I am back!!!

Oh how I have missed blogging!!! But I AM BACK!!!! YAY!


This last year has been interesting. I now have Internet again and blogging is like therapy for me so I decided to pick it back up. I may not post a lot but I will be posting.

My kids are all so big now! I have posted new pictures of them on the side. Jacob is now 10 and has the long hair(help me Lord!). We are begging him to cut it but he LOVES it long. He is almost finished with 5th grade and it has been a challenge!!! But he has managed to keep all A's.

Amber is now 6 and has almost finished Kindergarten and she is so smart! I am sure that having an older brother that home schools has helped! We are so excited about 1st grade!! She is now riding her bike without training wheels, I am sure we will have a summer full of walks around the block.

And last but not least is Nathan, he is now 3 almost 4. And he is a wild child! LOL He is counting to 10 very easily and tries to do Amber's school with her. He totally LOVES Bible Man movies.

George and I have been doing well. He is still working and I am still handling homeschooling pretty well. I would love to follow a schedule better. Maybe after our summer break I will be more focused. The last 2 years have been tough for us. My aunt passed away in February of 2009 and my oldest brother passed away August 1st of 2009. We are healing though, one day at a time.

I am now singing on the praise team at our church and LOVE it! Music is like a healing balm for my heart. God is so amazing to us and we are so blessed!

I will soon post again and share my heart on a few things. It is so great to be blogging again and I can't wait to catch up with all of my bloggy friends!

Oh how time flies....

Hello all! Sorry it has been so long. We have been busy around here.

I am feeling some better. I still have some pain in the mornings but it is getting better.

We have had some snow since I last posted. I have pictures to share.

My aunt has gotten worse and has been in the hospital. My aunt Sherry came from California to visit her one last time since she doesn't have much time. The doctors have given her about 6 months if she continues to not take the meds that she is supposed to take.

I have a prayer request too, my step-sister, Amanda, who lost her baby last night and today she is in the hospital having to deliver it. She was 17 weeks along. Please pray for peace and healing for her. She has 3 little ones at home.

We have been getting some school done and stayed on track with that. YAY! And the babysitting is going very well.

I went shopping the other day and got clothes for George and all 3 kids. The total was around $140 and our savings were around $350!!!! We got around 20 pieces of clothes for all 4 of them. So we got some AMAZING deals! And we got all of this at Belk in the mall. They had a great sale going on so I decided to go and get me some stuff Saturday. I got 10 shirts, a pair of jeans, a pair of pajama pants, a purse, a new wallet, and some under clothes all for around $220!!! I was in a much worse need for clothes than the others. We never get to shop like this and it truly was God's favor! He is so awesome!

Well, now I will share some pictures. Have a great week!

Amber getting ready to play in the snow.

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Jacob going out in the snow.

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Amber in the snow.

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Jacob and one of his friends playing.

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What fun!

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Me and my Aunt Sherry.

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Jacob

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Nathan

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Amber

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Amber being silly. This was such a great picture I had to share it!

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Peanut allergy info

I have found a blog that had a guest on her blog talking about peanut allergies and I wanted to share the link for any of you that want to become more educated about Jacob's peanut allergy and how serious food allergies are. I apologize for not knowing her name but here is the link to her blog. Go and see, read and be educated!

Peanut testing...

Well, we are home from the appointment. We didn't get the answer we wanted but God is still good.

First the bad news- Jacob is still severely allergic to peanuts.

Good news- the test was negative for all other nuts. PRAISE GOD!!

We will be experimenting here at home with him soon with some walnuts or pecans. The doctor said to give him a slither of the nut every hour until he gets a whole nut. We need to get his Epipen filled first.

The reason he ate the cereal and had no reaction is a little complicated but I will try to explain. When he goes for a long time(8 years) without any peanut in his system his body builds up antibodies against the allergy. Once the peanuts get into his system, the antibodies slowly die away. So had he eaten a few more bowls of the cereal he probably would have reacted. There was some doctors trying to make a vaccine for peanut allergies but it didn't work like it needed to so they have had to start over. So I guess the prayers now need to be for the doctors to find what they need to to help these kids that are allergic.

More good news is that we found out that peanut oil that is used to cook with is not dangerous for Jacob. So he can eat at places that use peanut oil. Today he ate fries at Chick-Fil-A and he was all smiles! LOL

Once we found out that he is still allergic Jacob just cried. He was very disappointed. I told him that God brings good out of everything and he looked at me with his broken eyes and said,"Momma, there is nothing good about this." That was tough my friends! I can convince myself that God can bring good out of things all day long but looking at my little 9 year old in his sad face, how can I convince him? Today it was hard being a momma. After a while of talking about the positive, he is feeling much better.

So thank all of you for your prayers. Continue the prayers for the doctors with the research. And pray that Jacob will find God's good out of all of it.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

We went to the doctor...

FINALLY! LOL

Amber and Nate both have bronchitis. They now have antibiotics and a very strong cough medicine. Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes. Maybe tomorrow will be an easier day.

On Friday we are taking Jacob to be retested for his peanut/nut allergy. Please be praying. When he was 1 he had 2 severe reactions to peanuts and we had him tested. They said he had a lifelong life threatening allergy to all nuts. Mainly peanut though. Well, a few weeks ago we bought the new Cocoa Puffs Splits(I think that is the name). They were chocolate and vanilla. The regular Cocoa Puffs are safe so I didn't check the new ones. Well, after he ate them I saw that they are made with peanut flour. And he had NO REACTION!!!!! So we are very hopeful that God has healed him and that will change his life! I will keep you updated.

Sleepover pictures..........

I wanted to share a few pictures from the night of Jacob's party. We went skating and then all the boys came here and stayed the night. They were all really good! It went very good. If I sound suprised it is because I am!LOL Don't get me wrong, these boys are good boys but when I got all 6 of them together at one time without their parents I was a little concerned. I had no reason to be though! It was such a fun time.

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Me, Jacob and George.

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George, Jacob & Jonathan(my nephew) getting ready

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Christian and Jacob

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Noelle(April's daughter)

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On the left is my niece Kassie and nephew Jonathan and on the right is my friend Misty's daughter Destinee and Jacob.

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Amber playing a game

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My nephew Joey-AWESOME smile!

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Jordan(April's son)

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My nephew Joshua

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Me and George skating-we are thinking of going here one night on a date without our kids, it was SO fun!

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OK these next few pictures are from the sleepover part. The boys were feeling a little crazy and their faces show it! LOL

Jacob

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Christian

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Joey

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Joshua

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Jonathan

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Jordan

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Happy BIrthday Jacob!!!!

Ok, this is the last post from the life of Jacob! LOL


If you are just now joining us, go and look at the first post in this series titled "BLAST from the Past" and catch up with us. Lots of pictures and fun!


First I want to post a couple of pictures of me and my Jacob. My life was forever altered the day he was born. I had such a fear that I wouldn't be able to have children and the day the doctor told me I was pregnant I thought I was dreaming! I didn't believe it until I saw the ultrasound. I know that I became a parent the day I became pregnant but on the day he was born I became a MOMMY! There is no name that I could think of that I love being called.

This first picture is a couple of days after he was born. (I wouldn't dare post any from the actual day, it was a LONG labor and TERRIBLE delivery!!! I needed a couple of days to look normal again, even though this is a rough picture of me, I have great memories from it.) I had such a feeling of love come over me in the moments right before this picture was taken. I guess that was the time I had bonded with him. We had been alone for a while and it was the most awesome thing to lay there and hold MY baby!

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This next picture is just a random picture that I found that is one of my favorites of us. It was a fun day, we had family over and grilled out. He was such a CUTIE!

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These next pictures are just Jacob through the years. Some are from babyhood and some are from birthdays. Hope you enjoy my Jacob!

Sweet Baby boy!

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Looking like his uncle Gary! LOL

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Before his first haircut.(For all of you who wonder if his hair was like Nathan's)

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His picture from when he was in preschool. When I quit work and pulled him out they wanted to keep him and give a scholarship because they loved him so much.

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Him and Daddy on his 3rd birthday. He LOVED this bike!

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4th birthday,beginning of Sponge Bob phase, it is still going! LOL

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5th birthday, looking too cool!

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6th birthday, this year we got him a basketball goal. He opened the basketball first and then we told him to go look in the garage, he was SO excited!!

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7th birthday, such a handsome young man!

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8th birthday, Mrs. Tobey, Jacob and Mr. Lem

There is a great story to this birthday. We had the idea to raise money for missionaries instead of getting gifts and he was so excited to do this! So he picked Mr. Lem's parents who are missionaries to Africa and he raised $280.00 for them! I think he is a pretty awesome little guy! He has a heart bigger than his little body!

I can't believe that my baby is going to be 9 years old tomorrow. It has gone by too fast.

Jacob, I love you with all my heart and soul. I wish the best for you in your amazing life God has given you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACOB!!!!!

WE LOVE YOU!!!!!!

A Father's Love

(If you are just now joining us we are going through memories for Jacob's birthday, go to the post titled "BLAST from the Past" to see the beginning of this)

Well, Jacob's birthday is tomorrow and we have a lot to do in the morning so I am going to be posting 2 times tonight. I know it is a lot to take in but I probably will not be posting for most of the weekend so you will get a break from me. LOL!

This post is dedicated to Jacob and his Daddy. I usually post a lot of pictures of me and the kids so you won't be seeing many of me with Jacob in these posts. I don't get to post many of George with him so I thought this was fitting. And the fact that Jacob thinks his daddy hung the moon!

Here are some pictures through the years of the two of them.

ENJOY!

Such a good Daddy! Helping the little man ride the cow, how CUTE!

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Hunting Easter eggs, Jacob has always loved to do this and his daddy and Paw-Paw were usually the ones to help him!

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Jacob's very first fish he ever caught! He was casting that little rod and reel in my house from the time he could stand up! LOL

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Cooling off on a hot summer day.

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Jacob and Daddy at a fishing rodeo.

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After a tournament.

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At Christmas, George and his shadow!

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All about Paw-Paw

(If you are just joining us, please scroll down to the previous post that began this journey of Jacob's life. It is titled "BLAST from the Past".)

Paw-Paw and Jacob.

(bad crop of this picture but I couldn't resist putting it on here!)

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Today we will talk about Paw-Paw in this post. As I said before, he passed away in September of last year and that was the first real loss Jacob has had to endure. He was so small when Nanny passed away so I don't think he really understood much. But when his Paw-Paw passed he was 8 years old and it was as if he had lost his best friend. I think my pain was deeper from seeing Jacob hurt than feeling my own loss.

His Paw-Paw took him hunting and fishing and they just understood one another. From the time Jacob was born Kenny(Paw-Paw's real name) would talk about taking him hunting and fishing. He always played with him as a baby. And through Jacob's 8 years Kenny gave him little treasures like a pocket watch, a cool little flash light with different shape tips, cool fishing and hunting books, you know, guy stuff. Jacob still has all of his little treasures and I am sure he will forever.

Jacob had a realtionship with Paw-Paw that none of the other grandchildren had. He loved them all the same I am sure, he just could tolerate Jacob better. It was like they were buddies. So today I will share pictures of Jacob and his Paw-Paw with you through the years.

Jacob and Paw-Paw at Jacob's first easter. Fun day!

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Jacob with his 2 favorite people, his daddy and Paw-Paw, hunting easter eggs.

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Cooling off under the shade tree.

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Playing.

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Fun times at Paw-Paw's house.

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My favorite picture of them. Jacob loved to go and sit on this swing. It was in my mom and Kenny's back yard and there was a train track right to the left. Sometimes Jacob would fall asleep sitting here.

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Just sitting one winter day.

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The day Jacob caught his very first fish. It was a day to remember!!!

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Jacob and dad went this day to help Paw-Paw get his deer out of the woods. Jacob thought this was too cool!

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Jacob, Paw-Paw & Amber

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Jacob with Paw-Paw the last time they went fishing together. He caught some huge catfish that day!

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We miss you Paw-Paw!

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