Life on the road....during ball season!!!

I have to say that we have been quite busy the last few months.  E & M both played ball this year.  I knew I would be at the field alot but I don't think I realized exactly how much I would be there.  M played most of his games at Mt. View but E was all over the county.  They both had a great time but I am exhausted.  During all of this we were doing home renovations too which caused me not to be able to use my kitchen for a while so life on the road is an understatement.

M doing homework in the back of the car while we are at 2 hour practice for E.

M at practice for his team.  He is a natural player.  I think we have found his sport. Michael helped coach his team.

E at her practice.  She loved playing softball and had several of her friends from school on her team.

I had more pics from games but got a new iPhone and somehow lost those photos:(.  Ball season is over now and so is school.. Yay!  We have had a busy weekend and will share more once I upload photos.  We have the pool open and are starting out summer out great!  We were on the lake all day today with friends and have lots planned for the summer.  One plan is I am off one day a week and instead of being busy with errands and everything else, we have decided that we are having open pool day where all our friends are welcome to come hang out by the pool all day with us.  Can't wait! Going to be lots of fun this summer!

My Little Science Geek....

E was selected for her school's Science Olympiad team last fall.  They had their competition in March (yes,  a little behind)

She was in 3 of her teams competitions and she placed first in 2 of the competitions which is a really big deal!

Her Gold Medals

And the best thing of all is .....

her school won 1st place out of 17 other schools!!!  Way to go Blackburn!!!
We are so proud of E!  She is super smart and has excelled at everything she has done.  We are so thankful for her wonderful friends and her great school!  I know some people have a bad taste in their mouth when it comes to public schools but I have to say we are in the best elementary school out there. We are truly blessed!

Do you ever feel Overwhelmed???

The title says it all.  I am feeling overwhelmed lately.  M had strep last week, E, a sinus infection.  I feel crummy myself right now.  Had to come home early from work today.  E was home with upset stomach.  Do you ever feel like it all hits at one time?

Then, I found out 2 weeks ago that my brother & his wife split and I found out another member of our family's marriage has fallen apart also.  My heart breaks for everyone.  I feel at times I take for granted my own marriage and when I hear things like this, it really makes me re-examine things. I feel like with our schedules we never see each other which is really hard but it makes us have to work even harder to find time for each other.  The past couple weekends when he has been off, we have actually went out to dinner with other couples which has been really nice.

I think though when I am feeling overwhelmed, discouraged and sad, it makes me want to seek the Lord even more.  I must admit.  I fail miserably everyday.  I cannot be the person I want to be but most importantly who God wants me to be if I neglect my relationship with Him.  I will say, I struggle at times in my relationship.  Lately, I feel bombarded by the enemy but I know that I have to focus on Him & not myself.  I struggle putting things in His hands.  You would think I would know by now that He has things under control but my human nature tries to control things I have no control over.  Can anyone relate?

My prayers for right now are for everyone to start feeling better.  I pray that my brother will find God through this situation.  The kids pray for him every night, that he will come to Jesus.  I pray for my other family member who is going through a very tragic split.  I pray that I will stop depending on others & myself and start trusting the Lord to handle things.  My prayer is that the Lord will equip me to show more love to others.  I am selfish, I admit it.  My prayer for this year is that I show more love to people around me.

Pics to share...

Here are some pics to share with you about what all we have been up to....

Here is a picture from M's baptism I promised.    As you can tell M is a little small and needed some help staying afloat while Pastor Paul was talking.

This is Remmy, short for Remington.  He is alot bigger now but he is Michael's new pet.  He is some expensive hunting dog that supposedly is a big deal if you are into that. ;).  I am not a big animal person so while Michael has been building him a nice outdoor running area, he has been living in our garage in a kennel.  I just love getting up the nights Michael is working and taking this little creature out to go to the bathroom at 3 or 4 A.M (not!!).  I do this only because I love my husband and this little dog means alot to him but soon everything is going to be ready for him to move out. Yay!!

My new ride, Yay!!!.  Michael & I have not had car payments in 8 years so this is a major deal for us but it was time. My van was getting some major age on it & I was nervous being out with the kids by myself at night. We always said that once kids were both in school and I went back to work full-time that we would get a newer car. We did.  I love it but not crazy about making payments again... Ouch!

E celebrated her 10th birthday in November!  Wow, time flies!  She had a huge party.  We had a costume party at my parents church.  She had around 25 kids there with lots of adults to celebrate.  Also our awesome childrens ministry leaders came and did games with the kids and they had a blast.     It was so fun!

Michael & I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary in November.  We took off to the mountains for the day.  We are at Linville Falls here.  It was nice to have some time just hanging out with just the 2 of us.  With our busy work schedules, it doesn't happen often.

E and M making cookies with their cousins.  We have so much fun with his sisters & our nieces and of course Chris & Tyler too.  We are so glad God has brought them into our lives.  His sisters suprised me at work for my birthday and took me out to get a pedicure and out to eat.  Had a blast!  I always wanted a sister and I am so thankful to have 2 now!

The kids with their cousins at our Christmas play.  Sadly this is the only pic I have because since I was helping with the play I couldn't really take any pictures.  Hopefully I can find someone with a few at church.

The wreath I made for our front door for this fall.   I was very excited how it turned out.

This is a pic of me shooting at a conceal carry class.  I was so proud of myself.  I was so terrified of guns and still have a fear of them but Michael wanted me to learn to shoot.  The class was offered through one of the instructors at the sheriffs office and me & my mother-in-law took it.  It was an all women class.  There were around 20 women there and it was a blast!

E & M's halloween costumes at the Spooktacular in Newton.

Celebrating M's 6th birthday at Pin Station.

Michael & I surprised M at school with Krispy Kreme doughnuts for his class.

E got a bike and lots of other fun things for Christmas this year.

M got lots of legos which is what he wanted.

To finish out the year, we had a girls night on New Years Eve.  Michael was working so his sisters & my nieces came over for a slumber party.  We had pizza, snacks, games and just had fun.  It was a great way to ring in the new year!

Well, I think I may have gotten most of our events for the last several months put on here.  Hope everyone has an awesome 2013!!!

Catch Up Time...AGAIN!

You would think as many times as I have had to do catch up post to show what we have been up to, I would try to keep up with my blog.   I have to say, we have been busy, and blogging is not on my priority list.  So here are some things we have been up to....

Hanging out on the lake with friends.

M wanted a picture of him and his stuffed animals

Spending time with friends in the pool.  This is our friends son who has muscular dystrophy.  He is so precious and M loves to be around him.

M's first day of kindergarten

Spending time with my grandfather before he has open heart surgery.

M has started playing soccer and loves it!!

He even scored 4 goals in 1 game!! Another big event in our family was that M was baptized in July.  I have pictures but I haven't downloaded them from my other camera.  I will soon.

I have gone back to work full-time.  BIG adjustment!!!  It has taken me a while to get into the swing of things and I am still not there yet.  Maybe this explains why I haven't been on here lately.  I look at other peoples blogs but just do not have time to add stuff to mine.  We have lots coming up.  Birthdays, 15 year anniversary for me and Michael and the holidays which I love.  Will try to keep up with things better.

True Brotherhood....

Today, I just want to post my emotions for the past couple of days.  Last weekend the kids and I went to church camp while Michael stayed home to work.  When he texted me Sunday, we were going to try to meet him somewhere so we could see him.  Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't.  Just goes with the job.

I called him when we got out of church but no answer so we headed home.  Later that night I tried again.  Still no answer.  I did get a little concerned because it had been a couple hours but didn't get too stressed.  Around 10:30pm he called to tell me that they were ok.  He said "I didn't want you to see the news and be upset so I want you to know we are all ok".

Ok, I was exhausted from camp but after that call, I didn't sleep.  When I did fall asleep I dreamed of what possibly had happened.  He had told me the main issue over the phone.  If you live in our area, you may have heard there was an officer involved shooting where deputies had to shoot a suspect when he raised a gun at them.  It was a very bad situation and very scary situation.

The next morning I started getting text from people who had heard about what had happened and knew Michael had been working.  I am so grateful to people who checked on us.  When people outside of the law enforcement community hear stuff like this on the TV, it seems like no big deal.  Let me tell you it is a big deal.  When anything like this happens, it affects the entire force that was at the scene responding.  It affects families of officers.  It touches us all and affects everyone involved.

Until this week, I did not realize the true brotherhood with law enforcement.  These guys have called and checked on each other daily.  There is such a bond with these guys and now I understand it, as much as I can.  I am reminded everyday of how God stepped in and protected each of these men.  He held them in His hand in a very dangerous situation and I am so thankful.  I have failed in my praying for these men.  These men need our prayers.  You do not know what dangers these men face each time they put their uniform on and walk out that door.  They work hard to protect and serve their community.  I am a proud wife who will begin to diligently pray for her husband and everyone he works with.

I am asking next time you see a law enforcement officer, thank them.  They face dangers that you have no clue that they face.  They have to miss out on things with their families so they can keep your families safe.  Most importantly, pray for them.

I am so thankful for the unseen hand of God.  Thank you Lord for the men and women who dedicate their lives to protect others.  Please protect them.

2012 Beach Trip

Building a sand-cano.

We have been at the beach for the last week.  We had lots of fun and as usual are ready to go back again.  We are so blessed to be able to stay at my aunts house at the beach.  We just hang out on the beach and eat alot of good food.  Here are some pics from our week....

Making sand castles

Playing putt putt

Deer over on the island at Sunset Beach

I have lots more but seem to be having issues getting my pictures where I want them.  We had a great time!