A letter to my children

We have been taking a mini parenting class at our church which led up to a baby dedication celebration yesterday. As party of our "class" we were to voice our desires for spiritual growth for our children and kind of put into words what we want for them in the future. Do you know how hard it is to do that???? If you have never tried it before, I encourage you to do so. And what's more, do you know how hard it is to stand up in front of people and say it out loud? Wheeewwwwweeeeee! But we did it and I am so grateful that we did. It has reminded me of why I am where I am and encouraged Kenny and I in our journey of raising a family. I wanted to put this on my blog as a formal reminder to myself and others as to what my kids mean to me. So that should I become discouraged or "forgetful" in the next ? years and need a friendly reminder, I will always know where to find one.

To our children, Brantley, Kenleigh, and Kaycie,
Today we are here to celebrate each one of you and how blessed we are to have been chosen as your parents.

Brantley - Our first born, our main man, our baby boy. God has blessed you in so many ways. You are smart and have a love for learning that we pray you will never lose. You are funny and make us laugh daily. You are our superstar baseball player. You are strong and a natural leader. You are so very handsome and have the best dimple. You are kind and empathetic to those around you. You like to take care of others and make sure they are doing what needs to be done. You are our rule follower. You are well liked and a friend to every person you meet. You are a great dancer. You love God and your family. Our prayer for you is that you will know the love that our Lord has for you. He created you for a purpose and it is our desire that you come to know Him and discover His purpose in life for you. God has big plans for you Brantley, don’t lose sight of that. We are so very proud of the young man that you are and we are excited to see you grow into the man of God that you will become. We love you forever and always.

Kenleigh - Our middle child, our independent girl, our ocean of emotion. God has also blessed you in so many ways. You are intelligent and beautiful. You are compassionate and generous. You are friendly and loved by those you meet. You are quick to include others and want to be included yourself. You are hilarious and bursting with personality. You are our superstar soccer girl. You love God and your family. You are a feeler. You are passionate about the things that you do and say. You have an unbiased belief in yourself and your abilities. We know that those beliefs will take you far. Don’t ever lose sight of how special you are. Trust in the Lord and the plans He has made for you. He loves you more than anyone and will never leave you or forsake you. Focus your heart and mind on where God wants to take you and Dad and I will be your biggest cheerleaders along the way. We will love you always and we can’t wait to see where you are going.

Kaycie - Our baby, our little red, our ball of fire. God has also poured out His blessings on you. You are the sweetest thing and at the same time stubborn and strong willed. You have an unbreakable spirit. You have the best grin and cheeks that are absolutely edible. You have beautiful red hair, don’t ever change it. You are a natural talker and a quick learner. Things seem to come easily for you. You adore your brother and sister and would follow them anywhere. Your dad and I adore you and would follow you anywhere. You know how to steal people’s hearts and are easy to love. You haven’t stopped surprising us since the day you were born. It was on this day that we were reminded of how God has a plan for our family and it doesn’t necessarily fit into what we think it should be, instead it takes us to where we are supposed to be. You are the final piece to our family puzzle. God has a purpose for you, Kaycie Louise. He chose you from the beginning and broke the mold when He was done. We are excited to see where you will go and we will love you always and will be right behind you the whole way.

Our parenting prayer for all three of our children: God, we can never thank you enough for the gifts we have been given. We pray that you will guard and protect our gifts and keep them in the light of your Ways. Help us to guide them in the direction you have chosen for them. Above all else may our children see You through all that we do, say, and live. Help us to listen more, to talk less, and to love beyond measure. Grant us patience, understanding, compassion, and wisdom. And when we fail, because we will, give us humility to realize our mistakes, pick us up, put us back together, and help us continue to face those challenges head on. Take these children, make them your own, and thank you for the opportunity we have to call them ours. We are blessed beyond measure and we love you Lord.

The Many Colored Days of a Three Year Old

My daughter is three. With that comes a lot of questions. "What is that, Mommy?" "Why did they do that?" "Who is out there?" "Where is my hedgehog?" and so forth. Her latest string of questions involve people and all the characteristics that define them. She is very interested in skin color and why we are all so different. One of her favorite songs to sing is "Jesus Loves The Little Children of The World." While shopping the other day she befriended two little African American boys and was enthralled by the way they were so different than she was. With this new revelation, there also began a new string of questioning that lasted for several days. Keep this in mind as I finish this post.

On a separate note, our extended family is expanding. My parents will have gone from 0-7 grandchildren in the last 6 years when our two newest members arrive next summer. My brother and his wife Anna are expecting a baby in June and my sister Paula and her husband Johnny are expecting in August. We are thrilled to welcome these new additions and of course my kids can't wait to meet them!

Now back to my story, on Monday, Jake and Anna went in for their ultrasound to find out the gender of the baby. We were very excited to learn that they will be having a GIRL!! I wanted to share the good news of a new baby girl cousin with Sissy so I said, "Hey sis, guess what Anna and Jake's baby is going to be?!" Her response, "It's gonna be black!?"

Trying this again

Ok, I am only about 8 months behind on this stuff, not too bad right?

We had our first snowfall of this season this weekend, ironically on the day we were coming home from our trip to Williamsburg. Made it interesting that is for sure! It is funny because on the first Saturday in December of 2009, we brought Kaycie home from the hospital in what was the first snowfall of the season. We will see if the weather this year is similar to last!! We celebrated Kaycie's first birthday with a trip to see Santa at the Yankee Candle store. She was not happy, in fact she pretty much hated it. In one picture it looks like she is just pleading with me to take her off of his lap!

The big kids did enjoy Santa of course and are excited to start the Christmas season! I am supposed to be cleaning my house and decorating today for our first birthday party on Saturday. Can't believe Kaycie has turned one already! Where does the time go? She is walking, climbing on everything, and can say mama, dada, bubba, and scootahhhhh. She is our little spitfire with a temper to match her hair! Can't imagine my life without her though even though we were sure she was going to be a boy. Love that girl and hope she has a great birthday party. Maybe I'll blog about it in about 8 months.....

Life's a Gas (at least in my family anyway....)

What is it about passing gas that is SSSSOOOO funny to my children? Ok, well, it is kind of funny I suppose but good grief, I feel like we could manufacture our own natural resource or something!
Last week, I was at home with little man and he was sitting at the kitchen counter playing with play dough. He was also EXTREMELY gassy and coincidentally sitting on a wooden bar stool which made the problem seem even louder than normal. At first he thought it was just hilarious but eventually had done it enough times that it did not even phase him until finally one was SO LOUD that he looked at me, and very calmly said, "Whew Mama, that one almost blew me out into outer space!" and then went right back to his play dough. The week before that the diva queen and I were sitting at the kitchen table and she was, you guessed it, passing gas. She is one who feels like maybe you didn't hear her do it so she thinks she should announce it to you and yes, she announces it EVERY time she does it, be it at home, in Walmart, at church, she doesn't care. Anyway, she had just finished her latest round when she started to recount how someone else had "pooted" and it went something like this: Her - "Deeeeeeaaahhh pooooottteeedd", Me - "Dad pooted?", Her - "Deeeeeeaaahhh pooooottteeedd", Me - "They pooted?", Her - "Deeeeeeaaahhh pooooottteeedd", Me - "Who pooted?" I knew I wasn't getting it right because she kept repeating it. This is my clue to keep guessing. Next she started inserting mouth sounds to let me know what it sounded like in an effort to help me figure it out. Now the conversation was going like this, Her - "Deeeeeeaaahhh pooooottteeedd, thththththtppppplllllllttttttt", Me - "Dad pooted?", Her - "Deeeeeeaaahhh pooooottteeedd, thththththtppppplllllllttttttt", Me - "Door pooted?" , etc. etc. Finally after about twenty rounds of this I figured out what she was talking about. Apparently she had been watching the outdoor channel with her daddy and they had played a video of a real deer that actually passed gas on camera. The only reason I even eventually figured it out is because I guarantee the redneck man and our two oldest children replayed that video at least 50 times and I did happen to be in the room on a few of those. So translation: Her - "Deer pooted, like this, thththththtpppplllllllttttttt."
I guess I should just be thankful that life seems to provide such easy entertainment for my family! They keep me laughing, that's for sure! Can't wait to see what blows in next week!

Writing It Down

In an effort to remember the many joys of raising three children, I am starting this blog. Well, that and the fact that everyone always tells me I better be "writing this stuff down" so I can write my book one day. So here goes.... I have a wonderful family of five. Myself, my husband or redneck man as he would choose to be called, my son, and my two daughters - the diva queen and little red. I decided to quit my job in public education to be a stay at home mom when my oldest child was born. My job now is much harder than the job that I quit but I wouldn't trade it for anything. This blog is my attempt at recording my family's journey and sharing it with my friends and family. Everyday is an adventure in my house and I would love for others to get to come along for the ride. I will do my best to post as often as I can but with the life that I lead, who knows when that might actually be. However, I'll do the best that I can to make sure that I am in fact - writing it down!