A Lifetime of Love

The kids and TJ have been home all week because of snow and ice. They are returning today on a delay, but then will be home again tomorrow for a district furlough day. Ta has to make up his missed days on MLK Day, President's Day, and Memorial Day. Th, who was not thrilled with the idea of still doing school work while everyone was home, is now thankful that he doesn't have to "make up" any days- the beauty of homeschooling! =) While everyone was home this week we played outside in the snow, played games inside by the fire, and watched movies while snacking on popcorn and hot cocoa. Play was interspersed with work for both TJ and Th. Th has a big project on South Carolina he's been researching since before Thanksgiving, and he and TJ were able to work on it a good bit while he was home. The project is due on Monday so the deadline is fast approaching. I am looking forward to seeing the final project as I know how much hard work and effort Th has put into it. Since...

2010 has been a year marked by significant changes! On March 10 th we welcomed the newest member of our family, Taylor Ann. She was born almost 3 weeks early and has been a blessing since before her arrival. Now 9 months old, she is becoming more mobile and independent as she loves to explore her surroundings! She adores her siblings and is quite content to watch them play. At the end of May we moved into a larger house. The house is almost double the square footage of our old house, and is closer to the university where TJ works as the manager of the User Support and telephone call-center. It sits on a half-acre of land and is a long-awaited answer to prayer. We all have room to “spread out” but yet we enjoy the benefits of being closer to town. It is an older home that needs some updating, but we are slowly painting rooms and making it our own. Probably the best part of moving is our neighbors- over the months we’ve been here we have become closer with them and they are a blessing t...

Th and I are taking a break from homeschooling while Ta and the girls are out of school for Christmas. I was thinking (not really sure why!) I would have a relaxed “Christmas break” since Th and I wouldn’t have school work to do. Boy, was I wrong!   I am still trying to get my Christmas cards written, addressed, and in the mail, gifts wrapped and ready to be shipped for our out-of-town family, cookie dough prepared and chilled so the kids and I can bake them together, plus my usual chores of laundry, cooking, and cleaning. Whew- it seems like it never ends! On top of all that, I am organizing a huge outreach through my church designed for moms in the local area. I have about 6 weeks until the actual event but there is much to do to get prepared. Thankfully so many from my church have volunteered to help me; they are definitely a blessing to me!   Time to get my girls down for naps so I can finish addressing this batch of cards…  in case I don...

Annie Oooh, as we affectionately call you, you are such a happy baby. You love all of your brothers and sisters so much. T.G. thinks she is your mom, and you humor her by allowing her to hold and feed you. Although you don’t allow her to hold you as long as you used to, you still enjoy the attention! In the past 6 weeks or so you have mastered the “army” crawl. You use your little arms to pull and curl your toes to help you grip the floor and propel your body forward. You are the only one of my children to do the army crawl. You are now beginning to pull up to your knees on things so I’m sure it won’t be long until you are able to stand with assistance. You still prefer fruits over vegetables, and absolutely will not open your mouth for anything green. Your all-time favorite food is cheese puffs, and you cry until we give you some at lunch time. You have started to say “Ma ma” and “Da da” and when you wake up at night you sit in your bed and call for us. Although it’s sweet to hear, Da...

Th sang Christmas songs and passed out cards to residents of a local nursing home as part of a church outreach. My dad, watching in the audience, received a card from another boy in the group. Apparently the boy thought he was a resident. =)

I found an article amidst a packet of papers I’ve had for several years. The packet was tucked inside my Sunday School book acting as a bookmark. I’m not sure why I’ve saved this particular packet of papers for so long, but I’m glad I did as it was a refreshing reminder to me when I opened it up and read the article again. I got the article from a more experienced mom and wife a few years ago when I was struggling with my role of motherhood.  I am sharing it with you, along with my thoughts as I have gained some insight into motherhood as a result of my children aging and me having more children now than I did a back then. Wet Oatmeal Kisses The baby is teething. The children are fighting. Your husband just called and said, “Eat dinner without me.” One of these days you’ll explode and shout to the kids, “Why don’t you grow up and act your age?” And they will. Or, “You guys get outside and find yourselves something to do. And don’t slam the door!” And they don’t. You’ll straighten ...

Teagan has sensory issues that mainly relate to food but also includes her feet. As a result, she HATES to wear shoes because to wear shoes, she also has to wear socks (except with sandals, I know). Whenever we put socks on Teagan, she immediately fusses and claims they “hurt”. I am past the point of getting upset with her as I realize she’s not being difficult or disobedient, she simply has issues and that’s what makes her Teagan. We have recently been trying to find socks that are more comfortable and not as “tight” on her (it’s the seams that bother her so the bigger the sock, the looser the toe seam is). A few weeks ago my sis-in-law held a contest on her blog to win some seamless socks. The winner never contacted her so she had the company mail the socks to me to try with Teagan.  I just received them and can’t wait to try them on her. They truly are seamless so that’s the good news; the “bad” news is that there...