God's Eye

Often times, the world around me is moving so fast.  Having 4 kids keeps me very busy and I'm constantly running to school events, working on school projects, endless sports practices and games, homework, housework and all while having a full time job.  I forget to just look around me and see God's attention to detail in all things.  Sometimes it hits me that God has created such amazing things around me and I'm too busy to notice or be thankful for them.  I was going through my pictures on my cellphone and I have "noticed" his attention to details over time and wanted to share some of those things.

The sweet hands as well as the millions of shells we saw at Edisto Beach this summer, simply amazing!

While out fishing one evening, this sunset over the water was breathtaking.  

Not a big fan of spiders, but this one caught my eye one afternoon in my Mom's yard after a short rain shower.

This was stuck to my car window and look at all the veins and ridges, again His attention to detail in the small things

 Beautiful orchid that sits in our office.

This resting butterfly (or is it a moth)...I couldn't pass up a picture of it. Again, the details were all planned out by Him!

Amazing sunset while going into a school event last night.  This is the picture that made me realize I hadn't been thankful for all the beauty around me!

I couldn't believe I was able to catch the lightning bolt!  I was pretty proud of myself...I only took about 100 pictures to get this one, but well worth it! LOOK AT THAT!!!

And, God's promise to us!  
12. And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you and every living creature with you, for everlasting generations: 13. I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth . . . and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. (Genesis 9:12, 15, HBFV)

I need to always remember to look around me and see the beauty in all things!!

Until we meet again...

Go Deacs!

I was lucky enough to win tickets to the Wake Forest University football game against Louisville. We had been given tickets to an earlier season game and surprisingly, the kids enjoyed it. I was worried that Emma wouldn't have fun, but she wants to go to college at WFU and that made it more exciting for her. The boys haven't watched too much football and were unsure of the rules of the game. So, it was funny to see them watch their Daddy's reaction to calls and just followed his lead! After that first game, they have been hooked. Even so far as watching football EVERY Sunday on TV...lucky us! 

Anyway, back to my original story (I'm easily distracted!!)... I entered a contest with the local newspaper and was chosen to be the fan of the game. I had a chance to win some hard cold cash with the opening drive of the 3rd quarter...I had to Google what that meant!! If the Deacs scored a touchdown, I could win $500; if they scored a field goal, I could win $250; and if they did neither, I would win $100. So, we were pretty excited to have won at least $100! That would surely help buy a Christmas present. We surprised the kids the day of the game. I knew I would have to go out onto the field for the check presentation. After breaking the news to the kids, I asked who wanted to go with me. Aaron decided he would really like to go. Alex said he would, but would let Aaron go since he was enjoying football. The closer we got to our seats and Aaron realized what he would have to do, he quickly backed out. NO ONE wanted to go with me!!! And, I'm sure a big chicken, I didn't want to go by myself!! Ethan finally said if no one else would go, he would go with me...Thank you Lord!! We didn't have to go down to the field until the end of the 3rd quarter, so we did get to enjoy quite a bit of the game.

I loved seeing all the WFU praying in the end zone before the game began!  

Ethan and I made our way down to the field...we wouldn't be "us" if we didn't take all the necessary selfies and us posing by the field.

When did my little boy get this big??

Wake Forest wasn't able to score a touchdown or a field goal, so we won $100!!

We had a great time and I am so thankful for winning the tickets and the money.  The kids were VERY upset that we didn't get to keep the big check...HA!

I think these smiles say just how much fun we had that evening!  

Walk like a rock star!!

For the 8th year, our family has walked for Ethan and his battle against Diabetes. Our team, Ethan's Angels, weathered the cold (28 degrees) and got out to support Ethan and so many others that are affected by Diabetes. Every year, Ethan likes to come up with his t-shirt ideas. Some of his ideas are just plain impossible to understand or even pull off. But, we always decide on the perfect design that really shows his personality. This years shirt design...

Ethan's shirt won a medal...so he was thrilled! I don't know about you, but my kids have been crazy about mustaches for the past six months! We have gone through 875 packages of stick on mustaches!! They are BIG fun in our house. So, it stood to reason that we mustache you to help cure diabetes! Ethan decided that we should all wear fake mustaches to the walk. Do you know how much attention you get for wearing a fake mustache in public? Do you also know how weird they feel after about 15 minutes? Adam was the lucky one! He got out of wearing one because he has the real McCoy...lucky boy! Last I heard, $304,000 was raised for our areas walk. JDRF is such an amazing organization! We know that one day, Ethan and so many others will be cured. Until then, we will continue to walk and come up with t-shirt ideas that represent our sweet boy! Scenes from the walk.

Ethan's medal

Sweet Alex...don't you just love the hat my sister knitted for him

Aaron broke his arm the beginning of October. Then just a few days before the walk, he broke his foot at church. So, he had the luxury of riding in the wagon for the walk!

Our reason for walking!

Aunt Kelly always comes out to support Ethan.

Ethan, I love you more than I could ever explain to you! Always stay positive about your disease. You may never know why you have been chosen to battle this disease, but you can and will do wonderful thing because of it. Always know that others look up to you. You never know who is watching you and consider you an inspiration or a hero. You're my hero!

Well, would you lookie there!

Holy crap!  We have broccoli!!!!  We planted these broccoli seeds Sunday and this is what they have done by Wednesday.  I am just blown away by how much they have grown.  We also planted 80-some tomato plants...no dropped jaws please...our family does NOTHING in moderation!  So, we are going to have broccoli and tomatoes coming out of our ears!  Send any recipes!  Something tells me we might need them.

My kids couldn't be more excited about our garden.  Ethan is definitely the green thumb child.  He is watching over them like a Momma hen!  I caught him taking pictures of them tonight.  He said he was going to take a picture everyday to show how big they are getting.  Too bad he hates broccoli...oh AND tomatoes!

Double Digits!

Growing up, Mom used to tell me "time sure flies".  I have to admit, I thought she was full of it.  It seemed like time just dragged by...not sure what I was waiting for, but in the case that I was waiting...nothing happened quickly.  Fast forward to my life today and it pains me to say this, but Mom was right!  My head is hung in shame!  Alright, alright...I said it...she was right.  Time sure flies.

My oldest child turned 10 years old today.  Seems just like yesterday we brought her home from the hospital.  We were scared to death!  We knew nothing about having a baby and I do question the nursing staff for allowing us to leave.  Totally kidding, but that was a scary first few days.  I don't think we laid her down for more than 5 minutes!  If she made a noise, we jumped to pick her up.  Could that be why she didn't sleep well?

She was perfect!!  Emma Grace came into this world with a head full of black hair (could explain my NEVER ENDING heartburn), with a birth mark on her side that looks like a set of lips kissed her and did I mention she was 2 weeks late?  I thought she would never make her debut!  By all rights, she should have come into this world addicted to chocolate milk and knowing all the words to Mr. Roboto by Styxx.  Not sure why I loved that song so much while I was pregnant, but I did!

Emma wasn't sure if she wanted me to come to school and share cupcakes with her class.  This makes me kinda sad, because I have always been very involved with my kids birthdays and loved celebrating with their classrooms.  Her brother has checked out a book with cupcake ideas from the school library (ok, ok...my kids are addicted to The Next Great Baker on TLC) and she went through it to see if she liked one.  She chose a sunflower design and we set out to make them.  She really liked the finished product and I have to admit, I did to!!  **Insert a pat on the back**



The finished product

I had the cutest lunch date!  She never quit smiling!!

Happy, happy 10th birthday sweet girl!  May you always have a smile on your face and know that you are loved by so many!!

City slickers are going country!

I was raised in the country on a working farm. We had every animal imaginable and always had a garden. I can remember working endless hours (it seemed like it then, but I'm sure we didn't work ourselves to death!) in the garden. Mom & Dad would leave for work during the summer, leaving me and my 2 sisters at home. We had a list of chores to do before they would get home. We always put it off until the last minute and then we probably did work like crazy. We had to go to the farm, feed & water the animals, pick rocks in the gardens (which usually ended in us throwing them at one another!), water the garden, weed the garden and pick anything ready. It was hell then, but looking back now...it was an awesome childhood. Mom always canned our veggies and I love watching her get everything done and hearing the center of the lid pop when they were done. Mom always got this smile on her face. I think she was proud of herself!!

This past summer, we talked about wanting to learn to can. So, we bought books and researched online what you would need. My kids LOVE golden delicious apples. So we went to our farmers market and got 2 bushels. I ended up making and canning about 12 quarts. And, I had the same smile on my face that Mom had all those years ago! I am not much of a cook, but I really felt like I had done something impressive by making and canning that applesauce. We eventually moved on to tomatoes. Mom and I canned about 30 quarts of tomatoes. And, let me tell you, those canned tomatoes have made the BEST vegetable soup this winter. Adam and I got a wild hair and made salsa one Sunday afternoon! YUMMY!!

Our families have decided to have a garden this summer...well, actually 2 gardens. This weekend we borrowed our brother-in-law's tiller to get the backyard ready. Adam has never had a garden, so I'm sure he is thinking "What am I getting in to?". But, overall, he is just as excited as I am. The kids thought playing in the dirt was awesome! They were introduced to grub worms!! An old container had to be fetched to save the worms and grubs for our fish, Oscar.

Adam first pass...I was holding my breath!


This became dinner for Oscar! Hopefully, we will get more food out of the garden than he did!!




Adam let the kids help out with the pushing. The tiller is self propelled, but they thought they were really pushing it up the hill!



Jack even got excited about our newest endeavor. His paws were as muddy as the boys!

Here are my lil' city slickers looking for treasures. I heard lots of "oh, I found a worm", "look Mommy, a new rock for you" ( I have containers of rocks the boys have brought home for me!), "Happy Birthday to Oscar, another grub"! I can't wait until something starts growing in this patch.

Adam even got out to re-till it the next day. The tiller broke a bolt before he could go to my Mom & Sister's house to get their backyard ready.

Next step, horse manure! Bet my boys & girl won't think that is too cool! I'm so excited about getting started and seeing how much we can get to grow and can or freeze to use through the winter months. Lots of work, but I am up for it!

Memory Lane called

It's funny what you can see, hear or even smell to bring back memories. Saturday was the day I decided to clean out our playroom. I don't know why we call it that, because that is the one thing the kids won't do it in! They have NEVER played in it. We keep the toys in there, the kids go in and pick what toys they want and then they take them to the living room to play with them. Maybe we should change the name? Anyway, Saturday was the day that I was going to clear out all of the old school work and art from years past. I didn't want to turn the TV on, needed to stay focused, so I turned the TV onto the 80's music channel. Love those 80's songs. I was VERY busy making my choices of what to keep and what to discard and a song came on that instantly made me smile and think about my Grandma. Kelly and Frankye, I know you probably know the song I heard. It was "Come on Eileen" by Dexy's Midnight Runners. Grandma loved this song. I can remember her tapping her foot and singing along. I never hear that song that I don't think of her. Whenever I see 11:11 on a digital clock, I think of Grandma and smile. She once told me that she liked seeing that on the clock because it was the "longest time". That has stuck with me and I now think of her everytime I see it. Emma came home from school the other day and said she noticed it was 11:11 and she thought of me. So, I guess I passed that tradition onto her! I can still hear Grandma's feet on her bedroom floor. I can still smell her rice & raisins. I can still hear her screen door slam from us running in and out. I have so many fond memories of her. She was a great lady and a wonderful Grandmother! I sure miss you Grandma.