I would do anything. . .

With my sweet boy at the Nashville Zoo.
So happy to be on a special picinic with Daddy. This explains the white bread.
Why this is a treat for Ashley I am at a loss to understand, but they rode the 4-wheeler
to a little country store and got sandwiches and chocolate milk for a special lunch.
Daddy knows how to spoil!!

Those are several older random pictures but my camera has not been working lately. Need to get it fixed! The other day I was watching Jonathan and was just overwhelmed with love for him. I can't remember what he was even doing. Perhaps he was sleeping. It is extremely easy to love an innocently, peacefully sleeping boy!! Actually I think he was running and laughing. The thought passed through my mind that I would do anything for him. Not such a novel thought at all and something that I think is said often concerning people that people love. It is easy to say and it is certainly meant. A parent would do anything for a child. However, the more I thought about it, the more I wondered how much I truly live this. Yes, I know I would jump in a lake to save him or jump in front of a car or take a bullet or many other big things, but do I do the day to day things that make such a difference?

Do I get up extra early to do my quiet time because I know it makes such a difference in my day?

Do I stay consistent on discipline even when it inconveniences me?

Do I handle my frustrations toward Ashley is a respectful manner?

Do I treat people patiently and kindly like I hope and expect Jonathan to do?

Do I talk to Jonathan in a calm tone even when I am frustrated like I ask him to do?

Do I handle interruptions and changes of plans with flexibility and graciousness?

Do I fight temptations and fears and disappointments with scripture and trusting the Lord?

Do I show an attitude of joy and thanksgiving even when it is hard or not what I want?

I can say yes some days and some moments. Others I fail miserably! Some

moments are such a struggle against myself. But I can keep working at it and

try again each new day and believe that I can do all things with the strength of

Christ. Because I sincerely want to do anything for that precious boy and for our next

miracle and for our marriage and for my growth in Christ.

Some moments I think jumping in a lake may be easier!!

Tradition

Jonathan and I have started a fun tradition.
Sunday evenings are a special time for us.
He is funny how he gets excited about it each week.
I think that is what makes it so special to me.

It doesn't happen every week but when we are home
and timing works, we eat in the living room and watch "the house show."
Simply eating in a different room is such a treat for him. Add in
getting to eat while watching T.V. and he is overjoyed!

The "house show" is what he calls Extreme Home Makeover. It
is a clean, positive show. Jonathan likes when they demolish the
home and watching the progress of the building. He also thinks
it is funny when the stories make me cry!

Our standard meal is popcorn, cheese, and raw fruits and veggies.
Ashley is not a big fan of popcorn but he is a big fan of TV and eating
and so he joins us when he can. I look forward to an easy meal, a happy boy,
and a fun relaxing hour of indulging!

I was ready

Ready for the end of the day.
Ready for bath time for Jonathan to wash off the dirt and sand and sweat of the day.
Ready for books to be read and songs to be sung.
Ready to sit my rather large tired body down to do a little paperwork, talk to Ashley about a few things and maybe read a few pages of a book before I fell asleep.

The dishes were done. I had tried a couple new recipes for supper. One of which we got to use some fresh sage! Jonathan and I were both quite excited because we had planted and watered and watched with such hope as the basil, thyme and sage started to grow. I hope we did not glean from it too early. I actually am a little scared of them. I have wanted for several years to grow herbs and now finally have a few. The cilantro is coming up too!! But now I am rather intimidated about using them.
Anyway, dishes were done and so I called Jonathan for his bath. He reminds me Daddy had promised him a 4-wheeler ride. He had been looking forward to it and Daddy has been gone a lot lately so it was important to do. A few minutes later they came to the door hollaring for me to come see a surprise. I was not thrilled about this idea or the timing or riding on the 4 wheeler. It is just not the most comfortable on the ole bladder!! But they begged and so I went. We rode to the other side of the pond and Ashley had me close my eyes.
When they told me to open them, it was a magical scene. The whole pasture was sparkling with lightening bugs! It was gorgeous. it was like the field was alive with lights. And duh, I guess it was!! The trees glittered. Jonathan said "there are a million!" We slowly drove through and caught a few and enjoyed the cooling of the evening and marveled at God's light show.

Way too often I let my agenda try to dictate the schedule. And let a desire to stick to a semi-formulated schedule determine our days. But then I would miss out on lady bugs and walks with Jonathan skipping which is a picture I will treasure in my heart, and holding his hand and eating meals outside and ice cream in the middle of the day and sunsets and glowing fields.

I was ready for my schedule. God and my favorite interruptions were ready to delight me!

Houseguest

A month ago, wow actually nearly almost two, we had the blessed opportunity to have a dear friend of Ashley's from Honduras come stay with us for nearly three weeks. It was Anel's first trip to the United States so it was such a treat to be a part of so many firsts for him. He was so sweetly excited to get to see snow for the first time!! He was open to trying many new foods and I enjoyed cooking extra desserts and a variety of foods. Ashley told Anel he wanted him to stay around because we were eating more sweets and bigger meals! Anel said he gained weight while he was here. I was just so relieved he never got sick! I did, however, fail at making coffee. He never complained but I do not think it was ever quite right and certainly not gourmet! He did like trying some different sweet coffee drinks with Ashley.

We were spoiled as a family as we took the oppotunity to take a few road trips and eat out much more than we usually allow ourselves to do! One day we left early and ate breakfast in Mississippi, then lunch in Alabama after going to a cool NASA space center and then supper in east TN. The next day we toured a really neat cave with a gorgeous waterfall and then went to the TN aquarium. God is so creative!! Eating out and doing tourist things gets expensive but we sure did have fun. We also went to the zoo in Nashville one day which was neat to see Anel's reactions to all the animals. He commented on how much people in the United States ate. I so enjoyed talking with him about his perceptions of the US and differences in our countries in regards to food and tradition and family and work and money. I felt bad for him working on his English here. He does very well with his English but had a hard time understanding people here in TN. I have trouble understanding some people here and I speak the language!!!

Anel had quite the red-neck experience of the US. He spent a lot of time shooting guns and riding 4-wheelers and fishing. He seemed to enjoy the quiet of the country and the open space to do such activites. He was very sweet with Jonathan and played with him and looked after him. Jonathan really enjoyed having him here and loved excuses to do more of his favorite things like shooting and fishing and riding 4-wheelers!!

We have many fond memories of our time with Anel. We look forward to his family coming with him next time. though a next time is not all that possible. Such a trip is a huge expense. He said many times that this was a chance of a life time. We will enjoy seeing him and his family again on future trips to Honduras. They have been incredibly helpful to Ashley in his work there and so hospitable to Ashley, Sherlynn and Matthew. Ashley has a great deal of respect for Anel and the godly man he is and how hard he works for his family. I knew he really appreciated Anel when Jonathan made this comment and it just rolled off Ashley's back:

Anel is a great mechanic and was very helpful while here. Jonathan's four wheeler kept acting up and Anel worked a lot on it. Ashley worked on something on it and Jonathan asked him if he knew what to do. Ashley told him yes, he went to school to learn about mechanics. Jonathan then said, " Daddy, I think Anel went to school longer than you!" It was priceless!!

Words to treasure

Jonathan is not an overly gentle boy. He is not always overly gentle or sweet with his words.
However, there are times when he says things I will treasure.

During this whole spider bite episode, he was patiently walking slowly with me and he looked at me and said, "Mommy, maybe if you were not so sweet, the spider would not have biten you." I could have kissed him! And I probably did and ruined the moment!

A couple monthss ago, we were cooking and listening to music and I did a silly little dance. I am quite certain Jonathan is the only person in the world who has watched me voluntarily dance and heard me voluntarily sing. Bless his heart!!! I must have been in a rather silly mood because I did my little dance and then said "Jonathan that was pretty cool." He calmly looks at me and says, "no it wasn't very cool." I teased him and said "come on, Mommy is cool!" He then says, "no Mommy you are not cool. You are lovely." My precious, rowdy, all-boy five year old son said I was lovely. I have no need to be cool, silly dances or not. He called me lovely!

Humor

My husband is a very funny man. Very funny. He has a great quick wit.

He will say the unexpected and all too often the inappropriate!!
I am learning that my reacting to this inappropriateness just seems to feed it!!

I love when he makes my Mom and Grandma laugh.

It is fun to watch new people react to him as they are not quite sure at first if he is serious and then they enjoy his sense of humor.

The craziest things happen to him and he does the wildest things, so his life and daily experiences offer him great "material" for being funny. Such as the other day when I hear him start out his sentence with, "When I got struck by lightening . . . "

Jonathan has his wit which can be hilarious! So far, he is appropriate although
I have been hearing more lately, "but Mommy it was funny!"

There have been nights of trying to fall asleep yet Ashley keeps making me laugh. Sometimes we need more of those nights!

I think he is really funny because he will say these hilarious comments at just the right times yet not have to laugh himself. They are not corny things but intelligent insightful comments with just the right twist.

And then there are those moments when the story he is telling is so funny he can't keep from laughing and he totally cracks himself up! He can barely get the story out. I love those moments!

And I love the moments when something on a movie or TV show make him laugh outloud. He is not easily impressed with a show so when he laughs outloud, it is good! Too often, the humor is a bit off-color but when I am in another room and can hear him laugh, it always makes me smile. If I am in the same room, I love to watch him being amused.

Thank you, Ashley, for making me laugh, even when I try not to do so. Thank you Lord for giving Ashley his sense of humor. I believe You take great delight in him!

Thank you Mom

Thank you Mom. . . .

for waking up nights with me and holding me when my tummy hurt and for not giving up
on me even when I was a very difficult baby.

for changing hundreds of diapers.

for cleaning up spills, doing laundry, cleaning the house and all the other mundane things that made our home a safe and wonderful place.

for singing. When I think of a safe feeling, one is hearing you sing while you did dishes.

for cleaning my scrapes and cuts even when I cried and wiggled and threw a fit.

for spanking me and taking me clear out of church when I was disobedient and disrespectful.

for teaching me to love reading, even when you then had to call me several times to do something because I was so engrossed in a book!

for letting us have cats and dogs and play in the mud and the sprinklers.

for never making us feel like a burden even though there had to be days of exhaustion and exasperation and a desire to escape!

for teaching me to appreciate flowers. I always feels connected to you when I see a beautiful plant.

for monitoring what we watched on TV so we filled our mind with good things. Friends made fun of things that would shock me but I am thankful for my innocence!

for getting on to me when I would say mean things about other people, whether it be my sisters or people at school or teachers. Thank you for modeling so well how to treat people.

for cooking well balanced meals, even when I am sure we complained about somethings. And truthfully, I think I would still struggle with a good attitude if you served liver! :)

for having us do 4-H and piano lessons and then enduring my with complaints about record books and practicing.

for giving us chores.

for getting to know my friends and caring about them.

for praying for me.

for sitting through hours of games on very uncomfortable bleachers seats and caring so much you had to take Tums!

for teaching me to cook and set the table properly and for having family meals.

for making mashed potatoes.

for setting an example of a never quit marriage.

for loving and accepting Ashley.

for your example of forgiveness. Ashley was asked to describe you when we were doing our adoption homestudy and his word was forgiving. And for Dad he said generous.

for loving Jonathan. You could not love me more at this stage of life than by loving
my precious and praying for him and listening to my joys and worries about him and
listening to his stories and reading with him and walking with him and even letting him
tie you up!! :)

for liking chocolate and Dr. Pepper and frosting.

for having a house with toys and books for grandkids and a sandbox and for putting up with messes and noise and needs when we come. Our children know they are so loved by Grammy!

for being sad when we had to move and for accepting it so I had the courage to face it.

for coming with us on a trip of moving things and working many hours to help me clean and organize and working to help me be positive about where we were.

for climbing the ladder to get stuff out of an attic I was too afraid to get things out of. And then enduring the past horrible five months of pain and discomfort with such grace and strength.

for giving me the green cups!!

for loving the Lord and spending time in the Word daily and for truly living a godly life.

for never giving up on me and always loving me.

I love you so very much Mom and thank the Lord for making you my mom!

Ladybugs

So today Jonathan caught two lady bugs. He has loved finding ladybugs and fireflys lately.
He decided he wanted to keep these lady bugs so I indulged him for a time.

He was precious about them.

He found a container to put them in and got them both in after both escaped in the house for a time. First he had just one but decided it would be lonely and needed a friend. He then went back out to find some grass for them to eat. Plus it would work for a bed for them he decided.
He talked to them and kept checking on them. Then he put a few toys for them to play with in the container. These were a marble and a toy car. Soon he was walking around with them and said he was taking them for a walk. When we ate supper out on the deck, of course the ladybugs accompanied us.

After supper, they were released. And I was greatly encouraged that Jonathan could be
sweet and nurturing to a new brother or sister!