A Lifetime of Love

Teagan is not known for her grace and poise. I can't count the number of times she has bumped her head, some worse than others. She had two goose-eggs on her forehead within 3 months of each other because of falls that were only stopped by her head pounding the ground.  Simply put, she is quite the klutz! TJ picked her up from preschool on Monday afternoon to find her crying. Apparently she had just had an incident in the playroom where she was running and ran into another child. Upon their collision, she fell and hit her forehead on the floor. There was no bump, not even a mark, but she was pretty upset. TJ brought her home and we proceded to try to calm her down so she could eat lunch. As soon as she was sitting in her chair, she began to vomit. We knew then that she needed to be seen by a doctor. I called her pediatrician and they recommended we take her straight to the ER. TJ gathered Teagan and had Th go with him to try to keep her awake and talking in the car. In the mean...

As I've shared before, money is extremely tight as we prepare for the arrival of baby #6, upkeep and maintenance on the house, and feeding/caring for a large family. I have been trying to refinish some of the dressers we already have but we still needed a dresser for Taryn (baby #6). I was just going to make space down in my bedroom for her clothes until we had the money to buy something. Imagine my delight as we were driving home from Th's football banquet and passed a house where a woman was standing outside, removing knobs from a wooden dresser. TJ noticed her and mentioned to me that, for some reason, he thought she was going to be getting rid of it. We turned the van around and drove past again, and sure enough, she was carrying a drawer to the curb. We stopped and inquired about the dresser's fate, and she happily gave it to us. It is a solid wood dresser with lots of potential. I can't wait to muster up the energy to strip the paint and refinish it. ...

T.G., I had no idea how being your mom would be such a blessing! You are a sweet, kind, caring girl who loves her baby sisters so much. God has given you a nurturing spirit, and you do it so well! You are helpful, especially when it relates to babies, cleaning, or cooking. I can already tell you will be a GREAT mommy when you get older! :) You have your own ideas regarding fashion and clothing, and your favorite color continues to be pink. If you had it your way, you'd wear pink from head to toe every day of your life! You also have an expressed opinion about hair styles and how you want to wear yours each day, and you refuse to have your hair cut except for an occasional trim. I am amazed that you don't mind it so long (it's almost to the bottom of your back) but it is absolutely beautiful, especially when you wear it down. We have had to start conditioning it daily in order to be able to brush it in the mornings, and you LOVE that you get to use grown-up conditioner. ...

Since money has been (and still is!) so tight for us, my mom sent money for us to take the kids to a pottery place to do something fun for T.G.'s birthday. T.G. has never been to one before and has wanted to go since Th has been doing his homeschool pottery class. We planned it on a day when TJ's dad and step-mom were coming out so they could help us with Annie. The boys painted airplanes and the girls painted butterflies. We ended our afternoon with a Strawberry Shortcake birthday cake as a special treat for T.G. (she has recently become infatuated with her).  =)