Stuff

This past weekend was a difficult one.  There's no doubt that none of this is easy, but getting rid of things that meant something to someone is hard.  These are things my mom treasured, things she worked for...

We were in Columbia trying to pack up some things.  There is just so.much.stuff.  My mom was a self professing pack rat.  Every time I was having a yard sale, she would ask if there was anything she wanted.  I would tell her no and we would joke about how one day I'd just have to get rid of it all over again.  I wish that "one day" hadn't come so soon...

There are things we are keeping, things that are going to charity, things that are going to help others.  I feel good about that.  I believe she would want to help someone start over.  I pray her stuff will go to a woman leaving an abusive relationship, a family who's been burned out, to people whose need is raw and real.  

But (isn't there always one?) loading her stuff and dropping it at a donation site is emotional.  This little bench is one she bought for her grandkids.  So when the donation team at Goodwill took it away, my heart hurt.  I stood and watched, wanting to tell them they couldn't have it.  But I didn't, not at first.  I fought tears as we drove away and throughout most of lunch at Fatz  (the waitstaff must have thought I was crazy), but I finally admitted to Donnie what was bothering me.  So when we left, we went back to Goodwill and asked for the bench back (pretty sure they thought I was crazy too).  They had to chase it down from the sales floor, but they were kind enough to let me have it.  Now it sits in my classroom, and every time my students have read or written this week around the room, someone has chosen this little bench.  

I'm pretty sure she would be happy about that too.

New Friends

This precious lady is a new friend to my family and to Corey.  She is just the nicest person and I have enjoyed the two visits I have had with her.  Last week she and her husband came to church with us and we had the joy of having lunch with them.  This week they ate with our family as we celebrated Corey's birthday.  As we were sitting in church the thought came to me that she is the nicest person I wish I didn't know.

It is totally nothing personal; as I said they are wonderful and I'm enjoying their friendship. You see, our meeting was born in tragedy.  Paula was one of the first people on the scene in the wreck that killed my mom.  She and her husband had arrived in South Carolina from Texas only days before, and she was actually looking at houses with her realtor when she came upon it.  She was there when I could not be.  She did not leave Corey until we got to the hospital - insisting on riding to the hospital with him, shielding him from things no one should have to see at 13 or any age, keeping him calm.  I will forever be grateful for her, for the way she ministered to my son that awful day.  I'm so amazed at how God works, because not only did he send us a precious lady to help our son, he sent a sister in Christ.  Worshipping with her and her husband these two weeks blessed my heart, because as hard as this is, I know God has a plan.  I love to watch people worship, truly giving their focus to God and as I've done that, I think it's cool that not only is she a sister in Christ, she gets us.  Worshipping with hands held high in a "not so traditional" church was not a foreign thing to her.  I so love that!  I'm thankful that God has brought us together in this difficult phase, and I know he is going to do great things in all of us.

Great Loss

With life at warp speed, a return to teaching a few years back, and now 5 kids (my nephew has come to live with us) my blog has fallen by the wayside.  I also found that many people who read my blog were just easier to keep up with on Facebook.  As many of you know, though, my mom passed away as the result of a car accident last week and now I need a place to process.  I know...this is the internet, this is public...but I hope that this will, in some way, help others.  So here goes...

And yet, where do I start?

Mom and Corey developed a bond over stargazing at the beach just this month.  They were, in fact, heading to the planetarium when the accident occurred.  Tonight as we were returning home from a trip, he started telling me the things she told him about stars.  Then we started looking to see if we could find Mars, which is what they did at the beach.  I could hear him crying in the seat behind me, and all I could think was, "How could they have sat out at the beach 3 short weeks ago on a Friday night like this one looking at these same stars?"  When we got home we got out the telescope and tried to find Mars.  He told me he borrowed the telescope so she could look with him, and yet there I was...not her.  Oh how my heart hurts for him, for all of us...for the time that was stolen and all that should have been.  

I don't really even know how to end this, and I'm sure there's more to come...

A Surprise Snowfall

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Saturday we were supposed to have baseball tryouts and guess what happened?!  There was snow in the forecast...seriously.  Now I LOVE snow and have been waiting for 2 years for snow, but it really picked an inconvenient time to happen.  As we called all the ball players to let them know about the cancellation, it snowed big beautiful flakes...and not a one of them "stuck."  It quit after about 30 minutes and did nothing for hours.  I figured it was over.  So we took a family trip (minus Corey who was hanging with some friends) to go out to eat and to the mall twenty miles away.  On the way there Corey I got a text from Corey that is was snowing and sticking.  We stopped at Denny's and got rained on as we dashed inside.  By the time they came to take our order the rain had turned to snow.  It snowed so quickly that by the time we finished our meal the parking lot and cars were covered.  Needless to say, our mall plans got cancelled and we headed back home.  We had a few minutes to play in the snow, but it was really too dark so we headed inside after a few.  It was a nice surprise!

 Hannah trying to catch snowflakes on her tongue.

Allie getting snowed on.

 Who doesn't love a cup of hot chocolate after playing in the snow?

The view from my front door the next morning...BEAUTIFUL!

Of course we headed back out the next morning

Getting a snowball ready...

 & throwing them at Dad in the house...

We even found a mysterious snow circle left by aliens...(ok, so its just a hula hoop the kids left out, but it did look funny.)

Partied Out!

We partied all weekend, literally.  Hannah's party was Friday night, she was invited to a party Saturday, and we had a family party on Sunday.  Can't get much more birthday than that.  

Her party was a success, even if it was thrown together at the last minute. (but hey, that's how we roll.)  I'm getting pretty good at telling stories through pictures, so I figured I'd stick with the trend.  Hey, if a picture is worth a thousand words, I'm becoming rather grandiloquent.

The partiers...

Bubble gum contest...we did bubble gum under whipped cream.  They first to find the gum (without using their hands) and blow a bubble won the game.  

Some had more fun than others...

Blowing out the candles... 

 A little Just Dance 4 action...

Opening her presents...this card was actually a One Direction poster.  Yup, she liked it!

My sidekick, Amy (she's probably gonna get me for this one)...she came to help decorate and keep me sane while Donnie entertained the rest of the circus performers.  

THIRTEEN!!

Well, we awoke this morning with a teenager.  So far, she's still the same kid that she was yesterday.  She has not morphed into a sassy, eyerolling, argumentative, drama queen...oh, wait, she's been all that since she was 3.  Today's pictures are a lot more hodge-podgish than the other posts because they are, for the most part, pictures Hannah has taken herself.  She has developed a passion for photography.  She will take pictures of anything, anywhere, anytime...many, many pictures.  All I have to say is, "Thank God we live in an age of digital photography where she can do this."  She is saving for a camera...not just any camera...a bells and whistles camera.  I think she will be saving for awhile.  If you have enjoyed these and would like to send a donation please mail it to....(ok, I'm just kidding, sort of ;-)  )

Hannah's first middle school dance.  She was excited to say the least.  I think she'd been dress shopping on line for close to a year.  I'm not kidding.  

We took our family vacation to Disney World. Hannah loved the atmosphere, the street performances where people sang and danced.  I'm trying to convince her that she would be much better suited for that as a career than a job in Hollywood.  Plus, I could go to Disney World a lot and that would suit my fancy just fine.  

The rest of these are pics Hannah has taken.  Of herself...

her friends...

on the train tracks

Of the train tracks...

of her siblings...

of body parts...

a wide variety of them at that...

of things from a different perspective...

of nature...

of Christmas...

in various weather conditions...

of inanimate objects...

for lots of reasons....

This one was for the Soil and Water Conservation District Youth Photography Contest. She won the county and the STATE!!  We were very proud of her, to the least!

Countdown to 13 - Day 13

A picture story...continued  (otherwise known as I'm too lazy to just type our stories and she's so dang cute, you just have to see pictures!)

Hannah's new do...first time with short bangs

 Hannah and Corey went with Dad and Papaw and Jason to the Carolina spring game that year and had a great time.

Hannah's class field trip in 5th grade was to Washington, DC.  Donnie went with her.  They logged a lotta steps on that trip and had a great time together.  

Last Day of School Pic.  Hannah was officially done with elementary school...

...and ready to move on to middle school, as you can see in this first day of school pic.

For our family vacation we stayed at a place near Charlottesville, VA.  Each of our kids got to pick one thing they wanted to do and Hannah chose kayaking.  She and I had a nice time on the water.  We also took a day trip to D.C.and saw some of the sights she and Donnie had seen months earlier and a day trip into Charlottesville. 

Hannah with her cousins in December at PaPa's

I love this photo of Hannah that I took on that same trip to PaPa's.  She took lots of pictures as well.  She really developed an interested in photography and loved trying out my new camera.

 Hannah started playing saxophone in the band in 6th grade.  She started out playing mine from when I was in band.  Here she is at her first concert.

She was a Hunger Games FANATIC! I mean,over the top.  She got me reading the books too, and we went to the movie when it came out.  (I secretly enjoyed it.)

The Hannahs - friends since age 2 

Love this pic.  Don't tell anyone...they really do love each other.  They fight and argue, but what siblings don't?  

The perfect gift for a budding star!

Hannah's 12th birthday party...a skating party!