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!!!