Picture Perfect.

In the almost three years my boys have been working, they have never been in a photo together...until now! They have worked many shoots together but never in the same shot...take a look at how cute they look here together..I know I am partial, but they are precious!! (to look at more photos, click on collections then on the filou and friends tab under collections and scroll through the 4 pages of photos using the arrow at the bottom...

New Beginnings...

This post is a promise of a new beginning... I will begin to post more frequently again. I have been a bit under the weather for the past 10 weeks (you can see why below)... head over toilet and eyes held open with toothpicks type of sick...

The boys have been working a lot, we have been traveling to games, family visits, and some mini vacations and life has just been plain ol' busy... but I figure with this new life beginning, I should start a new begnning on my blog...if anyone is still reading...ARE YOU??

CHOMP! CHOMP! CHAMPS!

AHHH, the feeling of being champions once again... nothing like it. Not much to say except, it is great to be a Florida Gator. You can hate us all you want, jealousy tends to do that... but you can't take away the reality of it...we are state champs, SEC East Champs, SEC Champs and hopefully soon to be National Champs!!

2 People I would like to meet

Have you ever had to answer that question when interviewed or at some random ice breaking moment "so who is one person you want to meet?" My two are two moms. I would love to meet Tim Tebow's mom and Ryan Hall's mom. Now before you go running off thinking this is some crazy post about the Gators, hold on, it is not.
These two women have raised amazing young men. Each time these young men are interviewed, they talk openly about their love for the Lord, their desire to do all things so that He may be glorified and the fact that their mother's instilled this belief in them. Often you see athletes thank God for things, but very seldom with the passion and conviction of these two young men. Not only do they talk the talk but they walk the walk. Tebow spends summer months on mission trips, off season weekends witnessing in prisons, teaching bible studies and leading prayer groups off the fiels. Hall in an article in Runner's World magazine prior to the Olympics talked openly about his faith and his decision to run for God, to never allow training or competing to interfere with his worship time and his desire not just to win but to further God's message through it.

Both men talk openly about how their mother's homeschooled them, taught them scripture, gave them a biblical worldview even when the world tried to do otherwise. Both men talk about the value their mother's placed on learning God's word and making it the center of their family. Both men talk about how God came first, sports came second. One of my favorite quotes by Tebow on the night he was about to win the most coveted trophy in college football, The Heisman, was "My Faith is first, My family second, My schoolwork third and Football fourth". He had an entire nation watching and chose to use this time to speak his absolute truth, God.
I am compelled to write this post because sometimes it is just plain hard to be a mom, a stay at home, home schooling mom.. constantly wondering if all the words of wisdom and love you speak daily are heard and learned. Knowing that the fruits of today's labors will not be seen for many years to come...
so for now, I want to meet these moms, to know how they did it and to have that daily reminder of what greatness looks like.

Missing a Miracle

I think too often we are too busy looking for miracles that we often miss the ones he lays right in our lap. It reminds of that game we used to play with my dad, where he would hide something in plain sight but we were too busy searching for it in tiny places and dark spaces that we would miss it entirely. I believe this happens to us often with God. We are so caught up in what we want him to do now and when we want it that we often miss his best parenting. Last week I prayed so hard for him to work a miracle and keep our unborn child safe and strong. I prayed so hard for this that when it did not happen I was stunned, shocked and angry. When they told me about this mass on my ovary, I was too busy crying over our lost child, that I completely overlooked the work he was doing. My best friend, Pam, reminded me ever so gently on Monday after a clean report from the doctor to remember that God is in the business of healing and miracles. It is true, I saw the ultrasound, I heard the doctors whispers and their tones of concern that Friday afternoon. What I missed was the obvious work God had done over the weekend to heal my sadness of a loss and the possibility of a grim future. He removed the mass without taking credit, without some big show, just an act of enduring faith. Don't miss it...

Hope...

I had hoped to be writing this post to share our news of a new life and heartbeat that God had breathed into my womb... I had hoped to post a picture of the little heartbeat we anxiously awaited... I had hoped to share the incredible story of how God delivered the news of a new blessing in our family the day before the baby we lost was due to be born... I had hoped to celebrate my 33 birthday yesterday with a group of friends that have ushered me along this journey back to life after a time of grief...
Hope was replaced by despair yesterday... Today, I want to feel hopeless... we have lost another life. We have been told there is an unexplained mass behind my ovary, we have been told there is unexplained fluid in my pelvic area...we are told we have to wait until Monday morning for answers... so now we wait... wait in what anger? confusion? terror? feelings that have been flowing over in tears all day and night for the past 24 hours.
But again, now amidst the rain and the tears, hope is there. Hope that is directed by faith. I am writing now out of faith. My hope is now faith. I have faith that my God is not going to take this pain away from me or this process or these feelings away from me, I have faith he is going to take my hand and walk me right through it. I have faith he is going to hold my hand as I pen another line in my testimony that will one day be shared to reveal his glory. I have faith that even through all my anger and unrest at him, he will stand firm in his love for me as I continually crawl back into his arms for comfort. I have faith that one day I will enter heaven and will now have two children who never had to experience the pains of sin or this fallen world waiting for me with shouts and coos of "mommy". I have faith that again I will hope...because God is hope.

Lost in Busy Land...

I have been lost in what I call "busy land". A place where you are always busy, yet you always feel like nothing has been done. You always feel like you are moving full speed, life goes by with the blink of an eye, but your to do list keeps growing. Today though, I am thrilled to say I am caught up! Yahoo!
So from this day forward, I am never returning to busy land. I bought a one-way ticket back to " enjoying the moment land" and am staying here for good, or until Monday!
I have missed my little blog. Too much has happened to post about so I am going to recap and start anew with my next post...
1. Organized and awesome homeschool meet and greet with the incoming Senate President that had over 200 parents and students attend.
2. Chopped off most of my hair.
3. Started facilitating an awesome life class at our church called Family Driven Faith by Voddie Baucham
4. Watched the Gators start the season 2-0 with an awesome win over the Canes!
5. Spent two days annoying Lyndsey and Chris with what they love to call obnoxious Gator behavior.... jealousy
6. Started officially homeschooling Pace for his first grade year
7.Begun working on bringing Carole Joy Seid, an awesome speaker in the homeschool world to our church for a seminar.
8. Took a trip to Ocala with two fun, fun, fun couples and all the kiddos.
9. Ordered all my Palin gear to wear until the election...love her
10. took a deep breath...
Time to settle in...