Dear Blogger...

OH, HOW I HAVE MISSED YOU!

Seriously... it has been entirely TOO LOOONG since I have blogged!!!  And I will have to say, I have truly missed blogging.  Well, life has a way of getting... um... let's just say, a little out of sorts.  But, with God, all of that is now behind me and here I am!

Wow!  Where to begin???  Hmmm....  Well, first off, I want to say I have so appreciated all my family and friends who have sent me e-mails, texts, FB messages, phone calls, etc. wondering where in the world this blogger went to!  Even though a year has past since I last blogged I am still being asked (especially from you all that don't do FB) ;-) where's my blog at???  :-)  Wow! I didn't know I had such a "fan club" :-) 

Easter 2011

I'll begin with a little update on our lives since a year has past since my last post:

Charles and I are still pastoring our little church in the beautiful state of Arkansas!  We feel blessed to be here and to be able to minister to such wonderful people.  We are beginning our 9th year here! Aside from being a wonderful pastor/hubby/father, Charles is also a Chaplain at the hospital nearby and everyone there just loves him to pieces... can't imagine why not?  He has such a passionate and caring heart for people.  This job has been perfect for him!   And I am proud of him and admire the wonderful job he does there! 

I am keeping extremely BUSY!!!   I am still a SAHM momma to the kiddos.  This year, I took on a little extra job of teaching piano lessons.  It has been a challenging and wonderful adventure.  I have also taken on the job of teaching the Adult Sunday School class at my church and have been leading 2 women's Bible study groups, which I have thoroughly enjoyed!  I am also very happy to announce that ~ I AM GOING BACK TO SCHOOL!!!!!  I feel that this is where God is leading me and I am super excited about it!  I am working toward my B.A. in Church & Family Ministry!  After all, this is truly where my heart is!  God has opened all the right doors and has provided all the right finances (Praise the Lord!) for me to begin this journey!  And I am beyond words of excitement to think of where this journey will take me! I know where I have come from and how far God has brought me and I have this burning desire to help others come to know and love God too even through the midst of trials!  God has truly been gracious and merciful to me!

Landen is now 11 and is in the 5th grade!  He is getting so tall!  It won't be too much longer until I'm looking up to him!  He keeps busy with outdoor activities and has a love for baseball!  He is such a big help to this mama!  It's so nice to see him taking responsibility.  He is beginning to have an interest in girls and I nearly had a heart attack when he announced out of the clear blue that he had a "crush" on someone.  Needless to say, we had a LONG talk about girls and he knows that mama won't allow it until he's 30!  HaHa  JK  But, he does understand where mama stands on boy/girl relationships at this age!

Sabryn is my little girly girl!  She is now 9 and is in the 4th grade.  She loves to socialize ~ I think she is a lot like her father! ;-)  She is just a loving, caring 2nd mama to her two younger brothers.  She is learning to do the laundry and is interested in cooking, which makes me happy!  She keeps us thinking with all of her questions and observations about life.  She is interested in playing the violin and we hope to get her into lessons soon.  Being the only girl has been a little challenging for her and she keeps begging for a little sister... and that's all I'm going to say about that... ;-)

Rylan is 4 and has started preschool this year.  He has been the first of our kiddos to NOT cry when I took him to school for the first time.  He was just fine with it, no problem. But, this mama had eyes full of tears as I walked down the hall after leaving him there.  Seems like he was just born yesterday.  He is loving school and especially loves painting!  He is also my little romantic, sweet man!  He loves to give compliments to me and it melts my heart!  What mama's heart wouldn't melt to, "Oh, Mama, you look so pretty"??? And not to mention all the pretty flowers he seems to find and pick just for me!  What a little charmer!

Ian is now 2 years old and is the life of our house! He is a tough little guy, but then again, he really doesn't have much choice but to be. ;-)  He loves his older brothers and sister!  He and Rylan are about 2 years apart and are quite good little buddies.  His favorite thing are cars, trucks and trains. He can literally play with them for hours!  He also loves hats, which I'm loving!  I tried so hard to get my first 3 kiddos to wear a hat with no success, so I'm happy Ian has found a love for them!

Well, that's about all in a nutshell of what we're up to lately.  Hopefully, I will be back to blogging on a regular basis in between the busyness of life.  Truly, I have missed my blogging buddies and blogging myself.  Thanks again to all of you dear friends who have encouraged and kept at me about blogging again.

Until next post,