Happy Birthday?

It's funny cuz the older I get the less I care about my birthday. A celebration of getting OLD? Wrinkles, a flat but, grey hair (well, not me thanks to my Grandma's awesome genes!)...seriously I have no interest in partying. But I spent the day with a sick boy, and a sick self! I don't want to celebrate, but I sure would like to feel well enough to be a brat about it! Ugh.

Luke has been sick for three days now. We thought he was on the road to recovery after an entire day today of no fevers, but alas he spiked again around 6pm. Guess it's a good thing after all that Mark canceled Thanksgiving plans. What??? NO TURKEY???? hehe. Nah, Mom has been thawing one out all week so it has to be cooked...we will have turkey, it just won't be served in a big family get together. Mark said something about 'not worrying' about my birthday...we'd have a party at some point. My response? I'd be perfectly happy not mentioning it again! :D He said I was being selfish. LOL!!! I had to laugh at that one. "You don't want people making a big deal out of your birthday, bringing you presents and making a cake? How selfish!" I said to him! He just looked at me as a slow smile crept up on his face. "Sounds kinda silly saying it back doesn't it?" I asked.

Anyhoo...that's that. Another year older. Whoopdeedoo.

Hope you all have a happy turkey day! Have some stuffing and cranberry sauce for me!! Those are my favorite! Guess it's DEFINITELY turkey for Christmas!!!

Gobble Gobble!

12 short years

Seriously. SHORT years. It does not feel like I've been married 12 years! Heck, it doesn't feel like I'm OLD enough to have been married for 12 years!

Yes, yesterday Mark and I celebrated our 12 year wedding anniversary. We have had some rough times, happy times, trying times, and 'in our rut' times. This year we have so much to celebrate, so much to be thankful for. I think this year, sitting at dinner, we had more to talk about than ever before. It seems that normally our conversation will just naturally go to the kids; their behavior, their school, their friends. This time, that didn't happen! We talked about our friendship, our life together, our first apartment and first house...we are better friends now than any year prior to this one. God has been so good to us in our marriage, but most definitely this last year. We have grown so much as individuals and as a couple. We have faced the storm together and beaten it back. I have never felt so close to my Beloved as I do right now.

We went to dinner at The Outback and enjoyed steak and seafood, a couple of drinks, and most importantly a couple hours just the two of us.

I love this man so much. Words can never express. He is an amazing person, an amazing provider, an amazing father and the best friend I could ever ask for. He is my Beloved. My Confidante. My Love. My Husband. I am so proud to be called his wife.

I love you, Mark. Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow and forever.


My yummy drink...a wildberry margarita! Yumm!!!

Some more pics then I'm caught up!

OK...so these are all TOTALLY random! I got myself so behind on sharing pics that I'm just guessing here what y'all haven't seen!


These are my rat babies. Oh scratch that...Allie's and my rat babies! Hers is Oreo the black and white one, and mine is Milly the albino. YES she has red eyes!! I love her!
So I got a bug to start moving around furniture. My treadmill (unused treadmill that is for sale btw) ended up in Mark's room! LOL
I'm getting busy on my beach theme for the family room. Almost all of our family pictures down here are on the beach. I absolutely LOVE this wall!!!
These should all look familiar as I'm sure I posted them here. The top one is my fave...the three kids walking away from me toward the water. Loooove it!!! Bottom right hand corner is actually my nephew, Ryan. It just fit so perfectly I had to blow it up!
Ok, so I moved this HUGE bookshelf completely by myself. UP 14 stairs mind you! Oh ya...I am WOMAN! So now it's right outside my bedroom door. Love it there!
And this is where it WAS...Now the kids stay off my elliptical as it's out of the walking path. I was going through so many batteries cuz they'd get on it just long enough to turn it on then walk away. Dang kids.
This is what it looked like before the move. I thought to take a picture about halfway through emptying it. lol
This cracked me up. Look at his cute little tongue!!! He was OUT!
Grace got play make up for her bday. (thanks a LOT Nana....)
Luke as the killer in Scream. (I know...don't say it!)
Grace as Dorothy! Isn't she sweet? Oh ya, and I won worst mom of the year by not getting a picture of Allie in her aqua fairy costume. I suck. I know this.
My beautiful girl passed out!
Gracie with Darth Vader at the Home show!!! The whole cast was there! Luke was bummed he didn't go!
My sister-friend Kimberly's daughter Kira. Isn't she beautiful??
Patches got mauled by two hound dogs last month. He's super lucky to be alive. The next few pics were taken for court reasons (that mom and dad do NOT have to do thank God). Poor lil guy. He's tough tho!
These were gaping wounds. The vet ran a tube underneath them to drain the infection out. Dog bite = major bacteria. Not good.
His poor belly. You can see all the bruising too...all the reddish and purplish areas...well, his whole BACK was a bruise. They literally tore his hide from the muscle along his entire back.
Our awesome neighbors Hal and Kathy gave the kids this pinball machine!!! It's a Pirates of the Caribbean mini machine. Oh my goodness they love it!! SO much fun!!!
They ALSO gave us this piano! Yes...the KIDS like it too! LOL!!
Ok...I'm all caught up now. At least close enough. So the next pics will be new ones!

Choice pics from the last month or so.

Let's do a little catch up. I have more than this, but I'll go slowly!! LOL Don't wanna bog down those of you that are still on dial up!

First, there is a new member to our family. Meet Samson! Isn't he a beauty? He's so smart and sweet and the kids love him...well, except Grace when he wants to eat her toes!



This is a little girl I watched for a friend a couple weeks ago. I thought she was playing in Grace's room but when I went to check on Samson there was Malia snuggled up to him! SSSOOOO cute!

My newest passion is my rats. (technically only ONE is mine and the other is Allie's). This is their condo! I'm jealous.
We did pumpkins this Halloween with a couple of extra kidlets! My girlfriend, Samantha, was moving so I had her girls for a few days. This is Sienna and her masterpiece. I think she was annoyed that Mark kept saying, "Sienna, Sienna, Sienna look over here!" LOL She was BUSY!
The kids all drew what they wanted and Mark carved them.
Haha except me...I got to play in pumpkin guts! Such an attractive shot isn't it??

Allie and Sadirah

Grace got play doh from Auntie Robin AND from us this year for her bday. I was quickly reminded why I HATE play doh....
uh huh...REALLY reminded.
Gracie blowing out her candles. She's FIVE!!!




Luke at his pumpkin patch field trip.
It was wet.
and very miserable.
Luke 1st grade school pic.
Allison 5th grade school pic.
That's all for today! More tomorrow or the next day!

Get over it Becky

I'm pathetic. I know this. I swear I'm never satisfied! I wonder if that's a family thing, a woman thing, a redhead thing...maybe all of the above??? I don't know but I what I DO know is it's time to get over this stupid BLOG BLOCK I have going on. I've considered trying to just make a new one but that seems silly since all of our faithful friends and family visit this site so often. (Thank you by the way for being by our sides through all of this!)

So I'm gonna make an effort to come on here at least once a week again to update you all with pictures and the comings and goings in our lives! It's so fun now, so positive and blessed! I would think it will be WAY more fun to read!!

So ya. Less time on face book. More time on blogging for my family in the four corners of these states! I love you all and will post some new pics from the last few weeks tomorrow! Until then, goodnight and we love you!

It's funny...

...when the clearest understanding about your life and where you are in it comes from the least expected place.

As we come upon the last two weeks of Mark's time off I've come to realize how gut wrenching it will be for me to no longer have him here. I am constantly on the verge of tears. I am constantly hurting in some part of my head either from grinding, squinting or misfiring and it's been pointed out that I am most likely doing this to myself in misguided attempts to remain strong. I have TMJ with constant (oh and I DO mean CONSTANT) headaches and jaw pain. I have muscle aches in my entire body. I am constantly tired and searching for the will to get out of bed. Most recently I've been diagnosed with Labrinthitis which among other things can be caused by anxiety/depression/stress. WHAT? I don't have any of those! Riiiiight.

The fact is, although I am unbelievably happy, thrilled, thankful, humbled by the fact that Mark has done so well and is able to return to work in full health "ahead of schedule" as the doctor put it; still a part of me is inconsolably sad. I want to wail. I want to lay down and sob. But I am the strong one. I am the one who doesn't cry. I am the one who puts on a brave face, answers the millions of questions thrown at me by family, friends, co-workers. This is my job. This is my RIGHT. This is what keeps me going and helps me.

But that job is over.

And where does that leave me?

Alone in a house with three kids right back to "normalcy". Ya right.

I love having my Beloved at home. He is fun and funny and he helps me with the little things. He plays with his kids. He does laundry and dishes! He sits and talks to me about mundane crap. We play games together. He goes to the store with me. He is my confidante, my friend, my rock. He is my 24/7 ear, or hug, or smack if I need it. What will I do without him here?

And if I don't allow myself to go there...what will be the next physical issue I cause to myself?

I can't lay down and cry it out. There aren't enough tears in the world to express my grief at losing this time. I do need prayer though. This is the place I go to for that.

I feel like such a baby. I feel like I'm throwing all of God's blessings right back in his face. He answered EVERY SINGLE PRAYER we cried out to Him. And here I am basically upset that He did. So very selfish. I want it all. So very, very selfish.

I thank the Lord everyday for healing Mark. For making the battle relatively easy (comparatively speaking). I KNOW how lucky we are. I KNOW how fast it was resolved. I KNOW that we have been blessed beyond compare in our relationship, in our loved ones, in our growth of our Faith. I KNOW these things in my head and yet still I weep for what I'm about to lose. I dread spending 10-12 hour days without him, I bristle at the thought of him driving for two hours every day, I cringe at the thought of him being tired on his days off and unable or unwilling to spend the quality time with us as he has been because he simply doesn't have the energy. I even am not looking forward to not stressing about money anymore because seriously...we've made it work! (ok...that's pushing it a little.)

I don't know the answer. I don't know how to get over this nonsense and just move forward. My body is suffering. My emotions have taken their toll on my physical being and I don't know how to stop.

I pray for guidance. I ask for your prayers for my guidance as well.

Thank you to the sweet Angel who opened my eyes to this. Yes, this is where we become inseparable. This is where there is no more darkness and light in the horizon. Thank you.

A day on a hill! :)

So last week Kathy invited us to go on a walk at Mt. Pisgah. We took the kids and our friends The Pelroys and had a fantastic time! Next time however, I will NOT be wearing crocs! Note to self: always wear tennies on a hike! Duh!

I'll start with some amazing nature shots. I don't think a bad picture COULD be taken at this place! So beautiful!








This has to be THE coolest tree I've ever seen. You could literally see right through it and still it grows and thrives! How can people see things like this and NOT believe in God?

Little Jack Jack all packed up and ready to go! Isn't he freaking ADORABLE? Oh I just wanna eat him up!
One of the few pics you'll see of Allie...she was not interested in letting me take pictures of her AT ALL. Stinker.
Lady killer. Am I biased or is the the most handsome boy ever? Nope...not biased.

Luke was all about me taking his picture (and of course therefore so was Grace!) He was finding the coolest places to pose and then was like "MOM, take my picture here!" Love that boy!
My beauty.
The whole clan!

Picture op!
The Pelroys! Jessica, Ryan, Martin and Wyatt (Jack Jack to his Aunt Becky)
Poison Oak! Noooo touchy!
Mark saying "That's poison oak...noooo touchy."
Luke thought this log carved out to be a bench looked like a coffin. He was the vampire sleeping in it.
And Gracie just peered sweetly from the other side LOL
Education time!


"Ooo, Martin...turn this way that's a cool shot!" I was right!
I finally got a pic of Ryan...he was distracted by the kids throwing rocks long enough for me to get it!

Right after this, Grace lost her shoe and Jessica hopped in the river to save it! Such a good auntie!
Sister friends! (ugh...time to start working out!)
Ryan!


Reading up on something...always the scholor.
Gracie was trying to climb this tree...not easy in crocs.

This pile smelled like Mark used to when he worked for Weyerhauser. Allie and I were in heaven!

My Beloved and me
Luke was tired and decided to take a break to meditate....
But Ryan had other ideas...get up!
"MOMMY I CAUGHT A LADYBUG!!!"





Some of the trees out there are so amazing. They grow sideways! This one was at a perfect height for swinging like a monkey!

Ryan wanted to until Mama got him closer...then he changed his mind!
Uh...you want me to go where now?

Luke was SO done. LOL
Allie and Mark got a bit ahead. I was going slow for Ryan's sake. No, really!

Mark, Kathy, Allie and Luke decided to try to get to the top...Gracie and I decided, um, not to.
Ryan and Grace were done...
...about 15 feet from the car! LOL
A wonderful walk! We will definitely be going back!