A hard decision

Parenting in general is not for the faint of heart! can I get an amen????  but parenting a foster child /children is not an easy task either... Doug and I about 2 weeks ago had to make a decision that would change these boys lives forever. was it easy?? NO! was it a quick one?? NO! was it the best decision?? yes... God continued to press on our hearts that this was just not working out. Andrew had become a nomad having no room to call his own (I won't go into any details but I am praying it will get it out of my mind and Andrews), the house that we made sure had peace was turned upside down, our older kiddos were so conflicted with the disobedience, and in the end this was the best decision ... HARD decision.. you think of the what ifs and your mind goes in all directions... you think about your own kiddos in this journey, you think about the long term effects on the boys, you think about soooo much that at times you think your head will explode! BUT in all that.... the peace and presence of the Lord calms the heart.. God revealing this is the best decision with conformation.... What He does in you through this process is revealing, comforting, and reminding you that you are loved! I have dealt with every emotion that is possible. I trust God will take the seeds that were planted in our home and pray that they fell on good soil and these boys would come to know Jesus at a very young age.. E already ask question and understands SOOO much for a 4 year old... may they take this home with them forever!!! I will miss so much about these boys.... was it easy.... no..... BUT God has been faithful! I am thankful that we took this journey! will we take another journey?? yes... God has revealed that the infants and Young toddlers are the best fit for our family. We will take about a 2 month break and then open our home again! would you pray for the boys on January 10? We will always have a special place in our heart for E and N! Praying that we will see E on his 5th birthday to celebrate :)

God tells us He has a special concern for orphans. He is the "Father to the fatherless," and He expects His Church to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves. James 1:27 speaks to us boldly, stating that "pure and undefiled religion is to care for orphans and widows in their distress."

If God is impressing on hearts to care for the orphans I pray they would act and not sit back .....

photo shoots!

Alexis LOVES photography and really she is a GREAT picture taker!!!! so she is always looking for guinne pigs :)  so here are some of her favorite shots.

Calebs Summer Swimming... Griffin Gators!

 

This Boy is a swimmer!.. He is built for it and is very good! we loved the Griffin Gators this year and plan to do it again :) He received the most improved swimmer in his age group! yay! it was amazing that 6 months earlier He could not even walk because of food sensitivities and intolerance's! God is so good!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First day of 3's... Ms. Betsy...

Is he really ready for 3's at the preschool...... yes!!! HE LOVES SCHOOL!!! and we love Ms. Betsy. Lane had her when she was 3 and I was so glad when I found out that is who the teacher was for the 5 day 3's. Ms Betsy LOVES Andrew and I am so thankful that! This is the pictures!

almost a teen... BUT glad she is not quite yet! 12 is grand!

I just blinked!!! and bam she is 12... oh how I love this girl... again it is Christmas day and I am JUST blogging about her birthday in September.... She is amazing! she is good at everything she does and tries her best at all.. The Lord is so present in her heart... I pray she grows in Love with her savior, not just talk BUT a LOVE .... He is her hope and she will use Him as her rock as she grows. Here is a little sample of her day!

Its not possible He is 3

I mean I was JUST pregnant!!!! now he is riding a scooter, writing his name, understanding jokes, riding his bike, and the list goes on...... well,,,,, his birthday was in August and now it is Christmas day... little late BUT His grace covers it! I have loved going back and looking to see how much he has grown just since his birthday... I love this little guy! can't believe we ever thought we were done after Lane.. our family is blessed because of him! happy 3rd birthday Andrew!!!! May God continue to move on his heart!!

yearly tradition!!! FAIR October 2013

it was an extra special fair this year ..... just me and the "big kids"... yes.... Lane has officially made it to the "big kid" status when we got the boys! she was sooooo thankful :) I remember officially becoming the "big kid" liberating I guess!... we were at whits end... where was God when we were so overwhelmed with the chaos that had just entered our home?.. our kiddos were overwhelmed, we were, the animals, hey just being honest! They needed a BREAK!!! Doug knew that I needed to get away and breathe and what better air than the Griffin Fair :) yep, it was a good smell! our kids LOVE the fair sooooo off we go.. we were at a point we did not care the cost we just needed to go... ahhhh corn dog... yep, gotta eat a corn dog... well we had fun! and cant wait till next year! oh and in the midst of the chaos God was the peace... He was so gracious in showing me through the break he can refresh a chaotic heart!

tears of joy!

I have been so overwhelmed with emotions today..tears!!! I am overwhelmed that God uses people to accomplish His purpose and will...I am overwhelmed by the love and support that God has given me through people!... I wanted to make sure I blogged about this because I am seeing God in this journey that He has me on good days and my worst frazzled day!. 

God is so good, 
God is so gracious, 
God is sovereign! 

Today was a day that was full of tears.... good ones people!!!! I was so excited to find out that we would be able to stay in a cabin in Blue Ridge and just be "us" for 2 days... understanding that my heart is not in a place of not taking the boys but we really feel like our kiddos need a couple of days to decompress... Fostering is a whole family mission and kiddos really can't fully communicate that they need at times BUT we know when its time for them... second I received and anonymous check in the mail today with the SWEETEST note and one of the lines said "go, do something with this that you ALL can enjoy!!! so guess what I will honor that person and we are tossing several things in our heads BUT I think that the aquarium is top, the Fantasy of lights too... E our 4 yr old Foster son will be sooooooo excited!!! N well, he is young and probably won't remember ... our kiddos will be doing cartwheels, flips, jumps well,  you get the picture...  I am SO thankful and amazed at how God uses us,!!! 

a journey of life and I am blessed to be walking with My Lord!

Isaiah 12:4

In that day you will say: "Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.

What the kiddos think about fostering......

out of the mouths of babes...
actually I have wanted to really debrief our own children but time has just not been there.. we have had times where they have all had a break down and we have had to console their hearts and encourage them in this journey... It has been hard... to see their hearts break and trying to get them to understand that God is doing a work in them as the same with us... I want them to know that the scriptures are clear.. we are to care for the orphans and widows... my heart stays heavy asking questions to myself and I know it weighs on Doug too just thinking what are our own kiddos thinking?, is this the right decision?, will they hate caring for orphans because things are hard at times here?, and the list goes on... this is not easy... parenting our own children is hard too but add children who have never been taught anything (eating with forks, spoons, bathing, manners, self control, using words instead of yelling, etc) This my friends is not for the faint of heart... I am thankful for this journey! it has taught me so much about myself... would we do it again... YES!! although we would take into consideration ages... Andrew has struggled, not with the youngest but the 4 year old.. he is in constant conflict from the time he is up till the time of bed... it is heartbreaking... Andrew has the most gentle personality and the other one does not and eggs Andrew on.. we have seen Andrew struggle in actions not words... oh how I wish he could tell me!!!!
so this morning I sat the kiddos down and ask them 4 questions... I will share the good and bad in their answers... this is where the "big" kiddos are...

1. What do you like the most about it?
Lane- when they got here they were cute
Caleb-Andrew has a friend to play with
Alexis-they have learned...... somewhat

2.What do you dislike the most?
Lane- kinda mean to us
Caleb-Andrew having someone telling him what to do all the time
Alexis-loudness and Andrew being sad, disobedience

3.What sins get brought to you heart through fostering
Lane- Anger
Caleb-wanting them to leave soon
Alexis-Anger

4. would you do it again?
Lane- yes... girl only
Caleb-maybe... if they are not loud
Alexis-yes... because it helps children who need parents

PS.. Andrew we love you  ( the kiddos wanted to put that at the end)

these are tough to look at somewhat..... although my heart leaps for joy knowing they would want to do it again.... the question is always.... Jesus are YOU worth it.... and the answer is ALWAYS YES!!!

s t r e t c h e d !!!!!!!

well, my life has felt like a rubber band at times in 10 weeks... yes that is how long these boys have been with us!!! I am sooooooo thankful that the Lord over the past 2 weeks has shown us fruit of our labor... and when I mean labor I mean HARD labor... sometimes I have felt as if I was a rubber band stretched so wide that I could snap at any point... oh but the Lord was so gracious and allowed me to never be stretched so wide that I broke.. don't get me wrong I have been broke BUT for His glory... I have cried out , fallen on my knees and ask the Lord for guidance, grace and mercies afresh EVERY morning.. my sin has reared its ugly head when I least expect... so thankful HE is my source of strength!!! I am VERY thankful again he is showing us the fruit!!! these boys have my heart just like my own kiddos and I know when/if they leave us I will be heartbroken, BUT as for now I will live in the day...... not thinking about the what ifs..... I have so much to be thankful for!!! 

it really is book worthy....

Yesterday... it was beautiful!! We packed a Lunch and headed to the Rock Ranch with our homeschool group.... weather was perfect!!! We learned about pioneers, thanksgiving and ground some corn... had a great Lunch and then off to the races... well not really but I felt like all the walking between the tiny town, corn house, pillow, slide.. I at least ran a half marathon, right??? Just kidding... then...... one of the Mercer girls came to me and said " I think Caleb is hurt" ... mind you that 4 years ago we went to the ER with Caleb with a broke leg from the Rock Ranch.... so I investigate and yep... trip to Dr..... can't walk, crying, and in so much pain!! Kathy took the girls and Christina came to my UNCLEAN house ( because spending time with the kids is so much more important..)

I had to drive to Jonesboro... so the text I get while I am there were cracking me up.. one said " garrison peed in the toilet and doodle the dog drank it" and "the little guy got a diaper change and had a corn crop from the corn house"...

Praise the Lord that Caleb's foot was not broken... just sprained pretty bad....

So I am still gone and Doug had brought pizza home, Christina had been herding "ants" soooooo funny!!!! So she and the kiddos at pizza too... well..... Doug ask lily what she wanted to during, she said the juice in the fridge, Doug poured, lily said NO thank you after a sip.. so they ate and loved the pizza... b and b if you wanted to order some.... great plug ugh!!  So as I got home and talked to Doug he ask what kind of juice was in the pitcher in fridge, I said there is no juice that is chicken stock from the chicken salad I made today... we BUST out laughing!!!! I called Christina in tears laughing so hard!!!  I'm telling you our life is book worthy 😃

Time!!! it is so precious!!!

time is precious, I mean really precious.. the kiddos are growing and changing RIGHT before my eyes!!!! I am realizing now that I am a mom of 6 that there is just not enough hours in the day. Things get pushed to the next day and so on... and guess what... I AM OK WITH THAT...

laundry, well , that is a whole blog in itself, I don't even have time to write the blog...
kitchen clean, well, it stays cluttered...
bathrooms, this may be gross, but I think it has been about 2 weeks since the last deep clean..
beds...I need to change the sheets as I write this..
mopping.... that needs to be done , like, yesterday....
dusting... what is that!!!

oh , I did today get all the closets except for mine changed out... it will be cold later this week my friends... I will be freezing but the kids will be NICE and COZY  :)

years ago if you ask me about how my house looked I would tell you it is CLEAN... well I have changed, the sanctification process .....cleaning comes last..... not something that I will do before I love on these kiddos!!!
I have said so many times  "the days are long, but the years are short"  this is my life.... it is so true... if I have time for nothing else ..... I will spend time with my kiddos...

The good, bad, and ugly.....

since I wrote my blog yesterday I have thought back and pondered should I have put it out on facebook... the main reason I do this is so my mom and family can read on what is going on in my life and heart... BUT yesterdays post spoke to so many, they may not be going through exactly what we are BUT there is something else that may be... I was encouraged that I am not in this thing called life alone.. I am so grateful that the Lord sustains me in times of need, His grace is sufficient, and He is enough. My blog is my thoughts and heart... I tried for years to do scrapbooks with in the end feeling like a total failure because I still only have Alexis' 1st year done... people she is 12!!!!!!

so my blog is the GOOD...... family trips, friends, extended family, mountain top experiences, kiddos, thankful list, dogs, garden, cute sayings the kids may say (well only one but it was cute), my mission trip to East Asia, and the list goes on....

so my blog is on the BAD..... life is messy at times... Ill be honest I hate the term "positive thinking" because it really does not matter if I think positive the Lord is sovereign and he will bring trial my way...
James tells us in verse 2-4......
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
I know that God molds and shapes us into His image through the trials, so I consider it pure joy to face these

so my blog is on the UGLY..... this my friends is my heart when I am sinning...  I know my heart is full of sin and I am EVERY single day preaching the gospel to myself.... oh and the first part is ugly... God and His holiness, His perfection and myself who is the wretched sinner.... realizing with my sin I can not even be in His presence.. that is bad people... BUT oh the good is that He in his LOVING,GRACIOUS and KINDNESS sent His son to die on that cross so I may be saved through His blood and sacrifice... we need to be preaching this to ourselves EVERYDAY!!!

This so called life is not easy, just because you have Jesus does not keep us from trials, I will cling to the cross when things are good, bad, and ugly!!!

pictures always look different!

Sometimes being strong and having an I can do anything personality can be sooooo discourging at times! we think we can do it all, our husbands think we can do it all, our children, parents, and our friends think we can too!.. it really stinks at times ... sometimes you just need to cry, vent, or just take a bath to bring yourself back to reality!... I myself have had these days since the boys have got here... most everyone knows that we are fostering 2 boys and have 4 of our own, so add that up and you have 6... its tough! I am leaning on Gods grace sooooo much...

I have felt lonely at times because everyone thinks we have it together all the time... some days I just want the phone to ring with a voice that says "how are you?? or hey you need a prayer?? or a text ...this has not happened very much... sadly but I know everyone is so busy ! BUT God has done so much sanctification in my own life these past weeks... He knows what is good for me... and I have leaned on Him so much during these weeks... we always have these images in our minds on how things look....... ummm they are NEVER the same images in real life...

Fostering is a blessing and we are able to care for these boys while mom gets her things together BUT this is not the picture I had in my mind....
although it is amazing how God gave us these boys and they look sooooo much like our family!...
Fostering is hard BUT oh the love the boys are getting here is amazing to see...
Fostering is life changing BUT what they are showing us about how important it is to reach out into our own community and really what goes on in our backyard!
Fostering is the heart of God, these boys are without their family so we must love, nurture and share with them.
Fostering is about Him and His children...
Fostering has made me realize more that the state has in trusted these children to us and even more importantly that God has in trusted all these children to our care including our own!

I am thankful that God has lead us to care for these boys, even when the picture in our minds did not look like it is! His grace is enough! and that I am thankful!!!

a broke "fivala"

about a month ago, I got in a cleaning out, organize, conviction on how much stuff we have mode... sometime those things are not good..... I tend to have lots of patience till we have an overflowing amount of stuff... Having just got back from East Asia I was reminded in the out skirts of town that people NOTHING!! and guess what? there kiddos are just fine! so anyway.. I had cleaned out the closets in our house to give to friends that are adopting (have the stuff made it to there house?? not yet!!!) I looked at the clock and it was about 4 and I realized I had not spent any time with the kiddos :(  soooooooo I yelled "lets go on a bike ride!!!" so we got ready and headed to the shed where the bikes were and yep... I stepped in a hole and "pop"  I knew...... BROKE.... no other adult, lots of pain and knowing God would take care of it all!.... looked over at our neighbors and she was pulling in..... thank you!!!! so Caleb went and got her, she comes over with crutches, Motrin, and water!!! BLESS her, I was hurting soooooooo bad.... Alexis stepped up and kept the kiddos till Kat could get to the house.... Yep BROKE...... in the "boot" till probably the end of this month.... so why did I call this blog a broke fivala.... well that is what Andrew calls it and I don't want to forget.....

Saw, touched, smelt, and heard

Day 46 home and I am just now kind of, I mean kind of breaking down my trip to East Asia... many who have gone away on a mission trip like this know that there is so much to process. The highs, the lows, the people, the gospel.. that is really the words that come to my mind as I have processed some of the things that we saw, touched, smelt, and heard...

what we saw:
 people... people EVERYWHERE... it was only when Angela and I went toward the market at 6 ish (am) that there was not a lot of people. We saw idols...EVERYWHERE, cars... EVERYWHERE.... mopeds, precious children, drink vendors.. well except when Tanya and I thought we would die of thirst and dairy queen did not have a drink! There were eating places, car repair shops, yarn stores, shoe stores, ladies dancing, sweat (yes, it was VERY hot, it is actually known as a fiery furnace), dead ducks & chickens riding on a moped, squatty potties, cat in the middle of a store, faces of those who heard the gospel, games being played with kids that had never experienced fun, kids singing songs, one car accident, noodles, LOTS of people in the swimming pool, few grayed haired people, cameras (English corner), mobile phone store, and the list could go on... The thing that stood out the most is the ones who need to be reached with the gospel... it could get so overwhelming to think of  the number of people who live in this country that may never hear the gospel BUT you must start with one... I know that the gospel is going forth, I saw it, I saw God moving in the hearts of His people... may they then go and share... Jesus is our hope, we need to seek Him, and when He saves us and plucks us out of our state, oh what a glorious day... I pray for all those who I saw...

what we touched:
our bibles (we clung to them), the hands of children who had no hope, the coffee pot, chopsticks, hands of about 15 ladies praying over us, our tears, the lives of ladies, children, nini's... I pray we touched many more lives of those we shared with a park that we went too

what we smelt:
coffee, food, polluted air, smells of children, gasoline fumes, durian(fruit that smells horrendous) ,  its weird, you really can't decide on what the smells are...

what we heard
beeping horns, chatter, fireworks (like 6 in the am), laughter in the children, nini talking to Tanya and I in her language and us not understanding any of it, 15 women praying over us all at one time (thank you God for allowing me to experience that), the sweet boy who stood and said "I am willing to believe!!!!", Angela H. telling the grandma in the elevator to "ah jing" which is be quiet!!! SOOO FUNNY!!! , secedas, coffee/tea pot brewing, our blow up mattress creaking,  and so many more....

so I leave you with this for now... I was sooooo blessed to go... I am ready to go back, I fell in love with these people and so thankful that God uses Me a sinner to share His gospel to those around the world!!!!

111 through.....

no I have not forgot my blessings that the Lord has bestowed on me .......... I just have not typed them.. I could go back to April of last year (when I did my last post... BUT too many to even count) .. so I will start to remember... these are in no special order just what God puts on my heart


111. Braves game with the kiddos... Lane and Andrews first
112. a great little swimmer
113. Ms. Judi and Mr. john
114. family bible study
115. Alexis running the Peachtree road race last July 4
116. an awesome school year at FB preschool
117. Lane graduating Kindergarten
118. our dog doodle on the beach trip
119. Doug making it through Morrow madness
120. Mom staying with me while Doug was in the Philippines
121. Alexis and her sweet soccer team
122. the girls playing barbies
123. a sleeping 2 year old
124. Caleb finally feeling better!
125. the swing set that Doug has worked so hard on
126. seeing Jenny's face when I told her I was coming to East Asia
127. a pastor whom teaches me the word
128. my Sunday school class
129. a clean house
130. the Greenwoods
131. Jon and the girls coming to see Caleb at his swim meet
132. planting flowers
133. Chandler investing in my daughter
134. worn out bible covers
135. studying the book of Genesis
136. Lori in whom holds me accountable and I can confide my sinful heart to
137. The Hendrix's (both)
138. an AWESOME beach trip with the Hendrix's (Steve)
139. Soul bags being sent all around the world
140. stinky soccer bags
141. Jamie F and her heart for people
142. worshiping at Second Baptist
143. Fostering coming to a completion
144. knocking on doors and putting fliers in mailboxes
145. lunch with friends
146. Kat and her love for me and her foster kiddos and the love for my kiddos too!
147. a vehicle that still runs even though it has almost 240,000 miles
148. God providing the money for Classical conversations
149.watching Alexis and Angela H. play games on the phone till the battery runs dead!!!
150. family mission trip
151. Ms Diane and her home we were able to "spruce up"
152. being a part of a church body that makes disciples
153. Wesley and Doug's discipleship time
154. a bed to sleep in
155. Jenna
156. a day at the beach with NO waves... God is AWESOME
157. daily quiet time
158. seeing Alexis become a beautiful young women
159. uncle James being OK after a bad car accident
160. another school year in the books :)

learning from sunflowers

we have a garden... organic..... but we have realized it is not going to be as big as the past..... we use no pesticides, fertilizer, or any harmful anything... hey, if we depended on it as our only food source we would all be skin and bones... so we are already thinking of ways to improve it without all the pesticides!!!

 

BUT our sunflowers are going hog wild!!!! we always measure them everyday to see if they have gotten taller than any of the kiddos... they are taller than Andrew now..

 

to be honest I am struggling with anxiety... I am asking the Lord to settle my heart.. I leave in less than 2 weeks and all the crazy thoughts go through this head... poor Lane is struggling.. she is already missing me and I am not even gone yet! the other 2 seem to be fine BUT I know they will get a little more open as it gets closer..

 

I am so excited to go and I know God has shown me over and over that  He wants me to go!...

 

so a few days ago I went to the garden by myself to check our "goodies".. it was a BEAUTIFUL day!!! sun shining and then I looked over at the sunflowers and they were positioned toward the sun.. and God reminded me you just look at the SON!!! He will settle you, he will settle your heart, and he will settle the kiddos heart...

 

When I start to gaze in another direction I ask Him to gently move my eyes to focus back on Him!!!

 

 

a clean home.........

starting Thursday we had "that call" Can I show your house??  ..... yes!!! then the craziness begins... running around cleaning like a FREAK!!!!  yes that was me!.. well on Friday I had to sign the kiddos up for classical conversations and I had to be out at the park between 10 and 12... so we went!... I was planning on being there maybe 15 minutes but it turned into almost 2 hours.. in the back of my mind I was thinking of all the things at the house that needed to be scrubbed.... I mean we have 4 kiddos!!!!!  we are not overly clean... BUT the Lord had it differently! I was able to fellowship with sweet ladies and able to confess sin as a parent.... I would NOT change anything from that day! It was a blessing...

We came home and Ms Judi helped clean the master bath and we had a time!!! I LOVE her... not only her heart but her  humor.... for example I had gone to get all the supplies and she stayed in the bathroom... I came back and she was in the bathtub LAID out!!! I on the inside started FREAKING out!!! I called her name and she did not answer.... I was thinking I might need to call 911...... I actually watched to see if her chest was rising... then I touched her and she said "gotcha!!!!!"  I laughed so hard!!! we had a blast chatting as we cleaned!!!....

After the house showed and they did not even like it I was relieved... I LOVE our home.. not like an idol but the love and the openness of our house!.. we had LOVED having families , young people, and children in and out of our house. we want it to bless others and it has so we are glad the Lord saw it fit for us to live here!... We looked around and realized that we had NOTHING to do in the house.. we relaxed for an hour or so then we went out and burned some old wood.. it was a blessed day!

Always be ready!

this week... wowers!!!!  good, but boy have I had to be on my toes!!! The Lord has shown me 3 times (like the blinking florescent lite) that you must be ready!!!!.... 

It started on Sunday morning this past weekend. I got a call from the lady I co-teach Sunday school with and her kiddos were sick (have we not ALL been there that our kiddos seem to be sick like in an instant) so she was to teach and the Lord had me elsewhere in the scriptures so I had not even looked at the lesson... BAD!!! He reminded me that I will be prepared every week :)  then on Sunday morning  I got a call from one of the other teachers that she was gonna be out, the other had just had a baby, and the other was in Texas and the other was not suppose to be there... sooooo that left me with all the girls to teach something I was not prepared for!... I laid in bed and prayed, the Lord gently reminded me that "Angela you will be held to a higher account for what you teach, how you handle my word".. I put my book down my book and begin to think of my quiet time ... so that morning we studied "what is man?" I did get a surprise call from one who was suppose to be out of town and she was able to be with us!.. it was a BLESSED time with all the ages of girls!..

second thing was on Thursday I get a call from a friend who sells real estate and says "Angela, can I show your home??"  WHAT???? our house is not even on the market!!! so I called Doug and he said "sure!" well it showed today and the couple who looked at it had no kids, did not like to do yard work, and did not want stairs.... hmmmm our house is not for them!  and that is OK!!! we love our home, we have been able to bless others when they walk in... what I took from this is: you never know when you need to be ready to sell your belongings... God reminds you that it really belongs to Him anyway!..

third was this morning.. we were getting the last touches on the house when I heard Doug yell... it was a change in tone so I knew something was wrong... he comes running in the house with blood EVERYWHERE and holding Andrew who was screaming.. NOT GOOD!!! Doug says I think he needs stitches.. OK... get ready Lane, Maelee and Caleb.. jump in the car and stop drop and roll out of the Hendrixes driveway.. oops we let Doug hold Andrew in his lap... at that point we were not even thinking about the law.. I repented! we get to the ER and they take us immediately... we were in and out in less than an hour... for the record this is the first kiddo with staples... 5 in that noggin!!! he did great and was such a trooper!... so after we promised ice cream.... this was hilarious as we were pulling into McDonalds to get the ice cream Andrew starts singing "Old McDonald had a tick"  a tick??? where does he come up with this stuff??? 

as I have glanced back at the week the question comes to my mind "Are you ready???" ready to meet Jesus??? Do you know Him?? 

through His grace and mercy I was ready for all these things that transpired this week!!!... I can confidently say I know Jesus and so thankful that he saved me!!!!

take me out to the ball game..... for free :)

It has been soooooo long since we went to a ball game... the Atlanta braves players have changed and I did not know any of them!!!  I mean we have no TV to keep up the games so why am I surprised!!!  any way we got to go for free!!!  FREE is GOOD!!!  our church every so often gets tickets from the braves foundation I believe so we took this opportunity to go... this was Lane and Andrews first time and the other kiddos did not even remember going soooooo off we went!!! it was soooo much fun, although getting in late is so hard especially for Doug BUT it was worth it!!! we won that night so that was fun too!!!