7 Years of Happiness

It wasn't that long ago that I felt the calling on my heart from God about having a son. I wasn't thrilled with the idea; I had barely begun to understand my girl and the thought of a boy terrified me. But, what could I do? I suppose I could have ignored God's pull, but I am so glad I didn't. My son has brought me such great joy.

Here we are,7 year's later. It is hard to believe it has been that long. It sure doesn't feel like it. I have never once regretted heeding that pull. Daniel is such an incredible boy.

I often get made fun of because of my attachment to both my kids. I am happy when they get older, but, yes, I am sad when they get older, too. I love them so and like so many aspects of these younger years. For instance, Daniel crawls in bed with me every morning when he wakes up. He comes out of his room and into mine. I lift the blankets up and he snuggles in. He says "how can there be anything better than you" and I repeat it back to him. He will snuggle in and tell me about his dreams or about whatever his thoughts are on...or he will, sometimes, fall back to sleep. I love this! I don't want him to outgrow it. I love his sweet voice and how he can still wrap himself around me when he hugs me (arms and legs).

And now he is turning 7, one year older...and the kid is growing like crazy. He says he will always be my teddy bear, but will he really? He has to outgrow it some time. Sierra is almost as tall as me and we do still, occasionally, cuddle, but it ends up being a trial of adjustments as we try to get limbs and space and such. Course, the advantage to hugging her is I do not have to bend down to do it. She is just about as tall as me.

Daniel is so sweet. He is honest and well-behaved. He is a good kid. He is a boy with a wild imagination. His sweet naivete is endearing and I do all I can to keep it. We were watching something the other day and kids didn't have parents and he said "who wouldn't want their kids". I said, "you'd be surprised how many kids don't have parents who love them". His jaw dropped. He could not believe it. I love that about him.

So, I will rejoice his turning 7 tomorrow, but I will also be a little sad. He's my little man...

What's Up 2012?

Yeah, I just wrote a blog about 2011, but what about 2012. What's going to be happening in 2012??

Well, probably the biggest thing that we have to look forward to this year (hmmm....look forward to?) is our daughter will officially become a teenager in May of 2012!! I do not hardly feel old enough to be a mother of a teenager. It is hard to believe it.

Also, in 2012, Sierra will likely get out of braces. I look forward to paying off our balance tomorrow. As excited as she was to get them in 2011, she is more excited to get them off!!

Daniel will, hopefully, go on his first camping trip. He wants to in the worst way. He will go with his daddy and he has already decided that he will cook the meals himself over a campfire.

Sierra will finish her first quilt. It has been a long process, but worth it all.

It is another year of summer olympics that, oddly, brings me joy and I am excited. It is also an election year which is good and bad. I am ready for change and have no doubt that it will be the end of Obama (good), but we will also be inundated with political stuff (bad).

I am also making it a goal of mine to write a book this year. Oh, I have started writing several books, but gotten off track. Whether I pick up one of my old books or start anew...I plan on pushing through and finishing this!!

Due to some changes made last year, and some, hopeful, changes this year we will have less money going OUT and more staying in.

Those are just some of our goals. We have the typical, lose weight....get in better shape.....study the Word more....etc, and we intend on fulfilling them.

2012 is filled with promises and of hopes and dreams. As Matt says, if you're going to dream, dream big...if you are going to pray for provisions, pray big.

What's Up 2011?

I can be guilty, as so many others can, of focusing on the negatives in life and not the positives. 2011 wasn't a fantastic year for us...we had a lot of challenges. We also had a lot of victories and TONS to be thankful for.

In 2011, Daniel turned 6 which was joyous to everyone (but me), Sierra turned 12 which she was extremely happy for because it had her one year closer to 13 (another not so exciting moment for me), I turned 37 which doesn't bother me so much especially considering Matt turned 40 which brings us many laughs as he has become a target for the old age jokes (yes, 40 is not old by today's standards...but it does not stop us from laughing). While I do not much care for my kids getting older, I also appreciate who they are becoming as they mature. By the end of 2011, Sierra has reached past my eyebrows in height and I know she will end up being taller than me. Daniel has gotten MUCH taller and lost all his baby fat (which is not the best news either...). It is bittersweet to be sure.

Sierra continued excelling at her schooling...beyond anything I could hope for. Her confidence level continues to rise. Her social life has also increased as she moved out of Children's Ministry at church and into Student Ministry. She is proving more and more each day her love of art (not in the classical sense, but in the practical sense). She loves makeup art (which her dad doesn't like). It is my goal for 2012 to find other ways for her to express herself with art....classes she can take. She is more and more determined in her design for life and is working harder in school to accomplish her goals. She is driven. Her maturity over this past year has been exponential, but she can still be silly. The highlight of her year was her trip to Alaska which will be with her always. She wants to go back there so very bad and excitedly told me today that her bff in Alaska may be coming to Houston this summer. I hope that's true.

Daniel finished Kindergarten with a bang in 2011. Any facebook followers know most of his accomplishments as I brag on him all the time. He decided he was ready to be homeschooled after just 2 weeks of 1st grade. As excited as he was to go back to public school and get together with friends, he just got very frustrated with the pace of school (that is that it was going way to slow for his tastes). It has been an exciting time homeschooling him as he gets excited about such fun things. He loves Geography and loves learnng about the states. He can tell you the capitals of every state we have studied and knows the position of every state. He has a world map and an american map and spends SO MUCH time studying them. He has great dreams of traveling the world and I would not be surprised if he does just that. He still loves math and I have yet to really teach him much in this area. He just picks it up on his own, teaching himself along the way. I had a great discussion with a lady who works at a local homeschool store and she told me the best way to optimize his current math curriculum and so we are going to be starting that this year.

For Matt and I, it has been fairly status quo. Nothing too exciting except for the kids accomplishments. We celebrated our 13th year of marriage (we will celebrate the 14th year at the end of this month). Matt's job had some ups and downs, but he has been employed at this company for 13 years in May and we are extremely grateful for that stability. We have had many a challenge with our car situation...having gotten ourselves into a mess with being upside down when purchasing our Kia...and than the mess of OWNING a Kia. So many things have gone wrong with the car, but we must pay it off before even thinking of getting a new one. A big YAY US that did happen over the summer (and just in time since the Kia's ac went out and is out of budget to fix now) is the gift of a "new to us" car!! The only challenge with it is the driver's side window that does not work. Matt has to go in and prop it up every couple weeks as it just slides down on it's own (drive thrus are a particular challenge). BUT, it is a second car which is fantastic and HARDLY worth even complaining about anything (we have been a one car family for 12 years). This gift was a HUGE one and our lives have gotten so much BETTER because of it. Honestly, the biggest challenge for me with it was the lack of auxilary jack. I hate the local radio stations. BUT, even that was remedied when a friend suggested a tape to auxilary convertor (is that the right terminology), so now I can listen to my music without issue!!

There are many more small things I could mention....probably even big things. Even in the hard times, God showed his love and grace. He was ALWAYS there to hold us up and keep us going. He says that in all things to rejoice and I believe this to be an absolute truth (as all things he says is absolute truth). It is hard to rejoice many times when you are in the midst of "it", but when you get to the other side of "it", if you look back and see, really see, you can certainly rejoice. Maybe I will one day even get to that point where I rejoice while I am in "it". My kids seem to be better at seeing the joy in the middle of the pain better than we do.

So...2011 was bad and good....what year isn't?? I hope 2012 is better than 2011, but it is really out of my hands. If it is the same as 2011, than it is the same. We have conquered challenges and stayed strong...so, I guess 2011 was a victorious year. Why would I wish for anything different??

Pinterest

Oh, Pinterest, how do I love thee....I simply cannot count the ways!


For so long, my friends were telling me about this program...I got evites to join the phenomenon and was told I must get the app. I got the app....I created an account....and I let it sit.

You see, I knew....I KNEW I would get addicted to the blasted program. I'm weak. I have no fight in me...no guts....I knew I would enter addiction territory and I just couldn't let that happen. SO, I listened as everyone commented how great the program is.

One day, it happened. I was bored and thought, let's just see what all this hullabaloo is all about anyway!!??!!! I have been addicted ever since....and INSPIRED. I am a woman with little to no inspiration of her own and I have to surround myself with creative people and try to glean at least a little from them.

Yeah, my biggest fear come true! I now have an addiction to the site and app.