tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21737488905662435452024-03-19T01:47:08.989-07:00A Day in the Life...Brady W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09465309586429435481noreply@blogger.comBlogger468125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173748890566243545.post-31542002602428803042023-08-06T21:20:00.002-07:002023-08-07T05:52:32.424-07:00The Quiet Place<p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCJf8xNTaeLJYRIsXO416XEX2WmpAWW59TTclU-7AtrrjSe02fxc1HnxmS-9fVpOgcA8BnQidISGX1VF-dEf0NFq6G-vCIDToXyK4_3BwZIcuj2nCWnFrcEbP_PTSZNUVL8x3t4qi6osaTLLK2DQKQDQ-2GJZKMqJH5eO_JRJ6_xHHbZrWWo54-7ezHM0/s1170/IMG_5086.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="551" data-original-width="1170" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCJf8xNTaeLJYRIsXO416XEX2WmpAWW59TTclU-7AtrrjSe02fxc1HnxmS-9fVpOgcA8BnQidISGX1VF-dEf0NFq6G-vCIDToXyK4_3BwZIcuj2nCWnFrcEbP_PTSZNUVL8x3t4qi6osaTLLK2DQKQDQ-2GJZKMqJH5eO_JRJ6_xHHbZrWWo54-7ezHM0/s320/IMG_5086.jpeg" width="320" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">It has been a HECK of a weekend. It started with our air conditioner being out all week—but not to worry! $10k and 10 hours of labor later, we got a new a/c installed on Friday while we were watching Tommy’s basketball games. A blessing. It was a quiet truth and somewhat overshadowed by a busy and EXPENSIVE day, but a blessing indeed.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Saturday was another busy day of basketball and spending money (some fun, some necessary). We got home late and as I was finally going to sleep (at 1am), we got a notification our electricity at the Towanda store had gone out. Sigh. I went back to sleep expecting the issue to be resolved quickly like it usually is. When I woke up at 6am to see Nick off, as he was pulling out of the driveway, I realized we had never received a notification of the electricity coming back on. I called him to see what we should do—he turned around and came back to help his dad (who was thankfully staying the weekend with us) load a generator. Tom and I drove to the Towanda store to plug our coolers into the generator since we had no idea when electricity would come back on. A blessing. It was a quiet truth and somewhat overshadowed by the exhaustion of little sleep and worry about losing thousands of dollars of product, but a blessing indeed that we had a generator and a dad willing to help. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Then Nick texted that his tire started losing air on the way to the airport. He was able to stop at a gas station to put air in it. It held long enough to get him to the airport in time for his flight. A blessing. It was a quiet truth and somewhat overshadowed by knowing his return flight would bring him back to a car with a flat tire, but a blessing indeed he made it safely and in time for his flight. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">After getting home from hooking up the generator, I woke the kids up and then felt a nudge to stop and have my Bible time before I started getting ready. A loud thought easily dismissed it and said to me, “you don’t have time for that.” I started to walk out of my bedroom and God nudged me again. I turned and grabbed my Bible and said to the kids, “We need to pray the electricity comes back on in Towanda!” The literal SECOND those words left my mouth, I got a text that Evergy had fixed the problem and all the electricity was back on. A blessing. A quiet truth.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I went to let the dogs out and sat down to read for about 10 minutes and was so glad to feel God’s peace and presence. After finishing my reading, I sat my Bible down and went to call the dogs in. They were nowhere to be found. After 20 minutes of alternating getting ready and yelling for the dogs, we finally HAD to leave. My father in law was driving separately, so I let him know they were gone but would hopefully turn up by the time we got home. We loaded up the car with all the things and headed to Wichita. My father in law texted me 10 minutes later that the dogs had been secured. A blessing. It was a quiet truth and somewhat overshadowed at the frustration of running late because we had to spend time looking for them but a blessing indeed. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">As we were driving to Wichita, I told the kids that the devil was working overtime to try to ruin our day. We decided to list out loud the things that we were thankful for—I wanted to take them from quiet truths to loud praises! We spent the next few minutes sharing…we’re thankful for the ability to pay for a new air conditioner, family to help out, all of us being healthy, making good friends, not losing any product or having to close for business in Towanda, Nick making it safely to and on his flight. Right as we finished up, we crossed the railroad tracks about 2 miles from our destination. I had just said something along the lines of, “NOT TODAY, SATAN!” </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Then my low-tire pressure light came on. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">All I could do was laugh! Sometimes it comes on but I can drive around on the tire for another 2 days with just a little air added. Not today. It kept dropping lower…..and lower….and lower. We just prayed we would at least make it to our destination and on time. And we did! A blessing. A quiet truth somewhat overshadowed by the fact that I rolled in on about 10 psi in our tire, but we.made.it. We went inside for another basketball game and I put the tire out of my mind so I could enjoy watching Tommy play. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">After an hour of basketball, it was time to deal with the tire. I called one company (because of course we didn’t have the right tool to take off my lug nuts ourselves) who requested pre-payment be sent to his personal Venmo in the amount of $100. Uhhhh….hard pass. I ended up getting the Happy Hooker towing company to come change it. I’m sure we looked a spectacle sitting on the pavement in the shade of my Yukon while my kids yell, “When is the hooker truck coming??” not having any idea what that sounded like! They went with their papa to get lunch for all of us while we waited and came back juuuust in time to see the “hooker truck” pull in and announce it’s arrival to everyone in the parking lot. The tow-truck driver got my tire changed out just in time for me to head inside for Tommys last game. A blessing. A quiet truth somewhat overshadowed by having to sit in a parking lot baking in the sun while listening to your kids yell about hookers, but a blessing indeed. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">I guess my point is…I can look back on my day and say that it was really bad. I can let the lies be loud and tell me I should be upset, annoyed, bummed, irritated, grumpy. Or I can look back on my day and focus on the quiet truths—that God provided in EVERY way. We got everything done we needed to get done, got everywhere we needed to be and had plenty of physical and prayer support from family and friends along the way. In the grand scheme of life, all of these things were small...irrelevant in a world that suffers from so much more. But the small things are what the enemy uses to start that subtle shift of our focus from the truth to the lies.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">As the wise Billy Graham said, “It’s easier not to be a Christian in the world because the devil might leave you alone. The moment you receive Christ as your savior, you’re in for it. Unless you live on your knees and live in the scripture and keep your guard up and have your spiritual armor on at all time.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The truth is always quieter than the lies. It’s easier to hear what’s loud….but if we can just be still….if we can just shut out the noise, it might be quiet enough for us to hear the truth. </span></p>Brady W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09465309586429435481noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173748890566243545.post-37658193322603150332023-07-15T20:09:00.003-07:002023-07-15T20:09:53.882-07:00Here we are...<p> I cried when I found out he was a boy. The ultrasound tech paused the screen, took her still-shot photo and typed "BOY" smack dab in the middle of it. Nick was so excited, but I turned my face to blink away the small tears that had escaped my eyelids. I wanted a girl SO badly. Since the minute I'd found out I was pregnant, I was imagining hair bows, matching outfits, painting fingernails and sweet little butterfly kisses. After all, I had a little sister 9 years younger than me--I had already practically raised one little girl and loved it. A daughter would be a piece of cake, right?......turns out she IS a piece of cake, but that came a few years down the road.</p><p>Instead, I was getting a son first. A son. What on earth do you do with little boys? I'm not really into sports. I don't really LOVE the outdoors. Not a huge fan of talking about poop and farts all day. Couldn't care less about monster trucks and dinosaurs. What's left?...... Eating?? I do enjoy a good carb-loading session....maybe that's where we'd find our common ground! </p><p>Thankfully, I warmed up to the idea of a sweet little boy and by the time he entered this world, I was more than ready to be his momma. Year by year, we've made it through life together and became best buds along the way. I survived getting peed on in the middle of the night when his pee-pee tee-pee failed to do it's job during a diaper change. I learned that burping sounds produced the BEST belly laughs from my two year old boy. I managed to get through (and even somewhat enjoy) "playing cars" for hours on end. I even survived a LOT of poop....and talking about poop......and jokes about poop. </p><p>But I blinked and now he's almost a teenager. It brings me to tears to even type those words....how does time have the courage to age my little boy when I'm sitting here begging him to stay little? If I dwell too long on the amount of change that's happened in the last 12 years, it can be overwhelming. So when the nostalgia hits me too hard, I focus on the things about him that HAVEN'T changed......his eyes are still as blue as the sky, just like the day he was born. He still has a little wrinkle in his right ear. He continues to be the MOST stubborn human I know. The faces he makes and the things he says still make me laugh on a daily basis. He still has that same raspy voice that croaked out of his mouth when he first started talking. He can drive me insane one second and steal my heart the next. He still REALLY enjoys laughing about poop and bodily functions.</p><p>I think it's middle school....the thing that's triggering all these feelings for me. I dropped him off for middle school football camp last week. We pulled up in the parking lot. He spent a minute looking around and then spotted a group of his friends walking in. He said to me, "I don't think you need to walk me in, Mom." </p><p>Oof. </p><p>I've always hated when authors used that word (oof), but that's the literal sound that left my mouth after he got out of the car. All I could see as I watched him walk across the parking lot was the tiny little blond boy I walked into preschool 9 years ago. But he didn't need me this time. And what a hard, wonderful thing that is. </p><p>We spend all these years raising our kids. And it can be easy to forget that the time, effort and love we put into it isn't necessarily for OUR benefit, but for theirs. What more could we hope for than to raise God-fearing children who aren't scared to do things on their own? And sure....walking into a camp alone is such a small thing. But he's always been just a little unsure when he tries new things. He's always wanted me there just in case he has questions or isn't sure what to do next. He's always glanced back...just once....to make sure I'm behind him. And I always have been--with a small smile and small wave (so as not to embarrass him too much, of course) of encouragement. But he didn't need me this time. </p><p>As he heads into middle school, I'm doing my best not to project all of my middle school insecurities on him. As a teenager, if I walked past a group of people laughing, I immediately assumed they were laughing at me. If whispers made their way through a crowd, I became self-conscious and wondered what I'd done to be whispered about. I wanted nothing more than to blend into the background and NOT be noticed. As an adult, I now realize they were most likely NOT talking or whispering about me (how conceited of me to think so, right?). But having a child...a literal piece of my heart....come into this age, I find all of these insecurities rearing their ugly heads. As we were leaving an event a few weeks ago, we walked past some kids his age that laughed shortly after we went by. My heart sunk to my feet and I blurted out to him, "Why do you think those kids were laughing?" He just kept walking and said, "Who cares?" I can't even explain the relief I felt in that moment....he just literally didn't care. I've always wished I had spent SO much less time worrying about what other people thought about me in school. To know that at least right now, in this pivotal age in his life, the judgement of his peers wasn't a weight he was carrying was a breath of fresh air for me. </p><p>We've both come a long way, me and him. He's slowly morphing into the boy (kid? man?) we've been praying he'll be. And I've been morphing into the mom He wants me to be. Turns out I DO like sports if he's the one playing them. I can talk about athlete's stats, game scores and the newest pair of Nikes he wants for hours if it means he wants to spend time with me. We do indeed both REALLY enjoy a good carb-loading session (although we forgo the marathon that usually gets ran AFTER carb-loading sessions). We find common ground in our sarcasm and sense of humor. And every now and then....very rarely and don't tell him I told you.....I can even get him to snuggle with me for a minute. But only for a minute...he's never still for too long. Afterall, he's a pre-teen with a life to live!</p><p style="text-align: center;">Time is a thief. It's amazing how quickly this....</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi30INNa1C2F1LqTjXTKOeNB57b7hgfeQEgHTKNPbq1SjJs3QGcuL9Nq2dvJBx20GFzE_ZeRtNoHAjRCdBi48rRy3YkopL1g0-2pSQ-ULOek3ykDjFMZ4v_JFM-wFkBaA71Tv3e96Qmxu3LLuBLcy6kYOqqOLsHmCI79QkndMhb1C3bV-H1oCU5mZVIR-w/s2048/DSC_0809.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi30INNa1C2F1LqTjXTKOeNB57b7hgfeQEgHTKNPbq1SjJs3QGcuL9Nq2dvJBx20GFzE_ZeRtNoHAjRCdBi48rRy3YkopL1g0-2pSQ-ULOek3ykDjFMZ4v_JFM-wFkBaA71Tv3e96Qmxu3LLuBLcy6kYOqqOLsHmCI79QkndMhb1C3bV-H1oCU5mZVIR-w/w426-h640/DSC_0809.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Turns into this....</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcatT2pr29dvLgblqFG_FEGQsnn3pkR0MXhjrUcya0_S_iOF_Lu1_eo2Od2VQ_KyfUTF7wPnjiYS6utwtq4h4WRoDBjJcvNPbOQuBPR4nvwpZWBWeA8zfDRN85YPnekLNZcW_fJlchpOI7hjzVG6ZdVx7SjV9ru0PROmpbRTS4RXDO2Hi8IwJREYZ2sDU/s1920/football.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcatT2pr29dvLgblqFG_FEGQsnn3pkR0MXhjrUcya0_S_iOF_Lu1_eo2Od2VQ_KyfUTF7wPnjiYS6utwtq4h4WRoDBjJcvNPbOQuBPR4nvwpZWBWeA8zfDRN85YPnekLNZcW_fJlchpOI7hjzVG6ZdVx7SjV9ru0PROmpbRTS4RXDO2Hi8IwJREYZ2sDU/w480-h640/football.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>But a mom's heart can see it all at once, can't it? The baby freshly washed in the hospital gown....the toddler laughing in the bathtub....the scrawny six-year-old covered in dirt with holes in his jeans....the ten year old holding up both hands to show his double digits as he blows out his candle....all wrapped up in the body of a twelve year old, just on the cusp of manhood. Learning one day at a time how to become who he's meant to be. Me and you both, bud.<div><br /></div><div>So here we are....seems God knew I really needed that boy.</div>Brady W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09465309586429435481noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173748890566243545.post-10952493871098019552019-12-06T16:56:00.000-08:002019-12-06T16:56:53.585-08:00In case you were wondering....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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.....Yes, we're still alive! We've had a whirlwind of a few months and my blogging has suffered because of it. But here I am to update everyone who is waiting with baited breath (all three of you) to see what's been going on with the Wilhelms!<br />
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We still have our sweet little 2 year old boy with us that we've had since March. He's DEFINITELY comfortable with our family and has decided to start showing us his silly, ornery side along with letting his "terrible twos" come out. His favorite word is NO and he likes to color on walls, doors, tables, couches....you know....anything EXCEPT paper! He is OBSESSED with sports balls of any kind and is devastated every day when we make him change his socks and take his coat off. He thinks it's HILARIOUS to toot on anybody he can get to and laughs so hard when we tell him not to pick his nose because it's gross (typical boy). He's just so funny! I don't know HOW a 2 year old can be sarcastic already, but he totally is.<br />
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Just a few days ago, his newborn brother came into care as well. While we are so glad to be able to provide a safe place for him and he is the CUTEST, squishiest little guy, I am hurting for the boys' mom and praying things turn around quickly for her. Please join me in that prayer! While foster care is amazing in so many ways, it is equally sad and overwhelming in others.<br />
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We were unsure about taking a newborn because we feel like we're old and we really like sleep and we had NO idea who we could find to take care of a newborn while we work, but God provided a daycare, our family and friends have provided clothes, formula and everything else we could need and we've even gotten a few hours of sleep each night :) His sweet little smiles and his little dimple make up for the all-night grunts and poop explosions.<br />
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All of the kids love having a baby in the house and I especially love that the 2 year old gets his biological sibling with him. He is LOVING "helping" feed him and bringing me diapers for him and anything else he can do. It's very sweet and I'm glad they get to be together! My older two are the absolute BEST helpers and have done so much to make the transition easier.<br />
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So here we are....unexpectedly back to being a party of 6, driving the hot-mess express and walking around like sleep-deprived zombies. If you see my dirt-covered Tahoe screeching into the school parking lot at 8:14am and me shoving my half-dressed kids out the door so they're not "technically late" while empty water bottles and cracker wrappers fall out the door behind them, please just throw up the Katniss Everdeen 3-fingered salute and pray for the odds to be ever in my favor!<br />
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Brady W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09465309586429435481noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173748890566243545.post-76320151059603327252019-07-29T11:22:00.000-07:002019-09-11T11:22:25.646-07:00Tessa's 7th birthday celebration!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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She went to bed as my 6 year old baby....</div>
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.......and woke up as a sassy 7 year old girl!!</div>
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We usually fill their room with balloons and I totally thought I had a bunch in our birthday decoration box...but when she finally went to bed the night before her birthday, I dug the box out and NO BALLOONS! So I put streamers all over her door instead. Not gonna lie...I'd be totally okay discontinuing the balloon tradition and doing streamers instead. It takes a loooooooooooooong time to blow up enough balloons to cover the floor!<br />
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She had chosen donuts for breakfast, so she blew out her candle and then wanted to open a few of her gifts.<br />
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I love her so much!</div>
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One of the presents she opened that morning was this unicorn lamp. It will always make me laugh! When I asked her what she wanted for her birthday, she thought for a minute and then said in the sweetest voice, "Can you get me a lamp that doesn't burn me?" I was like, "What the heck are you talking about??" She said the lamp she currently had (which was like a goose-necked metal lamp) burns her hands every time she turns it on and off. I felt so bad, but she'd never told me that before, so I got her a lamp that didn't burn her (and was super cute!).</div>
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After gifts, we took a few fun pictures outside and then headed to Nana's for her party with her cousins.</div>
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After I got off work, I picked up Tessa and Nana and we met Aunt Brooke in Wichita. Tessa had decided she wanted to do a girls shopping evening for her birthday. And I'm so glad she did! It was a lot of fun!<br />
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She opened her present from Aunt Brooke in the car and was SO excited! She got a Garmin Vivofit--she'd been wanting one for SO long!</div>
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We went to Wal-Mart, where Tessa bought a baby doll that poops and pees in her diaper--Nana thought it was disgusting! Tessa thought it was hilarious!</div>
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What's a trip to Wal-Mart without a group selfie in the middle aisle?!?</div>
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After Wal-Mart, we went to the mall and ate in the food court. Tessa had a piece of pizza the size of her head and loved it! We did some shopping at a few different stores and it was so cute to watch her try to figure out what she wanted to spend her money on!</div>
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We got home kind of late, but she wanted to spread her loot out on the floor and check out everything she'd got. She had her baby doll, a pound of candy (don't ask), fake glasses and some random odds and ends from Justice. A pretty successful shopping trip overall!</div>
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We did cupcakes with Tommy and Dad and then it was off to bed!</div>
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For her friend and family party this year, she decided to share a pool party with her cousin again (they did it the year before and had so much fun!). She wanted a unicorn pool party theme and surprisingly enough, I found some plates and napkins that actually had that theme--ha!</div>
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We blew out candles and opened presents before they started swimming. She got so many fun things! All of our family was there and she had a few sweet friends show up. </div>
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After presents and cake, they had so much fun swimming and playing with the presents Tessa had opened. We love doing pool parties because the clean up is minimal and the entertainment is so easy!</div>
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We had so much fun celebrating seven with you, sweet girl!</div>
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Brady W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09465309586429435481noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173748890566243545.post-1478899745026172192019-07-25T09:05:00.000-07:002019-09-04T09:06:16.637-07:00To Tessa on your 7th birthday...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
7 years. It doesn't seem possible. I can literally remember the SECOND I found out I was pregnant with you and all the chaos that came after! It feels like it was yesterday.<br />
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I am having SO much fun with you as a seven year old. Your toothless grin makes me so happy and your sweet heart brings me joy.<br />
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You have started to REALLY find your sass. It's not often that you back talk or get an attitude, but it's happened a little more frequently lately. It always takes me by surprise a bit and sometimes makes me giggle on the inside because of how much attitude you can give with your eyes! You definitely let us know what you're feeling.<br />
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You get really offended when you get in trouble. You sometimes get mad, but usually just get sad and won't talk to us for a little bit. We just give you your space and after 30 minutes or so of being alone in your room, you're ready to work it out! You never stay too mad for too long!<br />
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99% of the time, you are sweet and kind! You are ALWAYS willing to help us out with pretty much anything and are always wanting to pitch in and learn about what we're doing. You're like a second mother to your little brother--you've made a lot of money recently changing his diapers because daddy offers to pay you, knowing you'll say yes and he'll get out of changing dirty diapers.<br />
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You're already a little entrepreneur and LOVE finding ways to earn money so you can buy what you want. You ask for extra chores and always want me to try to sell things on Facebook. You are constantly asking to have garage sales and lemonade stands so you can sell your junk--I love it!<br />
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You're still the best one in the family at finding things. When everyone else has looked for something, we ask you to look and you almost ALWAYS find whatever is missing!<br />
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You love playing with slime and watching YouTube videos about making slime. You could seriously watch them for hours if we let you! I always say I'll never understand but then sometimes catch myself watching them with you--ha! You're into nail polish and Junie B Jones books and stuffed animals and twirly skirts. You like riding bikes and playing outside with your brothers. You would be pantsless every hour of the day if we allowed it. You HATE wearing pants! You love swimming and playing in the water, but nothing tops your love of swinging on the monkey bars and trying to skip as many bars as you can!<br />
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I seriously LOVE the age you're at and the person you're becoming. I enjoy our conversations and hope you're always willing to share your heart and thoughts with me! You're my best girl and I'm so glad you're my daughter!<br />
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Happy birthday, Tessa Grace!<br />
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Brady W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09465309586429435481noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173748890566243545.post-58849567143550586782019-05-02T17:00:00.000-07:002019-09-11T11:54:33.825-07:00Wilhelm, party of 6!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Welp.<br />
<br />
It's official.<br />
<br />
We've lost our minds.<br />
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We now have two foster kiddos and have become a family of six! I'm sure there are some large bio and foster families out there laughing and thinking, "4 kids? That's nothing!" I know so many people with a LOT of kids that handle it with such grace and make it look easy (I'm lookin at you, Nick and Maria Engels!!!). <br />
<br />
While they're over there looking cool as a cucumber, I'm now the hot mess mom that's late everywhere with spit up on my shirt and the contents of the diaper bag rolling around in the back of my car. It takes me 10 minutes to load and unload our vehicle with 4 kids and all the <strike>crap</strike> necessary stuff that comes with them!<br />
<br />
HOWEVER.....<br />
<br />
While two additional kids at once was NOT on our agenda at all, God was doing His thing once again.<br />
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After our first placement went home so unexpectedly, we took a week off and then let our workers know we were ready for the next one. I had really had on my heart that God was telling me we were going to have a little girl soon. Under the age of one. And I was perfectly okay with that! We told them they could say yes to any placement under the age of two without any huge medical needs.<br />
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We were excited and ready for our next kiddo. But I can't tell you how many texts we got with a heads up about a kiddo and then a text a bit later saying they'd already been placed. It's crazy how quickly the little ones in foster care get placed! We would take 30 minutes or so to review their paperwork and by the time we'd made a decision, they'd already been put somewhere. We are so glad there are so many homes wanting these kiddos, but we were getting kind of bummed because it had been another week or so that we were waiting on a kid and just not getting any placements.<br />
<br />
And then we got a call for a little boy! 21 months old, no special needs, just taken into care. We said yes right away and arrangements were made for him to come that night. I was a little disappointed in the fact that I thought maybe I had heard God wrong since it was a boy and older than one. But I also felt confident in saying yes to this little guy.<br />
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He came to our house with crazy hair and a super quiet personality. He is a GREAT sleeper, calm mannered and loves to eat! For the first few weeks, the only time he got upset was when he was hangry (which I totally understand). He became SUPER attached to Tessa and wants to be with her all the time. And she loves it! His transition into our family has been seamless.<br />
<br />
We had gotten into a good routine with him and we all loved him so much already! But I kept feeling a tug on my heart about a little girl. Like there was a little lady out there that needed me--I had a literal pain in my heart thinking that I wasn't with her while not even knowing who she was. I kept praying about it and let Nick know how I was feeling. We had been told little man might not be with us a SUPER long time (nobody knows for sure in the system, but that was just the heads up we were given). So I asked Nick what he thought about telling our workers to keep an eye out for another placement, but to tell them we only wanted a girl between the ages of newborn to 18 months. It took a few days but he eventually agreed to it and we let our workers know. <br />
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We figured with the age and gender stipulations it would take several weeks to get a new placement and that we would maybe only have two extra kiddos for a short time.<br />
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You would think we would know better--ha! After getting so many false alarms about babies while waiting for our second placement....it took TWO DAYS for one of my workers to text me.<br />
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She said, "You might want to start preparing for a baby girl."<br />
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I didn't get too excited because I didn't figure it would actually go through. But as the day went on, she was able to give me more details and eventually said it was a definite thing and we were getting a 2 month old girl that night!<br />
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My heart was RACING and I went into mom-mode. I ran to Goodwill and bought a few things to get us through until we knew what all she needed. One of my sweet workers had bought us some diapers and bottles and onesies and wipes and bows, so I ran by and grabbed those from her. As I was driving to get home to meet this little girl my heart had been waiting for, I called one of my lifelong friends that also does foster care. I was telling her about getting this kiddo and where she was from. She said, "Oh, that's where T (her youngest foster daughter) is from!" I told her the baby's name and she said, "NO WAY!"<br />
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Friends, this is how good God is.<br />
<br />
We pieced together that the baby girl we were getting was the little sister of the girl Ashley has had for the last year.<br />
<br />
Out of ALL of the people in Kansas that she could have been placed with, He chose us. A family that already knew and loved her biological sister. A family that had already baby-sat her biological sister. A family that could keep her and her sister in contact and let their relationship grow while each of us has them.<br />
<br />
He is good. <br />
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And through Him, we now have two sons and two daughters. I wish SO bad I could post a picture of the 4 of them and show you how blood has nothing to do with sibling love. My kids have taken these two in and loved them like they've been with us since day one (and it feels like they have).<br />
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So we are tired, we are busy, we've had a lot of PB and J dinners and our house is a disaster.<br />
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But MAN, our hearts are bursting at the seams!<br />
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Hard things are not so hard when you know you're living in God's will for your life. </div>
Brady W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09465309586429435481noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173748890566243545.post-12352979377128618722019-04-17T12:48:00.000-07:002019-05-02T12:48:16.550-07:00Whitney's Wedding<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
As much fun as Disney World and the beach was, at the end of our vacation came the REAL reason for spending time in Florida! We got to see Whitney Jo marry her man!<br />
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Their wedding was on a Saturday afternoon and the weather was PERFECT. Sunny skies, blue water and a gorgeous stretch of sand.<br />
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We had the most delicious breakfast together cooked by her awesome family and future family! And then we lounged a bit, I got to watch Whit get her hair and makeup done and then it was finally time for the big moment!<br />
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We got to spend a few minutes with the bride before she walked down the aisle...such a sweet time!</div>
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Me with my hubs, remembering the day we said I Do.....not really. We were just enjoying the sunshine and waiting for the bride to make her appearance!</div>
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And Miss Hollywood herself showed up! Ha! Brylie is such a character and so sassy...I LOVE her!</div>
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The wedding set up was BEAUTIFUL!</div>
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Her daddy walker her down the aisle....he wasn't crying, but I can't say he wasn't thinking about it ;) There were a few random spectators on the beach that were enjoying watching the wedding too! </div>
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There ceremony was short and sweet and perfect. Before we knew it, they were pronounced husband and wife....Mr. and Mrs. Harper!</div>
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And then it was time to PARTY. We hung out on the beach for a few more pictures..... </div>
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We loved hanging out with this crew all week and getting to know Stephen's family better! </div>
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After pictures, we went inside for a DELICIOUS dinner. It was seriously SO good. And the decorations were the cutest!<br />
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After dinner, we topped the night off with a bonfire on the beach. It was literally the perfect way to end a perfect day. The guys and kids played football for awhile and the rest of us toasted smores and lounged. It was awesome!<br />
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The whole day was magic! </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Harper! </span></div>
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Brady W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09465309586429435481noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173748890566243545.post-78543366145415075372019-03-12T17:00:00.000-07:002019-05-16T12:23:26.583-07:00It was all worth it<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
65 days.<br />
<br />
That's all the longer he was meant to be "ours."<br />
<br />
65 days of laughing, crying, learning, hugging, stretching, growing, praying.<br />
<br />
Our house is a little quieter, our hearts are a little sadder and our arms feel a little emptier.<br />
<br />
We were not shocked he got sent home (as reintegration was the goal from the beginning), but we are heartbroken at the abrupt way it happened.<br />
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I have heard time and again that the "system is broken." I'm here to tell you, friends, it is broken indeed.<br />
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He was failed time and again by his case team (we thank God that OUR case team was so supportive or we would have been lost in all of this).<br />
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He became "just another case" on their list.<br />
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We were unable to advocate for him in the way that was needed because of lack of communication from his team.<br />
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We were given 16 hours to prepare for him leaving. They decided all of this at a court hearing that we knew nothing about by a judge who I don't think was given even a fraction of the information that should have been required to make that decision.<br />
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Tessa and I were out of town when I got the phone call to "please go ahead and pack up all of his stuff to send home tomorrow." We didn't even get to tell him goodbye. <br />
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While in some ways 65 days felt like an eternity, at the same time......it just
wasn't enough. Enough time to reassure him he's loved unconditionally, enough time to
teach him that God is always with him, enough time to show him a
different life, enough time to give him the resources to grow up to
be a good person.<br />
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But......it WAS enough time for us to fall in love with him, to show
him that throwing fits doesn't get him what he wants, to teach him where
his nose and eyes are, to introduce him to Puppy Dog Pals and Paw
Patrol, to learn that he LOVES dinosaurs and trucks, to show him how to swing, to learn the difference in his fake mean face and his real mean face, to pray for him and his family every night at bedtime, to let him be a little kid without fear of anything.<br />
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Foster care is still so new to us. There is still SO much to learn and so much to experience and so many kids to help. Even after going through all of this with our first placement, we know that not every case will be this way and we rest assured that God will bring the right kids to us at the right time. It was all worth it. <br />
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Please join us in praying that even though the system failed him, that his family will not. That he is safe, protected and loved. That him and his mom and siblings will be restored in every way possible.<br />
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And if you've ever even THOUGHT about fostering, PLEASE take the next step. Whether that's praying about it more, calling an agency to see where to start, taking the class....or even messaging me with questions and fears! Just step out in faith, knowing that God will meet you where you are.<br />
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Brady W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09465309586429435481noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173748890566243545.post-20075366298617318692019-03-05T08:05:00.000-08:002019-04-22T08:24:51.104-07:00Beach Babies<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
After our adventures at Disney World, we headed to Panama City Beach for cousin Whit's wedding.<br />
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We got to the beach house pretty late at night, so we tried to get all of our luggage upstairs and situated without waking anybody else up! We weren't able to see a whole lot in the dark, but the next morning, we were greeted with the most beautiful view!<br />
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The kids getting their first view of the ocean!</div>
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They were ready to get going, so they threw on their swimming suits and hopped in the heated pool before they'd even eaten breakfast! They spent as much time as they could in the pool the whole week. The ocean water was FREEZING, so we went in about ankle deep, but that was as far as they wanted to go!<br />
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We did take lots of walks on the beach looking for seashells. Tessa found some pretty ones to take back to her class!<br />
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My cute little mermaid!</div>
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One day, Nick, Tommy, Tessa and I went on a deep sea fishing tour. It was a lot of fun! We started catching fish as soon as we put our poles in. Tommy got a little whiny (I had given them dramamine so the boat wouldn't make them sick without realizing that the medication itself could make you feel like crap!) and it was pretty cold out on the water, but we still had so much fun! We got to see dolphins, too--that was the highlight of the boat ride for the kiddos. We caught enough fish to feed all the guys that night, so that was fun!<br />
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We also did an air boat ride to look for gators. We didn't get to see any gators, but Tessa did get to help drive the air boat (which we found out later she did NOT want to ride up there) and it was still neat to go through some of the bayou's and rivers. </div>
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We got to hold a baby gator before we went out on the water! It was so cute and felt MUCH softer than I thought it would.<br />
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One evening, Whitney's brother in law Brian took some family pictures for us. They were so fun and turned out great!<br />
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I made the kids take a few more shots with me on my phone. They were SO over it--ha! But they were good sports and I'm glad we have pictures on the beautiful beach!<br />
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We had SO much fun in the days leading up to Whitney's beach wedding! We got to do a little bit of everything....adventure, relaxing, swimming, sand, sun, fishing, alligators. It was the BEST vacation!</div>
Brady W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09465309586429435481noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173748890566243545.post-15237699665883707562019-02-25T12:56:00.000-08:002019-03-15T12:56:15.387-07:00Our Day at Hollywood Studios<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We had so much fun at Magic Kingdom and I wasn't sure how Hollywood Studios would top it.<br />
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But it DID!!<br />
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We went there the day after Magic Kingdom and I LOOOOOVED Hollywood Studios. That's saying a lot for someone who isn't really that into theme parks or Disney.<br />
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But it was a lot smaller than Magic Kingdom, so it was much easier to find your way around. The decorations were SO fun (not that Magic Kingdom wasn't, but Hollywood Studios was so colorful and full of neat things to look at). <br />
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Tessa is obsessed with fake glasses and she found this pair for sale at Hollywood before we even made it through the gate! They were super cute on her!<br />
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The weather was a LOT warmer the day we went to Hollywood, but it still wasn't too bad. We walked through the front gate and were greeted by a parade of Storm Troopers. Tommy was so happy to see them!<br />
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We went straight towards Toy Story World and got in line for the Alien Swirling Saucers. The line was kind of long, but it was in the shade and there was so much to look at while we were waiting! Toy Story World was so neat and they nailed all of the little details. </div>
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After the Swirling Saucers (which was okay but kind of lame), we went to Toy Story Mania. We had a fast pass for that (so glad, because one of machines was down so the line was SUUUUUPER long). EVERYBODY loved this ride! You go through the ride with a little laser gun and get to shoot different targets the whole time. It was a lot of fun for all ages! <br />
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Next up was the Slinky Dog Dash roller coaster. The kids were SUPER STOKED to go on this one. This was the longest line we waited in--around an hour. It was starting to get really hot, so that was kind of a bummer, but better the sunshine than the rain! We got up to the front of the line and they were READY TO GO! <br />
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Brylie rode with me on this one. She was HILARIOUS. She was so excited until it was time to go. I screamed the whole time (it was kind of scary!) and held on to her hand! She just kept closing her eyes. The picture below is when we finished the coaster. She looked at me and said, "That was NOT a good idea." But hey, at least she didn't throw up! <br />
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Then we headed over to the Rock N Roller Coaster. This one was CRAZY! It was SO stinking fast! The kids LOVED it and wanted to ride it again. <br />
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It's an indoor roller coaster as well, which is nice that you can ride it no matter what the weather is like. And it's nice and cool while you're waiting!<br />
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After the Rock 'N' roller coaster, we got in line for the Hollywood Tower of Terror. I think out of all of them, this one was my favorite and the scariest (to me)! You go inside a hotel lobby area and they show a video about the history of the "hotel." Then you get in line and it's a boiler room type setting. They line you up in front of 3 different elevators. We rode this twice and I think each elevator does something slightly different because it wasn't exactly the same each time. <br />
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Once you're seated in the elevator (in theater type seating), it takes you up several floors and then you drive out of the elevator and through a creepy hallway. Once you reach the outerwall of the hotel, you PLUMMET several floors, then go up a few, then plummet more, then up a few, and so on. The dropping motion scared me to death! But I also liked the unexpectedness of it and not knowing exactly what would happen and when. Nick may or may not have videoed me screaming my head off. I literally lost my voice the next day because of how much I screamed on Tower of Terror!<br />
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After we rode that, we went to an Indiana Jones show that was really neat! They did a bunch of movie stunts and showed how they do it. It was neat to see a "behind the scenes" of how it all works. Tommy thought it was awesome and talked about it a lot!<br />
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Then we went to the Star Wars Adventure Continues simulation ride. I liked it a lot more than I thought I would! I wasn't sure how fun a simulator would be, but it really felt like we were flying through Star Wars landscapes and shooting targets and all that. The kids all loved it!<br />
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Our final quest for the night was meeting some of our favorites! Tommy and Nick went to meet Darth Vader and Chewbacca. The girls and I went to meet Vampirina and Princess Sophia. The lines weren't bad at all (maybe 10-15 minute) and Tessa was SO stoked! She LOVES Vampirina!<br />
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We headed out around 7pm to finish the final leg of our journey to Panama City Beach! We were all exhausted and could have stayed at Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios for DAYS and still not done it all, but we had SUCH a good time!<br />
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Brady W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09465309586429435481noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173748890566243545.post-65108818486272640712019-02-19T12:22:00.000-08:002019-03-13T12:22:13.630-07:00We're goin to Disney!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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We got to Disney on Sunday afternoon, right when it was time to check in. One thing that surprised me after driving under the infamous Walt Disney World sign was that you still go a looooooooong way to get to the parks! The entrance is to like a whole other system of roads and hotels and parks and restaurants that are a part of Disney World. Silly me thought as soon as we drove under the sign, we'd be at our hotel. WRONG! It's HUUUUUGE.</div>
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We stayed at the Disney All Stars resort. We met Aunt Brookie (she'd flown out to meet us) there. Once we found it and got checked in, we made the kiddos take a picture on the red carpet. They were so excited (and so were we)! <br />
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We didn't have tickets to get into the park until the next day, so Sunday night we let them explore the resort a bit and swim in the pool. <br />
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Tommy was SO excited that we were in the Mighty Ducks wing of the resort. He LOVES watching hockey and EVERYTHING was hockey themed, so it was right up his alley! <br />
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After we swam, we got on the bus that takes you to other Disney resorts. Even if you aren't staying there, you're able to go into them and look around and have access to the shops and restaurants. We had decided to go to the Polynesian to eat and get a Dole Whip. It took awhile to get loaded on the bus, drive to where we'd get on the train and then get unloaded. They had a security check point as soon as you get off the bus. Nick pulled me aside and was all, "Uhhh, I gotta go back." And I'm all, "Uhhhhh.....no. That took forever. Why would we go back?" Long story short, Nick has a conceal and carry license. And he had for some reason decided to use his conceal and carry. In all fairness, he thought we were just going to Disney Springs, which does NOT have a security check point.<br />
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So he had to go all the way back to the hotel. We went ahead and got on the train to the Polynesian (the kids LOVED getting to ride that). We had dinner at a cafe there. The food was okay, but not great. It was fast food for a fine dining price--ha! We were going to get Dole Whips, but my kids were being naughty and mouthy, so that didn't happen.<br />
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After we were done with dinner, we rode the bus to Disney Springs and met up with Nick again. We walked around for a bit before deciding to take our kids back to the hotel. They were both really grumpy and still not feeling 100% and we knew they needed the rest.<br />
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We got to the resort and got to sleep. Everyone else had decided to meet early in the morning to get to the park before it opened. We decided to let the kids sleep in a bit before going so they would be happy and well rested. And we were SO glad we did that! I was bummed at first to get there a little later, but it worked out great! By the time the others got on the bus and through security, we weren't really that far behind them.<br />
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We rode one ride before meeting up with everyone else. It was the Space Ranger alien shooting game and the kids loved it! The line took awhile, but wasn't TOO bad--about 45 minutes.<br />
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After we met up with them, we rode the Astro Orbiter. Brylie was my riding partner and she was a little nervous! <br />
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After the rockets, we went back to the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger game. We hadn't realized we had a FastPass for it when we rode it the first time. But the kids liked it so much that we were happy to ride again. And it went SO much faster with the FastPass.<br />
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My brother, sister and I took a picture to send to my mom and it made her SO happy. Even as old kids, she's happy to see "her babies together." <br />
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We rode Space Mountain at some point. My mind has intentionally blocked that out because it was TERRIFYING!!! It's an indoor roller coaster and you go through it in the pitch black. NEVER. AGAIN. It was a fun coaster, but the whole "not being able to see anything" aspect of it had me sick. I screamed like a little girl the whole time! My kids and Nick loved it, though!<br />
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We all went on Splash Mountain but had to take turns watching Ty guy because he was too little. Tommy got to play with him on a little playground and I think he thought that was just as much fun as riding rides! <br />
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We also road the Pirates of the Caribbean--it was so cool! There were some animated robotic characters in there that looked so real we had to really pay close attention to see if they were or not. It was a good ride to relax on and for the little kids to be able to go on.<br />
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We rode the Little Mermaid Under the Sea. It was neat--it was animated robotic scenes of the movie. Very nostalgic and sweet for the kids to watch. As you can tell from the picture below, Tommy was THRILLED.<br />
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At that point, we split up a bit because the little girls all wanted to meet a few characters and Tommy, Nick and Brooke wanted to ride more rides. They went and rode the Haunted Mansion and Big Thunder.<br />
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And we got to meet................Elena of Avanor and CINDERELLA!!</div>
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It was so funny--when we were talking to Elena, she was so sweet and friendly. She was talking to Brylie and Brylie looked at her and said, "I want to see Belle." HA! We were dying! Elena managed to not act too offended, but you could tell she was a little put off!<br />
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After we met them, we rode the carousel. It was a LEGIT carousel. It went WAAAAAY too fast for my liking. I can do roller coasters okayish but the spinning of the carousel really got to me.<br />
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And then it was time for the Tea Cups! I was so glad we rode them! It's an iconic ride and although I could have done without the spinning again, we were glad to be able to say we'd done it! <br />
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After the Tea Cups, we met back up with the other group. Nick, Tommy and I rode Barnstormer because there was hardly any line. And then we ended the night with the infamous fireworks in front of the castle! They really were beautiful and it was a neat moment being there for something that you dream about doing as a kid. I was glad we were able to give our kiddos that experience!</div>
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We FINALLY made it back to the bus stop and managed to snap a group picture of all of us. It was such a fun (but exhausting) day! <br />
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Brady W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09465309586429435481noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173748890566243545.post-42298679830513380852019-02-18T11:24:00.000-08:002019-03-13T11:30:22.045-07:00Road Trippin 2019<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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This February, we decided to road trip to Florida and we had the BEST time! My cousin was getting married in Panama City Beach and we decided since we'd be so close to Disney, we might as well go! </div>
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The two weeks before we were supposed to leave, both of the kids were sick. Tessa got swabbed form influenza A and it was positive. She missed several days of school and was SO sick. It was awful. We were so afraid she wouldn't be healthy enough to go, but the day before we left, she started feeling a little better and was able to go to school. Thank God! We weren't sure what we were going to do if she wasn't able to handle being in the car.</div>
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We left on a Friday after school and drove as far as we could. We ended up about an hour and a half outside of Nashville. Saturday morning, we woke up and finished our drive into Nashville and spent most of the day there exploring! We LOVED it!</div>
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Nick knew Frank from the American Pickers show had a shop in Nashville, so he wanted to stop in and see it. Turned out to be a total bust (didn't have much for sale and what was for sale was hundreds of dollars), but we had fun looking anyways!<br />
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After looking around that shop for a bit, we went down to a main street and just walked around for awhile. The atmosphere was so fun and we got to see a lot of cool shops and restaurants.<br />
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We hit up a candy shop that was DELICIOUS. We bought chocolate peanut butter cups as big as our hands and rice krispy treats as big as our heads! So good.</div>
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After shopping a bit, we found a barbecue restaurant to eat lunch at. The food was great and there was live music, so that was fun to listen to! <br />
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The bathroom walls had places to sign your name, so of course all the girls had to find a sharpie and leave their mark! I think it made Tessa feel really grown up and cool. <br />
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That night, we drove as far as we could again and ended up about 3-4 hours outside of Orlando! The hotel we stayed at had a pool and these crazy kids INSISTED on swimming, even though the water was FREEZING. They loved it!<br />
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We slept in a bit Sunday morning and ate breakfast at the hotel. Then we pushed through the final leg of the journey and made it to the happiest place on Earth!<br />
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DISNEY WORLD!!</div>
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Brady W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09465309586429435481noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173748890566243545.post-18280362454370767292019-01-22T07:13:00.000-08:002019-01-22T07:13:19.048-08:00Momma said there'd be days like this<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I wish I could say it was all rainbows and sunshine after we met him. That I could tell you as soon as my eyes locked onto those dark brown peepers peering out at me under a mop of curly hair that I felt an instant connection and knew this little boy belonged in my life. That I could say I've had zero doubts since he stepped through our door.<br />
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But that would be so far from the truth.<br />
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His team dropped him off without a blue book. For anyone that does foster care, you know the importance of the blue book. It contains every piece of information about your foster child that you could need. <br />
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And we had nothing. We didn't know his history, his health status, why we were his third or fourth home.....nothing. So we had to wing it.<br />
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Our first night wasn't too bad. To be honest, it's all a blur and I don't remember very many details other than him being really wound up and ready to see what our house was all about. I remember being pleasantly surprised at how happy he was. He finally slowed down and stopped moving around 3am when we turned on some Puppy Dog Pals. It distracted him for a bit, but he got really upset any time we turned the TV and lights off. I finally turned on the Elevation Worship playlist and held him until he fell asleep. He was kind of restless in his sleep and we would occasionally hear him whimper or toss around, but he slept through the night.<br />
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The next morning.....that's what will be ingrained in my memory FOREVER. I had taken the morning off work and Nick had taken the afternoon off. So we got the kids off to school together and then it was just me and him. Alone. He was weary of me and I was just as weary of him. We were both exhausted, which never helps anything. About an hour into our time together, he had already thrown about 5 tantrums (involving him throwing himself backward onto our hardwood floors and hitting his head) and I was getting ready to throw my own tantrum. I was doing my best to be upbeat and happy for him, knowing that whatever I was feeling, he was feeling times ten.<br />
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I mustered enough energy to put him in his highchair and feed him a snack.<br />
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And then I cried. And I cried and cried and cried. I have never felt so attacked by the enemy as I did in that moment. I laid my head on the table and sobbed until I had nothing left in me.<br />
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"What are we doing?"<br />
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"Why did I say yes to this?"<br />
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"What did I just do to our family?"<br />
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"Did I really hear God right?"<br />
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"We'll never be able to take care of this kid the way he needs us to."<br />
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"How are my kids going to handle this?" <br />
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All of these thoughts swirled around in my head while he stared at me and munched on goldfish and apple juice. I knew they were lies and that there was NO denying this is what God wanted from us, but the truth was being drowned out by what Satan was shouting at me.<br />
<br />
My mom and sister came over with my niece and nephew to see me and meet our new little guy and because it was my mom's birthday. I tried so hard to hold it together when they walked through the door. But one question from my mom ("How's it going?") and I was done. I cried again while my mom told me it would be okay. That I was just tired and tomorrow would be a new day.<br />
<br />
Deep breaths.<br />
<br />
I finished crying and he finished his snack. I got him down from his high chair so he could play with my niece and nephew. My mom, sister and I all went to sit down on the couch to talk while they played and I was so thankful to have something to distract me from my thoughts.<br />
<br />
He was having a really hard time sharing anything and continued to throw tantrums whenever he was told no or to share. He grabbed something out of my nephew's hand and I braced myself to get up and go through another round of gentle correction and explaining that he can't do that to other kids. But before I could get up, my nephew walked over to where I was sitting and got on my lap and let me hug him.<br />
<br />
He never lets me hug him. He always laughs and runs away and blows me kisses from afar.<br />
<br />
But that morning.....that morning, he sat completely still with his sticky little arms around my neck and comforted me in a way that nobody else could.<br />
<br />
I am confident that God used him in that moment to speak truth to me and to drown out the lies of the enemy. That one little hug gave me energy to handle another tantrum, to know that this would be hard, but we CAN do it, to CHEER UP! because we are walking in God's will.<br />
<br />
After a few minutes, he looked into my eyes, patted my cheeks and hopped down to go play.<br />
<br />
And I knew that everything was going to be okay.<br />
<br />
Momma said there'd be days like this....but God said to take heart, so that's what I'm trying to do. <br />
<br />
It's taken me some time (as it does in EVERY situation involving change in my life) to warm up to him....but I'm there now. I'm all in. I love him and for as long as I have him and mostly likely even when we don't anymore, I consider him my son.<br />
<br />
In the almost three weeks he's been with us, we've had some really high highs and some really low lows. We've had days where he cried for hours on end about EVERYTHING. We've had days where he's laughed and fallen asleep smiling. We've had moments full of simultaneous joy and pain....like when he called me mama and Nick dad. Glad that he felt comfortable enough to do that, heartbroken that he's calling a perfect stranger mom and dad because he doesn't fully comprehend what those roles should mean in his life.<br />
<br />
He is SUPER attached to Nick and Nick LOVES it (most of the time)! They're best buds. And it works out for me, because I actually get to go to the bathroom alone still--ha!<br />
<br />
The kids are obsessed with him. I laugh at myself now when I think about how upset I was that first day wondering what I had just done to their lives. Tessa can't wait to get home to see him and Tommy LOVES making him laugh.<br />
<br />
He makes us laugh every day with his wrinkled nose and ornery grin. We cheer each time he says a new word and clap when he does something new. He loves to give us high fives and "squeezes." He giggles every time he toots on someone and has the world's best "I don't care what you say" look when he's mad. The tantrums have all but stopped. He still doesn't like to be told no, but I don't know a toddler that does! <br />
<br />
Each day has brought something new (good OR bad) and God has shown up for us time and again and given us what we need to meet each challenge head on.<br />
<br />
We are surrounded by a support group of family and friends that have encouraged us, prayed for us, given us clothes and car seats and shoes and highchairs and strollers, baby-sat our kids while we go to appointments and meetings.....we know that anything we need, they are there for us.<br />
<br />
And as it goes in the world of foster care, we have no idea what the future holds. We don't know how long we'll have him, what reintegration with his biological family will look like, how it will all play out. But we hope and pray that with each day we have him, we are showing him just a glimpse of God's love for him. <br />
<br /></div>
Brady W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09465309586429435481noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173748890566243545.post-66066984936651341902019-01-20T08:21:00.000-08:002019-05-16T11:58:31.567-07:00To Tommy on your 8th birthday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Tommy-<br />
<br />
You are EIGHT this year. All of your birthdays have hit me hard, but eight just seems so.....grown up. Like, I'm truly questioning how it's possible that it's been eight years since you were born.<br />
<br />
I know if I was saying that to you out loud, you would sigh and say something sarcastic to me. You would reassure me that no matter how old you are, you'll still hug me and sit in my lap and let me call you my baby (even though you're already doing that less and less).<br />
<br />
At eight years old, you are around 49 inches and 62 pounds. You're tall and skinny! I love your gangly knees and arms. You've got killer abs and dad always says how jealous he is. <br />
<br />
Your bright blond hair has gotten so much darker. It actually makes me really sad. I LOVE your blond hair and I'm hoping when it's summer again and you're outside all the time that it'll lighten up.<br />
<br />
You are the klutziest child I've ever known. Ever. You trip over things that aren't there and you are constantly stubbing toes, falling down, running into walls....I would almost call it a talent--ha!<br />
<br />
You speak fluent sarcasm. Sometimes your jokes are legitimately funnier than mine and dad's! We have to catch ourselves sometimes because even though what you're saying might be really hilarious, it doesn't always sound appropriate coming from an eight year old. You tend to be a little on the mouthy side and we've had several stand offs over your mouth.<br />
<br />
But that being said, you can also be the SWEETEST boy. When you do hug me, they're great big bear hugs. I can rest my chin on your head now when we hug, which is totally weird because in my mind, you're still a tiny toddler that can barely reach my knees. You heat up my corn bag for me almost every night. You write me sweet notes that I randomly find on my pillow or in my purse. And every now and then (not often), you do something sweet for your sister.<br />
<br />
You have officially "come out of your shell." We worried when you first started school that you wouldn't make any friends because you were PAINFULLY shy. You wouldn't know it now. You like making people laugh and you have so many friends that we love having around! You're growing up with a great group of kids and we are so grateful for the fact that you enjoy being around other kids so much now.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4B9kVdw_s9OOLxNK8nbGRVc0exLMSeWvK_KSkGcV0FvlcUCwFjbXHkF9u-0vObQmux8HpXPqJ-fyVe2KX1kerDz5imU7d495jQz3i7MT44TZy4EQ5GxbP5ceSkzg7i_N-ad9OvAkjxPs/s1600/tj.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="478" data-original-width="318" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4B9kVdw_s9OOLxNK8nbGRVc0exLMSeWvK_KSkGcV0FvlcUCwFjbXHkF9u-0vObQmux8HpXPqJ-fyVe2KX1kerDz5imU7d495jQz3i7MT44TZy4EQ5GxbP5ceSkzg7i_N-ad9OvAkjxPs/s640/tj.png" width="424" /></a>You do really well in school and seem to enjoy math. You're constantly turning situations around us into math problems and letting me know what the answer is. You like to read a lot, but only if it's your idea and I'm not making you do it. When I try to make you read, then you have no interest (of course).<br />
<br />
But your favorite subject at school is lunch.<br />
<br />
You LIVE to eat. We can eat a hearty fulfilling meal and no more than 30 minutes later, you let me know you're starving and want to know what kind of snack you can have. It drove me crazy for so long but now I've come to expect it and try to have your favorite snacks on hand at all times so you don't die (your words, not mine).<br />
<br />
You have REALLY gotten into sports this year! We've had so much fun watching you play football and basketball. You really want to start soccer in the spring, so that's the plan and I have a feeling that's going to be your favorite. You just enjoy them so much more than you used to so it's fun for us to watch when you're having a good time.<br />
<br />
Tommy, the past eight years with you have truly been a joy. We argue sometimes (mostly because we're personality twins), but I'm always so happy to see you after school and spend time with you in the evenings. I love watching your shows with you (except Star Wars because it bores me to tears) and I love when you show me new things you've learned. We have so much fun together and I can't wait to see what this year holds for us!<br />
<br />
Happy eighth birthday, son!<br />
<br /></div>
Brady W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09465309586429435481noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173748890566243545.post-33325053509061995202019-01-18T12:46:00.001-08:002019-01-18T13:15:04.446-08:00Our first placement<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We got news that we were officially licensed to do foster care on January 2nd, 2019. About 30 seconds after our social worker notified us that our license had come through, she sent another text asking if we wanted a 4 year old girl.<br />
<br />
And just like that, we had entered the world of foster parenting.<br />
<br />
I texted Nick to see what he thought, but knew in my heart that we were going to hold out for a younger kiddo. We licensed for up to age 18, but had decided to do 3 and younger. When we had originally filled out our paperwork in our MAPP class a few years ago, they asked us what we pictured when we thought about our first foster child. I specifically remember talking to Nick about it and letting him know that when I closed my eyes, I saw a 2 year old brown boy joining our family.<br />
<br />
He seemed skeptical and said, "Really??" I had shared multiple times how much I wanted a newborn or tiny baby, so I think it threw him off when I told him what I saw in my mind. It was weird because I didn't WANT a 2 year old boy. I WANTED a sweet little 8 lb baby girl that I could snuggle and comfort and dress up. But when they asked that question on our paperwork and I stopped and meditated on what I pictured for our first foster child......that's what God brought to mind. So on our paperwork, that's what I wrote down.<br />
<br />
A 2 year old brown boy.<br />
<br />
Nick and I decided together not to take the 4 year old girl. My heart broke for her and although I knew she wasn't right for our family, I prayed they would find the perfect family for her. This foster parenting thing was already harder than I thought.<br />
<br />
How do you just say no? How do you tell someone, "Sorry--I'm not interested in that kid. I'll hold out for something ‘better.’ "<br />
<br />
My only thought and comfort was that God has somebody picked out for each kid and even though it might make me feel guilty, we have to do what we felt called to do. It's not saying 'no' to one kid....it's saying 'yes' to another.<br />
<br />
A few hours later, I was working and heard the infamous 'ping' on my phone. It was my social worker.<br />
<br />
She asked if wanted a 1 year old.<br />
<br />
My heart started pounding.....my hands got sweaty.....my mind was racing.<br />
<br />
"Can I call you in 5 minutes?" I asked.<br />
<br />
I was getting ready to leave work for the day and after I got that text, I wanted nothing more than to shoot out the door and get on the phone with my worker. I called her as soon as I got in the car to get more information.<br />
<br />
"Boy or girl?" I asked.<br />
<br />
"Boy."<br />
<br />
"And he's one?" I said.<br />
<br />
"He's almost two."<br />
<br />
She told me his name and that he'd been in two or three other placements since the end of November. It took all I had not to start sobbing right then. A tiny human had been moved THREE times in the matter of one month. The tragedy of that wasn't lost on me.<br />
<br />
"Let me call my husband and I'll let you know right away."<br />
<br />
I called Nick and while we were both nervous and hesitant, we decided to say yes. Might as well jump in head first, right?<br />
<br />
I called my worker back and let her know we were in. We got the arrangements figured out and eventually I heard from his social worker. She let us know she would be at our house with him around 11:30pm.<br />
<br />
We got our kids to bed (they were DEVASTATED to miss his arrival). We laid down on the couch to try to catch a quick nap knowing that this kiddo was probably going to be wide awake and either ready to explore his surroundings or scared to death to be in another new home.<br />
<br />
My phone rang at 11:15pm and his worker let me know they were pulling in the driveway.<br />
<br />
We opened the door and she was standing there holding a lumpy bundle in a blue fuzzy blanket. She turned sideways so he could see us and our eyes locked onto the curly haired little 2 year old brown boy God had brought to our doorstep.</div>
Brady W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09465309586429435481noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173748890566243545.post-25877073607269935212019-01-15T12:30:00.000-08:002019-01-18T12:24:18.319-08:00Our Journey to Foster Care--Part 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
After taking the classes for licensing for foster care and deciding I wasn't ready yet, we went about our business. We were raising our two cuties, working full time jobs and living the dream!<br />
<br />
Eventually "the dream" turned into "the daily grind." Nick got promoted to General Manager at his job and his responsibilities increased a lot. He was working super long hours and while the pay was great, it was becoming a burden on our family. He left before any of us woke up (around 4:30am) and usually didn't get home until around 6pm. The kids were missing their dad and I was missing my husband. He was missing out on coaching the kids' teams and going to practices. He wasn't able to help me take them to doctor appointments or stay home with them if they were sick.<br />
<br />
I was able to adjust my hours at work to be able to drop the kids off at school and pick them up four days a week, so that was a huge blessing. I felt better about them being with at least one parent most of the time rather than at daycare or latchkey (no judgement against using those, I just wanted my babies with ME if at all possible).<br />
<br />
We were all gathering at home at the end of the day too exhausted and busy to really do anything other than eat dinner, take quick showers and drop into bed. Don't get me wrong--we loved our life, but we were just getting by day to day. Shuffling from one activity to the next.<br />
<br />
In August, Nick was done. He LOVED the company he worked for, but the hours and the stress were too much. He knew it was time for a change and that's when we started REALLY praying about his job situation. We had friends praying, our church praying, our families praying....he started looking for jobs that wouldn't require a HUGE pay cut, but that had better hours and less stress! He needed something that would allow him more time with his family and to do the things he loved in life.<br />
<br />
At the same time, God was bringing foster care to my heart and mind again. I was starting to feel the "baby itch." I felt better equipped to handle another kid. Not that our lives were any less hectic, but we were in more of a routine and my kids were able to shower themselves, brush their own teeth, get themselves dressed....I had more time in the day because they were able to do so much more on their own. After a lot of prayer on my own about this, I decided to tell Nick that I thought I was ready to look into it again. I wasn't sure what all we'd have to do or if the class we had taken 3 years before would still be valid for our licensing. One night after dinner, I said, "Babe, I'm ready. I'm ready to get into foster care and see what it would take to finish the licensing process." He stared at me for a second and then said, "K."<br />
<br />
And I'm all, "Uhhhhh, did you HEAR me? I SAID....I'm FINALLY READY!"<br />
<br />
He responded with a little more enthusiasm the second time and said something along the lines of, "That's great, babe!" I told him I'd check in with our MAPP class teacher to see what all we needed to do to complete licensing. We went to bed that night and I felt at peace with our decision to move forward.<br />
<br />
The next day I was sitting at work and I heard a little "ping" come from my phone. I looked down at the notification and thought my eyes were going to bug out of my head. I immediately called Nick and said, "You're not going to believe this."<br />
<br />
The lady that had taught our MAPP class had messaged me on Facebook. Her message said something along the lines of....."Hey! Did you guys ever finish licensing for foster care? I just started working for Restoration Family Services and thought of you. I have all of your paperwork from the MAPP class, so it wouldn't take much to finish up. Just let me know if you're interested in moving forward."<br />
<br />
I. was. BLOWN AWAY. At that moment, I knew that I knew that I knew (as Pastor John always likes to say) that God was confirming that we needed to step out in faith and complete our licensing. Like, there was ZERO doubt in my mind after that happened. I was a little worried about how it was going to all work out since Nick was always busy with work and I was busy with the kids. But I knew God would make a way. I messaged our teacher back letting her know we would love to move forward. Again, we went to bed that night and I felt at peace with our decision.<br />
<br />
The next day, NICK GOT A NEW JOB!! I kid you not, THE VERY DAY AFTER WE COMMITTED to moving forward with foster care, he got a job offer at the place he had really hoped to land. The pay cut was VERY minimal, it was a 7 minute drive from our house rather than 40 minutes and the hours were "around 7:30am" to "around 4:30pm." He got to come home for an hour for his lunch break and was told he could really set his own hours to an extent as long as all of his work got done.<br />
<br />
Well, okay.<br />
<br />
In a matter of 24 hours, our lives changed drastically. My husband turned in his notice, started his new job and we started the process of paperwork and house inspections. It took several months for us to finish everything, but FINALLY on January 2nd, 2019, we were officially licensed. And about 4 hours later, we got news of our first placement.<br />
<br />
And it's been a whirlwind ever since....</div>
Brady W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09465309586429435481noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173748890566243545.post-42369321875966010782019-01-14T17:30:00.000-08:002019-05-16T12:09:11.583-07:00Our Journey to Foster Care<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Our journey to foster care.....a cheesy title, but there's truly no other way to describe the process other than as a journey. I've had several people ask how we decided to do foster care and.....well....there's not really a simple answer so I thought I'd record it here.<br />
<br />
About 4 years ago, we were sitting in church. I can't remember what the sermon was about. I was tired. We had two young kids that I was trying to keep entertained for an hour and a half because they refused to go to the nursery. Honestly, I just remember being SO over it. I wanted to go home and sleep and relax and not chase children everywhere. My eyelids were getting heavy (sorry Pastor) and juuuuuust as I was starting to doze off, my husband slides a piece of paper over to me that he had written a note on.<br />
<br />
I thought, "Oh, that's so cute! He's going to tell me he loves me or that I deserve a nice long nap when we get home."<br />
<br />
And then I read the note.<br />
<br />
It said, "We should do foster care."<br />
<br />
Uhhhhhhh...........no.<br />
<br />
No thank you.<br />
<br />
There was literally nothing I could think of that I would rather do LESS than raise another child who needs more attention than my own two. But I didn't want to let Nick know that. I looked up and met his eyes.....smiled.....and shrugged my shoulders. I whispered, "Let's talk about that later" while frantically trying to think of a reason to say no that wouldn't make me sound like a horrible, awful person.<br />
<br />
That's all I thought about after he gave me that note. Through the whole church service, my mind bounced back and forth between 'that could be really awesome' and 'that sounds like hell.'<br />
<br />
After church, we got in the car and I braced myself for the inevitable.<br />
<br />
"So.....what do you think about foster care?" he asked me.<br />
<br />
"Well......it sounds like a really nice thing.....for another family to do."<br />
<br />
And I'll spare you all of the conversation we had in between, but eventually I agreed to take the required classes to get licensed. Nick was completely understanding of my hesitation and didn't pressure me at all, but I'll admit that I initially said yes out of guilt. My husband felt a true calling to it and I did not. But my thought process was that there's no way being a foster parent was a BAD thing so even though I didn't necessarily feel like it was the right thing for my life at the time, I went along with it.<br />
<br />
We took the 9 week MAPP-TIPS class. If I remember correctly, it was a 3 hour class that we took once a week. Those were some really long nights. My kids were still three and four and I hated leaving them with someone else for an entire evening every week. We both went there straight from work and we all went straight to bed once we got home.<br />
<br />
The classes were amazing. We learned SO much. It was heartbreaking to see that the need is so great and to watch the videos and learn about how to handle these kids who have been through so much. But at the same time I felt compassion and sadness, I felt SO overwhelmed. With each foster kid comes finding a baby-sitter, establishing care with a doctor, getting them seen for a check up ASAP, paperwork that's never ending, documenting EVERYTHING, emailing social workers and on top of all of that, being the best parent you can to a child who is lost and broken. The list is never ending.<br />
<br />
After our final class, I remember driving home in the dark. My heart was aching...for all the kids in the system, for my own two kids because I missed them and they missed me, because I was exhausted and I just KNEW I wasn't ready to do foster care. I didn't know how to tell Nick and I felt so much guilt (self-induced). I felt like a bad person for not wanting to do this. I felt like I was letting Nick down or keeping him from God's call on his life. I was speaking a lot of untruths to myself. I turned on K-LOVE (our local Christian radio station) hoping to get SOMETHING to uplift my spirit and the song "It's Not Over Yet" by King and Country came on.<br />
<br />
Talk about the Holy Spirit knocking your socks off. It was like literally every word was speaking directly to each negative thought I'd had in that car ride.<br />
<br />
<div class="G1VCxe kno-fb-ctx" jsname="rdVbIe" style="background-color: white; margin-top: 12px;">
<div jsname="U8S5sf" style="line-height: 1.24; margin-bottom: 12px;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span jsname="YS01Ge">And they are inside your head</span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">You got a voice that says</span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">You won't get past this one</span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">You won't win your freedom</span></span></div>
<div jsname="U8S5sf" style="line-height: 1.24; margin-bottom: 12px;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="color: #222222;">It's like a constant war</span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="color: #222222;">And you want to settle that score</span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="color: #222222;">But you're bruised and beaten</span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge"><span style="color: #222222;">And </span><span style="color: red;">you feel defeated</span></span></span></div>
<div jsname="U8S5sf" style="line-height: 1.24; margin-bottom: 12px;">
<span jsname="YS01Ge"><span style="color: red; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">This goes out to the heaviest heart</span></span></div>
<div jsname="U8S5sf" style="line-height: 1.24; margin-bottom: 12px;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: red;"><span jsname="YS01Ge">Oh, to everyone who's hit their limit</span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">It's not over yet</span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">It's not over yet</span></span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="color: #222222;">And even when you think you're finished</span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="color: #222222;">It's not over yet</span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="color: #222222;">It's not over yet</span></span></div>
<div jsname="U8S5sf" style="line-height: 1.24; margin-bottom: 12px;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: red;"><span jsname="YS01Ge">Keep on fighting</span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Out of the dark</span></span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="color: #222222;">Into the light</span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="color: #222222;">It's not over</span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="color: #222222;">Hope is rising</span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="color: #222222;">Never give in</span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="color: #222222;">Never give up</span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="color: #222222;">It's not over yet</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="G1VCxe kno-fb-ctx" jsname="wq5Syf" style="background-color: white;">
<div class="iw7h9e" data-mh="-1" jsname="U8S5sf" style="line-height: 1.24; margin-bottom: 12px;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="color: #222222;">Oh, game set match</span><br /><span style="color: red;"><span jsname="YS01Ge">It's time to put it in your past, oh</span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Feel the winter leavin'</span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">It's redemption season</span></span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="color: #222222;">Long live the young at heart (here we are)</span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="color: #222222;">Cheers to a brand new start (here we are)</span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="color: #222222;">We're revived and breathing</span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge" style="color: #222222;">To live a life of freedom</span></span></div>
<div class="xpdxpnd" data-mh="96" data-mhc="1" jsname="U8S5sf" style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.24; margin-bottom: 12px; max-height: 96px; overflow: hidden; transition: max-height 0.3s ease 0s;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span jsname="YS01Ge">Oh, to everyone who's hit their limit</span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">It's not over yet</span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">It's not over yet</span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">And even when you think you're finished</span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">It's not over yet</span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">It's not over yet</span></span></div>
<div class="xpdxpnd" data-mh="128" data-mhc="1" jsname="U8S5sf" style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.24; margin-bottom: 12px; max-height: 128px; overflow: hidden; transition: max-height 0.3s ease 0s;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span jsname="YS01Ge">And life is a race we run</span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">So run till the race is won</span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Don't you ever give up (here we are)</span><br /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Oh no never give up (here we are)</span></span></div>
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I remember just sobbing the rest of the way home and feeling like God was assuring me that it's okay. It's not over. Just because I'm not doing something RIGHT NOW doesn't mean it won't ever happen. That Nick wouldn't resent me. That he would provide other people to step up for these kids. That my kids were doing okay. That we were heading into a redemption season. </div>
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I don't remember when or how I told Nick that I for sure wasn't ready. The years have blurred my memory a bit, but that song and that car ride are something I will never forget and that I clung to for the next few years. </div>
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Brady W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09465309586429435481noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173748890566243545.post-82751723956727668462018-12-28T12:21:00.000-08:002019-02-18T12:25:32.381-08:00CHRISTmas 2018!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We had a busy season as usual this Christmas! We kicked it off with our annual Christmas party with the Cains....the kids are always so excited for a visit from Santa and he didn't disappoint this year! We had so much fun eating and opening gifts and playing our White Elephant exchange. <br />
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Somebody brought Beanboozled and let me tell you.....I will NEVER play that game again. Ever. If you're not familiar, it's a game where they have different colored jelly beans that can either taste like something good (peach) or something disgusting (vomit). So you spin a wheel to see what color you have to eat and then basically don't know for sure what you're going to taste. Of course, as luck would have it, I got the vomit jelly bean. Literally gagged for 20 minutes. But we all got a great laugh out of it!<br />
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A few weeks later, the kids had their Christmas program. They were thrilled, as you can see...<br />
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Those faces.....you would have thought I was asking them to jump off a bridge with how put off they were by taking this picture. Sigh. At least they're cute ;) All of the grandparents got to come watch them sing their hearts out!<br />
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At some point in the season, we took a few pictures for mom to use for her Christmas cards.</div>
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The Kirkpatrick's had a sick kiddo on Christmas Eve, so we got together with Nick's parents and opened just a few presents and had dinner. It was quiet without ALL the cousins, but it was nice. I didn't get any pictures of Christmas Eve.<br />
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That night we left cookies out for Santa with letters. <br />
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Just in case you can't read Tommy's, I included a close up. And it says COUCH, not....the other thing you might think--ha!<br />
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We got to bed and the kiddos woke up so excited the next morning! </div>
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We opened presents and hung out for awhile. They both got a bunch of stuff to take to Florida/Disney World (they just didn't know yet that's what it was for!). We got them both DVD players as their big gifts and they were so excited! We knew they'd come in handy on the 20 hour drive to Disney.<br />
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We got around and headed to my mom's house to have Christmas with my family. We were telling my kids and my nieces and nephew that morning that while we were in Florida, we'd be going to Disney! They had no idea and we were so stoked to be able to FINALLY tell them. We put together a scavenger hunt for Christmas morning...<br />
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We put each clue in an envelope with one kid's name on it so they would be able to take turns opening the clues. They had so much fun opening the clues and figuring them out--the final clue was a box with each of their names on it. They each had a stuffed Disney character and a balloon in their box and the balloons said, "You are going to Disney World!"<br />
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They were thrilled! And we were just as excited to tell them! It was a fun morning for everyone :)<br />
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After mom's house, we went home and crashed and just relaxed for the rest of our Christmas day. It was perfect!</div>
Brady W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09465309586429435481noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173748890566243545.post-91377642471790430232018-12-01T11:51:00.000-08:002019-02-19T11:51:33.683-08:00Thanksgiving 2018<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Thanksgiving was super chill this year! We hosted my family on Thanksgiving day. It was nice not to have to get up and around to try to get out the door this year. We're usually heading to my mom's house by noon, but this year we got to lounge around for a bit before everyone came over. I did a face mask and the kids were actually reading together (that stopped as soon as they noticed me taking a picture, of course).....<br />
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Everybody came around lunch time and we enjoyed a feast and lots of family time together!<br />
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After everyone left, Tessa decided she wanted to do a face mask too...."Hello, Clarice."</div>
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We were doing Thanksgiving with Nick's family a few days later, so we didn't have anywhere else to go. We all crashed on the couch the rest of the evening and the kids ended up falling asleep out there. </div>
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It was such a great day!</div>
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Brady W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09465309586429435481noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173748890566243545.post-35590962859053737492018-11-21T11:36:00.000-08:002019-02-19T11:37:06.365-08:00Girls weekend! <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My best friend and I got to spend an ENTIRE weekend kid free and husband free! Not that we don't love them all.....but we drove down to Stockton Lake to have a little R and R.<br />
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We left on a Friday night. On our way out of town, we may or may not have stopped to get a bucket full of movie theater popcorn. It was the PERFECT snack for the 3 hour drive.<br />
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We stayed up late watching Hallmark movies and then got to sleep in the next morning. All day Saturday we pretty much stayed inside (it was FREEZING cold outside) and watched move Hallmark movies and crafted.<br />
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We did go to a thrift store to stock up on supplies for Christmas wreaths. We scored a few good finds--some old Christmas sweaters and some embroidery hoops! We drove around the lake a bit and looked at all the pretty trees. The fall colors were AMAZING and the leafs were as big as our heads!<br />
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We made LOTS of cute earrings to sell while we were there! These were my favorites....</div>
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On Sunday, we slept in again and watched one more movie before we packed up and headed out for the drive home! Love having girl time with my bestie!</div>
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Brady W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09465309586429435481noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173748890566243545.post-14903760906345273872018-11-02T11:10:00.000-07:002019-02-19T11:13:48.869-08:00Halloween 2018<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Before we get to Halloween, it's worth mentioning that this cute girl FINALLY got to start gymnastics!</div>
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She's so excited because she's taking the class on the same day that her older cousin is, so they get to be in the gym at the same time! It's her dream come true.<br />
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I was excited to have hit 50 pounds lost in mid-October! Having buckets of Halloween candy didn't do much to help me maintain it, but it was great to see those 50 pounds GONE! </div>
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We kicked off Halloween with the annual fall party at the Cain's house. Michael and I showed up in the same outfit! <br />
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Ty was LOVING all the food!</div>
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A few days later, Towanda had it's Trick or Treat Street. We met up with the cousins and came home with buckets full of candy!</div>
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We ran into Brookie and Michael while we were there.....</div>
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On Halloween night, we started off at my mom's and then walked to Brooke and Michael's. Tommy wanted to be a blue power ranger and Tessa wanted to be a taco (which everybody LOVED--people were giving her extra candy because they liked her costume so much)! <br />
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After we hit Brooke and Michael's neighborhood, we headed to Nick's parent's house and trick or treated with our other cousins. They had so much fun! <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOOz2BlVssP7JEkO49O0NodtgvpGsJifb0eqBVazIGzMs5csuhno9qLH1Ofpu6aZ2d85cmCiFWwl6I4JsvdN6zc2vucUVPE5Af_WJ2r-5sNRFUSJ04_qiTTYziTsFJ-z2kLOCdMpGgJCo/s1600/IMG_6713.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOOz2BlVssP7JEkO49O0NodtgvpGsJifb0eqBVazIGzMs5csuhno9qLH1Ofpu6aZ2d85cmCiFWwl6I4JsvdN6zc2vucUVPE5Af_WJ2r-5sNRFUSJ04_qiTTYziTsFJ-z2kLOCdMpGgJCo/s640/IMG_6713.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Happy Halloween!</div>
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Brady W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09465309586429435481noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173748890566243545.post-23388954498154869702018-10-02T08:54:00.000-07:002019-02-19T08:55:05.396-08:00Sweet September<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
September was such a good month for us! It started with Nick's new job and our 10 year anniversary and it ended with flag football and the end of warm, sunny days! And we had several great days in between!<br />
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We had lots of fun playing outside, getting messy and taking bike rides and ATV rides! <br />
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The kids somehow talked me into agreeing to a new kitty....thanks to our neighbors! They had several barn kittens and one of them gradually made it's way over to our house and I just couldn't say no. <br />
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The kids were in the homecoming parade for Circle Rec. </div>
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The girls had some girl time and the boys had some boy time! </div>
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I did some flower planting--my family was so proud! I am an extreme black thumb and kill everything I've ever tried to keep alive (other than my children). So it was a big deal for me to plant flowers! <br />
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Nick took the kids hunting a few times.</div>
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We hung out at Granny's house a lot (she moved to Towanda so she's MUCH closer now)!! </div>
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Tommy started flag football and LOVES it! </div>
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At the end of September, a few people Nick works with gave us tickets to go to a K-State game. It was so much fun! Tessa got a little bored so we walked around for the last quarter of the game, but Nick and Tommy really enjoyed watching. <br />
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We had the BEST September and are sorry to see it's sunny days go! </div>
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Brady W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09465309586429435481noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173748890566243545.post-87368468298007046952018-09-07T08:08:00.000-07:002019-02-19T08:14:56.898-08:00A new beginning<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Nick got a new job!! We are SO excited for his new beginning and the changes it's going to bring to our family. He loved the company he was working for, but the drive and the hours he put in and the overall stress of the job had us praying (and everyone we knew praying) for a change.<br />
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And God answered our prayers big time! Nick's new job is around a 7 minute drive from our home. He will go to work around 7:30am and get off around 4:30pm. It leaves plenty of time to actually ENJOY his evenings and spend time with me and the kids. We couldn't be happier! These are a few pics from his first day (September 5th).<br />
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Please excuse Tessa's attitude--she was mad that I made her get in the picture-HA! Even when she's angry, she's cute!<br />
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The day after Nick started his new job, we celebrated 10 years of marriage! The timing of Nick starting this new job coinciding with our 10 year anniversary felt totally appropriate--knowing that even after being with somebody for 10 years, God can find ways to make life new and fresh again! We are thankful every day that He has helped protect our marriage and that he has blessed us with two (mostly) sweet kiddos!<br />
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Happy 10 years, babe, and congrats on your newest adventure!</div>
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Brady W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09465309586429435481noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173748890566243545.post-32274376866610526632018-08-15T13:08:00.000-07:002019-02-18T13:08:26.060-08:00Dog Days of Summer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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This is basically a picture dump! We had so many nice, lazy days this summer. I don't want to forget Tommy's sun-bleached blond hair or Tessa's love for bike rides!<img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4suPid20zp2t71kAZGo2aC0pNV5ViakSC2J8Gy2Lo4ba_wdjtvw5PREQgbMjxS2PhY6Dt-ydHahS8abKjrcP_m2Rc9Z43PtEEsLMgFA-W7yML5h6pESoFYv2lLmbl3cm-2yOGbMSBwmE/s640/IMG_5224.JPG" width="480" /></div>
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We had the best summer and we're not ready for it to end!</div>
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Brady W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09465309586429435481noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2173748890566243545.post-16055349476801216182018-07-31T09:19:00.000-07:002018-09-07T09:27:03.758-07:00Tessa's 6th Birthday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We had so much fun celebrating Tessa's 6th birthday!<br />
<br />
She decided that this year, she wanted to have a friend party also.
Her cousin, Alex, has a birthday close to hers, so they came up with the
idea of having a joint pool party! It was actually a lot of fun and
super low-key (which is my favorite kind of party). The decorating was
minimal and I didn't have to clean my house--it was a win-win!<br />
<br />
The
Friday before her birthday, she invited all of the girls from her class, some friends from church and a few of our family friends to her mermaid
swimming party and had the BEST time.<br />
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Funny story--we had to do cupcakes as soon as we got there because the frosting was melting so quick! And then it was kind of windy and we couldn't get the match to stay lit, so I made her pretend to blow out the candles--she was so embarrassed! But she went along with it like a champ!<br />
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They
got to eat, open presents and swim to their heart's content. She went
off the diving board no less than 20 times. It was so fun to watch her
interact with her little girlfriends and to see her having so much fun
with them!<br />
<br />
Brooke's birthday present to the kids is to pick an activity they want to do and she takes them for a night out. Tessa picked ice skating and decided she wanted to take her brother and cousins with her--such a sweetie! She loves being with her family. So the night before her birthday, Brooke and Michael and mom took them to Wichita Ice and I met them there to watch them skate a bit.....or try to skate. It was so funny because I think they all thought they were going to go out on the ice and just start skating away! It was so much harder than they thought!<br />
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That little face.....</div>
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Tessa had so much fun! After ice skating, she came home and got to stay up a little later than normal. Then she went to sleep a 5 year old..........and woke up a 6 year old!<br />
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She asked for a chocolate long john for breakfast, so that's what we put her birthday candles in!<br />
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After breakfast, I let her open a few presents. She has been begging for fake glasses. She gets so mad at me because I won't let her buy the ones from the Dollar Tree that people use to help with reading and stuff. I didn't want them to mess up her eyes! So I finally found some kids fake glasses with lenses that have no prescription at all in them and she was SO happy!</div>
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She insisted on wearing them to Nana's house for the day.</div>
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She got to have a little party with her cousins at Nana's. After work, I picked them up and we met Nick at Golden Corral for dinner (Tessa's choice). Tommy was in roll heaven the whole time.... <br />
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Tessa loved it too. She got her macaroni fix (this girl could eat macaroni every day of the week). And she got her favorite dessert from the buffet--a bowl full of candy with chocolate fudge to dip it in!<br />
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She was so full after dinner that Daddy had to carry her out--ha! Not really...but she takes every chance she can get for Dad to carry her.</div>
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Tessa and I did a little shopping after dinner and the boys went home. It was a lot of fun watching her try to decide what to spend her birthday money on! When we finally got home for the night, she opened the last of her presents. She kept making this face for all of them...<br />
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And I got some sweet snuggles from the birthday girl at the end of the night! I love her so much. <br />
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Her final birthday celebration happened in Stockton at Nick's family reunion! We got together with a bunch of fantastic people and got to party again! Our cousin made the CUTEST mermaid cookies for Tessa.......<br />
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She loved them! Let's be honest....we all loved them. I ate far too many mermaid tails! She got all kinds of fun mermaid stuff from her aunts/grandparents/cousins, etc. </div>
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Overall, we spent about a week celebrating Tessa Grace. She was worth every minute and every dime spent! I love our little sweet, spunky six year old!</div>
Brady W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09465309586429435481noreply@blogger.com0