Spring Break part 1

We started our Spring Break by heading to Knoxville, TN.  We left as soon as David got off work on Friday and drove straight through.  The kids did pretty well on the car ride and we arrived around 12:30 am their time.  Everyone woke up Saturday morning eager to see our close friends the Robinsons.  The Robinson's lived in Memphis during Med School where we first met them and became very close and then moved back for Scout's fellowship and bought a house down the street from us.  Their second child and Austin are only 2.5 months apart and their third and Maggie are only 2.5 months apart.  We are hoping for 1 or 2 future matches.

Look at Wils hand...I think he was already making the moves on my daughter. =)
These 3 were thick as thieves and had so much fun together. It truly warmed my heart to see them pick up right where they left off almost 3 years ago.
Saturday we mainly hung around the house and enjoyed just being together. David and Scout took the big kids to see the UT basketball game. They loved being there and getting special treats like popcorn and pretzels.

The mommy's stayed back and spent time with the littles.
Sunday morning David and I took the kids to one of our favorite spots from college...Sequoiah Hills area.  We used to come walking out there when we just needed to get away from campus.  The boys loved pretending they were on a big exploration and finding new places to run and play.

  

 
After our little adventure we drove them past the meeting spot of their parents.  David and I met at Kroger on the first week of classes in 1998.  One day I will do a post on the start of our relationship.
I made sure to get a picture with my mini-van in the shot.  Life 15 1/2 years ago when we were just kids and life now. =)

Sunday afternoon we went to another park and met up with one of my precious high school girls who is a sophomore at UT.  I got a big kick out of seeing her push my children in a stroller.  Loved catching up with her and hearing about life at UT!

We woke up Monday morning and made the trek to Nashville.  Stay tuned for Spring Break part 2.

Thank you Robinsons for hosting our crazy family...we LOVED being with your precious and beautiful family!  Miss having all of you in Memphis!

cute pic and a reminder to vote

Hoping to have time tomorrow to do a blog post on our spring break travels but for now just a cute pic of my littlest 3 and a reminder to vote...

VOTE for the Forrest Spence Fund!! The First Tennessee Foundation will give $5,000 to a different nonprofit organization every day for 150 days. Please vote for the FSF a couple of times a day!! You can vote one time on each device you own. PLEASE go vote! If you have always wanted to support the FSF but haven't been able to volunteer or give...than this is your chance to help tremendously. Just go vote!!! Please share this on social media...Facebook, your blog, Instagram... as much as possible!

http://www.150daysofgiving.com/

Five for Friday

1.  Definitely have some blogging to do from our Spring Break trip but a little tease below.  We spent the weekend with some of our very best friends the Robinson's.  Hoping for some future marriages from these 6.


2. There is nothing quite like spending quality time together as a family. There may be tears, arguments, and frustrations but at the end of the day it is truly priceless to be together and enjoy the company of those you love.


3. My favorite 6 kids in the entire world.

4.  For those of you in the thick of littles being so close in age...hold tight...it is truly worth having them so close together.  I wouldn't change their relationship for the world.

5. VOTE for the Forrest Spence Fund!! The First Tennessee Foundation will give $5,000 to a different nonprofit organization every day for 150 days. Please vote for the FSF a couple of times a day!! You can vote one time on each device you own. PLEASE go vote! If you have always wanted to support the FSF but haven't been able to volunteer or give...than this is your chance to help tremendously. Just go vote!!!

Please share this on social media...Facebook, your blog, Instagram... as much as possible!

http://www.150daysofgiving.com/

Happy Friday friends!

Hope

A good friend sent us this beautiful artwork for the Forrest Sibling Playroom at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital along with notecards for our Care Bags that go to families. The Forrest Spence Fund's tag line is Empathy.Understanding.Hope because that is what we offer. We can empathize, understand, and offer hope because we have been there. We have roamed the halls of a children's hospital not knowing if our child would survive the night...we have sat by the bed of our child and prayed that he would pull through...we have rejoiced when he opened his eyes and made improvements...and we have mourned when the doctors told us there is nothing more they could do. We can offer Hope because we have been there.

My little pianist and dancer

I love these videos of Maggie playing the piano and dancing.  Watch the smile she gives me in the middle and towards the end of the piano playing video.  Cracks me up.
 Here she is dancing for us. I LOVE having a little girl!

Five for Friday

1.  This week ended up being an off week.  We had a big ice storm come through on Sunday night and lost power around 10:30.  We assumed that it would come on quickly so we stayed put and around 3:30 we woke up and realized it was freezing in our house and our power was not restored.  David went to check on the boys and they were warm enough with a bunch of blankets on them but poor Maggie was freezing.  We tried bringing her in the bed with us but she just thought it was a party and wouldn't settle down to sleep. We finally put her winter coat and hat on her and put her back to bed. She slept great after that.  The boys woke up freezing and immediately put their winter coats on as well.


2.  It then took 48 hours for it to come back on.  I packed up the kids and as much food as I could salvage and headed to my in laws house on Monday morning.  The kids were in heaven to be spending that much time at the grandparents house.  While we were there we popped popcorn in the fireplace. The kids got a big kick out of that.


3.  We played in the snow a little bit on Monday but it really was freezing outside.  In hindsight I wish I had bought proper snow/ski gear but its so rare for us to have the weather we had this year but it would have come in handy this winter.  Maggie was mad because she didn't want to stop playing.


4.  I had to go back to the house to have some furniture delivered and it was seriously cold inside.  Waiting on the delivery guys was pretty miserable.

5.  The home is coming along.  We are going very slow which sometimes I think is nice and sometimes it drives me crazy.  I found these watercolor paintings at an antique shop in town and thought they would go great above our bed.

We also had our rug, couch, chest, and other piece (don't know what its called) delivered for our living room.  We have a few more things ordered but they haven't come in yet.  We are also waiting on our pillows for the couch.

The painting is a commissioned piece of downtown Memphis by Rebecca Robinson.  I had her paint it  for an anniversary present for David 2.5 years ago.  I love how it looks above the chest.

Happy Friday friends!  Hope you have something fun planned this weekend!

Flying with Dingdad

Both boys got enough stickers to receive their special treat and they both picked a special date to go flying with Dingdad.

Miller took a lego man along for the ride and made sure to get pictures of him a few different ways.  After flying they had a special lunch together.

Ron picked up Austin after school on one of his half days and they went to lunch and then went flying.  For the first time they flew over our home and Austin's school.  Austin thought that was really cool.  
An aerial view of Austin's school.

Great article

When I read this article I truly thought the author was sitting in my home writing my thoughts exactly onto a piece of paper.  The 2 boys...little girl...constantly being needed.  So many of the words struck me in a way I needed to hear...

Some days never seem to end, and the monotony of being “needed” can really take its toll. Then, it all started to hit me, they need ME.  Not anybody else.  Not a single other person in the whole world.  They need their Mommy.

The sooner I can accept that being Mommy means that I never go off the clock, the sooner I can find peace in this crazy stage of life.   That ‘Mommy’ is my duty, privilege and honor.

Can I enjoy being needed?  Sometimes, sure, but often it is tiring.  Exhausting.  But, it isn’t meant to be enjoyed every moment.  It is a duty.  God made me their Mom.  It is a position I yearned for long before I would ever understand it.  

And I have to admit that it is the toughest job I have ever had.  

One day that little boy will be a big man.  There will no longer be any sweet words whispered to me in the wee hours.  Just the whir of the sound machine and the snoring husband.  I will sleep peacefully through the night, never a worry of a sick child or a crying baby.  It will be but a memory.  These years of being needed are exhausting, yet fleeting.  I have to stop dreaming of “one day” when things will be easier.  Because, the truth is, it may get easier, but it will never be better than today.  Today, when I am covered in toddler snot and spit up.  Today, when I savor those chubby little arms around my neck.  Today is perfect.  ”One day” I will get pedicures and showers alone.  ”One day” I will get myself back.  But, today I give myself away, and I am tired, and dirty and loved SO much, and I gotta go.  Somebody needs me.

Pictures from this weekend when I had 2 sick kids and I was needed constantly.  I had to miss a Sunday school speaker I really wanted to hear...both David and I didn't get to hear a speaker that night we really wanted to hear together...loss of sleep...no shower...but looking back...I wouldn't change it because I was needed!

Click here to read the entire article.

Five for Monday

I have been terrible lately about blogging.  The same ole excuses that everyone has...life is just super busy!  Little miss Maggie is so fun but SOOO much energy and work.  She is into everything and you can't take your eyes off her for a minute so there isn't a lot of time for extra things outside of the home and the Fund.  So I am doing Five for Monday instead of Five for Friday.  Hoping to get back on schedule this week with some posts.

1. First child to need to see an orthopedic surgeon...good thing we know a really great one. Poor thing was pitiful with a nursemaid elbow.  It happened when she tried to run into the parking lot but since she didn't start crying immediately after I grabbed her hand I didn't realize that was what happened.  It took 3 hours of her being pretty pitiful before I figured out it was more than just terrible teething...mom of the year award!  She's all better after her daddy fixed her.

2.  Be still my heart...5 going on 15.  Love this little guy with all my heart!  He was ready for his Royal Tea at school.  He picked his tie because it matched his school colors and his Boston Red Sox hat.  Love the hands in the pockets too.


3.  We had a fun night of cooking out with friends!  The kids were in heaven with having so many friends over.



4.  We used some gift cards David's parents gave us from Christmas and enjoyed a delicious date night together.  It was a much needed night out and we loved spending time together.  I am truly blessed to walk through life with this one.

5.  2 Saturdays ago it was beautiful and we took full advantage of the amazing weather.  We drove to the Greenline area over by Humphrey's and rode/ran along the trails.  We ended up going for over an hour and half and got really good exercise while spending great quality time together.  I'm reading a book (Confident Parenting by Jim Burns) that says one of the most important things you can do together as a family is recreation...really playing together.  Not watching your kids play sports but playing together.  We are trying to do more where we play together and make memories together as a family.  Now if the weather would act better so we could get more opportunities to be outside and play.


Happy Monday...hope you have a great week!