Thursday Thoughts- Does your day run you?

Phew- it's been a while since I wrote my post on ABA Therapy (Applied Behavioral Therapy) and how it's working in our home.  We still continue to work with Dr. Salek to fine tune our behaviors and find more of a semblance of normal.  We've been working with her for about 6 months now, and if you had told me that in 6 months my life would be this different from what it was, I would have called her so much sooner.  So, if you're in the Houston area and you're struggling with very difficult behaviors in your home from one or more of your children that are related to autism, adoption, bipolar, anxiety etc, and you feel like your child is holding you hostage, please call her.  I am here to tell you it is worth every penny and every moment.  Do not wait, because 6 months from now you will wish you had called today!  (FYI I do not get any compensation from her, I just wholeheartedly believe in her).

So, one of the things that she implemented, was a schedule.  We set up schedules for the kids to help regulate what they do during the day, how much time is spent on media (TV, Tablet, Computer etc) and how much time they have free to do as they wish.  We also put into the schedule morning, afternoon, and evening chores.  If I'm being completely honest, I'll tell you the afternoon chores just don't happen consistently, so I'm working those back out of our schedule, which is an important point about the schedule- you are not locked in!  The schedule can, and will change.  But, the morning and evening chores do and that has helped all of us tremendously.  It helps the kids know that they have value, because they have purpose in our home. It helps me not feel quite as overwhelmed because I'm not the only one responsible for the chores.  It also gives me an opportunity to sit down and relax for a moment.  For example, after dinner the kids do the after dinner chores, and I usually sit in my bed, or on the couch and play a game or two on my tablet during this down time.  It's nice to have some down time when the kids are still awake.

In the beginning there was a schedule for William.  Then we decided that all of the kids should have one, so that William didn't feel singled out, and truly, they all could use one anyway if for no other reason to regulate the media time.  (Does anyone else struggle with feeling like media takes over their household)...  Once we got them all rolling in schedules of their own I decided that writing a new schedule each day was way too much for us.  I could see the value in it, and I could really see how knowing what the day held helped William with his anxiety and consequently his mood, but I could also see that I was about to go under the waters of overwhelm real fast.   So, I went to pinterest looking for templates or something to make this ABA Schedule easier.  What I found, were references to Managers of Their Homes, a program by Terri Maxwell, that I had heard about in the past, but never actually tried.  I decided that I needed to give it a try and see if it helped us.  I will tell you the program, along with their software, ScheduleBreeze has really helped us tremendously.

There were many things I learned as we implemented the schedule.  One of them was that I didn't have any space for me.  Not only did I need that space, but the kids need to know that I have space for me because I'm modeling for them how they should organize their day.  Do I want their days full of doing more and more and more, with no time to just be?  So, now we all have schedules, and it helps me to keep myself in line as well.

Colossians 4:5 says, “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.”  Over the next little while we'll spend some time talking about what the best use of time is.  I will give you a teaser- it's not busyness, or even productivity.

Stay tuned for more on how I'm getting my life together :)

Love, Semalee

The Journey of a Thousand Miles begins with One Step

(This post contains affiliate links which, when you purchase from I receive a small commission.  This does not cost you anything, but helps me to keep blogging:) 

If you've read my blog, or you know me in person, you know that my husband and I have acquired 4 adopted children over the past 9 years.  What you may not know is that we live in a fairly small house, which is about 1500 square feet.  For a time, we had 9 people living here, but we are currently down to 6.  My aunt calls our house "The Magic House" because it just fits the people in that need to call it home.  Over time, many people have asked us if we plan to move into a larger house, and our answer is always no.  You see, I love this house.  We have lived here since the boys were little, and most of our neighbors have lived here as long as we have.  My Dad, Sister and her husband live next door, and we have a wonderful back yard.  It is an older house, and it is smaller than many, but I never wanted a big house.  I don't want us to have places to go to get away from each other.  I want us to be forced to interact.  Yes, sometimes I wish I could get more quiet, but in the end, I like the house just as it is.

However.....

What is not good about my house is the amount of stuff that lives here.  I have long felt that I needed to declutter.  Several times I have gone through and cleaned out different areas, we've moved rooms around etc, but always we are left with too much stuff and not enough places to put it.  "Everything has it's place and everything in it's place" is not currently a possibility in my house.

In another blog I read, Boho Berry, she mentioned that she had read the The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, and how it had changed her life.  I put it on my list of things to read, and there it sat for about a year.  Then, this Fall, as school was starting to get into full swing, I found myself having a hard time juggling all of the needs of homeschooling 4 children.  I decided that an Audible Membership would be helpful, because for my younger kids I could have them listen to the read aloud on Audible instead of me having to read it to them.  It was a grand idea until they didn't have the book I was looking for!  ;)  But, with Audible, you get 1 credit a month for a free book, and when you sign up, you get 2 to start with.  So, I decided to see if it had The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing on Audible where I could just listen in the car when I was driving places, and they did!  So, that's how I "read" this book, was I listened to it.

Now, I will tell you the lady who narrates the book has sort of a monotone voice and it took me a little time to get used to her, but eventually, I came to enjoy her.  I also feel I should warn you that there are some ideas in this book that I do not personally agree with, like that our belongings have feelings, and things like that, but overall that is something I can easily overlook.

If I were to give a brief synopsis of this book, it would be that she challenges us to look at stuff differently,  and, to look at decluttering differently.  She says to clean out in one fell swoop, but also says this can take months.  Just stay in intention over the time it takes.  Additionally, she suggests that instead of tidying room by room as we normally do, tidy by categories.  You are to begin with clothes, and work down a strategic order.  You can see the list easily by searching "KonMari Method" on Pinterest.  I have begun with clothes as she suggests, and found that it was much easier than I though it would be!  I have successfully tidied and discarded my clothes and my two youngest children's clothes.  Today I will get the Middles to do theirs and hopefully next week my husband will do his.  I gave away out of my own closet and the coat closet 3 large black lawn bags full of clothes, and out of my Littles' room one more.  I can tell you it feels so good to be able to see my clothes.  Already I can see how this is "Life Changing Magic".

My closet Before I Tidied

 All of my clothes from my closet piled on my bed (note these are only mine, not my husband's)

My clothes in my closet after!

She talks in the book about not having "Potato Socks".  She says we should fold our socks and stand them on end so we can see them.  (she also says they are happier that way).  I don't know if my socks are happier, but I think I am :)

You can also search KonMari Folding on Pinterest for help there.  It really does make a difference!

Here are my cute Littles as we started working on their clothes....  Stay tuned for updated pictures of their room! 

If you begin reading or following along, I would love to hear from you!  Please leave a comment below!

Love, Semalee

Thy Will Be Done

I'm so confused
I know I heard you loud and clear
So, I followed through
Somehow I ended up here
I don't wanna think
I may never understand
That my broken heart is a part of your plan
When I try to pray
All I've got is hurt and these four words

Thy will be done
Thy will be done
Thy will be done I know you're good

But this don't feel good right now
And I know you think
Of things I could never think about
It's hard to count it all joy
Distracted by the noise
Just trying to make sense
Of all your promises
Sometimes I gotta stop
Remember that you're God
And I am not

So Thy will be done
Thy will be done
Thy will be done
Like a child on my knees all that comes to me is
Thy will be done
Thy will be done
Thy will I know you see me

I know you hear me, Lord
Your plans are for me
Goodness you have in store
I know you hear me
I know you see me, Lord
Your plans are for me
Good news you have in store

So, thy will be done
Thy will be done
Thy will be done
Like a child on my knees all that comes to me is
Thy will be done
Thy will be done
Thy will be done
I know you see me
I know you hear me, Lord


Some days I don't have any answers.  Lots of days.  It's why I need Jesus so much.  Because daily I'm faced with reminders that I don't have the answers and I don't know what tomorrow holds.  Reminders that I can't control the outcomes of what happens around me, but I can find peace in knowing that whatever happens I do not have to walk alone. 

I recently was reminded of my deep ingrained fear of the effects of drugs on your life.  I honestly do not believe anyone to be immune to this.  I think it is completely irresponsible, and also unfair to think that because someone appears to have it all together that they are immune from the draw of artificial remedies for life's problems.  In this case, the fear is centered around drugs and their effects on those that get caught in their draw, but the same could be applied to just about any aspect of life- the woman who believes her husband is perfect, but under the surface unknown to those around him he struggles with deep issues including porn, or infidelity- the homeschooling mom who looks like her kids are all perfect ducks in a row, but inside her is a deep feeling that she isn't ever enough- the adoptive mom who adopted because there was so much love to give, but now finds herself wondering if she's the right parent for her kids...... etc.  Artificial remedies can range from drugs, to alcohol, to being a control freak, to even something beneficial like exercise.  There are many ways to address the problems of life.  Sometimes we feel like we call out to the Lord and don't see an answer, or don't like the answer.  Sometimes we just need to learn to let things go more than we do.  What is of most importance to you?

For me, the number one thing is that my children and husband know I love them and that I love God, and God loves them.  I have a mantra I use with my youngest ones who have deep issues with abandonment, and it goes: "God loves me first, and my family loves me too".....  This is a good mantra for us all.  And we need to remember, that God's love for us is not tied to whether we have the perfect marriage, successful kids, clean house, etc.  God loves us because He KNOWS us.  He knows us better than anyone.  I listened to a podcast today where the man was talking about his struggles with infidelity - it was the people who run the Undone Redone podcast, who were sharing on the Homeschooling In Real Life Podcast.  One thing he said he had to tell himself as he walked back from his struggling and exile from his church was that "God knows it all, and he loves me, these people only know a little bit".  Wow.  How often do we look to others for acceptance, and for approval when the truth is God knows us all, and the people around us only know a little.

Where this all applies to me, is, if I'm really honest, I've gotten myself into a busy-ness trap through trying to please God and others through my works.  I know that God loves me no matter what, but I try to please Him by serving His people (and others) because I love Him so much and I want others to feel the love that I feel.  But the problem here is, that as I've become more and more overwhelmed with my schedule in recent years (and am now working on reducing it) that people aren't always feeling his love at all through me, because, quite frankly, I'm too overwhelmed.

So, back to the most important thing for me: Love- my God, my children, my husband, and leaving a legacy that speaks love.

This is what I need to focus on to figure out what stays on my list, and what goes.  If it doesn't further this purposefully, and intentionally, then it goes off the list.  I'll spend the next while using this measure to examine my priorities better.

In case you're curious about the podcasts, here is the one I listened to: Homeschooling In Real Life Episode 145  and the guests were the authors of the Un Done, RE Done Podcast. 

How are you giving yourself permission to evaluate your life?  Let's share in this discussion!

Love Always,
Semalee

Writer's Block

I've got a small case of writer's block.  I always assumed it would be in the form of just having nothing to say, but that isn't the case.  In my case, I have so MUCH to say that I'm unable to organize my thoughts.  Do I write a post about adoption?  Do I write about grief?  Do I write about PTSD in those who have lost loved ones?  Do I write about bullet journaling?  Do I write about sending a kid off to college?  Do I write about being a mother in law?  Do I write about the 2 officers in as many weeks killed by drunk drivers in my area?  Do I write about the officer who was shot to death in Louisiana?  Do I write about being an officer's wife?

You get the point. 

I wrote recently about how God helps us handle the impossible when we're called to something.  And, I also wrote in another post about my Littles and how their lives are still hard, all these years later.  At some point, I do intend to elaborate on adoptive issues like they have, and different ways you can adopt, and cope with things etc.  But, I think today, in the theme of "God doesn't call the equipped, he equips the called"  I'll touch on our decision to homeschool the Littles.

When we were going through the foster/adopt process we were already homeschooling our oldest children.  We started homeschooling them because they were not being well served by the elementary school we are zoned to.  One of my sons had been bullied for 2 years at that point by another child, and the teachers were given very little power to do anything about it.  So, we made the decision to homeschool and see if that was better.

Over time, what I learned about homeschooling is that it doesn't at all look like what I thought it would look like.  We were not, in fact, stuck at home by ourselves all the time.  Actually, I had to learn a very important word when it came to socializing: NO.  We found ourselves with so many opportunities that we had to learn to work first, play second.  This was a good lesson for us all :) So, over time we got into a rhythm and all was well in the homeschooling world.

Here's the number one most important thing about homeschooling for my family:

Homeschooling is about relationship first, academics second.

What I found, was that the number one benefit to us as we homeschooled was the change in our family.  We became extremely close as a family, and the time we were able to spend as homeschoolers, learning together is some of the best spent time in my life.  As I now have my oldest son married off and in college, and my second son heading to Baylor University in the Fall, I am overwhelmed by what a blessing it was to be able to spend that time with them.

With my Littles, however, we have sent them to a Charter School in the area.  Because, remember what I said above?  Homeschooling is about relationship first, academics second.  My Littles have a host of things going on that cause them to be a lot to handle.  My energy level definitely does not match there's.....  And when our energy levels don't match, we break down.  I've had to really sit down with myself and decide if more time is better for our relationship, or if less time is better.  For the past 2 years, the answer has been that less time is better.

But God, right?  You've heard me say this so many times...  But God.

Over the last couple of months my youngest (who has struggled behaviorally in Kindergarten) (he talks too much) has been having meltdowns almost every day.  When he melts down he says things like, "I'm just a stupid kid", "Everyone Hates Me", "I'm a bad kid".  When I say melt down I mean melt down.  I have an appointment for him to see a psychiatrist in July, because he was getting so bad I was getting very, very worried that something is very, very wrong.  His behavior grades in school were going down, and he as coming home on red, orange, or yellow every day.  They use a color system at the school for behavior.  You start on white, and if you're caught being good, you move up- Green, Blue, and then Purple.  But, if you're caught doing something wrong, you move down- Yellow, Orange, and then Red.  You can move your clip down for not standing in line, for talking out of turn, for touching the wall etc.  In theory it sounds good, except it really doesn't work for all kids, and for my two kiddos who struggle with self-worth, it REALLY didn't work well.  Every time my youngest had to move his clip down he internalized that he as a bad kid.  This did not help him improve his behavior.    So, while he was never doing anything really bad, he did end up on red quite often, for talking out of turn.  Oh and also he has impulse control issues related to the Sensory Processing Disorder that cause him to talk when he hasn't had enough sensory input.  In fairness, he can talk A LOT. 

So, as this was going on, I was feeling the Lord poke me about homeschooling them.  My conversation with the Lord was something like this:
God:  Maybe you should homeschool them.
Me:  Are you crazy?
God:  Maybe you should homeschool them.
Me: There is NO way I can handle THIS and not completely destroy our relationship.
God: Maybe you should homeschool them.
Me: I don't want to.  I want some time to myself.
God: Maybe you should homeschool them
Me: Maybe the separation is making it harder on him, but maybe being together will be harder on me.
God: Maybe you should homeschool them.
Me: I don't know if I can handle homeschooling FOUR, and most specifically, these two....
God: Maybe you should homeschool them.
Me:  I've noticed since school has been out, the joy has started to return to William's face.  He's had almost no meltdowns.
God: Maybe you should homeschool them.
Me: I've noticed Shea and Will getting closer with each other, less fighting, but I still don't know if I can handle this.  I'm barely holding on right now.
God: Maybe you should homeschool them.
Me: Ok, God I think you want me to homeschool them (duh lol), but I'm really scared, so I'm going to trust you to equip the called, because I do not feel at all like you are calling the equipped.

So, there it is.  Next year, I will be homeschooling the 4 kids.  I'm both terrified and excited.  And, as I'm making peace with this decision I'm looking forward to how it will help them bond more with each other, too.  Adoptive families have a lot riding on bonding. 

When Life Gets to be Too Much

You may or may not have noticed my lack of blogging lately.  With the exception of race recaps I’ve really not blogged anything since the New Year.  Even before that I was not consistent.  You may have even assumed by now that I’m not blogging anymore, this is just a dead blog.

In some ways that would be a completely fair assumption, since I really haven’t blogged much.  But, my intention has been to continue this blog all along.  You see, I started this blog to write about “the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of my life with a little humor mixed in”.  So, this blog has been, all along, about my life, with the intention of helping others who may have similar things going on in their life paths at the time.  Through the years, we’ve chronicled my children growing up, our foster/adoption experience, you’ve listened to me cry over my mother and our broken relationship, you know that marriage is one of my hot buttons, and you’ve read as I was healed from an 18 year affliction with Rheumatoid Arthritis.  You know I struggled with the decision to homeschool, and you know how important my faith is to me, you have cheered me on as I began my journey as a runner, and you know that being a Police Officer’s wife isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

So, I ask you to consider that my absence these past few months has also been a chronicle of events in my life, because it is the very evidence of just how busy this past year has been.  Having teenagers and toddlers at the same time is it’s own animal, and one I don’t recommend.  It has been a tough school year.  Over the past several months I have barely had any time to sit, let alone think.  Auston will graduate next year (2014), so his High School schedule really picked up this year.  He joined choir, which had us out of the house every Tuesday afternoon/evening, which was quite a challenge.  It effectively took several hours out of my already busy week.  There is definitely a tipping point where you find yourself on the downhill side of being too busy, and I think we found that this year. 

Our schedule this year looked something like this:

Sunday: Church, Youth Group
Monday: Shea to Therapy, Boy Scouts
Tuesday: Tuesdays with Mom, Choir
Wednesday: Youth Group
Thursday: Bagel Run, Bible Study, HIS Classes, Date Night
Friday: Sports Day

You can see this put one of the adults in this house out every evening, with some Fridays and Saturdays home.  I have had many people tell me to just hang on, it is a season….  And, that is honestly what got me through the year, but really, it was too much.

This week is the first week off of the majority of our activities, Youth Group will continue until the middle of June, but the bulk of them are done, so I’ve found myself this week taking a look around my filthy house and beginning to take stock of where I need to focus now that I have some time.  I’ve written out a new weekly cleaning plan, and started to catch up on all of the things that haven’t been done….  It will take me a few weeks to get a handle on this monster…

Through all of this craziness I maintained my running, sometimes better than others.  Last week I only got two runs in because the boys were gone on a camp out for 3 days, but this week has been an oddity.  I find myself at Wednesday and haven’t run a mile yet for the week.  I have been getting in activity each day, I started participating in a plank challenge with my MRTT chapter, and I’ve been doing some leg work and some push ups, but I haven’t RUN.  My main excuse is that the babies have been getting up early lately, and I am nervous about being gone and them getting up.  Normally I would just get one of the boys to come to the living room, but they’ve been just as busy as I have, so I’m trying to give them a week or two to rest too.  So, this morning I thought to myself, is it really THAT big of a deal that I haven’t run in 6 days?  In some ways it is, because you loose some endurance, but I don’t really have that much to begin with LOL…  But really, is it a bad thing for me to take a couple of days off?  I mean, my life has been so crazy these last several months, I think it really IS ok to take a few days, even a week or two, and regroup.  It hasn’t even been an option for so long.  And really, my next big race isn’t until the end of July, and even that one I can take down from a half if I need to, so if I’m going to take a breather, now is the time to do it, before I have to get training hard for my fall racing schedule.

So, I’ll go to the Bagel run in the morning, because I really, really do enjoy it.  But I’m giving myself permission to run my long run this week or not.  And next week I’ll be camping, so I’ll probably only get a couple of miles in then too.  I’ll take this time to work on some strength training that I’m generally worried about doing because I don’t want to be too sore to run LOL.  I really need strength training, and my lack of muscle really affects my run, so I need to get over that… (which is why I joined the plank challenge), and then once we get back from camping I’ll hit the roads hard again.  I just want to make sure that my training doesn’t become such a burden that I don’t enjoy running.  THAT would be REALLY bad, since it is like the one thing I do for myself… 

What do you think?  Have you ever taken a breather from something without dropping it entirely?

Menu Monday 5/7

I’m so sorry I’ve been so inconsistent lately!  I read on another blog that “May is the other December” and I’d agree, except for me it’s been April!  Now that we’re in May things are starting to slow down.  The reason it’s April for me is because as homeschoolers we tend to finish things up by the beginning of May, so April is our final push.  My boys are scheduled to be done this week.  I say *scheduled*, because they haven’t stayed exactly on schedule, so they’ll have to put in some serious work to be done Friday, but if they put their minds to it they can do it….  I REALLY REALLY HOPE THEY DO…..

Anyway, in all of the business I’ve all but completely fallen off of the money bandwagon too.  I need to figure out a way to better plan for busy-ness.  I need some easy meal ingredients on hand or something…  Ideas would be great………

Anyway, I’m trying to get back on track this week, so here is the menu:

Monday:  Stuffed Baked Potatoes

Tuesday:  Breakfast for Dinner

Wednesday:  Snack Dinner

Thursday:  Pizza

Friday:  Shrimp and fries

Saturday:  Burgers

Sunday:  Grilled Chicken Wraps

2011- A Recap!

It’s that time….  Time to start thinking about resolutions again…  but before looking forward, it’s always a good idea to examine from where we came…..

I’ve done this for a few years now…  Here are the recaps for 2010, 2009, and 2008 if you’re interested….  It’s fun to look back and see what I had to say about those years and how much our lives have changed since then!

So, in 2011 we had many exciting things happen,  here’s my recap:

January: 

January began with the anticipation of finalizing our adoptions.  We had just finalized other aspects in court at the end of December, so now we were looking forward to having the CPS chapter of our lives over with.  Shea turned 2 in January, and became even more active and busy than she was before.  People say of their children, “They’re 2 going on 20”…  Well….  Shea actually IS “2 going on 20”.  She’s going to rule the world some day.  Does this give you a bit of a picture of “Shea Speed”?

February:

In February our daughter by heart, Heather, came to stay with us for a little while, before finding out she was pregnant.  She then decided to move in with her sister.  We continued on with the many CPS and ECI visits on our adoption journey.  It seemed that our schedule was only getting more and more full…..

March:

In March Michael was asked to be on the Discovery Team for the church.  Discovery is a spiritual retreat the church puts on every year designed to help you grow deeper in your faith.  It was a big, big commitment, but when Discovery took place in April I think we could all agree it was life changing for the team as well as the pilgrims.  I’m so glad he got to do this.  We also got word from the County that Michael’s department was going to face a major budget cut, including lay offs and pay cuts.  Michael was able to keep his job, but he was reduced to 32 hours a week (resulting in a 20% pay cut), and his schedule was changed.  It was quite frightening knowing our budget was already stretched, and that once the babies were adopted we’d no long receive foster money either, resulting in an even deeper cut.  But, we took the news by hitting our knees in prayer, and, I’m proud to say we made it through.  It wasn’t until December that his pay was reinstated, but God provided for us every step of the way.  Also in March Auston found out that he was elected to the Order of the Arrow in Boy Scouts, which was quite an honor.

April:

In April Auston and Gregory attended a Teen Pact Class in Austin, for which they needed a suit…  They look sharp, huh?

Also in April I was helping Michelle out by watching her kids, here they are in front of the cross on Easter at the church.  It was a bit of an adjustment to have 6 children instead of 4 in tow many days, but I wouldn’t trade the time I got to spend with them, and they with each other.  I knew I couldn’t do it for long, so I just tried to enjoy them while I had them until Michelle found another babysitter. 

May:

In May, Gregory graduated from the Encourager Homeschool Enrichment Program, and turned 12, and was elected Senior Patrol Leader of the troop, Auston completed his Ordeal for the completion of is election into the Order of the Arrow, and was elected Assistant Senior Patrol Leader for the troop, and Calley graduated from Midland Lee High School with HIGH honors.  It was a very very busy month! 

June:

June… Oh June….  In June our family was finalized.  We are now officially Shea and William’s forever family and they ours.  June holds a major importance in our lives now.  It was an incredible way to start the summer

We could not believe how many people came out to our adoption to celebrate our family.  It was amazing to see that these people love our children as much as we do and were just as happy for us.  Really.  Words can’t describe how much it meant to us to have everyone there.  It made the day what it was supposed to be.  About community and love.  And sharing that love.

Seriously.  Do you see how many people were there to support us?  Could we be any luckier?  Even the judge was taken a back by the volume of people….

We are sooooo blessed….

It was a good day

Also in June, Semalee’s Oma, Lois Cook passed away.  She is dearly missed.

July:

In July Semalee went to Boy Scout Summer Camp with the boys again.  This year we headed back to Oklahoma, to Camp Hale.  It was an eventful trip, to say the least, complete with a broken down trailer and 3 out of 4 of the adults getting the flu the last night there and driving home sick…..  Blech….  Again I say, if they say I wasn’t a good mom, they need to read these recaps….    We also had a party to celebrate the adoptions, and had a special service at our church.  It was strange to realize that at that service the adoptions felt so much more real to us then they did in court.  We are so blessed by our church family as well. 

As if that wasn’t enough, Michael and I celebrated 15 years of marriage.  Weird to think after all this time I still love him with everything in me, and even weirder that he still loves me

August:

In August Auston spent 2 weeks at Camp Eagle as part of the service team.  It was sooooo weird to have him gone for that long.  And when he came back he was quite different.  My boy is growing up so fast.  The rest of us just tried to relax as best as we could, and started preparing for the school year.  Auston is doing 10th grade and Gregory is doing a majority of work from 8th grade…

September:

Mikey turned 40 in September…  FORTY….  Man he’s old~!!!!    I did not make this cake, my friend Terri did, and she did a great job.  We spent September getting ready for Terri’s wedding and settling into school for the year.  I made the wedding cake for Terri and Jeff’s wedding.  While I was happy with how it turned out, I’m not interested in making another wedding cake…… ever……

Michael was spoiled with a birthday MONTH instead of just one lousy day

October:

And in a blink it was October.  Our daughter by heart gave birth to our Granddaughter by heart, Makinzee just a few days before Auston turned 15.  Auston got his learner’s permit, and I am scared to death of the big 1-6 and him driving BY HIMSELF….. 

I also went to Women of Faith in San Antonio with my very dear friend Gwenn.  It was a wonderful experience, one we hope to repeat annually

November:

Michael was able to go to St. Louis for an Affected Coworker’s retreat with COPS in November.  He was really glad he went.    And, Semalee turned 37, and William turned two   We shared a birthday party with Zeny, who turned 3 a few days after William’s birthday.  I made a Dora and Diego cake for their birthday….

December:

And, before we knew it we were in December.  It was to be our first Christmas knowing that we had these babies forever.  Much anticipation preceded the event   We’d all done some growing since last year, and we were all breathing a little easier.  Shea got over her fear of Santa, for which we were so grateful for, since we had tickets to ride the Polar Express!  We cut down our tree at our favorite tree farm, and maintained as much of our traditions as possible amidst our crazy busy schedule.  Christmas day brought a visit from Heather and Makinzee, and some much needed rest.

As we look forward to 2012, we have so much to be thankful for this year.  Yes…. soooo much to be thankful for.  I can’t even imagine how 2012 could top 2011….  but with Michael and Auston planning a mission trip to Sri Lanka there’s some potential

 

From our family to yours, we hope your year has been wonderful as well!  May God bless you in 2012!