Refreshed and Renewed

I had the best weekend and the greatest Mother's Day present from my wonderful hubby and children. Jeff sent me off along with Dawn to Lido beach in Sarasota for a weekend get away. We arrived at Lido beach Friday afternoon and started our weekend retreat with an early dinner at Bonefish Grill. I had Diablo pasta and oh was it divine. We made it back to our hotel in time for a walk down the beach and had a few hours of girl talk while waiting for the sunset. It's amazing how much talking us woman can do when we are not interrupted.
There were some musicians down on the beach playing and the waves sounded so great crashing on the shore. I new that very moment that every part of stress, anxiety, fear, and worry were about to leave my mind, body, and soul. All I could think of was how my husband truly knows my heart and how to fill a love tank.
We slept in until 9:00 a.m. Saturday morning and headed down to Blue Dolphin Cafe for a quick breakfast. I had one of a kind western omelet with monterey Jack cheese made to perfection and was ready for some rays. We became lazy beach bums for the rest of the day........literally from 10:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. We only moved to get in the water a few times, to grab a Pina Colada, oh, and flip our pages as we each read our books. There were a couple of times we would hear a crying child and our motherly instincts would make us jump. Our bodies actually ached Saturday night from not doing anything all day. We knew we had to move or we would be useless come Sunday morning. We decided on Carraba's that night for dinner and I must recommend the Sirloin Marsala. Oh.........there are no words. Thank God Dawn gets a HUGE discount for all OSI restaurants. We ate dirt cheap and still had fine dining. We then walked through all the shops on the circle. Have you ever been in the store Black and White Market? Wow, what beautiful clothes!! I couldn't afford any of it, but wanted to buy it all. I have to find an outlet. We finished our retreat up by spending Sunday on the beach again and then by the pool. It was bitter-sweet during our departure. I so wish my family could have just packed up and come to me.

The water was simply...................well, lets just say I never had a problem seeing my toes or seashells on the bottom of the ocean floor even when I was in the water up to my neck. It was breath-taking.

I can not wait to take my family there. I know they will love it. I came home refreshed and ready to see my favorite three. They were all awaiting my arrival with smiles and all I could do was squeeze them and say thank you. I know I was smiling from ear to ear. We had a wonderful evening out on our porch. Jeff had grilled a nice little dinner for all of us to enjoy together. I tucked my kids in bed and curled up with my hubby in the chair for the rest of the evening.

Sorry there are no pics, but we just were too lazy to go back to the room for the camera.

One other thing. Congrats to Pike's Electric!!! We won the championship game and are T-ball Champions!! I'm so proud of those children.

OUR LIFE IN THE T-BALL WORLD

We have had such a great time during this t-ball season. Abbie has done so well and Trever, well, I will say he is just now starting to enjoy it now that it's coming to an end. Have I mentioned that my hubby is a great coach? These kids just love him and Ray. They have done so well coaching. I have thoroughly enjoyed being dug-out mom to all 11 kids. I'm so thankful that Dawn was dug-out mom with me. We actually had several parents volunteer to help out as well. We've only lost 3 games and the kids have had a blast!!! We've laughed, cried, wiped snotty noses (not my own children's noses), and screamed to the top of our lungs in excitement for these little munchkins. I'm somewhat sad that I will be saying good-bye to these prescious little ones. I've grown to love them as though they are my own. It's been a blessing to watch them all get to know each other and I hope somehow they remember us as showing kindness and love. It has been an honor to serve these children in our community.

I'm posting some pictures from our last game and some pictures of fans. We had a great night and ended at Beef O Brady's with our extended family. I forgot to change my date on my camera when I changed the batteries. How irritating that the date is wrong.........

GO PIKE'S ELECTRIC!!!!

Does Pluto live in outerspace?

This is short and sweet, but I had to share. Abbie has been studying about outerspace. She was telling Trever the names of the planets and what all is in outerspace. When she said "Pluto" Trever quickly said "wait a minute Mickey's dog does not live in outerspace. You so silly." We just busted out laughing. He's still not quite convinced that we are not talking about the name of Mickey's dog. I'm not sure if I should be impressed that he knows more about Mickey Mouse than outerspace. Oh well.......

Earth Day

And God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good. Gen 1:31

This scripture was the last scripture I read to my kids this afternoon after discussing earth day. There were so many things on television and radio that reminded me of earth day and I heard Abbie say recycle about ten times today. Which I am very proud that her and Trever want to take part in that and have learned about taking care of our planet. However, there was this little voice that reminded me of why we have the priviledge to live on this great earth and I had to take a moment to sit with my kids and read from their Bible Story Book the story of Creation. We've read it so many times, but Trever still said "wow" throughout the whole story. Trever adored every picture, especially the page with all the animals. He said "God even created the ants, mommy. That's so cool. How did He do that? Is He a super hero?" Abbie answered very quickly "He's greater than a super hero, Trever." I found myself teary-eyed and in awe just like my children as Abbie and I took turns reading aloud. Abbie said "Jesus must love us a lot to create all of these things." Oh, how He does love us so much. The work of His hands is truly breath-taking.

I do wish that every creature great and small had thought of the Creator today. He is worth serving and living for.

Happy earth day!!

I feel complete again!!

I'm so happy to announce that my family is all together again and it brings me great joy. My dad brought Trever home on Friday afternoon and I thought I would just squeeze him to death. He said, "mommy, you said you were going to gobble me up when you saw me." Me and my dad just started laughing.
Abbie was suppose to be home on Saturday, but instead came home Sunday evening. I thought I was going to fall apart Saturday when I found out she wasn't coming home. Jeff kept me occupied by bringing home a trailer full of mulch and some new plants to put in the flowerbeds. It looks so beautiful. He definately knows how to make my heart smile. We also went to a wedding in the woods Sat. evening and I had the distraction of thinking of Edward and Bella the whole time during the ceremony--ha,ha. Jeff knew exactly what I was thinking the whole time and would just shake his head. I have no idea what Randy's message was during the wedding..........how terrible I know. It had something to do with trees.....
Anyways, Abbie had the life squeezed out of her when she arrived home and Trever wrestled her down to the ground. He told her if she wanted up she had to tap out--UFC unleashed--no, we do not let our kids watch it, but they do wrestle with their daddy and he knows all the lingo.
She was so wore out and I think she was somewhat dehydrated, but we got her fixed up and she was feeling much better today. Jeff and I got to snuggle with her at bedtime. I looked at her and she had tears in her eyes. I asked her if she was sad and she told me "no, I have happy tears because I'm with you." My heart just swelled with emotion. It was such a special moment. All I could do was wrap her in my arms and hold her close.
She says she had a wonderful time and wants me to post some pictures of her and RaeLynn at the Keys. I hope to get some pics from Dawn soon.

Have a great week everyone and squeeze your babies!!!

I truly love my life!

My kids left Sunday afternoon both going in different directions. Abbie went to the Keys with the Moses clan (lucky thing) and Trever went to my parents for the week. My kids are having such a wonderful time, but oh how I miss those little feet running on my wood floor. Jeff misses them so much that he just doesn't really know what to do with himself. We thought we would spend some great time together just the two of us , but the opportunity opened up for me to work fulltime hours this week so I have been working since Monday night and I haven't seen Jeff since Sunday. I crave the very sight of my family and my friends. I've not seen my closest friends or their kids either. I've not had my daily conversations with my mom and sister like normal and I feel like I'm on a whole other planet. I've always been thankful for my simple schedule and this week I've just been reminded at how blessed I am to be able to work very few hours. If I had to work this job full-time I would never see my family. I'm not saying working full-time is wrong so as you read please do not feel that way. If I worked the career path I chose full-time my schedule would literally be work and sleep nothing in between. So many people at work have asked me hundreds of times why I give up the money. They like to remind me that I could be affording cruises and fancy vacations and expensive clothes and shoes. Well, all I can say is that there is no pair of shoes (and we all know how much I love shoes!!!!!!!!!!!) that can be worth giving up my relationship with my kids and husband. We may not take fancy vacations and I may never walk in some high-end shoe or clothing store, but one thing I do know is that I will have lots of memories of my children's laughs and I will know what it feels like to sleep next to the man I love. That makes a "budgeted" life worth it for me.

So, thank you Jesus for:

1. My husband who values family and relationship as much as I do!

2. The opportunity to hear pitter-patter of little feet when I wake in the mornings

3. Trusting that Jeff and I could love and nurture your beautiful gifts, Abbie and Trever

4. The daily bread that you give because somehow it's always enough

5. The friends who feel like my sisters and their kids who feel like my own

6. Parents who crave my children's presence and find joy in them

7. The job my husband has that provides for us so that I can stay home and teach our children

8. T-mobiles favorite five so that I can call MY mommy, daddy, and sister everyday for free. Even though they are 4 hours away I can still hear their voice!

9. Loving me and giving your life for me

10. My life. I TRULY LOVE IT!!!!

A whole lot of nothing, yet so much fun

This past weekend all of our friends went camping and we did not get to go. We were all a little bummed about it, but we actually ended up having a wonderful weekend with just the four of us. The weather was just wonderful so we spent our whole weekend working and playing in the yard. I found the kids raking in the leaves and then throwing the leaves. At the time they didn't realize that all the leaves they raked were now everywhere once again. They had a great time so it was well worth it. I weeded my flower beds and Jeff of coarse played in the garden. We later took a walk out on the property exploring and watching the kids climb the trees. I snapped a picture or two and posted a lot of them on the side bar of my page. I know they aren't professional, but they are an expression of a wonderful family moment.

I posted a picture of the oak tree because that is the view from my front porch swing. Isn't it just beautiful? I just found myself in awe after I snapped it. It was just a moment to take in and reflect on how blessed we are to live where we live.

The last picture is of Trever playing his sister's leapster. His batteries died in his, but he knows he only is allowed so much leapster time so he couldn't give his playtime up. I noticed him nodding off and asked him if he'd like a nap. His reply was " no mommy, I am about to save Eve." He was playing Wall-E. I went back a few minutes later and this is what I found. I thought it was just too cute!

I feel so refreshed after this weekend. I wish everyday was just simply a playday with family!