Summer Days

Picking Blue Berries and making Pies with Daddy.

Riding the Fire Truck in the July 4th Parade

Farming and fixing fences

Ballet and Guitar

Family time & Kissy Faces with the hubs!

These are just a few things we have been up to this Summer so far.

Every thing looks so good from the outside.....

Most days most people including us wouldn't even know that Wesley has Aspergers Syndrome . Most Days. That day has not been any of the last few days. I have become even more painfully aware of the differences between my son and other children his age. Example: the 5 days my son sat alone (with me) in snack time during VBS, How he never participated in recreation during VBS and he loves water games, How if he had his way he would never leave the house, How he feels alone even in a crowded room, How he looks terrified in the same crowded room, How he runs and hides from me when he gets over stimulated or upset and it scares me to death.
I feel so helpless some days and all I want to do is make life easier for him and I don't know how.
Don't get me wrong I knew....that's why i taught his class. I knew it would be the only way he would go and I was right. I am just so sad and overwhelmed right now. I don't know what the next move should be.

I just needed to say that out loud so there.........

update

i will blog again after this crazy week.

Wilderness @ the Smokies!

We went to Gatlinburg this past weekend and stayed at the new Wilderness @ the Smokies indoor/outdoor park. It was wonderful. I was very nervous because of the mixed (mostly negative) reviews I had read. Most people were dissappointed because a lot of the things were stil under construction when they went. We had a fabulous time and so did our friends

Ms. Holly, Sloan & Shayla (12 yr old twins). Sloan, has CP and is in a wheelchair. We had a handicapped accessible room with roll in shower, wide walkways and doorways and even handicapped accessible cooking. SWEET. We went down to the pool not knowing fully what to expect she could do. Inner Tube here we come, her sister and I scooped her up and put her in the tube and she enjoyed the Wave pool for hours. The Lazy river ride @ the out door pool and the out door wave pool too! She could do it all. Yes, the price of the rooms were high but we never left the place so really it turned out to be a very in expensive trip. We cooked in the room, played in the arcade and swam! We spent ALL day Saturday outside. I fried!

Lots of pics and things to tell..............

First off...........Kate's Birthday was Monday and we gave her (don't freak out) a little bit of real make-up. Main reason being, I don't want her going to school putting it on WRONG and looking like who knows what or Sharing it & contracting the Super Funk! So here is a pic of her with only eye shadow and brown mascara!

Secondly it was awards day today and I of course have to show off my super smart kiddos!

All 3 kids received Awards for making A honor roll all 4 nine weeks. Way to go guys, we are so proud!

Kate, Thank You for making me a Mother! Happy Birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY GIRL!

Prayers for Brea

Pray for my dear friend Brea (updates here) and her husband Johnathan. Brea just arrived in Houston in anticipation of the birth of their 5th child. The Birth mother will deliver tomorrow at 3pm via c-section. Please pray for all involved. For those of you who live in cave Brea is the owner of one of my fav. things in the WHOLE world. Encores & More North.

To Chattanooga and back................

We went on the first of what I hope to be several camping trips this season this past weekend. We spent very little money and had a GREAT time.

This Lake picture is the view from our campsite.

The mountain was just one of the gorgeous views from our River Gorge Tour.

We spent the middle of the day Saturday inside the Creative Discovery Museum.

Of course if you walk by a Cold Stone you have to stop!

Not Me Monday..... Easter Edition

i would never spend $100.00 on Easter basket stuff after giving numerous speeches that they are ridiculous and bunnies don't have anything to do with

OUR RISEN SAVIOR

my kids were not forced to hide under a "tent" in the hallway for 45 minutes on Friday and play cards while i scared them to pieces by standing on the porch & deck and watched the funnel clouds that were everywhere!

i did not feed my kids chicken nuggets for dinner 2X's last week because if Steven isn't home for dinner then I don't really feel the need to go all out.

I did not hide my favorite cake cookies that we had a ton of and share them only with my hubby and not my children.

it was not me out shopping for Easter Shoes on Saturday night at 8pm

it is not my Son who had NO pants to wear for Easter because his mother would never just Assume that because Easter was in April we could pull shorts off.

it is not my ten year old daughter who went to church in a beautiful brown and white HALTER dress yesterday with NO sweater because we couldn't find one of those on Saturday night.

Easter Definitely did NOT sneak up on me and leave me ill prepared.

Happy Anniversary to Us!

I have been married to my BEST friend for 11 years today! Sometimes I get frustrated with him and ( very rarely) even angry. I am happy to report that 99.9 percent of the time it is blissful.

I wonder if he knows.......

how wonderful i think he is,

how i still get butterflies when he walks in a room,

how i light up from the inside when he tells me I am beautiful,

that my favorite place to be is on the couch with him,

my second favorite place to be is anywhere with him,

how much i love watching him,

how much i love watching him be a dad,

that i do like it when he picks on me (just not to much),

how proud i am that he chose ME,

how grateful I am that he chose to stick it out through all my craziness,

how glad i was to have him through my Moms cancer,

that i love to do things for him & that they aren't a chore to me,

that i appreciate that he cares about my friends,

that i am honored he supports me through new endeavors and over commitments,

that it melts my heart when he reads the bible to our children,

and when he does anything with them,

i actually like playing that dumb PS3 with him,

I wonder if he knows that even though we have had our valleys that the climb back up

to the top has always been easier with him beside me,

and that i would do it all again just to be with him.

I love you honey.