Princess Party

Last weekend my best friend, Tera, threw a princess birthday party for her two little girls! Braylee and Brynna are princesses through & through - I just love the energy, excitement, and fun that radiates from these two girls! The cake was amazing, the company fun to talk with, and pony rides were a blast for the kids:) I got so many great pictures...but captured 3 that I wanted to share on my blog - I will let Tera show you the others:) Here's the sweet family photo:

Princess Braylee is in blue, while Princess Brynna is in pink - they couldn't get any sweeter!! Happy Birthday, girls:)

Max and I are snuggled up watching cartoons on this hazy Sat. morning...no real plans today (yeah!!)! Hope everyone is having an equally lazy, relaxing weekend!

Oh, one more thing...can you take a minute to stop and pray for me this week? I am starting classes on Monday (online) to obtain my Master's degree in education. It will be extremely busy, tedious, and time-consuming for the next few months (not to mention lots of payments for the next few years)...but I feel like it will be worth it! I want to make the very best living I can for my little man and I, it's more important then ever right now! Thanks so much for taking the time to think of me this week!

This boy...

has so much ENERGYand SPUNK...that his Mama is just trying to keep up...

and be there to catch him when he falls!

What can I say? He keeps me on my toes!

Wow, that's embarrassing!

Tonight me and Max went out to eat at the Essen Haus with my mom and Uncle "Faye" (Clay). We had just gotten our food from the buffet when our waitress came over to refill our drinks...she leaned across Max to fill Clay's cup and Max said "Umm...Mamam', you are in my way!" I was soooo embarrassed - and told the waitress I was very sorry. She was sweet and assured me it was no big deal. After she walked away my mom said "Well, at least he said "Mamam"!" Do you see how hard it is for me to discipline this boy???? He is so spoiled:)!!

Heaven

*Update*

Just found this verse and found comfort in it...hope you will to:

You're going to die—someday. If you've accepted Christ, then you're going to go to heaven. You'll be released from pain, from sorrow, from suffering, from depression, from fear: "He'll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone" (Revelation 21:4, MSG).

Did you hear about the young woman who went to school at Yale and was killed a few days ago while she was in a lab? Her picture is incredibly haunting and it immediately caught my attention when I was scanning the news on CNN.com. She was a young, beautiful woman who was engaged to be married. And in an instant that all ended.
For some reason I can't stop thinking about it. When you watch the news or read anything on the internet it always seems like evil prevails. If it's not "bad" news, it's boring. We are constantly bombarded with sad stories and horrifying events - I'm not sure why this story has made me stop and think so much - but it has.

Last night as I was trying to sleep I kept thinking about this young woman, how scary and graphic the very last few moments of her life were. I'm not going to go thru all the thoughts that were running thru my head, but I just had this terrible heartache for this girl and her family and friends. As I was thinking thru all of this - I pictured her in Heaven. Will she remember those last terrifying moments of her life? I guess I've always wondered that - once you get to Heaven will you know how you died? Will you be able to look down from Heaven on your loved ones still here on earth, give them signs to remember you by (I'm thinkin' the movie "Ghost" here, people!)? I would love to hear what you guys think...

The more I think about it , the more I start to believe that there is no way this would be possible. I don't think that we will remember how we left the earth, anything about this earth. I don't think we will want to. Heaven will be so amazing and wonderful (ok, those words just sound silly when I try to describe Heaven, I don't think any words would come close) that we will only be thinking about Jesus and praising Him...getting to listen to His stories, follow him thru the golden streets, feasting beside him...just overwhelmed with love. Maybe we won't remember our lives here on earth - I've read that in Heaven we will not feel any pain, we will not experience sadness. So that leads me to believe that we won't remember our earthly lives - we won't feel sadness for the things we've experienced.

Ok - now I'm rambling. I'll stop...but will you leave a comment and tell me your thoughts? I'm really interested:)

Antique Show

Last weekend was the Antique Show at Elnora, which I have made an occasional visit to thru the years. This year, however, we were there from Thurs. afternoon until Sunday night - cause my mom had a stand in the flea market. She had all kinds of stuff, like pillows she handmade, old dishes, hankerchiefs, vintage aprons, Boyd's bears, etc. She was soooo funny about it - so super excited:) She ended up doing well, but still came home with lots of left over junk! ha ha!!

She named her stand after her late best friend, Susie Trueblood. Her and Sus used to say that they were gonna retire and start their own country craft store named Sus-anna's attic. We got a sign painted and ordered a stamp with this name - I think Sus would have been excited:)

We ended up taking our camper and golf cart over to the fairgrounds...and made a crazy weekend of it! It really was alot of fun - besides Max having a fever/cold most of the weekend. As long as he had Tylenol in him, he was just fine, but once it wore off I had a grumpy little man on my hands. Luckily, I had plenty of people to keep him entertained (Papa, Uncle Faye, Jessica, Lauren, Elisah, Gabe, Nana!)

We had some great food (I just love "fair" food) and saw lots of tractors...I even managed to get Max to pose on some big tires:) By Sunday evening - everyone was worn out and grumpy...but all in all it was a pretty good weekend! This week is pretty typical around here...work, home, supper, laundry, baths, bed. Same routine, different night:)

Hope everyone is having a good week - and tomorrow we will be halfway to the weekend! yeah!!

Verse...

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted

and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

-Psalm 34:18

Found this verse last night and it brought so much comfort. Max spent the night at Mamaw Gina's, so I had some "quiet time" with God. This is where He lead me, and I thought I better share it on this blog - in case anyone else needed to hear this as much as I did. He knows...He cares...and He will heal our broken hearts.

Laying low...

I haven't posted in awhile, my mood lately has been a little down. I won't go into details, lets just say Max and I have been laying low...trying to relax - I've had to make some decisions that aren't fun, I've needed to keep Max close to my side, my nerves are on edge. I have been trying to keep everything low-key for Max..."normal" if at all possible.

Gabe does an amazing job of helping us slow down, relax, be out in the fresh air...of course I've been snapping pictures cause that is what helps calm me. Here are some snapshots I've taken:

Gabe's little brother, Elisah, on his pony, Babe. I was behind him on another horse named Thunder, while Gabe and Max rode Star. We spent the afternoon on a trail behind their house -
the bright sunshine gloriously kissing our skin and the gentle gallop of a strong animal beneath us.
My sweet little man's smile carries me thru these times - the simple things still amaze and amuse him...like sitting around the campfire at the Boat Club and finding a pumpkin that is just his size. We also met a new member of the Huff family, Haley Paige. Seeing a sweet little newborn baby reminds you of the miracles of life. The sound of her peaceful breathing while she slept made me close my eyes and savor the moment - they grow up so fast and it seems like moments like these slip away. I caught this sweet moment between sisters...newly united but with an unbreakable bond.

Stop, breathe, savor, pray...

Stop, breathe, savor, pray...

Stop, breathe, savor, pray...

This just keeps running through my head as I fight thru this darkness, as I do whatever it takes to protect my child...as I thank God for giving me strength for another day.