Thankful Thursday

There are many blessings in our lives each day.  I like to pause on Thursdays and reflect on the previous week.  

~ that my husband is able to go to PT for his heel spur and learning exercises to do to help with this pain.

~ our oldest cooking for the birthday party for his little brother.  Burgers, hot dogs, and poppers!!

~ our DIL being helpful and her relationship with Titus. She is a blessing!

~ getting to celebrate our 11 year old last Saturday at his birthday party and then on his actual birthday on Sunday.  He is a blessing! We were thankful for the weather being nice to be outside on Saturday too....an answer to prayer!

~ family and friends that came to celebrate Titus for his birthday!

~ our niece being baptized!  So happy for her!

~ walking at ACU.  It is nice to do on a beautiful morning and hear and see the birds, shining sun, green grass, and pretty flowers.  

Have a day of blessings!

 Bethany

Thankful Thursday

Brrr!  Winter has arrived for us.  It is going to be freezing temps here through Monday I've heard.  School was cancelled for today.  I am mindful of the many who do not have a warm home and also all those who are out working in these freezing conditions.

This week I am thankful for....

~ my husband's 18 year anniversary with USDA.  I am thankful for his hard work and how he provides for our family.  There have been challenges every year but the last 11 months have for sure been new challenges with him working from home.  He's done a good job learning how to do his job in a new way.

~ seeing my big boy in the ring with his steer Terry.  He did a great job showing him, and this was a wonderful experience for him.  There were over 1600 steers competing in this show.  

~ my sweet little guy surprising me with roses.  One day he went with his brother to the store.  He came home and told me close your eyes.  He handed me a bouquet of roses.  He told Caleb he would give him money for them when they got home, and he got it from the envelope he had saved from his birthday gift money.  They are so pretty, I've enjoyed them this week!

~ a little time to volunteer at the school.  Elementary did a fundraiser with "Nothing Bundt Cakes."  The time to pick up the cakes was this week so I helped pass them out.  Also one night I helped make some treat bags that parents had bought for their children for a Valentine surprise.  I have missed being on campus to volunteer so I was thankful for this opportunity this week. 

~ the fire to keep us warm.  My husband made one yesterday for me, and the boys fixed one this morning.  

~ success on a quilting project.  I had saved a picture of a pillow on Pinterest that was made with Christmas material.  I had a jelly roll of fall print fabrics so tried making it.  I was pleased with how it turned out.  It was the first one to do on my own really without my friend/mentor beside me! I was proud of myself!  My measurements were off but the extra was trimmed.

Have a day of blessings! 

 Bethany

As you go to kindergarten...

Titus, 

I recently read what I wrote to Caleb before he went to kindergarten and thought I should write you too.  

 For months now people have been asking me what we were going to do....would we send you or keep you home? Our plan was always for you to go to public school as your big brother did when he was 5.  But the world is so different now than it was then.  Your kindergarten year is going to look very different than his....we can’t walk you in on the first day, I can’t volunteer at your school right now or come eat lunch with you. Things look so different too with teachers wearing masks and setting up their classrooms in a way to try to have social distancing. We wonder if we are making the right choice and if you will be safe.  We wonder if schools will shut down again and you will be learning at home.  So many questions and unknowns!  

I knew that in 2020 you’d turn 5 and go off to school in August. I never could have imagined all the changes and uncertainty we face daily.  I feel like we were robbed of our “lasts” for the things we did together.  We didn’t know in February it would be our last zoo class or ladies Bible class.  We didn’t know we would have 5 months at home with Caleb and Daddy! I will say that was a special time, but I did miss our routine of our days together just you and me.  

Through all of this I have learned that I am not in control, God is.  And we need to always make the most of each day because our reality could change overnight. 

I am excited for you to begin a new adventure. I look forward to your stories and all the things you will learn.  I pray that you will be a friend to the kid who is lonely or scared.  I pray you will be brave and remember you can do hard things.   I pray your teacher will be nurturing and encouraging.  

I will miss you when you are at school.  Things I will miss: sleeping late, playing Words, quiet time, my laundry helper, lessons, reading books, going to the library, hearing you laugh with Caleb, your humming, seeing you ride your scooter around, your questions, the funny things you put on your sandwich at lunch, so many things about you being here my sweet Titus.  

You are such a sweet boy. Today you got a back to school note in the mail from Gramma. Then you went to your room and wrote a note for me. You asked me how to spell some words. You put a Paw Patrol valentine card with Rubble on it cause you know he’s my favorite. You told me when I miss you tomorrow I can look at that note.  Then in the afternoon you boys wanted to go get a milkshake. You insisted on buying them with your own money.  Sweet memories I want to remember of our last day of summer.

We went to kindergarten blessing on Sunday. As you held up your finger and sang “This little light of mine....” it almost made me cry. I know you will shine for Jesus in your classroom. 

I am proud of you Titus. Do your best in school and all you do.  I love you sweet boy. 

Love, Mommy

Have a day of blessings! 

 Bethany

Thankful Thursday

Happy Thursday before Christmas!  Can you believe Christmas is next week?  I cannot!  I wrapped a few gifts several weeks ago and did more tonight. Titus was sitting in my lap last night and told me “Maybe we could go to Gramma’s for Christmas, she has some presents at her house.”  We had one gift under our tree. I thought it was cute.

Today I am thankful for...
~ my husband having a safe trip for his meeting and that he was only gone one night.

~ my big boy being here and done with school for the semester. He didn’t have to take his finals (due to his grades and no absences he was exempt!) so just had to go check in at 9 on Tuesday and Wednesday. We’ve been busy and had fun. He’s kept me laughing too. He’s been doing power lifting practice too.

~ my little guy speaking up during the children’s time at the candlelight service. It was seeet. The minister was asking questions.  He’d asked what people were there and what animals did they think were there. Titus raised his hand and answered baby Jesus.

~ attending the candlelight service. It was beautiful. A family sat beside us with one of Titus’ friends and then antother came up and sat by them.  It was so sweet to see them looking at their candles.

~ Christmas cards and pictures in the mail!!  I love checking the mail and finding such fun mail!

~ hearing “Merry Christmas” so many times. It really makes me smile to hear so many people say it this year.

Thanks for visiting. Merry Christmas to you and your family!


Have a day of blessings!

  Bethany

Thankful Thursday

Happy birthday to my Titus!  He is 3 years old today. 

I'm tired out but we had a wonderful day!  He was so excited that Daddy was taking off work.  When Caleb woke him up that was the first thing he said....Daddy's gonna be home today.  Caleb also had an early release day today due to a track meet.  We had lunch and took Caleb lunch, then Titus had his nap.  After Caleb got here he did his homework and woke up Titus.  Titus opened his presents and then we went to the zoo!  We had a nice time.  We rode the little train and enjoyed our time.

Today I am thankful for...

~ my sweet husband and his love. Just in the day to day I'm so thankful for him and us.

~ my big boy getting done with another 6 weeks at school.  One more to go until high school!  Eeeek!  He also had two tests this week, the state testing STAAR test for Reading and then he took an end of course benchmark for Algebra.  He will take the real test for Algebra in May. 

~ my 3 year old boy and the blessing he is to all of us in so many ways.  He is a joy.

~ the family and friends that came to Titus' birthday party.  Even if it was 30 degrees on party day! 

~ all my Mom did to help with the party.  She did cupcakes, cake, and decorations plus the food.  I did a Walmart order and took it to her house and she got it ready.  It was a very nice party, and Titus had fun.

~ participating in the Baby Blessing at our church on Sunday.  They asked us if we'd like to participate with Titus since we are new to the congregation.  It was for babies and  young children.  They prayed for the parents and children and gave them a Bible.  It was so special that all of Titus' grandparents were there too. 

Have a day of blessings! 
Bethany

Thankful Thursday

I hope your week has been blessed.  Ours has been filled with blessings since the last post I did! Thank you God!

Today I am thankful for...

~ the way my husband listens to me when I talk and tell him my heart.  He always does a good job of hearing me and knowing what I need.

~ my big boy choosing a book for me from the table of giveaways from his school library.  After school he told me they were getting rid of some old books and he got one he thought I would like.  It was one about the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder.  I loved that he thought of me and got it for me!

~ my little guy getting well!  He felt warm to me Saturday evening after his party and then in the night I could tell he had fever.  I stayed home from church and he just wanted to be held and kept saying Momma, Momma.  Poor little guy.  His fever got over 103.  We prayed for him and started diffusing essential oils and rubbed some on his feet.  We gave him some med and the fever did go down but then would go back up.  He ate fine but did not want to do anything except sleep and lay on me.  We had planned to take him to the doctor on Monday morning. But he woke up as normal as could be with no fever.  He has been fine ever since!

~ having a wonderful 2nd birthday party for our boy!  It was a fun day and most of the family got to attend. He had a fun time with his cousins and opening his gifts.  Here are the cakes my Mom made.  We thought they were amazing and tasted good too!

~ having a fun evening out at a fundraiser called Taste of Abilene.  We went last year and decided to go again.  It was a lot of fun, and we enjoyed the food!  Caleb saw the list of participating restaraunts and was disappointed Chick fil a wasn't going to be there.  He found plenty to eat and tried Firehouse Subs and loved their meatball sub!

~  reading books for fun. I finished up my last book I received to review so I've been reading library books for fun lately.  (Not that the review ones aren't fun!)  It's nice to be caught up with the reviews.

Have a day of blessings!
   Bethany

Family Vacation 2016 (Part 1)

I wanted to share a little bit about our vacation.  We were not sure when or where we were going until about a week prior to leaving.  Earlier this year we'd thought about going to Arkansas but didn't know if we wanted to drive that far so I didn't plan anything.

I had found one cabin for us that I thought would be great.  Then a couple days later I looked and I believe the prices went up over night. While it said prices may change without notice, I just did not like that so I did not want to go there.

Instead we went to Jellystone Park at Whispering Pines.  I'm so glad we made the decision to go here!
We drove down the beautiful tree lined road and came upon the entrance to the park.

Examples of some of the cabins

We got checked in at the Ranger Station and found our cabin.  It was situated among the trees and across the "street" from the pond.  In the picture below you can see the pond behind these other cabins.  

The resort property is so nice.  Everything was clean and comfortable.  The equipment was well-maintained.  I thought the staff was nice and friendly.  They seemed to enjoy being there and wanted to help.

They have all sorts of activities for guests....swimming pools, basketball, horseshoes, shuffleboard, volleyball, and a jumping pillow to name a few which are all free to use.  They have a mini golf area that was very new and very nice.  You do have to go "rent" the putters from the Ranger Station which is free but you have to buy the ball for $5. There is also a really cool playground with a neat wooden climbing structure.  They have a nice outdoor theater where they show movies at night.  They have a big fire pit surrounded with tree stumps to sit on where you can meet with Yogi to make s'mores. Besides these amenities, they offer some special activities for the kids including gem mining, tie dying, and ceramics.  

I thought this was a pretty picture with the light coming through the trees.  

We stayed here Sunday through Wednesday.  There was plenty to do and enjoy.  We would not have had to leave the park except we forgot a couple of cooking items!  It was not overly busy while we were there.  There were quite a few cabins full as well as RV spots and tents, but I did not feel like we were surrounded by people.  

We took food to cook on the grill outside our cabin.  Some of the cabins have kitchens in them, and I may get that cabin in the future. We forgot our BBQ tools so had to run to get some at the dollar store nearby.  One day it started raining too while my husband was trying to cook. He'd already finished the hot dogs and had to take off the pork chops because of the rain. I had not considered what we would do about our food if it had rained and he was unable to cook.  It did not last long though and was able to finish cooking the pork chops for our supper.

We all enjoyed our time here and would like to return.  Check with this park if you would like to make a reservation this summer for an affordable vacation at a fun, relaxing location!
  
Have a day of blessings!
  Bethany

Titus' first birthday party.....Book theme!

I chose a book/reading theme for Titus' first birthday party.  He loves books and I'd seen cute ideas on Pinterest.  We all love books so it was fun for us all.  I loved how it came together!

For the invitation I used old library card pockets and check out cards.  On the part of the card you can't see I included the times and his clothing sizes.

The "1" was his smash cake.  For the other cake I printed the covers of some of his favorite books from the past year, and my Mom (who made the cakes) put them on sticks on top of the cake.

I saw streamers done like this on a  Pinterest post so we recreated it with two shades of blue.  I loved how it turned out.  My husband did the streamers and I did the balloons. I used a trick I learned from Pinterest for those too....use a needle to string the balloons together on a piece of thread.

We put the books and characters on the mantle and bookshelf.

Here are a couple more decorations.

This poster had pictures (that I took off before I took this picture) around the edge of Titus reading by himself or with us. The letters are cut out of pages of books.  I got them cheap at Goodwill to cut apart.

This is a banner that Caleb helped make. It was originally going to go in front of the high chair but I realized the high chair was going to be behind the table so you wouldn't be able to see it.  Caleb added the pictures to each side of the ONE.  He made the blue book shapes for the letters to go on as well.

I don't know how we missed a picture of the food but oh well!  We set out food on the bar with the book related to it sitting beside it.  Here is a list of the books/food we used...

Green Eggs and Ham.....deviled eggs dyed green and ham slices (to make a ham sandwich)
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.....meatballs
Go, Go, Grapes!: A Fruit Chant (this was a book Titus loved for Caleb to read him when he was very little so we included it!)......bowl of fruit
Very Hungry Caterpillar.....fruit that the caterpillar ate laid out on a platter
Rah, Rah, Radishes!: A Vegetable Chant....various cut up veggies with dip
any chicken book.....Chick fil a nuggets
Three Little Pigs.....pigs in a blanket
The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Junk Food....bowl of mini candy bars and bags of chips
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.....plate of chocolate chip cookies

It was a fun party, and we enjoyed celebrating our one year old!

Have a day of blessings!
 

For my baby boy...

To my sweet Titus,

I'll never forget  how surprised I was when my water broke early Sunday morning.  I couldn't believe this was really happening!  That wasn't our plan. Our plan was for you to be born on Thursday. I had a list of things in my mind that would happen before Thursday....our last supper as a family of 3, my last snack day with Caleb, a final baby bump picture before going to the hospital,making a definite decision for your name if you were a boy.

But it didn't happen according to our plans. You have been a surprise from the beginning really....from finding out I was pregnant after the doctor had told us a couple of months before that if we wanted more children I'd need to see a specialist....to the day you decided to "bust out early" (as Caleb said).

My heart is just so full of love for you. The year has gone so fast since that Sunday morning when all your family gathered to welcome you. I remember how my heart felt when the doctor held you up and I saw your cute little pouty lip for the first time.

The year has been amazing.  We have loved watching you grow bigger physically and learn new things. I loved the newborn days of holding you and just watching you, and I love these days now as you have turned into a little toddler. It's so fun to see you explore and discover new things every day.

 I'm so blessed to be your Mommy.  I'm thankful God gave us you!  You bring so much joy to us all. It has been fun to see you interact with your brother and see how much you love each other. I love the joy and contentment I see in your Daddy's face when he's holding you. I have honestly learned so much from you already.

God's plan and His timing were perfect in every way. I could never have imagined it all this way, and I can see that He knew best!  I thank Him for giving us you, sweet boy.

Happy first birthday!

Love,
Mum
(That's your name for me, I love it!)

Have a day of blessings!

Thankful Thursday

We've had a nice week.  It's gone fast for us all I think.  Next week is spring break and we are looking forward to it.

This week I am thankful for...
~ my husband's sweet words to me.  He's been so encouraging to me with his words, and I appreciate that so much.

~ my boy's finger being okay after his injury last Thursday. It was sore for several days.  He was able to play his trumpet again by Sunday.  It is still bruised.

~ my baby boy helping with the laundry.  He is so cute when he will put the clothes in and out of the dryer when I am putting some in.  He likes to help pull them out of the basket to help me fold and hang them.  Today he had some pants he acted like he was trying to put on himself.  He will put his socks down by his feet too but hasn't figured out getting the feet in the socks!

~ rain.  It has stormed a couple times this week, and we received quite a bit of rain.

~ feeling better myself.  Last Thursday evening my throat felt scratchy.  I thought it was allergies so I gargled and took some zyrtec. It hurt worse in the night and all day Friday plus I felt achy, so I assumed it wasn't allergies.  It wasn't any better by Saturday morning so I went to the clinic.  I was diagnosed with strep.  My husband was so wonderful to take care of everything and let me rest.  I started feeling much better by Sunday afternoon.

~ plans for someone's first birthday party!  Titus will be one soon, we can't believe how fast the year has gone.  We are having fun making plans. The theme is books.

Have a day of blessings!
 

Our baby's room: Berenstain Bears!!

I am finally getting these pictures shared of Titus' bedroom.  We had several choices on our list of themes to use for baby room decorations.  I looked for ideas on Pinterest, and we decided together on Berenstain Bears.

Here is what we did (and by "we" I mean my Mom did most of these decorations! haha!)

This is a mobile my Mom made using pictures from old books. It hangs in a corner by the closet over his dresser.

These are pictures printed off the Internet that Caleb and I colored. They are sitting on the dresser.

This is the curtain.

Caleb and my Mom made this blanket or wall hanging.  Titus plays on it on the floor for now.

These are the pillows and bed sheet.

I saw this idea on Pinterest using a different book.  These letters were cut by my Mom and then covered with pictures from Berenstain Bear books.  I love how this turned out!

These little stuffed characters were a gift.  They are on top of his bookshelf along with a book we got.

Have a day of blessings!
 

6 months

Our baby boy is 6 months old today.  He is such a blessing to our family.

The time has gone so quickly. Today I was looking at the sweet pictures of the day he was born.  It always amazes me how much a baby changes in such a short time.

Titus is a happy boy and makes the sweetest faces and noises.  I like when he does his little humming noise as he lays on my shoulder.  He loves his big brother, and his little face lights up when he sees him.  He is sitting up by himself now. He's enjoying the baby food he has tried, and I'm thankful as well to still be able to breastfeed him.  He likes for us to read books to him.  He's been happy to go to his little cradle roll Bible class too on Sunday mornings.

We are so thankful for this little guy.  I love seeing his personality develop.  

Have a day of blessings!
 

Story behind his name....

When we found out we were having another baby, we already had a girl name that we'd had for many years.  In the beginning I didn't fell a lot of urgency though to pick a boy name. I thought we had plenty of time to figure it out.  We talked about it some saying names we liked as well as those that were on the definite "no" list. (Certain names get on that list when you are a teacher!)

I wanted the first name to be Matthew. My husband's name is John Matthew. We used John for Caleb's first name so I thought it'd be nice to use Matthew for the first name for this baby and call him by his middle name as we do Caleb. There was one name throughout the pregnancy that we thought we would use for the middle name. I didn't feel settled on how to spell it though. We were trying to use names of family members, but the spelling felt too girly and didn't seem right. A second option was always Matthew Titus, almost since the beginning of the pregnancy I think.

One night we were doing a family devotion. (I tried to find the date in my journal, but I couldn't find when it was.)  Caleb had been saying funny names we could use, like Alfredo Potato, since we told him we were having a baby. But that night we were reading in II Corinthians 7, and he said "Titus, that would be a good name for the baby." In the following days I went back and reread the verse. I was thinking how this baby is a joy and comfort to our family after our miscarriage in 2013 and also about all the prayers and comfort we received during this pregnancy.  The verse seemed to fit how I felt about this baby.  We liked the name Titus, and Caleb continued to say he thought it would be a good name throughout the pregnancy.

When April 12 came we were still considering both middle names, but after he was born Titus just felt right!

We have both boys' footprints in the Bible that was given to us as a wedding gift and used in our wedding ceremony.  Each is on the page with the special verse that has their name.

Caleb's footprint on Numbers 14:24  "But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it."

Titus's footprint on 2 Corinthians 7:6,7--"But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming but also by the comfort you had given him. He told us about your longing for me, your deep sorrow, your ardent concern for me, so that my joy was greater than ever."

Have a day of blessings!