Bored with the blog...it doesn't change anything anyway

I can't believe I've only been writing one post a week for the last few months.  Used to, I would keep a sticky note in my purse with all the topics I wanted to cover.  Guess I got all my words out and that was enough?  I want to keep it going because this is really our scrapbook/photoalbum.  Like a lame mom, I have all our photos on the computer.  Oh, I pay for a great photo storage and organization site(smugmug) but I haven't uploaded in about 3 years!  I hate crafting and therefore, I don't scrapbook.  This is the only documentation of our lives(and facebook). 
My friend, Meredith, told me about "blog2print" and I can easily order a book that will pull from my blog and arrive at my front door.  So, that is the plan.  I'm going to order a book from the last 3 years.  So cool!
And, at the risk of sounding melodramatic...nobody really cares, right?  I read some blogs and think "why are you writing about that, nobody cares!"  Being the ever realistic person, I know people read about what we did on a mission trip or vacation, or what amazing feat my children accomplished and think "nobody cares!"  I used to have a fantasy about how I could use this blog to inspire people to care about orphaned children and poverty and then they'd adopt or quit spending so much money on their own entertainment and luxury and give to needy.  Yeah right, nobody really cares.  Rainbowkids photolisting still has hundreds of pictures of waiting children, the foster system is still overloaded with children who are ready for adoptive families, 25K children still die everyday from starvation and preventable diseases.  This blog aint gonna change nuttin(my Texas drawl came out).

MercyMe - You Are I Am (Official Lyric Video)

This song speaks to me in the midst of the horrible chaos of tornado-driven destruction this week.  One of the mile wide ones in Texas was 30 miles from here.  The horror the parents of school children in Moore Ok have been through makes me shake in  my boots(if I wore boots).  I have no theological answers, but I know my Jesus and He is faithful!

Mother's Day

What?  It was a week ago?  Time is flying by so quickly.  I cannot believe I'm a week late posting about Mother's Day weekend.  It was a whirlwind few days, full of fun and blessings.
  We had the school's big spring musical, Wizard of Oz,Thur-Sat.  Carter wowed the audience with his scarecrow character and deep, rich singing.  My parents came Friday night and Mike's mother and grandmother came on Saturday to watch.  Actually, they came to watch Hudson's soccer game at 9am that morning

Then they came to see our new place.  The kids loved showing Nana and Grandma around. Then we all went to the matinee at school.  Abby did a superb job as a personal assistant to Carter and managing costumes and props.  She is a natural take-charge" kind of gal and handled it beautifully.  The next day was Mother's Day.  We hosted my mother's side of the family at our home.  We've never had a place big enough to do so.  It was great.  We picked up my 97 yr old grandmother at the nursing home so she could participate.  She helped cut some strawberries and tooled around the house in her wheelchair.  Katy and Kyle brought new baby, Nora.  Grandmother wanted to hold her!  I think that made Katy a tad nervous

As for my Mother's Day, I'm going to be treated t a pedicure and hair cut...someone please help me find time to do so!!
As for the house, we've been making some good progress.  Carter's room was baby pink...not exactly cool for a 17yr old boy ;)
We are a bit in love with stone gray!  It looked so awesome in Abby's room that we painted Carter's the same.  You can see another reason why this was "THE" house for us...Carter has a small music room attached to his bedroom.  With 4 electric guitars, 1 acoustic, 1 yukele, 2 amps, and a pedal board, he needed that space.  Plus, it is away from the rest of the house and we don't have to listen to him write new songs at 10pm.

Dillon spends every evening shooting baskets.  Aunt Beverly and Nana got him this new goal to sharpen his skills.

And, voila....here is the finished product.  Mike did an incredible job building Abby's platform bed!  She loves her room.

And as for my next class, I'm going to go for it.  As Carter's 2nd grade teacher wisely told them, by an inch it is a cinch, by a yard, it is hard!

Don't know what to be when I grow up

I need help, like professional help, I'm afraid!  I find myself completely conflicted about school and career paths.  This is a total "first world problem." The kind of problem that women in developing countries are never faced with because they are oppressed, poor, and although very capable and bright, denied opportunities for education and advancement.  I give that disclaimer because I want it known that I truly "get it" that I'm blessed to have such choices about my future and have seen with my own eyes, in several other countries, the realities women and mothers face.  Could God please just write on the wall what I should do about school?  I jumped in to grad school in January with the plan of becoming a Family Nurse Practitioner.  All this stemmed from a medical mission trip to Haiti in January of 2010.  Oh, combine that experience with 17 years of bedside acute care nursing(working 12 hours shifts, holidays, and weekends) with people getting more and more overweight and thus straining my back and joints! Pretty much, I can't do what I'm doing much longer.  N.P. sounded like the perfect spot for me.  I can serve medically underprivileged, go on international medical mission trips, use my experience and be challenged, all while making a good paycheck. So what's the conflict??
I...don't...like...school
I...don't...want...to...work...full-time...ever

Admittedly, I've only taken 1 class and it was dreadful(as all entry level graduate classes are).  My class that begins June 4th is Research.  RESEARCH...Gag me please.  I feel like I was a terrible mother the past 4 months because I was stressed and tired, trying to read and write papers, and also be mom to 4 children.  I say I want to become a Family Nurse Practitioner so I can be more useful for missions.  But, my family is my first ministry priority.  See the dilemma?   If I sail through school and become a successful N. P. but missed my kids games, recitals, and shooting baskets in the driveway and stressed out my husband because he has to work and take up the slack at home for me to study...I've sacrificed all that is important! Carter is about to enter is Senior year of high school.  Its almost over....my role of parenting him is nearly over. And, it is not entirely impossible that we won't adopt again..unlikely yes.
On the flip side, I know I can do it and I don't want to be a drop-out!  I also recognize that I have a character flaw--I always want to quit what I start.  I remember having an argument with my mother when I was 19 because I'd said I wanted to do something, but a few hours before the event, I said I wanted to quit. She, rightfully so, pointed out that I always want to quit after I begin something(piano, gymnastics, etc....)

On more thing, my nursing career isn't what fires me up! Oh sure, I love my job and get great satisfaction from taking care of patients.  But, you know what makes my insides burn and ignites fire in my heart??  Precious children with no family.  Orphan care and adoption....That is my true passion. Homeless Children What can I do for that and use my nursing experience??

obey..uhhh

A conversation between Hudson, age 5, and momma, age older than she looks, while driving down the road in the minivan(side note, that poor van sounds like it is going to fall apart at the seams every time I hit a bump--212,000 miles on the sweet baby Honda and runs just fine)

Me: "Did God make you special?"
Hud: "yes"
Me: " Are you smart?"
Hud: "yes"
Me: "Are you a good boy?"
Hud: "yes"
Me: "Do you obey?"
Hud: "Uhhhhh"

In all actuality, he was dead on.  Hudson is special, made on purpose and for a purpose by God.  Hudson is super duper-wear-you-out-with-a-million-questions--smart.  Hudson is a good boy.  He is perfectly behaved at school and adored by all.  Does Hudson obey?  Uhhhh, well, sometimes.  He does, but it is in his own timing and in his own way.  But you see, delayed obedience is actually disobedience! I'm convicted that I need to focus more time and energy on intentional teachable moments.  He has been so easy going and smart that I've kind of let him coast.  Oh, and I've been a TAD busy the past 3 years.  However, no excuses.  God placed him in our family for a reason and I'm to use these formative years depositing love, correction, and encouragement in to my children.  So tonight I pulled out of the moving box my highlighted copy of The Connected Child by Dr. Karyn Purvis. For parents of kids whose beginnings were rocky, traumatic, or difficult, I can't recommend it enough.  We would be ignorant if we pretended that Hudson had not experienced a great trauma, heck, several traumas during his first 2 years of life. I need to try some of the tips out again on little man.

starting some house reno

We simply have had hardly any time to unpack and get the house in order.  But, the last several days, Mike has done some really great work.  Abby's room is really a bonus room carved out of the super steep attic.  It is pretty small and has a "mystery box" in the middle, which is duct work hidden in a 2 ft by 3 ft box.  Kind of hard to put a bed in there with the mystery box.  The room also had bright blue baseboards and fabric stapled to one wall.  He tore out all the baseboards and door frames and fabric.  Next, he painted it a very pretty gray and put up white baseboards and door framing.

Last night he built a platform bed, incoorporating the mystery box and a shelving unit for storage.  Abby is thrilled with this bed.  It still needs some work.  I'm so proud of Mike!

One thing we want to do is make a reading nook instead of a breakfast nook.  We eat dinner at our dining room table and the kids eat breakfast at the little bar in the kitchen.  The breakfast nook has a bay window and needs some major TLC.  We'd love to find 2 mismatch, funky stuffed chairs, refinish all the paneling and have some storage benches built for kids' games and crafts. The old table in the middle was a precious wedding gift for Mike and I.  I screwed it up when I painted with the wrong materials a few years ago. Never fear, a little personal assistance from a kind Lowes worker and I'll have it awesome pretty soon!

Below is a pic from the decorating app called Houzz. I've got zero creative juice in my brain(my parents and sisters got all that!).  So, I find something I like and copy it ;)  This pic is what I'd like to do with our current kitchen that is very very functional but very very 1983

First of May---starting fresh

Hello friends! I have nearly forgotten about this blog.  Really, the last 3 months have been emotionally, mentally, and physically draining for several big reasons. I'm usually an organized and  ""got it together" kind of chick, but not lately(I only ran 4 times the entire month of April).  None of that matters now because:

Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23

No matter how overwhelming Feb-April was, the great news is that May 1 brings fresh beginnings. We got moved in.  Oh, it was a fun move, insert sarcastic smirk here.  We just LOVE our new place.  Yes, it needs lots and lots of tlc and updates, but we got a fantastic little slice of Americana...complete with 6 humongous live oaks, 1 magnolia, one big crepe myrtle, a bunch of cedars, a huge miniature rose bush, iris plants, and all kinds of flora I don't know the names for, oh and tons of weeds.  The driveway is flat and the boys ride their bikes and shoot baskets with no fear of cars zooming by like at our old place.  I set out my first load of whites to dry on my clothesline(thanks Dad!) and was in perfect peace smelling the clean laundry and listening to it flap in the wind. Hey, anybody out there painted old laminate counters?  We've seen the kit at Lowe's but not sure how hard it is or if it will look decent.

On Monday April 30, our newest treasure was finally born!! My youngest sister, Katy, and her hubby welcomed their first baby...Nora Greene(family name).  We all crowded around while she got her first full assessment and bath by the nurse.  What a perfect peach of a girl!

Yesterday Dillon and I went to Cowboy Stadium on his school field trip.  Very cool.  He was nervous at first because of the size and unruly crowd. Here he is looking worried and  holding his world in order with his fingers(that is his calming behavior for sensory processing disorder)

 Then he really enjoyed it!  Here he is trying on a Whitten jersey :)

And, just to make sure we don't take life for granted....Carter ended up with yet another ER visit(his first one was when he was 4 months old and he and I were hit by a car--we were on the sidewalk) Saturday night.  I had just dropped off the little boys with Nana and was heading to Mike's office to finish writing my 15 page research paper for class that was due the next day(had no internet still at new house).  I was about 10 miles from home when Mike called saying Carter had a bicycle wreck while going down a steep hill near our house.  Mike said he was ok, but I needed to come on home and check him out.  3minutes later, Mike called again, sounded very upset and said that Carter passed out in Mike's arms and I needed to get home now!  He called 911.  If you've been reading this blog for the past 3.5 years, you remember that Carter had a serious concussion from an ice skating accident 3 years ago and spent 2 days in the children's hospital because he had some tiny bleeding spots in his brain.  So, him passing out after a bicycle wreck is really something to take seriously. Basically, Carter flipped off the bike, hit is head, got a bunch of road rash all along his right shoulder, back, flank, and hip.  The Er at the children's hospital was phenomenal   They treated him as a full blown trauma and swarmed him.  He was cleared and xrayed and discharged within 2.5 hours.  It was only by God's sweet grace that he wasn't severely injured.

Mike took the last picture of us waiting for the skin nurse to come dress his road rash.  So sweet.  Oh, that boy delights my heart and makes me crazy at the same time!! Fyi, I do have his permission to share the pics