Out of the mouth of Babe

I have to blog this one because it is simply amazing! I was tucking Little David in tonight and he looks up at me and says, "Mommy, thank you for all of the wonderful things you do for Me and Grant." I smiled and choked up and said, "David, that is so sweet. Thank you so much....Did Daddy ask you to tell me that?" He replied, "No, Mommy I was just lying here thinking about it and I really wanted to say that to you." Then he said, "Good things are coming your way Mommy." Of course this led to a session that I like to call "Kiss your face off". I nearly bathed him in kisses and told him how proud I was to be his Mommy and how much I love him.
Now, I ask you....does life get any better? Thanks be to God for living in the precious heart of my son and always guiding me....even in the words of a 7 year old!

Giving Thanks

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year! It was our 1st one at "home" with our family in 4 years. Little David didn't understand what all the fuss was about until afterwards...he had only seen me cook for our little family in recent years. Mom, Les and I did all of the cooking and we had a real feast! Robbie and Rachel joined us as well as Aunt Dotty. It was a perfect day. We have so much to be thankful for. What am I most thankful for? I am so thankful that God blessed me with 3 healthy, beautiful children. I asked Little David what he was most thankful for and his response was, "I am thankful for God and that I live in a free country so I can worship him." Speechless! What an amazing faith-filled boy he is! My cup runneth over....

Happy Birthday Grant

I feel terrible because I am so behind on my posts. Our precious Grant celebrated her 3rd birthday on November 5th. We have had such a busy few weeks that we decided to ring in her birthday with a small family party. Leslie, Joey, Carlysle, Callie, BeeGee and Papa joined us for a spaghetti dinner, per Grant's request. I made cupcakes in her favorite color, white with white icing. It was a wonderful night and when I tucked her in that night she said, "Mommy, thank you for my party." We love our angel girl so much and can't believe she's 3!!!! BeeGee took Grant to the salon for her 1st real big girl hair cut and I love it! It suits her so well. She is our sassy little ball of fire and we are so proud of her!

Cub Scout

David joined cub scouts this year and we are so proud of him! Daddy was a cub scout and boy scout and went all the way just shy of Eagle scout. We are thrilled that David is learning such wonderful life lessons and helping his community. They have done so many awesome things already and I can't wait to see what else is in store. We love our Tiger Scout!

Halloween 2010

Meet Woody, Jessie and their trusty steed...Bullseye! We had an awesome Halloween evening! We started out with a stop at Mantissa Row to see BeeGee and Papa and finished up at Emmanuel Christian for their Halloween Carnival. Aunt C tagged along and we all had a great time! We are still trying to finish off the gobs of candy they got at the trunk or treat!

Oliver's christening

We had Oliver christened in my home church in Bishopville on October 24th. It was such a perfect day! The sermon was perfect, the choir was perfect, and Oliver was perfect! He honestly looked like a little cherub. He never made a peep and just looked around while the preacher carried him around the sanctuary. Oliver was wearing a family heirloom christening gown which has been worn by 9 other babies in the family, all starting with David's Mother. We celebrated with a luncheon at our house after the service. It was a perfect day! We are so blessed and happy to share this special moment in Oliver's life with our family.

Family fun on the farm

Several weeks ago we had David's mom and siblings out for a fun day on the farm. The cousins had a blast painting picture frames and pumpkins, roasting marshmallows, eating caramel apples, building a fire in the fort, swinging on the rope swing and even taking turns driving Grandaddy's pickup truck. It was a full weekend of so many awesome activites! David even coordinated a family game of kickball. Fall is my absolute favorite time of year and weekends like this make it just perfect! We all had an amazing time and can't wait to do it again!

Happy 7th Birthday David

My baby is 7!!!! My how time flies...I say it every year! David's actual birthday is today but we celebrated with a party a few Saturdays ago and it was awesome! The kids had a blast with all of the Fall fun! We had a hayride, face painting, rope swinging, hot dogs, cupcakes and candy galore. David said it was the "most fun party ever"...that's all I needed to hear. I was so thrilled to see him and all of the children have such a good time. It was a perfect day! Oh, and yes that is Big David driving the tractor for the hayride...he really wants to be a country boy! I'd say he's well on his way! A big thank you to William Welsh for the tractor and to Aunt C, BeeGee and all of those who helped make the party the best one ever!

Pieces of Me

Our daily lives continue to be full of all of the little moments that fill the day and make life more interesting. I'm amazed at how much the children are growing and learning. I'm amazed at how quickly Oliver's infancy is flying by...as though it's a dream. David is busy in school and started cubscouts. Grant is loving school a few days a week and the rest of the time, she enjoys being at home with me. The recent cooler weather has made for some great days at the park. We went to the park almost every day last week. The milder weather also got me outdoors some and I enjoyed taking Oliver for several walks. I can't even describe how much better I feel after a walk/jog in the park, and Oliver seemed just as happy. He actually cooed and giggled the first 10 minutes...maybe it was all of that activity when he was in my tummy? Whatever the case, it sure did us both good!
I've been thinking so much lately about how I give all of these little pieces of myself throughout my day to the ones I love. I pray that they understand and feel comforted in those small ways a mother loves. I find myself reflecting and wondering if they know and feel how much I love them by the ways in which I serve them. Will they ever know how much I put into making their lunchboxes late at night when I'm so tired I can barely stand? Do they understand the joy I get from seeing them run in the park with pure delight? There are endless days of discipline and love and laughter that aren't always easy and days sometimes run together. I've even commented that my life seems at times like the movie "Groundhogs day"....same thing over and over. Oh, but it's not! I learn so much from Grant as we talk and play blocks together and I learn so much from David as we sit and do his homework. I'm simply elated when Oliver looks at me and smiles his larger than life grin. They are wonderful blessings that I begged God for and I am so unbelieveably grateful for them.
So, in the quiet moments when the house is still....I find myself reflecting on how important my role as mother is. I pray for God's guidance and strength and I pray that they always know how much I love them and that I willing give them...all the pieces of me.

Cropduster and Combines

Life in the country continues to be full of wonderful experiences for the children. The last several weeks have been filled with endless days of watching the plane "dust the crops". It has been so cool...almost like having your own air show right in your front yard. Several weeks ago we had our dear friends, The Adams Family come out for dinner and the kids had a blast running out in the yard trying to get the attention of the pilot. Despite their attempts, he was all business but he did get awfully low and fly right over their heads...I swear he was skimming the tops of the plants! So, after all the excitement over the cropdusting, we now have combines all around us as this year's corn crop is being harvested. I took David and Grant out to watch as they cut the field right next to the house and poured the corn into the 18wheeler...they were so excited! It makes me so proud to share the farming way of life with them. I just hate that they never got to see Papa as a farmer but they learn so much from him just as he works in the yard or toils in the garden. I hope they will also develop the love that I have always had for taking care of the earth and being responsible for it. Now, after all of those nice thoughts...I can't help but worry about all of the chemicals our friend "Mr Cropduster" has been spraying all around us. Let's just hope we don't start sprouting cauliflower from our ears! Yikes!

Oliver's 1st solid food

Well, it was time...I knew it but was in denial. My little caboose is growing so fast! Words can't even describe the joy I experience every day with Oliver. All of my children were miracles and all were surprise blessings...I try to remind myself of that daily. What a joy Oliver has been! Many of my posts are centered around the activities of David and Grant because frankly, they are just "doing" more. However, Oliver is doing momentous things too and I'm going to try to do better to document them. Oliver has been showing signs of interest while we were all eating so I finally decided to set him up in the highchair and feed him rice cereal. He did really well and was leaning in for more. I started the experience, followed by Daddy, and then David and Grant each had a turn feeding him. Oliver is also now rolling over, in both directions and is now enjoying his exersaucer. My how time flies! I feel like his infancy is zooming by! We are so blessed by these small but huge moments in his life!

1st Day of School

I can hardly believe David is a 1st grader! David and Grant both started school on Monday at Emmanuel Christian School in Hartsville. Grant is a proud 2ker and she seems to love school! She has literally walked around wearing her backpack everyday for weeks. She is only going 3 days a week but she wants to go everyday. David was so ready for 1st grade and he told me he wasn't even nervous. He recognized several of his classmates from his kindergarten class. It was so bittersweet to watch him walk in to his classroom and sit at his own desk. I can't believe how grown and independent he is! I'm so proud of my big kids!