Back from my Hiatus

Hello Fellow bloggers and people that took time over the years to follow our journey. I was discouraged by a creeper and still feel that even though I would love to start blogging again, I am wondering If I just start a new blog page or continue here with my journey. I would like to take another spin on the things I write about. If any of you have done this please let me know if you started a new blog, or just continued with another type of feel or topics on your current blog . 
Any advice would be great
Tina

Hardships bring thankful heart

A look back at the past couple years makes my head spin. It is amazing what people can go through, and I say that with great pride, because we are making it through!  We have come a long ways in the last couple of years. We were going through quite a lot all at one time. My oldest daughter had been diagnosed with Crohn's disease and my son a heart condition that caused his heart to race out of his chest and he endured one unsuccessful heart surgery.  As a mother I felt helpless because all you want is for your children to be happy and healthy. You dig deep into yourself to find the strength you need to have, because you need to have it for them. But it is in those little private alone moments that I would melt and cry out to God, saying I can't take anymore! As I look back now a year and many, many prayers later I am THANKFUL so Thankful to say that my daughter is in REMISSION & my son's second heart surgery was a total SUCCESS!! They are both doing great and nothing makes me happier!!! Other things in life seem to be falling in place too. My husbands new job has helped with less stress on both of us and less travel allows him to be here much more than he has in the past 6 years. Can't say how much that helps with so many different areas of our life.

Why the long blogging break?

To be honest, I took a break because someone left a very inappropriate comment here and it really rubbed me the wrong way. Was very very disturbing.  For 9 years I have never had a problem, and people have always been great support and encouraging. But at the same time you know there are people out there that just like to creep on things because they have nothing better to do with their lives.  At this point I am contemplating taking down this blog and starting a new one. This is a little sad for me because I have enjoyed blogging and getting to know some of the great people out there!

Back To School

Moving day came way to fast for this little mommy! Was a sad day for us all to move our son and say goodbye or "see you later" is what I like much better! Time truly goes fast and now he is an adult and on his own. It is definitely a very hard season that you don't know about until that day comes and you experience your baby leaving the house. It breaks my heart. Letting go, and not knowing where he is most the time, or being right here if he needed help with something. It is very strange getting use to not having him around the house. It changes the family dynamics for sure. Letting go is not easy, but it is a part of life as a parent. We raise them up the very best that we can and when this day comes that they go on their own, we let Go and let GOD watch over them.  Family is forever, no matter what the distance!!  I am so proud of him and all he has done and is doing! He could not have gotten a better room mate, a great school schedule, full ride scholarship, heart surgery success, great part time job, and will come out of school with NO debt and a good career!! So thankful!! 

My two beautiful Girls on their first day of school! Amanda a Junior & Grace in First Grade!!

 I am so proud of these two sweeties! Amanda got her first job this summer and is doing really good. Grace tries to keep up with her older siblings and talks like a teen. Sometimes I think she is smarter than me. I treasure every moment with my kids!

Change is NOT easy, But Change CAN be GOOD!!

One of the most powerful things you can do as a married couple is to pray together out loud. Marriage is not easy and we all have our ups and our downs. We have had many challenges through out our 21 years of marriage. We have laughed, we have cried, but the important thing is we keep fighting to make it!!  Getting on the same page in life has been making a difference in our relationship. Praying together has helped us to do just that.

Do you ever feel like HE is silent?  Maybe it is that we are just not listening long enough. I don't know, but a few weeks ago in my prayer time I was telling God I feel he is far away and silent, I asked him to please give us some hope. We have has many prayers for my husband to find a different job closer to home.  But, a week later a job opportunity dropped in MY lap. I was told about this job on a Thursday, Interviewed on a Friday and was offered the job 3 hours later. If I was to be working full time, it needed to be something to work better with my schedule with my kids.  Well this job is all that and more. I will be working in the school district about 10 miles from our home as a librarian & teacher aide. The benifits are great and we also decided to move our daughter to the same town I will be working in as well.  This has been a big adjustment for her. Starting over with new little friends and new school, but I am trusting that things will all work out great. Her and I will have the same schedule and I will be off at 2:45 just like her. I am so thankful for this job!!  Now, we still have one BIG missing piece to the puzzle. A big piece, and huge piece,is my husband finding a job closer to home as well. We are waiting on God now and praying constantly about this.  I honestly feel like I was given this job, we moved Grace to the new school, and now I just know Terry will be next, and I can not wait to see what the Lord has in store for him!!

No matter what is going on in your relationship, no matter how hard it gets, I am here telling you that if you both get on the same page and seek out the Lord as your guide, you can do anything. He will not lead us down the wrong path. His path is the right path....always. We are not perfect, never will be and I am sure we will have more challenges-because that is life. But we can go through them together. Don't give up. It just might be the best thing you do. 

Little Family Day

Little late posting this, but this was last weekend...before our son moved out, we decided to go out and explore! Perfect weather and some perfect family bonding time. I am very happy for him and excited for his future!! God has really blessed him so much this past year!! Big adjustments for our family

Beautiful view and some hiking was a perfect day. So peaceful and calming..except for the twisting turvey roads that made us girls a little queasy, lol

We drove through many little caves like this, it was so cool!

Change of Season

Lately we have been so busy that I have not allowed the reality that my son is going to be leaving the home for college hit me too much. If it entered my mind I quickly made it go away with denial. But the other night as I was locking up the house I passed by his room and being strong no longer existed for me. I just stood there and looked in his room and the next thing I know I was sobbing. I realized that his room is going to be empty, the house will be more quiet, the chip bags will last longer :-), my lunch times with him every day are no longer, and so many other things I will miss about him being here daily!!  I do not like this season in life. I want to go back. I want to hold on longer. But guess what? Time keeps going. He is ready to be on his own weather I am ready or not it is happening. I am proud of him and all he has and is becoming, but as his mom, I just am not ready for this stage of life at all. On a positive note, he will only be an hour away so we can go see him pretty easily. He will be going to school in the same city my husband works in and for that I am very thankful!!! But this new stage is a huge transition for us all.  As much as I do not like this, and as much wrestling with feelings that I experience I also feel God saying "it's ok, this may not be easy and it may hurt to let go, but I will watch over him, trust me and it will all be ok".

Happy Birthday Grace

Happy Birthday to our little Grace!! Thank you Lord God for blessing us with such a special, sweet, humorous, intelligent, spunky, tender hearted, little angel!!! Please help me Lord to be all I can be to be the very best mother and example for my children. I can not express in enough words how special all my kids are to me. Yesterday Grace turned 7. It seems like yesterday she was just 2.  I know I probably say this a lot and by now if you read my blog, you will see I don't do well with changes and kids growing up so fast. I always want to slow down time.  

Taking a cheap plastic, putting dish soap on it with water made a huge hit for the kids to slide down on our hill. What a cool thing to do to create a ton of fun for these little ones!

 Big sisters come in handy when you need to add some fun color to your hair! Big sisters ROCK!!

Happy Birthday Gracie!!!

A few Summer highlights

 I love love love summer time and the heat!! Flowers are in bloom, everything is green (at least where we live because of constant rain) and what a beautiful place to visit in our area is the water falls. We took my in laws up and snapped a few pictures. I would have to say though that my highlight was by far teaching my father in law how to take selfies with a camera I borrowed to him to take on there two week vacation!!!

 Here is the selfy moment !! He got pretty good too I will have to admit

 sisters forever and cute as can be!!!

 Grandparents that ROCK!! We love you Bill and Jan!! xoxo 

Summer, Beautiful Summer

 Nothing prettier to me than seeing flowers bloom in the spring and my beautiful princess glowing in the sun light. It has been raining for weeks and days here, so as soon as the sun came out today we had to get out and soak in it. As spring is here and summer around the corner, I am hoping that this summer is filled with new adventures and making special memories!!

 A few pictures I took while we were outside today. I love how her skirt matches the flowers 

(not done on purpose)

Miss You Dad

I wake this morning with streaming tears and a pit in my stomach. I miss you Every Day! They say "time heals". Many times my heart still aches, but I'm thankful for the strength that God has given us all! Today may mark the day we lost you. But Everyday I Cherish and hold dear all the wonderful family memories you gave us. Thank you for always loving me UNCONDIONALLY. I love you dad

Heart Surgery #2=Success

Seems this past 12 days has been one that has been a total whirlwind for us. First just getting through all the prep and work for graduation party, which we did with great success!!  Then after the party we had one day to clean up, pack and hit the road to be heading down the road on a long trip to get my son the best care for yet another heart surgery.  We knew this time we were taking him to a better place, one of the very best. The day leading up to was a little nerve racking. Always hearing risks with any surgery can freak a person out a little, But we just had to give it to God and trust in his safety and careful watch over our son. The first time he had catheter ablation it was 7 hours in the O.R. Now that puts a mom on the edge of her seat.  But then to hear it did not go as the Dr hoped was a big disappointment.  This time at the Mayo in Rochester Mn. the Dr took a little over 2 hours and it was a huge SUCCESS!! They had Bailey asleep the entire time unlike here locally, they had him in and out for the process which was grooling especially when putting catheters through the neck and groin.  All around this time was an absolute better experience for him.  He woke up and it was all done, and done correctly!!  Today a week out Bailey is doing great. Feeling pretty good and I knew for him to hear good news afterwards that it would greatly impact how well and fast he would recover.  If in doubt with anything always always seek another doctors advice. We are so glad we did.

Thank you every one that took time out of your day to pray for our son. We are so thankful at how things turned out for him!!

Graduation Day

Unreal to me that my little boy has now graduated from High School. My heart is heavy and I feel like time has gone way to fast! At the same time my heart is heavy, I am overwhelmed with a feeling of pure happiness for him and I am incredibly proud. He has become such a great young man, and truly has a great head on his shoulders.  He loves the Lord with all his heart, and I just know he has a great future ahead of him. Bailey has received a full ride scholarship to collage.  We are so very excited for him and this great opportunity.   Thank you to all of you for traveling to join us in this special day. Here are a few fun photos from this special day.

 The proud moment when you walk down the row of people and class mates to grab that diploma, that piece of paper you work towards getting for so many years is now here. Now you cross over into adult hood.  Such a proud moment and such a great accomplishment!

 Buddies and Best friends forever !! 

 Proud Daddy Moment!

 Bay was shading his little sister from the bright sun shine !! LOL< So cute!!

 
Even though he is an adult now, I will hang on forever! Forever he is my son!! Forever I am proud of him, and Forever I will love him with all my heart, Forever I am his Mommy!!

5 Things your kids will always remember

I am loving reading the blog posts written by Dave Willis and his wife Ashley. This one seemed appropriate for myself and many of my friends that have children graduating.
5 Things your kids will remember about you You can click the link to see more of their great posts. But I wanted to share this because I think no matter what age your children are at right now, they are always learning from us.
As parents, we tend to stress about things that don’t matter all that much. Our kids probably aren’t going to remember every detail of our home decor, or how perfect our landscaping looked or whether our refrigerator was stocked was name brands or generics. Let’s focus on what really matters. If you want to know what your kids will remember about you, here it is:
5 things your kids will remember about you:
1. The times you made them feel safe (or the times you made them feel unsafe).
There’s a vulnerability and a need for protection in the heart of every child. Your kids will remember those moments you chased the monsters from under their bed or held them after a nightmare, but they’ll also remember the times when your temper became the monster they feared. Our kids are probably going to see us angry sometimes, because that’s part of life, but make it your mission to make your children feel safe and secure at all times when they’re with you.
2. The times you gave them your undivided attention.
Kids measure love primarily by our attentiveness to them. The times you stop what you’re doing to have a tea party or go outside to throw a ball or jump on a trampoline with be memories etched into their minds and hearts forever. Take the time to do the little things with your kids, because in the end, they’ll be the moments that matter most.

3. The way you interacted with your spouse.
Our kids are forming their views of love in large part by watching how we treat our husband or wife. Strive to have the kind of marriage that makes them excited to get married someday. Give them the security that comes from seeing their Mom and Dad in a committed, loving relationship with each other.

4. Your words of affirmation AND your words of criticism.
A child’s heart is like wet cement and the impression made early in life will harden over time. They’ll base their sense of identity, capability and even self-worth largely upon the words you speak to them in those formative years. Part of our job as parents is to correct and discipline, but even in correction, let your words be full of love, encouragement and positive reinforcement.

5. Your family traditions.
Kids love spontaneity, but they also have  deep need for predictability. They’ll remember with great fondness the “traditions” you establish whether it’s a weekly family movie (or game) night, a place you regularly travel for family getaways, the way you celebrate birthdays and special events or any other special tradition. Be intentional about creating some traditions that they’ll want to pass onto their own children someday.

Senior Year & my first Grad

 Only another month and we will be seeing our First child Graduate from High School.  Writing this seriously has me on the edge of tears. I remember like yesterday when he started school when he was younger. I was one of the moms that cried through out the summer with the anticipation of him going to school. I was the mom that was crying in the hall taking him to his first day. Gosh how time has gone by so very very fast!!!   This is going to be a hard one for the protective mommy that I am. I have had a lot of different emotions about this. I want to pause time. I want to go back in time, I want to go back in time and take more time.  The things I ask myself; have I been a good enough, have I taught him enough about the world, about God, about life.  I guess as a mom, I could ask a million questions, but I think the evidence is in what a sweet, caring young man he has become.  We have given him all the love in the world and that will go on forever. I will always be his mother!!
I wish I could keep him under my roof just a little longer, but this is where I have to trust in God. that He will always protect him, and lead him.  This is where we will see him blossom even more in his life as he pursues his career.   He has been a wonderful joy and blessing, he is my hugger, teases me when he can because he knows I fall for anything, He is bigger than his dad and can wrestle him down, he loves and adores his sisters... and also picks on them and annoys them.  They both very much look up to him, adore him, and pick on him right back.

 My son, I love you and am so very proud of you and what you have become and what you are becoming!!  This thing we call life can be an amazing journey. Hang on to God and no matter what he will walk with you and lead you through out all your decisions in life!!