Late night ramblings...

I need to go to bed but my mind is having a hard time winding down. :)  Life is so incredibly busy these days!

Thank you to those that may have read my last post and prayed for us!  I definitely have felt the prayers of many friends and even some strangers that have heard his story!  The court date went well, and we will have another court date coming up on February 6th.  It has been such an emotional roller coaster!  The Lord has had His hand on the baby through it all though!

 

This past weekend Marc and I attended an all day training on trauma in children. I got up at 6:00 that morning and went out to run. I knew if I didn't go then, it wasn't going to happen!  It was cold and dark, but there is something peaceful about being outside and watching the sun rise! (Something not so peaceful about hearing the coyotes in the distance though!)

 

The cattle farm down the street was covered in frost!  It was so pretty!  I literally watched our little road "wake up"!

This was my last mile headed home.  The sun was finally up!

We are supposed to have temperatures down in the low 20's tonight.  That is pretty cold for this southern gal!  I just don't like cold weather anymore! 

It is very late..... and I will have little boys waking me up bright and early, so I better head to bed!

~Goodnight!

 

Prayers....

appreciated for tomorrow!  We have a pretty important court date concerning "Baby L's" future!

 

Loyalty...

 

 

From the time that Matthew was tiny he followed Marc out to tell him goodbye every morning. I've got pictures somewhere of him waving at the end of our property. I wish I remembered the last time that he did it, but I know he was an older teenager. (Talk about loyal!). Now Marc has three little fellows that follow him out, and just like their big brother they stay out there until Marc is out of sight. Oh, is that man loved.

Life with boys...

 

is never dull....

 

We made "snow"... it was lots of fun until he decided he would throw "snow balls" in the kitchen.:)

Then it wasn't so much fun when he had to sweep.

Later that same day I discovered a bunch of white flour left over from Christmas all over my pantry floor.  Then I saw this....

and he thought it was lots of fun until he had to sweep all of my floors.:)  I have clean floors this week!

This (not so little) fellow has grown up so much!  He is such a hard worker, and he was rewarded this morning when he found this little clutch of eggs!  We bought him about 30 baby chicks last spring.  He lost 20 due to a parasite, but he faithfully took care of the last ten once he knew what was wrong.  He has been letting them free range during the day and they are finally laying! 
Madeline has been our "chicken girl" for years, but with so many other responsibilities she passed it on to Malachi.  He has learned a lot and is looking forward to ordering again this spring!

~Until next time....

Happy Sweet 16 to Mariah!

It becomes so cliché, but I really don't know where the years have gone!

 

Mariah has always been such a fun girl!  She makes me laugh almost daily! :)

McKenzie was so sweet and wanted to host a birthday dinner for her.  She had some sweet friends come over and celebrate with us!

Isn't this cake beautiful!?  She made a yummy dinner of chicken, macaroni and cheese (Mariah's favorite!), salad, bread and dessert!

McKenzie was sending Daniel off with her littles, and I talked her into letting Elizabeth stay.  She was such a little angel throughout the entire party!

It was a mixture of wonderful "old friends" and a couple of new friends that she has met through her theater.

 

After dinner McKenzie had a mug for each one to paint and take home with them. They all had fun!

I'm sure McKenzie had better pictures on her camera, but I figured if I didn't go ahead and post this it would never happen! :)

Each one of my children bring something special to our family.  Mariah definitely brings much joy!  She is also my "get it done" girl!  She can organize my pantry better than me!  So many people have dread of the teenage years.  While there are "emotional moments", I can truly say I have loved having teenagers!  I am so thankful that Mariah is ours! <3 p="">

On her actual birthday, (New Year's Day) we took her annual crown picture.  She has had this since birth and we always do a picture. <3 p="">

The holidays are over, our two New Year's birthdays have passed..... school starts back tomorrow.  Ready or not.....

~Until next time

Happy Birthday....

to Matthew and ringing in the New Year!!!

 

This "kid" has been such a pleasure to raise!  I know I'm a bit biased but he is a pretty great guy!  We whizzed through the teen years without any rebellion, he loves Jesus, works hard, loves his family..... what else can we ask for!  (Well, he is a bit messy. :)

 

 

He comes into my room most every evening to chat  before heading back to his house. He loves to talk and sometimes I can barely keep my eyes open, but I wouldn't trade it for anything!  The above picture is when he was searching for a new restaurant to eat at for his birthday.

 

He has a gym at his work place that he uses most every day.  He has been asking me for months to go with him, and I'm always so busy that I just go running in the mornings.  He told me he wanted me to go on his birthday.... so I went! :)  We had fun working out and doing silly boomerang videos of him lifting weights.

 

Afterwards we went home to get showered and pick Marc up, and then we headed to eat some Greek food!

 

That evening the family all gathered at our house for the birthday celebration, snacks and movies to welcome in 2019!

                                                        Brothers <3 p="">

                                        I love these humans!

 

He usually requests ice cream pie.  Madeline tripled it and made a huge casserole! :)

 

                                                          Make a wish....

 

 Grandpa

 

The company he works for gave him a gift card for his birthday, and while we were out he went and bought new tennis shoes.  I completely forgot that the girls bought him a pair for his birthday!  This was pretty funny! He was happy to return his and get his money back! :0

Since the time he was a toddler I have saved his t-shirts.  He has always loved t-shirts and I managed to save some that were not in terrible shape with the hopes of making a quilt one day. Well, a couple of years ago I got them out of the attic and decided to dive in!  I'm NOT a seamstress, so McKenzie and a friend of mine helped walk me through it.  I worked on it off and on for a couple of years, but I finally finished it in time for his birthday!

Matthew is pretty sentimental and was very happy with it! Those squares all have a story.... so many sweet memories.

 

The guys watched a movie in another room, but the girls and grandpa watched "Driving Miss Daisy".

We watched the countdown.... Matthew shot his gun... and we listened to "Auld Lang Syne".  Mariah teared up when she looked over at grandpa singing as he looked around the room at everyone.  I told her he probably wonders if he will be around for another year.... at 93 you never know!  It made her sad so she ran over to take a picture with him.<3 p="">

 

Well, that was our New Year's Eve,,,, but most importantly celebrating our Matthew!  I'm so thankful the Lord made him ours!