Turning FIVE!

Wednesday September 7, 2011 my sweet little man will turn FIVE! It is hard to believe that he is that big already. After a miscarriage prior to having Curtis I earnestly prayed for this young man. God was so faithful to us, and Curt has been such a blessing to our family!

** We decided to forgo a big birthday party and take Curt to the T-Rex Café in Kansas City, his FAVORITE place** However it was a blessing to us that what started out as a small family trip turned into a pretty good number of our family traveling up to Kansas City.

Curtis and Cadence on our way to Kansas City!

This is only the second time my children have spent the night in a hotel (well the third if you count when Kristin graduated with her masters, but they were both VERY little and don’t remember).. so everything is a hotel is *super exciting* to these two! And I do mean EVERYTHING!!

We were lucky enough to get a coupon through traveling with my In-Laws to stay at Argosy for $59.00!! (this same room is normally $250) However the rest of my family stayed a few miles away, at a hotel with a pool! So we went to their hotel to swim...

After swimming we went back to our room so Curt and Cadie could play in Argosy’s *wonderful showers* (seriously these showers are the size of my kitchen, almost)

Some new Dinosaur pajamas, and then Kristin and the kids came to our room for a PJ party! (that ended when everyone got tired )

Curtis and Cadie did wonderful falling asleep.. about 5:30 am. I heard Cadie crying Mommy, and found her by the door crying! I guess she had woken up and forgotten where we were. However, I snuggled up in bed with her and she went right back to sleep, until 9:00 (I CAN’T REMEMBER THE LAST TIME I SLEPT UNTIL NINE)

*FINALLY* it was time to go to the T-Rex Café!

The staff there was wonderful!! The kids got to build a dinosaur...

dig for dinosaur fossils...

and finally EAT and presents!!

They of course came out and say their dinosaur birthday song to him, which ended with a ROAR!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY my sweet little man! We had a wonderful trip, I am blessed that so many of our family offered to drive to Kansas City to celebrate with him.

This is just because I love my Grandma SO VERY MUCH!

By George, I think we found it!

... the sport that Curtis is any good at! Not to sound like a bad parent, because I love Curt with my entire heart..BUT he has little to no natural sport ability! We have tried t-ball and basketball, Curt wasn’t much of a fan of either!! We of course made his stick it out and finish but he was not a happy camper. So when he asked us if he could play soccer, I almost said NO!!

Tonight was Curt’s first practice. We decided to play at the South Y so that Curt could be on the same team as Jacob (who wasn’t at practice tonight, because they are out of town). Of course wherever Curt goes Luke isn’t normally far behind =) So we are excited to see the three boys play together this year.

He was a little apprehensive in the beginning (wonder where he would get that from?!?!)

But he seemed to pick it up right away.

He is excited for next Friday’s practice, and they already have a game next Saturday?!?! His only question was, "I thought I wasn’t supposed to steal things from other people?" =) You will be glad to know that we did set him straight on when to steal and not to!! AND in this case, stealing the ball is a good thing!!

Count Your Blessings...

Name them One by One, count your blessings see what God has done!

Yesterday (Wednesday) was *yucky* busy for us! Wednesday mornings we have staff meetings. Which means I have to be to work and in the library ready for staffing by 8:00. So I dropped the kids off to  my Mom at 7:45a.m. (BLESSING #1: I am blessed to have my mother as our “daycare” I never worry that Curt and Cadie are missing love or attention, and she refuses to be paid, that should be a dozen blessings) During my working day I get more hugs then I can count. (BLESSING #2: Since I have to be a working parents, I get to hug children all day long) After I put my 24 1st graders on the bus I cleaned up my room, headed for my van. Only to find that I didn’t have enough gas to get from Goddard to Southwestern at Pawnee and Rock, for class at 5:00p.m. So I quickly stopped for gas (BLESSING #3: I had to resign from my full-time job in May so that I could student-teach full time. Which means we are now a one income family, so I am blessed that I had not only enough money to buy gas but also a diet coke and granola bar ). We missed youth group last night because we had a parent’s meeting at Curt’s preschool. Which means I got home from class at 6:30 and Brett and I had to leave for Curt’s school meeting at 6:40. Kelly came to watch/play with the kids so that we could go. I had told Brett that if Cadie cried for me that I would not go and he could fill me in. However, when Aunt Kelly came in and asked the kids if they wanted to play in the water outside with her, they were THRILLED, and hardly noticed that Brett and I left!! (BLESSING #4 I am blessed that Kelly loves my kids almost as much as I do). After our meeting, Brett and I were approached by a super nice couple. They asked if we were Curtis’ parents?
They were the parents of one of the little girls in Curt’s class, who was also in his class last year. They told us how sweet they thought he was, and that Addy was so excited to have him in her class again because she liked playing power rangers with him (and that she tells them “he is kind of her boyfriend”).(BLESSING #5: I am blessed that through wonderful models, Brett and I are raising great kids). When we got home around 8:30 our children were on their way out the door. Our sweet neighbors had called to see if they would like to come down and help them feed the horses a popsicle. OF COURSE THEY WOULD!! (BLESSING #6: My wonderful neighbors, who have fallen in love with my children… Donna and Annette).

So many blessings, to many to mention. However while singing this song to Cadence tonight, I felt the need to “Count my blessings, name them one by one. Count my blessings see what God has done.”

Spiritual Warfare

Satan knows what our soft spots are, and in a battle to win souls he will use these things against us. My achilles heel is my sweet babies! After confiding in a few close friends (and my sweet Uncle Johnny) I have come to a place where I fully trust the Lord with these two little lives. It is more important for  me to spend eternity with them, then 100 years here on Earth. It is important for me to stay in scripture daily and remember promises from my Heavenly Father, who loves my children more than I do... I read in a Max Lucado book that, "fruit doesn’t grow on mountain tops, but in valleys". I am currently running through a valley: miscarriage, extended family issues, and the latest... my nightmares of loosing my children have started to reoccur.

I am choosing to fully rely on God, while I am continuing to produce fruit in my valley. 

And again, "I put my trust in him." And again he says, "Here am I. and the children God has given me." Hebrews 2:13

Only seeing these sweet faces for about 3 and a half hours a day, plays mind games with a "mommy heart" BUT my God is greater!

...I confess my weaknesses, and strive to fill the purpose set out for me, and my heart is at peace...