What has happened to my blog?

Oh my goodness, I have neglected my poor little blog! I think I have lost most of my buddies too! I don't know what happened. I was really enjoying it and I still love reading all kinds of other blogs. In fact, I find a new one to read just about everyday. I guess I have just gotten overwhelmed with life and "stuff". I am so tired right now and I feel like I could sleep for days. I am going to try to start posting more regularly because I always feel better when I do. This is great therapy! I hope everyone is doing well. I will be back soon! :)

Under the Lights.....

We have games on Saturdays and on Monday nights. I usually enjoy the Monday ones. There is something fun about sitting under those lights. I really enjoy it, plus our team seems to play better in the night games. It is evident by the fact they have won all of their night games and lost the day ones.....go figure! Anyway, last night we got the late time slot. I had to drag my son to the game and believe me when I say that he was not to pleased! I was tired from a long day and simply wanted to sit. Who was I kidding and what was I smoking? First, I set up our chairs. In my haste, I had grabbed Noah a beach chair. The field was wet from rain and so he had to have something to sit on. Unfortunately, the beach chair kept collapsing on Noah and then he decided it was a tunnel and proceeded to crawl through it! Then, he took my dinner ( a snack bag of wheat thins). Normally it would have been fine, but I was starving. I didn't have the energy to fight him so I just sat there praying that I wouldn't pass out! Once the game started, I was *hoping* he would just sit there.....HA!!!! First he decided to go play in the ditch, then he decided to play in the net behind where we were sitting. Then he got tangled up in it. Then he fell in the ditch and scratched up his knee. THEN...he kept falling on the sidelines, WHILE the game was playing. I am sure that all of the parents around me were horrified at the way I kept snatching his arm and pulling him back. It was AWFUL!!!!! He whined and cried and I realized that it was my own fault for not leaving instructions for my sitter to put him down for a nap earlier!!!!

On the flip side....my girls played so well. Meredith was on fire....she played with an aggression that I don't always see. Her coach was on the sideline yelling loudly...." MEREDITH WAY TO GO" "MEREDITH THAT IS THE WAY TO PLAY". I was a beaming mother. She also played goalie for her first time and I am happy to say that the other team did NOT score on her. We won the game and this was against our coach from last year. Madeline played really well too. She totally got her groove on by the last two quarters! So, I guess that it was worth it to keep up with you know who!!!! All too soon, it will be him on the field playing soccer!

Soccer Season (again) !!!!!

Well Christy's post made me realize that all I have posted lately is pictures of my dining room. By the way, for anyone wanting to know, the drapes are Pottery Barn. They have many colors to choose from!!!! Anyway, back to soccer and the start of yet another season. Every single year, I pray for the girls to get a good coach. They have yet to get one that is well rounded. They usually either get a super sweet wonderful guy, but doesn't teach them a thing about the game...or they get a "yeller" but one who still doesn't really "teach". My girls are in U10 level and the teams are all GOOD! These girls are out for blood and not one game goes by where there isn't a collision, an injury (take a knee everyone), and the sound of the ball hitting off of something other then a foot!!! The twins are on a pretty good team, but it is a young team. They are the older ones and some of these girls have just come up from U8. It is a whole new game in U10 with the addition of a goalie and you play on one field and 4 quarters. All I am asking, is for someone to work with my children on passing and defending. Is that too much? I am such a competitive person by nature, that it is terribly difficult for me to sit still and watch these games. A passerby would think that I had a "tick". I practically move with the girls (from my seat) just trying to will them to play like I think they should. Of course, I never played soccer at any point in my life, so I am not what one would call an expert on the sport!!! Then there is the whole other problem of listening to the opposite teams parents. Our Saturday game, I literally wanted to clamp my hand over a certain woman's mouth. She yelled so loud when their team scored that it became obnoxious. Of course you cheer when your team scores, but you show good sportsmanship and MANNERS by not SCREAMING in the opponents ears!!! I can't tell you how much I had to control my mouth. The end result was a very close game and we lost by one lousy point. So to my friend Christy, even though you feel like the days of your child wandering off to the concession stand, Layton dashing across the field, and fights with your husband are mortifying.....just think about me and know that it COULD be much worse! ;)

My House: The Formal Dining Room

This weekend, my MIL came over and helped me hang my drapes in the dining room. Actually she helped Greg, and I supervised! I had to leave the room a few times because my husband was making me so nervous with the electric drill!!!!!

Update on Susan .....

Susan's surgery was a success in that they were able to remove all of one of the tumors. It did come back from the pathologist as a melanoma, so the next step is radiation and chemo. Susan has a long road ahead of her, but her incredible faith is going to carry her through. I know she has to be scared, as any of us "mommies" would be. PLEASE keep lifting her up in prayer, as well as her husband and 3 young children. THANKS!

Proud Mom Alert!!!

My daughters are beautiful, sweet, and funny! They both love to laugh and LOVE to have a good time. They love food, soccer, and one likes basketball while the other prefers to cheerlead! They are precious girls, but as of yet, we haven't really found our *niche*. For the past few years, I have watched while other moms had their children make the advanced dance group, the select soccer team, and the biggie...the advanced group at school. I really struggled with it, probably more then I care to admit. I come from a family that was always in *that* group. I excelled at ballet, my brothers were excellent in sports, and my sister is one smart cookie. I have "forced" my girls to try just about everything and just waited for them to find that one special thing. Well......drum roll.........after an audition on Monday that involved a solo and other "drills" in front of JUDGES....they both came home with a certificate announcing that they had been selected for the school HONOR CHOIR!!! I am so proud of them for that accomplishment. It is not easy to stand in front of judges and sing a solo by yourself. So if you see some extra light in the south part of MS tonight, it may be coming from my house. This mommy is beaming with pride!!! :)

Juggling it all....

***PRAY FOR SUSAN. SHE IS HAVING SURGERY WEDNESDAY MORNING (9/12) AT 8am. THANKS!!

Wow, I haven't blogged in so long, that I think alot of my friends don't even check here anymore!!! Life has gotten so busy and I can't say that I am happy with that. I don't like to be so busy, that I am stressed all the time and rushing here and there. Yesterday was a crazy example with errands and 2 teacher conferences, evening activities, homework, & getting kids in bed. By the time I was through with all of that, all I could do was get myself in the bed and pull the covers over my head. I don't think that is what Jesus meant when he said "abundant life". YIKES!!!! Every week I say that the next week is going to be different, but so far, it hasn't worked out that way. I have been able to help a few of my friends out and for that I am so thankful, but some of the other things have just been ridiculous. I told my husband that I am really wanting to get back into my photography, my scrapbooking, and then there is my new house that desperately needs some attention! Forgive me if this sounds like a whine. I am going to try to get back to living my LIFE and make this blog what I originally intended it to be. Stay tuned......:)

Update on Susan .....

Thanks everyone for the prayers! I had a good visit with Susan. Bless her heart, the phone rang so much. It was different drs, etc. I got to hold her 4 month old little boy who is absolutely precious! She had a photographer over to take pictures of him and they did some mommy and me shots. Sooooooo sweet. She is upbeat and determined. I can't help but feel that I would be a depressed mess! They are headed to Houston today and I just want everyone to be praying that they get the absolute best opinions there. I *think* what is going to happen is that the lesions will have to be taken out and biopsied to make 100% sure that it is melanoma. The best thing would be for it not to be melanoma, but something else that if removed will make everything better. Please join me in prayer for that!!! Just pray also for Susan to continue to feel this supernatural peace. I am sure that until you go through something of this magnitude, you can't possibly imagine how great and true your faith really is! I know that the Lord is wrapping his arms around her and is giving her the strength to get through each day!!!

Other stuff in my life seems so mundane. I have been busy with all kinds of things and I am ready for some slow days. I plan to get my camera out and take some pics of house and kids very soon. I just haven't been in the mood lately! ;(

Busy Busy....

Well, my weekend was busier then I had planned, but still fun. Saturday night, we had some friends over for dinner. It was fun and I made two new Cooking Light recipes. Both were delicious and I will have to post the recipes. One was a lemon/lime cake....soooo yummy. Yesterday was church and then we were invited over to some new friends home for dinner. The girls ended up spending the night so we had a very quiet morning with just Noah to care for. We went and looked at furniture this afternoon ( didn't buy just looked) and then ran across the street for a little pool party. Noah and I came home early and are just waiting for daddy to come grill the chicken!!! It has been a lovely weekend, but my thoughts and prayers have drifted so often to Susan. This really puts things into perspective and causes me to realize how shallow alot of my thoughts and concerns are. I am so excited because I emailed her over the weekend and told her I was praying for her and to call me if I could do anything. Well she took me up on it and I am going over to her house tomorrow as soon as I drop little man off at preschool. I am thrilled that I can go to her house and keep her company. Please pray that I will be a blessing and that I will know just the right things to say and that encouragement would be the highlight of my visit. KEEP PRAYING.....I am just believing for her healing. Just today I got an email from Donna....my old neighborhood friend. She has a clean bill of health. The cancer is gone. I feel certain the Susan will get the same result. There is power in prayer!!!! :)

Calling All Prayer Warriors..

Yesterday was a hard day. I found out that a friend of mine is about to endure a fight for her life. About a year and a half ago, I had the wonderful priviledge of teaching children's choir with Susan. We had alot of fun and her oldest daughter A is Noah's age and they got along wonderfully! Susan was pregnant with her second child during most of the choir year. Everything was going well until about two months away from her due date. She had discovered a mole on her back and the dr wanted it looked at. It turned out to be a melanoma and they immediately scheduled her for an early delivery. Our prayers were answered when all tests came back clear and the cancer had not spread to lymph nodes. Flash forward to a year and a half later and another baby. Apparently Susan had a seizure and it was discovered that there are two spots on her brain. Friends and family, I am asking you to please lift her up to the Lord as well as place her on any/all prayer lists. She is MY age and she has 3 little children under the age of 4. She has a Caring Bridge site, and if you are interested in keeping up with her journal updates and encouraging her with a message on her guestbook, then email me and I will send you the link. Her optimism and faith in the Lord are inspiring. You will be glad that you visited her link! I am believing in her healing and I am believing that God is going to reveal to her and her husband, the right course of treatment.