Star-studded Sunday

Yesterday started out kind of blah for me, but things quickly changed once we got to church. I was so depressed because Jase Robertson from Duck Dynasty was in Georgia speaking at a church nearby and we weren't getting to go.  My boys and I are kind of nuts about Duck Dynasty and we were so disappointed when both of the events sold out before we could get tickets.  The pouring rain didn't help lift my mood, either.  We got to church and Chris and I went our separate ways the way we usually do.  We usually just see each other in passing on Sundays because we're doing different things so I was really surprised when he showed up at the info desk.  I was even more surprised when he asked me if I wanted to go see Jase Robertson that night.  He had found someone with two extra tickets for us.  

I was so excited!  Just the day before I had been thinking about how much I missed spending time with Chris... he's been so busy with everything and so have I.  When I prayed Saturday night I asked God to work it out for us to have a date night.  Date nights are getting harder to come by now that we have to find sitters for all three kids.  Ha! Big thanks to my parents who agreed to watch the kids at such short notice.  I always find it sort of funny when God answers little prayers like that.  He really does care about the "every day" stuff, too.  

Chris and I had a great time.  Jase Robertson did not disappoint.  He was funny and brought a great word from the Lord.  I only with that the boys could have come too.  And that we could have taken pictures!

That was Sunday evening.  A few hours before that, I was talking to some friends at church and we noticed that Matt Redman was in our vicinity. I love Matt Redman in the same way that I love Jase Robertson.  So many of his songs have ministered to me over the past 10 years.  I really, really wanted to have my picture taken with him but I was really, really too embarrassed.  So I asked my friend's daughter to ask him for me.  Ha ha!  I really have no shame, I guess, but I did get to meet him and he posed for a picture with us.  I was totally star-struck!

Afterward, we looked at our pictures and realized that Micah Massey was in the background.  He's our worship leader and his song "Your Presence is Heaven" just won a Grammy.  Actually, it tied for a Grammy with Matt Reedman's song "10,000 Reasons".  How funny is it that we got both of them in our picture?  We didn't want to make Micah feel bad, so we went back and asked for a picture with him, too.  I think we take him for granted because we see him every week, but I've never had a picture with him and I was finally able to tell him congratulations in person.  It was a good day!

Graduation Day

Graduation Day was today!

Our co-op ended its 3rd year with a bang today.  The kindergartners and first graders graduated.  We also had one high school graduate.  Everyone else gave presentations of what they've been working on all  year.  

Jordan "graduated" with his class even though he's technically in first grade already.  The k's and 1's were together this year and he really wanted to wear that cap and gown!

When asked how he could make the world a more beautiful place, he replied- "I will make the world more beautiful by singing!"  Amen!  His teacher also asked all of the students to write about what they do before bed.  My little man's response?  "I never brush my teeth."  Sheesh.  That's not true, by the way!

The middle school Creative Writing class spent the year writing memoirs.  Shaun worked really hard on writing a paper about his Pawpaw who passed away in July.  At first, it was really hard for him to write down his memories.  He has such a tender heart.  We stuck with it, though, and he wrote a very touching piece about his Pawpaw.  He chose not to read it aloud at graduation, but we took it by Granny's and my parents house on the way home this afternoon.  

I was juggling Violet and my phone during Shaun's class's turn and she had started squirming, so this is the best picture I could manage.  

After the program we had refreshments outside on the playground.  It was a beautiful day and he kids played while us moms fellowshipped.  

Great day!

7

The Storyteller by:  Jodi Picoult

I'm actually speechless.  I have no words to describe how utterly wonderful this book is.  Seriously.  I could never do it justice and I won't even try.

Jodi Picoult's last few new releases were kind of disappointing to me and I almost didn't read this one.  I decided to go ahead and give it a try because I knew it was about the Holocaust.  And The Hubs bought me a new iPad so I had to try out the Kindle app.  :)

I've been interested in the Holocaust ever since I read about Anne Frank in the 8th grade.  Anne Frank and the tons of documentaries I've seen could never have prepared me for what I felt as I was reading The Storyteller.  The horror.  The sense of desperate hopelessness of the Jews.  The outrage of "Oh my gosh!  How could this have happened?  Why didn't someone do something about it?!?!"  This book got under my skin.  Gave me nightmares.  I couldn't put it down. 

Go read it!   

6

Divergent by: Veronica Roth

The first of a trilogy, Divergent is very "Hunger Game"-ish.  I think it might even be better!

Huge thanks to Kendra and my sister for insisting that I needed to read it.  I'm ready for the second book, as soon as Lori let's me borrow it!

Six Whole Months!

Violet!  How is it even possible that you are six months old?

You weigh about 15 pounds.

You drink 4 ounces of formula every 2-3 hours but you're really starting to LOVE baby food. Bananas and carrots are your favorites so far.  You also like sweet potatoes but they give you gas.  ;)

You just moved up to size 6-9 month clothing. Susie and I went on shopping sprees and now you have a new wardrobe.  Buying clothes for you is so addicting!

You recently decided that you are too big for your infant car seat.  Your brothers and I took you to pick out a pretty, pink, flowery big girl car seat and you love it.  

You've been rolling over for a while now and you're trying your best to crawl.  You can pretty much get anywhere in the house that you want to go.  Shaun and Jordan think you're pretty cute most of the time... except when you mess up their toys!

You cut your first tooth last week.  I had no idea until Dr. Onal found it at your check up!

You'll have your first surgery on Thursday... tubes in your ears.  I know you'll feel so much better when you don't have an ear infection every other week.  

Violet, you fill our house with laughter.  I love how soft and gentle the boys and your daddy are with you.  You've brought out their softer sides.  We don't know how we ever made it without you!

Love you, sweet girl!

Weekend

The past few weekends have been a little crazy around here.  The Hubs has a new job at church(!) and and has been working there on Saturdays.  He is so excited and we're excited for him.  We've had so many changes around here lately, what's one more?  Ha!  

This Friday we decided to go to work with Dad because we've been missing him.  He's been working so hard and helping his mom out.  Things have been so busy that we haven't spent much time together, so we all woke up early on Friday and drove to Bethlehem to hear him sing and teach.  The last time we took Violet there, she was just about a month or so old and she slept the entire time.  This one was a little different.  She has found her voice and wants to MOVE all the time.  She sat quietly through the first chapel session but I took her for a walk around the hallways during the second session.  She was just being too loud.  

We went to Loco's for lunch.  We sat in a booth and Shaun pointed out that the last time we were there we had to sit at a table because my pregnant stomach wouldn't fit in a booth.  He was right!  We had a yummy lunch and then headed back to Gainesville to drop Chris off at church.  Shaun needed new jeans, so we went to the mall and spent 3 hours looking for one pair of jeans!  He couldn't make up his mind. I guess he really is a teenager.  :)

He was finally found a pair that satisfied him.  I needed a new pair of shoes but after that I was just too worn out so we went home. We spent some time visiting my parents Friday night and Shaun wound up spending the night.  

Saturday Chris had to work.  I had planned on spending the day at home and cleaning and getting some packing done but my parents wanted to see the new house.  We're moving in a few weeks.  What's one more change, right?  So I took them over for a tour.  My sister and her family came too.  We all went to lunch and then somehow wound up at the Pendergrass Flea Market.  I hadn't been in  years and it wasn't like I remembered.  I was a nervous wreck keeping track of Jordan.  There were SO many people there and we had SO many kids ourselves we could barely look at anything.  

After we were finished there my kids and I went shoe shopping for me.  I found a pair in less than an hour... Shaun should take notes. He likes to shop the way my mom does.  So different from me.  I'm in and out.  He's a browser.  I'm not.  I am however, a talker.  I usually spent more time talking to people we run into than actually shopping.  Such was the case on Saturday.  I saw our former pastor's wife in the shoe store.  Turns out she lives minutes away from where we're moving, which is nice to know.  

It was dinnertime when we left the all so we picked up some Wendy's and went home to get ready for bed.  I tried to clean a little and just gave up.  Shaun practiced piano and Jordan whined.  The kids went to bed early- even Violet.  I read awhile and folded some laundry and watched a Lifetime movie about a crazy killer wife.  

Sunday was church.  Mark Rutland preached.  I love him!  Violet was kind of fussy.  She's really started to fight sleep.  At home she goes right down for naps in her crib but when we're out it's a different story.  I had decided to keep her in her stroller and just watch the service in the overflow room, but it was all set up for a new member's luncheon.  I ran into a friend as I was wandering around aimlessly wondering where to go and we both sat down on a bench in the lobby to watch the service with our tired babies.  

After church we split up.  Chris and Shaun went to Nana's house and Jordan, Violet, and I went to a shower with my sister.  The plan was for me to meet the others back at home but I forgot to grab my keys.  So, we spent more time at my parents house after the shower waiting for Chris and Shaun to pick us up.  I think I was over there  more over this weekend than I've been in 3 weeks!

The boys picked us up and we went to Pizza Hut for dinner.  I picked up a few groceries and then we hurried home because Chris spent the night at his mom's.  The kids all went to bed early again and so did I.  We were all so tired!

That was our weekend.  There were so many cute photo opportunities, but my hands were too full to take them!  

13

My first-born baby turned 13 last weekend.  

13.

We officially have a teenager in the house.  Chris and I are preparing ourselves for everything that goes along with that.  A new season is beginning for us and it's so exciting!

I was a little emotional on the big day.  Big surprise!  I actually did okay until my sister-in-law found some pictures and tagged me on Facebook.  

This was taken a few hours after Shaun was born.  Easily both the best and worst night of my entire life.  If you're interested, you can read about the night Shaun was born in its entirety right here.  If I remember correctly we had just been informed that our baby was "very sick".  My mom got the okay from my doctor get me into a wheelchair and down to the NICU just hours after my c-section so that I could see my baby in person.  I'll never forget it.  He was beautiful.  And sick.  Chris and I had never been so scared.  

This was taken a week or so later.  Our first family picture.  I'm so glad Mandy had a copy of this.  We were so excited to have Shaun off of the ventilator.  He was breathing on his own with no tubes.  A nurse took this picture a few days before we went home.  Can you see the relief in our faces?  We were "out of the woods" and our baby was going to live!  

And now it's 13 years later.  That baby is getting tall.  I'm pretty sure that he'll be taller than both of his parents by his 14th birthday.  That's what we're praying for, anyway.  Ha!

I don't like to dwell on the fact that Shaun had a rough start, but every once in a while I allow myself to go back to his baby days when we just didn't know.  At first we didn't know if he'd live.  Then we didn't know if he'd crawl.  Or walk, or talk, or dress himself.  Look at him now.  

My little miracle boy is not so little anymore.  Gone are the days of Spiderman obsessions, crazy temper tantrums, and holding my hand while crossing the street.  He is striving for independence.  Making new friends.  Wanting to be dropped off instead of walked in for piano lessons.  Dissecting frogs at co-op.  Playing sports.  Singing in choir.  He's always been a leader and not a follower and he's proving it by being on the dance team at church, no matter how hard he has to work to learn the steps.  He's growing up.  And yes, the inevitable cries of "Why don't you understand me?!?!?" have started. Oh, my!  He also despises having his picture taken, so the pickin's are slim.

But, he loves the Lord.  I am so proud of him.  

Happy 13th birthday, Shaun.  Daddy and I couldn't love you more.