Rob's Blog

My husband is a big-time blogger. I've lost count as to how many blogs he actually writes. But he wrote one the other day that I wanted to share. Pretty entertaining, as well as telling. Click here to view. And I apologize for the repeat picture of him, but he is the resident photographer, so I have precious few pics of him! :)

Thankful Thursday

Another blogger that I follow does a "Thankful Thursday" post. It's such an encouragement and a great practice, that I thought I'd incorporate it as well. It's really therapeutic to force yourself to think of all the blessings in your life. Some days it's really easy to come up with things, some days not so much! So here's my first edition of Thankful Thursday. Oh, yeah, and the pics posted above are of my major blessings: I am thankful: 1) that my husband fixed my computer, and it is now virus-free! 2) that my brother is coming this weekend. 3) that I've been able to get caught up on orders and housework. 4) that we already have fruit and veggies coming up in our beautiful garden that my hubby has worked so hard in! Since this is my first post, I'll add the following obvious ones: 5) for a husband who loves God, his family, and takes great care of us. 6) for my precious 5 kids, who are healthy, happy, great kids that we genuinely enjoy being around. 7) for our house that is everything we need, in spite of the much-needed cosmetic touches I have yet to do! 8) for a nice van that we can ride comfortably in. I'll never forget how many summers we suffered through without air conditioning in our old, old van. So thankful for the new one! 9) for God's loving provision for all our needs, in spite of our unworthiness. and lastly, 10) that summer is almost here!! So ready for a break from routine, schedules, etc. Ready to spend time by the pool and working in the yard!

Bragging Time

Please allow me to brag a bit on my #1 son. Grey loves acting. It's his passion. He has been fortunate enough to be cast in several productions done by the Clarksville children's theater group, Stages Theatre for Youth (www.kidsonstage.info). But recently, he was invited by the University of the Ozarks theater department to play the part of "Arty" in the play "Lost in Yonkers". This was a pretty big honor. He has worked so hard for the past 2 months, rehearsals almost daily. This weekend was the performance. I don't know who was more excited, Grey or his parents! I have to say, he was amazing. We were so proud. It's always great to hear compliments on your kids, but what's even more fun, is hearing people around you talking about how great that kid on stage is, totally unaware that his parents are in the row in front of them! We even had a gentleman, as we were walking out, look at us and say, "That younger brother was a great actor, wasn't he?" No way could he have known he was talking to "that younger brother's" parents! Needless to say, it was a very proud moment.

Easter, 2009

So this was how my Easter Sunday went this year:

12:20am- Garrett, my asthmatic child, comes to our bedroom, crying, coughing, and wheezing, saying he can't breath very well. We head to the ER to get some relief for him. Kind of a routine thing for us, but still scary, nonetheless.

1:45am- We arrive back home, Garrett's better. I get him settled in bed, and I head off to bed myself. Rob is still in the kitchen, baking sweet breads for our Easter Sunday brunch at church. He's a late-nighter, so it's not uncommon for him to be up late, although this is a bit late for him even.

2:30ish- The last time I remember looking at the clock. Hard to sleep when your child isn't well. Rob comes to bed.

6:00am- alarm goes off. We go through the regular routine, and head to church- very tired. But we all look great in our Easter Sunday best. The boys are all in their suits, Kenna is in an adorable dress, and Rob & I even look pretty snazzy in our church clothes. I'm feeling pretty proud that we made it, and actually look halfway decent, after the night we had. But we didn't have time for pictures. I figure we can get them after church.

9:15ish- We're at church, eating our brunch, I go to check on Mac, who's already finished eating, and is playing in the nursery. As I'm walking in the room, I can tell by her stance that she has had an accident. all over her beautiful dress. I have no extra clothes, since she's not had an accident in weeks. Never even dawned on me to take any! So I go to my friend, Cathy, who has a daughter a little older than McKenna, and see if she has any extra clothes. She does, thankfully, but they are play clothes. Beggers can't be choosers, I guess. I was grateful to have something to put on her, but embarrassed that my adorable daughter, in the midst of all the kids in their Easter pretties, was wearing sweat pants and a shirt that didn't match. Oh, well. So much for pictures this Easter!

11:00- Church is over. The Easter egg hunt we had planned got rained out, so we thought, but a man in our church comes to the rescue, and offers his vacant building for the hunt. So we caravan over there, have a great hunt, and head home.

1:00- Take a much-needed nap.

3:30- Head to my mom's to help her with dinner for the fam. We prepared the kids baskets, hid the clues for them to find their baskets, and got dinner ready.

5:00- Great dinner, hunt for baskets, lots of candy, Easter egg hunt inside Granny Janie's house due to the rain, more candy, clean up, and head home.

8:00- Put away all the Easter stuff, realize we have WAY too much candy, get kids ready for bed, spend some time on the computer.

9:47pm- Blogging about the last 24 hrs. and realizing how full it was. Busy, exhausting, but fun. My 2 oldest kids came in the room a few minutes ago to kiss me goodnight, and said, "Goodnight, Mom. I love you. Thanks for such a fun weekend!"

Okay, so it was worth every minute.

Just an Update

I'm back at the scrapbook store on Fridays- finally! This past month has been so busy, it's just a blur. 3 Rhea Lana Consignment sales within a month's time! I have no idea how many bows I actually made before, during and after the sales- don't think I want to! And I've been working on filling the clothing orders taken at the sales for weeks now. Last count, I received something like 45 clothing orders to fill and ship. To date I have ONE order left to fill, and I'm waiting on the customer to get measurements to me for that one. I am breathing much easier now, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel! It was very fun, and profitable, but it's nice to finally slow back down into my normal (if there is such a thing) routine of taking care of my family. A year ago, I would have never thought I'd have a fulltime business out of doing what I love! I gotta say, I would never be able to do this if not for my very supportive family. My mom has helped out tremendously with babysitting, Rob has been extremely patient with the meals I've thrown together so I could get back to sewing- not to mention the MANY nights he cooked and took care of kids while I was gone to the sales. Grey & Grant have helped out a ton around the house with various chores, laundry, etc., and haven't really griped too badly considering. :) People always ask me, "How do you find the time to do all this?" Truth is, I have a great family, taking care of the things I may not have time for on any given day. That, and I don't sleep much anymore! :) God has definitely blessed me beyond measure, and I don't take that for granted.

I gotta say it: I have the best kids in the world. Trust me, there have been days when I've had my doubts- especially in the very early years. Several years ago, when Grey (my oldest- now 13) was about 4 or 5 years old, I walked into our bedroom, only to find a family heirloom Christmas decoration in pieces on the floor. It's just stuff, it wasn't a big deal. But the fact that Grey had broken it, left it there, and not bothered to tell me about it, really bothered me. He knew how special that decoration was to me, because I'd told him the story behind it when we decorated that year. And I don't think he failed to tell me about it out of the fear that he'd be in trouble. I think he just genuinely didn't care. I remember thinking, praying, "How do you teach compassion to your children? How do you make them feel something?" I remember specifically making that a matter of prayer. I don't really remember any "magic" answer coming to me. But I was thinking of that incedent today, as I was watching Grey with his little sister (2 1/2). Of all my kids, Grey is the most sensitive, caring, loving. Not a day goes by that he doesn't tell me he loves me, and he's so glad we're his parents. But back to Kenna- We were getting in the van, which we do oh, so very often. Grey was helping McKenna get in and buckled up, and he said, "You're my special, little sweetheart, aren't you?" To which she replied, "Yep!" I love the relationship that he has with her. I know it doesn't sound like much, but it was one of those mental snapshot moments for me. I had several of those today. My second favorite was watching McKenna, in my sewing room while I worked, wrapping fabric around her, and twirling to the music in her "new dress". I don't take enough mental snapshots. I get too busy, and time goes by so fast. I'm very glad that I took the time to appreciate the blessings under my feet.