Parties -- not projects…

Wow!

I had a crazy-busy weekend!

Not a single second for me to complete a project for my blog!

Friday night, we had our children’s group from our church over to our house for hot dogs and smores!

The rain held off, and we were able to spend some time on my back patio that I have just started renovating.

I added some new ferns to my urns and some accessories to my little white table.

I got out my placemats and added a pretty potted flower that I got on clearance at Lowes.

I moved my extra table out into the yard for extra seating for the kids. :)

Making the smores was my favorite part of the evening!

We feel very blessed to be a part of such a sweet fellowship!

Saturday morning we had 3 baseball games to attend…Luke at 10:00, Adam at 11:15, and Jonathan at 12:00.

They overlapped a little, so I had to stand in between the fields to watch two games at a time.

We are spending more time at the ballpark than at home right now! But I am loving every minute of it! :)

Saturday afternoon, I went to my Aunt Tassy’s home for a wedding shower for my niece, Courtney.

The weather was perfect and so was the party. They certainly outdid themselves.

The entry way greeted us with this cute little display. Aunt Tassy made the monogrammed glass cube as a gift for Courtney to keep.

I loved it! (Hint. Hint, Aunt Tassy)

The punch bowl was surrounded by a bunch of tulle that was attached to a foam wreath…

Courtney’s colors for her wedding are royal blue and gray. So the little glass slippers were filled with blue M & M’s for party favors. (I think the glass slippers were purchased at Hobby Lobby.)

We moved outside to watch Courtney open her gifts.

My sweet Uncle Tommy recently built Aunt Tassy this beautiful covered patio…

There was a beautiful white tent for the bride-to-be to open her presents under…

Aunt Tassy is my mom’s little sister, and she wanted to make this shower extra special for Mom’s oldest granddaughter.

Mom would be so proud of Courtney right now! We are definitely missing Mom during this special time in our family.

We all got a good laugh when Courtney got a “cleaning house” bucket of goodies! I love those rubber gloves from Hobby Lobby!

I never look that good when cleaning my house! What about you?

Here is my beautiful cousin, Whitney, (Aunt Tassy’s daughter) who is expecting her first child within a few weeks. We cannot wait!!!

Aunt Tassy’s property is just picturesque. They have lived there for over 30 years, and I have so many great memories of staying at their house as a child.

It was such a great time, and I truly appreciate Aunt Tassy, Whitney, and Kristin (DIL) for working so hard to put it all together for my sister and her daughter!

But the partying wasn’t over for me yet!

I still had one very special party to put together…

Eli’s 3rd birthday party on Sunday!

He was quite a ham before blowing out his candles!

These pictures are evidence of what sweet tea in a sippy cup can do to a three year old!…

Some of his favorite presents were his new tee and baseball pants from his Papa…

Playing baseball is very serious stuff to Eli!

I have a feeling that tee is going to get a lot of action in the months to come!

I thank God for His perfect gift of Eli to our family who was born on Mother’s Day three years ago. He brings us so much laughter and joy!

I love you, Eli!!!

So as you can see, I had a very busy weekend. And I am all partied out!

So I will say goodbye, and it is time to for me to go to bed!

Blessings,

Traci

Wednesdays with Wanda

This post will not be a tear-jerker…I promise.

I know my Wednesday with Wanda post last week was an emotional one. Thank you for all of your sweet comments and emails. You have no idea how much they mean to me.

Thank you for celebrating my son getting his new hearing aids with me. It was such a bittersweet day. If you missed last week’s post, which for me was one of the most special ones I have ever written, you can read about it HERE.

Since I made so many of you cry last week, I decided to share something not as emotional. :)

This week, I wanted to share with you something Mom had written in the front of her Bible.

It is a list of scriptures to “call upon” when needed. I have found it very helpful to me. I thought maybe you would too. If you find yourself today in any of the situations listed below, I want to encourage you to take a few minutes today to read the corresponding scripture that goes with it. I pray you would find comfort in God’s living word.

When there is sorrow…Call John 14

When men fail you…Call Psalm 27

If you want to be fruitful…Call John 14

When you have sinned…Call Psalm 51

When you worry…Call Matthew 6:19-34

When you are in danger…Call Psalm 91

When God seems far away…Call Psalm 139

When your faith needs stirring…Call Hebrews 11

When you are lonely or fearful…Call Psalm 23

When you grow bitter or critical…Call 1 Corinthians 13

For Paul’s secret of happiness…Call Colossians 3:12-17

When you feel down and out…Call Romans 8:31-39

When you want rest and peace…Call Matthew 11:25-30

When the world seems bigger than God…Call Psalm 90

When you want Christian assurance…Call Romans 8:1-30

When you leave home for labor or travel…Call Psalm 121

When you prayers grow narrow and selfish…Call Psalm 67

For a great invitation and opportunity…Call Isaiah 55

When you want courage for a task…Call Joshua 1

How to get along with fellow men…Call Romans 12

When you think of investments and returns…Call Mark 10

If you are depressed…Call Psalm 27

If your pocketbook is empty…Call Psalm 37

If you are losing your confidence in people…Call 1 Corinthians 13

If people seem unkind…Call John 15

If you are discouraged about your work…Call Psalm 126

If you find the world growing small and yourself great…Psalm 19

While writing this post, I have been reading through some of the scriptures written above and listening to Amy Grant’s newest CD, Somewhere down the Road, which I love.

And my heart is filled to overflowing…

May you feel God’s presence in your life today.

Blessings,

Traci

Wednesday with Wanda

Something really special happened this week.

My 10 year old son, Jonathan, got his new hearing aids!

It was a very emotional day for me.

Let me explain…

(I shared some of this story last year, and you can read about it HERE.)

My son, Jonathan, has moderate to severe hearing loss in both of his ears. He got his first pair of hearing aids when he was 3 years old. Since hearing aids are not covered by insurance, it has sometimes been difficult paying for his hearing aids and doctor’s appointments.

Mom always had a soft place in her heart for Jonathan. And she would sometimes help us out financially to meet Jonathan’s needs. She never wanted him to have less than the best care for his ears.

(Grandparent’s Day at school, 2007)

Last year, Jonathan was in need of some new hearing aids. The ones he was wearing were old and outdated. Knowing it would be difficult for us to purchase new ones, Mom told me she wanted to save up the money to buy Jonathan some hearing aids.

It was last Spring when Mom started saving money for the hearing aids from her paychecks as a church secretary.

It was around that same time that Mom started to not feel very good. She went to the doctor and was diagnosed with a heart condition. (We now know the cancer was there and was making her not feel good, but it had not been diagnosed at this point.)

We encouraged Mom to quit working and take it easy for a while, and her answer was always the same…. “I’ll quit working in the fall…when I have enough money saved up to buy Jonathan some new hearing aids.”

And believe me, there was no talking her out of it! Mom was determined to get those new hearing aids for Jonathan!

You could see the joy in her eyes when she would talk to Jonathan about getting his new hearing aids. And he was so very excited!

Mom was diagnosed with cancer on August 6, 2009. She was given 6 to 12 months to live. The news was absolutely devastating to us all.

But what was even more devastating to Mom was that she wouldn’t be able to buy Jonathan his new hearing aids.

Her eyes would well up with tears when Jonathan would come around, and she would apologize over and over to him for not being able to buy him new hearing aids. Of course, sweet Jonathan would say, “That’s okay, Nana, my hearing aids are just fine.”

But it bothered Mom. It seemed to bother her even more than the cancer.

Mom had saved up $1700 for his hearing aids when she found out she had cancer. That was almost half of the total cost.

And her heart broke the day she had to transfer that money into her checking account to pay for her own medical bills related to her cancer.

Mom always liked doing things for others more than for herself.

Knowing that Jonathan would not be getting new hearing aids made Mom feel like she had left something “undone” before passing away. I assured her over and over again that we would make sure that Jonathan would get his new hearing aids. My husband and I agreed that we would do whatever it took to make sure he got them.

After Mom passed away, Dad moved in with my sister and brother-in-law. He didn’t want to live in his house without Mom. He just couldn’t.

Dad put their house up for sale about a month later. It was a very difficult thing to do.

However, without hesitation, Dad told me when the house sold, the first thing he wanted to do with the money he made was to buy Jonathan his new hearing aids.

He said, “Wanda would have wanted me to.”

And he was right.

When Mom and Dad’s house finally sold a couple of months ago, Dad told me to call and make Jonathan an appointment to get his new hearing aids.

And Monday was that special day!

Oh, Mom, you would have been so proud of Dad!

To say that Jonathan was excited would have been the understatement of the year!

Here he is with his wonderful audiologist, Amy.

I could feel Mom’s presence in that room that day. And I could see her smiling from ear to ear, clapping her hands in excitement!

And I could hear her say, “Thank you, Doug, Thank you!” What an honor it was for Dad to stand in her place that day and fulfill her dream for Jonathan!

Mom….Dad has your same heart…so full of love!

Jonathan’s new hearing aids are “top of the line”, and he is now able to hear things he has never even heard before…like the air conditioning kicking on, the taps of a keyboard when typing, mommy whispering to daddy in the front seat of the car… :)

He now says in a sing-song voice, “I can hear you!”

What a blessing! (right, Mom?)

So now I say with joy, as loud as my heart can say it…

“Mom, Jonathan got his new hearing aids!!!!”

What a special day! Thank you, Dad! I love you!!!!!

I also wanted to share with you a note that Jonathan wrote Mom about a month after we found out she had cancer. This was his “rough draft” that he had tried to edit at school (thus, the circled words). The final copy that he gave to Mom is somewhere in a box at my sister’s house.

I love seeing his little heart in this letter. And I love that he wrote, “we can do all things in Christ who strengthens us,” at the bottom of his letter. It comes from Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

I hope you can read his writing. You may be able to click on the picture to enlarge it.

God is still on our side! Loving us through the storms of this life!

Jonathan sang a version of “Amazing Grace” at Mom’s funeral. She had asked him to.

He had sung it a few months earlier at his school’s talent show, and Mom was there to watch it. She was always so proud of Jonathan’s ability to sing…a true gift from God.

Mom had no idea that day as she sat and listened to Jonathan sing “Amazing Grace” that a few months later he would be singing it at her funeral. It always blows my mind to think about that.

Life is so short. And it is only what we do for Christ on this earth that will last forever! Amen?!

I didn’t tape Jonathan singing at Mom’s funeral, but he sang again at our church a few weeks later. If you missed it the first time, I wanted to share it with you again.

Mom, Jonathan’s still singing for you…

Thanks for letting me share the JOY beneath my heart,

Traci

Funny Story

(I had to document this story for my sons to read someday when they are older.)

On the morning of Christmas Eve’s Eve (Wednesday), I decided to take the boys to Wal-Mart to spend some of their Christmas money they had received.

Of course, I had a ton of stuff I needed to get done at home…baking, wrapping, cleaning, etc.  But that’s not very easy to do with four boys running around the house.

So I decided to focus on the boys, let the other stuff go, and enjoy the day with them.

We headed off to Wal-Mart and spent an hour in the toy section trying to get the most bang for their bucks.  I was proud of myself for being so patient with them, and we really did have fun.

When we left Wal-Mart, the boys began to beg me to go get something to eat.  I didn’t have much money, so I said we could go to Wendy’s and eat off the “value” menu.  They agreed and off we went.

We shared some burgers and fries as we sat around a big table and talked excitedly about Christmas and Santa’s approaching visit.

I was filled with joy as I looked around the table at the four precious lives that God has blessed me with. 

My oldest son, Jonathan, said, “We’ve had a good morning Mom, haven’t we?”  Of course I agreed.

He placed his hand on my shoulder and lovingly rubbed my back and said…“You have spent the whole morning doing stuff for us Mom…(then he smiled so sweetly)…let’s do something for you now.”

I looked back at him and smiled, then he said…

“Let’s go to Goodwill!”

I laughed out loud!

Not Macy’s, not the mall, not a great boutique…but Goodwill!

He knows his momma well!  I actually agreed that it was a great idea, and we went there after lunch.

It ended up being a great trip, and I found some real goodies.

I found three DVDs that looked brand new for $2.50 a piece.  I thought they would be great little extra gifts for the boys at Christmas.  (I didn’t let them see me buy them.)

 

Then I found this adorable little Lowe’s apron for $1.00 that looked brand new too.  I got it for my 2 year old for Christmas to go with the tools he was getting from Santa.

He wore it all morning on Christmas day.

Also at the GW,  I found this adorable little white soup tureen for $1.50…Merry Christmas to me!

I had to buy this little Christmas tree for the boys’ room.  It was only $3.00.  I had been promising to get one for their room for a couple of years now, so I thought this would work. 

They loved it!  Next year, we might put white lights on it with some sports ornaments or something.

Lastly, I found this adorable red tin basket with greenery in it for $2.00.  I knew I could use it somewhere. 

I played with it for while, putting different decorations in it…

This is my woodland Santa ornament that I made many years ago.  Hopefully I will be able to make some more of him, and he will be for sale in my Etsy shop next year.

But my new “find” ended up under my kitchen cabinets on a black tray with faux snow…

I love the contrasting colors.

See why I love going to Goodwill?  My boys love it too.  They are probably going to kill me one day when they realize that not everyone thinks it’s cool to shop at Goodwill.

But for now…they think I am the coolest Mom ever, especially when I let them pick out a 50 cent toy at Goodwill! 

Ahhh….good times…good times….

Have a blessed day!