Let the magic begin

Kindergarten is "the magic year" when ...
Little kids turn into students.
There is still a nap or rest time.
The first day is spent chasing the gingerbread men your class colored all over the school only to find the papers have transformed into cookies and are waiting for you in your own new classroom.
Everybody is the new kid.
It's a thrill to eat the first few trays of cafeteria food.
There is story time after lunch and snack time after recess.
Everyday you start with your clip on white, no matter how many color changes you received the day before.
There are no spelling tests, math tests, or graded readings test.
The grades are either S's for satisfactory or N's for needs improvement, no F's for failure.
Kindergarten.
The magic year.
For Rhett it began today.
It was everything he hoped for...
Except that he didn't get to ride a school bus home because we live too close to the school.
But he loved it.
Said he made 19 new friends today and thinks he wants to go back tomorrow!
It has begun.

Rhett getting his Kindergarten Bible at church Sunday.

Look at that Kindergartner!

The first day of school!

With Mrs H. Mrs H. may look familiar as she was Kolby's K teacher and is Mom to our "first third child" McKenna (who I kept for a year when Rhett was 2 and she was Ella Kate's current age.) Mrs H and her family are some of our favorite people!

Miss Kolby also started a magical year...4TH GRADE!

In our school, 4th grade is the senior class. They are the top dogs! Fourth graders have lots of fun as this is their last Elementary year. Next year it is on to the Intermediate School! (Doesn't that just sound so intimidating! INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL!)

Kolby's teacher is also named Mrs. H! Kolby really likes her and so do I. This year will be a test for Kolby in some ways because for the first time she ended up in a different class from every one of her good girl friends. I hate that for her ! But I know my social butterfly will find some new friends very soon. She also is not going to let a few walls keep her from her old friends. I can't believe Kolby is already in the 4th grade! Seems like just a year or so ago that we were dropping her off in Kindergarten! It goes so fast! How do I slow this ride down???? :)

This will be the only year Kolby and Rhett ever share a school if we stay in this school district. I wish they could share a campus a few more years. They are both excited to be in school together, but neither would readily admit to that!

I am excited that both my kids love school, have great teachers and the have same drop off and pick up schedule! It looks to be a great year! I also am glad to have some one on one time with Miss Ella Kate ( who I have not blogged about in a while) Guess that gives me something to blog about later!

Happy New School Year!

Waterslide/Transfomer/ Blast-off Birthday Party

Last Night was Rhett's "Water slide Transformer K Blast-off Birthday party." With a theme like that I did not have any choice but to do the cake myself! I actually bought an undecorated cake from Sam's and then built the slide from frozen pound cake I bought at the grocery. A few straws, wooden skewer, one recipe each of royal and stiff buttercream icing, a few action figures and a couple of mid-night hours and WA-Lah We had a WATER SLIDE,TRANSFORMER, BLAST-OFF, BIRTHDAY CAKE! Rob thinks I am crazy to spend so much time on a cake...But when my 5 (almost 6) year old son tells me I am "the best Mom in the world for making that awesome cake"...Well, I think it is time well spent!

Revised on 8-26
This was a really fun party that we have been looking forward to all summer! Rhett was barely able to contain his excitement in the days and hours leading up to his "Blast-off Birthday" as he usually calls it. It was hard work getting it all set up, but once the party started, it was a breeze!

Te water slide was the main attraction.

Water balloon baseball was also a hit.

We graduated to a "hit" pinata this year. No more pull string pinatas for this guy! The "light saber" noodle fights on the trampoline and the water cannons were also a hit. We had a great group of kids. Three or four of these kids have been at every one of Rhett's parties starting when he was 1! The fact that they are all off to school in a few days... I am not ready to think about it! There were no injuries, no fights, no fits and no tears. I was amazed how well all the kids shared and got along!

Afterwards Rhett got to do something he has wanted to do all summer... He had his cousins spend the night! These three are a hoot! They were so funny, all wanting to sleep in the same trundle bed.

Rhett has told me over and over it was the best party of his life.... though I'm not convinced he remembers the first three! It was a really good night. and a great way to end our long summer.

Last days of Summer

We have been pretty busy these last two weeks. You know about the air conditioner, but before that we took a few days off to do some fun things and meet with friends.

We started off with a trip to Six Flags. Well actually I dropped Rob and the kids off at Six Flags and Ella Kate and I went shopping and checked into the hotel. We met up with everyone for dinner. I thought going to Six Flags after the sun went down would be OK with a 13 month old.

I was wrong. It was still too hot. But w had a good time and were very excited to get back to the hotel!
The next day we met up with the Jenkins and went to The Star Wars Exhibit at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History.
Knowing our families love of all things Star Wars, you can imagine how fun that was! Then after lunch at Joe T's we all headed over to Frisco to stay with some other friends.

If you have read this blog before you may remember we talking about the "Fort Worth Friends" which is a group of four families that all used to live in Fort Worth together when our first babies were born. These four families were not original to the area and had no family there, so we became a little family. Anyway with in a few years we had all moved away, but have gotten together four times in the last five years for a reunion. Sadly our Houston family had a sick child and could not make it. But we had a great, relaxing two days visiting and letting the kids play.

As you read in the previous post, we came home from this weekend at 10:30pm on Sunday night to find our air conditioner had gone out , probably the day after we left. Our house was so hot! And then through some weird turns and twists, we ended up featured on the local 10 o'clock news!

These are pictures from the live remote broadcast from my aunt's lawn. (where we were staying)

We got home late Wednesday. Our house finally reached the 70's by late Wednesday night. Thursday night we had a t-ball swim party at a friends house. By this point I had lost track of the camera. Elizabeth was there so I hope she will send me some pics (hint, hint) Friday Kolby had a few school friends over to water slide and watch High School Musical 2.
WOW was it a loud night! (Does anyone else have "Hey batter batter, hey batter batter swing" stuck in their head?) It was fun to see some girls we hadn't seen all summer and HSM2 did not disappoint... Well, except for the fact that they cut Kolby's favorite song from the soundtrack out of the movie. Something tells me the song will come out in the movie eventually though...maybe as a bonus feature on the DVD? :) One more HSM2 thing to look forward to! :)

Early Saturday Rob went back to the metro-plex for the Church State Softball Tournament. He and the team were home by dinner...but they had fun! Sunday I worked nursery, we went to lunch with the fam and I spent some quality time in Target celebrating Tax Free Weekend while Rhett and Kolby entertained cousins Justin and Whitney with their Daddy at home.

Today is Rhett's "Special day" with Aunt Sari. They left around 9am and are not due back until tonight. Tomorrow is Kolby's turn. Wednesday I have some major dental work scheduled. Thursday is Rhett and Kolby's BLAST-OFF at school where we meet their teachers and put all their school supplies in their desk. Friday we are having Rhett's birthday party with the water slide in the back yard. Saturday is Rhett's first Soccer game. Then we will try to rest and gear up for the start of school next Tuesday!

So that is our plan for the last days of summer! It's a busy time... especially when you throw in the fact that Rob is starting back to grad school this week. I think I am ready for school to start so that maybe life will slow down! Yeah right! I know! The crazy Fall rush has begun! Now if we could only get some Fall like weather....

Home Sweat Home

Yeah. That wasn't a typo! We are home.
The air conditioner has been repaired thanks to the resourcefulness and stick-to-it-ness of my husband! Well, sorta repaired. It's still in the 80's in here, but it is slowly cooling off. The AC guy (who was great!) is coming in the morning to finish the job. We could have stayed away another night but we were all really ready to come home. Just last week I was telling someone how we never go anywhere and how I wanted break from my house....Be careful what you wish for! The last week has been quite an adventure.

I hope to tell more of the story when I have had some sleep, a shower, and the temperature of my house is in the 70's! But as crazy and exhausting as the past week has been, it has also been lots of fun! I'm thankful for so much right now! Here's a short list for starters

I'm thankful for...
Old friends who make you feel so comfortable and cherished when you are with them that you are able to pick up right where you left off. And the fact that our kids got along so well and played together with very little input from us... It was just a great week end!

My kids who have kept the perspective positive by viewing every night away from home as a vacation, even if we were just across the street. Kolby and Rhett were little troopers and I am so proud of them. EllaKate has had her issues, but for a 13 month old on antibiotics with nasty sinus infection who hasn't slept in her own bed in a week AND managed to fall on her head at least once a day... she did pretty good!

My parents and sister who at first welcomed us and then helped us with every thing when they became fellow broken air-conditioner refugees! They are probably really tired of us, but they still keep offering to keep us until the AC is back to 100%. They must really love us!

My aunt and cousins who took us in and let us hang out, eat their food and visit like we used to in the old times before we all lived here. All the kids made it challenging at times, but I would not take for any of them! Some of my fondest chidhood memories are of summer days and nights spent with my cousins. It's fun to do that again all these years later with our kids! I am so glad my kids are making great memories with their cousins. It was a fun two nights!

My husband who refused to give up when we were told it might be another week before the special order parts were in. Rob truly saved the day by calling parts dealers all over the state directly and searching until the parts were found...and right here in Waco! Rob even endured the 105+attic to get all the numbers off our AC unit! It's sort of a long story but, if he hadn't done what he did, we might still have been across the street wearing out our welcome! (Mom and Dad's air conditioner was repaired this morning.)

I'm thankful that I live in Texas in 2007 instead of 1907. Truly. How do those with out AC survive? I get so cranky and flustered in the heat. Why do we live in Texas? I ask myself this every August.

I'm grateful that God has provided for us as always. It looked like this week was going to be the worst, but it wasn't. We are home. And we were taken care of when we couldn't be home. I'm overwhelmed at the ways God chooses to teach us and bless our lives. Even on hot, crazy, unbelievable days!

Thanks for all the prayers and fond wishes. It's nice to have the blog family when I need to vent my frustrations, ask for prayers or just share the up and downs of this life. I always feel I have a blog family rooting for me! Thanks!

It's SSSSSOOOOOO good to be home!

No place like home

We just returned from a four day trip very happy to be home. When I opened the door from the garage I realized the house was just as hot as the garage. Not a good sign. It appears that our air conditioner has gone ca-put! It was 90 degrees in our living room at 10:30PM. Not what you want to come home to. So I'm going to be calling air conditioner repair guys in the AM! Pray for us! Really! It's supposed to be over 100 again tomorrow. I think I want to go back on vacation! 

Updated 4:30pm on Monday

In a very cruel twist of fate, minutes after the repairman called to tell me they probably can't get the part in for our air conditioner until Wednesday, my parents air conditioner went out. No really. I'm not kidding. I couldn't make this up. But some one please tell me... what are the odds?  AND the bad news is BUSH is in town and all the hotels are booked.  UUUGGGHHH!!!!!

Updated Monday 10:00pm

And believe it or not... somehow I ended up on the ten o'clock news tonight. The lead story was on all the air conditioners going out around town and I was the interview. They did a live remote from my Aunt's lawn.  No, I'm not kidding! I could not make this stuff up! After sweating it out all day I looked so bad! But I'm so happy to be in a cool place that I don't even care! 

The kids and I are staying in our forth place in 5 nights that is not our home. I'm just happy to have lots of family here! We have not spent the night at my Aunts since we moved here. Before we moved here I used to visit everyother month or so. It's kinda fun to all be out here. The kids think this is the best week ever! The privledge of youth I guess! Hoping to be home by Thursday at the latest and trying to stay cool in the mean time!

For the first time in 15 years

I am not a dog owner.

In mid-August 1992 I returned from my second summer in Kenya to finish out one more year at ACU. My fifth year. All my room mates and most of my friends had graduated the year before. I was coming back to ACU to live in a one bedroom apartment by myself. A week before school started I was in Waco visiting my cousins and saw an ad for Shit-zu puppies. My cousin and I went "just to look." I wanted a "roommate."

The puppies I went to see were too small to leave their Mom. I would have to come back in 3 weeks. But there was one little puppy from a different litter in this not so nice home kennel. The owner explained that he was a stud fee puppy and she was going to keep him. But he pawed and pawed at his cage so she let me hold him. He was a flirt! He was 6 weeks old but was so little that his hind legs barely draped over my wrist when I held him in the palm of my hand. He weighed less than two pounds. I had already agreed to come back and get one of the other puppies in a few weeks when the owner said that she would let me take that puppy today, for the right price. My cousins and I thanked her and left, but we didn't get far. The thought of leaving that cute puppy there in that yucky cage was just too much for me. I turned the car around and went right back and bought him (writing three post dated checks and getting some $$ help from my cousin.)

I named him Berkley after Berkley Hackett, the missionary I had worked with in Kenya. (Thus fulfilling my obligation to name my first "child" after BH!:) I have had Berkley ever since. He was great company through out the remainder of my days at ACU. He lived with me and my family during my car show years based in San Angelo. Berkley met Rob before my parents did. He was there through out our short dating period and our long engagement.  When Rob married me, he got Berkley too. We were a package deal. Berkley was our first "child" with us in our apartments in Midland, Euless and Hurst. He was there when we moved into our first home and then this our second home. Through bringing three babies home...Berkley has just always been here.

There were two times I tried to give him away. The first was after he snapped at and bit a sweet 9 month old Kolby. He didn't seem to like babies much, though he was protective in the way that he would sleep by their crib or bedroom door. The second was when he snapped at Rhett. But both times when it came time to say goodbye, I couldn't bear the thought of him wondering where we were or the thought that someone might hurt him if he snapped at them. We just kept him away from the kids and vice-versa. He hadn't really snapped at anyone in a long time, but we didn't give him much chance. I don't think he has been with in a foot of Ella Kate in the last 13 months. He was happy to just find a corner and sleep.

There were only two nights during those 15 years when I did not know where Berkley was. The first was when a repairman accidentally let Berkley out of our Hurst apartment. Rob and I searched the streets in a panic like two parents searching for their missing child. We did not rest until Animal Control opened the next morning at 9AM and confirmed that he was there. We had quite a homecoming celebration after I bailed Berk out of puppy prison! The second night was this year during Kolby's slumber party. He somehow got out and was taken in by a neighbor. It had been in the 20s that night and I feared the worst. We had started making signs and combing the neighborhood when we found him safe and sound. I know where his body is tonight, but I'm not at all sure where Berkley is. I just know he is not here. Berkley is gone.

Rob took him to the vet this morning. I couldn't. I am so grateful Rob did it. I know it was hard for him. Berkley needed to go. He had lost his hearing. He was blind in one eye and almost blind in the other. All his teeth were going bad. He had pain in his back legs and hips. He had lost control so I had to keep him outside before he ruined every carpet in the house. He was too old to become an outside dog, and it is too hot in Texas to do that to an old dog who has lived indoors his whole life. It was time.

I cried for the better part of last night and this morning but didn't let the kids know. They just thought he was going to the vet. We told them this afternoon when Rob came home. Kolby had been expecting it. Rhett cried. I joined him. We left Ella Kate with my Mom and drove out to my uncle's land. We buried Berkley under an oak tree by a pond where many family dogs have been buried. We placed a rock on his grave on which we had written these words with a sharpie:

Berkley Elliot Grosz

1992-2007

He was a good dog.

We each shared a favorite memory of Berkley. Rob said a prayer. Kolby planted a single white rose in the ground. Then we left.  As we drove home Rhett matter-of-factly said "I don't have a dog anymore." For the first time in 15 years, I don't either.

Thanks for being our dog Berkley! We're going to miss you. We are certain that if if there is a Doggie Heaven, you are there. And you aren't shaking, scared or hurting anymore. For that I am so glad. Rest in peace sweet puppy dog!

I have tons of Berkley pictures, but these are all that I can find on my computer tonight...

Kolby & Berkley in 1999.

Berkley and Rhett last Fall posing for Rhett's first show-n-tell pictures.

This morning. Snuggling in the brown chair before Dad took Berk to the vet.

Aside added 8-7-07

The last year or two with Berkley have not been so good. It wasn't until we buried him last night that all the great memories I have of him started coming back. I think we waited too long. I think we let him suffer. He has not been the Berkley we knew for a long time. I mourn the Berkley who sat on his hind legs and begged for food, the Berkley who buzzed circles in the house, the Berkley who made any ole brown paper sack into a hilarious attack tent. The sad old puppy who slept all the time, peed on the carpet every other hour, and scared me every time a baby was near...well it is not so hard to let that Berkley go. If anyone reading this is facing a similar situation please do not wait too long like we did! Yesterday was hard, but honestly it has been harder to watch Berkley go down hill and loose his happy curled tail love of life. Yesterday Berkley didn't feel a thing. And I hope where ever he is, he is buzzing and running circles today!

Don't Tickle Elmo!

Until you check this website.

http://www.service.mattel.com/us/recall/39054_IVR.asp?prod=

The above link should lead you to a list and pictures of Fisher Price Toys that were recalled this week do to unsafe levels of lead in their paint.

If that link does not work, you can access the recall list from the Mattel Consumer Answer site. http://www.service.mattel.com/us/default.asp

Many Sesame Street, Dora and Deigo toys were recalled.
I had actually just bought one of them as a Birthday present a week or two ago.

Hum dinger

Well a Hummer anyways...
While in College Station I saw this sweet little grandma-esque lady climb into this big ole Hummer...

I don't know why it amazed me so but I grabbed my camera and took some pictures.

I guess it's not every day you see a little ole granny driving a Hummer...but I was close to Aggie land! :)

Speaking of AGGIES... Suzanne and Joe had the quads yesterday! Can I get four big WHOOPS! Scoot on over to her blog and tell her congrats! Can you imagine 4 babies! At the same time! It boggles my mind.

And for those of you wondering if I have become an insomniac... sort of. Sometimes during Robs paper route I can't sleep so I go to blog world. If you see me commenting in the middle of the night...well now you know why.

And lastly I want you to meet Charlie.

I don't know if Charlie is long for this world because I have no idea how long spiders live. We met him about two months ago. Almost every night since, come rain or moon beams, we have seen him spin the most incredible web between a little fir tree and the side of our house.

He is quite amazing to watch. No he hasn't written "Some Pig" or anything miraculous, but he is quite the acrobat and he is also lightening fast and very macho!

He has to be a guy because he is so territorial. He drove another spider away by cutting it's web! Really! Kolby and I watched him do it one night! And if you blow toward his web he gets right int he middle and shakes and does this dance that makes his web look like a trampoline!

It's like he is saying "Come on! You want a piece of me!" I saw him take out and wrap a June Bug three times his size one night. It almost tore his web to shreds, but that was one big bug so he probably had his fill for the night. Never thought I would be a spider watcher, but Charlie is hard to miss.

Yeah not much to blog about around here... So what's up with you?

Galveston Get A Way

Kolby finally got to see the beach last week. Yes. I know it's sad. Nine years old and had never been to the beach. But now she has.

Mother nature did not want to cooperate however so our beach day was a bit cloudy and rainy with some rough waves. But don't tell Kolby and Rhett, because they had no idea that it wasn't perfect beach weather. There is an advantage to seeing something for the first time!

Did I mention it was a little windy? I can still taste the sand just looking at this picture.

The kids had a great time in the hotel pool and staying as "ocean front" as possible in Galveston.

We also enjoyed getting to travel with Mama K and Sari.

We spent a few hours at Moody Gardens on the way home.

But MOST IMPORTANTLY, I fulfilled my promise to take Kolby to the beach this summer!

My grandmother used to say if you leave a place wanting to come back, then it's been a great trip. So it was a great trip because I am already planning to go back next year when Rob can come and the weather is better! (back to a beach that is,but it may not necessarily be in Galveston)

School starts in less than a month. Where did our long summer go?

T-Ball...a photo blog

Tonight was most likely Rhett's last T-ball game. We may miss the last two games because of an impromptu trip to the coast. Next year he may play coach pitch. Hard to believe his T-ball days may have come to an end. Sadly, this is the only game my camera made it to this summer.
Here is a little salute to t-ball in pictures...
Just happy to be here.

The cousins.

Waiting to run to 2ND.

Gearing up to bat.

Swing!

Sweet girls!

Giving coach/Dad knuckle!Atta' boy!

I've got it!

Scramble

Waiting for that grounder

The team (minus our friend Thomas who is in Disney world and Kayson)

Good game.
And so ends Rhett's two season T-ball career. Maybe. Next Fall he is already signed up for Soccer.

Ella Kate takes a dive at the pool...

But not into the water.

The other night we went swimming.

"Come back Ella Kate! The pool is the other way!"
Ella Kate decided however that she wanted to do her favorite thing, which is walk and distribute toys to various parts of the backyard. (She is a great distributor!) She would have nothing to do with us or the water.

I was playing photographer, which is a challenge these days as she will not stay still long enough to get a good picture! As I took this picture I started to to tell Rob (who was less than two feet from her) that EK was precariously close to that big step, but... Too late! OUCH!

She just walked right off that step and dove sideways and forehead first into the concrete! Ella Kate has no depth perception! Is this normal for a 12 month old? AND OF COURSE I HAVE HER 1 YEAR PICTURES SCHEDULED TO BE TAKEN THIS TUESDAY! She did the same thing at my Aunts house on some steps on the 4th of July resulting in this...

It hurts to see her get hurt! When she really falls like this, EK cries like her heart has been broken along with her various body parts. It's pathetic! Rob and I both were so upset at ourselves for letting her fall that we could barely even talk until we were sure she was OK! My kids have always hurt themselves the worst when Rob or I (or even Rob AND I) were right there within arms grasp! And when it happens you can't move fast enough! It's like slow motion and you can't reach the inches required to stop it. I hate that! I wish I had a helmet for her!

I also wish I could find a pint-sized pedometer because I swear that baby probably walks a good 10 miles a day! She is so busy! She never wants to sit down. And if we are "ow-sy" (which is Ella Bella speak for outside) she is gone! Though I hate how they look, for her safety and my sanity I'm considering buying one of those baby leash things.

Even though the fall and resulting purple "egg" looked awful, Ella Kate recovered pretty quickly. She even gave up the pavement for the pool for a few minutes.

So do you think I should cancel the pictures?

Deathly Hallows

JK Rowling is brilliant!!! (putting on my best Forrest Gump Face) and that's all I got to say about that. ( For now anyway!)

Biblical women...

This post started a week ago and grew. It is long. Very long. Which is something I try to avoid here. I decided to publish this post anyway because it is just such a part of who I am right now and it speaks to what inspires me. Someday I may want to remember this and share it with my kids.

When I was little, I used to wish that I had been born in Bible times. I wish I could say it was so I could have known Jesus and witnessed great miracles personally, but no, that wasn't it. I wanted to be a character in the Bible to be famous and have little kids all over the world would learn about me and color my picture in Bible class. Bible characters were as "big" to me as the Disney princesses are to little girls today. ( That's a sad and even self indicting statement...but that is fodder for another blog.)

As I grew up I realized that living in Bible times would not have been as glamorous as I thought, and not just because they had to carry their water and live with out air conditioning and store bought mayonnaise. The women in the Bible had hard lives. They were tested and tried in ways I wouldn't want to be. Their children were killed, they were raped and traded, their husbands sometimes took other wives and left them to their bothers when they died. Life was not easy for most women in the Bible.

When I was in college I developed an awe and respect for the likes of Ruth, Sara, Abigail, Mary, and Esther. It was a "Wow! I don't know if I could have done what she did" kind of awe. The type of naive awe that realized our sisters (and brothers) in the Bible were put there to be the examples, teachers, references and inspiration for all the generations to come, but didn't realize why. Now I have come to believe that God gave us these great (and sometimes not so great) real people who walked and breathed as examples because he knew we too would suffer the same trails and temptations to some degree. The people in the Bible did not suffer trials and temptations so that generations would be spared. They suffered trials and temptations because we all will. God in his wisdom used their lives to show us that we are not alone and that He has been taking care of "our kind" for a long time. Even if we are weak and weary, He is strong and faithful. Sometimes it takes all our faith to believe that, but seeing how he works in the lives of others sure helps.

Now when I think of Biblical women, I don't just think of the women in the Bible. God has blessed me by letting me know women who have lived the truths of the Bible personally. Women who lived through adversity yet walked away praising God and loving Jesus even more. Women like my grandmothers. Women like Diane Cope, Sharon Small, Judy Thomas, Ann Griggs, Ruth Ann Stallings, Pam Money, Charlotte Hackett, Jamie Hackney, Sandra Woods... and the list goes on. Women who I have watched up close and from a distance. Women who have praised God with broken hearts. It is one of the greatest blessings of my life to know women such as these.

But lately I realize that God has blessed me with an entirely new group of biblical Godly women from the most unlikely of sources. Through my computer I am able to check in with women who show their hearts for Christ through the words they write. Many of you to the left in my blog role are such women.But lately there are four women who I know mainly through blog world who have really been on my heart and mind. I may have a mutual friend or "live" connection to them, but I feel I know them because of their blogs.

It should come as no surprise that all of these women are mothers, because at this stage in my life, my kids are the main focus of my time, energy, love and ministry. These women inspire me. They challenge me just by the way they live their life. I have prayed for them, cried for them, laughed with them on their blogs. I love these women for the heart they have, the courage they show and the life they live. None of them know I am writing this today. Most don't even know I read their sites, so don't freak them out with comments or anything. You may already know them, but I wanted to share these women God has revealed to me, and in my own way pay tribute to them and HIM!

The first is Lee Ann Brown. She and her family have been on my mind and in my thoughts since a tragic car accident took her son Conner in May. Even though her husband Tod is usually the one to writes in their family journal on this site, Lee Ann wrote the last entry. And you can tell just from reading the comments what an incredible woman she is. Incredible and real. Her brother is an ACU friend. What has inspired me most about Lee Ann ( who I think I met a few times during the 6 months we lived in Midland and went to Golf Course Road) is what people say about her son Conner. How do you raise a child to be that normal and fun and that Godly, sweet, and compassionate at age 13? I am overcome with grief for her and yet so in awe of the mother, wife, sister, friend and in all things, christian woman she must be.

The second is Leigh Saxon. Her son Jack is the same age and goes to the same school as my daughter Kolby. A friend I used to carpool with when Kolby was in kindergarten took Jack home from school sometimes, so as a car pool we all took Jack home sometimes. I said "Hi" to Leigh when I saw her in the halls at school and around town. I really didn't know her or her family though until I started reading her families blog. I keep using this phrase but I don't know how else to say it, I am in awe of her and how well she has handled all that her entire family have been through for the last four and a half years while her son Paul battled cancer. Paul went to live with Jesus last Saturday. And Leigh, along with her wonderful husband Terrill, spoke at Paul's Service/ Celebration, refusing to call it a funeral and asking people not to wear black. I can only imagine what their hearts and minds are feeling but their spirit, Leigh's spirit, is so inspiring. You can get to know her here.

And then there is Stephanie McCord, whom I have never met. I have never even commented on her blog. She is a young mother who lost her husband Keith last December after a short but painful and tiring battle with cancer. Her baby boy and only child is a month older than Ella Kate! At 30 she is now faced with a life she never envisioned. She is a single Mom with a 13 month old. Her blog has brought me to my knees and I have cried for her like I would my own sister. It truly hurts to read her words sometimes. But her faith is so real. She inspires me. She has not given up. She will not let herself give up. She is doing all she can to make the best life possible for Lincoln and to be the person God has called her to be. She is honest. She makes me laugh and she makes me cry. She has put into words some of the very same questions and thoughts I have had about God and his powers to love, heal and sometimes seem silent. AND she does so much with that little boy! She is an incredible Mother! She lives to show her son God's love. I sometimes come away from her blog ashamed of the things I take for granted. BUT, I always come away inspired to keep God's love and will for my life in the front of my mind and the focus of my heart. She makes me want to be a better wife and mother. Even through this incredible grief and sorrow she is showing others how to heal, grieve, move on and make everyday count. This is her blog.

Lest you think I am a grief junkie, I saved this one for last. Suzanne's blog needs no props and most likely no introduction. Suzanne grew up in the church my family is now a part of. I love to get the scoop on Suz (who I have seen but never met) from her Mom. I am also one of the thousands of people who check her blog every day to see how she and the quadruplets she is currently 28 weeks pregnant with are doing. Suzzane has a love for God that emanates through the words of love she writes about her husband, family, friends and yes, the fab four growing inside her. She has been in the hospital for weeks on bed rest. We are praying for her to carry the babies to week 32. Just four weeks to go! If you are one of the 2 people in "the blogger nation" who have not been following Suz's progress, get on over there and give her some love! I think about her all the time. I look at Ella Kate and wonder how in the world anyone could handle three more of her...at the same time! WOW! I think Suzanne's great testimony has just begun and we in blog land are blessed to be able to share in her journey.

My fingers hurt, as I'm sure your eyes do! I know this is too long. If you have stuck with me this far, thank you for letting me share these women who are inspiring my life. I am amazed at the affection God enables us to feel for those we do not really know. Kindred spirits are one of the great gifts we get to enjoy here on Earth. I hope these women inspire you and that you are as blessed as I have been to share in their journeys through words on a web site. God bless!

New Addiction

I have been a big HGTV fan for years. But recently while looking for ideas for Rhett's room I came across the HGTV web site's "Rate My Space" area. I am addicted! I LOVE to see how people have decorated their homes. Today I even uploaded pictures of my girls rooms, just for fun. If you also love to see how other people decorate, and want one more thing to keep you addicted to the computer, hop on over to HGTV.com and

Rate My Space!