The Bible and Child Sex Abuse
what does the Bible say about child sex abuse?? – a blog by Resurrection Graves
fun with the FAM!
The last couple of days have been a lot of fun for my little family! Blake and Josh worked in the yards yesterday and then decided to take off for Sports Aurhority to buy some stellar waterguns and water balloons. It seemed necessary to have a watergun war in the backyard. Why not?! The grass needed to be watered and thec hildren needed to be worn out…total win – win, right?!! It really was a blast watching them – especially the two oldest boys… Blake, age 46 and Josh, age 12. They had the most fun of all. Cameron was a close third being that he is just wide open and all over it. His strategy was to hide behind the lady with the camera – who was, of course, me. Here are a few shots from our fun Sunday…
they were vicious!
waiting for a good shot...
you want summaDis?!
So yes, I laughed and laughed at the babies while they (and their Dad) soaked eachother with waterguns and I listened to them whine about who did what that wasn’t fair. Josh and Blake took cover behind the hammock and Piper’s tea table… it was full on WAR in the back yard! So cute!
Then today – we had a “Goodbye party/potluck” for one of the beloved teachers at Holy Cross Preschool – which is where both Piper and Cameron have attended over the years. They’ve both been in her class and that gives us a lot of history – about five years now! We are really sad to see her go, but understand that she must follow her husband – who is taking a job just about four hours away. The potluck was lots of fun – here are a few pictures. =)
Piper, Ms.Cherie, & Cameron
love these boys
just a-swingin'!
my little sweetness...
So – it’s been a great couple of days. I feel very blessed. I found out today that I have a class that starts next Monday! That’s a whole week earlier than I was prepared for! Ouch! It’ll be okay – better to find out now than a week too late, right?! In other news – my baby brother, David, will be here on Thursday! I pick him up at 7:30am in Denver… I’m really excited to have a little piece of home here with me in Colorado!
I’ll leave you with one more photo – one that Josh took today while at Ms Cherie’s party of some Wild Geese swimming in the river that runs through the park. A Mama & her babies…
love it!
I hope everyone is having a good start to their week – HUGS!!
happy, happy girl
SO – Spring Semester was officially over for my friend Megan – who finished her last clinical on Wednesday. Since Blake was off and home with the kiddos, of course it seemed appropriate that we celebrate. It’s been a while since we’ve had a girl’s night out that was just super fun and without any sort of drama. It’s crazy how hard it can be for adults to behave like adults. Anyway, it was one of those rare occasions where the weirdos stayed at home and us normal people were able to just enjoy a good time. I’m not much for the bar scene at all – but one of my best guy friends, Damien, handles the DJing for Karaoke on Wednesday nights at this little Cajun joint called The Bayou. Several of my girls graced us with their presence and the night couldn’t have gone better. I only had 1 and 1/2 beers the entire night and I’ve found that not getting hammered makes for much better pictures… haha. For that reason, I will share. =)
just us girls (me, lower left)dancin'dancin'
These are some of the coolest girls I’ve ever met – minus my girl Kristen and my favorite girl Leah, of course! It’s always nice when pretty girls can hang out with eachother without there being any drama or jealousy, isn’t it? haha…
My camera has been MIA all weekend, but I will tell you that we had an amazing weekend. I didn’t get to do the planned camping trip because the weather was questionable and my girl Noelle hurt her back pretty bad. So, at her request, we opted to congregate at my house and make a feast of my homemade fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, fresh corn on the cob, and pasta salad. Total comfort food. My girl needed some comfort food after the few days she’d had. Let’s not forget the wine and the boys enjoyed a few bevies while outside playing Bocce Ball – they were so much fun to watch because they were sooo into it! Dessert was compliments of Noelle & Donnie – a Reese’s peanut butter cup pie – absolutely sinful – thanks, Noelle! I couldn’t help but to fall asleep thinking about how blessed I am to have such incredible friends… Life is GooD!
Today, the boys are outside working on the yard… it looks complicated, so I’m hanging in the house with the laundry, sweeping, mopping, dust bunnies – etc. while Piper plays dress up. That’s my comfort zone – haha. It’s been a great weekend – I really can’t complain about anything. The minute a stressful situation started to weigh on me, my friends were right there to be supportive and put a smile on my face. That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? Amazing family, good friends, good food, and good times… love it!
Here are some ‘flowers’ Piper picked on her way home from the park and put in water for me – I really do adore being a Mom… =)
i LOVE being a Mommy!!
josh & mom visit the E.R.
so much has happened since i sat here and self-absorbedly talked about the little happenings of my life! i was going to keep going on my earlier post, but it was just getting ridiculously long!!
so – Monday – i was really looking forward to hanging out at home and relaxing. that did not happen… so typical! some time around 11am, the phone rang and it was Josh’s school. he was with the nurse because he had been hurt in gym. ok, according to them he had been hurt in gym class. and technically, i guess that’s what it was… technically. it was his knee, by the way, and he was in a lot of pain. when i inquired as to how this injury happened, thinking it was basketball or some other physical activity, i was told that he and his friends were running to the locker rooms to change out and “mom, i just looked away for a second and then i just hit the wall…” yeah. he ran into the wall, i guess it just jumped right out in front of him…. haha! it’s funny now that i know he’s ok. nevertheless, we went to the emergency room…and being the mom i am, i had my camera phone in hand.
don't let the pitiful look fool you, he was havin' fun in that chair!
icing down his knee
so…as it turns out, it was a sprain. after many x-rays, it was detrmined that there were no breaks.
so he just has to keep it iced and take it easy – especially if he wants to be a track star 😉
i’m a bad blogger…
it’s probably a good thing that not many get too excited about what i have to say, huh?! i am sorry, though, for those of you who did notice my absence. obviously it was a super busy weekend with Josh’s last track meet of the season (boy, that went fast!) and then mother’s day festivities… which, by the way, were all absolutely wonderful. i had the best weekend ever in the history of good weekends! 😉 okay, that may be a slight exaggeration. it really was pretty fabulous, though – all jokes aside.
obviously i have a lot to catch up on – so i’m going to do it as quickly as i can and try not to bore you too much – i know my life may not be quite as exciting to you as it is to me. 😉 saturday was Josh’s last track meet for this season and let me tell you – he went all out! he competed in events he hadn’t competed in before and in events that no other seventh graders would even bother with. i was super impressed with his willingness to push himself to try new things – even if he wasn’t super confident that he could win or even finish it. i suck because i got lost on the way to the place where the event was being held and i missed the 100 m hurdles, which was his first event. blake’s dad, neil, was there and he still didn’t even see josh. (i guess he was just that fast, ha!) so – not long after i arrived and got the kiddos settled, Josh found me and greeted me with a big kiss. (aww) he also informed me that he would be racing the mile and that he was the only 7th grader participating so he would be running against the 8th graders. talk about pressure, right?! so off he went to line up…
papa watchin' josh line up for the mile
so – i didn’t get any photos of him actually running the mile because i was wayyy too nervous for him. he had a hard time pacing himself. he was in 1st or 2nd place the entire time for the first two laps and then in the last two he was visibly tired. he stuck it out though, and wound up in 5th place out of more than 30 runners. and he was the youngest! when he finished the last lap, he totally collapsed onto the grass and didn’t bother moving for atleast 5 min. he was worn OUT! he also ran the 400m dash – these kids ran balls out for a quarter mile. i mean they ran! Josh finished that race in 3rd.
and this is him after that race…
here he is competing in the 200 meter hurdles… i have to make this one big because i really LOVE it! i’ve been trying all season to catch him in mid-air over a hurdle!! (i really need another new camera!)
i am so proud of him… he ended up bringing home 2 ribbons and he worked really hard for them!
Sunday – I woke up to a lot of cleaning to do that I was supposed to tackle on Saturday night. that didn’t happen because 1. mama was exhausted after spending the entire day at the track meet! and 2. we got invited over to BBQ and roast marshmallows at Noelle and Donnie’s house…. such fun! Noelle got all the pics on her camera, so i don’t have any cute pics to show you. sorry – but i’ll make up for it now. 🙂
so i got the sweetest breakfast in bed (cereal and orange juice) and then the kids pitched in to help me clean up the house. (hey, it’s mother’s day, right?!) i was a little grumpy about having to clean so that we could entertain blake’s mom, dad, & sister – i was even kinda pissy about it to tell you the truth. i sent josh to clean his and cameron’s room, piper to clean hers, and then put cameron to work on the big toy closet downstairs. about halfway through, he walks over to me and says “mommy, do you know what your job is?” (as if scrubbing the oven weren’t enough) and i say “what’s that, cambam?!” i was expecting him to tell me to finish his toy closet but no… he says “your job is just to give me lots of hugs and kisses!” awwww!!! he’s already learning to suck up! and let me tell you, he is convincing! i love it! so blake came home and brought an armful of cleaning supplies… sets them down on the counter and says “Happy Mother’s Day!” and laughs. he thought it’d get a reaction out of me, but i love getting new cleaning supplies! it’s like christmas, seriously. he told me to take myself to lunch or go buy some new wine glasses or something (since you know i’ve been using the classy mason jars since i -piece by piece -broke all eight of my Lenox glasses) so i did and when i came home, the house was sparkling! love it!
wanna know why the house was so clean and why i didn’t do it? because i told blake i wanted a cleaning lady for mother’s day. that’s why. and if you know my blake, you also know how much it pains him to part with money – he’d much rather do it himself. which is totally fine by me … so long as mama gets a break, right?! 🙂 Piper set the table…she is always so helpful. 😉
Shortly after I showered and got comfy in my jeans, blake’s family started to arrive, wine in hand. (woohoo) there is never a shortage of wine when karen, blake’s mom, is around. heh. we grilled filet mingon and skewers of yummy marinated shrimp… i made a fabulous caesar salad to pair with the grilled shrimp for a before dinner snack – then mashed potatoes & roasted asparagus to go with the filets… then we gobbled up of the yummiest peach pie and caramel ice cream you could imagine…
then they all played around in the back yard – tossing water balloons and such… til papa got soaked! 
everyone left just before dark – and i got a chance to relax on the hammock with the babies… the sky was the prettiest shade of blue and i was able to capture it in the background of this pic 
blake was able to snap a photo of the four of us before josh jetted off to watch ‘river monster’ – and i read to the littlest babies before we went inside for the evening…
these are the moments i live for...
wow!
Hey everyone – thanks so much for your comments on my last post! I have to agree with you all. I think it’s important to do what I enjoy and feel confident doing. Right now, with all that’s gone on with me healthwise, I think that’s gotta be walking. My father in law, Neil, is a doctor. He said that walking was just as good for me as running and probably better considering the damage I could do to my joints. He didn’t recommend that I even think about running until after the doctors approve it.
I definitely think my biggest hangup is that I need a “walking buddy” – besides my doggy. I have to distract myself with talking and such. The other afternoon after I posted, I fed the kiddos and then headed out on a walk with my girlfriend Kristen. Ended up walking 7 miles! It was fabulous. We even took our giant dogs with us so that they could pull us when we got tired (haha)… 😉 I woke up super sore and thought I really overdid it. I went out to check the mail and got the urge to just keep on going – ended up doing a 4 miler while on the phone with my cousin, Shelley.
The best news? I am in absolutely no pain for the first time in months – and none of that is attributed to the use of pain killers. Maybe when my grandparents used to tell me to ‘walk it off’ – they were on to something?? I still have another appointment with the specialist set up for next Thursday and I’m going to keep it. I just couldn’t be more pleased with this progress though. So – I guess maybe I found that motivation to exercise after all, huh? =)
Thanks for the comments on the pic of Cameron and Piper. They do the silliest things. I’m super proud of her. Piper was on the front page of the paper this morning – for teacher appreciation week. She’s such a babydoll. Here is the pic – she is the one in the lower left corner, for those of you who don’t know her as well as Leah. 🙂
Now, maybe I’m just partial – but I totally think she is the prettiest. =) She’s such a sweetie.
I went to Vail last night to have dinner with some friends. I had two glasses of red wine and I was blitzed! Not drunk so much as just got a sick headache really quickly. It’s amazing what going up just a little bit in altitude will do to you if you aren’t properly hydrated and especially if you have anything to drink! I had a good time, though. Nothin like a little adult conversation to remind you that you are still a regular person and there is a world outside of the house!
Speaking of adult conversation – I gotta get going to the park for a BBQ with Blake and the kids… then Kristen and I are heading back out on one of our walks. Which brings me to my gratitude – I am thankful for good friends…
Take care, everyone!
i confess…
unlike many of you – who enjoy food AND/or enjoy exercising – i just do not. I LOVE food! I love to cook it, I love to watch other people enjoy it, and I love to eat it. I always have – since I was probably thirteen…
When I was in the midst of my disordered eating lifestyle – I took comfort in feeding everyone else, and on occasion overloading myself on some of it…and when I say overloading, I mean it. I went wayyy overboard.
Anyway – I’ve found that balance. I enjoy food again (and I keep it all down). My problem is that I went so long with either depriving myself or using other means of disposing food from my body that I tricked myself into believing I was in shape. I chased my children – I have been chasing them for almost thirteen years now. I thought that was sufficient. I am not by any means overweight – I’m right in the middle of where I should be, BMI-wise. I just get so so so envious when I see how far some of you can run. I can’t run. I know a lot of it has to do with moving from sea-level to almost 2 miles above, and I know a lot of it is all the pain I’m in. A lot of it has to do with time…I simply don’t have a lot of spare time with three children and full time school.
What am I confessing? I really just hate to exercise! Oh, I like the fun stuff – being outside and going hiking, camping, rafting, snowshoeing, taking my kids to the park and running and playing – all that stuff. But when I put the label of “exercise” on it – I get tired just lacing up my sneakers. Do any of you have a problem getting motivated? How do you do it? I’ve been reading a lot about it lately and I’ve been out walking with Dutchess (my doggy) every day that the weather permits, but I want to crave it. Does that make sense? I remember loving that burn when I was in my teens and early twenties… but now I’m almost thirty-one and three kids later – and OMG I am over it! Help me!
Now that I’m learning to actually enjoy food again – I’m afraid my butt is going to hit the back of my knees and my health could suffer because of my lack of motivation… Any tips?
Ok – I just got my cue to get off the computer – My daughter just dressed my four-year-old SON up as a fairy. He’s very sparkly….
Hope everyone is having a GREAT Monday!!
Relay For Life…
Last night was my hometown’s relay for life. I have been actively involved with this for several years now and last night was the first time i wasn’t there – and the first time I had every reason to be. I was back home in Alabama, as some of you know, in February and March when my Mamaw was diagnosed with Cancer and then went from a seemingly healthy and active woman to being extremely sick and then passed away – all within a month of her diagnosis. I can’t tell you all how much I miss her – She was an incredible woman… just incredible. I can’t really type anymore because I’m having a hard time seeing through the tears that are filling my eyes – but I will leave you with a few pictures my family was kind enough to send along…
i love you, Mamaw - & miss you every day
some of our family (minus me) 😦
bored…
Happy Saturday! Can you believe it’s May 1st?
Sorry no new posts lately. it’s been kinda boring around the house lately. we went from having 70 degree temperatures and sunshiney days to waking up to 8 inches of snow on Thursday morning! It’s been raining/snowing off and on since then. Joshua’s track meet got cancelled for today and it’s still icky outside. I know we need all the precipitation we can get – maybe get rid of the drought conditions this summer – so I’m super thankful as far as that goes.
Dada is off today and tomorrow… so we’re gonna make the best of this icky day! I hope everyone is having a good start to their weekend!!
what do i do with myself?
so — it is the first day after the end of my classes and the kids are in school and i’m sitting here with a green monster and i’ve watched E! news and i really am just bored!! sure, i could clean the house but where’s the fun in that? i made wontons for josh’s heritage day at school, too. ugh! maybe another long walk with my dutchess is in order…
Last night, my fabulous son decided he wanted to make dinner. He lit the little hibachi grill and cooked buffalo hotdogs. He warmed the buns in the oven and even melted the cheese he grated himself on there. He baked beans and served the meal outside on the patio. I, of course, couldn’t help but to take pictures –
piper & josh enjoying the fruits of his labor
So – I am heading out tonight as sort of a ‘celebration’ for doing so well this semester. Gonna have sushi at one of my favorite spots and probably some Sake… I expect lots of laughs and good times. Have a great night, everyone!
SuNsHiNe! 
