Stellan

I'm so bummed....Stellan is back in the hospital. This poor baby has a severe heart problem and needs lots of prayer!! I know that very few people read my blog, but if you do---PRAY!!!

I can't imagine....

Dear Lord....please hold Stellan close. Be with his mom and dad. Help them to gain strength from You...strength and hope. Stellan has been holding on for all of these months....keep him strong. Help his heart to stay in perfect rhythm. Be with the Doctors and make them understand what Stellan needs. Give them wisdom dear Lord. This situation is in Your hands. Thank you for hearing our prayers for Stellan.

In Jesus' name, AMEN.

I'll keep you posted. OR, you can visit Mckmama's website....www.mycharmingkids.net.

Blessings!

~Bethany :)

AHHHH!!!!

My current life activity consists of the following...

*Alex's graduation party is in two days. I have not, I repeat, HAVE NOT done much of anything to prepare for this day! My biggest concern is making a photo banner for Alex. That will take some time and effort!!

*My dad is recovering from surgery in the hospital and I have to visit with him and take care of his dog. Unfortunately, I ran off this morning with Dad's house key and Mark could not walk Buddy....he is going to be holding it for awhile while I work and then visit dad today. Poor thing....

*Mark left. He went with his brother Brad to Kentucky for a funeral this morning and will not be back until tomorrow night.

*I MUST send Alex's scholarship checks to MSU today. I must also send copies of financial records to Kentucky Child Support. I don't have time for this today!!!

*I haven't seen my children in two days. Literally. Two days. The next 48 hours do not look very promising either.

*While all this is going on....Sam is at Young Artists Camp at Woodside this week and he needs to be picked up each day at 4:30 p.m. Tonight, Alex and I need to pick up a tent and deliver it to the Harris's for the grad party Saturday. Did I mention it is supposed to rain Saturday??

I'm whiny today...and tired. I haven't slept much. I'm at work, struggling to stay awake!

I started Weight Watchers a week ago. I am bummed because I haven't had any opportunity to excerise in the past two days....I had been doing SO well!!

AHHHHH!!!!!

Blessings!

~Bethany :)

All Grown Up

I found this picture on our church website. The kids in the youth group try to find creative ways to present announcements each Sunday....this particular time, Alex and his friend Brad told announcements as though they were heralds of sort, playing fanfare music between each announcement.

He's always doing cool things like that :)

It's a strange time in our home. It feels weird to know that Alex is going to college. Yesterday, we were talking about October 25th....David Crowder will be coming to our church for a concert. I told Alex not to worry, he could come home that weekend and go with us. He said, "Oh yeah. I'll be in college then". It's just weird. Odd. I can't quite grasp it!

When I graduated high school, I absolutely could not WAIT to go to college. I was living with my father at that time, had no real relationship with my mother and I felt excited to be moving on to bigger and better things! I love my father and all, but my stepmother at the time wasn't the nicest person in the world. And we weren't a very close family. I was more than ready to go.

With Alex, it's different. He will be missed. I think Alex is feeling a bit stressed about the impending change as well. I mean, he's excited to go, don't get me wrong, but his emotions seem to be a bit off right now.

I am sure that when he actually goes and settles in, all will be fine. I mean, he is going to be coming back home. And he isn't going to be that far away.

Alex is all grown up.

Blessings!

~Bethany :)

This isn't the family picture I was hoping for!

You know how we were supposed to get a family picture taken? Well...that didn't really happen. Instead, we have this beauty taken from my CELL PHONE!

My friend from work forgot about us that day :( Oh well...I guess we'll have to try again another time.

Mark just took Alex down to Ram's Horn to meet up with the Jamaica mission team. I'm a little worried...I know I shouldn't be, but Alex is still my baby!!!

That's all for now...it's getting close to 3 a.m. and Mark should be home soon.

Blessings!

~Bethany :)

Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of July!

We saw fireworks last night. We were joking about them being 4-D---we could hear them, feel them...taste them! Ha! They were literally chunks of firework pieces falling on us! Weird....

But we managed to leave without much harm done. And Josh has more things to add to his collection of 'stuff'. I've never had that happen before!

We had a good time last night. We had Steve and Monica over and they have their 3 adorable kids, all of our kids and then, Rob and Lisa came too...with their daughter, Megan. Mark grilled hamburgers, hotdogs and brauts (spelling?). It was a lot of fun!! I am so thankful that we have friends and there are folks that like to hang out with us :)

Last Saturday, I graduated with my Masters! Praise the Lord! Now, I have a few months before I have to start paying on my loans. That will be a bummer....

I am at work today...yes...on the holiday. We celebrated yesterday, so that is okay. Alex is getting ready to leave on his mission trip. Last Monday, I was walking to the mailbox with Mark and the kids....praying that Alex's passport would be there. It was!!! God answered those prayers for sure. He is set to leave EARLY in the morning. Mark is going to take him to Ram's Horn (a 24-hour restaurant) at 2 a.m. and his flight will leave at 6 a.m.-ish. He is a little nervous, but excited! I'm praying for his safety and for his confidence as he shares the gospel. He is going to present a short message on Sunday at the church that the orphans attend. He will do great, I'm sure!

Everything else is normal....somewhat. We are having a few issues with teenage children and hormones. Yes....it is inevitable I suppose. Mark and I have told the kids that we do not agree with dating or anything associated with dating....until they are at least 16 years old. That's the rule. But a couple of the kids have had a crush and they have contact with their 'significant other' via emails and texts. Not good. When they do that, they are feeding the relationship....and it gets too involved. One of the boys was pretty upset when his 'friend' (they always say, "we're just friends!", don't they? I did!), decided she didn't like him so much that way anymore. We do not need extra drama in the teenage life! That is for sure. The less, the better. SO...Mark is planning to review our terms for dating. Even going with their family somewhere....or the other person joining our family....it's just too much like dating. Thankfully, Alex has succeeded in keeping himself from the drama. We'll see how it goes in college!! Just 6 more teenagers to go through!!!!

Better go for now!

Blessings!

~Bethany :)

Father's Day, etc.

I'm not exactly sure what to do for Father's Day.... Mark is an incredible dad and I don't think that anything I do will be adequate. I have a plan for the kids to make him a card...which we need to do quickly. And I thought about making quiche for breakfast...which he would really like. But I need to go to the grocery store....and right now, I am working. When I am done working at 7 p.m., I need to get home so we can go visit our friends. We're going to their house to have a bonfire and make smores! When will I go to the grocery store?

What about MY father? Sheesh.

On Monday, we are getting a family picture taken at a local park. My friend at work, she is an amatuer photographer. She took pics for our wedding too. That was the last time the whole family was in some type of formal group shot! Do you know how difficult it is to find clothing for this type of event??? I decided on natural-looking colors....yellows, browns, and orange...then, we could all wear khaki on the bottom (shorts, capris, etc.). I was going to take the two girls to get their hair styled...but I can't find the phone number of the girl who does it out of her home. And I sure can't afford it at the salon! SO....looks like I will be doing hair that day too! Jules is easy...last week, we tried to 'flip up' her ends and it worked! Looked really cute. Alyssa is a different story...she has stubborn hair! I think I'll just try to straighten it and then maybe put a few pins in to keep it out of her face.

I'll post it here after I get copies!

Yeah...so, I am not ready for Father's Day. And Stellan (the baby at the top right of my blog) is sick again and in the hospital. That is frustrating.

Other than that---did I tell you how relieved I am to be DONE WITH STUDENT TEACHING!!!???

Blessings!

~Bethany :)

RELIEF

RELIEF is the one word to describe how I feel after finishing student teaching--that's right--I'm DONE!!! I cannot explain how happy I am to be free from college! I thought student teaching would be different. I was excited about it at first. After a few weeks, I found that it was going to be quite different than what I had imagined! There are a lot of negative topics I could discuss, but ah...it's not worth it.

I have neglected my blog for so long! I know...nobody reads it, but still!

Let's see....instead of elaborating on all that has been happening, I'll do bullet points :)
(okay..so they are asterisks--sue me!)
*Today, I am officially done with my Masters program.
*On June 5th, Alex, the 18 year old son, graduated from high school with honors.
*On June 2nd, Sam, the 13 year old son, sang a solo-"Yesterday" (The Beatles song)-and played guitar at his spring choir concert.
*Alyssa, the 14 year old daughter, started pre-band camp today for marching band. She is officially starting high school!
*On June 27th, I will graduate at Ford Field (I am wearing a hood on my gown!).
*July 5th, Alex leaves for a mission trip to JAMAICA!!
*On July 22nd, we are having Alex's graduation party.

Other than that, there is not much new! Gabe finished Kindergarten and Jordan finished 1st grade. Jules will be going to MIDDLE SCHOOL...which is insane!!! The kids are all moving on up to bigger and better things! Lord...keep them near!!

That is all for now!

Blessings!

~Bethany :)