Jacob's Surgery

Update:  We are home.  The surgery went well.  Jacob did great.  He's been sleeping since we got home.  It's going to be a 6 week recovery instead of the 3 weeks we are used to, but hopefully at the end of it all the bionic ear will be fully functioning once again.  Thanks for your prayers today.


My middle son Jacob is having his fourth ear surgery today.  Please pray for the surgery and his recovery and that this will be the last time we have to do this.  I will update when I can.

Happy Birthday Grey!

My sweet little red headed is 6 today.  I can't believe that he is over halfway through his Kindergarten year, soon he will be a first grader. Time will you please slow down, my heart cannot take him growing up so fast.


He had another birthday party while we were at my parent's house over Spring Break...

He got a new soccer ball and a soccer goal and quickly put them to good use...

Grey seems to think that he turns a year older with each party.  So last year when he was 4 turning 5, after three parties in his mind he was 7.  This year, with 3 parties again, he will be 10 years old by the time all the parties are said and done, ha ha.  Somehow all that seems perfectly logical to Grey.  


He's so much fun.  I cannot help but smile when he's around.  He has the ability to make me laugh hysterically about something he has said or done and then tear up in the same moment when I see his tenderness toward his sister.  His intentions are so genuine with her, so spontaneous and real.  The depth of his feelings for her stirs my heart.

Their first meeting, he was still just a baby himself...

  

One of my favorites of these two...

Just look at the way Sophie Kate is looking at him.

This one captures him perfectly...

Grey's life verse: 1Peter 3:15 "But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence."  

He's a living, breathing, walking, talking example of kindness and compassion.  He is a pleasure to parent (99% of the time, ha ha).  Happy Birthday Grey!! 

Please keep Jacob in your prayers, he's headed for his fourth ear surgery tomorrow (Thursday March 29).

While on Spring Break...

While on Spring Break we stayed with my parents and visited with my sister and her family.  Although my parents live in Mississippi, they are not far at all from Memphis which is where I grew up.  So while we were there we took some time to hit the big city and with the "big city" comes a "big park."

I was going to crop some of these pictures down but I wanted y'all to see just how big this place really is and this is just one of about 5 different areas.

This is the playground at Shelby Farms in Memphis. 

Love his face in this one...

There was an area of all different types of swings...

These swings are all connected so when one goes down the others go up.

As you can imagine, Grey was flyin' high on these swings...

This is where we found the most awesome swing ever invented...

I have never seen a more perfect swing for Sophie Kate ever!!

She spent a lot of time swinging with her brothers...

Next came the slides and rock walls...

Once again I am trying to give you an sense of how big this stuff is. The slides are huge and are literally built into the dirt, for lack of a better word.

We cooled off with some Slushes before we left...

We had lunch at my favorite barbecue place in Memphis, Corky's.  

Their dry ribs are an experience in and of themselves.  A friend I have known since we were in 3rd grade together met us there.  It was wonderful to catch up with her and introduce her to all my kids.


We ended our day with one last surprise stop.  One of the last exits as you leave Tennessee just before you cross the state line into Mississippi, will take you to this famous house...

Do you know who it belongs to?  I do and I have been in it several times too.  If you know me well that last statement will not surprise you at all.  Chad actually prides himself on having grown up and lived in Memphis for years and years and never visited this home.  He's obviously not the fan that I am.

Yes, it's Graceland home of Elvis Presley.  Now we didn't take the full tour this day, we just stopped by to take a picture in front of the house.  These children aren't old enough to appreciate such a tour yet.  They would not have been showing it the reverence it deserved and that would have irritated me verily.


Well, we did all that in just one day and I did it all by myself with all of these kids and we all survived and nobody ended up crying, not even me, ha ha.


Thanks for checking in on us.

Still Spring Breaking

We have had such a full Spring Break and the good news is...it's not even over yet.  We cut out early and left town Friday morning heading to my parents house to hang with family and friends.

  We did some things in Memphis that I had never done growing up there, isn't that the way it always is. 

 We packed a lot into our 5 days days there including another party for you know who...

and then there was the usual trek in the woods too.  Also, y'all aren't going to believe where I took the kids to have their picture made...well, maybe you will if you know me really really well.  


We're back home enjoying some down time before we have to go back to school.  I'll be sharing more of our Spring Break adventures soon.


Sassy is having a good week too...

Thanks for checking in on us.

Spring Break So Far...

Enjoying our Spring Break with some front porch sittin'...

Happy Spring Break y'all!!

This boy and his sister

Just a glimpse into my world with this boy and his sister...

I put this picture on Facebook this week, but wanted to share it with all of you.  Grey wants to hold Sophie Kate all the time, but she is almost as tall as he is so this is what he does instead.  He loves her so much, it can be heard and seen through his words and actions.  They are never far from each other, neither in body nor spirit.


Grey also lost his first tooth at school this week...

I wish I could put words to their relationship, but I think it is more than my simple words can describe.  The tender moments between them just keep coming and coming.  He absolutely won't leave her without a hug and a kiss.  


The other night we were playing the board game "Trouble." Grey insisted SK play, picked out what color she was going to be and moved the game board every time it was her turn so that she could click the bubble with dice in it.  He wouldn't have it any other way...and guess what...she beat both of us!!


The anticipation and excitement of Spring Break is about to eat us alive, we're so ready!!  Can't wait for a week of nothing.  Thanks for  checking in on us. 

Just the Beginning

We had Grey's birthday party over the weekend.  No, he won't be officially six until the end of the month, but he loves partying with his best bud Jacob and with Spring Break coming we knew a lot of people would be out of town.  

These two are only about 2 weeks apart, have lots of the same friends and seem to really enjoy sharing their party. We had their party at Pump It Up so the moms and dads really enjoyed sharing the cost too, ha ha.

The only problem with having Grey's party so much earlier than his actual birthday is that it always turns into a month long birthday party extravaganza...and I guess that's not really a problem if you're Grey.

My mom and dad always have a party for him when we are at their house over Spring Break and then we have a family party on the his actual birthday, March 28th.  So you can see how a kid might get a bit spoiled.

The pile up at the bottom of the slide...

Guess who else got to go down the big slide??

 Hmmm....not sure what I think about this.

 OK, I liked it...

Can we do it again daddy?

It's not easy carrying 38lbs. to the top of that big slide, but SK's daddy won't hear of her being left out of anything and look she's still smiling.

Trying to get a picture of this group needs to be put in the category of: Mission Impossible, so we did the best we could.

And then the silly picture...yeah that one was no problem, they are all really good at that. 

Grey wanted his sister right beside him the whole time...

The Birthday Boy...

Grey with friends Riggs, Jacob and Chase...

Grey opened his presents once we got home...

What a great group of kids, they had a ball and wore themselves out, at least mine did.  We are so thankful for our friendships with these sweet families.