Tears of Joy!

Our nightly routine before bed is to crawl up on the couch or Jaycee's bed and read bible stories. Thanks to Nana we have a great Bible story book. Jaycee and Jackson love it. We probably read about 6-8 stories a night.

Tonight we were in Jaycee's room. We were reading about Elijah and Elisha. Its the part where the fiery chariot and horses come and take Elijah to Heaven. Well, after each story they have either a question or some sort of encouraging word. This story had this question; Who do you think will be in Heaven? Jaycee quickly responded, God! Then she says and when I see Him, I am going to give Him much kisses! Thank you, Lord! That is where the title comes in! The tears of joy that are flowing from this momma's eyes! Thank you Jesus for already beginning the work in my little girl's heart!

Jackson is quite amazing as well. Every night before I put him down we pray. I usually say are you ready to pray and he says yeah and then his head hit my shoulder. Tonight before I could even get the question out his head was on my shoulder and he said pray!

I can't even express how awesome it is to see my children already trusting in God! How powerful that is! How much more that motivates me to surrender my all everyday to my Lord and Savior! Have a child like faith! I thought I was suppose to be teaching them about God and here they are teaching me! That is just God showing how awesomely big and wonderful He truly is!

Mom's as builders! (A story for us mom's!)

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of
response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on
the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking,
'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone,
or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner,
because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom.

Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie
this? Can you open this??

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a
human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?'
I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'

I was certain that these were the hands that once held
books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa
cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be
seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone!?

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating
the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a
fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I
was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well.
It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty
pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package,
and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of
Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read
her inscription:'To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of
what you are building when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book.
And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing
truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the
great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave their
whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great
sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by
their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came
to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman
carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the
man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that
will be covered by the roof, No one will ever see it. And the workman
replied, 'Because God sees.'


I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into
place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you,
Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around
you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on,
no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are
building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will
become.

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But
it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease
of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong,
stubborn pride.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great
builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never
see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The
writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be
built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to
that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to
tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom
gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes
a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.'
That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to
want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend,
to add, 'You're gonna love it there.'


As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot
be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that
the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty
that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.


Great Job, MOM!

I had to share this with all of you! My wonderful Aunt Ann shared it with me! I cried! Its such a touching story and once again reminds me of why God chose me to be a Mommy! Not for the glory, the praise, or anything else, but for Him! Its all for His glory and His praises! God sees everything I do and He knows my every thought! Even though I forget that most days! I will do better knowing and remembering this life isn't about me at all its about my God, my Savior, and my Lord! When that is what my focus is every moment, then I become a better, wife, mother, friend, daughter, sister and God's unconditional love is brought forth instead of my selfish ways. I hope this touches you like it touched me! Thanks so much Aunt Ann for sharing this with me!

Since arriving home!

I really hoped at least for the first few days of arriving home, we would have some down time. Byron and I both had head colds and the kids obviously were in desperate need of "home". Friday, we made a trip to the grocery store, b/c we didn't have too much to eat in this house. Byron mowed our yard. It actually wasn't too bad. We said that the weekend was for total relaxation. My aunt called late Friday night and she had 4 tickets to the OU football game. Well, we most definitely couldn't pass that up. My aunt ended up keeping Jaycee for us and we took Jackson with us. It was Byron's first ever OU football game. We were in Section 3 Row 9. Which placed us on the 15 yard line towards the south endzone behind the Sooners' sideline. It was a lot of fun. It was a great experience. If we ever decide to do season tickets we will choose a different location though. We had to stand pretty much the entire game. I would prefer to sit and then stand when something great happens!

Sunday we attended church and it was great to see everyone. We had lunch with my parents and our friends Trey and Serah. The rest of day we relaxed around the house. Monday was full of laundry. That is pretty much all I did that day. The kids played for great lengths in each bedroom. They really missed their toys. Yesterday, the kids stayed with my mom for a few hours while I had a tooth worked on. Then today the kids had check-ups. They are both doing very well. They are super healthy. Jaycee weighs 38lbs. and is 39 in. tall. Jackson weighs 28 lbs. and is 33 in. tall. Byron is at home with us today b/c of the rain! So its quite exciting around here! Jaycee and Byron are quite the little team of pests! Maybe this coming weekend won't be so busy.

The last days of our trip!

Tuesday we met the cousins at the Lyden Park. It was a great time! The tunnel slide was a huge hit along with the swings! After the park we ate Mexican food and then the kids and I went to say our good-byes to the McKissick family and the McBride family. On Wednesday, we hung around the house since the next day would be hectic for us. That evening Phil, Amanda, and kids came over for dinner. The kids played one last time together. They had lots of fun hiding balls and bean bags in Nana's back yard.

Here are the rest of the pics I have. I hope you all have enjoyed the posts!

Birch Bay Pictures!

Labor Day Weekend!

We are to the weekend! Let me tell you we had a lot of family fun. Aunt Ann and Aunt Gail came up from Vancouver, WA to spend their holiday weekend with the family. On Saturday, Byron, Phil, and Andy headed to Seattle to watch Oklahoma State and Washington State play football at Quest field.

The women and children had lunch together and went to the Jump Zone in Bellingham. Its located on the North side of B'ham by Total Necessities Chocolate. Its a great place of fun. The management of the Jump Zone does a nice job of keeping it clean and safe. All of the kids had to wear matching wristbands. They also had to wear clean socks and then wash their hands with hand sanitizer before playing in the bounce houses. When we left that checked each kids' wrist to make sure that they all belonged to our group.

It wore the kids out for sure. They had slides and obstacle courses. I was tired as well. Jackson slept the first part of the the outing on Aunt Ann. Once he woke up and discovered all of the fun the other kids were having we had to join in.

That evening was pretty low key. We had Papa Murphy's pizza for dinner and watched college football.

Sunday, we attended church at NCCTK. It was great being back there. We were able to see many of our small group friends again and other friends as well. Jaycee went to class with Evalin, Kathryn, and Isaac. She loved it! I stayed in the nursery with Jackson.

After church we checked out Phil and Amanda's new house they are building. They are doing a great job and it won't be too much longer and they will be in there! I know that they are all ready for that. Maybe not about moving and unpacking but definitely being in a bigger house with more room for the kids to play.

Then we had lunch together at Nana and Papa's house. After Jaycee and Jackson woke up from their naps we all headed down to Boulevard Park. It was a beautiful day. We walked along the boardwalk, played on the playground, and threw a lot of rocks in the ocean.

That evening Lindsey stopped by for a visit. We ate at Taco Time and the kids played on the neighborhood playground at Nana and Papa's house.

Monday, we said our good-byes to Aunt Ann and Aunt Gail. Then we met up with the Lohrer family of 6 at Birch Bay. We had a grand time there. We found all sorts of neat sea creatures! We had quite the collection of baby crabs, Hermite crabs, starfish, and seashells. We also so a very large dead jellyfish. It was pretty amazing to look at though.

That evening we spent with Nate, Kate and baby Riley. It was great to visit with them and see Riley again.

That was basically our Labor Day Weekend. Great memories and great fun!