Instant summer... and other stuff

Summer has hit NH with a vengeance! We had several days where the lows at night were the highs of just a couple of weeks ago!! But the welcome cold front came through last night and today is balmy, beautiful, and sunny. School is officially out this week and I have quite the feeling it is going to be a busy but oh, so fun summer ahead. We moms are noticing something different this year. As the kids are getting older, they are starting to make plans for things amongst themselves and we are just the taxi service that accomplishes their desires!!! I can not tell you how many sleep-overs are planned for the next few months!

I thought I might include a few pics from recent days. Paul and his son, Gage, continue to become more and more a part of our lives, and what used to be that Paul and I only saw each other at church and on Tues. has now become just about every day with each other in some way. We are enjoying many grill-outs and have even planted a garden this year- a big step for this city girl!! I am so excited to report that everything we have planted is sprouting!! I can't wait to see what kind of produce we get from it!!


Here is a self portrait Paul and Gage.
Paul with Judson. The kids are bonding well with him, and routinely snuggle up with him.
My baby is growing up so fast!!! This pic captures him so well! Judson is one stubborn kid, but when he is having fun- watch out! Here, he is playing in a laundry basket with some books.


Tyler graduated from kindergarten this past Fri. I am so proud of him as he is an excellent student. He has recently been very forceful in the fact that he wants to be a preacher when he grows up. What a joy to this mom!! We encourage him to follow that dream and tell him a preacher must always love and keep God first in everything.
A proud mom and her oldest boy.

Just too good to keep to myself

Every once in a while I get forwarded something that is just too good to keep to myself. I was sent a You Tube clip on my facebook funwall that positively moved me to tears. I could not figure out how to transfer the post from facebook to my blog, so I searched You Tube. I could not find the exact clip, but was so amazed at how this man has touched so many. There were seven pages of clip about him and in many different languages! Enjoy this clip that is close to what I was sent!

Updates

Hey, everyone!! Just thought I would send out some updates on the happenings of my life! Things are a whirlwind of activity and never a dull moment.



First, let me update you on Kristen. Her ear surgery seems to be a success, but the recovery time has been much harder and longer than we expected. She still has some pain and the packing is not yet dissolved fully. She is very sensitive to anyone getting remotely close to her ear, which presented quite a problem last week when it was time for the stitches to come out. She ended up kicking and hitting the Dr. (He was NOT impressed!) This led to her being scheduled the next day for another surgery to remove the stitches. What should have been an in-and-out thing turned into an all morning thing. They gave her some meds. to relax her before they used the face mask anesthesia. It ended up knocking her out cold for several hours! My suspicion is the nurse made an error and gave her the adult form of it. She was fine, though, and we had some good laughs when she finally started to wake up. At one point she looked at me very seriously and said, "Mommy, you have two heads. Really." She found her finger very interesting and tried to count the legs on the picture of the rocking horse on the wall. She didn't remember me dressing her and looked in shock when she realized she was no longer in her gown! The skin graft area has healed nicely, and now we are just waiting out the rest of the ear.

Summer is almost here and what fun we have planned this year! The kids still have another month of school left, but we are already thinking ahead. I will be trying my hand at a garden for the first time this year. I hope to get the kids involved and not attract too many critters!

Things with Paul are still going-- and going well I will add! He is such a joy to my life and we are so amazed at how God has brought us together. The healing process still continues and I am so thankful at how patient Paul is with me. He has shown me so much love and respect that I have not known for a long time. Some of the things we have enjoyed in recent times include: a very cold but beautiful trip to the ocean, walks to the dam down the road from my house, grilling out in the yard, and most recently- the building of a fire pit in my backyard. I think there will be much use from this in the coming months! We are just starting to involve the kids in our relationship and plan to spend a lot of the summer building the families together. Paul was there for all of Kristen's surgery stuff and has really begun to develop a bond with her. All of them are starving for a father's love. Through a string of events, I found myself without a babysitter for last Fri. night's work. He came to the rescue, and the kids stayed with him. They loved it and keep asking when he will do it again! We know that it will not always be a bed of roses, but are so thankful things are falling together so nicely.

I recently heard a radio speaker talking about why God allows you to have a dream fulfilled only to see it die. I thought instantly of how all I ever wanted was a Godly home and marriage. The speaker told how sometimes God will give us our dream but then take it away just to see if we love Him more than the dream. Then, sometimes he will give the dream back. I can see this in my life!!! I am so excited for the future-- and enjoying the present!

Kristen

I know, it has been almost a month since my last post!! Thanks everyone, for you kind comments and prayers for my new relationship. Things continue to be wonderful and our love for each other continues to grow each day. We recently had a rare half day of no kids, so we took the opportunity to spend the afternoon at the ocean. We didn't even touch the water- it is WAY too cold for that still!! But what a beautiful day it was to have a picnic lunch and read with each other!

On to my real reason for this post. On Tues. of this week Kristen had reconstructive ear surgery in her left ear. She had a really bad ear infection about two years ago that blew a hole in her eardrum. They did one surgery shortly after it happened, but it was unsuccessful. So we have had to wait until she was done growing in there and for her to go a full year without any ear infections.

On Tues. the ear specialists took a skin graft from the side of her head and created a new eardrum for her. The surgery took two hours and the recovery has been brutal. Her pain the first day and a half was really bad. I could only give her pain meds every four hours, but she would start complaining of pain after about three! It was so difficult to watch my little girl go through so much! Today was much better and I think she will go to school tomorrow. I will send her pain meds with though, as she still can barely go the four hours without complaining of pain.

Please continue to pray for Kristen in the coming weeks. She will not be able to have physical activity for two weeks. Tell that to a very active eight-year-old!! She will also have to be VERY careful over the next two months to not get any water in her ear and to not "pop" her ears at all.

She has been very brave through all of this and really is one tough kid! This should end all her ear struggles and return her to perfect hearing. I praise God for keeping her safe through this horrible thing! At one point she cried to me "mom, haven't I suffered enough?" Talk about breaking a mom's heart!!!

April 9th... a look back and a look ahead

One year ago yesterday my life forever changed. It was a horrible day that burned a huge hole in my heart. As the saying goes, "hindsight is always 20/20." Yes, looking back, I can clearly see signs of things and that the downward spiral really began about five years ago.

But through this last year, God has proven himself so faithful to me and the kids! I have seen Him provide a job for me that allows me to still be a mom all during the week. All of our needs have always been met. Never once through the year have I ever been late paying a bill. God has been so faithful in giving just the strength needed at the moments of great darkness for both me and the kids. I can remember how the three oldest kids banded together. For about four months, they all slept in Kristen's bed. Kristen and Bryce shared the top and Tyler slept between them with his head at the foot. Then there would be nights that everyone would end up with me!

And who could forget the darkness of the fall. This was by far my lowest point, but I am so thankful I went through that time! It made me fully depend on my Lord: my only real source of strength. Then the holidays were upon us and the generosity of God's people poured on us! With each passing day, more healing occurred.

When the new year dawned, I found my thoughts turning more toward the future. I was very discouraged at being a single mom. There just didn't seem to be enough of me to go around. It was hard to imagine that there could ever be someone out there willing to take on four small kids and a woman so "damaged" (as I saw myself.) I began to earnestly pray about it and even "looked" a bit but found no worthy prospects. I had no idea what was just over the horizon...

INTRODUCING......

I would like to take this time to let everyone in on why I have been absent from the blogging world so much lately! Right about the end of Jan. I began to really take notice of a man in my church. I have known him for about three years and would have never dreamed that he could find me to be anything he would want to be a part of. Paul has a seven year old son, so they were invited to Kristen and Tyler's combined birthday party. This was the beginning of the spark. Things did not really begin to take off for another month when we all attended our church's family winter retreat. We spent a great deal of time talking and playing games with others. That was six weeks ago, and what a joy the last weeks have been! Our schedules at this point do not allow for us to be together much outside of church, so we spend most evenings (after kids are tucked into bed) talking on the phone. Sending emails has also become very special to us. We do have a couple of hours on Tues. evenings as our official date night. I'm afraid Starbucks might get sick of us- good thing that the weather is finaly getting warmer!

I really do not wish to bad mouth my former spouse, so I will leave details in the past. However, I have come to realize through the past year that much of my marriage was very unhealthy. What a refreshment Paul has been! There is so much care flowing from him. He has watched my children grow and they know him well. Although we have just barely introduced the kids to "us," we all get along well as a crew. (Can you imagine the scene of us taking all five kids to a restaurant? We did it! And outside of the boys deciding to wrestle and Bryce's three trips to the bathroom, it went pretty well)!

For all of you who may have concerns: as I have mentions several times before, I have a very watchful and caring Pastor. While we have his "blessing," he has made some very clear boundaries for us. Marriage is a long way off and will only happen when our pastor feels we are both really ready and prepared for what lies ahead. We know that blending two families is very tough and we have many challenges ahead. But Paul is a very Godly man who truly loves the Lord with his whole heart. The Lord has brought both of us through a lot, and each circumstance has shaped us to be the people that we now are: a good fit for each other!

All I have ever wanted was to have a Godly home. I now believe that the Lord has spared me from so much and given me my heart's desire. God knew what choices the former spouse would make and how they would affect our family. I have taken much comfort through the last year from the life of Job. God tested Job's faith greatly. And at the end of it, the part of his life after the trials was far more blessed than time before it. I do not know what the future holds for me and the kids (ok, I have a suspicion!) but I do know that the Light of Christ will lead us through!

I do still exist!!!

Yes, I am alive and well!! I know I have been absent from the blog world this month, but life is soooo busy with four little ones! (Ok, something else pretty big has also been happening that has consumed much of my evening hours, but I will reveal that later!) This winter just seems to not want to end here in New England, but slowly, we are beginning to see signs of spring approaching. Easter was beautiful (complete with indoor egg hunts)!! Our church has just about finished the new building and our very first service in it got to be on Easter!! What a glorious day of celebration it was!

The kids are all doing well but keeping me forever on my toes. Judson is walking pretty securely now and is into EVERYTHING!! I spend much time in prayer for this boy (and me) as he seems to have a very strong will.

I decided to post today because my friend Stacy and I had some fun last week with her camera. She is an aspiring photographer and I needed some newer pics of me. She took almost a hundred different shots, but here are just a few of my most favorites!

Totally funny (and true) mom video

I found this "you tube" link on my friend Cindy's blog. All you moms can certainly identify, and for those that are not moms, I am sure you have heard your own mother say most all of these!!!