy Birthday, "Sweet-Pea"! (That's where you would say, "I no sweet-pea, I just Mary Claire!") Sassy...:-)

I love you!
Mommy

Here's some pictures from your 3rd birthday celebration with your friends and family: (I apologize for the number of pictures here, but I just couldn't decide which ones to leave out.)

Party Favors!

Cookies!

The Lion Cake
ROAR!

More party favors and balloons!

See what I mean? Sassy with the tongue stuck out!

Daddy tries to steal a kiss from the birthday girl!
"No kisses, Daddy!"

Surrounded by friends as you blow out the #3 candle!

"Hi, and yes, it's MY BIRTHDAY PARTY!"
(Mimi made her special dress for her party! Thanks, Mimi!)

"Wow!"
A swimsuit from Brock!

Opening presents!
Rain boots from Aunt Michele!
(And she's already stomped in a couple of puddles with those boots.:-))

"No kisses, but I will give you a high-five, Daddy!"
High-five on a great 3rd birthday!
Happy Birthday, Mary Claire!

Catching Up...

2011-05-14T16:45:00.001-05:00

Well, I am a little behind in posting. Just like everyone else, I am presently balancing a ton of things on my little plate. Not complaining, though. Just thankful God has given me the capability to balance and juggle and, well, you get the idea. Let's see, where did I leave off? Oh yes, pictures from Easter!

My two handsome fellas and beautiful little girl!

This next picture will always be a special to me. As I mentioned in the previous post, John Owen was baptized on Easter. Also being baptized was the daughter of my dear friend, Kate. Her daughter, Ella, and my John Owen are about 5 months apart in age. Kate and I were baptized on the same day when were young, and I just cannot tell you how special it was to see our two gifts from God baptized at Easter.

The Monday after Easter we were off from school and it was John Owen's birthday! We had made plans to go to the zoo, but the weather turned yucky, so I let John Owen choose something indoors to do. Of course, he requested a trip to Chuck E. Cheese!

Here is he doing what he loves...playing video games!

Notice the birthday crown! :-) Thanks, Mimi!

Jonah and his favorite game...FISHING!

I must say, he was pretty good at it. He got more tickets than his big brother did by playing this game over and over again!

I guess Mary Claire loves Chuck E. Cheese, too!

This next picture was one I snapped while we were upstairs playing one day. Mary Claire loves to dance! She grabbed Jonah and made him her dancing partner. And around and around they went!

She would tell me to sit down in the red chair and watch. Then when I clapped, she would do a bow and say, "Thank you." It was too funny. Quite the entertainer, she is!

After playing upstairs, it was back to work for Mommy...I was making homemade banana nut bread for all of our teachers.(It was Teacher Appreciation Week) Mimi stopped by and of course, added her special touch to the loaves of bread. (I wish I had the ability to take tulle and ribbon and make it look beauitful! Unfortunately, I don't seem to have the "magic touch" like my mother.) I am thinking as I look at this picture, maybe Mary Claire will have Mimi's ability to make things look beautiful.

See, a loaf of banana nut bread never looked so beautiful! :-)

This probably deserves it's own post, but I'll add it here because my posting time is quickly drawing to a close.

Jonah lost his 1st tooth on May 3rd! (And yesterday, May 13th, he lost his 2nd tooth!) He was so excited when the first tooth came out. He put the tooth in his Pirate Tooth pillow he got in his Easter basket. Isn't that convenient that the Easter Bunny gave him this gift?

Here he is holding his tooth.

And with that, comes the realization that my baby boy is growing up too fast!

The baby teeth are coming out...

He is no longer the little boy in this picture next to his Pirate Tooth Pillow.

He will turn 6 in about 8 weeks, and with the loss of his 2nd tooth yesterday, he has now lost as many baby teeth as his big brother.

How quickly time does fly!

From a sweet newborn baby boy...

to the same sweet little boy's preschool graduation last Tuesday night.

Congratulations, Jonah! You are a sweet spirited, funny little man with a big heart!

I love you and the person you are becoming.

Kindergarten, here we come!

(I am so excited about you coming to "Mommy's school" in August.)

Even little sister is proud of you!

See?

Jonah's 2011 Preschool Graduation class on the stage at his school

Until next time...

A Special Weekend

2011-04-24T00:11:00.000-05:00

This weekend is special for a few reasons:

Reason #1: This is the weekend 8 years ago that I gave birth to John Owen. He was born on Friday, April 25, and it was one of the best days of my life!

Story of my pregnancy/his arrival: I had just started graduate school, and I was coaching volleyball at the middle school where I had been teaching for 1 year when I found out I was going to have a baby. Jan and I were nervous, yet very excited, and we surprised our parents with a poem on Grandparents Day in Sept. of 2002. I had a great pregnancy, I guess. A little sickness in the beginning, only lasting about 7 weeks, and then subsiding. I made it through the sickness period by eating Sprite and Cheetos. Which might explain this next thing. :-) I gained...(Dare I put this?)...60 pounds while pregnant with John Owen. I often was asked by strangers if I was having TWINS. Yeah, that's right. My mother was wonderful, though, when I expressed my concern for my weight gain. She simply stated that I had not gained as much as she did with me, so I was fine. My doctor took about the same approach in taking my weight gain in stride. "You're tall. I think you can handle it." I, on the other hand, was thinking, "I am not THAT tall!" Nevertheless, I just accepted the fact that my mother and I were destined by nature to "pack on the pounds" while pregnant. My mother went with me to nearly every dr. appt. while I was pregnant. (I think it was because we both used it as a good excuse to eat at McAlister's Deli.)

I experienced some lower back pain and a little sciatic nerve pain toward the end of my pregnancy, but nothing I couldn't tolerate. I continued to teach every day (and complete my work/classes for graduate school) until almost a week before he was born. My doctor decided to induce me on my due date since I had reached 2 cm dilated. I had a 3 week break from graduate school classes at that point, so it seemed God's timing was perfect. I went in at 6:00 a.m. on Friday, April 25, and the nurses started me on pitocin. I progressed along, determined I was going to do this without the epidural. When I reached 5 cm and STAYED there for a couple of hours, the doctor strongly suggested I get the epidural. "For some reason, you haven't changed since we last checked you. I'm not sure what's going on, but you might have a long road ahead of you." They hooked the monitor up to John Owen's head to more closely monitor his vitals, and they brought in the anesthesiologist. The epidural was the scariest thing for me at that point. I just dreaded the thought of a needle in my back. All went well, and I tried to rest a little. A couple of more hours passed, and still no change...
When Dr. Stern came in, he told me he would give me a little longer, and that if there wasn't any change, we would talk about a C-section. As he stepped out the door and began to walk down the hallway, the monitor alarm went off. I was having a BIG contraction, and John Owen's heart rate dropped drastically. I will never forget the look on my mom's face as she had the best view of the monitor screen. This alerted the nurses at their station, and Dr. Stern turned right back around and said as he entered the room, "We are not going to wait. Let's go on and get him." The nurses got busy! They threw scrubs at Jan, escorted everyone in the room out, and I started getting upset (probably induced from the frantic state around me and the thought of a C-section). My dad would not leave the room until he offered some comforting words I will always remember. Then I was wheeled down to the operating room (I'll spare the details of the operation itself), and at 4:01 p.m., we were shedding tears of joy as we saw our baby boy for the first time! He was wide awake and looking at me! I cried from sheer JOY and HAPPINESS! 8 pounds and 14 ounces of a miracle sent from God! I couldn't stop looking at him, and let me truthfully say, I did not want him to leave my side while we were in the hospital. I never sent him to the nursery. They asked, I declined. He stayed right beside me (mostly in a football-hold position), so I could see his face at all times. One thing I'll always remember Dr. Stern saying after John Owen's birth is "He didn't wanna to leave his Momma." (It wasn't the easiest of c-section surgeries, he added.) I could never imagine my life without John Owen having been born. I don't ever want to imagine my life without him. I thank God for the gift He gave us in John Owen. I know that God has super plans for him, and I pray that God will lead his life in a big way, and that he'll be smarter than I was in his life decisions. I pray that I can be the mother he needs to help him, and I'm gonna lean on God for that.

Reason #2: God has been working on John Owen's heart for a while now. **(See recent post: "Will You Answer?)**
Last Sunday, John Owen told us he was ready to make it known to our church that he had asked Jesus to come into his heart and that he was ready for baptism. I was so proud of him! We both were!! Jan got a little emotional, and I tried not to look at him for fear I would cry. (He really is a BIG softie sometimes!) We stood beside John Owen as Bro. Chuck told the church about his decision and their discussion about salvation. John Owen greeted every one like a big boy as they came to tell him how happy they were for him. I am just so happy that now my son's name is written in God's Book of Life, and that tomorrow we will celebrate with our family and church body as he is baptized on Easter Sunday...What a special day to remember this special moment! I am especially happy that my grandmothers are planning to be there tomorrow to see their great-grandson baptized. I know my Grandmother Caudle has always told me that she has prayed/prays daily that each of her children, grandchildren, and now great-grandchildren will come to know Jesus as their Savior. I hope when I am 90 years old, that I can testify to the acceptance of Jesus Christ in my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. A legacy worth living and leaving!!

Reason #3: Easter...a time to remember the Savior who gave His life for the sins of the world. I pray that tomorrow we will all remember and give thanks for the Savior who came to the world and gave His life in a way that I cannot fathom. It hurts my very being to think of the pain and suffering Jesus did for me, what God allowed His son to go through for all of us. This weekend is special because this is a time of rejoicing and prasing God that He has allowed us the chance to be able to come to Him and live eternally as His children because Jesus Christ died and rose again! Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. What a day it will be when He comes back for His people!!

I have to end this post with some pictures from John Owen's first birthday sleepover we had last night! (Jan and I survived!) hehe
Funny story...the boys stayed up REALLY late, like midnight! And then, to top things off, they woke up BEFORE 6:00 a.m. I couldn't believe it! I thought everybody slept in at a sleepover! I know I always slept until about lunch time. :-) Did I miss the memo that said your guests are now EARLY RISERS? I took a much needed nap this afternoon which probably explains why I am still up at 11:30 tonight...ho hum! And one of our guests fell asleep in the car as I was driving him home! Too funny!

John Owen had fun and that's all that matters!

Happy 8th Birthday, John Owen!

Umm...excuse me? Who's that trying to stick a finger in the cake?

Yeah, that's right, lick your lips. You can look, but you can't touch!

"The Crew"

Carter, John Owen, Tyler, Owen Thomas

(John Owen informed me right after I took this picture that he was making an "8" with his hands! Pretty creative, huh?)

The birthday boy before blowing out his candles!

Boys will be boys!

It's Our Time

2011-04-14T23:08:00.000-05:00

To sing together! It's our time to sing together! It's our time to sing together! Sing, "Hello, hello!"
This is how we started off every Kindermusik class with "Miss Ellie" AKA Mrs. Ellen Clark. I put Mary Claire in Kindermusik this year to give her more social interaction with children close to her age and for the exposure to music with such a wonderfully talented instructor, Mrs. Ellen. (Mrs. Ellen is actually family, Jan's cousin...I have learned in the 15 years since Jan and I met and started our relationship that there aren't many people in Tipton County that he's NOT related to somehow whether it be through marriage or blood kin. :-) I, on the other hand, cannot say the same.) O.K., I'll stop "birdwalking" now! Back to Kindermusik memories and our time together...

What will we remember from Kindermusik? Mary Claire proved to be a take-charge type person. (That's a nice way of saying she's BOSSY, right?) She was a little AGGRESSIVE with a couple of the girls at first. Let's see, was it a hug for a new little friend or a choke hold? Hmm...:-) She was very good at "reminding" Miss Ellie that it was time for stickers...WELL BEFORE the end of class time together. A couple of times my mother had to fill in for me and take Mary Claire to class. It was so funny when she called me afterwards laughing and asked, "Does she listen to YOU in Kindermusik?" hehe

Mary Claire loved the washing machine song the best. We would lay a towel on the floor with one adult at each end of the towel. One child at a time would lay on the towel and we would pick up the towel with the child bundled up inside and gently shake the towel while singing, "We are clothes in a washing machine, and we wiggle and we giggle until we are clean. Then Momma shakes us out to dry, and hangs us on a clothesline high!" It became quite difficult, and probably dangerous, when Sam Harris and Mary Claire refused to take turns, and Sara and I had to shake/hold both of them at the same time! That was a sight for sore eyes!
Another favorite was the making toast song. She loved waiting for the toast to POP out of the toaster and then me spreading pretend jelly on her as she pretended to be the toast!

Oh my goodness! What fun!
So much fun we have signed up for more! This June, she'll do another class with Miss Ellie. I think it has some sort of adventure theme, and we can't wait! With Mary Claire, it's always an ADVENTURE! Here's a couple of pictures from our 1st Kindermusik class.

Lane, Clara Lee, Drew, Miss Ellie, Tatum, Faith, Mary Claire

Missing: Griffin, Sam Harris

Fun with pots and pans!

I'm pretty sure that's not what the scarves were intended for, but what do you expect from a 2 year old?

Toast in the toaster...ready to POP UP! :-)

Will You Answer?

2011-04-04T23:26:00.000-05:00

This past Sunday, our pastor shared in his sermon about knowing and accepting Jesus into your heart. He read aloud and included in his sermon notes for the day, the scripture from John 14:6-"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but through me." He then showed an illustration on the big screen of Jesus knocking on a door and he described how Jesus stands at our heart's door and knocks. It is up to us to answer his call. And I can testify that He is most certainly knocking because my almost 8 year old son, John Owen, took me completely by surprise when he touched my hand as Bro. Chuck began his closing prayer, and he said, "Mommy, I want to be baptized." For a split moment, I didn't know what to say!! I leaned in and whispered, "Do you want to share this with Bro. Chuck or Bro. Cliff?" (You see, Jan and I have always said we want our children to make this decision on their own. Of course, we will try our best to give them guidance in this matter, but we do not want to force our children to accept Christ. We have had a couple of "bedtime discussions" with John Owen over the course of the last 6 months or so, but he has never expressed a desire to be baptized. He said he believed in Jesus and God, and he asked alot of questions. And I have prayed, as I do for all 3 of my children, that God would open his heart to hear and confess Jesus as his Lord and Savior.) So, when he said he wanted to go down to tell Bro. Cliff or Bro. Chuck, I didn't dare want to tell him to wait. I have this idea that so many, and I stand guilty as well, think that that aisle in church is only for those who have a decision to make public. Why is that?
So, I said, "Let's go down and pray with Bro. Chuck, o.k? And we'll see what he says." At the same time the invitation began, we stepped out into the aisle with our son who will turn 8 in 20 days, and made our way to the front. I knew that our good friend, Ella, who recently made a decision for Christ was making her decision public, and I couldn't help but think how ironic it was that Ella's mom, Kate, and I were baptized together, and that today of all days, God chose to speak to my child's heart. He knocked, and I believe John Owen answered Him. I am without words to describe how happy we are! We prayed with Bro. Cliff while Ella talked with Bro. Chuck. Then we shared with Bro. Chuck John Owen's decision, and we agreed to meet with him this week. Later, when we discussed this with John Owen, Jan asked him why he wanted to be baptized, and what made him think about it today? He said, "Well, Bro. Chuck was talking about Jesus knocks on the door of your heart, and you have to answer his knock. I think He's knocking on my heart, and I want to let Him in." :-) Of course, we asked him if he knew his friend had made a decision to be baptized, and he said he didn't. (I hope no one thinks badly of us for asking that, but we wanted to be sure his decision was made for the right reason.) Please say a little prayer for our son as he meets with our pastor this week and as he answers the Lord's knock on his heart's door.

I close with a funny prayer Mary Claire prayed tonight before I put her in bed. (I think it might have been an attempt to keep from having to go to bed so quickly.)
She always says the "Now I lay me down to sleep..." prayer, but I usually lead her in a prayer afterwards, and I'll thank God for her and her brothers, other family, Jesus, etc. Well, she has now started picking up if I slow down with my list of "thank-you's" and here's what she said tonight, plus my thoughts as she prayed :-).
"Thank you for Mommy and Daddy and Mommy and Daddy (o.k., I think God got that one!)
and my animals (??...Then I quickly realized she was looking at some stuffed animals in the basket beside the rocking chair)
and Mommy's music (??... Maybe because she heard the music playing on the CD player...I could sure use that prayer, though, since this laryngitis has kept me from singing for 2 weeks now!)
and for my books (O.k. now she's looking at the bookshelf...)
and for Jesus. (There you go! Good girl. Be thankful for the other things, but this one is most important.)
Amen! (and AMEN!)

The Team We Are Cheering for this Season

2011-03-17T23:04:00.000-05:00

Monday afternoon, my principal announced that teachers and students could wear their team shirts to show their support of their favorite basketball team as tournament play begins...March Madness begins. You could say our house is "a divided house" being that sometimes we cheer for U of M, my alma mater, but most of the time we pull for Tennessee, which is Jan's alma mater. I will admit, as much as my Memphis friends would hate to hear this, it does feel more natural for me to wear the orange than the blue. (Sorry, Laura. You know I LOVE going to Memphis basketball games with you guys, though.)

After giving my wardrobe for the rest of the week a little thought and contemplating which day I might wear blue and which days I would wear orange, I suddenly knew without a shadow of a doubt which team shirt I would make sure to wear this week.

You see, this season I honestly could care less who wins that trophy for being the best basketball team in 2011. My heart's just not into it right now. My heart is somewhere else these days.

There is a much better team I am cheering for this season...Team Lucy! We all wore our "Go Lucy Go" shirts today! I had originally planned to wear mine tomorrow when everyone else would be sporting their blue or orange, but then decided since it was St. Patrick's Day and we needed our green on, we would all wear the shirts today. (I still might wear mine again tomorrow. I just might not have time to wash it, so those who work with me need not get too close to me. hehe)

Go, Lucy, Go!
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

(Yes, those are STILL Valentine's Day balloons in the background. Can you believe they are still inflated? Mary Claire loves them, so we just can't get rid of them.)

We love you, Lucy!

I came across this in my devotional two days ago and wanted to share...

It's easy to trust God for the ordinary. By knowing His intimate will for your life, you can begin to trust Him for the extraordinary.

(I am laying it all out on the table here by sharing that I have an issue with trust. It is something I pray about everyday. It's easy to say "I truly trust", but to what level do I REALLY trust? TRULY trusting means I have to give up complete control, something I struggle with. Especially when it comes to my children.)

"God can do anything, you know-far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!" Ephesians 3:20 MSG

Draw closer to God than ever before. Trust Him completely. Know that He hears, that He's concerned, that the answer is already on its way.

Saturday in the Park

2011-03-14T18:40:00.000-05:00

A quick shot from the tire swing!

John Owen, Mary Claire and Jonah

March 2011

These pictures are from our time spent Saturday morning at the park. Jonah has been practically begging me since we had that "warm spell" a few weeks back to take him to the "castle park" and nature trail. The weather hasn't exactly cooperated, but this past Saturday, there was no excuse for NOT going to the castle park. Off we went! When we arrived, there was a birthday party about to start for someone we knew plus a baseball tournament being held at the nearby field, so there ended up being quite a good number of people there to play with. A picnic lunch, a trip down the nature trail, and then I had some folks ready for a good nap.

John Owen doing his best monkey impersonation!

My little monkey sliding down the "big slide".

Just a swingin'

Can you tell she was the only one I could keep up with for some picture-taking?

I called up to "Prince Jonah" in the tower, but I am pretty sure it should have been the other way around. :-)

Caught him hangin' around

Like brother, like sister!

One shot of the boys in action.