Magic Moments

Yesterday we managed to dodge the rainstorms just about perfectly and spent about an hour picking strawberries. An hour of picking means we have about 3 buckets full and that is about all I have the patience and time to deal with. Yesterday's mini trip made me remember how much I NEED to get out of town more often. I need to remember there is life outside of this town and enjoy the quiet of the country and enjoy the more urban feel of a bigger city which is why we stopped in Charleston at Pies and Pints for Pizza and Beer. :) We picked strawberries at the same place last year. It's a cute little place nestled in between the hills and as per usual it had that "easy West Virginia laid back style" (read: unorganized) that you have to appreciate or you'll go crazy. (Note: I'm going crazy).We had a great day and this week is a bit more quiet. Soccer is over. AWANA is NOT over and that is also making me crazy. We've been done with school for awhile and the boy...

There are times when I wonder if we've made the right choices. And days like today when I'm wondering about the future and how things are going to stack up, I wonder if maybe I should have sent the kids to school so that I could go to work and my coveted counseling license would be complete. But then I remember how I LOVE having a front row seat watching my kids learn. I don't know if I'll always have that, but for now and the foreseeable future I'm going to soak up watching them learn and grow everyday. Aiden started with a soccer academy about 8 months ago. And just this soccer season we're seeing the fruits of all his hard work. His coach said last week that his skills have improved by leaps and bounds. We've noticed it too!!!  His coach said that Aiden is one of his best students because he listens to instruction and dedicates himself to practice. He said that the best kid on the team hates playing against Aiden because it's so hard and Aiden gives ...

I'm logging this story here because I don't want to forget. This morning I was thinking to myself that right now it seems as if there are a list of things we've been praying about forever and the answers are slow in coming. Sometimes I worry about my kids' faith because I fear they don't see enough answered prayers and I fall short of making them aware of the workings of God that happen everyday that we don't acknowledge. Every breath, every provision, everything we have and are is a gift. That in and of itself is an answer to our prayers for provision and health everyday. Over this past year there has been heart ache and I've struggled to tell my kids that someone they loved died despite our prayers of healing. I was afraid they would think less of God, put less trust in him, and have less faith in prayer. Maybe it was more that I was experiencing those things rather than them because their childlike faith seemed unscathed. So, this is the summary of our lo...

Sage is six and it's hard for me to believe that this is the year he was supposed to go to kindergarten. He's grown up so much this year and learned so many new things. He surprises me almost everyday. Friday night was the talent show for our homeschool coop. Sage and Tom worked on the song No Longer Slaves and played it together on stage. Sage was nervous, but he did great and at the end said he thought it was really fun to be on stage. I hope we have opportunities  in the future for him to play on stage so he can share his talent and grow his confidence. I LOVE hearing he and Tom play together but maybe next time Sage will be confident enough to do it himself.  This is just the beginning for Sage and his guitar. Sage idolizes his teacher and I hear daily about the electric guitar he wants to have just like his teacher. Sage has surprised us this year with his more serious interest and effort in soccer. Aiden has taught him some things and you can see Sage on the field tryi...

Aiden turned ten and I feel like my life flashed before my eyes. I'm just not sure how a decade passed by so quickly. I also can't believe I have such an amazing son. Aiden is my dependable, steady and consistent child. He isn't moody, his interests and likes don't change. He's predictable and even though he still has a need to MOVE, he's pretty chill and easy going most of the time. I don't know what I would do without his help. He entertains Cade, is Sage's best friend, and helps with anything from dishes to carrying in groceries to mowing the lawn to cleaning bathrooms. He is so perceptive and will often say, "Mama, do you need help? You seem stressed." He is a justice seeker and needs people to do the right thing He's developing some great critical thinking skills and LOVES to read, LOVES animals and likes history and science. Soccer is his passion and his skills have developed so much this past year. He's gotten a bit of a competit...

Sometimes I think the art of motherhood lies in how well you keep the massive amount of toys confined, organized and picked up. It takes the mind of an engineer some days because I hate the mess, I hate it when the toys are unorganized and I refuse to have toys over every inch of my house. That being said, Cade has outgrown some of his toys and those have all found a new home at my sister's house. I have a few toddler type toys still on the shelf mostly because they were toys that required a skill I wasn't sure if Cade had mastered yet, and since I'm kind of a perfectionist about some things I wanted to make sure Cade had actually mastered them before getting rid of them. I pulled out the classic Fisher Price shape sorter the other day...a toy he NEVER chooses on his own, to see if he could do it so maybe I could get rid of a few more toys. Even though this toy seems to be a classic toy people give babies and young toddlers it requires some higher order skills. Anyway, Cad...

A couple weeks ago a Christian school in the area hosted the Scholastic Book Fair and invited families. During my elementary years book fairs were just about my favorite thing so I talked up the experience to the boys we got in the car with high hopes. I'm going to be honest, the book fair was a disappointment and wasn't worth the thirty minute drive. I thought book fairs came with stellar prices. But this was like shopping at Barnes and Noble. I don't shop at Barnes and Noble often because with the number of  books I purchase I just can't. Thriftbooks.com has become my new best friend and with shipping free after you spend $10 you can't beat it. Sometimes I have to wait for a title to be instock, but overall I've been pleased with their selection. Anyway, aside from the prices the shelves were stocked full of pop fiction and less than quality titles. The boys did each choose a book, mostly because I felt weird walking out without making a purchase, and then we ...