Brayden officially turns 4!

My sweet baby boy turned 4 today. We celebrated with a joint a party for the boys a while back, but today is the official day.

Brayden completes our family. I'm sure that has been said about a lot of lasts babies, but Brayden really does. We found out I was pregnant when Carson was still a baby. We had worked so hard trying to have another baby after Janessa and following a miscarriage and fertility drugs, we had Carson. What a blessing he is and we thought we were done.

I went to the doctor to get an IUD, because we had decided that I would begin to stay home with Janessa and Carson. I was the insurance carrier, so I wanted to get the IUD (just in case!) before switching insurance companies. The doctor came in and told me I was too late. and it went something like this

Too late for what?
your already pregnant...
Pregnant with what?

We were shocked. Not only did I not think I could get pregnant again without the assistance of fertility drugs, but Carson was less than a year old! The next day we had an ultrasound and found out I was 16 weeks along and it was a boy! Wow, how we instantly fell in love with that little miracle baby on the screen!

I tell people that Janessa is my Honeymoon baby (born 41 weeks after we got married), Carson is my fertility drugs baby and Brayden is my "God reminding me he is in control, not me" baby!

So, my baby turned 4 today. He is officially a pre-schooler. For the first time in years, I don't have a toddler or baby in the house. In ways I am sadden and others I am looking forward to what life holds for our family without the addition of diaper bags. Although, Brayden will always be my baby, just ask him!

Brayden is 100% boy. He keeps me on my toes and entertained all at the same time. He is sweet, loving, adventurous, free-spirited and his laugh is soooo contagious. He has no fear and will try anything from doing something different to trying new foods, but he also loves tradition and routine. He is super sensitive and loves with his whole heart. He is smart and creative and has a great imagination. I love to play with make believe with him. We always go on new and exciting adventures. He is turning into a wonderful young guy whom we are so proud of. Wow, how my heart loves that little guy! The best thing about him though, is his love for Jesus. He loves church and Awana. I love listening to him memorize verses and songs. Well, I will post some pictures soon, but I'm going to go play Hungry Hungry Hippos with my sweet baby right now!

Thanksgiving and our Christmas Tree

I know I am so behind on this thing. I don't know how people find the time to do everything!!

But I wanted to say what a great Thanksgiving we had. Anthony flew into Fort Stewart on Wednesday night and Vernon went and picked him up. It was a 9 hour round trip and they drove all night, but it was a wonderful Thanksgiving having Anthony home for the first time in 9 months. We are sooooo thankful he is based in Georgia. (and we love Savannah!) We had lots to be thankful for this year.

Vernon took a short nap Thursday night and then we went shopping for Black Friday. We got some great deals and finished up ALL our shopping. I love this time of year. Everything about Christmas makes my heart flutter! We were going to make Anthony go shopping with us, but he went to sleep at 4 pm (he ended up sleeping 18 hours!) and didn't wake up with all the commotion going on all evening! My dad actually kept the kids, because my mom had to work. This is a miracle in itself!

My poor husband was exhausted! We both took naps then Anthony brought the kids home. Vernon stayed asleep while the kids and I did some baking. Then my awesome husband went to work a side job. We always put our Christmas tree up the day after Thanksgiving, but didn't get to this year. I absolutely wont do it without everyone there, so we waited until Saturday. I didn't make a big deal about it, because I knew how tired Vernon was with driving all night one night (after working 9 hours) and then only getting a few hours sleep before shopping with me the next night. Did I mention how awesome he is?

We spent all morning and early afternoon pulling out all the Christmas decorations. I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!! We have a small tree that we cover with ornaments that all have meaning. I love pulling each one out and telling the kids about it. We have ones that were gifts, given to the kids each year by us, bought for a special memory and of course ones the kids made over the years. A few years back, I decided to start collecting ornaments whenever we go somewhere out of town or just about anywhere that sales "souvenirs." We have ornaments from state parks we have camped at, cities we have been too and places we have visited such as Pigeon Forge, Fort Mountain State Park, Savannah, Stone Mountain and Baby Land General. We keep the ones collected for the year in the curio cabinet and talk about each one and where we got it as we add it to the tree. It is such a great way to reminisce about the year.

I did figure out that we have way too many for our little tree and we need a bigger one. Maybe we can find one on clearance after Christmas this year!

Vernon left for work around 4. He was mediating over a play the school was hosting, so he took Janessa with him. All the boys and I decided to brave the weather and head to Ashley Park for the lighting of the Christmas Tree. What a special night! We saw two reindeer, sang Christmas carrolls, drank apple cidar, ate dinner at Five Guys (awesome burgers!), saw Santa and witnessed the lighting of the tree!

After church tomorrow I have to drive Anthony back to Fort Stewart. I guess I need to go to bed! We have had such a great weekend with him home and we are really going to miss him. He is hoping to be able to visit quite a bit on weekends and have a week off at Christmas. We can't wait. But because of this, this goodbye is not going to be quite as hard as the rest have been.......

Carson and Brayden's Birthday

OK - I know it has been over a month, but I have to share.

Carson and Brayden's birthday was a hit. I don't know if we will ever combine them again, but it worked this year. I just don't know how Brayden is going to take it when his real birthday comes around.

Carson - 5

Brayden - almost 4

It was a really hot day, but everyone seemed to have a good time. We opted for cupcakes and popsicles and played well into the evening.

When it was time to pack it up, we didn't realize how heavy it was going to be and how hard it was going to be to get it back onto the trailer. Thank goodness for good friends willing to break a sweat. Thanks James and Joanie again for helping!!!!! We love you guys!

Great News!!!!

I know I am so far behind on this blog, it's not even funny. How do you guys find the time??

But, I have great news and just have to share.....

Anthony just got his orders and for the next 4 years (hopefully) he is stationed in.......wait for it........GEORGIA!!!!!!

It is almost in Savannah, but it is GEORGIA none the less. We are all very excited!

JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes

Dear family and friends,

Well, it is that time of year again. I can’t believe another year has passed since we took part in the JDRF Walk for a Cure for Diabetes and we are ready to be involved again.

Janessa is now 9 years old and in the 4th grade. She has now been battling diabetes for 5 years, more than half her life… She is still on the insulin pump and is upgrading to a new pump with lots of great features. Actually it is sitting on my counter right now waiting for us to get trained next week!! We are hoping this new pump will help to bring her A1C back down. It has all the newest technology and is our first step towards obtaining the new continuous blood glucose monitoring system which we desperately want. That device will tell us what her blood sugar is at every moment of every day without finger pricks constantly. We will be able to see her blood sugars rise or fall and be able to combat it before it gets out of hand. Please pray that insurances will soon start covering this for all children with diabetes.

Janessa is your average 9 year old and we are all still striving for diabetes not to control her. We just try to control it. She still loves Church, Basketball, Horse-back riding, Girl Scouts, bike riding, camping, hiking, boating and cooking! She is turning into quite a remarkable young lady and we are so proud of her! As you can see, she is still her silly ol’ self!

As in years past, we are participating in the Walk to Cure Diabetes through the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) this October. We believe that a cure will be found and we want to be a part of it. Since its founding in 1970, JDRF has awarded more than $1.16 billion to diabetes research. More than 85 percent of JDRF's expenditures directly support research. JDRF is among the few charities to earn the 4-star rating for the second consecutive year by Charity Navigator Awards. However, this year Janessa’s Girl Scout Troop has scheduled their one and only camping trip on the same weekend as the walk. After much prayer and discussion, we have decided not to let Diabetes take something else away from her and let her (and I) go camping. However, this walk is of utmost importance to our family, so Vernon and the boys are walking for Janessa. They will present all money collected in her name and walk over 3 miles in her honor. What a powerful moving experience this is for all of us!

We would love for you to join our walk team or make donations online at http://www.walk.jdrf.org/ and search for Vernon Smith, team name “Cure – minators.” You can also mail checks made out to JDRF to our address listed below. Please don’t feel obligated to contribute. More than anything, we need prayers. Please pray for Janessa and the millions of kids like her that are dealing with this devastating disease.

Thank you so much for being a part of our lives and helping to find the cure! Remember, every dollar counts!

Sweet Smiles, lots of love and many blessings,
Vernon, Tina, Anthony, Janessa, Carson and Brayden Smith
134 Cranford Mill Drive
Newnan, GA 30265
770-463-2839

‘And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” 1 Corinthians 13:13 KJV

The Birds and The Bees talk

Vernon and I decided a long time ago that we would always tell our children the truth. We tell them all the time that they can ask us anything and trust us completely. On hard questions we tell them the truth in simple age-appropriate ways or tell them we will explain it later when they are older or more mature. Janessa has asked me about sex several times. I have always told her I would explain it all to her when I thought she was mature enough to handle it. Well, my oldest son (our nephew that we have legal custody of) is in the Army. We found out his girlfriend is pregnant some time ago (about 4 months along now). (ADDITION - Whooo - that was really hard to put out there finally. I have been wanting to write about it for a while. Not only is it hard to deal with, but I feel like we failed miserably as substitute parents to him. - More later I'm sure) We put off telling the kids until his Boot Camp Graduation. We knew that it would bring up lots of questions and of course it did. Janessa asked us then how it happened and has brought it up several times since. I kept telling her I would tell her as soon as we got a chance and Momma figured out the best way to explain it.

Well tonight it finally happened........ How nerve racking and funny at the same time. I explained that God made a man and woman like a puzzle. We fit together to form a family in more ways than one. Though I agonized over this and read books about how to explain it to your kids with a Christian foundation, I offered lots of information and answered lots of questions. She was absolutely floored and somewhat in a state of horror and shock. She of course asked it Vernon and I did that and I said yes. She said "yuck...why?" I told her it was the only way to have babies. She said "Well, you always say Brayden was a suprise. Why did you do that to get pregnant with him?" I said "uuuuuuhhhhhhhhh, it's just what married people do!" Oh my gosh, raising kids is so much fun!

The devil can't even stop me...for today at least!

On Wednesday, I started a Bible study at church. It was a crazy morning to say the least. The house was a wreck, the phone was ringing, the kids were wearing breakfast and I had just figured out that I was suppose to at the church at that very moment...class was starting. I took a deep breath and said (out loud, mind you) "devil, you can not keep me from this Bible Study." So, we were 30 minutes late and Amy had only one sock on (with boots!), but we made it. And guess what the class is called...Fresh Elastics for Stressed out Moms! This 'otta be good! (and quite useful I'm sure!)

What a long enlightening day

I had to take Janessa to the hospital this morning for blood work. She did great and only whimpered once. She has more strength and endurance than any 9 year old should possess. I am so proud of the way she is handling all this.

Brayden went for his first set of allergy shots. My sweet baby has to get two shots twice a week. He wasn't very happy, but did great considering.

I am once again reminded how blessed I am. I love my children. They bring me such joy. I love to sit and talk to each of them. Janessa is such a deep thinker. She is constantly mulling over whatever topic is at hand and doesn't hesitate to keep asking questions until she is satisfied. Carson is so simplistic. I really have to work to get anything out of him. He answers all my questions with one-word answers until I hit on a topic of interest. Then he goes into great detail! Brayden is so animated and still so hard to understand. He bubbles over with excitement and words just tumble out. He talks nonstop, but I only catch about half. I have to piece it all together and nod until I do!

I am so blessed with great friends. Ones that listen, don't judge and give great advice. Ones that I love and know that they love me too! I have just been reminded today about how blessed I am!

Now I must try and get some sleep...insomnia is really getting too me I think. My emotions are really running high!

Not so bad!

OK - I just wrote a blog about a lot of things I'm bummed about. Maybe I need to start taking happy pills. hehe

It's so easy to only think about or ponder the bad. I may have had a lot of not so good things happen this weekend, but I've also had some really great moments.

I have been reminded how absolutely awesome my daughter is! She is taking all these changes in her diabetes care with strength and grace that only she possesses. She did 17 blood checks in one day without complaint. She blesses me daily and I am so proud to be her mom.

We had our Diabetes Support Group swim party Saturday. It was so much fun to connect with others that are dealing with the same things you are on a daily basis. I now have renewed energy to do the things needed to care for Janessa. We also are in the process of trying to get her a new pump. This pump can continuously tell us her blood sugar. PLEASE PRAY THAT THIS HAPPENS!

I spent Sunday morning at my favorite place in the whole world - church! I love our church. I love the people I work with in the nursery. I love the music. I love the "preaching" and I love that I can worship with my husband, mom, dad and sister every week. I am so glad God has led us to Southcrest and placed us with people that we have really connected with.

Sunday night we spent some time with Vernon's family. His brother was down from Ohio, so it was really a rare event to have so many family members together at once these days. We were up late talking, laughing and reminiscing. It was lots of fun!

We bought this really cool outdoor game called ladderball. Vernon and Janessa played it before at a Girl Scout Father Daughter event, but it was called Redneck Golf. It is made of PVC and stands 3 tiers high. You toss ropes with rubber balls on either end and try to get them to stay on one of the tiers. How funny is that? So, we all learned how to play Redneck Golf!!! It was lots of fun. Even B could play and actually scored points!

See, I can see the good as well as the bad. God just has to gently remind me to do so sometimes, and I am so thankful He does!

Bummer...

The last week has been slap full of a lot of "bummer" moments.

We have had Callaway Gardens Season Passes for the last three years bought through our Girl Scout Troop. This year they changed a lot of their policies and we longer meet their qualifications. Of course this wasn't figured out until after I had inconvenienced a lot of people and caused myself lots of work and heartache. I just hope I haven't lost friends over this. I sure am going to miss Callaway. We love to camp at Franklin D Roosevelt State Park and spend our days at the Gardens. What a bummer....

One of my best friends just found out her husband is getting this great promotion. Why is this a bummer? Because, now they are moving 2 hours away. Right now they live in the same subdivision. What a bummer..., but we do LOVE to talk on the phone!!!

The wind over the weekend knocked over and broke our basketball goal. What a bummer...

Potty training B is not going very well. All I do is change wet or soiled clothes. What a bummer for me, but I can't let up this time. B will be 4 years old in December!!!

I took J to the Endiocrinologist Friday. It was awful. Her A1C was way too high. Now we are back to the basics. We have to write everything down. I hate weighing and counting, so I had gotten very slack. I thought I was good at guestimating, but obviously not good enough. I will do whatever it takes to take the best care of J as possible, so we are really buckeling down with everything. (This is really hard to write about, because I am so disgusted with myself.) This is more than just a bummer..., but like my husband says, we can not change the past, but we can change what we do in the future.

With all the changes the doctor made on J's basal rates, we have been chasing lows all weekend. She has been as low as 35 and has been really low at least twice a day. What a big bummer...not to mention it makes J just feel yucky. I hope we can get this under control fast.

I haven't been able to get much sleep. I'm having a really hard time just going to sleep. I just lay there and lay there. Insomnia..what a bummer...

Vernon hasn't been feeling well. I can't stand when he's sick. He works so hard and it just seems so unfair that he doesn't feel good. Bummer man!!

A big "catch up" blog...

OK- Things are starting to settle down around here, so I can finally catch a few minutes to blog. Where to start.....

A few things on my mind...
We are so lucky to live in a city that is completely smoke-free indoors. While on vacation, everywhere we went people were smoking inside restaurants. And I don't care where you sit, you can still smell it and it flared Brayden's asthma....ugh.

How do you teach a child how to study? Maybe some of my teacher friends can give me some advice.

And lastly, where did the summer go?????

Since I haven't blogged since telling about vacation, I will start there. Anthony is now at AIT (army training). He says it is worse than school, but better than boot camp! I like this better, because he gets to regularly check in with us by phone instead of letters.

Janessa and Carson both had a great start to school. I can't believe Janessa is in 4th grade and Carson is in Kindergarten!!! They grow up so fast!! I just don't want to miss anything...

Brayden had his skin scratch test to see what he is allergic too. It turns out he is allergic to half the human world including all kinds of grasses, trees, dogs, cats, dust, dustmites ect..... He is now on 6 medications! My sister-in-law spent all last week with us to help me de-dust my entire house. She worked me to death, but we finished! Now every ceiling fan, baseboard and shelf is dust free, but who knows for how long. We pulled all the furniture away from the walls and vacummed up 5 years worth of dust! Who knew dust collected there? Now, I'm just working to keep it that way.

Carson's birthday was Friday!!! My baby is officially 5 like the rest of his class. He seemed to have a great day. Vernon took the afternoon off and had lunch with him at school. He also took cupcakes to his class. That night we went to Stevie B's for a pizza dinner and then to the movies to see Kung Fu Panda! I spent all day writing in his journal about what a special boy he is. I cooked his favorite meal Saturday and Janessa made him a cake. Then Sunday my mom cooked him a dinner and had him a cake! So his birthday turned into a birthday weekend, instead of just one day!! And we are all caked out!!!

Oh, we had our first monthly gathering at our house and had a blast. I really enjoyed hanging out and getting to know everyone more. Next month we are combining it with the boys' birthday party. I know it sounds weird and I am catchng a lot of slack for it, but we are having 1 party for both boys in September. (Brayden's birthday is actually not until December 30.) I talked Vernon into it this year, but I doubt I ever will again, so I hope Brayden enjoys having a good (hopefully warm) birthday party for once!

Well, my time is up...back to work!

Anthony's Army Graduation Picture

The best part of vacation....

After 2 months, we finally got to see Anthony!!!

We missed him so much. I didn't realize what a fixture he had become to our family. I missed his humor, his grace, his faith and watching him play with the younger kids. When we first saw him, he snatched the kids up for big hugs and my heart just swelled. They all love each other so much and I'm very proud of that. He saw Vernon first and actually barreled him over. I couldn't help but to tear up. He did have these hideous glasses on though lol..... good thing he changed to his prescription sunglasses until he could get his contacts in!

We had so much fun just hanging out on Thursday's Family Day. We played mini golf, had lunch at the PX, went shopping, played at the park and went bowling. Anthony picked out a shirt for Janessa and a complete matching Army outfit for Carson. They also all got hats. Anthony is getting their names made to Velcro on the back. Carson had to wear his outfit as soon as we got it!

The kids had a great time playing at the park.
Anthony saluting as the flag was lowered
We had so much fun bowling. Brayden danced after every roll, but then the boys got bored. It took an hour to play one game, because their were so many of us! But it was still fun. We ended up eating dinner there and getting Anthony back to the barracks by 8 pm, so he wouldn't get into any trouble.... It was hard leaving him again, but we knew we got to see him the next day.

Anthony was among hundreds that graduated on Friday. Most of them were in their teens. I looked out and just cried silent tears. Nine weeks ago these boys most likely graduated high school and now they are US soldiers. These are just boys that are now trained to go to war for our country....... for each of us. There was also a 34 year old man and a 39 year old mother of three that graduated that day. All I can say is WOW, what an experience!

Anthony was one of three that received special recognition back at the barracks and were bumped up in rank based on their performance at boot camp. Now he is an E2, but I'm not really sure what all that means yet =)

After graduation, Anthony could finally leave the base for a few hours. We decided to go to the Zoo in Columbia.

Brayden came face to face with his favorite and my least favorite animal....a snake!

We tried to get Carson to change into shorts and a T-shirt, but he refused (and his clothes were smelling pretty ripe after two days in that extreme heat! It registered 103 degrees and that wasn't including the heat index) We knew how much it meant to him, so we all endured....lol!

We went for an all you can eat Seafood dinner, so Anthony could really chow down. Then we had another tearful goodbye. I think it was harder this time, because we know what it's going to be like. I don't think anyone had a dry eye except Brayden, because he slept through it. When we got back to the hotel, he woke up and saw a man in camo from the back. He took off running thinking it was NeeNee and we had to call him back. All of us were wiping our tears again...

We ended our vacation with a stop in Clemson, South Carolina. Vernon was in hog heaven, because Clemson is his favorite team. We even got to see the team cross right in front of us to their practice field. Vernon got a couple of autographs and we watched them practice for a few minutes (before it started lightening and they called off practice). It was really neat and exciting. Vernon was like a kid in a candy store!!!

All in all, we had a great time. I really like being able to record our vacation and other happenings in this blog. It is going to make an excellent way to remember for years to come AND I get to share it all with my family and friends!

We're back!

We are back from vacation, J and C are at school, the house is somewhat clean, the little ones are asleep and most of the laundry is done. Wooo hoooo! Now I can finally post some of our vacation pictures.

We had a great time. We spent 4 nights in Hilton Head Island, SC and 3 nights in Fort Jackson (Columbia), SC. We went to the beach.......


Vernon found a star fish and the kids all held it before Janessa released it back into the ocean. We all marveled at how awesome and diverse God's creatures are. It was really neat!

Brayden liked "jumping" the waves!

The kids loved playing in the waves, finding sand dollars and building sand castles. I am really glad we decided on a beach vacation this year.

We went swimming in the hotel pool several times. Carson and Brayden and doing GREAT learning to swim. Carson has better technique, but Brayden is fearless.

This is the lighthouse in Harbor town. We all climbed the 147 steps to the top, but I wouldn't get close to the edge.
This was my view from the top!

We were very "touristy" and just had to play miniature golf.

Brayden used his hands more than the putter!

Carson actually got a "hole in one!"We went to a really neat Children's museum and the kids had a blast.
My future engineer

and astronaunt....

We enjoyed a dolphin, sunset and fireworks cruise on the Vagabond!


We even saw dolphins!!!

It was a great vacation and I'm not even done yet. I will post about seeing Anthony later. My kids are due home any minute!

Lots of love and many blessings!

PS - The time is still off on my blog. It is 2:40......

Vacation...here we come!

We are leaving for vacation in the morning. I am so looking forward to it. We will have 7 whole days of fun AND we get to see Anthony graduate from boot camp. Well, we will see you when we get home. Lots of love and many blessings to all!

New pictures

I added a bunch of pictures to some of my older posts. Check them out!

Savannah

A the beginning of the summer, Janessa and I went with her Girl Scout troop to Savannah. We had a great time, but haven't shared our pictures with many. Here are a few.....

This is Janessa on the Pirate Walking tour. He was a great sport and the girls really had a great time.

Janessa with her best friend.

They are growing up so fast

Our kids are growing up way too fast. Last night they went swimming in the lake. All of a sudden, Brayden stuck his face in the water and actually swam about 5 feet with his legs and arms just a pumping. No one had showed him what to do or even told him to do it. By the end of the night both boys were swimming with their faces in the water for a good distance with life jackets on of course. I don't want them growing up this fast. I wish I could look away and they would stop, but I don't want to miss anything either. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me, but I will next time.

The end is near.......

It is 1 am and I can't sleep. Janessa is at a sleep over with some friends from church and I'm worried about her. What is her blood sugar? Will she drop low? Did she take enough insulin for what she ate? Will she wake up in the middle of the night needing something to do with her diabetes? Have I taught her enough and equipped her to take care of herself? Have I taught her friend's mom enough? Does she need me? Or do I need her to need me? This stinks!

Ok, I've vented about diabetes, so moving on.....

Carson spent the night away from home last weekend for the first time ever! Besides with grandparents that is. He stayed over with his little buddy from church and had a blast. I was told he teared up once, but took it like a big boy. He will be five next month. Wow! Well, his best friend is back in town, so he wants to stay the night with him tomorrow night. Janessa's friend (his sibling) is coming here, so we are switching kids. I hope Carson does as well with him.

Tomorrow is a big day. We have to do all the school and vacation shopping, Vernon's dad is coming over for a cook-out for his birthday, Vernon and his dad and going on a Father/Son date to the Braves game, Carson is spending the night away from home and one of my best friends is coming over for the evening. I can't wait, but I guess I do need to get some sleep....

But just a few more things.....

Highlights of the week......
*Vernon fixed our AC unit and it only cost $55
*The kids went swimming in the lake twice

*We returned our library books and they were only two days late =)
*We implemented a few new rules including
No TV what so ever on days that start with "T" and the kids were great about it
(and the amazing thing is we already have pretty strict TV rules)
Family Night is now Thursday, but can't include TV (changed from Friday, which always seemed to interfere with something else)
Monday is Family Movie Night
*After much thought following the last two weeks of a parenting class (relationships vs. experinces is one topic) at church, I realized my children are actually doing OK on the relationship side and I'm pretty proud of that. I guess I can stop thinking we are not doing good by our kids, because we don't have them in all kinds of sports and classes or because they don't have that many big electronic toys such as Ipods, game systems, individual TVs or computers. I am so glad we have such great open relationships with our kids and we spend lots of time talking, interacting and listening to each other. (For now..I just hope and pray we can continue to keep it that way as they get older. We are going to try our hardest to say the least.) I do sometimes wish they had more experiences, but I'm going to stop beating myself up about it. They are allowed to participate in two sports per year plus scouts, so we will stick to that (and not get a second mortgage, haha-just kidding) I do, however, need to continue to cultivate their relationships with adults outside of family. Vernon finally sees why I'm always planning something for us to do with others, but we also trying to spend more time at home this summer.

(OK, can you tell I'm getting tired...slur...)

*I found some really good deals on shoes for school. Yeah!
*I figured out how to put pictures on my blog posts
*We made glob as our science experiment this week
*Vernon fixed my headlights on my van and they work great. No more worrying about traveling at night.
*And Vernon fixed his lawn mower and cut grass. Now we can find the sand box! haha Just Teasing!
*We decided to re-implement date nights. We use to do it a lot, but somehow life happens and you get away from it. Vernon use to take Janessa out all the time when it was just her and then even after Carson was born. Now we want to make it more of a priority.
*With that being said, We enjoyed our dates with our boys tonight!
*Not a highlight, but something that happened-Brayden went to the Asthma specialist and is now on 6 different meds and it seems more complicated than Janessa's diabetes, but I will do anything for my baby to be able to breathe.
*We decided to host a monthly get-together at our house beginning in August...more details to follow I'm sure.
*I was able to connect with 4 friends this week
*We finally made our goal for Callaway Gardens memberships...I can't wait to go.
*My father-in-law had a date tonight with a really sweat lady I set him up with. I can't wait to see how it went.
*We went to a very moving prayer meeting at church where I had the privilege to pray over my dad with the rest of the church. Wow, he has changed so much..... Please pray for him to find a lasting job soon. I REALLY am too tired to blog about my dad, but it is an AMAZING story. Maybe some other day!
*We are going to my parents after church on Sunday to go swimming and hang-out. I can't wait. I need a momma fix!!!!!! I'm such a momma's girl I know, but I NEED that time with my family. ALL my family. We usually all meet over there, including my brother and his family and my sister. And the pool is finally full and up and running..Yeah!

*And #1 is Carson learned to ride a bike without training wheels in like 10 minutes flat!

Have a great week!!!!!