Happy Birthday Mom!

Yesterday was my mama's birthday.

And I wonder how my day would have been different if she were here.

It was a blessed kind of day with no plans, that was probably her gift to us!

A few weeks ago, in early spring, we took these flowers out to my parents grave.

We do it often, but this trip the boys really got it.

They asked questions.

And have continued to ask questions, the hard kind of life questions.

Last night (it was late and they were tired) but it was the I don't want to lose you questions.

And I don't want to grow up.

And it would be so easy to calm their fears by telling them half truths...

that they won't lose me and they don't have to grow up.

And of course I did some of that, but the only real comfort we have is in Jesus.

That is the ultimate comfort that we can give them.

I wish I could tell them that we will have each other forever,

but no one gets forever here on Earth. 

 Some get longer than others, but it is all about quality.

It's about what you do together with the time you are blessed with.

I told the boys that we can't worry our days away. 

 We have to have fun together with the time we have.

We can't prepare for being separated.

Been there, had no time to prepare with my dad 

and while we knew, it was still not enough time

with my mom.

I miss my parents fiercely. 

 I wish they were at little league games, school plays, and family vacations. 

 I wonder if they would text or prefer a phone call.

But most days I am happy that they are together in eternity, 

I am happy that we had happy days, 

only good memories and I am certain they are 

waiting for the best family reunion ever!

Baseball Times.

My blogging is less organized than my life right now.

We seem to get where we need to be, for the most part!

Both boys had a very busy baseball season this year.

We were at the field four nights a week, most weeks.

This baseball mama was in heaven.

 I love the fresh air, crack of the bats, teammates cheering

chanting, coaches giving high fives and dirt flying.

Joe came up swinging and making contact.

He is a hustler.  His motions make him look like he

is running faster than he really is, love it.

 Joe's team had a fun season.  They improved so much!  They even won

their tournament this year (while we were go on vacation).

He LOVED his trophy.

And Sam played in major league and improved this year too.

He is such a thinker.  He figured out that the pitchers didn't always

throw strikes so if he waited he might get a walk.

We struggled getting him to swing the bat until the end of the season!

His team was really good and was close to undefeated.

His teammates were really fun, too, encouraged each other a lot.

He played outfield mostly but played 3rd base this night.

There was a force out at 3rd and he tagged the guy out!  Way to go, Sam!

 His team won their league tournament the week were were gone, too!

He was equally as excited about his trophy but was not going to have his picture with it.

Swimming Day

Today was a swimming day until we got rained out!  

Blake  Morgan and Allison and babies came to hang out.

It was the babies first time in the water and they both liked it!

 Sam and Lane

Allison and Anniston

Morgan ever the baby whisperer.

Blake was trying to get these boys to give her piggybacks,

loved it.

 One of those rains that was safe for the kids to stay out.

They loved it, ha!

The Perfect Barn Door

I'm pretty sure that I am a lucky gal.

When these two get together they can create some pretty perfect stuff.

Today some time after 2 and before 6 they did this.

The crops are in the field so they took a moment to put together the barn door.

I LOVE IT, seriously.  I pinned about 300 ideas on pinterest, but this one is perfect.

I showed them some pics (that I am sure they just looked at to appease me)

 and picked out the wood pieces  but the design was all theirs!

The best part for me is that the wood came from

the family farm ground.

This shed has been falling down for years

and made the perfect barn wood for our basement trim

and the barn door.

I didn't realize the process it would take to use it for the basement

but it the end result is so worth it.

It was put thru a planer to make it piece closer to the same depth

then it was sanded (some but not too much)

the cut to right height for trim

then stained

then put in place and cut to right length.

The best board (with the most character that were still straight after all these years)

were saved for the barn door.

I did this part.  A lot 

It turned out perfect for us!

And I was SO excited for the door to be done, but know what?

It hides the storage room that is a WRECK.

Now the door is done and I need to do my part to clean it up!!!

Rewind to Last Day of Kindergarten and Second!

Just to keep things complete and empty my phone,

I better blog the end of school!  

Joe was excited for his last day of Kindergarten (and mama forgot to change the date to 2014)

And because mama was working when DH picked the boys up

this happened to my bar.

It looks similar to this more than I care to admit, LOL

right down to the socks and boys baseball cup. Smh.

 We took some time to sort their end of the year papers and get out their boxes where save their special papers.  It's also the time when the both get into looking at their old papers and remembering "way back when"

 This would be Joe. Sam undoubtedly agrees with his father and this statement would only be made

about grandma!

Lately, Sam has not wanted his picture taken, it really irritates him

And since I take enough pics when he is willing I've been trying to respect that!

But he had some awesome end of the year projects and this one is on our fridge!

Weird Animal VBS Decor!

Spent some time right before school was out to make some of the VBS decor from cardboard.

It was just using box cutters and spray paint,

my go to supplies {wink}

 I made this flower stand up

 with these boxes filled with old wood scraps for weight

And they became these stand alone pieces for the stage

 And a favorite of all was the squiggles made from pool noodles,

big hit with all!

And super easy

These things with some VBS backdrops that we helped the youth group paint a couple of years ago

and the loaded characters made for some good decor to catch kids attention!