FOURTH OF JULY

AND...5 months old!!!!

Hudson...again.

As we were ending our prayer...

Hudson: "And God Bless 'Ma & 'Pa, Kobe, ... and.... Lucy."
Me: "Who's Lucy?"
Hudson: {a little bit annoyed} "Kobe's dog...SHE COUNTS!"

Sleep tight Lucy...you were well covered in prayer tonight. :)

Friendships

Why is it that friendships are such tricky things? I am always left feeling like there should be more. It's a strange feeling. I wish I had more girlfriends, yet I have so many when I start thinking about it. I wish I had that ONE person that knew all of my secrets, yet I do...I married him. It's a strange thing. I feel like I give and give and yet others don't have time for me. I have 2 kids and a house to run as well...but I feel like with friendships you just have to make the time. I feel like people don't realize that I see how they make time for others because I see their interactions on facebook, yet somehow there isn't time for me. I go through these phases...woe is me...then I get over it. I have exactly who I need in Jesus. I try to focus on that. I try to focus on the fact that he has given me my very best friend to walk beside me in life. I try to focus on how very blessed I am. I still hate that some friendships have changed from strong and solid to distant friends that catch up every once in a while. I miss those friends. Do these feelings happen to anyone else?

"Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matt. 11:28-30

Frienships are also tricky things when there are disagreements. You feel hurt, betrayed, angry, let down, and right! Then as I spend time praying and in my quiet time I hear God telling me areas that I could have done differently in handling the situation. I am an emotional person {thanks Dad}. I get worked up, and then calm back down to rational thinking. But when I am rational I really try to live the way Jesus did. I try to do what's right in His eyes even if it means apologizing when I don't really feel I should have to. That can be such a hard pill to swallow. Pride is an ugly thing. But, I always feel better when I know I have done absolutely everything I can to rectify the situation. Then if the relationship is not restored, it is not my burden to bear. Though I still try to pick up that burden often times only to remember that whatever pettiness or vindictiveness is there is meant for me to give to Jesus to carry. I'm overwhelmed that He is willing to take my burdens!!!!

"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." Proverbs 27:17

Friendships are also tricky things because they spring up so quickly and beautifully sometimes. They come about in places you'd never expect them to come. I have prayed for some friends close by. I am, by nature, a social person. I love spending time with friends. My parents spent lots of time with their friends as I was growing up, and I guess I just became accustomed to it. However, when we moved to Paulding County, I was no longer close in distance to my closest friends. I had left a great friend back in Eastman, had another living in PCB, and still others that I was now closer to, but still not close by any means...hello Woodstock! :) I can't tell you how many times I prayed for friends close by. Do not tell me God doesn't answer prayer. I now have a sweet friend that lives across the street from me, and others I met at work this year! Some of those I met at work were co-workers so there is usually some friendships that form that way, however, another sweet friend I have is the parent of one of my students. It was an unexpected friendship that formed quickly, and I am so glad it did!

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:" Ecclesiastes 3:1

And then there is the trickyness {is that a word?} of those friendships that were so close that it really doesn't matter how long it has been or how far apart you have been from each other, you just seem to pick up right where you left off. I have a couple of those kind of friends. We go through seasons where we talk all the time and then other seasons where we don't talk quite as much. However, if there is a need for prayer or something one of us needs to talk about the other is always there! These are the people I immediately thought of and called when the doctor told us Hudson wasn't forming the way he should be, and I should prepare myself for a miscarriage. All I could say to them was...PRAY! And pray they did! And I have a precious, healthy, thriving almost 4 year old who is an absolute answer to prayer! Pray they did for me for 16 months of trying to conceive Kendan...who is also an absolute answer to prayer. And pray I am doing now for one of them every time I can remember because she is going through the absolute hardest time of her life!



Just some thoughts on friendships. I wanted to get my feelings written down. I know most of you probably won't read all of this, and that's ok. I just know it can be hard when we are around little ones all day to imagine anyone else feels the same way as us. I'm so thankful for the friends I have in my life. I hope to instill the value of friendship and of being a good friend to my boys.

Blessings from above

That is what my precious boys are. Yesterday wore us out with running errands, swimming with Liz, and playing at Chick-fil-A with Traci and her girls! So, this morning we all slept in. I got up at 9 and jumped in the shower. When I got out this is what I heard.

"It's ok baaaby, don't cry. Brother is here."

I went in to Kendan's room and found Hudson up in the crib comforting his little brother! Kendan was no longer crying.

Thank you, Lord for these two little boys, and thank you for their love for each other! I hope it always remains!

Summer Fun

We've been having a blast this summer! Last week we finished up Hudson's soccertots...he had so much fun! Here are some pictures from his last day.

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Kendan lounging in the shade.

Hudson dribbling to the goal.

Gooooooooo Soccertots!

His medal. :)

His class with Coach Carey!

We have spent as much time in the water this summer as we can! We have played at the pool and visited with Liz and played in the sprinklers in the backyard. Here are pictures and video of that. Making such sweet memories!

My boys at Liz's pool.

Swimming!!!! Yay Hudson!

Kick those feet!



Happy baby. I have a similar picture of Hudson in this float when he was a baby. *sigh*



Hudson and Daddy playing in the sprinkler! So fun!

Another Hudsonism...

Hudson: When did God make me?

Me: Well, he made you in my tummy and you were born September 5th.

Hudson: He did a great job on my hair!

Me: [laughing so hard I can't breathe!] Yes, he did!

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Hudson & Josh playing in the sprinkler in the backyard! Summertime FUN!




Hudson swimming!!!!!! So proud of him!

Here we go...

I'm ALL in. I am in love with my new business venture...Premier Designs Jewelry! This opportunity literally fell in my lap. I was tired of seeing all of my high school friends facebooking how much free jewelry they had just gotten by hosting a Premier Designs Jewelry party. So, I messaged my friend, Beth, who sold it and told her I wanted her to do a show at my house. It took a while for our dates to coordinate since she lives in Myrtle Beach, and during that time it really felt as though everything was falling in place for me to venture into this business. I had serious reservations at first, and I began just asking around to see what kind of interest and resonse I would get.

Before I was ever even "official" I had 8 (I now have 9) parties booked with several others "checking dates" and a couple of sorority houses interested in doing parties in the fall!!!!!!!!!

I have now had my training show, which Beth did, and I am super excited about this opportunity! I have such a peace about it. It is something I love, and I love doing it...I get so excited thinking about how much free jewelry I get to give my hostess FREE!!!!!! There isn't a hostess plan out there that compares to this one!!!! I've got parties booked all over the state of Georgia...I am so excited about them! My training party only had 6 people show and I had some pre-orders from a couple of people. I got $238 in FREE jewelry!!!!!! If you want to host a show, leave me a comment and we'll get it worked out! They are super fun!

God has been teaching me some pretty amazing things lately, and I'm finding peace in resting in HIM. I'm finding security in Him, and finding that I can trust him with everything in my life. This was shown to me during my hesitation about doing Premier. I was thinking...how am I going to do this with Josh's work schedule? My sweet neighbor called me that night and said, "If you decide to do Premier, I'll host a party, and we will keep the boys anytime you have a party and Josh is working!" Um...thank you God...for answering my request before I had even verbalized it! That was huge for me! Then, Josh's schedule was changed, and he is home more often, so I am able to schedule (most) parties on nights he is home to keep the boys. I feel like this adventure is going to be exciting and great, and I am trusting in God with the details.

6 Years, 4 months, and some other stuff...

6 Years to my Best Friend!!!!!

I love him so much! It has been so fun being his wife! He works so hard to provide for us, and gives us a wonderful life! God knew what He was doing when he joined us. Joshua is more than I ever would have dreamed for myself.

4 Months!!!!

I can't believe my sweet little one is 4 months old. He is growing so fast...He is the happiest baby! His 4 month stats are weight: 15 pounds; height: 25 inches. He was in the 54% for both. The nurse said she had never seen a happier baby. :) He smiles all the time even in between his rare cries. He is eating every 3 hours and taking 6 ounces each time. He sleeps from 7:30 PM until 8 or 8:30 AM! He does not take a paci as much as I have tried. He prefers to suck his fist. He hasn't gotten his thumb officially yet, but he won't take a paci so it may be inevitable. Time will tell. He has started sticking his tongue out all the time. So cute! My heart is so full of love for my two boys!

Hudson at the restaurant where we went for our anniversary!

Kendan at Liz's pool.

Lunch with Michelle in Athens. Hudson loves "Granny." And I love that my boys are getting to know her. She keeps me laughing...good for the soul!