More pics of the good life

Hudson flew into Louisville on Saturday and is spending the week with us. He seems to be enjoying the house and property just as much as Hunter and Grace. The kids and I had a great time last week at VBS, but I didn't take any pics. There are a lot of fun activities going on this week in anticipation for the 4th of July and the Madison Regatta. I'll definitely have a lot of pics to share by next week. In the meantime, here are some that I took on Sunday.

Some things to check out..

I shared a few sneak peaks the other week from our family photo shoot in Deep Ellum. To see the rest of the pics, follow this link. http://chera25.com/galleries/53109Cami/

And this is a picture of me on Friday morning doing one of my new chores.

This is the first time in my life that I have ever enjoyed mowing the lawn. Now all I need is someone to pimp my mower. It could use a cup holder and a sound system.

And finally, go check out this site and vote for the best duct tape prom attire. I've got to admit, some of these creations are pretty incredible and all are deserving of some scholarship money.

http://www.stuckatprom.com/contests/...s_finalist.asp

She's officially a handful!

Well, with all of the hustle and bustle that it required to pack and move my family across 4 states, my kid's birthdays kind of got glossed over. And well Gracie's birthday was one of those that I consider to be a milestone. So, although this post is late...Well, it's still better late than never. On June 4th, the day before our big move, my baby girl turned 5.

We have a tradition in our home that on your birthday, you get to eat whatever you want for breakfast. The kids have always looked forward to this yearly custom. This year Grace chose a Dr. Pepper float for her celebratory breakfast. She and I had a few special moments together that morning before the boys woke up as she drank her float and I presented her with a gift. We had already given her all of her gifts at her party....except for this one. I had been hanging onto it because I knew it would be her favorite. It's the beautiful maya wrap sling that she is holding her baby in for the above photo. Many of you know that Grace is very pro-attachment parenting. In fact her views on breastfeeding can be downright militant at times. LOL! For several years, she has used an old baby blanket with a hair tie around it as a soft carrier for her babies. There are no pictures of the look on her face when I gave her the sling, since it was just she and I in the morning glow of the gentle Texas sun...but I saved a photograph in my mind, and let's just say..it's a good one.

I cannot believe it's been 5 years since she came into our world. I feel so blessed that I have had the opportunity to be at home with her during these formative years. She is so different from her brother. I thought I had being a mom down to a tee. But..there were lessons in life and in motherhood that Hunter couldn't teach me, and so by the grace of God, she was sent to us. She is assertive, and she has taught me that I don't always have to be the one in charge. It's nice to have someone else around sometimes who brings new ideas and likes to lead. She is determined, and willing to persist in the face of difficulty. At age 3 her persistence was most often seen during times of struggle--like when I would tell her, "No!", and she wanted to hear, "Yes!". Now days, her persistence shines through in moments like yesterday when she decided she would finally like to tie her own shoes, and mastered that skill in less than 10 minutes. She has always been very opinionated, especially about what she will wear. When I was 13, I shaved the underside of my hair. When I wore my hair down, you couldn't see it, but when it was in a ponytail, you could see my half bur. I remember my dad saying, "Well, it's your hair, and if you want it to look dumb, I don't care, because it's not my hair." LOL! So much for rebellion..These words of his, though I don't repeat them aloud, often echo in my head. I used to voice my own very opinionated feelings to her about how she should dress...She has taught me to just keep my mouth shut, and let my father's words echo through my head. So, happy birthday to my baby girl. I can't wait to see what the next 5 years bring for us. Keep those big brown eyes open wide and full of wonder, because they make us all want to see the world the way that you do.

The Journey

Warning: This post will be more "wordy" than the last, and then there will be a photo slide show at the end. I found out yesterday, that it takes a REALLY long time to load pictures to blogger with our new rural internet.

On Friday, June 5th, we left Dallas around 7:30 a.m. and headed out on the first leg of our trip. About 30 minutes outside of Mesquite, Grace said, "When are we going to be at our hotel?" I was hoping that she would be a better road trip passenger this year. No such luck. However, since the kids are older now, we really didn't have to stop that many times which made the drive go faster. We finally stopped for the night around 6:00 in a town between Memphis and Nashville. Immediately after getting a room, the kids put on there swimsuits, and we headed to the hotel pool. They had been eagerly awaiting to do this all day. Then, we walked across the street and ate dinner at Loretta Lynn's Diner. It was adorable, and they sold all kinds of Loretta Lynn memorabilia. We didn't buy anything, other than our meals, but we had a good time looking around. That night, I think I actually slept for the first time in 3 weeks. It was EXACTLY what I needed.

We got up earlier than we had planned to, but I think we all slept pretty good that night. Of course, we chowed down on the continental breakfast before heading back out on the road. We drove into Nashville and parked the truck for about 30 minutes while we walked around and took some pictures. We are definitely going to have to head back there soon for a weekend trip. After a little bit of sight seeing, we set out again for our new home. As we drove through Kentucky, we noticed that the adults sure do like to read there. There were lots and lots and lots of stores that sold "Adult Books" and I apparently they also like movies. LOL! Finally after about 4 hours of driving, we came to the beautiful bridge that crosses the Ohio River. The bridge connects our town in Indiana to Kentucky. Once you cross the bridge, you enter our town's historic downtown. There are 130 blocks of historic homes and businesses. Our house is about 3 miles outside of the downtown area. The location is FANTASTIC!!! If you go 3 miles in one direction, you are in historic downtown, and if you go about 2 miles in the other direction, you are at the more modern shopping area (Wal-Mart, Kroger, Dollar Tree, JC Penney, Gamestop, etc..).

So, when we first arrived at our new house, we opened the massive garage/storage building and saw an old tin sign hanging up. It has a picture of an oil rig and says, "Little Dallas". We were in shock, but it was just another sign (literally), that let us know we were home. We believe God has had a hand in this entire move, and paved a path for us that left us with very little doubt. He showed us in numerous ways over the past few weeks that this is where He wanted us to be.

So, here are some of the highlights from our first week in Indiana:

-Hunter has caught several fish in our pond, including a 5 pound bass.
-We saw two wild turkeys at the state park (only about 10 minutes from our house), while we driving to the free swim day at the park pool.
- We met the principal and toured the school the kids will be attending next year. There are only 188 kids for Kindergarten- 5th grade. They have recess everyday!!! (Hunter's last principal had done away with recess before he started school there) And the kids are super excited, because the bus will pick them up everyday at the end of our driveway and take them to school.
-We went to Roger's Corner located in historic downtown for milkshakes and coke floats. It's an old timey soda fountain, and is soooo cute!
-Wes LOVES his job. He is soooo happy to finally be outside again. Also, since he accepted the position, 5 guys have retired, putting him at the top of the seniority list!!!! Oh, and there is more than enough work. He hasn't had a day off yet. So, with all this overtime, we should have no problem getting new Winter wardrobes, and some new things for the house.
-The kids used some gift cards from their birthday to buy a slip n' slide, and have had a blast playing on it.
-We went to free swim day at the city pool located on the riverfront. Hunter had a blast going down the big slide, and Grace had fun on a slide in the shallow end.
-We went to a free concert in celebration of our town's bicentennial. At the end of the night, they had a laser light show and fireworks. It was AWESOME!!!! Hunter also found a group of boys to play football with there. We all had a great time.
-We went to church on Sunday. I had already signed the kids up for community bible school earlier in the week. There are about 6 churches in downtown, of all different denominations, that come together to put on one vacation bible school. I was sooo impressed with that! I will be volunteering at the bible school, so we decided to visit the church it is going to be held at. The kids had a great time and made some new friends.

So, things are going really well for us here. Hudson is coming to visit us in a few weeks, and Wes' parents are also talking about coming up here for the 4th of July. We miss you all, but are settling in nicely to our new surroundings.

The See You Laters

Well, the hardest part about leaving Texas was definitely saying, "See you later." to so many friends and family members. And of course, with such a quick move, there were many people that we did not have a chance to say this to in person. Thank you though to all of you who dropped by, took us to lunch or dinner, sent emails or phoned before we left. We are going to miss seeing so many of you on a regular basis, but we plan to make every effort to keep you all up to date on what's going on in our lives. (((HUGS)))

The kids before their b-day party. Thankfully, this had been planned before we knew about the move. So, it turned out to be a birthday/ going away party for them.

Well, I learned my lesson during the first "see you later" gathering that make up wasn't the best idea. It just didn't go to well with the tears. Not only that, but in our final weeks in Texas, I didn't have much time to take care of myself--hence the darker than normal circles under my eyes. I cried a lot, but this last goodbye was by far the hardest. Demaris or "D-Man" as we call him is Hunter's best friend. He is really the first best friend that Hunter ever had. They have been inseperable for the last 2 years. I have kept him every day after school for the last 2 years. He has spent countless nights at my house. What made this goodbye the hardest for me was seeing and hearing the heart break that Hunter was feeling. It was gut wrenching. He had been upbeat an optimistic about the move until that final night. As I drove Demaris home, Hunter began to sob. He said that the day he met Demaris was the best day of his life. Demaris just comforted Hunter in the backseat as we pulled up to his apartment. Before we left his home that night, he gave Hunter his football jersey and a pair of his shoes that Hunter has always liked. It was one of the sweetest things ever. They have told numerous people over the last 2 years that they are brothers. And, they are..No distance will seperate the bond that these boys share.