Art by Susan Carter

"All Children are artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up. "
Pablo Picasso

All through my childhood I have memories of my Mom coloring with me or drawing for us. I was always in awe of the beautiful horses and such she would adorn our paper with. I wished so much that I could make a pencil magically create a masterpiece the way she could with such ease. Unfortunately for me, I was not blessed with that gene. She however, just keeps getting better. Hop on over to my Mom's new blog and see one of her pencil drawings. Better yet, send her an e-mail and inquire about purchasing one! Mention my blog and get a 10% discount off any prints. I hope that you see it with the same wonderment that I do. Keep checking back, there is more to come...

If my link doesn't work simply go to http://carters3oaks.blogspot.com/

A Boooootiful Evening!

Halloween was so much fun. This was the 1st year for Morgan Grace to be able to trick or treat. It was truly a treat watching Hunter and Morgan W. take her from house to house.

I made Morgan Grace a tutu and paired it with a pair of wings so that she could be an adorable little Pumpkin Fairy. Hunter and his girlfriend Morgan were 50's Car Hop/Grease style characters. They looked so cute and classy! I was shocked this year at how little some of the girls were wearing! They made me so proud walking the neighborhood together taking Morgan Grace door to door and pushing her along the side walk. We have great kids!

I Will Give Myself to You...

I have asked God for many things or blessings, better health for people, to mend strained relationships and broken hearts, to help me to honor Him, be a light, and so very much more but occasionally, I feel like something is missing or doesn't click right...like I ask a question and then insert earplugs...or ask him to show me something and then close my eyes. This week I found an old notebook of mine that Hunter had scribbled and colored in while we were out and about. Flipping through I was brought to tears by what I found. Between his pages of "I LOVE YOU MOM" and drawings of cars, Army men and American Flags, I found this:

Feb. 22, 2005 (Hunter was 8 1/2 yrs old)

Dear God, Help me learn more about you. Help me talk with you often and do what's right so I can be close to you.

Hunter

Feb. 23, 2005

Dear Father God, I will sing to you. I will bow down to worship you. But most of all I will give myself to you.

Hunter

Wow, all this time I have been searching for just the right balance of give and take and there it was hidden in the heart of a child. I showed Hunter his young prayers and even he was amazed at what he had written years ago. I even noticed his morning prayer seemed a little more personal on the way to school today. If only we could sincerely offer those sweet words in prayer everyday.

Oct. 21, 2009 (Mom 33~ Hunter 13)

Dear Hunter,

I love you Hunter and I am so very proud of the young man you are becoming. I hope you never forget how to pray from your heart as you did when you were small.

XOXOXOXO,

Mom

Happy 70th Birthday Daddy...

For years my Dad's health was...well...crummy. Recently he has been blessed and been able to turn things around. He didn't think it was possible that he would "make it" to his 70th Birthday and yet he did. Living proof that it is never too late to teach an old dog new tricks. Happy Birthday Daddy. I am so glad we were able to celebrate your Birthday with you and our family. We all love you bunches!

"Dance as if no one's watching, sing as if no one's listening, and live every day as if it were your last."

My BABY is officially a TEENAGER...

How did this happen? Where did time fly off to? I think I am in shock...my heart is pounding...I am starting to sweat...now I am dizzy...it is official, HE IS A TEENAGER!!! Lord help us all!

Since everyday is a blessing, no birthday around here goes with out lots of celebration and celebrate we did. A weekend of Ranger's games, fireworks, watching softball games, hanging with friends, Jack Ingram concert, and on Monday (the actually bday) dinner out with Miss Morgan, his sweetheart. No Birthday weekend is complete without fireworks...right?

He still loves his Momma

Hunter listening to Jack Ingram

Always ready to party!

A few things to remember:
He is 5'9, 175lbs, and wears a size 13 shoe!

He is taking all four available pre-ap classes and is making straight A's!

He plays sports. Baseball, basketball, golf and surfing when he can, but FOOTBALL is his passion. He plays Fullback and Middle Linebacker. In his first game of the season, he scored the first touchdown and ran over 60 yards.

He adores his sister and his girlfriend...who share the name Morgan.

He loves to eat and never cleans his room.

Most important thing to remember...I love him with all my heart (even when I want to wring his ever lovin' neck :) )

More than a mustard seed...

With my dear Husband Wes, still looking for steady employment. I keep thinking about my devotional and the verse about the mustard seed...

"He said to them, 'Because of the littleness of your faith [that is, your lack of firmly relying trust]. For truly I say to you, if you have faith [that is living] like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, Move from here to yonder place, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.'" Matthew 17:20 (AMP)

Did I read that correctly? NOTHING will be impossible to me? Why then doesn't Wes have work after all these months of waiting? Why is my house a mess? Why, why, why? I have more faith than that little seed. So I have to rely on this again, For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:11-13.

So it is not about faith, it is about seeking Him with all my heart full of faith. I pray that I don't get so busy in my everyday world where it is so common to be surrounded with inappropriate language and behaviour that I don't spend nearly enough time seeking Him. There are so many distractions, so much to do, be here, go there, clean this, sort that, and all the hours I spend driving in that car! But He is bigger than all of those chores and deserves so much more of me. This morning, hours before my family will wake, I sat on my patio and prayed I could always have strong faith, that I would be a better wife, mother, daughter, and friend. That God's love and forgiveness would shine through me. That I could be better at forgiving and receiving forgiveness. That I could show others His love through me. The rest of it, is all small stuff in the grand scheme of things. I believe that God knows our needs and will provide for us just in time and I am so humbled by His forgiveness.

I borrowed the picture from Wikipedia. Take note of the tiny size of those lil' seeds. If faith that small can move mountains, imagine what we can do with our faith.

Always growing and changing...

It seems that Hunter and Morgan are having a race to see who can grow and change the most at the same time.

With Hunter, I come home and feel like a total stranger is standing in my house. He is so tall and handsome. His tan skin is the most beautiful color I have ever seen and it draws out the green in his eyes. When he talks I catch myself staring at him as if he were an alien! What happened to the cute cracking voice of my little boy!? Now he sounds so grown up and well...kinda rude!!! I was not ready for all this. My sweet thoughtful, helpful, brilliant Hunter Bear has turned into a hormonal know-it-all teenager. It leaves me sitting here wish for a whole pitcher of margaritas and asking what happened? Is there a cure for this? Maybe an instruction manual? HELP! Again, I am not ready for this!!!

My little Bear started 7th grade last week. He was so anxious and nervous it was kinda sweet. He is in all four available pre-ap classes again this year. He just took a placement test for math Friday and we received an e-mail that he did really well. We were relieved as it is his least favorite class and I was second guessing my decision to keep him in the advanced class. Now I have to giggle because as a 7th grader he is in a higher level class than his father and I took as a senior in high school. That is just sad! This will be his first year to play football for his school and is thrilled. He hasn't complained once about getting up early to be at practice at 7:15 a.m. He likes to be there early too. We can't wait to find out which team he made so we can see his schedule. He weighed himself the other day and was 175lbs, he is about 5'8-9, and wearing a size 13 Nike (with a little room to grow)!

On to smaller problems, I mean children...Miss Morgan. Let me tell you, this girl is a mess. I know I have said this before, but the mess got bigger! Much like her big brother, she is beautiful and brilliant, and much like him she is hardheaded and well...rude. Seriously? Did I just say that my 15 month old angel is rude? I sure did! She goes from lovingly doting me with kisses to slapping or hitting or just ripping through a room like a lil' Texas tornado. She hates the word "no" and boy does she let us know it. You would think that hearing it a million times a day she would understand the meaning. Apparently not. Actually, that is not true. She has no problem telling me "no" when I am about to discipline her, take something away, or attempt a time out.

Her vocabulary seems to grow everyday and keeps us laughing as she mimics us. She has started calling Wes Da more than Daddy. Sometimes when I call out his name you will hear this sweet whisper of her saying, "Wes" behind me. When Wes was peeling her banana (her favorite breakfast) she said, "me, me,me, me, me, me" while motioning her hands as if to say give it to me! The week before last, she clearly said, "bye" as she hung up her play phone. We have been trying to get her to say Grammy forever and on Thursday she Finally called out to her plain as day with Gram! I think it made Grammy's day. I am sure I will have to come back and add to this list but here is a list of words and phrases she now says: Momma, Daddy, Da, Bubba, Me, dog, dog sit, I did that, it did that, whats that, shoes (shoosh), Gram, Papa, Nana (was nana for banana but she quit calling it anything at all), love, and today she said, "thank you" as she handed me the dirty laundry over and over. She can sign more but not as often as I would like. I will ask Wes and Hunter to remind me of the words I have forgotten in the morning.

As for me and Wes, we are still praying that he finds a job soon. The financial strain puts such a heavy weight on all of our emotions lately. Whenever I want to feel sorry for myself I am reminded of how blessed we are to all be healthy and for our beautiful children. There are so many worse pains and burdens so many families struggle through. This is hard, but we will recover. We still have faith that God has a beautiful plan for our family.

Picture Perfect Tutu...

A while back I made my first tutu for Morgan so that we could have her pictures done with it and then let her have a blast dancing around the house. When I saw her pictures I realized how sweet it made her look! Sooooo....I decided to make them and sell them! You know what??? I have been having so much fun making tutu's! I broke my good camera but was able to snap a few pictures with our cheapo camera to give you an idea what they look like.

You can custom order any colors your little heart desires. For a little extra I can add ribbon, flowers, rhinestones and such. The best part of all of this is that if you order a tutu from me, Brooke of Maddie Pie Creations will give you a discount on a mini session for your little princess! How cool is that? You have to flip over to her blog asap because the special only last until the end of September :)

Finally, Hunter is Home!!!!

I have missed him all summer and just couldn't wait to see my handsome boy last Sunday. Driving there, I was so excited that my tummy turned like it does just before you step on a roller coaster. I wondered how much he had changed in the 50 days he spent with his Father. Hunter has always been a little taller than most of his classmates so I expected that he had grown. I didn't expect him to be taller than both his Father and I! I was shocked to be looking up at my 12 year old while he looked down and grinned at me. Morgan was shy with him and you could tell he was hurt that she wouldn't go to him and buried her face against me so he couldn't see her. All summer she has been shy with all men except her Daddy. It didn't take her long to warm up to him and soon they were both giggling and laughing in a way that they only do with each other. It was heart warming.
Hunter came home standing about 5'9-5'10 and wearing a size 13 shoe! My little boy is now a very handsome young man. We had some issues to go over and new ground rules when he got home. He handled the change really well and we had a great first week just hanging out at home. We took his little girlfriend to the movies too. Hopefully this week we will get out and about and see more of his friends. Off we go....

Morgan's Photoshoot with MaddiePie Creations

I asked Brooke of MaddiePie Creations to shoot Morgan's one year pictures for us and much to my delight she was able to fit us in! She was wonderful and patient with Morgan which as we all know is much needed with a one year old. We are so impressed! She really captured Morgan's little personality in the pictures. I can't wait to print and frame them!

Go on over to her blog and check out her work. Better yet, book a session with her. You won't be disappointed!

If you can't stand the heat, get out of my kitchen...

Desperate times call for desperate measures and I have been trying to find ways to be more thrifty with my time and our money. One of the things I have been doing is preparing all of Wes's meals for the week on Sunday. This way I just divide up the food and we both have a weeks worth of meals without a ton of dishes or two grocery bills. So many people have asked for the recipes each week I thought I would post a few of them here.
On top of my normal routine to cook all day and night on Sunday, I was treated to a fun surprise when we opened the deep freezer on Saturday and found that it was not working!!! HORROR!!! Most of the food was still good and some was even still frozen. God must have sent an angel to keep it cool in there. Seems like it had been 103 plus temperatures outside all week and yet, my food was spared. We had a smorgasbord of food Saturday cooking the thawed frozen dinners. What we couldn't refreeze we cooked, and cooked, and grilled, and cooked. Wes grilled steaks & pork chops. We made homemade BBQ chicken in the crock pot. I am trying to satisfy Wes's request for "cool" foods to help him beat the heat so I prepared Honey Mustard Chicken Pasta Salad, Italian Pasta Salad, Chicken and Grape Salad, Fresh Salsa, and a bushel of fresh fruits for him. I had to rescue the frozen hashbrowns so he also ended up with a Hashbrown Casserole and my variation of a Breakfast Pizza. You can click on the meals above to view the recipes.

BREAKFAST PIZZA

1 lb. bulk pork sausage
1 refrigerated pizza crust
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese, Swiss or Monterey Jack
2 tbsp. Parmesan cheese
5 eggs
1/4 c. milk
1 small onion
1 bell pepper (I used yellow but red would have been better)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
Brown sausage and drain. Roll pizza doe out on cookie sheet. Press over bottom and up sides to form crust. Sprinkle with sausage. Cover sausage with chopped onion and bell pepper. Top with cheese. In bowl, beat eggs, milk, salt, pepper and sauce. Pour over sausage. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake in 375 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Supposedly great for that holiday breakfast.
****I was originally going to use a bag of frozen hashbrowns (thawed and patted dry) but ruined them and had to improvise...it was delish!!!

Let me know what you think of the recipes. Smooches y'all!

It is toooo HOT!!!

,

If you are anywhere near Texas or the South in general you know that it has been just too darn hot to do much of anything outside. We have ventured out a little in the mornings to the park and zoo, but were miserable and tired at the end of the day. It is all I can do to get the yard mowed without having a heat stroke. As you can see, Morgan is happy cooling off in a pool!

Poor Wesley. I simply don't know how he works outside in the heat all day. While he is building this school he is completely exposed with nothing but his little hard hat to keep him cool. I don't even want to think about how hot he gets while welding with the hood and heavy long sleeves on...yuck! Just another reason for me to be so proud of him and how hard he works for our family.

On a cooler note...

A few weeks ago I started keeping two little girls A-7 and L-9. I have them about two weeks of the month. They are a treat! Morgan is having a great time and looks forward to them getting here in the mornings. She greets them with a huge smile and claps because they are here. We have a few indoor field trips I would like to take them on to get out of the house but still escape the heat. Maybe the OMNI, a museum, the movies, who knows. We had a great time making glass bead magnets together and have more crafts lined up. I will post pictures if we ever get to complete them.

Other than Morgan growing like a weed, nothing around here has changed. House is still a wreck, I miss Hunter more then I thought was possible, Wes is still looking for permanent employment, and God is still good.

Happy 4th of July!

More than anything else, I want to take a minute to thank my husband, my father, my friends, and all of those who have served America! Because of your sacrifice, I am able to FREELY sit here today reading my devotional, praying to God, and loving my family. You all gave and give so much and get so little in return. For those of you who served in the past, you are always remembered in our home. For those of you serving now, we pray for your safe return home. Thank you again from the bottom of my heart. Our family applauds & salutes you!

Wes, Morgan & I spent the evening at home grilling and just hanging out. We had another delicious dinner after the local fireworks show was over. We grilled brisket, sauteed summer squash w/onion & mushrooms again, and boiled baby red potatoes with fresh corn on the cob. I love all of the grilling and fresh food we get to enjoy when Wes is home! I also love the cuddling and dancing for Morgan in the living room. I already have a roast in the crock pot for Italian sandwiches tomorrow and will let you know how that turns out. Smells heavenly! Thank you again to Mommaloo and her family for the wonderful blessing you gave us this week!

Scott Family Updates...

Since so many of you are praying for us, I thought I would give some updates. First, thank you for your prayers and encouragement. Please keep it coming and please know that we are praying for you too.
As you know, Wes has been looking for steady work since late April, when he completed the power plant in Colorado. Until now, nothing promising has been offered. Bless his heart, he has applied for well over 300-400 jobs in the past few months. As a wife, this has been one of the hardest things to watch. He prides himself in providing for our family. Those of you, who know us well, know that he has climbed unimaginable obstacles to get where he is. God obviously has big plans for him and I couldn’t be more proud of him. We heard promising news that the Boilermaker Union that Wes works for is hoping to have more work by September…that is wonderful, but we will starve and be homeless by then! We are so grateful for the odd jobs my Mom, Dad, and friends have had for us to help us get by. More than anything we are holding tight to our faith that God will provide for us. He always has. Wes has taken a job welding in Tyler, TX. The pay is horrible, but is more than we would earn on unemployment so it is a blessing. They do pay for his hotel and his food allowance will help with fuel. Also, Tyler is a whole lot closer than Colorado so that is a HUGE plus for me.
I cooked all day yesterday so that he would have a weeks worth of food without it costing us anything more. I sent him with a cooler full of my meatloaf meatballs, crock pot chicken, rice, summer squash casserole, buttermilk chicken, watermelon, cantaloupe, oranges, yogurt, sandwich fixings and baked him some butter crunch cookies. So now that I have finally gotten used to having him home for meals as a family, he is gone again...but with good food. I hope that when he is having his home cooked dinner, he can see a little of how much I love him.

After many years of long commutes and being mentally and emotionally consumed with work, I have been incredibly blessed this past year in being able to be home with my children. I love taking Hunter to and from school and getting him off to practice on time. I know that it isn’t enough to make up for all the years he spent in after school care, but he knows that I was working hard to take care of him. Being home with Morgan has been equally enjoyable. Being here to watch her learn and grown is so awesome. The two of them make me feel as if I have done something wonderful everyday. With that said, I couldn’t let Wes work so hard to find a job and not try to help more, so I updated my resume and applied for work too. Who knew that taking just a year off would cause me to feel so out of touch with the rest of the working world? This was a practical, but difficult decision for me. I truly believe that I serve my family better being home, but I have to try. Just the cost of childcare and fuel alone makes the job search a daunting task. So far no bites, but as we all know, God is good. After the 4th of July holiday, I will be taking care of two adorable little girls, ages 6 & 10, every other week. I also have a house lined up to clean every other week where I can take Morgan with me! My Mom has a list of things I can do for her to help her get caught up and organized too. This isn’t what I was looking for at all and will need to find a few more houses to clean or drop in’s to make it profitable, but what a blessing!!! I am so excited!!! They are so well behaved I don't worry about bringing them with me to MTM play dates!!! I miss you girls!!! Maybe I can offer a Mother’s Day Out to my friends a few days a week and see how that goes. I am just happy to be able to help Wes and still be here for my children.

As for the kids, Hunter is having a blast with his Dad and Charity in Houston. They took a long weekend and went to the river. He is like me, happy anywhere there is water and family. Morgan is learning and changing every day. She grabs on to our legs and coos oooohs and ahhhhs. It is adorable and melts your heart. Of course, it is usually after she has touched a million no no’s, pulled the outlet covers out, turned off my computer, drooled on my phone, and pulled my clothes out of my drawers and thrown them all over the house. She is going through a stage of separation anxiety. Even people that she normally goes right too are causing her to grab on to us tight and cry. She too, loves the water.

I need to end this here. Nap time is almost over and as you know, I could go on and on all day about my children…can’t we all? Again, please keep praying. I hate that we have been so out of touch. We have been trying to save money and stay focused on the job search. We would love to hear updates from you too!

Happy Father's Day

Proverbs 17:27
A man of knowledge uses words with restraint,
and a man of understanding is even-tempered. (NIV)

Happy Father's Day Wesley! You have worked so hard for us and you deserve more than an evening of rest. I hope that you enjoyed your evening of grilling and family time. I know Morgan loved it. She had a blast playing on the patio with the hose for the first time. She had us cracking us chasing poor Red around with the hose yelling, "DOG SIT!!!" She fully intended on bathing him, I just know it. (Don't forget to double click on the collage to get a better look)And just what did we eat to honor Father's Day you ask? We had steak, sauteed summer squash w/onion and mushrooms, grilled corn and lil' baked potatoes. YUMMY!!!

Desperate

I try not to vent to often on here, not because things are always hunky dory for me, but because I think it is just horrible to complain all the time. Seriously. When I look at the big beautiful picture, how can I complain? God loves me, provides for and forgives me. My children are both happy, healthy and simply beautiful. I have a handsome, smart, hardworking husband that loves me unconditionally. No matter what we are going through right now, worried about finding jobs and how we will make ends meet, we know that we will make it together. This is temporary. There are people so much worse off all over the world. Sooooo...when I want to vent and cry and scream and yell about how unfair life is right now, it is hard for me to come here and do it like I desperately want to. Before my fingers can type the ugly, God reminds me about the beautiful. My intentions tonight were to use my blog as a healthy place to vent (so that I didn't take it out on Wes). Here I sit with this wonderful blank screen in front of me and all I can think about is the song that just suck in my head...Lord, I'm desperate for you.

This is the air I breathe
Your holly presence, living in me This is my daily bread Your very word, spoken to me And I........I'm desperate for you And I ........ I'm lost without you...
from "Breathe" by Michael W Smith

Just because they made me smile...

This week Morgan sang, "My Momma," over and over while I rocked and sang her to sleep. It was so sweet it brought me to tears...

Faith

I have said this many times lately but I feel like Mel Gibson in the movie Braveheart...You know the scene where he is tied to the table, they want him to bow to the king, and they are stretching him apart trying to get him to give in, but instead he screams, "Freedom!!!!!!!" That is what my faith feels like right now. I try not to vent to much or complain on here. I know that no matter what is going on in my life, I am incredibly blessed. I have to be honest and confess, my confidence is a little shaky. I know that God has a beautiful plan for my family and I hope he presents it to us soon. God knows our needs. This week in my Proverbs 31 Ministries:Daily Devotional, I read; "But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind." James 1:6 (NIV)
God, Please help me to put my faith and trust in you all day every day. Thank you for the blessings that I know are coming our way. Amen.

Hello Summer...We missed you old friend!

Summer is FINALLY here. I am so excited and motivated to begin a new season as a family. Hunter's first day of freedom was awesome! We met Wes on his lunch break at Trinity Park for a little picnic and swinging time. After we deposited Daddy back at the shop we headed to the Botanical Gardens for a walk. Just me and my children, soaking in the tidbits of sun peaking through the enormous trees above us. I enjoyed talking to Hunter while Morgan gazed at everything. Eventually we took her out to walk with her big brother and she was so amazed that she was wearing shoes! She stopped every three steps to bend over and look at them. Up until then, she always pulled them off as soon as I could get them fastened. We then ventured to Central Market and had so much fun tasting the fresh veggies and fruit. I heart Central Market! We ended our day at Mason's Birthday party. It was fun in the pool for Hunter and good time with our friends just hanging out. What a great life!

Happy 1st Birthday Sweet Morgan!!!

Our beautiful lil' Princess turned one this week. It amazes me that we have shared our world with her for a whole year already. We all love her so much more than our hearts could imagine. Everyday my children amaze me in different ways. We are so blessed with the two of them.

Between Hunter's school events and baseball games, it has been a crazy couple of weeks leading up to her Birthday. We weren't even sure if we were going to be able to have a party as our schedule was so tight. At the very last minute we were able to pull a great party with wonderful friends and Grammy too! Friends came from near and far to celebrate with us. I made dips, Wesley grilled and the kids ran around playing and trying to act like the big boys. Morgan relished in the glow of all the attention and even put one a show for us when opening her presents. She loved her cake and had to have a bath after the mess she made with the icing. At some point during the party I looked down and Hunter was fallen asleep with her sitting on his back playing with new toys and kids crawling all over him. He is such a great big brother! I guess she does share...only with her Hunna!

I think she is thinking, "Seriously Mom! Pictures while I am eating...again?"

I am always telling myself to write things down as the kids do them so I don't forget when a milestone happens. I know I am forgetting to list a few things but this is a good start to a list of where she is at. Morgan started walking pretty well about a week before she turned one. She was cruising with her toys and the furniture for about four months before she went more than ten steps alone. She is saying, Dada, Momma, Bubba, Hunna (Hunter), Dog, Yes, No, That, Banana, Nana, Good, Love, and I am sure I am forgetting some. While she can wear 18 month clothes and is healthy looking, she can still wear 6-9 months clothes. She loves to splash and swim in the garden tub and even likes the shower. She is still nursing in the early morning and at bed time and sleeps throughout he night most nights. She will eat so many things that we eat but her favorites are cheese, bananas, bread, pasta, Nilla wafers, cheerios, green beans, apple sauce, flour tortillas, guacamole and beans. She has a HUGE appetite. I have never seen a baby eat as much as she does.

Still Given' it to God...

Wes completed his job at the power plant in Colorado and has been home for a month, so it is no surprise that I have gotten behind on my blogging. I am totally fine with it though. The past month has been awesome having my Hubby home. It has also been emotional, restful, stressful, fun, and a whole lot more all rolled up into a big ball called family. Wes has been helping with everything here. He let me sleep in for weeks taking Hunter to school and tending to Morgan when she woke up. He has been trying so hard to make up for time lost with the kids. I am so proud of him. I know that some husbands don't do the domestic thing, but he is really trying. Both kids (and Mommy) have enjoyed him being here. Hunter loves having Wes here to attend and coach his baseball games and practice. I think he also likes to pawn some of his chores off on Wes. Morgan has been a little bundle of laughter and tears. All of us had to readjust a little to having him home when we are used to him being gone. It is a good adjustment! Now we are just praying and trying to give our worries to God while we wait for Wes to find a new job. I have more peace than normal and am trusting God that he will provide for us. He always has...

Hunter is doing so well in school. He has been able to pull off almost straight A's all year in his Pre-Ap classes. Only twice has he come home with a B on his report card. It amazes me that he is such a natural athlete and is still able to do so well in school while being so girl crazy! He is now taller than I am standing about 5'8 and 175 lbs. He is still between a 12 and 13 shoe. He looks like a giant next to his 12 year old friends. I am going to miss him so much this summer and am already dreading saying goodbye. Morgan already idolizes him and he just beams with pride when she calls him by name. She yells, "Hunna? Hunna? Hunna!!!" and he come running with the biggest smile on his face. I never imagined they could be so close with such a big gap in age. We are so blessed.

Morgan is still a mess. Our little Princess is a tad bit spoiled...I wonder why. I tell her no and I am firm, but she still wants her way and cries when she doesn't get what she wants or if we tell her no. She has also taken to hitting us when I won't let her nurse. She has four teeth and more on the way. Obviously, this is not comfortable for me. It is like having a little razor gnawing at me when she eats! She hasn't taken more than 2-6 steps at a time but is still walking (running) behind her push toys and stands without assistance all the time. I know she will do it in her own time. We have giggled so Hunter pushing Morgan in her wagon. She loves it and brings it to him begging for more! I have several meals waiting to be cooked and frozen so I have to run. Ciao!