"Love the Lord your God, walk in all His ways, obey His commands, hold fast to Him and serve Him with all your heart and soul." Joshua 22:5


Sunday, May 30, 2010

Shep's busted lip

Ouch!  Shepard jumped out of the swing this afternoon and landed on his face.  We found him with a mouthful of blood and in a lot of pain.  I don't think this picture really shows how bad it was...  most of the damage was inside his bottom lip.  It took us awhile to clean out all the imbedded dirt in it.  He's tough though and he's doing fine...  just sore and swollen.  I told him that I think he is currently in the lead for the title of Most Injuries in the Wasson Boys.  That made him smile!  We have lots of small injuries here every day - I seriously think that we will single-handedly keep Band-Aid in business :), but Shepard definitely gets the prize for the most "big" injuries...  there was the gasoline in the eyes, the trip to the ER with the big cut on his foot, a different mouth injury where he took a chunk out of the roof of his mouth while running with a toy and the big head gash.  And he's just 5 years old!!

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Shep's new rabbit

We came home from our trip to find Shepard's rabbit was missing...  so sad!  There were lots of tears, but John took him to the store to get a new one and Shepard didn't have any trouble deciding which one he wanted.  And he named him "Thumper" just like the old one.  He's all smiles now!

Celebrating 15 years of marriage in New England!

Woohoo!!  I have always wanted to visit New England and what could possibly be better than visiting New England with my favorite person in the whole world??  It was a fantastic trip!  My hubby is the greatest guy in the world and I am enormously blessed.  We have so much fun together.  Every year of marriage is sweeter than the last.  Happy 15! 

Here are the highlights from our trip to Vermont...

1.  We got to fly!  I love to ride in airplanes, so that's always fun!  And I didn't realize that we would be flying over NYC to land at Newark and switch planes.  We got a great view of Long Island and the Statue of Liberty.  I've never been there before, so that was neat to see!

2.  The first thing we really noticed after arriving in Burlington, VT was that almost everyone drove a Subaru.  I had to laugh when John started taking pictures of the cars instead of the scenery! :)  It wasn't long until we were making a list of everything that was different than Arkansas...  it was a long list!  So many people outside walking their dogs and riding bikes, everything is locally grown and organic, huge "green" emphasis, no fast food or Wal-Mart, smaller meal portions at the restaurants, the people were polite but not talkative, of course the climate - which was AWESOME!  If we could only bring the scenery and the climate to Arkansas!

3.  One of our first stops was to visit Ben & Jerry's...  the ice cream was yummy!... 


We had a lot of fun driving around Vermont and seeing the beautiful scenery!


4.  We ferried over to upstate New York and drove in the Adirondacks.  Those mountains were gorgeous to look at!  And that was our first experience with a ferry - fun!

5.  More scenic Vermont drives!  The weather was incredible!  Windows down was a must!



Taking turns with pics at one of the covered bridges...

6.  We ate every single meal outside on the decks and verandas and porches of Vermont!  Aaahhh!  This was the view from our table one night for dinner.  It was a very casual little cafe but it was right on the water of Lake Champlain with a gorgeous view of the Adirondacks and a spectacular sunset.  We were sure we could get used to this!! :)
But, we both agreed that it was GREAT to get back to the south and the southern genteel culture that we are used to.  We have a new appreciation for life in the south...  although the muggy weather slapped us in the face when we came back, we were glad to be back in the familiarity of big cars, sweet tea, lots of smiling faces and the Bible belt!  Life is Good!!!

p.s.  I couldn't get this picture of NYC to insert at the right place...  so here it is.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Who's on First... is sooo sweet!

The other day I had Abbot and Costello's "Who's on First" conversation with Shepard...  the words were completely different, but it was basically the same conversation.  It was really funny.  There just really isn't much you can do in a spiraling conversation like that but admit defeat.  :) 

But, this same boy has such a big heart!  When he found out I was staying home alone to watch a webinar (about homeschooling boys) while John took all the boys out to eat, he immediately gasped and proclaimed, "Somebody has to stay here to protect mom!"  As they were leaving and he realized no one would be able to stay with me he came to me and suggested that I should be sure to lock all the doors after they left.  I love to see his manly protectiveness starting to develop.
And when he found me sobbing after a really bad haircut, he went to get John to check on me.  A little later - and on his own initiative - he made a special point to come find me and tell me that he liked my haircut.  I'm not sure if he really liked it (probably not because it's really bad!) but his heart so genuinely wanted to say something kind.  Every time that I cringe when looking at my hair I'm going to try to remember to be grateful for the opportunity to see Shepard's sweet heart.
Funny side note:  Somehow Josiah was oblivious to the bad haircut because it was mentioned in a conversation today and he was surprised to learn about it...  he hadn't even noticed it.  And I'm wondering how he could have missed all the drama, but I'm sure he must have had his nose buried in a computer game! :)

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Mother's Day 2010

Do my children rise up and call me blessed?  Not really. :)  But they are all so precious and show their love in such sweet ways - each according to their own personalities.  I am blessed!  John had the boys give me a gift parade and then they each took turns telling me what they liked about me and then lots of hugs and I love yous!  All the pictures are taken after my heartfelt joyous tears... :)  I love being a mom and am so thankful to be on this parenting journey with my favorite person - my hubby!  I continue to pray that the Lord will teach me His wisdom so that I can train my children in His ways!



Sunday, May 2, 2010

GKS Spring 2010

We just wrapped up another Growing Kids Sale a few days ago and I finally have time to post again.  It was a good sale and we enjoyed doing it a lot.  Age seems to be kicking in...  we're feeling the year of turning 40! :)  Our bodies just get tired.  Or maybe we're just out of shape...  either way, we are recuperating from the long hours and are feeling rested now and glad to have had the opportunity to do another sale.  Here are some pics of this spring's sale.



Girls' Side
Boys' Side




Our favorite sale find!  The younger boys have been having a blast with this!  We're amazed at well Will can ride it.  He's got it all figured out...  even going in reverse.  It is so fun to watch him. 



And in the middle of all this John turned 40!!  Happy Birthday, Honey!