Anniversary and Apologies

Well I must say, I feel guilty for missing my blog this week. I wish I had some wonderful excuse for what has been occupying my time, but I don't! I have been reading "Twilight", I seriously thought I would not be interested in this set of books, because I hate vampire type things, but boy was I wrong! I am engrossed in them! So every free minute I have I am reading!
I am so into reading that I did not post about my anniversary yesterday! So I am trying to catch up today.
Joe and I celebrated 9 years of marital bliss yesterday! We both felt about the same, "Has it only been 9 years!" and "Has it really been 9 years!" We both feel like we have spent a life time together, because we were so completed once we were married, and it has all gone by so fast! We have had our ups and our downs but both have made us stronger and more in love with each other. We are certainly more in love now than we were the day we said, "I do!"
We celebrated this weekend with a fun and very memorable weekend. We spent Friday night hanging out with wonderful company, and then headed for a hotel, downtown Bryan. No, we didn't go far to celebrate! The hotel is the oldest around and was cute with lots of character, BUT lets just say, fire alarms at 4 am, roof leaks, and banging from fixing the leaks, made it lose its charm VERY quick! Saturday we shopped, had a couples massage, and ate at Christopher's World Grille, a WONDERFUL place! Overall it was a very fun anniversary and we will always remember it! Of course who could forget "Allen". OK sorry I just had to post that, even though only 4 people will even get it! I may just have to do a post on "Allen" just because he was so darn FUNNY! I hope everyone is having a great week and maybe I won't be MIA too long!

WW: Dirty Boy

*Wordful Wednesday is for those of us that like to showcase a photo(s) but that just can't seem keep our mouths shut about it(them). If you'd like to play along, visit Angie!


I love to know my boys are having fun or have had fun! I think these pictures so Capture how much fun Joshua had in the dirt! Isn't it fun how dirty boys get!

Media Time: What does your family do?

How do you regulate Media time? This is an ongoing question in our family. I want to make sure my boys are not over-stimulated by multi-media of any sort. This has not really been an issue up to this point. Joe Braden has always liked TV, but he has never minded turning it off, when I say it is time. I have typically allowed one hour a day and that has been fine. Well at Christmas he got a DS and now wants time for it also. We have been letting him have 30 min. of DS and 30 of TV, but now all he cares about is the DS so it is an hour of it, for the most part. The problem is that he is becoming obsessed! It is crazy! He talks about games constantly and even dreams about them, he tells us what all he can do, and has beat several of the ones he got for Christmas. I am glad that he enjoys it, but is it normal for him to love it this much? Is one hour an acceptable amount of time? I just don't know if we are doing the right thing! Oh and I guess I should mention when we get home it is homework, playing outside, then DS. I make him play outside because I think he needs that time too. Oh the trials of being a parent!

Making your Home Sing Monday

I am linking up with my friend Mom's The Word to participate in her Monday meme, "Making Your Home Sing Monday." It's a day where we share what we are doing to bless our families in our home!! If you would like to be blessed, encouraged, or would even like to share how you are making your home sing.

Today to bless my family I am going to finish the laundry that got behind this weekend and cook a nice healthy dinner. Last week was such a busy one that we were off routine a lot, our meals were home cooked most of the time, but not as good and healthy as I like. This is my main focus today for my family! I am truly blessed to have 2 beautiful sons and 1 amazingly awesome husband and I just want to make my home sing for them, and more importantly our Almighty Creator! Hope you all make your homes sing today!

PSF: Joe Braden Turns 6!

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Getting ready for a game!


Joe Braden light saber fighting at the end of the obstacle course.


Defeating the death star!


Pinning the Light Saber on Yoda!


Blowing out the candles on his personal cakes. The other cakes were cupcakes arranged to look like light sabers with grey being the last two to look like the handle. I didn't get a good picture!


Opening the gift from Uncle Tim!


This fort was used in the obstacle course but they played in it after too!


Dressed as a clone trooper!


Had to be like Bubba!

WW: God Grant me Peace

These are pictures of my precious baby boy when he was hours old and when he was a day old. I miss those baby days. A few weeks ago, I would have told you that I was perfectly content not having another natural born child. We feel that we will be called to adopt at some point in our lives. I have talked about it with family and a few friends and was totally for it, that is until Monday I was told I needed a Hysterectomy.
OK lets back up a bit, I have been dealing with a lot of issues caused by severe endometriosis since the age of 16, yes that is 14 years of my life, so almost half of it. I have known for a very long time that this day was coming, did it make me any more prepared? Well of course not! 9 years ago I had surgical extraction of the endometriosis and it was a severe case, but the doctor got all that she could. She didn't get it all, and we knew it was a temporary fix. My left ovary is severely damaged, but they left it in, hoping that maybe if they left both for a few more years I would have a chance for a child. Well I had one very easily, and we were so excited. Then it came time to try for number 2 and it wasn't quite as easy, but it did eventually happen! God then gave me a third, but it ended all too soon, and I was never able to hold that baby in my arms. After that I decided along with my husband, that I just couldn't go through a loss of that magnitude again, so opted to not try to get pregnant.
Like I said this is a battle that I have been facing since 16! I have had 2 surgeries, the last being 9 years ago. I KNOW that I am BLESSED to have 2 beautiful children and I am blessed that I have been able to go 9 years without much problem. I am still not looking forward to the finality of it all.
I know that God will guide my life in the way it needs to go, I know he has a plan for my future to prosper me and not harm me (Jeremiah 29:11), but now I am just praying for peace. Peace in knowing and accepting this is the plan he has for me. Peace in the fact that adoption may or may not be in my future. Peace and contentedness in the 2 precious boys that I have the honor of raising. I just need to "Let go and let God."
I am so excited that the pain will be gone, but so sad that my chance to bear another one of God's beautiful creations is over. Thank you all for listening and may God bless each of you richly!

For more Wordful Wednesday visit Angie

Easter Pictures

The table all decorated since we couldn't have a hunt.


The Easter Bunny did leave a fun note about the weather and how the boys were getting off easy not having to hunt! They thought it was cool!


Joe Braden walking out to see his loot!


Joshua was so sleepy, that he didn't know what to think!


A Bubble wand, how fun!


"Look Bubba I got one too!"


All dressed and ready to go.


Brotherly love!

Growing Up Is Hard To Do

Joe and I have been married for 9 years this month, and in all that time we have never spent Easter alone. Well there is a first for everything because yesterday we were alone. Oh we had church with our Christian family which was wonderful, but it was so sad to come home with just us and the boys. Nothing turned out right, the bread I baked wasn't as flavorful as usual, the deviled eggs were missing something, the potatoes were blah. I am usually a good cook, but I think my heart just wasn't in it yesterday. I was gloomy and so was the rest of my family. We were all just BLAH. The Easter Bunny didn't hide our eggs because it was raining and so that just was the icing on the cake! Why is growing up so hard sometimes?
Of course there was some sunshine behind all of those gloomy clouds, my boys were with me and healthy. God has blessed our lives and it was a great Lord's Day as is every Sunday. I had to have a bit of a pity party, but realize that I am very blessed. There are many without family, without a nice Easter dinner, but mainly without the HOPE of Jesus Christ. How wonderful it is to have hope! We can all hope because he has over come the world, and we will have eternal life! I pray you all had a blessed Easter, and pray that every day you think of his gift and the fact that he indeed LIVES!

Potty Time Tuesday: Success!

I am so happy to announce that Joshua is 100% trained! He tells me when he needs to go, and hasn't had an accident in over a week! I must say that I am VERY proud of him! He was for sure easier to train than my first, and I am sure that comes from having an older sibling to watch. We are doing the happy dance in our house that we are DONE with diapers!

Becoming Like Children!

The following picture has been posted once before, in a post about our vacation. For some reason my mind keeps racing back to it, and how much it captures. I look at it and automatically think of the innocence of children! We get so caught up in life sometimes that we forget that we are supposed to have the hearts of little children.

Matthew 18:3
And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

I challenge all of you to look into this verse and see what it means to you! I hope that we all become like Little Children!

Aloha Friday

In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response.

If you would like to play visit Kailani

Are you a "yes" or "no" person?

I would love to say that I am a NO person in a way, because I am always saying yes, when I should probably say NO. I will say I have gotten better this year at saying "NO" for the sake of my family, and my sanity.

OH the drama!

I have had very little time to blog this week, or the energy, to be real honest. I just thought I would give an update as to what all is going on. Well while we were in Tulsa the in-laws called and said that Joe Braden had a rash on his chest. I really thought little of it, since he tends to get one with allergies quite often. Well he was scheduled to see the ENT on Monday because he has had strep 5 times since August, snores CONSTANTLY, and has brief periods of apnea, all of which are good causes for the tonsils and adenoids to take a hike. Well while we were there I told the doctor about the rash, thinking that sometimes that is a sign for strep. His tonsils looked good and the doctor really didn't think he had it, but went ahead and checked anyway. Well it was positive once again! Oh my goodness 6 times since August. He really didn't feel too bad, but did have a horrible headache and just was very clingy as was the 2 year old. Well yesterday we all seemed back to normal and had a normal day up until time for church, where Joshua decided it was time to show us he was sick and started throwing up. At first I thought maybe strep, but then he never ran fever and was good today, so after a day off and lots of rest he seems 100%. So that is what I have been up to, and why I haven't blogged like usual. Oh and we did schedule June 5th for Joe Braden to have his surgery. We don't want him to miss a week of school right at the end, so we are trying to hold off and PRAYING there won't be any more cases of strep between now and then!

WW: Snow in Tulsa

OK so I must be honest and say that I cheated this week, so I won't link to anyone! I didn't take these pictures, because I ran off and left my camera at home. What was I thinking? Well basically that my children weren't going to be with me so no need to cart the extra stuff. Little did I know it would snow anywhere from 9-14 inches of snow! Our hotel had 9 inches, but it was rumored that there was 14 somewhere in the area. It was BEAUTIFUL though!