Taylor Christian Camp

I took Mercedez, Tasha, Lita and Michael to meet Chelsea and Bo at Taylor Christian Camp in Kentucky. A HUGE privilege! For those who wondered, obviously Tasha pulled herself together. It was such a beautiful camp. I loved it! I know everyone will have a great week:)

HOT days of summer!

Scott and Daniel spend most mornings outside together. This morning I snapped them working on the driveway trim. But, most mornings they are all over the yard...watering plants, weeding, trimming, moving things around...ya know "men's work".

Mercedez spent a large part of the day painting the picnic tables. Michael sanded them all dwown and helped with the painting too. Scott built a makeshift tent to cover the picnic table(which has to be in the shade to be painted). Scott laughed at it...but it works:) Very neat!



We spent the afternoon playing at the pool (just perfect for hot days!). This picture is what I would call "outnumbered" but he still can't be sunk:)

I have some great flippers in my family! It is amazing to me, crazy to watch my fearless and wonderful crew enjoy the pool! Surprisingly, of all the following pictures....ALL ended in upright and feet first into the water!




Making his flipping debut...Seth who chose a style all his own and had it down pat from the first try!

Making a splash where ever she goes...

Maybe ...Maybe Not. I am in the middle of weighing the decision of sending one of my three girls to camp with Chelsea and Bo. Tasha is on a roll right now with her mouth. I can see that it will always be a struggle for her. One of the reasons whey we have so many verses in the Bible that talk about guarding our tongues. Tasha needs to commit them all to heart, and mind. One of the greatest tools we have and at the same time one of the greatest weaknesses.

She is one of my "SO MUCH POTENTIAL" kiddos! But, either way, today will tell the tale....to go or not to go...

The hardest part?

Someone asked me the other day "what's the hardest part" of adopting and parenting? A new question for me. Usually people assume the hardest parts are laundry, cooking or cleaning. Occasionally someone thinks the busy schedule would be hardest to keep up with. But, truthfully, it's none of the above.

The hardest part is failure. Failure to bring about change in attitudes, in behaviors and in very life my children will live. I have a trio of boys I cannot "change". A birth mom made choices that will impact and perhaps even destroy the opportunities in their future. That's hard to deal with! I have some children with behaviors and attitudes that are just ugly. I know those same behaviors and attitudes will impact their tomorrows...and not in a good way.

The hard part is usually the part, as mom's, we try to change that is not truly within our control. Attitudes, Behaviors, Choices are mine to critique, mine to react to, mine to talk about, mine to try to correct. The hard part is that there does come a day, there is a time when the choice is not mine. The choices lay in the hand of children (young adults, old adults, aka...PEOPLE) who will in turn choose for themselves. I still think often of the time John went to Scott searching for an "out" to working for a friend at church who needed some help. John's words were "mom always punishes me if I make the wrong choice!". To this day those words make me smile. John knew exactly what was "right". It is not my job to always choose for my children, but the response as a mother is very significant. My choices matter, even when the wrong choice is made.

Scott and sat with Sam yesterday who admittedly says, "I just choose to do the wrong thing". After so many years of counseling, after having his tell us exactly what "should" happen in any given situation and yet he still chooses poorly? THAT is hard.

The hardest part of my life? Dealing with all the things I am not in control of! It will always be hard to see my children fail and to know that my influence was not enough. I really don't see this answer changing throughout my lifetime.

I do know, as I parent, as I struggle with the "hardest parts" that my struggle is much like my Lord's. Freewill gives us all the freedom to succeed and to fail. I imagine God wishes everyone would listen to Him too!

BIG Green Monster and more...

I have been MIA...truly missing but in serious action:) Our church had VBS this week. We averaged 400 a day...that's really a whole bunch of kids! In the middle of VBS Scott and Doug (along with some little boy help) revamped our ball field and built a big green monster (much like and much not like Boston's). Lastly, Scott and I traveled Wednesday afternoon to Murfreesboro. We were able to have dinner with Scott's parents and his little sister Janet:) I really don't know when we have done that without kids...maybe never? It was nice sitting in Scott's parents sun room and visiting peacefully. We went to bed early. Scott declaring he got more sleep than he can remember in one night:) We were up early and enjoyed a breakfast of the best fritters (Scott's) and maple roll (mine) in the whole world....thanks to Pa!

We arrived at Sam's RTC to find out he was on the unit (for serious problems meaning he was no longer "outside" and doing alright). He through a maul after getting mad at peer he was working with. It was a hard session. Hard to know what to say, what to encourage, what will make a difference? At one point the worker asked Scott and I, "Have your sessions always been like this?" Meaning us talking to Sam about his choices, about how to ignore negativity, how to be successful....our answer was "yes". For the last 4 years we have been in treatment and setting where the prime objective is the same as today...choices....GOOD choices. Kinda like a bad dream you relive, only we are now desynthesized to so much of it. We can very diplomatically sit and talk about the issues and they do not carry us away emotionally. In a way that is extremely sad. In another it's simply a life skill we have learned.

Happily we were able to talk to Stuart and he met us for lunch and the afternoon. What a joy! What a huge afternoon of polar opposites: Sam at one end and Stuart at the other. Surprisingly (because Stuart is so neat) the afternoon went really well. Another unusual day, rarely do Scott and i both get to be together on visits. We generally have to tag team. Thanks to my sweet and very capable Sarah we were able to be way together. Sarah also had brother support with John, Jake and Doug:) Once again having me say "I love my big kids!!" Scott and I rolled home bout 10 pm, Sarah had movie night rolling so I sat down to watch the end of Elf (a funny to watch in the middle so summer movie...but still cute). My house was asleep but 11:30 and are all still laying in bed this morning:)

The end of our long week coming to a close. This weekend looks busy too, but good busy. Mercedez, Tahsa,Lita and Michael are all going to church camp with Chelsea and Bo. A BIG privilege and very exciting for those who earned it! More of that later!

Juggling

Jacob stood in the kitchen juggling today. Tasha and Daniel stood with him, although they were not juggling nearly as much as they were simply bruising my apples!

Jacob sat on a barstool visiting with me through lunch. He is a funny guy. He said, "It's really great sleeping until 10". I smiled and said, "I wouldn't know." Jacob said (tickling me more), "I know, I'd never done it either, but it's awesome!" He went on to say, "Now I know why I'm the only one ready for bed at 9pm". Jacob is a worker, waking early and always busy. I would worry that he's turning into a lazy bum....haha....but then I listened to him tell me that he just bought a clutch for his sidekick and he needed to change it before work on Monday:) Always busy! I am glad he enjoyed his first morning sleeping in:) After 18 years I would say he was due that!

Clothing...

There are some things that are just NOT appropriate to wear. I am not a buyer of shirts that say "ugly" things or condone behaviors or attitudes I deem wrong. I did buy this one for Chelsea and Sarah this week:

Proceeds going to a save the coast charity. I like neat shirts.

We also bought these shirts(proceeds going to a fund) to support our friend Aaron Bell in his battle with cancer:



Last weekend we had a family get together and my sister wore a shirt that is NOT appropriate. She knows this (because she thanked me for painting out the "Bud Light" part). IF you know you shouldn't wear a shirt to a family reunion, you likely should not wear it anywhere!! Sadly to me, this sister knows better but what she doesn't likely "get" is the impact it had on all my kids, family and others who saw it. My kids will still love her, but they will not trust her judgement. Frustrating, but the reality of the choices a person makes.

Clothes do not "make" the person, but some clothing sure can define the person. Like fruits of the spirit they are an outward sign of inward attitudes. Choose well!