Summer of 2012-Part 1

  It's been a while.I'm not sure what to write about or if I even know how to blog anymore.Our summer was full-full of blog-worthy moments,but I decided to spend my time with family,living life and preserving memories in my heart instead of on the computer.I have started this post and deleted it a few times.My heart is full,but I'm not sure where to start.But I do know that:
   Life happens-sometimes it's full of wonderful rides-new experiences,happy memories and lovely days.Sometimes you feel like you hit a brick wall-scraped and bruised,heart torn,knees scraped and head spinning.This summer has had both.It's been a learning,stretching time for me.God's grace is there for me-any time of the day or night.It's up to me if I decide to accept it or try things on my own.I've tried both ways.Believe me-the Father knows what he's doing a whole lot more than what I do,so it's better for me to humble my lil self down and accept the fact that He is brainier and more of a super-person than me.I may as well graciously accept His overwhelming love,stength and wisdom.He really does know what He is doing and does have a reason for it.
  I need to relish in the fact that He is doing things for my good because He loves me so much-as much as if I would be his only child.Too often I selfishly go thru the day,stressing out if I don't get everything accomplished I wanted to-forgetting that my main purpose is to bring Him glory and to share His love with others.Not to have the cleanest house or the tidiest lawn on the block.Not to have the smartest,best mannered kid.Not to have dinner prepared with a smile and wait on Hubby hand and foot when he comes home.Sure~teaching my son,pampering Hubby and keeping a tidy place are ways of showing love,but I need to do it to bring glory to Him,not myself.I'm trying to work on it-I promise!=)
  So,if you're busy or feeling down,have hope.As long as you're alive,you can redo,learn more and try harder.God is so chuck-full of awesomeness.Take time to take some of it in every day.He wants to see you succeed.He needs to push you thru hard stuff occasionally to strengthen your faith muscles.He loves to see you enjoy life to the max-so love up on people,do more of what you love and soak up every minute of the day.Make your life count.
  I've learned that I have enjoyed life so much more by shortening those to-do lists and spending more time on the important things is so much more rewarding.Spending time with my lil one is way more fun than having all the closets organized anyway!!I mean who snoops in my closets to see what I'm hoarding anyway?I've been learning that I'm a  total nerd-I like things organized,color-coded and pretty much perfect.Hubby is the free spirit-as long as it works who cares how it looks,spur-of-the-moment trips and parties...He's my hero.I'm trying to learn from him.Being a free spirited person looks so much more relaxing and fun.I've been trying it-it's great.Note to self-Relax a little,God has it under control and I am free to REALLY enjoy life the way I'm supposed to.Even tough times aren't so bad when God's on your side and has it all planned out for you!!I'm not sure if all my ramblings are making sense-so if you're still reading,maybe they do at least a little.

  So,to those of you who don't have Facebook or hear from me much-here's my year in a few pics and stories~
  My Mom,6 sisters and I went to Navarre beach in May for a week.Was so much fun to be together again,relax and spoil the babies.There were 3 lil ones-all crawling,so it was quite interesting.We all piled in a 15 passenger van,cooked all our own meals while we were there except one and made a ton of memories.I think it should become a tradional thing!!

 

 

He totally loved the beach!!

 

The three littles-ready to go shopping.

 

There was an abundance of babysitters.=)...and cuteness...

 

 

 

 

  We went to Minnesota for our 3rd anniversary and for a wedding/to visit Slim's Mom's grave.We spent a few days at a little cabin and cruised around on the lake.

We found out we were expecting again in Minnesota,but God had other plans.I had morning sickness for a month then started bleeding one day.The ultrasound showed no heartbeat.Hubby was at work-I was in the room alone.Thankfully,my sisters could take me to the Dr.Hearing those words tore my heart ,even tho I knew it was coming.I lost the baby on July 2nd and had to do a D&C surgery since not everything was gone.(I hosted a July 4th party-call me crazy-I was.I made decorations,the whole 9 yards and totally overdid it!)Those days of waiting were tough.Why did we have to go thru this again?I was ready to just get it over with.I tried being brave,but I was disappointed.My dreams were shatterd.Pictures of me holding my lil baby kept dancing thru my head.It seemed easier to accept this time somehow,tho.Maybe because I had time to talk it out with God before I actually lost it.Maybe because I had a lil ray of sunshine to keep me busy while I waited to miscarry.All I know is that God has a reason.He knows what it was like to give up a child-heart-wrenching,something others don't fully understand unless they experience it themselves.I can't imagine to watch your child suffer like He did.Those 10 days were the hitting-a-brick-wall kind.But they taught me to give up myself, and my hopes and trust that He knew what he was doing.We named the baby Nevaeh Starr.I wanted something to do with Heaven since I know that's where our lil darling is.Nevaeh is heaven spelled backwards.Starr was to remind me that even thru the "darkness" a light of hope still shines thru.I know Nevaeh is a girl's name and we don't know if it was a girl since I was only 9 weeks,but I just have a feeling it was.I had bought a  few girl outfits and kept thinking of girl nurseries,we really wanted a girl... Lil one,we miss you!!I know you are having a grand time with Shyloh up there and are being spoiled by Grandma and Great-Grandma.We have your picture on the fridge.Every time I see a star I think of you.We would love to have you here with us.You and Kobe would have so much fun together!But we know you are happiest with Jesus,so we are happy too.We had a party to celebrate your life the night before we found out you had breathed your last breath on earth.You brought smiles to our faces when we talked about you.You will always have a special place in our hearts and we can't wait to meet you one day.I know you are beautiful!!

                               The lil memory garden in memory of our 2 lil ones with Jesus.

 On our anniversary trip,we also took in a Braves game in St. Louis and got to meet a new neice in Kentucky.She's adorable!!                                                                                                                                 

 

                                                                          

           I made this lil outfit for the lil cutie.

 

                                                       

  Kobe finally started walking at 17 months!!So exciting-thot for a lil while he would crawl all his life.Not really,but hey,it took awhile!!Sadly,we don't have pictures of his first steps.He just walked into the laundry room one afternoon while I was sweeping the floor!!We had a bigger garden this summer and canned/froze alot of stuff.

                                   

                                      I'll share the rest later-this post is quite long already!!
                                                           Till next time~
                                                            vintage maedel

Farmin' the Day Away

Let me take you on a tour of the  lil farm we have going on in our living room.The day is a bit chilly with the sun glistening on the feilds of brown earth.The farm is small-the economy is hard on ya,ya know.So tough,the owner of this farm can't afford the seeds he needs to plant and make a living.

He doesn't seem to mind-he keeps on grinnin' with his lil teeth and farmin' on his hands and knees.

The fences need fixin',the house is rotted away and there's only 2 bales of hay left.Half the doors are off the barn.

 The lil' cow family conentedly chews their hay while gorgeous Rainbow Pony watches on snootily.

"These crazy cows never want to drag race or paint their hooves"-Rainbow Pony storms."Guess the only thing they're made for is makin' milk and meat for humans!...

...And the crazy thing they do for their young'uns-my,my,what a  crazy way to keep the milk flowin'.It's udderly fascinatin'!!

 This ole'  mama milk cow is bout done in.Her tails worn thin from swattin' those pesty flies n skeeters(and babies).The sore spot on her neck keeps gettin bigger-she keeps rubbin' on the fences for lack of better things to do. 

The ranch hands have scarcely a thing to do but scratch heir heads and keep grinning.Mabel still manages to stay plump and rosy-cheeked in spite of the lack of food(or is there a lil one cookin?).Hank keeps his mustache long to help pass the time-if he doesn't quit strokin' it,it'll soon be gone.When he gets in a "romantical" mood,he takes Mabel on a ride on the big green tractor.They ride to the fishin' hole and catch a mess of catfish.Motel Midnight is their bed for the night-under the pine tree in the back feild,lisening to the crickets chirpin' and the coon dogs a barkin'.Don't take much to make these poor country folks happy.

All is well until one day an old tornator comes a-rippin' and a-roarin' thru the farm.My,it sure tore things up!!

The ole' "Date Ride" done lost it's wheel and got it's nose done in real good.

The owner came by to check out the damage.You just can't wipe that grin of his face-no matter what the devastation is.He told Hank & Mabel that he's gonna have to leave the farm 'cuz of the lack of funds to fix 'er back up like new.The damage remains -and so does the smile on his face.

Kobe's 1st Birthday Party

It's hard to believe my lil baby is a year old already!!My first blog post was about the lil cutie.He's loved so much and is so fun right now.He's not walking yet because of some issues with his right foot,but we're getting chiropractor treatments to fix that.I love his cute curls,his 4little teeth and well,basically everything about him!!He loves dancing to music,being read to and playing with his Daddy.His favorite thing to do right now is tear everything out of the kitchen cabinets.

I decided to have an airplane party last fall already,so I could look for stuff ahead of time and make a lot of the stuff to save $$.Airplane stuff is not quite as popular as Spiderman,etc. so I'm glad I had plenty of time to shop and create things.I wanted it to be blue/gray/orange,vintage/travel-themed and fun.I think we accomplished it.I didn't have much time to take pictures of things before the party started so bear with me on these.I used Printshop to make his party invitations and printed them onto postcard paper.They were made to look like tickets.I don't have pictures of the whole tickets.My neice and nephew took the guests' ticket stubs as they came in the door.

  I printed these posters up and put them inside the door.

 This was the kid's "Baggage Claim" area.I filled mugs with coton candy and topped them with airplane cutouts with the kid's names on them.They had blue & orange M&Ms and Tootsie Rolls to snack on too.Brown paper bags held a toy airplane and airplane pictures to color.I found the little gray airplanes at Walmart in the clearance section.Scrabble tiles spelled Fly Away and Airborne.

 I drew an airplane and framed it.The food labels were made of cardstock paper and stickers.

I used twine and clothespins to hang up a pic of Kobe from each month.So hard to believe he used to be soo tiny!! 

 The food table-Guests grabbed utensils and plates off the trunk and suitcase.An old map hung behind the table.I hung clouds made from cardstock paper covered with quilt batting from the ceiling.I bought the red airplane at Hobby Lobby at 50% off.I made a paper airplane garland to hang on the front of the table.Cupckes were stacked on a d-i-y stand on top of an old ammunition box in the center of the table.Drinks(in pint-sized mason jars)were packed in an old suitcase.I used twine instead of ribbon for the balloons for a vintage feel.

Fun decorations.I found an airplane puch at Hobby Lobby on clearance and punched airplnes out of an old atlas.

 Slim's old globe piggy bank and a chalkboard sign..

I'll transalate this for you-Pilot Stuffers=Hot Ham&Cheese Sandwiches
Passenger Pleasers=Party Mix   
Blue Skies=Tapioca Dessert
CloudCakes=Cupcakes
Frozen Clouds=Icecream Cups
Insructor Buttons=M&Ms                                                             
Clouds of Cotton=Cotton Candy
Jet Fuel=Sweet Tea

A friend of mine made the cupcakes.They were delicious!!The toppers were made from cotton balls hot-glued onto toothpicks.I punched out airplanes and hot-glued those on top.

 One of the best pics I got of him all night=/.He looked handsome in his adorable aviator hat(from Ebay) and his little leather Air Force jacket.

 It was so much fun to watch him open his gifts.He sat there with sparkling eyes,literally oohing and aahing over all his presents.

This was his 2nd!! cupcake-after he was cleaned up a little from eating the first one.

I love my lil chubster soo much!!