Category Archives: Life

Theme Thursday: Dad

What is the meaning of this, Tracy? Two posts in one day? What in the sam heck is going on with you?!??! Clearly this time off with a rehabbing child who is limited in energy and prohibited from sun has us INDOORS and running short and brief errands which in turn leaves me plenty of “bon-bon time” as my Hubby calls it. Shoot, I’ve got blogs in stand-by, you’ll be sick of me by next week. Or hooked. Either way. When I actually blog, my stats go UP. Who knew??

So today…..I join in with Cari and fellow Themers at:

The Clan

Father’s day is coming. I’ve got a super cutie thingamajig planned for the Hubs by the kids (totally His love language, but I can’t tell you about it b/c he actually reads my blog from time to time…so tell you later!). And so perfect timing on the Father Theme.

Dads are crucial. Period. End.

Case in point: When my Hubs was “away” I knew, KNEW, KNEW….his relationship with our kids and vice versa was the key to our future as a family. We did everything we could to cultivate those relationships during this time apart, from frequent visits, phone calls, letters, date-visits, photos, etc, etc. There came a time close to him coming home during a heated exchange with our oldest at his tweeniest that he said to me “You wait until I tell Dad about this”. It was at that point, I knew all of our joint effort as husband and wife, mother and father that it was ALL. WORTH. IT. Further affirmation came when Hubs was finally home with our dark chapter behind us and re-entry into our FULL family life was essentially smooth as buttah. Life wasn’t and ISN’T perfect, however, our struggles are pretty much in line with any other family life with mucho kiddos. We are imperfect people. What can I say? We acknowledge it and move on.

The fact that Abba, Father has been the cornerstone of our family life may have had a little somethin’ somethin’ to do with it also. Just an observation.

Happy Father’s Day, Hubby! And to all those dads out there….keep workin’ it….it’s worth every second!!!

Birthday. Poor guy never gets a straight shot at the candles!

Father’s Day ’11

Father’s Day with Popop, MY step-dad who is the BOMB-Diggety. This is 2 years old and he is now dwarfed by the boys…

The boys off to mow lawns, a job obtained due to Dad’s teaching, patience and diligence. My wallet is forever grateful!

5 Favorites because it’s WEDNESDAY!

Help a sister out…

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Summer is upon us and so there is a season (10 weeks to be precise)…in which we don’t have to routinely wake children up at the crack of dawn, I have so much time in the morning I am frequently “almost late” to work and the pace overall is just more relaxed. I love it.

This summer has begun with our 11 year-old beginning her orthodontic treatment…beginning with the Herbst appliance.

Let’s just say, yesterday was a little miserable for her. I made more smoothies and shakes in a day than I normally do all month. She’s a trooper though, and we are quite stocked up on Tylenol!

Next week, our almost-10 year old will have her tonsils out. (If you have any pointers here, comment away, I’m alllllll ears). She’s had strep a ridic amount of times and we are ALL looking forward to getting these out. Not so much on the 2 week recovery period! WHAT?!?!??!?

Which brings me to this: next week, post-op, I’ll be home with the girl and have some free time on my hands. Hoping my camera will be back so I can play with some tutorials, or maybe re-design my blog or maybe read a book….wide open. What are YOUR suggestions…do tell….and NOW…..I must get my rear in gear or I’ll be later for work!!!!

The house that God bought

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Little Miss Grace is doing a link up on our favorite blog posts…a throwback Thursday…except it’s a Wednesday…she’s crazy like that. I posted a throw back post earlier today on marriage, being all reminiscent with our recent anniversary and all and when Grace threw out the call I immediately remembered the following post and figured I’d share, because we ALL need some God moments in our lives and tangible moments are just that extra icing on the cake–and I DO love cake!! Hope you enjoy…and then you can take yourself over to Grace’s place and read about other favorite and assorted blog post faves! It’s a rainy evening here and I’m all settled in for some blog reading on my end…enjoy yours as well!

TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2009

It is still sinking in and I am quite certain there will be a post or two to follow in regards to THE HOUSE…..here’s the quick version:

6 weeks ago I got a nudge with several affirmations that it might be time to buy our own house. It all seemed completely preposterous to me and far beyond my means, so I gave it up to God. Literally and figuratively. I have told the kids many times, we will go where God wants us to go, when He wants us to go and we will know when.

During our marriage, generally, I have picked out homes, Hubby tagged along and agreed, as a good husband does, and then he took care of everything else, I showed up to sign at closing without a clue of all that took place prior to closing. To do this without him here was a tremendously daunting task. Suffocating and overwhelming. We spoke frequently and he guided me along the way and with the help of good friends, I had outside information and quick access when I had questions. My parents offered unending support and love.

When anxiety hit, I let go and God took over. It was smooth sailing all the way. Ridiculously smooth. Thanks be to God, for I am certain without Him none of this would be possible! Now….that said, I DID wake up at 3 a.m. today in a cold sweat thinking “what the heck did I just do????” and spent the next hour in prayer to release the anxiety. And again all the way to closing. Those prayers sustained me throughout the 3 hour closing while the 7 of us swapped various stories to kill time while waiting on the bank to see how long they could drag it out.

In the end….I have a multitude of keys on my key chain, 2 garage door openers, ecstatic children and a beautiful neighborhood with the promise of our next amazing chapter!

Home Sweet Home!!

Love this sweet center island

Fabulous back yard AND swing set to play on

Back patio

This mural is in the kitchen, I just love it. Reminds me of my favorite movie, “Under the Tuscan Sun”

Jasmine around the mailbox….heavenly!

***4 years later…update: It’s still a great neighborhood. We’ve had friends and family stop by, stay over, come for dinner, birthdays, holidays and just to hang out. There have been countless maintenance/upgrades in closets, bathrooms, and various other thingamabobs inside the house and in regards to the pictures I’ve put up with this blog: we’ve repainted the house and trim, the front island got a makeover with stones replacing the wood “curbing”, the swing set hit the curb about 3 years ago, the magnolia tree next to the swing set was cut down due to disease and replaced with an elm in the front yard, the back porch received a super cute makeover (I really need to Pinterest it at some point….), I still love the mural in the kitchen and the jasmine faithfully blooms every spring. God has been gracious and generous and continues to guide us and protect us every step of the way and this house that we call home….is a daily reminder of the fact that God IS good.

Great things take great effort

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Yesterday was our 19th wedding anniversary. Can I get a whoop, whoop?!?!? It was also the last day of school….oh, GLORY HALLELUJAH, BRING ON SUMMER!!! Anyhoo, I decided to re-post a piece from my prior blog (now private). It is still very much applicable, almost 2 years later.

SUNDAY, JULY 10, 2011

I’ve been reflecting on marriage a lot lately. It seems there are marriages falling apart all around me. I shouldn’t be surprised, really….what with roughly 50% of marriages ending in divorce, however, it makes me sad everytime I hear it.

I was talking to my hubby about it, because, quite honestly I was just feeling so down about it and the fact that, as a friend, I truly wasn’t encouraging any of my friends (who are currently separated and heading in the D direction) to stay in their marriages. I suppose it would seem easy for me to stand up and say “Seriously??? come on. If I can do it, so can you.” The reality is that every situation is different. And that’s why I don’t say that. People might say it to me, but I can’t say it to them. We are all different people. In our situation, we’ve been fortunate enough to receive the graces of forgiveness, humility and courage to start over. We learned to communicate….and continue to practice, because we both still can’t quite get it “just right”….the bottom line is that we were both willing to work on the things that needed to change. To recognize that it’s a lifelong process. Much like faith. Our walk is one that needs daily tending, pruning, communication and open-ness. Marriage is the perfect opportunity to practice our Faith-walk.

These current separations and divorces among friends have reminded me that we all struggle. Behind closed doors with our family we become ridiculously unfair, unkind, impatient and rude. It’s easy to do and we rarely hear about it because it’s not shared until it’s all laid bare, naked and ugly for all the world to see. Why don’t we share more often? Are we that proud? Stubborn? Self-righteous? Blaming the other?

Marriage is hard. Communication and compromise are hard. It’s a full on marathon. Requiring endurance, focus and determination. If we don’t approach each task in love, our marriages will not survive. And then what legacy do we leave to our children? In this “Year of Marriage”, let us encourage one another in our marriages. Encourage and honestly guide those engaged couples. Newlyweds. Friends. Family. That we can receive strength and guidance from those who are long married. Let us re-prioritize our marriages and continually renew the love that got us here in the first place!

Carry on friends. Anything worth having is worth fighting for. Marriage takes effort. It takes TWO. And it’s worth it.

Blessings!

making the trek

Trekking through life: Faith, family, friends and a whole lot of coffee!