Flashback Friday - Texas

I haven't posted on my blog in two years!  I was looking around and discovered blogs aren't even what the used to be!  What they were isn't even "in" anymore!  My posts won't change a whole lot though.  I don't care about being "in" and the purpose of this blog stays the same - a diary of our family life.

We moved to Flower Mound, Texas late summer 2005.  The first day of school followed quickly.

Levi looks pretty confident and pleased that Micah's off to school for the whole day and he's not!

Uncle Blair had helped us find a great house in a great neighborhood.  It was close to green space with a path that led behind the middle school, through a park, and to the elementary school. Devon rode bikes to school with the boys sometimes on his day off.  Our great house however, had yucky carpet and wallpaper.  By the end of August, we started rectifying that situation.  The boys scraped the wallpaper off their bathroom walls almost entirely on their own.

They actually learned home projects starting in ABQ.  They've used their acquired skill on mission trips and to earn money.  In this picture you can see in to the boys' room.  They shared one bedroom and used one as a playroom for awhile.  Later, this room became Levi's and the one to the left of the bathroom was Micah's.

Our previous house was a new build.  This was the house we started a tradition.  Any time we redid floors or walls we used sharpie to write - here, our names.  Future projects included our favorite Scriptures.

First grade and Forest Vista was the beginning of Cub Scouts for Micah (Levi officially joined two years later).  We were blessed with a wonderful den and pack full of friends for Micah and parents we enjoyed.  One of the first den meetings was at our house where the boys practiced their cowboy skills with knott tying and "cattle" roping.

Although we're not pleased with the direction Scouts has taken - those 11 years we were a part were meaningful to our boys and our family.  Dev continues today his friendship with hiking buddies he met in Oklahoma Scouts.  We are blessed and thankful.

Albuquerque Flashback

So, I was looking through some ABQ photos and I found some gems!  These were in a Sept. - Nov. file.  By then, of 2003, we had settled in quite nicely.  Micah started a Mother's Day Out at a local preschool.  He went only on Fridays for a few hours and loved it!  I loved it because it gave him time to play with other kids.  A few of those kids were in his kindergarten class the next year.

September and October were busy in Albuquerque.  We went with Grandmomma and Grandpoppa to the fair.  This must have been our first time there because we have a lot of fair pictures from a different trip.  This one rained.  We spent a lot of time dodging showers, taking cover, and doing activities when there was a break in rain.  It was fun to be together though!

We had actually been to Balloon Fiesta before and since we lived here now, we didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn for everything.  Aunt Winna took this picture!  I'm not sure how the timing worked out for her with school, but she's in another picture from this batch.

The following picture is from an early zoo trip.  The boys did discover the jumping area right away. I love that we went to the zoo so much in ABQ.  We had an annual membership and we used it well.  Levi and I would sometimes go there on early release (school) day and he even had a birthday there!

Picture proof that we did do pumpkins and costumes with our boys!  Again, this was our first year in ABQ.  The other year, I found matching spider sweaters at a second hand store and Aunt Winna made spider masks out of black paper plates and pipe cleaners!

That Little Tikes car got a lot of use!  The black truck (from Gigi - it had belonged to cousin October) and gas station were added in Kentucky.  The infamous duck boots are in these pictures too!

These kinds of pictures were pretty typical of M and L's early years.  Fairs, special events/places, visits from Aunt Winna, pumpkins.

A final shot - M's beginning of photography. (At this point, I don't think I had even considered the boys would be taking pictures on their phones one day!)

December in Pictures

The boys got in on this batch of holly wreath cookies.

Hubby and I tried a batch earlier in the month, but I did have any red hot candies.

Dinner, yes.  But, do you see the salt n pepper shakers?  Hubby got them as a white elephant gift.  They aren't so to me - I love them!

Just a dusting.  December 17.  Later in the night when it was so bitterly cold, we got a visit from a dog from the neighborhood north of us.  I dried him off and petted him by the fire while we waited on his owner.

School is out for two weeks!!

My sister treated us to drinks and treats for my Aunt's birthday.

Life with Lucy and Cyrus.  He was pretty serious about his new bone.

A new spot for the tree.  We considered a taller tree for the living room to go with the high ceilings.  I just can't bear the thought of using a different tree.  We've had this since the year before M was born.

Waiting to leave IHOP.  I was sad that it wasn't decorated for Christmas this year.

Aunt and the boys in front of a random house.  At 10:30 on Christmas Eve the temperature was still in the 50s!

Selfie in front of the same house.

It was tricky to find a service on Christmas Eve that worked with M's work schedule.

We got EVERYONE in this Christmas Eve picture.

Hubby has almost perfected his cinnamon roll recipe.  My Dad used to make them Christmas morning.  He perfected his in the Air Force.  Hubby has been working on his at Church Camp!

She was snoring about 15 minutes into opening presents!!

Quick visit from Hubby's Mom.  This was just to see the plane - maybe a flight another time!
2017 is the year for me to fly again!?!

A Great Reminder or "Read This If You're Missing Someone"

This year felt Christmasy as soon as Thanksgiving was over.  Hubby put lights out front, we've been on track with baking, shopping, parties and such.

However, about a week ago, I told Hubby that the one thing I wanted for Christmas I couldn't have - I wanted a visit from Mom and Dad for Christmas.  My best remembered Christmases as an adult were the ones Mom and Dad (and then Dad after Mom was gone) came to visit.

I've dwelt on that this week even to the point of being quite a Grinch to my family.

So, yesterday I visited them. My sister and I took silk poinsettias to the cemetery for the vases on Mom and Dad's headstone.  We didn't linger there.  I've never felt it necessary since they aren't there.  I know others spend time at the graves of loved ones and that's fine.  Everyone grieves differently.

As I was posting our Christmas letter, I was rereading December blog posts of mine and I came across the one I wrote the Christmas after Dad died. It's called "A Different Christmas" (click link to read) and in it I wrote "Emmanuel, God is with me."  Boy am I thankful I wrote that because it's a good reminder to me today!  The post also has a link to something Emily Freeman wrote "For when everything is different".  Grief is always hard, but especially hard at holidays so I hope both these posts will be helpful to someone.

So, my parents won't be visiting this Christmas.  But, on the first Christmas, Jesus did more than visit. He came to be with us and He's never left!  Yet, at the same time, he left to prepare a place.  A place where because of the plan He set in motion several thousand years ago - Mom and Dad (and other loved ones) will be able to spend Christmas together again.

Merry Christmas 2016!

As I stop to ponder what to write for a Christmas letter, what comes to mind first is God's faithfulness.  Through every high and every low of the year, God is God.

2016 was a very full year - In February we got serious about finding a new home and put ours on the market.  It sold over Spring Break, we found just what we were looking for, and moved in mid-May.  We love our new home so much that it took no transition/adjustment time to be here!  We have great neighbors, know people from church and even have a friend from Scouts around the corner.  The boys' rooms are a bit smaller than before and I jokingly told them we were buying the house for the dogs (they have an amazing back yard!) since the boys will be gone soon!

So, Micah is in his Senior year.  This past summer he spent two weeks in Africa where he preached at a VBS, worked really hard painting and building a fence for a Christian school and assisted with wound care in villages.  He moved from working at Baskin Robbins to Chic-fil-a and continues volunteering at church all while starting college classes.  He has completed 17 hours.  Graduation Day is May 18 and Micah has officially enrolled at Oklahoma Wesleyan University.  He'll live on campus.

Levi is a sophomore at Rejoice.  He is amazingly disciplined and competed in a teen Body Building physique show at the beginning of August.  The meal prep stuck and he completely cooks for himself (and sometimes for us!) now.  Levi will be 16 next April so he has begun "parent taught" driver's ed.

Devon has been at Oklahoma Wesleyan for over seven years and I started year 6 for Owasso Public Schools this fall.  One thing we love to do together is travel. A couple of highlights were Buffalo/Niagara and Lavallette, New Jersey (the beach).  Another highlight for me was seeing The Oak Ridge Boys at the fair (I grew up loving them thanks to Mom!). Devon took an (almost) annual Colorado hiking trip with friends during Labor Day and ran three marathons in six weeks this fall (he got a personal record in one of them!).  I know this is much tamer, but sometimes I play Bunco (especially Bunco for Babies, the fundraiser for the Pregnancy Resource Center in Owasso) and go to Book Club.  In the spring I teach at Writer's Workshop or Literacy Fairs for OETA.

I usually end Christmas letters with a Scripture that has been meaningful for the year - this one is definitely it: Isaiah 58:10-11, If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.  And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters do not fail. ESV

I have taken it to heart as I teach.  It seems that each year I have more and more children with greater and more varied needs. I continue to trust God's faithfulness in helping me here (and in all areas of my life and family) and trust He will meet you wherever you are prove faithful to you too.

Keep scrolling for pictures!

Merry Christmas!

Devon, Annette, Micah and Levi

Life With Lucy and Cyrus

We've got the sickies around here.  You can probably tell by the picture that L. doesn't feel very well.

M. has something going on that he'll need some test later in the week.  And then there's Cyrus...

I took him to the vet for his yearly check-up and found out he has heart worms!!  Bout broke my heart!!  She says there's a period that the dog can be infected that it doesn't show up on the test.  Considering his age, how long we've had him and that he's been on preventative meds since we got him, she thinks he was infected when we got him a year ago, but it was during that time that it didn't show.  Ugh!!  Poor baby has to take a bitter medicine twice a day.  Lucy doesn't mind - she gets the same cheese or ham treat minus the meds that Cyrus does. Our prayer is that this works because the other way would require that he be crated for two months!

He knows he's not supposed to be in my chair!!  Of course he knows he's not supposed to be on my bed too, but that doesn't stop him!!  Earlier in the week, I posted this link on FB that talks how dogs communicate with you.  I love it - we've experienced each one with both dogs!!  Mmm, the article doesn't address stubbornness though.  We need that one for Lucy!

Life With Lucy and Cyrus

Well, we've had a lot of life between the last post and this one.  I've been trying to figure out why I haven't been posting and it's gone something like this...new computer, redoing Dad's house, everyone being gone for summer, school starting again, working on fundraising garage sale for M's Africa mission trip.

However, it's Fall Break!!  The tail end, but still Fall Break and it's always the point of the school year that I feel like I've got my feet under me and somewhat have a handle on work.  Though leading up to break I was at school until 7 or 8 each night. I'd I prefer not to repeat that for several weeks if ever!

It's been a good break catching up..sleep, paperwork, things that have been waiting for my time, and cleaning out the closet that I just knew I'd get to over the summer!  Friday, I was able to go out with L.  I probably enjoyed it more than him, but at least he was willing to be seen in public with his Mom!  Saturday was a really nice Saturday-break or not.  I took L. to a mowing job, went to a couple of garage sales, got a free pumpkin shake, bought movie tickets and went to Braums for milk (it's the absolute best tasting and best price so worth going out of my way for).  We saw Woodlawn as a family and then after our crockpot and bread maker meal, we played Sequence.  Five day weekends are definitely the way to go!

M got up at before 4:30 am to go pack the trailer for Africa!

I'm not a bleu cheese fan, but it's awesome on these chips!

M and L went to the youth pumpkin carving and bonfire.  Africa's on M's mind, I guess.  I rescued this from under M's back tire.  Someone left it there for him!

The recipe calls it Round Steak Casserole, but it turns out to be a yummy stew!

For Hubby and M, Saturday meant fixing the fallout of Life with Lucy and Cyrus.  Whenever someone mows or weed eats nearby Cyrus gets a bit excited and feels he must herd them (somewhat like he herds the vacuum cleaner).  He grabs the top part of the chain link fence in his mouth and pulls and shakes until he twists large holes all across the top.

Last weekend while Hubby and L were in Denver, we thought Lucy was getting out of the yard through the holes.  Turns out no, she was just pushing hard on the back gate and going out there.  I made a quick trip to Walmart before church and bought a bike lock.  She eats through the bungee cords! Fun, hu?  I didn't get pictures of the holes- just the repair work.

He's not supposed to be in the recliners - ever!

Good practice for upcoming mission trip!

There's not much he can't do...

There you have it - Life with Lucy and Cyrus!

On the Home Front

Outside my window… leaves are scattered across the yard.  There is a for sale sign in our across the street neighbor’s yard.  Once they leave, I think we’ll be the ones on the street who have been here the longest.

I am thankful for… medical care, warm sweaters, an involved Hubby, and holiday plans.

I am wearing… jeans and brown cardigan sweater

Some plans for the rest of the week… M. is working a dinner theatre tomorrow night.  Next week L. has a dentist appoint, M. is (hopefully) getting his driver’s permit, we are packing our shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child and Thursday night is Literacy Night at school.

I am hoping … to feel well and have a productive weekend.

On my mind… my children’s spiritual life.

Hearing…. Hubby’s pen writing and the heater.  It makes a scratching noise because of the desk surface.  Every now and then I will hear him talk.  He’s on a conference/video call, but he’s using earphones so I don’t hear everyone else.  I also don’t hear J. the dog – there have been many times on the spot of the post where I mention I hear her snoring. She was usually asleep nearby whenever I was working on the computer.

I am praying for… hunger for God.  I’m also praying for a couple of friends who are going through cancer treatment.

From the kitchen….. barbecue pork (one of our favorite’s with green chile) is in the crockpot for tonight.  I need to write a grocery list and plan for next week.

Around the house… bits and pieces that need put away. 

One of my favorite things…. Going to church with my family and running in to people we know when we’re out – especially Aunt and having an impromptu snack.

                                                               

From my picture journal…