"He looks just like you!"

That is the statement I heard at least a half a dozen times last night!  

Last night, I took Holden with me to our Fall Carnival at my new school!  We spent the first hour playing games and winning candy!  As we walked around, all the new teachers in my life got to meet Holden for the first time.  Most of them don't know that Jason and I have only been married for a year and a half.    They just know I am married with a 10 year old son.  

It was awesome to hear these words over and over.  "He looks just like you!"  Holden would just look at me and smile, and I would get that warm fuzzy feeling in my tummy!  I just smiled at them and said, "Yes, he does, but he has his daddy's blue eyes."  

In the car on the way home, Holden and I were talking about it.  Holden said, "Even though it is politically impossible."  I just chuckled and said, "No it isn't impossible.  It was all part of God's perfect plan."  Holden just sat in the back seat and agreed with me.  Then he asked me what if he didn't look anything like me.  I told him that wouldn't matter "you're still my son".

"I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."    1 Samuel 1:27

The Last 48 Hours

It is October.  That means the weather will start to get cooler.  Candy will sell by the ton in the stores.  We will mow our yards for the last time until April.  Plants and trees will start to lose their many shades of green.  Pumpkins will decorate the entryway of every grocery store.  People who are fashion conscious will start to put away their pinks and blues and bring out the browns and oranges.  I even put away my yellow summer bag/purse.  And last but not least, I come down with a pretty severe case of bronchitis!!  

This year is no different from all the rest.  Two weeks ago I started feeling it in my throat.  It slowly turned into the cough that has become all too familiar this time of year.  Unfortunately it doesn't go away.  It usually lasts several months.  For the last two years my bronchitis has turned into pneumonia.  Two years ago it was the week before Christmas, and I spent my first Christmas with Holden and Jason sicker than a dog!  Last year I woke up on Thanksgiving morning with a 103+ fever.  I didn't even get to go to dinner with the family.  It was very scary because I don't remember ever being so sick.  

So Monday and Tuesday as my cough progressed to a painful, almost-wanting-to-cry kinda cough, I knew I needed to go to the doctor.  I wanted a chest x-ray early to make sure we caught any pneumonia early.  Well, the doctor came back into to the room and said, "There is no pneumonia, but we did see two nodules on your lungs."  Okay, at this point Holden was sitting in the room with me doing his Math homework.  So how do I react to that in front of him?  I wasn't instantly freaked out, but I didn't quite understand what that meant.  The doctor said she wanted to get a CT scan to have them looked at more carefully. 

As soon as I could talk to Jason, I told him.  It didn't even dawn on me that he would start to worry.  I was talking to Teresa when Jason called me back and told me he was going to take the day off to go with me.  At first I thought, it is just another x-ray, you don't need to go with me.  But Jason had already made up his mind.  I think this is when I started to realize that this could be something serious.

Ok let me preface this with, my husband is absolutely the BEST husband in the world, but for the last 48 hours he was Super Husband!!!  Yesterday he cooked breakfast AND dinner for me!  While we were watching TV he rubbed my back, and I actually fell asleep in my husband's arms!  Which I have to say, would be Jason's preference every night, but I am a don't-touch-me-while-I-sleep kinda girl.  

Last night, I did the thing you should NEVER do when you have a medical scare.  Read everything on the internet about the possibilities.  Of course, our biggest fear was the "C" word.  I have to honestly say, I  knew that no matter what it would be okay.  God gave me a peace that I didn't quite understand.   

Today the doctor called me today and it is not "C".    Just a couple of granulomas.  Something about a dust particle and a wall of tissue to prevent the dust from getting further into my lungs.  There is no need for any follow up treatments or anything.  

As I read everything that I just wrote...it doesn't do justice to the experience Jason and I have had the last two days, but ....what a roller coaster ride!   What did I learn?  That I have the most wonderful husband in the world!  I love this man more than I could possibly explain in words in a blog.  And even better...he loves me too!!!! 

Holden's First Baseball Clinic

Last Day/First Day

It is hard to believe that today was the LAST DAY of our summer vacation.  I spent the day at church, taking a nap, grocery shopping, and madly trying to make sure my lesson plans were in order for the FIRST DAY  of school.  

As I look back on our summer, I am thinking....Wow, that was so much better than last year!  We are in our home and it was so much more relaxed.  

I stepped out of my comfort zone this year by leading a women's Bible/book study at church.  We read A Woman After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George.  I met the most amazing women who encouraged each other as wives and  mothers.  Thank you to my new friends.

Holden learned to ride a Rip-Stick!  Nana and Papa bought him one early in the summer, and it is FUN!  Anytime the temperature  dropped below 90 degrees, Holden was outside riding it up and down the street.  He is really good at it!  I was so impressed!  

We also began a season of dealing with fertility treatments.  Jason and I have completed one unsuccessful attempt at intra-uterine insemination(IUI).  We are beginning our second attempt this week.  We know God has a plan for our family and adding a new addition.  It has been a roller coaster of emotions.  Especially for me.  My sweet husband is my strong rock that I can cling to when I have doubt.  He is hanging on to God's promises, so I hang on to him.  

Holden will begin 5th grade tomorrow, and I will begin teaching 5th grade.  We are both embarking on a new journey.  I am very excited about beginning my school year in a new district and a new school.  The team I will be working with has been fabulous!  I am blessed to know that I am exactly where God wants me.  

So as the LAST DAY  comes to a close, we are ready.  Holden's backpack is full, and my lesson plans have been emailed to my principal.  

God, we give this new school year to you.  You are in control!

The Tooth Fairy Must be Blonde

Holden is quickly losing his teeth!  Last week he lost two in one day.  Today he lost one more!  

We went to the dentist last week and saw the x-rays of his adult teeth quickly moving in to take over!  The tooth fairy is going to be tired of making trips to our house.

But I know you are wondering why I would call the tooth fairy "blonde".  Well last Wednesday we pulled a fast one on her, and she never saw it coming.  As Holden was rinsing his mouth out, after loosing his second tooth of the day, he dropped it down the drain!  He was so worried he wouldn't get his hard-earned money.  I told him not to worry about it that everything would work out.

I had to figure out a way to trick the Tooth Fairy!  What did I have around the house that looked like a tooth?  I thought maybe a kernel of popcorn, but it was too yellow.  Just as we were ready to tuck Holden in, I had an idea!!!  I went and got an almond and bit off the skin and shaped it into a small tooth!!  It was perfect!  

I took it in to Holden's room and told him I found his tooth!  He believed me!  When I told him it was an almond, he laughed and said she would know!!  I told him she was a "blonde" Tooth Fairy and wouldn't even know!!!  

When morning came, the "teeth" were gone, and Holden was $10 richer!

I Have So Little Faith Sometimes

It is a good thing my husband has enough faith for both of us!

When we moved into the house, Jason made it clear that we would begin our tithe at our new church almost immediately.  I wanted to wait a few months until I was sure we could pay all of our bills first.   But Jason took the lead and said he that there was nothing to wait for.  The money belongs to God, and He gets his first.

So for the last few months with a half joyful and half worried heart, I have followed my husband's lead and given.  Each paycheck, I watch my husband, with a FULLY joyful heart, write his check and give on Sunday mornings.  I love that he has that faith, but my flesh still worries each time--just a little bit.  Not Jason--he KNOWS God is in control.  (I probably would have been standing next to Thomas asking to see the scars).  

Well early this week, our electric bill arrived.  It is $100 more than last month.  My mind started worrying.  I mean we are in Texas and it is June, so we knew it was coming but I still cringed!  Jason said not to worry that it will all work out.  Easy for him to say...I look at the checkbook each day and see the balance going lower and lower.  

Finally two days ago, I mentioned my worries to Jason.  My mind was really thinking that tithing would have to suffer this month.  But before I could even voice my opinion, Jason made it clear that would not be an option.  I secretly thought that I could skip writing my full check without telling him.  I was worried about getting through the next week with gas, groceries, and sending Holden to camp with lots of junk food.  Jason refused to worry and just to be faithful.  He said again, "God's got it under control."  It is really annoying sometimes....UNTIL I see the proof....which came yesterday.

Yesterday I got the email with our phone bill.  It was ONLY $36!!!  I knew something had to be wrong.  Our phone bill contains the internet and satellite, so it is regularly over $150 a month!  Why was it only $36???  I looked at the bill details and somehow I had over paid the month before!!!  So the difference will more than make up for the increase in the electric bill!  When I told Jason, he simply said, "I told you God was in control."    

Jesus said in Revelation 3:15-16

"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot.  I wish you were either one or the other!  So because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold---I am about to spit you out of my mouth."  

I confess that I am lukewarm in this area, but I am blessed to have a husband who is hot!  

Quick Car Quote

Last week on two different occasions, Holden and I were driving home, and out of the blue, he told me I have a pretty smile.  

I am writing this not to brag on the beauty of my smile  :)  but just to have it documented so I don't ever forget my sweet boy's compliment.