I'm leavin' on a jet plane...

...but I know when I'll be back again.

Tommie & I are flying away for a quick little business-related get-away tomorrow. A good friend & her hubby are taking care of my three boys & two puppies while we are gone. It will be a quick trip, but should be fun! I'll give an update when we return...

Update: I guess I should have said that we leave TODAY - I need to go to bed!!

The perspective of a child...

Today, we were eating lunch at a local restaurant that serves Memphis BBQ. The whole restaurant has music themed decor. Harrison exclaims:

"Look Dad - that CD is huge!"

Happy Graduation!

Truman graduated from Pre-Kindergarten on Thursday afternoon. It was a joyous occasion filled with rousing songs, but even more joyous the occasion is that we no longer have to make weekly payments to daycare! ha, ha

Truman was the model student & showed his purple & gold colors with style... Here's a short video commemorating the occasion!

Truman's Last Soccer Game

This was the first sports season that I've been sad to reach the end. Franklin & Harrison have played sports, but have never really been "into" sports as much as Truman. Last Saturday, we went to Truman's last soccer game of the season and had his end-of-season party after the game. Tommie was recognized for being the Assistant Coach this season - his first time coaching! I think one of the reasons why this season went particularly fast is because I did not have to go to any of the practices!

Izzy Meets the Puppies

This week, my friend Rachel & her daughter, Izzy, came over to visit. This was the first time Izzy met the puppies - she LOVED them!

She also LOVED standing inside their cage & closing the door!

On my mind...

I have a new obsession... I think about it most of the time these days. I have refused to post so openly about it in such a public forum until now...

Tommie is looking for a new job. His company is not doing well and there is a chance that the company will go under. He is not in imminent danger of losing his job, however, each day that he remains in his current position means one more day of misery. At the beginning of April, his company fired 40% of their staff. So, Tommie has been picking up the slack by working more & more with more & more responsibilities. He is exhausted and ready to leave at the first good opportunity.

It is a blessing that he is not in danger of losing his job soon, so he can take his time and fully research every opportunity that comes his way - rather than having the pressure of providing for his family on top of his job search.

When we moved to Texas five years ago, we were in a much more precarious position and our family was in a much more fragile state - spiritually, emotionally and financially. We followed the call of God and He has led us to a much better place than we could ever have imagined (spiritually, financially and geographically). I am confident that He will do the same again. God has provided our every need and some of our wants in the process. He has led us every step of the way. We believe that He is faithful and will provide for us again in this situation. We believe that God is good and that He has a plan. We may not know what it is right now, but we are confident that our God is greater than any circumstance we may go through. Even when the circumstances look bad, God has a plan and He will work it out for His glory. We are not worried. We are not scared. We are not timid.

We would, however, appreciate your prayers! Please pray that Tommie would find the perfect job for the perfect pay in the perfect location in His perfect timing. We believe that God will answer our prayers.

Mother's Day Pic

I love being the mom of 3 boys...

Happy Mother's Day!

Today was one of the most fun Mother's Days that I have ever had. We spent the morning at church, followed by a professional baseball game. (Yes, I chose to go to a baseball game on Mother's Day - no bribes were involved, it was purely voluntary!) [Pictures to come later!] Each year brings a newfound appreciation of the blessings of having children. I know that there are many, many ladies out there who would give their left arms to be able to have children. I am grateful to be honored with a day called Mother's Day, but mostly, I am grateful to be called "Mom". My boys are the greatest joy in my life, the greatest challenge and through them, God has shown me my faults and has drawn me close to Him - what better way to get to know God than through the eyes of a child. Being a mom truly is the hardest job on earth, but it is worth every moment...

Today, I am also grateful for my mom. My mom is the greatest mom I could ever ask for. She is my best friend. She loves me with an unconditional love - way more love than I deserve. We went through a rough period when I was in my teens, but once we stopped living in the same household, we have gotten along wonderfully! ha, ha This morning at church, I was reminded that not everyone has the privilege of having their mom in their life anymore. Even though my mom is way too far away (15 hour drive), I am so grateful that she is alive & well and an active part of my life. I have never wished to have a different mother, but I'm sure there are plenty of kids I knew growing up that wished they had mine.

Here are 10 things I love about my mom:

1. She listens to me.
2. She loves me unconditionally.
3. She has a compassionate heart - especially for girls in crisis pregnancies. She volunteers one day per week counseling young ladies at her local crisis pregnancy center.
4. She is loyal.
5. She is faithful, even through hardships. Even when my mom has struggled with a friendship or a hurtful situation, her faith in God has never faltered. She makes God a priority in life.
6. She loves my dad. This year, they will celebrate their 39th wedding anniversary. Not many people are fortunate enough to have a stable, Christ-centered marriage example in their lives.
7. She is creative. Growing up, we spent a lot of time crafting, quilting and sewing (ok, she spent a lot of time sewing & quilting... I resisted the temptation to learn those skills!) ha, ha I did manage to pick up some of the crafting genes.
8. She has a teacher's heart. Even though she is "retired" from the teaching profession, she spends a lot of time teaching others out of her gifts and talents (like sewing & quilting).
9. She is wise. (Sometimes, she shares her wisdom more often that I'd like, but she's nearly always right! - don't tell her I said that!!) She has gained wisdom not only from life experience, but from the Word of God.
10. She is MY mom. God knit me together in my mother's womb and he knew that she would be the perfect mom for me.

I love you, Mom! Happy Mother's Day!

Oh My Goodness...

I just went to my own blog & hardly recognized it! Wow - Amanda has done an amazing makeover! I love it!! Thanks, Amanda... you really should charge for this stuff.

The people who make grass...

In the car yesterday, Truman was chatting to me about his day. That's not a typo... I said TO me, not with me. He didn't leave much time for me to get a word in. He started talking about our yard. In his sweet, deep little 5 year old voice, he said to me, "Mom, why don't the people who make grass come and look at our yard? There is a big pile of dirt where grass is supposed to go."

The people who make grass.

He didn't even give me time to respond, while he went on and on about how they are supposed to come check our yard to make sure grass is growing where it is supposed to and how we need to cut down the bushes and trees so grass will grow everywhere. It was so adorable! I wonder sometimes where kids get their ideas about how the world works. Is he envisioning a group of people in a factory somewhere "making" grass? Does he really think that they should inherently know that our yard is not living up to its full potential?

Often, I interrupt my kids to correct them and explain things (like the fact that God makes the grass and he gave us the knowledge to buy grass seed and plant it) rather than listening to the heart of a child. Yesterday, I simply listened (and giggled silently).

The next time I see them, I'll be sure to let the people who make grass know that we've got a big dirt pile in our yard.

Marriage Conference

Our church hosted a Marriage Advance with Tim & Anne Evans of Real Life Ministries. It was simply amazing! We spent ALL of Friday evening (6:30 - 10:00 p.m.) and ALL of Saturday (8:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.) listening to humorous stories & insight from the Word of God on this important thing in our lives that we call marriage.

Sometimes, no matter how long you've been married, you need to re-evaluate things... sit down and talk about the hard topics. They gave us a lot of food for thought, topics to discuss and practical ideas to use in daily life. To sum it up - Tommie & I will never be the same. Our parenting will never be the same. Powerful - that's a good word for it! Powerful. God-type powerful. We cannot possibly change based on our strength alone... but if we continually align our focus with God's Word, He will change us to be more like Him. I cannot go into great detail in such a public forum, but God really met us where we are at & spoke to the issues that we face. Changed.

Thank you, Tim & Anne, for opening your lives and giving us a peek into what God has shown you. Thank you also to my dear friend who watched all three boys for the weekend!

If you ever get a chance to go to a Real Life Ministries event, spend the money... take the time... it will be well worth it!!

Update

I guess this has been a slow blogging week. We've been plugging away at school & work, playing with the puppies and excited about attending the Marriage Conference at our church this weekend.

I took the puppies to the vet for shots this week & they are growing like weeds. Max is already 12 1/2 pounds and Lucky is 10 1/2 pounds. They are 12 weeks old. I had to purchase new collars for them, because they have grown so much. They have also learned that if they "sit" they get a treat. They struggle with the desire to obey the command "sit" and their wiggly excitement about getting a treat for doing so. So cute! Here are a couple of pics I took this week:

You can see that Lucky (left) is about to burst forth to receive her treat!

Max

Lucky

A miniature rose from the rose bush that survived puppy teeth. The other rose bush is no longer with us.

Layout

*stamps feet* I want a new blog layout too!

(Remind you of anything? "I want an oompa loompa NOW!")