Holiness

Today I took the kids to church for the first time since Abby started chemo over six months ago. It was great. Patrick has moved up to "Highland Kids", the service for elementary age kids, and Sarah has moved up to the "Preschool" room. I took Abby to the service with me to avoid germs in the nursery, thanks to our trusty sling.

The message today was about Holiness and how we should seek it wholeheartedly. Since my favorite verse in the Bible is 2 Corinthians 12:9, I feel led to share with you one of my biggest weaknesses. My patience! I consistently lose my patience everyday with the kids. It is so hard for me! Have you seen the movie Evan Almighty? It is a great movie; one the kids can watch. Anyway, I don't know that God really looks like Morgan Freeman, but something he said in the movie really touched me. He said that when we pray for patience that it isn't something God just gives. But rather He gives us opportunities to be patient. I think that is true.

I am asking God for more Holiness in my life. I want more patience, as it is my biggest stumbling block. The Lord gives me plenty of opportunities daily, that is for sure!

Romans 12:2 "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is -- his good, pleasing and perfect will."

I really miss praise and worship. Today we sang on old hymn, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. I love it. I definitely had a God moment.

"Come thou fount of every blessing
Tune my heart to sing thy grace
Streams of mercy never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise His Name I'm fixed upon it
Name of God's redeeming love.

Hither to thy love has blessed me
Thou has brought me to this place
And I know thy hand will bring me
Safely home by thy good grace
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Bought me with His precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee:
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart, O take and seal it;
Seal it for Thy courts above."

Sarah and the Dream House

The Barbie Dream House, that is. My awesome friend Gela gave Sarah all of her old Barbie stuff, including her dream house! Sarah went from zero barbies to nine, six Kens, a barbie pool, two barbie corvettes, and of course, the mega-deluxe dream house. We have been cleaning their clothes, washing them, shampooing & conditioning their hair, and getting them dressed. The Barbies are all inside the house having a party, with the exception of one who has been "taking a nap" all morning. The Kens look hilarious. They are dressed in such a wide variety of dress, including tuxedos, western wear, bathing suits, and workout wear. But they are all just laying there in a pile outside the house. I guess they are just ready for Barbies call should she need them.

I never had the dream house when I was little, so I know I am enjoying this as much or more than Sarah at this point! Thanks, Gela. You are amazing to give Sarah all this stuff.

To all my Mommy friends, you are cordially invited to come over and play Barbies anytime.

When You Wish Upon A Star

We had another awesome day at the beach yesterday. The kids were as good as gold all day. We decided to take them mini golfing yesterday morning after a swim in the pool. We went to Pirate Island Adventure Golf. Patrick was a great golfer! We never tallied up the scores, but I am pretty sure he came in second after Jason. Emma Anne & I were both pretty lacking in our putting skills. Sarah lost interest in trying after about the 5th hole, but still had fun watching us golf and looking for pirates. Abby enjoyed just watching us and holding her golf ball & baby golf club.

The kids did so well at golf that we decided to take them to lunch. We went to Lulu's, which is owned by Jimmy Buffet's sister. We had one of the best tables overlooking the water so the kids got to watch the boats passing by in the bay.

We came back home and all of us took a nap at the same time, which never happens. After we got up Jason & Emma Anne took Patrick and Sarah back down to the pool. I brought Abby down after a while & we hunted more hermit crabs.

Last night Jason and I took another date. We got some drinks and listened to a live cajun band. Then we went for a walk on the beach and watched some fireworks. While we were sitting there we were looking at the stars and saw a shooting star! Neither one of us could believe it. On one of our first dates over 15 years ago we saw a shooting star overlooking Vulcan, and last night was just as special.

Our fairy tale ends today. We will be coming back to the 'Ham this evening sometime. I am so thankful for our vacation. It has been an amazing week.

Brown Eyed Girl

Ok, So I have hazel eyes. But how often do you get to dance at the beach with your husband to live music? Last night Jason & I got to have a real live, honest to goodness date- at the beach! We didn't know what to do with ourselves so we just drove down the front beach road to Orange Beach & back to Gulf Shores first. We ended up at The Hangout, a really fun restaurant that is open air and has a stage for live music and bars & seating outside. We had the best time! There was a band called the Wes Loper Band playing and as the night wore on, our inhibitions were lowered and we eventually danced to Brown Eyed Girl. What a special memory for me!

We have been having the best vacation. Thankfully no one has been sick, especially Abby. Day before yesterday Jason took Patrick deep sea fishing for the first time. (We made this his Father's Day present.) They caught red snapper and the trip was a success. Patrick didn't get sea sick which was one of my main concerns. Jason grilled some of the snapper for dinner last night. It was good; perfectly prepared. Patrick said it was his new favorite meal.

Yesterday Jason cooked us a huge breakfast and then we spent all day on the beach. The kids are really occupied just playing in the sand. Emma Anne suggested we get a really big sandbox for the backyard!

The weather is supposed to be great again today, so I picture a repeat of yesterday. Gotta go get my coffee!

Being The Mom on Vacation

Our vacation has been awesome so far. We have been up close & personal with lots of wildlife. We have caught crabs in the crab trap we put out off the pier here at the lagoon. We have caught little hermit crabs with our net. We saw a big heron having dinner on the beach here at the lagoon. We have seen a little tree frog- I caught it so the kids could get a good look and it peed on me! Of course we have seen fish and the kids have had fun collecting shells at the beach. Yesterday we got to see a pod of dolphin swimming down the beach. We have even seen a red fox here on the resort grounds!...

Unfortunately there are a ton of jellyfish in the ocean and the lagoon. I hope that they go away SOON so I won't worry so much about the kids getting stung. Patrick got stung on the face yesterday. Like, he came up from a wave and Jason saw the tentacle on Patrick's face. Poor baby. But he so resilient and was fine very soon after, even though it continued to be red all evening. And we have pretty much all been stung by the little particles of jellyfish floating around in the water.

It is strange to be a mom on vacation. In some ways it doesn't resemble the idea in my mind of what a vacation is: being carefree, doing what you want, when you want. Once you become a mom everything changes, especially Responsibility. Being responsible for my children is such a tough chore, but an endless blessing, don't get me wrong. It is just interesting. Even though I am on vacation I am still doing endless amounts of laundry- even more than normal with all our trips to the beach & pools. I can't really relax on the beach- I am too busy keeping a constant eye out to make sure no one drowns, gets sand in their eye, gets stung by a jellyfish, is hungry, has to go to the bathroom, or steals sand toys from each other. But it is all so worth it to see them having fun. I have to remind myself that is why we do all this work- for those smiles & laughs & those memories they will have... On a side note, thankfully I am not doing this alone. Jason is so good at helping and also we have our cousin, Emma Anne, here to help with the children. She has been fabulous and seriously I don't think I could have done the trip without her. At the ages that the children are, you just really have to have a pair of hands for everyone at all times... I wonder how Jon & Kate Plus Eight ever go anywhere!

More updates to come. Sarah is the only one up so far & I am about to make my coffee!!!

Family Vacation in Gulf Shores

How blessed am I? This is the view from our balcony at sunset. You can see the Little Lagoon in front and the Gulf of Mexico on the other side of the houses on the left. The photo doesn't do it justice. Being here in person is amazing.

Yesterday we took the kids to the beach, came back to the condo for lunch & a nap. Then it rained, so we went to Foley to the outlet malls and ate at Lambert's restaurant for dinner. This was our first time ever eating at Lambert's and the kids, especially Patrick, loved it! For those of you who aren't familiar, at Lambert's they throw the dinner rolls to you from across the restaurant. It was a lot of fun.

This morning we went to Walmart & stocked up on food & now Jason has Patrick and Sarah at the beach. I am here at the condo with Abby. She just fell asleep and I have just brewed my first pot of coffee for the day. It is calling me...

Old Friends, Part Two

So I thought I would expand on the topic from last post. We got to see our best friends Meg & Jeff & their children tonight. We have been friends now for so long I honestly think of them like brother and sister instead of friends. It is so awesome that God gives us friends like these to help us walk through our journey. It wouldn't matter if I saw Meg & Jeff everyday (like I used to when we lived on the same street) or once a year, I would always love them just the same. Anyways, I will try to turn down the sappiness next post!...

Old Friends

Tonight we had friends over for dinner that we haven't seen in like a decade! Gela was my absolute best friend- my BFF! It was amazing to see her and meet her husband and her one year old son. It is so awesome to see her as a mother and wife. To me it felt like we picked up right where we left off. I hope it was the same for her and I hope we can continue to get together often. Isn't it funny how some friends are just for a period of time or for a particular reason, but then there are those few friends in your life that are just like family. And it doesn't matter if you see or talk to them once a day, month, year; they will always be like family. You don't have to put on makeup or straighten up the house or worry if you have something in your teeth. These relationships are especially sweet for me, I guess since I am an only child. I am so thankful for the gift of friends.