Precious Pictures

Last night, the boys and I had our pictures taken by my sweet friend Elizabeth that recently started her own photography business. I was overjoyed at how our pictures turned out. I know that I'm just slightly biased, but I think I have two of the cutest kids on the planet! Thank you Elizabeth for turning our chaos into little works of art!!

Braxton's First Soccer Game

Braxton’s first soccer game was on Saturday, and it was…well…umm… let’s just say it was entertaining. Braxton has never played soccer before and he is certainly NOT an aggressive kid. When we signed up for soccer, all I knew was that he liked to run. I figured that was enough of a prerequisite for him to play soccer in the 6 and under league. I’m beginning to think that that may have been an incorrect assessment on my part. I should have known that this was going to be an interesting season when I told the coach that Braxton was a bit timid and not aggressive and he said to me, “Well, it should be interesting watching him play soccer!” I also should have known that when I got his uniform that he may be a bit smaller than the other players in his league. I told the coach to order him the smallest shorts that they had, and apparently that wasn’t small enough. His shorts fell right off of him. His shirt also hung to his knees. I searched high and low to find him some shorts that fit – no luck. He ended up wearing shorts that were too big and made him look as if he were wearing some sort of strange looking skirt or something. See Exhibit A:



When we showed up for the big game, the first thing I noticed was that the other kids all looked a little bigger and certainly had better fitting uniforms. That should have clued me in right away that we were in for some trouble. The game started, and I quickly praised the Lord that Braxton wasn’t of “starting player” caliber, because within the first five seconds of the game, our opposing team’s star player got the ball and headed straight down the field and scored a goal. This kid was two head lengths taller than every other kid on the team and had obviously kicked a soccer ball a time or two before. As the game progressed, he began kicking kid’s legs out from under them. Any time he was around a player on our team, somehow they ended up on the ground. Poor Braxton stood and watched in horror as I smiled and tried to encourage him that everything was going to be ok and that this was “fun.” After watching a few more minutes (and about ten more goals for the other team!), I began to get scared for my sweet little boy. I ended up telling him that he never even had to touch the ball. He just needed to run back and forth with the other players as fast as he could. Sure enough, he got called in to play for the second quarter and he did exactly that! One of the players on the other team was playing defense and was covering Braxton. He got all up in Braxton’s personal space (another issue we’ll discuss at a later date) and Braxton gave me the “Mommy, I’m not liking this” look! He tried to politely back away from him and didn’t want much to do with the whole defense thing. See Exhibit B



My sweet boy ended up playing in two quarters of the game and managed to stay on both feet the entire game. In the end, the Fire Ants only scored two goals on Saturday. One goal was scored by the coach’s son. The other was accidentally kicked in by the opposing team. I lost track of what the final score was. I’m thinking it was like 600-2 or something like that. After the game, Braxton said that he had a good time, so I guess that’s all that matters. I am thinking that this is going to be one crazy season!

First Day of School

Braxton had his first day of PreK-5 today. I can’t help but be in shock at how quickly the last five years have flown by. I feel like I blink and he’s a year older and an inch taller. He is getting so big! He looks more and more like his daddy every day, too. Last week he was sitting in a little chair that his Aunt Vic bought him and had his long legs crossed, just like Jimmy used to do. It’s crazy how no one taught him how to do that. It’s just in the genes! He also started soccer two weeks ago and loves getting to wear his cleats. He says that they make him run faster. He’s so cute and constantly keeps me smiling (like when he tells Auston every night before bedtime, “Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the BAD bugs bite!”). I’m just too proud of my sweet boy! Here are some pictures of his first day of school and his newest toy (it's a hit with all of the kids in the neighborhood and Pops will be jealous when he sees it)!!

An Expensive Snack

Yesterday, Auston enjoyed the most expensive meal he’ll ever eat. No, it wasn’t a steak from Del Frisco’s, or a big spoonful of caviar, it was this:



Yep, that’s a mushroom. We had a few of these growing in our back yard, and Auston decided to find out if they tasted good. Apparently these silly things can be really poisonous and when your child eats one, poison control recommends that you quickly take a little trip to the emergency room. Auston was given a charcoal and cranberry juice concoction to absorb all of the toxins from the mushroom. He also had to have some blood work done. Thankfully he is doing just fine now. Good times! There’s certainly never a dull moment with this kid!



Here's a picture of Auston after enjoying his charcoal treat, complete with charcoal residue on his mouth.



The EMT that took his vitals apparently found some humor in the reason that we were there.

Getting SO Big!

Auston is learning to sing his ABC's, so I thought I'd share his talent with all of you! At 16 months old, I think it's pretty impressive (and oh so cute)!!

Six Months

February 7, 2009 at the Dallas Children's Museum

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Today marks the six month anniversary since Jimmy’s death. I am still in shock that how in a matter of minutes, your life can be completely changed. I’ve always heard the saying that “The Lord will never give you more than you can handle,” and I know that I’ve said that phrase to others dealing with tough times. There have been so many times in this journey that I have said, “Why on earth did the Lord think I could handle this?” My sweet friend Ginger, who is such an amazing Christian, pointed out to me recently that the saying “the Lord will never give you more than you can handle” just isn’t Biblical. It doesn’t say that anywhere in the Bible. The Lord promises that we will not be tempted more than we can handle, and He will always give us a way out, but it doesn’t say that He won’t give us more strife/grief/pain than we can handle. A light bulb went off in my head when she said that, and I realized that the Lord DOES give us more than we can handle. He does it so we will learn to cast our worries and burdens upon Him so he can handle it for us. There is NO WAY I could have handled Jimmy’s death in my own strength. In my own strength, I shudder to think of where I'd be - not functioning as a human or dead. The Lord has carried me through this each and every step of the way. He has given me peace, rest and hope even though the walls of my world seem to be crashing down around me. Thank you Ginger for pointing that out to me. As I reflect on so many big events (my birthday, our 12th anniversary, Braxton's 5th birthday, etc), it made me realize that in my own strength, I can bear nothing. But with the Lord’s strength, “I can do all things!” Phillipians 4:13

29 (For the 3rd Time Around!!)

I love to laugh. Life without laughter just isn’t worth living! In light of the difficult year I’ve had, I wanted to have a fun birthday this year. My wish was to have a great time with my friends and share lots of laughs and smiles, and we did just that. My sweet friend Trena’s birthday is the day before mine (11th), so we decided to host a Backyard Birthday Bash for the two of us and invite some of our friends to come and celebrate with us. We had an awesome time and I certainly got my fill of laughs! I came home and thought about all of the amazing people that came to celebrate our birthdays with us, and all I could feel was completely blessed! Thank you to each and every one of you who took the time to celebrate with us! I love each of you SO very much and am so humbled that the Lord would put so many precious people in my life at one time! Thanks to everyone for making my birthday a great one!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow