Happy 17th!!

Happy Birthday to our oldest!!  17 years old!!

It is so hard to believe that we have had you with us 17 years  -  we are grateful for every minute of it!  You are a blessing - and we are honored that God saw fit to share you with us.  We continue to pray you on as you make big life choices in the upcoming years.  And we are excited to see what the next 17+ years will bring! 

We love you!

New-to-Him Wheels!

His New Wheels!
Yep, we searched here, Grandpa searched there, and Grandpa found it!

Low miles, great gas mileage, happy teen!


"Changing of the Keys"


He's paying for it and he's still smiling!! LOVE that kid!!


Taking the Fam for a Ride!
Yep, he may be doing more of this than he'd like, but hey, we don't want him to be bored!!

Sweet Sixteen!!

Sixteen Years Ago Today.....We were blessed with our first son.

Talking with Grandpa

HOORAY for lunch time!!!

He didn't want his balloon to go anywhere without him!

His Silly Face for pictures - glad we got through that stage!!

Water Guns, Airsoft Guns - yep, we tried to discourage it and failed!!

What a sweet, sweet boy!!

And crazy too!!!

We are indeed so blessed by this gift from God!

Micah - you have such an amazing spirit and we are so grateful for your tender heart. We continue to pray that God will lead you and you will be open to Him. We are so proud of you and we love you TONS!!

Happy Birthday to our amazing son!

Oh MY!!!

This brings back a ton of memories - it was just yesterday, wasn't it!?!?!?

Haiti Trip

Our oldest son, Micah, will be taking a short term missions trip to Haiti this summer. He is excited to go and we are already praying that God works in him and uses him mightily while he is there. We covet your prayers with us, and, if you felt so led, you can also contribute financially as well. He has worked hard to help finance this trip, but there are still funds needed to get him there! I am attaching his support letter in case you would be interested.

ANOTHER way you could help him is through my Scentsy business. I have set up a fundraiser that is called - Micah- Haiti Missions Trip off of my site - if you click on that fundraiser, all of the profits will go toward his trip! (Just make sure to click on "Ship directly to Me" when checking out so that your order goes to your house and not ours!!) If you have wanted to try Scentsy or need more product, this is a great way to do it! You are supporting missions at the same time!

Thanks so much for caring for our family - we are truly blessed!

support letter

15 Today

15 years ago today we celebrated our first child - a boy!! We couldn't have been more excited!! He is a joy and a very special blessing. He is one of the greatest big brothers I know and has made teenager-land do-able!! We love you big guy!

Everyday a New Day

We are adjusting - life will become a "new" normal - as someone shared with me. So that is what we are working toward - our "new" normal!Dress up at it's best - Chloe is teaching Jada ALL the tricks!

I have no clue what was happening here but it made me laugh! Monkey see, Monkey do!

Jada does not watch tv hardly AT ALL, but when Chloe does - Jada often joins her and sits and watches Chloe. I bet that's entertaining in and of itself!! (Notice Jada's beads?? She has come to think those are just part of getting dressed - they are on each morning!)

This is Jada's latest and greatest - she goes in (all of her own accord) to wake up Micah. She turns on his light (which, according to Micah, paralyzes him!!) and then crawls up in his bed, lies down, and pulls the covers up to her neck and lays beside him. I caught part of it this morning.

Is all rosy?? Nope, Jada and Chloe still fight OFTEN, there is a lot MORE crying in this house - from BOTH girls that are trying to make a somewhat difficult adjustment. I can't even get a shower some mornings until MUCH later than normal. Even school is not back to full strength. But would we trade it - Nope, not MOST days!!! Everyday gets a little better. Jada responds when we say "No" now - and usually stops what she is doing. She doesn't cry every time she is told "no". Hey, those are all big to us and we are grateful for them!!

Jada got fitted for glasses today - next week should be the BIG week. And tomorrow AEA 4 comes to help me with some ideas for what to do with Jada since she isn't speaking much. I know it is soon in our process, but I am feeling like I just need to know the best way to work with her - maybe they'll have some tricks up their sleeves! We are grateful for every little baby step we are making.

14

I honestly can't believe it - where in the world does the time go? To think that our first blessing is 14 today! That simply amazes me. Micah, you are truly an amazing gift to us - we feel SO blessed that God chose us to be your parents. You have an incredible heart - a heart that reaches out to others AND to God. We love how God made you that way - not only are you an amazing big brother to all of your brothers and sister, but you are also an amazing son. I remember being scared to be a parent to teenagers and, thanks to you, we just feel excited about parenting during these upcoming teen years. Happy Birthday - I know it's the day you get gifts, but we feel like we got the BEST gift 14 years ago!!

We Have a Teenager!!

I know you are thinking how in the world can those young pups have a teenager??? :) But we do! It doesn't seem possible to us either, but 13 short years ago today God gave us our first wonderful gift! A bouncing baby boy that has been a blessing ever since! Micah was the fussiest baby - some days we weren't sure we should have any more children!!! But he has grown into a young man that is wonderful to his siblings and even better to his parents! We love you dearly Micah, you are a special young man that is growing into a man with a passion for God ~ And the best part is that for as much as we love you as your parents - you have a Heavenly Father that loves you EVEN MORE!! You are truly a blessing and a special gift from God.

(You can double click on the collage to see it larger!)

Manhood

I just need to say right off here that I AM NOT READY TO BE A MOTHER TO BOYS!!!!! So my oldest comes home tonight having passed his Hunter Safety Course and can now go to WalMart and get his hunting license. I'll fess up - the boy is VERY smart, but I thought to myself, "What is the harm?? There is just no way he'll pass this exam - it's his first try?" Nope, wrong again, he passes the first time (unlike his mother at her driving exams - yes, I said examS - I had to take another one a few years back when my license expired!!!). So now, he can officially get his hunting license - next it's his driver's license - I AM NOT READY!!!! This is a bit frightening - he said he shot a 20 gauge tonight - I asked him, "Micah, could that kill an animal?" He looked at me like I had lost my mind - as he gently answered, "Yes, Mom, it could." It was then that I felt my motherly duty to remind him, "WE DON'T KILL BAMBI!!!" Ok, enough said - I am proud that he passed - I am not sure I am ready for such things however!!!

Micah Turns 12

I can not honestly believe that I have a 12 year old - but on April 30 - just 12 short years ago - we began our venture of having children!! Our little Micah decided it was time to make his appearance VERY early in the morning and at 5 am my water broke and we were on our way!! We went into the hospital and just a few short (choke, choke) hours later - with my whole family and Joe's mom present (yes, he came quickly once things got going!!) he was born. It has been an adventure - yes, often, I wonder what God was thinking to give me all of these boys, but I am learning and I LOVE BOYS!!!!! What a blessing our Micah has been, and continues to be, he is tender and caring AND loves his little sister and brothers - sometimes I wonder what I would do without him ~ he is a great helper and a wonderful big brother. I see his tender spirit often and he is developing such a love for God - what a blessing - we couldn't ask for more. Happy Birthday my firstborn, I love you.

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Chick Magnet

I am still laughing over this little episode today - I happened upon the boys discussing an earlier event where a teenager had driven her car up, parked and, Micah felt, couldn't take her eyes off of him!! He goes on to tell me, "Yeah, Mom, she just kept looking at me and then she'd look away, and then she'd look back. I could tell that chick was diggin' me!" I asked him how he knew this to which he responded, "It's the eyes, Mom - you can tell by their eyes!" Of course, during this whole conversation, our younger two boys are laughing their heads off - telling me how funny it was and how Micah was all embarrassed. (He didn't sound embarrassed to me!!!) And the funniest part of this, to me, is that my boys never even talk about girls - so where this came from is BEYOND me!! But our 11 year old now firmly believes he has teenage girls "diggin'" him!!! So here I am laughing my head off and my husband is ready to sit him down and have a chat about respecting women - Joe does not like it that they refer to women as "chicks". I love it - all we have to look forward to BUT most of all I love it that their Dad is so adamant that they respect women and treat them like they should be treated - not as the world so often treats them!!! Ok - it was worth a good laugh, but maybe makes me think too.....

Proud Mama

Ok - I know pride isn't good but I have to say I'm proud of my Micah!! When he started taking guitar lessons he said, "Ok, but I'm saying this now - I AM NOT PLAYING IN CHURCH - that is too embarrassing." So - we haven't pushed him - but when our music director asked him to play this Sunday night for our Harvest Dinner - he said he would!!! He put a lot of work into it as he didn't know all of the chords yet. But he did such a good job and I am proud of him - it's a great start and we'd love it if he kept it up - just had to share his debut!!!