Roller Skating with Girl Scouts

Last night, our family went roller skating as a kick off to Girl Scouts. In addition to Caleb, there were maybe 2 other boys there.  Caleb loved those odds and commented several times about the "good looking ladies".  Oh dear, this boy is going to be the death of me!!

The babes were excited that their daddy joined us!

Self-Reflection

Callie Grace loves taking pictures of herself on my phone.  Lately, she has started adding her own creativity when poising and choosing black and white, color or sepia.  This morning, while looking on my phone, I saw some of the pics that she had taken last night.  Oh my goodness, she is beautiful. As her mother, I know that her beauty is much more than skin deep.  Callie Grace is kind and loves Jesus.  She is extremely bright and often challenges me to look at life differently. I love this girl so much.  Callie Grace, you are my beautiful blessing.

Future President

Callie Grace often talks about wanting to be the President of the United States.  The second she saw this shirt at Target, it was a must have!  She said she wants her teacher to know on the very first day that she is ready to tackle the 5th grade.

I often tell my little people to reach for the stars.  Working hard and persistence are two character traits that will take you far in life.  I know that my children will want to be many things as they grow and learn. I love the front row seat that I have as their mama.

My son

Dear Caleb,

You had such a fun weekend.  You, Uncle James and Moira went to Atlanta to visit the aquarium and Six Flags.  I have loved hearing you talk about the different rides you rode and all the things you saw at the aquarium.  You said you also saw a proposal.  When I asked you if she said yes, you said. "I don't know".  You are my typical boy.

You were one worn out buddy when I picked you up on Saturday night.  I love how you reached for my hand as we were walking to the car.  You still love giving me hugs and kisses and telling me how much you love me.  I know those days are fleeting so maybe that is why I am holding on to this incredibly precious time that we have together.

I love you, my beautiful boy.  Keep that sunshine and laughter in your eyes and on your face.

All my love,
Mama

My Girl

This girl LOVES to play dress up!

My trio

I love these two people.  They are always at the forefront of my mind. I daily ask God to place a hedge of protection around them and guard their eyes, ears and mouths.  I am filled with thankfulness for Callie Grace and Caleb.

Yesterday was the second day in a row that I saw a rainbow.  Thank you, Jesus for the constant reminder that you love and care for me.  I like to think that Crosson may have had a tiny hand in this reminder also!

They are Precious in His Sight

Summer is flying by with lightening speed.  I believe the children have enjoyed their summer.  Callie Grace went to Santee with a friend for a few nights, she went to church camp for 3 nights, family vacation for 8 nights and she is on her second VBS for the summer.  Caleb went to Charleston with a friend for a few nights, attended baseball camp and family vacation for 8 nights.  He also is attending his second VBS for the summer.  The little bit that we have been at home this summer, they have swam non-stop.  There are a few more things I would like to get in before summer's end.

These children are precious in His sight.  They are precious to me also.  I am so thankful for the blessing they are to me.  Yesterday evening after I dropped the children off at VBS, I was praying as I was driving along.  I asked God to show me that he heard my prayers.  I looked up at the sky and I saw a beautiful rainbow.  Thank you, Jesus for your steadfastness when I am not steadfast.  Thank you for never giving up on me.  I am this sinner that is only saved by Your grace.  I don't deserve Your love and protection but I am surely thankful for it.

VBS

My children have had a ball at VBS this week.  Their "theme" is Walk This Way and they are collecting gently worn shoes to be given to people that have none.  They are learning stories from the bible and they are learning more about how we are His hands and feet.  That is a conversation that we talk a lot about.  It is my fervent prayer that my children will have a heart for Jesus.  I pray that they will always find ways, be it small or big to help someone along the way.  Our life journey can be filled with many road blocks.  We need to be reminded that Jesus cares.  Dear Jesus, please use Callie Grace and Caleb (and me) for Your glory.  Thank you for allowing us to be silly and to have lots of fun!

Wacky hair day

Silly sock day

No shoe Thursday!

Why do these 2 pictures look like it is a foggy day??!

Father's Day

On Sunday morning, we all went to church and then came home and had grilled hamburgers for lunch.  Before we had our prayer, I asked Callie Grace and Caleb their favorite thing to do with their dad.  Callie Grace said she loved to dance with her dad.  Caleb said he liked fishing and going to Carolina football games with his dad.  I prayed and thanked God for our meal and asked God to watch over Kip and direct his paths.  I prayed for protection and direction over our family.

It is often easy for us to get caught up in the day to day schedule that we sometimes lose sight of our true purpose here on earth.  We were made to share Jesus' love with one another.  It is my opinion that love begins with your family.  But why do we lose sight of loving and caring for those closest to us?  That is a question that has been on my mind so much lately.  I have been on my knees praying that God will use me for His glory.

Kip, if you are reading this post, I want you to know that I am praying for you.  I am praying that God will wrap you in His arms and give you His strength.  Dear Jesus, please direct my family's path.  Help us cling to YOU.

Random Post

My mama and daddy have been on my mind a good bit lately.  I am not sure why but the songs that we sang together have been on my mind too.  Some were silly but I guess they were the bright spots in my childhood.  So much of my childhood was difficult but these songs always brought me happiness and made me feel like all was right in my little corner of the world.  For the sake of my children, I want to document the names of these songs.  I think they know many of these by heart as I have carried on the tradition with them.

Songs I would sing with mama:
Jesus Loves Me
KKKKatherine, beautiful Katherine...
Casey Would Waltz...
Michael Row the Boat Ashore
Frere Jacques
Kookaburra Sits in an Old Gum Tree
Zacchaeus was a Wee Little Man
Deep and Wide


Songs I would sing with daddy:
Once Upon A Time...
I'm a Ramblin Wreck From Georgia Tech...
Amazing Grace

I am beyond thankful for these moments of memories in my life.  I pray that my children will look back on their childhood and talk about all of the silly singing that I did with them and the times that we sang about Jesus' great love for us.

June 2nd - School's Out for Summer!

Yay!  I am so ready for a break.  It has been a great year for Caleb and a learning year for Callie Grace.  I want to make this summer memorable for them.  I want them to enjoy being children.  Their childhood is fleeting fast.  I want to be more intentional with them!
Here is a pic of their last morning as 2nd and 4th graders!  You can tell that they are excited and still half asleep! :)

A few things that are on our agenda for summer are:

1. go to the zoo

2. go to playground

3. swim

4. have picnics by the pool

5. have some play dates

6. go roller skating

7.go to the beach

8. play baseball (Caleb)

9. spend the night church camp (CG)

10. VBS

11. visit the library

12. try to make time for a visit to GA

13. go to Hiwire

14. go camping

15. get Kona Ice or Pelicans Snoballs or both!

16. ride bikes

17. bake some goodies for our neighbors

18. do some type of art (make jewelry, draw, knit, paint pottery)

19. play piano (CG)

20. put together a big puzzle

21. go to the riverwalk

22. go to the movies

Thoughts to my 10 year old daughter

May 6, 2016

Dearest Callie Grace,

Somehow, you will be ten years old in 2 days.  My beautiful blessing will be 10.  Your kind and loving spirit brings me more joy than you can ever imagine.  Your intellect is something to be admired.  Every night, I thank Jesus for your life.  I pray that you will share with others your love for Jesus.  It is very difficult to put into words what you mean to me.  I am your biggest cheerleader.

As you are rounding this curve to becoming 10 years old, there are a few things I want you to know…

1.      Keep Jesus as #1 in your life.  Pray for Godly friends and also pray for your future husband.

2.      It is not your job to keep the people you love happy.  Not me, not Daddy, not Caleb nor your friends.

3.      You should never be afraid to share your passions. Anyone who teases you for what you love to do is not a true friend.

4.      It is okay to disagree with me and others.  You are old enough to have a point of view and I want to hear it.  Your perspective is both valid and valuable.

5.      You are so very beautiful.  Your face now holds the baby you were and the young woman you are quickly becoming.

6.      Reading is very important. I am so pleased to see that you share in the love of reading.  Getting lost in a book is the best possible thing to do.

7.      You are not me.  We are very alike but you are your own person, completely and fully. I am going to be here for you, no matter what.  The red string that ties us together will stretch.  I know it will. And once the transition is accomplished there will be a new, even better closeness.  I know that too.

8.      It is almost never about you.  What I mean is that when people act in a way that hurts or makes you feel insecure, it is almost certainly about something happening inside of them, and not about you.  Believe me, I know how feelings can slice your heart, even if your head knows otherwise. But maybe, just maybe it will help you to remember that we don’t always know the path that others are walking so be gentle with them.

9.      There is no single person who can be your everything.  People, including me will let you down.  Always lean on Jesus to help guide you.

10.   I am trying my best.  I know I am not good enough and not the mother you deserve.  I can be impatient and raise my voice. I am sorry.  I love you and your brothers more than anyone else in the entire world.  I wish I could be better for you.  I’ll admit, I don’t always love your behavior, and I am quick to tell you that. But every single day, I love you with every fiber of my being. No matter what.

Callie Grace, always remember that I love you more today than yesterday but less than I will tomorrow.

Happy, Happy Birthday, my 10 year old girl! xoxoMama

Caleb's Prayer

My precious boy is loud and rambunctious.  He has one speed and it is lightening fast! I love that he is all boy and if I am being honest, it can be exhausting.  Maybe that is why, when I see the glimpses of Jesus in his life, my heart swells with thankfulness.

During prayer time last night, Caleb prayed that everyone would have hope in Jesus.  Amen, sweet boy.  That is my prayer too.

Dancing the Night Away

Caleb and I had so much fun at his 2nd grade Valentine's dance last night.  He was a true gentleman.  We danced and laughed a lot!  Thank you, Caleb for these precious memories.  I am beyond lucky to get to be your mama!

Camping in the COLD

Our family had a lot of fun camping this weekend but let me put this in the record books - IT WAS COLD!  Caleb rode his bike, played basketball, built forts, fished and acted silly with his sis.  Callie Grace played basketball, fished, kept the fire going and acted silly with her brother.  There was this square bathroom WITH A HEATER (definitely not the Taj Mahal) that we moved the blow up mattresses into and slept on the floor in there.  Other than sleeping, it was so much fun.  This mama was up at 6am on Sunday morning packing up and trying to get us home!

The kids can't wait to go back when the weather is a little warmer.

A turtle shell that Caleb stumbled upon

Words

Our words have the power to build up or tear down.

Weekend in Review

Caleb had a wrestling tournament on Saturday.  He pinned the first guy in 30 seconds flat.  The second guy was a bit more of a challenge.  We are still working on being a good loser.  Let's just say that we haven't mastered that skill AT ALL.  Caleb does not want anyone looking at him or speaking to him if he loses.  Caleb, when you are older and may be reading this crazy blog of your mama's, I pray that this area will have improved in your life! :)

We enjoyed church on Sunday and on Sunday night, Grease Live came on tv.  Callie Grace and her dad enjoyed dancing around our den after bath time!

We have a full week with school and extracurricular activities.   I think there are several tests this week also!  These babies sure keep us busy!

100th Day of School

Callie Grace and Caleb have mentioned that the 100th day of school was going to be today a few times this week.  Callie Grace said that if she brought 100 items to school she could get an extra credit for math.  We picked up some m&m's for her to share with her class.

Then, yesterday they dropped the bomb on me. "Mama, we want to make t-shirts to wear for the 100th day tomorrow."  They told me this at 5:20pm.  We still had wrestling practice, dinner, homework and baths to accomplish before bedtime.  My response was that it didn't look possible. Well, when we got home Caleb pulled out some white undershirts that I had recently bought Kip. Callie Grace decided to use water colors and her thumbs to make a design.  Caleb said, "here's the hot glue gun mom, let's just hot glue some things on".  

Even though this was last minute, we had fun.  These are by far imperfect creations but we made a memory.  Caleb and I worked together and Callie Grace and her dad worked together.

My phone was dead this morning and Kip's phone does not take the best quality picture but I still wanted to document this their 100th day of school; Callie Grace's 100th day of 4th grade and Caleb's 100th day of 2nd grade.

Even in the crazy, last minute, trying to beat the clock to get it all done, not the best temperament they are loved.

Unconditional Love

All E's and All A's

I am very proud of both Caleb and Callie Grace.  They made all E's/A's for the 9 weeks.  They have both tried their best.  Caleb has worked on his reading and writing (writing is still a work in progress).  Callie Grace has so many tests on Mondays, papers and presentations.  Her science tests are generally 4-5 questions so if she misses just one, the grade can be rather low.

Lots of prayer and hard work has gone into this 9 weeks.  Even if they hadn't gotten all E's/A's, I would have been proud because I know that they put the time in to their schoolwork.

The greatest part of it all is that they are proud of themselves!  Yay, Callie Grace and Caleb!!

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

Psalm 139:14

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.

Thank you, Jesus for these babies that have just gotten their baths, have their pjs on and are ready for bed.  Thank you for their silliness.  Thank you for their hugs and kisses.  Thank you for the love that they give their mama.  

Tonight found me tired and with a headache that was unbearable. I am filled with questions and heartache from a phone conversation earlier today.  I have no answers but I am thankful I know The One who does.

Here are my silly 9 and 8 year old children.

Creating recipes and cooking with daddy

Callie Grace wants to enter a cooking contest through school.  She and her dad decided to go to the grocery store on Saturday and cook their creation.  It was delicious!  The theme is a healthy breakfast item.

They cooked turkey sausage and mushrooms.  They took plain bagels, cut them in half and emptied out the bread filling.  They then stuffed the bagel with turkey sausage, mushrooms and cheese.  Here is their creation.  They had a lot of fun together!

CG was super proud!

Fresh haircuts

2016

Dear Lord,

Please put a hedge of protection around my family.  Please help us grow closer to You, praising You for our many blessings.  Help us to remember that we are Your hands and feet.  Help us look for opportunities to help others.  Help me be a more intentional person, wife and mother.  Help me be thankful.  Give us clarity and have us do Your will.

In all these things, I pray,
Katherine