The tooth that is in here...

Is no longer in here....

Week of Gratitude- day one!

What would the tapestry of our life be like without friends woven among us?

This heart is so very thankful for hand- holding sisters to walk beside!! Some works cannot be undertaken until you have a second, a spotter for hard tasks of the soul to brace you. Her thread comes beside yours, woven and crossed, and preciously accompanies you across some distance, sharing of her time and herself.

Thank you, Lord, for sisters who walk beside us in darkness and in light, with Jesus-love in their broken hearts that give You glory and cracks to shine through. Thank you for friends to weep with, and celebrate, encourage, rebuke, enjoy.... and LOVE...

You alone, Lord, are more than enough, yet in your extravagance you give more, and what a sweet gift are the friends You have placed in our lives!!

Please tell me you are joking.

Little Man says,"Momma, you are going to be mad at me."

I turn and ask him in my most patient -I-am-getting-ready-for-church-what-is-it-now- voice,"What have you done? Just tell me..."

"I accidentally stuck a glue board to the television."



Someday I will laugh about this.

Dangerous boys!!

Another season, and another rank graduation for the little men!! Trystan is now a beginner ORANGE BELT, and Isaac is a PURPLE BELT!! Purple is halfway to skunk belt (black with a white stripe) Skunk belts are in training for Recommended BLACK BELT. So he is halfway to black belt training. Mrs. Shade had Isaac and two other students get up at the graduation ceremony and show off their current pattern, and boy was he fine!! Parents were commenting to him this week at practice on what a good job he did on friday night!



Trystan is doing great, too - when he is paying attention he is FIERCE stuff in a uniform!



They are learning discipline, and something else that children in this time rarely have the opportunity to learn.... Time plus discipline = reward!! In our instant society, children do not usually have long term goals or perseverance. Isaac and Trystan have voluntarily agreed to pursue their training for the next THREE YEARS. They are learning an important lesson here, and a skill at the same time. If they continue in their training, they could become instructors, and even if they choose wildly different career paths, they could earn a living with this skill while they are training for what they want!!




Can you tell I am proud of them?

Grace for the Mess...

Today everywhere I look the things of day to day living are wandering through the house. Paint pens and hairbands, shoes on the nightstands, sheets dancing down the beds to drop on the floor. Hangers waiting on the floor, towels on chairs, and papers and notebooks and coffee cups sprinkled in every available space, decorating the day with reminders that we LIVE here...

May we do all of the important things today, and clean up AFTER!! And if anyone knocks on the door, give me GRACE, Lord!!

Day Full of Blessings...

Wow!! Sent Trystan off to Kindergarten, after a breakfast of corn pops and pop tarts, courtesy of Ninnie. The kids were already thinking it was the best day since Christmas. Made a run to walmart that went quickly, but in the middle of it had our socks blessed off to see Chuck and Colin Baker.

Colin is one of Isaac's close friends, and last night Colin was taken to LeBonheur children's hospital for bleeding from the eyes and nose. Scarry, but he was sent home last night, and was to undergo a ct scan this afternoon and possible surgery tomorrow for a retrograde hemorraghe. We were praying for Colin all evening yesterday, and Isaac was trusting God, but of course very concerned about his friend, so you just can't imagine the way it blessed our hearts to see him walking around in walmart, waiting to be scheduled in for his ct scan. Thank you, God, for honoring my son's heart for his friend with this incredibly uncoincidental meeting.

Trystan had a great day at school, and is getting better at writing his letters everyday, although he did cut a hole in his new pair of pants during scissor time. Had a delay while trying to get in to the doctor's office, so went to Goodwill and found Isaac 3 pairs of jeans, and 2 for me for about 20 bucks. Awesome. I was really scratching my head on pants for Isaac this year. 12's are snug in the hind end, loose in the waist, and dragging the ground a little.

We spent some time at the park by the library, and the kids had a great time. Then we stopped by the pet store, and they were able to pet the resident store dog, Bubba, that they all adore. We also spotted a lost dog today, and were able to follow her in the car while we called the owner to come and get her for a succesful rescue. Totally awesome. Now we have to conquer TaeKwonDo for the night, and hunt for some dinner.

How do YOU communicate?

Friday night at our Living Free ministry, we were teaching the kids about the role communication plays in conflict resolution, and the different types of communication that there are. The kids had a great time showing examples of communication, like stomping out of a room and eye rolling, and temper tantrums. So at the end we are sitting in a circle and reviewing and Trystan lays down on his back in the middle of the circle and tells us "I know what communication is. My friend Addie and I communicate with our MINDS, and then we communicate with our EYES, and then some times we talk..." I just put my head down, because I was trying not to shake with laughter, and my co-teacher, Niki tells him, "Trystan that sounds like flirting to me." Trystan just smiled his biggest smile and said "YES, IT IS."