Andy, Kristen, and our boys(+ 1 princess): Week In Review :)

I had been dreading and looking forward to this past week for awhile. I was dreading it because I knew it would be hard to have Andy gone again, but I was looking forward to it because it was Andy's last scheduled "long" travel for awhile. :)

I wish I could say that this week was wonderful, but I can't. It was a tough week. Each morning I would pray and commit the day to the Lord and believe that this day would be better than the last, but for the most part that didn't happen. I was impatient and unkind more times than I'd like to admit. In fact one morning I wrote this verse on my hand, because although I had it on a sticky note, I knew I needed it with me at all times. : )

*When the boys saw me write on my hand they all wanted to write something too, so I told them to think of a word or two to describe something they want to remember to do.

As hard as this week was, I can look back on it and see how each day a moment or "moments" of joy were a part of it. Sometimes it takes me looking back on something to clearly see the good in the midst of hard. Pictures help with this. :)

MONDAY

(Andy was still in town)

Our week began attending CC and enjoying time with friends. That afternoon we got hair cuts for the boys and even Ellis had her hair "floofed"

TUESDAY

We said our goodbyes...

...and got to work on school. I knew that we needed to finish a little before lunch so that I could go vote. This was one of our more difficult mornings. Attitudes weren't the best from myself or the kids. By the time we went to vote I was so flustered. But then we got to our precinct and the kids did great! On our way out we ran into a neighbor (that we rarely see) and she stopped me to tell me that she remembered last time we saw each other and how the kids made such an impression on her because of their patience and behavior while we were talking and how she hopes her 2 little boys will grow up like that.

She has no idea but that was just the encouragement that I needed. I needed to have a perspective change that day and what she shared provided that for me. As I'm typing this I'm thinking how I need to let her know that. :)

That night we ate dinner and took baths a little early so that we could go cheer on some good buddies at their baseball game. (Sorry, no pictures) :)

WEDNESDAY

We've had such busy weeks that we haven't had time for many "extras", but when Tuesday was a difficult day, I knew we needed something different on Wednesday.

We got a little bit of school work done first thing that morning and then headed to "library time".

Library time holds so many dear memories for me. I first began going when Drew was about 2 months old. Many times I would walk there. Mr. Gary has been leading it for years and he is so gentle and kind and continues with his songs regardless of the chaos.

Davis and Ellis loved it.

Drew and Knox brought their back packs and picked out books to check out during our song time.

After the library we picked up lunch and headed out to check out the house and to meet a friend for a picnic.

On this day Ellis also got her first baby doll stroller and she absolutely LOVES pushing her babies around. I love watching her love on her babies. She is so sweet!

THURSDAY

We were home all morning and got a lot of school done.

BUT...I was also doing a little cleaning since I was hosting bible study at my house that night. So I opened to back door to get the floor mat and in ran a lizard. I didn't think I was scared of lizards, but I guess I am because I screamed and when the boys and I were looking for him and thought we saw him I screamed again.

So Andy's out of town, and I don't know what I will do if I do find him! In the mean time Andy's mom called and when I told her about our lizard emergency, she told me that I should call our bug service. She told me if Andy's dad was around he would just pick him up by the tail and take him out.

Wouldn't you know it, a few minutes later he came out of hiding. My plan of putting a tupperware over his head was not going to work out.

Why couldn't he have just been on the floor? I remembered Andy's mom telling me his dad would pick him up by the tail, so I knew what I had to do. I opened the back door, moved Davis out of my path (so that I didn't knock him down), and grabbed the lizard's tail and screamed the entire way to and out of the door until I dropped him outside. The boys were very impressed. ;)

Thursday afternoon Davis and Ellis had gymnastics.

On the way home we needed gas and I was struck by the thought of I don't often invite the kids to help or join me in what I consider the "mundane" life tasks, but how they enjoy being a part of things.

So I decided this would be Davis's turn to pump gas, and you know what? He loved it!

That night was bible study, and I love every second that I have spent with these ladies in my home. I am encouraged by what these fellow moms share and look forward to these special nights. These women have been real, transparent, and willing to share their lives with one another. The best word I can think of to describe this time is: "PRECIOUS".

FRIDAY

A few months ago, when I realized Andy's travel wasn't going to let up anytime soon and I was discouraged, Andy and I were at lunch and he gave me some wonderful advice. He told me I needed to put some things on the calendar to look forward to. I'm not much of a planner, so that's hard for me, but I've thought of his words often and realized the value in what he said and I've taken his advice. On some of our longer weeks I reached out to friends to make plans. Or if a friend asked us to do something I did my best to say YES!

I didn't know Andy wasn't flying back into Tallahassee Friday, so when he let me know he was flying into Panama City and driving back I immediately thought of my good friend Heather who lives there. I've been wanting to visit she and her 4 boys. So I texted her on Wednesday to see if they had plans and we quickly worked it out that we would come and hang out before picking Andy up at the airport.

That was the pick up we needed to get through the next few days. The kids and I were so excited!

Instead of thinking we would see Andy Friday night, I knew Friday morning we would be waking up and hitting the road on our way to get daddy that afternoon. :)

Heather has 4 boys and they are close in age to our 4. They homeschool and do CC, so we have a lot in common. They also just built a home, so that provided one more topic that we could spend hours talking about. Not that we need any help coming up with things to talk about. :)

As soon as we got there the kids ran off to play.

Davis found his buddy in age, Reid, and they ran outside to the sand table. After a few minutes it was pretty quiet and so I looked out to check on them and I bust out laughing. Those 2 little boys were side by side, pants at their ankles having a potty break. I didn't get a picture of the act itself, but you probably get the idea. :)

Heather made us a delicious lunch. Quesadillas, cheese puffs, and strawberries for the kids. (With yummy, gooey brownies for dessert)

And for us, she made this delicious Kale salad. There was a homemade Caesar dressing and roasted chick peas. I'm looking forward to trying this salad at home.

*And of course she had my favorite candy for dessert. :)

I loved Heather's new home. She has a great sense of style and taste.

Here's a few pics.

Guest Bath

Living Room

One of my favorites was her wall of photos on the stairs.

We had talked about going to the beach since they live so close, but it was a little chilly that morning so we thought it would be best to hang out at the house.

At one point I got a message from Andy saying that his flight was delayed, so we decided to head to the beach.

It was beautiful!

I love this next picture because all 8 of our kids are in it. When we met 20 years ago, I don't think we would have ever imagined how many wonderful children we'd be blessed with.

Andy's flight ended up not being delayed, so we didn't get too much time at the beach, but we had a few minutes to sit and stick our toes in the sand and enjoy watching these kiddos loving life. :)