Gatlinburg Part 3

Harper "loving" on the goats at the Petting Zoo

A friend suggested this would be a great Christmas Card....."Baaaaa Humbug"

Mamma and cubs outside our cabin. We saw them several times!! So much for our afternoon walks.

Relaxin

#15

As of Monday, we are number 15 on the list with All God's Children!!

The Difference Between Girls and Boys

Hudson went to Connecticut with my in-laws a few weeks ago. This is the conversation we had the night before he was to leave:

Me-"Hudson, let's go get your stuff packed."
Him-"I don't care what I take, can you pack it?"
Me-"Are you sure?"
Him-"Yes"


So I go downstairs to get his stuff ready and I notice that Syd is right behind me. She wanted to help. She packed all of his things...toothbrush, clothes, underwear.....I mean everything. Then we decided we needed to get his carry-on for the plane ready. The picture you are looking at is his carry-on, that Sydney packed. She attached a note (as shown) to the outside of his backpack that diagrammed and labeled where everything is located inside. (Example: Outside Pocket-gum, coloring book, model skateboards, Tylenol, etc.) This was priceless to me!! She was very concerned that when he got on the plane he would not know where all of his things were?!?!

I smiled about this for days. Sydney has always been a "caretaker". How blessed will her future husband and children be one day......that is if Hudson ever lets her go.....he knows a good thing when he has it!?!?!?

Funny in a Sad Kind of Way

We had a big scare in our family a few weeks ago. Jody's dad had his second heart attack. Ironically, he has had both of his heart attacks (the first was 20 years ago) while running/training for mini-marathons. I know, that's crazy. Praise God, he is doing amazingly well. Hudson, however has been traumatized. Last week he was convinced that his heart stopped beating. This has continued on for several days now. I am not kidding when I say that 15 times a day he stops, checks his heartbeat and pulse, and then comes to tell me that it has stopped beating. The first several (I mean several) times I would set him down and explain that he is fine and I would help him feel the beat. Now, it is driving me nuts. In the middle of math, eating breakfast, going to bed, he panics about his heart beat. I now tell him, "Hudson, if it wasn't beating you would be dead." I realize that seems very insensitive. If he doesn't get past this we both are going to need some medical intervention!! Good thing he's so cute!

Straight to the Heart

I have been reading Francis Chan's "Crazy Love, Overwhelmed by a Relentless God". This is a fantastic book. I have it underlined all over the place. I read the following tonight, I actually read it over several times: ""People who are obsessed with Jesus aren't consumed with their personal safety and comfort above all else. Obsessed people care more about God's kingdom coming to this earth than their own lives being shielded from pain or distress." Here's some more...."Worry implies that we don't quite trust that God is big enough, powerful enough, or loving enough to take care of what's happening in our lives. Stress says that the things we are involved in are important enough to merit our impatience, our lack of grace toward others, or our tight grip of control....Both worry and stress reek of arrogance. They declare our tendency to forget that we've been forgiven, that our lives here are brief, that we are headed to a place where we won't be lonely, afraid, or hurt ever again, and that in the context of God's strength, our problems are small, indeed."

Here's to a Great Week

We had our first full homeschool week. It was great!! Jody and I were talking yesterday and I told him that I feel like our lives have slowed down tremendously. I'm not spinning my wheels all day. I'm not exactly sure how I have added the extra responsibilities of homeschool and yet feel less "busy", but I am very thankful. We have been able to take the most productive part of the day and make it really count. Syd and Hudson have been eager to dig in and get their work done. Now Harper is a different story......not so eager to cooperate with her 2 1/2 year old tantrums, but we are working on it. I miss Carson tremendously. I believe our decision to send her on to 7th grade was a good one for now, but there is definitely something missing !! We'll see!! One year (one day for that matter) at a time....

What is she thinking??