The Sweetness In Life. . .

Life seems to be so busy and so stressful that it is easy to get caught by the tide of things and begin to feel overwhelmed - I have stated things like "I've tied my knot and I'm hanging on, but I'm getting tired" - "I have a never-ending headache" and other such things recently... as Chip preached yesterday I was reminded to not live for my tomorrows but instead for today - WE are the ones whose journey is the journey of dying - it is those in Heaven are LIVING - he also sprayed a bottle of mist as a visual reminder to show us what our lives are like in the scope of things - what seems so MAJOR here is less than the blink of an eye.

Daddy's transplant went well, but there have been numerous trips back to UMC and to the ER; his attitude stays constant though - my daddy has always been such a strong quiet man of deep rooted faith in the Lord - none of that has changed - regardless of the stints, drains being put in, drains taken out, packing of a wound that wouldn't heal, bouts with his gout, and still not being able to urinate without a catheter.... I know my attitude would not be as great - but he has remained thankful and reminds me that God is in control and that the kidney itself is working beautifully. Please continue to pray for daddy's healing - he is to have more tests run on November 10th. For mom, please pray strength and energy - she had to quit teaching WW in order to help with all that is involved in the care of a transplant patient. My gratitude and praise goes to Dr. Blondeau and his team at UMC - they have given daddy great care through all of this.

With work, there is a lot of stress - just the normal paperwork, plus a new curriculum to be implemented this year, a beautiful new campus on which we are still working out the kinks, a large class load, and we are to be site visited this year.

On a personal level, I am praying for two main things: wisdom in our raising of Richard...he is testing all boundaries and we want to continue to train him up as God would lead us...some days are so hard though after a long day at work and then all that is involved with a strong willed two and a half year old. Also, I seem to have a reapperance of my migraines - I was diagnosed about 12 years ago with migraines, before that I just thought that all people occasionally had headaches like mine... recently I have had so many headaches...I am trying to pinpoint the influence: is it my age, stress, or a health issue - I have have three major head aches in the last month and had to miss work with one of them.

In these times, hold on tight to the ones you love and make sure that daily they know how much you love them....and keep your eyes focused on the ONE who directs all of our paths!

Sunday Miscellaneous Pics. . .

I have no idea what is going on with blogspot - some of my pics have posted in the order I uploaded them and some have been "rearranged" - anyway - after nap time, Richard played ball with his Pat Pat - he was cracking me up that he absolutely REFUSED to take his Sunday socks off...so he looks like an old man wearing dark socks and sandals - and as you can tell, Ty has almost completed Richard's playset (thank you Poppa and Pat Pat for all of your help).

Richard Still Loves His Fish. . .

If you've followed my blog, you know that the fish were a "distraction" in an attempt to salvage a failed attempt to go and see Kung Fu Panda this summer...they are still going strong....Richard LOVES to talk to them, feed them, and make sure that they are all there including the "daddy" fish (he is twice the size of the rest).

Is It Really Fall?

The weather was so pretty Sunday after church that I just couldn't resist taking a few pics of Richard - where did my baby go to? He seems like such a big boy!!!

Playing around with the camera. . .

I loved these two pics - they were taken after church on Sunday.

After the sun goes down. . .

Just because the daylight vanishes, doesn't mean the work stops....that's what flood lights are for! Richard LOVED swinging with his daddy when they got that part put up (of course he still loved the slide) and then we came in to warm up, eat supper, and Richard took part in one of his favorite activities: coloring!

Saturday = Work Time for the adults and play time for Richard....

Poppa and PatPat came up for the weekend - Poppa came to help Ty finish working on Richard's playset - Richard did NOT want to wait and so he would tell his daddy to move over and down the slide he would go....he was a good helper retrieving tools and carrying them to his daddy and grand-daddy when they needed them.

Finally Our Time To Bowl....

Richard let Ty help him the first couple of times, but after that he picked up, carried and rolled his seven pound ball all by himself - how many two year olds can do that!?!?! Now, you will notice his average speed down the lane(1.18miles per hour), but what counts is the look of sheer joy as he played!

Friday Night means Family Night

Friday night we opted to not go to the NWR homecoming game due to fear of crowds and cold weather - instead we went to Penn's and then to the bowling alley - little did we know that it was League night so we had to wait till 9 o'clock - talk about taking money and patience to entertain a two and a half year old for that long - anyway - we had fun playing basketball and yes my sweet lil man who loves order in his world playing and lining up his new little friends from the gumball prize machine.

Library Time....

Richard still LOVES to go and see Mrs. June at the library - in fact we have pictures of the library for every week till we go and "see Mickey" so that it is easier for him to keep up with how many weeks till we go to WDW. I was tempted to post the pics of Amy and Kozy but thought they might kill me.... a lot of the pics showed red or white eyes so I'll have to take my camera again this week.

Neat Blog to check out....

It isn't often these days that Richard takes a substantial nap on the weekends, but today his PatPat laid down with him and he is currently snoozing away - whew - I can just relax for a bit - anyway, I still am not good about knowing the ins and outs of the blogworld, but I ran across a link from Robin's page - it is entitled Life in Germany and this is the link I used to get there http://allison-and-paul.blogspot.com/ - it is amazing how many hits she has from all over the world - I may have to look into doing one of those tracker things - I'd probably laugh though because there'd be less than a dozen hits..... anyway - this blog is really cute and the girl who writes it has a great sense of humor - check it out when you get a chance..... if lil man sleeps a bit longer I may even get some pics uploaded from our fun filled weekend - bowling, eating out, playing in the backyard, feeding the fish, arranging pumpkins, and "helping" daddy build the play fortress in the back - you know I am kidding hunny - but he will be the only little boy with a playground sized playset in the neighborhood= hmm maybe it will help to sell the house one of these years.

Mommy and Richard time. . .

Today I had to stay with Richard since our sitter is still in a lot of pain and out of commission so we decided to bake some cookies together. . . sprinkles and all....in fact I think that the sprinkles were the hit of the whole process. He loved helping mommy and it was a great time before settling down for our afternoon nap.

Finding a Silver LIning. . .

Yesterday I was just so overwhelmed that I was to the point of tears - as I was driving my car found its way to the a little neighborhood park . . .I am so glad that I stopped....just taking the time to hear Richard's laughter and see the delight on his face totally refreshed me and gave me a new outlook on the day...I am still frustrated about some things but they are beyond my control and I need to be faithful to leave them in God's hands so that He can be in control.

Making Lemonade from Lemons....

Our sitter fell and is "out of commission" so yesterday I "split" the day with Kozy so that neither of us would have to be out the full day. I kept Richard and Claire during the morning hours and then they switched and went to Kozy's house for the afternoon. They had a wonderful time playing in his room (dumping out EVERY toy he owns), watching Veggie Tales, feeding the fish, and literally running circles around the house (yet another video clip I need to upload). It was a rather odd feeling to look in the rear view mirror and see TWO kiddos - think MAYBE I could grow accustomed to it - see TY, there is hope for me yet. LOL

Fun with MeMe

I love this picture of Richard and my mom - NO I didn't pose him - he just posed himself and MeMe snuggled in for the pose! LOL I also just HAD to share his block building - he STILL wants to organize and build by color...wonder where he gets that!!!

One of Richard's Favorite ways to spend an afternoon. . .

Recently my Aunt Jean and Uncle Bobby were in town from Arkansas... Richard has now named Uncle Bobby "Bob Bob" - guess he thinks that he is kinda like Bob the Builder. I'm not sure who had more fun: Richard or Uncle Bobby, but they both had a great time feeding the duck and geese at the lake. It is so funny as you look at the progression of the pictures to see how all of the ducks begin their trek across the lake when they realize that Richard has food...what's amazing is that not all of the ducks bothered rousing from their afternoon naps to come and eat. I love to hear Richard belly laugh and one of these days I will figure out how to add video so y'all can here the delight in his voice as he fed them.