Busy, busy, busy

We are staying pretty busy since getting home. Andrew is having surgery tomorrow (Thurs) if you could keep him in your prayers. He is having his tonsils and adenoids removed and having his sinuses Rotor Rooted. (Don't you like my technical terms?) It is not major but as we have been told kids seem to bounce back much quicker than adults do. I guess I should ask for prayers too as I take care of my 4 boys-wow that is the first time I have said that. The boys have not been sleeping well therefore I have not been sleeping well. It also seems that when I get up baby buddy thinks he needs to be up for a while. So on top of all the bathroom trips, I am not getting very restful sleep because he is squirmy. I guess it is a sign of things to come.

I would also like some prayer for a devotional I am giving with a friend for a pretty large group of women. I have never done anything like this and Satan has been getting in the way. The topic is-chores, the ministry of housekeeping. It is very humbling because I don't know what I am doing in that area and I have not been doing it very long. Anyway, the sermon topic this past week was spiritual warfare and thank goodness I have some defense because Satan is working pretty hard on me when it comes to fear and doubt with this devotional as well as whether I will be capable of taking care of another baby. I guess it is a little late for that and I am relying on God because he must think we can handle it.

On another note, the boys are growing so fast. They are putting words together constantly, playing together well, and just becoming little boys right before our eyes. The terrible twos are sometimes coming out, but it is nice that they can play on their own or together for some period of time now.

We are also almost finished with baby buddy's bedroom thanks to Grandma Susie and Andrew painting. We just have some furniture rearranging to do and I am working on some wall art. There should be pictures soon. We also have a fence now! It looks great! It will also come in handy while Andrew is out of commission for the next couple of days. Harp is not very happy about being contained, but the boys love the gate. Hopefully the weather will be nice soon so we can be out and enjoy it. Thank you, Papa Denny!

I think that is about all that is going on. I will leave with a picture of the boys taken while we were in Knoxville. I may just have to post a few because there are so many to choose from!

We are back!

We have been to Knoxville and then to Johnson City. Then the boys and I went to Indiana while Andrew had to go back home to work. We did a lot while we were there and we saw a lot of people that we miss and love.




Here are a few snapshots of our trip:






Andrew decided two weeks before we left to run a half marathon with his sister, niece, and Will (Michelle's boyfriend). This was at the finish line in Neyland Stadium.













The Aquarium at Gatlinburg. It may appear that they are having a good time but they were not very fond of the fish especially the turtles.





The annual Easter Egg hunt with my mom's family. As you can see it is not really a hunt.













That is all I really have the room for and the time. I will try to get back next week! Thanks for looking!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Hope you are having a great St. Pat's Day!

You should See the Other Guy . . .

So Gavin had a rough week. He scratched himself on the face, while wrestling Drew scratched him, he ran into the sliding glass door -which is the mark on his forehead, and last but not least he fell on the bench at our table and broke open his eyebrow. Do you like how Drew got into the picture? He added a bump on his chin at the playground yesterday. Hopefully this week will be a little easier on his poor little face. Although, he does love to wrestle. Andrew has big hopes for him, he is actually a natural according to my former wrestler and UFC fan husband. I see many more black eyes and bumps and bruises in his future. What am I saying in our future, we have 2 other sons! Pray for me!

6 years

I have been getting up early these last couple of days and my thought have gone to my mom. It is hard to believe it has been 6 years. To steal the phrase from my sister, a lot has happened in 6 years. I met the man of my dreams, we went through some tough years trying to have our two little boys, and we then moved across the country to a place I had never seen. Then of course we have had the little surprise with this third little boy on the way (I still think I don't fully comprehend that we are having another one.)That is not counting what all has gone on in my mom's family's life. I have decided that if I could have just a couple of minutes with her I would have to ask her so many things:

How is your new body (or whatever form she has in heaven) since the old one failed you?

Spiritually, what advice do you have for me?

What advice do you have for me as a wife?

What advice do you have for me as a mom?

You left such a legacy, how do I come close to doing that?

The thing is I am pretty sure mom would send me to the Word. She went there for everything. So, I guess I know how she would answer each of those, but I would just love to hear her voice. She was a "truth teller' whether you were ready for it or not she would tell it like it is. I miss that so much about her (most of the time). I don't know how but some how she always managed to do that in love.

Also, like Darce said I know I had to go through her loss to make me the woman that I am. I know that I would not have found my husband if she would not have gotten sick because I would not have been in Johnson City when I met him. I actually have an interview set up with the department of defense dependent schools and a job offer in Mexico when the we discovered the first round of chemo did not work. Who knows where I would have ended up or who I would have ended up with. I can not imagine my life without my husband or my boys, but I know they would not be with me if I had not lost my mom. These are just some of the big things that I know I had to experience, which was all a part of God's plan for me.

I also know and cherish that I will some day see her again. I know where she is and I know where I am going and we will be reunited not only as mother and daughter but as sisters in Christ. I have to say that is what makes the ache of missing her bearable. I know that is the promise we have as believers, it is not goodbye forever it is just see you after a while.

I could go on and on about how much I miss her and how wonderful she is, but I just needed to write some thoughts in order to not only share the legacy she has left but encourage you if you don't know Jesus then you don't know where you are going after you are gone. I know that was why my Mom had so much peace. If you want to experience this peace or want to know what in the world I am talking about please ask me or ask someone, because now is the time.

I don't have any pictures of mom that I can load so you will have to take a glance at Darce's blog to see the peace on my mom's face even though she was in a world of hurt when the picture was taken. http://darcyholsopple.blogspot.com/

I do have a picture that would make Mom smile:

Talk about a mug shot! They are getting so big! I think she would also say, they need haircuts!

We have been studying Revelation at church and small group and I have realized how important it is for my friends and family and for that matter everyone to know Christ because you don't want to have to endure what is going to go on here on earth in the end times and I want to keep everyone I know from having to endure those times just because I didn't take the time to say it for whatever reasons. (Excuse the run-on sentence because IT IS that important!)

Thank you for helping me heal and mourn the loss of mom and thank you for caring enough about us to read some of my thoughts and hopefully comment. Most importantly though if you don't know Jesus now is the time because we never know about tomorrow unless we know about Him. So, I started with questions to ask mom. I have a couple of questions to ask you:

Do you know where you are going when you leave this world?

Have you accepted Jesus as your Savior?

What are you waiting for?

Happy Valentine's Day

Although most of you are probably reading this after Valentine's Day since I am posting so late tonight. We stayed around home today except for a chilly walk this evening. Before I go any further I have to brag on my husband. He, after 5 years of marriage, got me the best gift ever (okay, so it has been the only Valentine's gift) It is so pretty, a sterling siver charm bracelet. There is a catch though. After he ordered it, he read that there have been issues with the sodder used to make it and the charms. So, I am not going to be able to wear it until we don't have kids who put everything in their mouth, but it is sure pretty to look at! He is so sweet. I thought I was giving a cool gift in that I framed a cool picture of a clock tower that he drew in Charleston in '04 on a paper table cloth. I have wanted to do it for some time, but I came across it again when we were switching rooms around.

Speaking of switching rooms around. The boys are in a BIG BOY BED! They have been in them for 2 weeks and the first night was rough but after that things have gone pretty well. Then they started naps in them and the first day was rough and now that is going well also. They are now asking to go to bed (nigh-nigh). They fell off the mattress several times the first couple of nights, but now they are getting the hang of it and if they do fall it is not waking them up. They are siting in them for the pictures. I decided to get two shots out of it, Valentine's day and Big Boy Bed. It is getting even harder to take a good picture of them because they are constantly moving.

Poor Harper! He is great with the boys. Most of the time he just takes it. Their new thing is to sit on his back and ride him like a horse (while he is sitting down of course). They tend to go flying when he has had enough. They really love him, but I am afraid that unless it comes to their constant feeding him, the feeling is not mutual. He looks so humiliated!

Who can resist that smile? Will you be mine?

It's a . . .

It's a boy! Here are the pics. We have everything but a name, I guess. He may be like Gavin and not have a name until he had to. No, we are closer this time than we were with the older boys. (That sounds so weird!) I have to get used to the idea that I will be surrounded by testosterone! It will be easier at prom time though. Anyway, everything looks good. In fact, the technician kept saying what a good looking baby he was. Looks like the due date is right on and he is about 8 oz. right now. I guess my hunches were wrong and Andrew was right! -I hate to have to say that.

So, I am having trouble making out the prospective of these, but after seeing the boys so many times, I think I have it figured out. The first is a side view. The second is a crotch shot. The third is a foot and a butt (I think).

Well the boys are needing some mommy time apparently. Have a good one!