Truth Be Told

WoRdLeSS Wednesday

Or in my case Wordless MOnths.....

Romans 12:10

Sometimes It Isn’t Easy
This devotional was written by Jim Burns
Love one another with brotherly affection; out do one another in showing honor. —Romans 12:10 RSV

No one ever said that living the Christian life would be easy. The following words help give us perspective.

IT IS NOT EASY
To apologize
To start over
To take advice
To be unselfish
To admit error
To face a sneer
To be charitable
To keep trying
To be considerate
To avoid mistakes
To endure success
To profit by mistakes
To forgive and forget
To think and then act
To keep out of a rut
To make the best of little
To subdue an unruly temper
To shoulder a deserved blame
BUT IT ALWAYS PAYS OFF

South to North

This year we decided to move our very small and very first garden from the south side to the north side to get more sun and also to make it bigger..I'm not sure exactly how big but I would guess John tilled up an area of about 12ft by 20 ft. We got a truckload of horse manure from a friend of mine who has a farm and John mixed that in.. We probably should of waited to put plants in but we get antsy once we start projects and so put in cucumbers, tomatoes, green and red bell peppers, jalapenos, broccoli, strawberries, zucchini and most exciting asparagus.. I still have a row and half to put something in.. I was thinking some sort of lettuce or green beans..any suggestions from y'all? Gabe wants to do watermelon and cantaloupe but i think we will have to build a raised bed and mix sand with soil if I remember correctly. I told him we could plan for next year. Ive been looking online how to make some solid and cutesy garden markers for each row of plants...The very cutest idea is buying spoons at the goodwill and then somehow stamping the lettering in the hammered spoon head and shoving the handle into the ground..cute cute..... I think I'm going to use shims and paint them...ill post as the garden grows..its so rewarding and so much cheaper than the sky high veggies at the market..

There Aint Nothing Like An Oklahoma Girl

26 years later Amy, Brooke and I met again. It was so much fun to learn what had been happening all these years. I did not think I would ever see those gals again. I am so glad I found them. They sat us up for a night in the most beautiful hotel in OKC in the middle of Bricktown.... and we looked at old photo albums, went dancing, played pool and ordered room service and drank chocolate wine. Chocolate wine????? I had not ever heard of it before then. We plan to stay in touch and make more effort to visit each other now that we have found one another. It was a blast from the past ..It was also emotional to say bye again to the girls... They are some sweet Okie girls with hearts of gold..

John Gabe Jack and I also spent much time with Grandma Gay and Aunt Teresa. We took boat ride through the bricktown river, took the kids to Cabelas where they bought play rifles. Gabe taught Jack to climb the tree in her front yard and Grandma made chocolate shakes all weekend for them. Grandma and I had many heart to heart talks , more than our usual, but then again my life has not been so usual the last few months.. We drove to Rush Springs for a day to Joe's farm and orchard.. The boys hiked through the woods and pretended to hunt. Grandma house is small and so I slept on a twin bed and the boys slept on couch and a blow up mattress..It was not easy on the bones or my only nerve but every morning we woke to that woman frying bacon, with your choice to either pancakes or eggs. John enjoyed this immensely because that does not happen here at our home EVERY morning...I told my grandma I could make my own toast and she simply told me ....Honey let me serve you, I don't get to see you often enough and I'm not good at much but I know God made me good at serving people...Bless her heart she has made a life out of serving everyone but some for far too long... Her birthday is Thursday and she loves to get flowers and I try every year to make sure she gets some..I got a huge bouquet of Peruvian Lillie's from us to be delivered tomorrow..Ill post some pics tomorrow of her from our trip..

A Boy & His Big Ol Brain

So I know I am the laziest blogger ever but WOW my angel Gabriel isn't lazy at school. The last 3 weeks we have received numerous reminders from school to get our kids to bed on time and make sure they have good breakfast because of the very important State assesment tests... Gabe almost never eats breakfast but these 3 days he did...sooooo any way he scored 92% on Math, 91% on reading and 93% on science... All of those scores fall into the EXEMPLARY category which is all pretty obvious by reading this but a Mother should take the time to brag this stuff... So here it is...Gabe's hard watermelon head has a whole lot of brain in it...Praise GOD for my children. Gardner has by far one of the best school district scores ratings etc...all that good stuff...people move to Gardner just to get the kids in the schools because our pupil to teacher ratio is low and they just flat our know what they are doing with our kiddos. We are one of the only school districts who are not in debt and pay the teachers very well from what I hear....So even though Gardner really makes me want to scream with their sky high taxes and mill levy and I could go on and on....but I wont...WE love Gardner and Gabe loves living here, right here in this town, on this street, in this house on Pine St...

1985

1985 I was 8 years old and these were my bestest buds, Amy and Brooke Aday. My brothers and I lived on a street called Nail Parkway in Moore OK. My grandma Gay was raising us at this particular time . Living with her is definitely the most treasured times of my growing up. Even though she was tired and worn out, she took us three kids on when my Dad was in one of his many low points and she loved us like crazy and we drove her crazy, especially my brother Mark... He was so ornery to her.. She was and still is my favorite person. Even at my age now I can still curl up to her on the couch and have her scratch my back or run her fingers in my hair.. She is peaceful and funny. Her love is unconditional, forgiving, and understanding. I miss her .......... and so were getting into the car tomorrow morning and heading to Oklahoma to see her!! And I'm going to also see Amy and Brooke, who I have not seen since the summer of 1985. I just got into contact last month on Facebook.. They told me that had been looking for me for years and years but pinning down a Melissa Smith is rather difficult.. SOoo this will be a really fun trip. We used to make snow cones with the Snoopy Sno Cone maker. We would reenact the Grease movies. We made bird nests and mud pies. We would put quarters on train tracks together. We even made our own potpourri on one of those electric heaters that runs along the wall in my bedroom. We even made sour grass stew with those weeds with tiny little yellow flowers. The three of us walked to school together and were together two different times when a car pulled up and tried to get us to get into the car... I am sure Saturday night when we get to together we are going to have a lot to talk about and a lot to catch up on and I'm cant wait!! I will be sure to get a pic posted here to compare to this one..

Three

Happy Birthday Jackson Wayne!! You are more than a handful little man but we love you dearly.
Some things you are doing right now. You are singing a lot. You like to sing ABC's and Little Teapot, Where is Thumbkin (but you say pumpkin). You also have some pretty mean dance moves as well. You can say your whole name now and are very interested in cutting, gluing and taping stuff. You are almost completely potty trained...just an accident here and there. You love your B's(blankies) very much which is to be expected being a child of mine. But you are very particular about the way you have to have yours.. You have to find the corner and then tuck it under your neck and of course you gotta have the choc milk.. We are currently buying 3 gallons each time we grocery shop. You are still getting up in the middle of night and sneaking into bed with us which has got to stop JW! Your a little clown and ornery as ever, but wouldn't want it any other way...Happy Birthday my baby boy Mommy loves you xoxoxo

Tool Belt

Watch DOGS

Gabe's school is participates in a National Program called WATCH DOGS (Dads of Great Students) It focuses on the prevention of violence in our schools by using positive influence of fathers and father figures for the 2 purposes 1) to provide an unobtrusive presence int he schools and 2) to be a positive and active role model for students at their school. John is at Gabe's school today. He is essentially being an extra set of eyes and ears and helping with a sense of security of the school by making sure everything is locked up and helping teachers throughout the school.. Gabe really really wanted him to sign up and who can say no to this face. John has been busy and called me once while walking the perimeter of the outside of the building. He was able to eat lunch with Gabe and his best buds and John says Gabe seems very excited and proud to have him there. So Thank you again John for loving our boy and being his wonderful Dad... xoxo to you both!

Double Digits

Dear Gabriel,

I can not believe I have a 10 year old son! You are getting so big and its exciting to see you grow into such a wonderful young man. Its also a little bit scary that you are getting so close to being in high school and then leaving the nest one day. You are my first born bird and no one could ever replace you. You are an absolute treasure in our family and we are all so very proud of you.

YOU are so Smart!!

YOU are so kind and thoughtful

YOUR big brown eyes melt my heart

YOU are an amazing big brother

I love to watch you play football, basketball, and baseball. LOOK OUT Gardner!

I love that you think I'm the best cook

I love that you always tell me you love me when you leave the house or hang up the phone

I love that you make friends easily and are a friend to everyone

I am thankful you are forgiving of my mistakes, you have made me a better person from the day I had you.

I love to hear "MOMMA"



I will always be available and accepting of you as long as I live. I trust you Gabriel, and I hope you will always trust me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY

I love you unconditionally

MOMMA

Coffee Water

This morning Jack woke up in a rotten mood. He fussed over the clothes I picked out for him and fussed over the episode of Dora the Explorer that was on. He wanted the "Dora Ice Cream Truck" whatever that is...who knows..He fussed over the blanket he wanted from his collection and wanted a particular two different ones. He was an all around pocket of sunshine this morning I would say. NOT... but after he got settled down he came into the bathroom where I putting on my makeup and said "come mere mom" and so I followed him into the kitchen and he points to the trash can and tells me it was yucky.. Low and behold he had taken the trash out to garage and put a new bag in the can perfectly.. He was beaming and very proud of himself. I gave him a squeeze and told him how proud of him I was..Then he wanted his coffee water which led to another meltdown because he wants to pour it himself. His thing in the morning when I make my coffee is he wants coffee water...He likes for me to fill up one of my to go coffee cups with water and then add a dash of coffee..then he sips on it and sighs "good coffee water mom".
Gabe started football practice last night and has his first game next weekend. Coach wants to get 3 practices in before then and also asked John to help by being an assistant coach. He agreed to it and hopefully nothing happens at work to keep him from being part of the team because Gabe was pretty happy he was going to help coach. Next weekend we are going to celebrate Gabe's birthday which is actually the 14th by having 3 boys spend the night. We will take them bowling and then bring them back for a sleepover where I imagine they will stay up too late playing video games. On his actual birthday he wants Grandpa to make chicken n dumplings so he is going to call this evening and put in that request. Its hard to believe he is going to be 10 years old! Sure makes me feel old..........

Buzz

Someone got a new haircut

To the Sea Tour

Ok so its finally here. yeah!! Tonight is the concert. It will the 5th time Ive seen him but we are taking Gabriel to it tonight. It will be his first concert and I can't imagine a better person to take him see. He is pretty excited and I just wish it wasn't a school night but sometimes you have to bend the rules to make some great memories.. He has been listening to Jack since he was a baby and he even took his ukulele to daycare when he was 4 and sang a Jack song. Too stinking cute!

p.s.Thanks Mom for the tickets , couldn't think of a better gift, we love you .

Here is some lyrics from a sweet little song he wrote on his latest album To the Sea. Im pretty sure its for his new baby girl. Awww...

Hey, little girl You might not know this song This is not the kind of song That you can sing along to But hey, little girl Maybe some day At least that's what all The good people will say Hey, little girl Look what you've done You've gone and stole my heart And made it your own You've stole my heart And made it your own Hey, little girl Black and white and right and wrong Only live inside a song I will sing to you You don't ever have to feel lonely You will never lose any tears You don't have to feel any sadness When you look back on the years How can I look you in the eyes, And tell you such big lies? The best I can do is try to show you How to love with no fear My little girl You've gone and stole my heart And made it your own You've stole my heart And made it your own

Nuggle

Jackson said yesterday when I picked him up from school. "Where my Gabriel" and for the 963rd time I told him he was still in Colorado on a trip. I told him we would be going real soon to go get him. Jack then says " I want to go get my Gabriel today, right now". Needless to say we are missing that boy. I can't wait to see his big brown eyes and squeeze him and rub his super soft chubby earlobes. Like Gabe, Jack has become quite the snuggler.... Jackson will tell me "momma nuggle me, nuggle me" and then he will say squeeze me. It's sooo freaking cute. Every day when he gets home from daycare he strips down to his scivees (is that really the word) and wants his blanket and cup of milk and watch Dragon Tales. But the other day he went to the other room and stripped down like always and then came out and looked at John and said "Mere" which is come here.. and made the finger movement to come to him.. And then he told John "lets nuggle"..We about fell over died right there.
So we leave for Colorado July 30t to get the boy.. We will spend a few days there visiting with Ryan, Nicole, Abby, Ryleigh. We haven't seen them in over a year now so that will be exciting. We will stop in Tribune on the way back to KC and visit with Wayne and Kathy. It will be fair time there. We will also have cutie patooties coming in from FL next week as well for their summer KC vacation. Alisha is bring some R & R (reese and reagan) this way.. Yay!!!

Necklace

Im in love with these stamped pieces from the vintage pearl. I keep looking and looking and can not decide which one I just really need. Check them out cuz I bet your gonna want one too.. Precious

http://www.thevintagepearl.com/

Summer Days

Day at the KC zoo

Jack and Sienna making mudpies

A day at Bubbas baseball tournament

A visit from Gpa and Gma Krayca

Just a swinging.... Jack and Sienna are the best of cousins these days...too cute

Lame Blog

I am by far the worst blogger! How do I even pick up and go on with this..Hmmm.. So I do have updated photos from the basement.. Which I will get on here. Its not complete but very close. I chose a very pale blue for the main living area and then Electric Blue for the guest bedroom. When I went to see the 1st Sex and the City movie, its the color from her apartment.. I just fell in love with it. You'll see, its purdy. Then Lemonade Slush for the bathroom. Ahh.. the bathroom, it has been the most tedious task of the basement and still needs some work for sure.


Gabriel has been playing competitive baseball this year and well the team hasn't done so hot but it sure is exciting to watch him play. I just love it. He is currently in Colorado right now for the month of July. We miss him dearly and Jackson keeps asking" Wheres my Gabriel"? We just tell him he is on a trip but he does not quite understand.



John Wayne is back on nights for the summer. Its good that he does not have to endure the horrible heat of the day at the plant but I sure miss him at night. Jackson has been in bed with me more than he should but I HATE being alone at night.. One noise and my mind starts up its own horror movie.



Hmmmm.. what else.. We got our garden going this year and the tomatoes are gigantic. The bell peppers and jalapenos are getting up there as well but the cucumbers keep getting munched down by something. Not sure if its the birds or what but I dont think they will make it. Were planning to have a garage sale tomorrow morning to rid the basement of nonsense that's in the way and make some cash to go on a float trip with our neighbors here in a few weeks.

We did take the kids last month on a camping (cabin of course) trip in MO. It went well although some nasty storms came through. Gabe caught some craw fish and tadpoles. Jackson has decided he can swim just fine. He is a daredevil for sure.. He wants to jump in with no floaties and try to jump past you and not be caught so I need to look into swim lessons for that monkey.

I saw another doctor, a physiatrist recently who diagnosed me with chronic sacroilitis. He believes there is little hope for my pain to ever subside. He recommends that i have a hysterectomy to relieve the pressure from those ligaments. I know I have endometriosis on those ligaments so instead of going thru with the hysterectomy i am currently on Lupron for 6 months to help me make the decision. My pain doctor has prescribed my lidocaine patches in the meantime along with a new pain med. He is researching a new procedure as well to see if I could benefit. I would do anything at the point to have pain relief, sometimes it is just too much to handle some days.

Please keep my mother in your prayers right now. The MS is really getting the best of her right now and she is going thru with a new therapy to fight the disease that is really wiping her out. The treatment she has started has really changed others lives so pray that it does the same for her.

I will try to get this blog updated more often again..I'm just such a bore, and more so than anything really really tired.
peace to all
pictures to follow

Basement Update

The drywall was finished up last night. John is downstairs now painting the ceilings.. It my duty to find a color that is light and bright enough to paint a basement without painting boring white or even Johnson County beige. I will get some samples on the wall and then post those pics and maybe you let me know.. We cant wait to get this done.. It will fantastic to send all the boys downstairs to play and especially when Gabe's friends come over.. We also have a continued dilema in the backyard.. With all this rain its like a marsh out there.. I think we may drive to go rock shopping this afternoon.. Ill keep you updated..

Happy Belated Birthday Post

Happy Birthday Little Boy. The big 2! You are twice as ornery as last year, twice as loud , twice as stubborn, twice as big and twice as defiant.. You are no longer a little monkey but rather a chimpanzee maybe .....definitely on your way to one day a big ol gorilla. You are definitely a handful that's for sure. None the less you are twice as sweet, twice as smart, twice as imaginative, twice as cuddly and most of all twice as loved!! You are an amazing little boy and could not imagine our home without you.. You are a blessing and so much fun .. Here's to you and the year ahead of us... I love you Jackson Wayne.... my little primate. Oh-Oh -ha-ha-