Happy 30th, CHRISTIN!!!!!

Sometimes God puts people in our lives....and at 1st they seem like good "fits"--that there will probably room for growth, but at an arm's distance....

And then there are other times when God, who is infinite in grace and mercy decides He really wants to love on me...and that's when He puts people like Christin in my life...I really love my dear friend, Christin....and all the benefits of being her friend and sister in Christ...she, along with her husband, Adam (and 2 yr old Luke), as well as her parents, and brother, Jeff & sister Cynthia (who I also REALLY love) have opened up their hearts and their homes and have adopted us into their family....just this past Sunday, they so sweetly had us over for Easter--they treated us as their own and were our family/Jesus to us since we couldn't be with family....

Well, a few weeks ago, Christin was welcomed into her 30's by family and friends and we were thrilled to get to be there...it was SUCH a BLAST and really, my pictures don't do the party justice....sooooo...hold onto your hats, my friends, and enjoy the friendly banter.......


All these pics (unless otherwise noted) will be from left (aka "L") to right ("R")....we all together???

Annie--Christin's SIL, Adam's sister-- is either picking the fajitas out of her teeth or is still hungry and eating her nails--you decide...; Adam--Christin's hubby--well, that's a pretty scary look on his face--not sure what's up with that; then there's Cynthia--C's (Christin's too long to type--she'll now be known as "C") SIL, her brother's wife is getting a good balloon rub by Sam; and I believe Ginger is trying to pretend NOT to be the "room mother"--no one but me and Ginger may get that, but that's ok...




This is C, the old lady, um, i mean, birthday girl....




this is the same group as in the 1st pic...except now everyone has gotten the joke...




this is Brian, C's "favorite cousin in abilene"...., then C, then her brother Jeff




ok, the main attraction and person to focus on is Debbie--she's the one in the middle wearing yellow that looks like she's going to peck someone's head off...notice her husband, Donnie (in the purple next to her) is trying to be inconspicuous and our friend, Kelly (to Debbie's left) looks very scared...





we're actively playing a game now that i don't get...it has something do to with not being who you are or maybe you're supposed to be yourself and just not tell yourself...anywho, the thing to notice is Debbie (far right) is once again about to attack...ha, ha!




this picture, too, is really all about debbie...she's trying to listen to what jeff has to say while still forming something witty in her brain....go, debbie, go!! love you, girl!





this is adam and c....aren't they a handsome couple??




i just LOVE this picture...it's very rare that i catch my husband laughing in a picture....he just doesn't like to have his picture taken and so he's always on alert when my camera's out...but doesn't he look happy and like he's having fun???....of course, it could have something to do with the fact that he's sitting in btwn 3 other women & NOT me?!@>?! ha, ha!




have you figured out who this picture is all about???? now wait a minute....was this christin's bday party or was this party about DEBBIE???




here's the patriarch of the family, pops...i can't begin to tell you how smart i felt sitting next to him...really...he is something like an electrical mechanical physicso-nuclear engineer or something, but when it came to this game, he was definitely in the blond genepool!!!




adam being brilliant...which was why he & the dudes won the game...




happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear
cccchhhhhrrrrriiiiiissss---ttttiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnn
happy birthday to you!!!! (and many more!!)




adam serenaded christin with one of their favorite songs from elton john....i can't think of the name, but it goes "it's a little bit funny, this feeling inside........i hope you don't mind that i put down in words how wonderful life is while you're in the world"....anywho, it was really one of the most beautiful things i believe i've ever seen or heard...so the next few pics are of him singing to c on a family heirloom that, like him (his words, not mine) need tuning....i thought it was magnificent....






i can't even imagine what must've been going through her head...you see, adam had just revealed to c the reason he'd been staying late after work was not to get his schoolwork finished, but when he decided he wanted to do this for christin, he wanted to have it memorized...so she was probably thinking something like "man, i feel like such a jerk for yelling at him every day for staying after school...why didn't he just tell me he was staying late for a surprise for me???...then i wouldn't have gotten so mad!!! now i really feel bad...ok, stop thinking that way, christin and just enjoy the song..."--or at least that's what most of us women would think...

look at adam...this was either the bad tuning on the piano or maybe him...

Mother/Son Relationships...

i come from a household of girls...and when i say girls, i mean g-i-r-l-s...from youngest to oldest, it goes my sister, opal, then me, then my older sister, britani, then my mom...and then there's my dad--who came from a family with either all boys or the girls in the family had to be rough & tough, get-dirt-under-your-fingernails, flag football is for GIRLS and so you better tackle-type girls...so my dad was in for a treat...i can remember one time my dad getting upset with us b/c we were always whispering to my mom...so we gave in to his request and stopped whispering--"mom, i need more tampons and pads when you go to the store next!!!"--after that, he never complained about the whispering...

but since i never had brothers, i never really understood how precious the relationship between a mother and son is...i will be totally honest, i was disappointed when i found out that corbin was another boy, but it didnt' take long before i realized that what my memaw says is true: "boys give the best hugs..."--and that is soooo true...my sweet 4.5 year old has even started telling me how pretty i am, that i'm a good mother...wow, i had no idea that started so soon...it's the best feeling in the world being loved on and appreciate by sweet boys...which brings me to the real reason i'm posting...

i have a wonderful mother-in-law...she has always been so good to me, so good to kelly, so good to our kids...she's respectful of our need to have time with her and time without her...she always goes to church with us when she comes into town--just another one of those mom things that we do to show our kiddos we love them and want to be involved in their lives...she supports kelly in his desire to be in the military...she listens, she cares, she gives great hugs....

so the last time that she came into town (right after kelly got home from deployment), i told her that i wanted to get a picture of just her and kelly...kelly, of course, thought it was kinda a pain (he is a man, ya know--and how many men like to have their picture taken??)...but i know that these pictures are priceless...they have frozen in time a bond between a mother and her son...i hope and pray that my boys will continue to love on me--even when they think i'm old and stupid and don't want to be around me...

i love you, theresa...thank you for sharing your son with me and for teaching me how to be a mother to boys...
candace

Losing the training wheels????

well, we gave it a try--little b said he was ready to ride a bike like a big boy...we took off the training wheels and daddy promised to hold on tightly....and the "training" lasted less than five minutes (long enough for me to capture some photos...)

i'm trying out some different things with photoshop so you may like or hate the pics...leave me a comment & tell me what you think...
candace
p.s...there's one pic in there that's really psychedelic...can you tell what it is??

Pure Sweetness...

I know I may be a little biased, but my 3 year old, Corbin is absolutely positively pure sweetness... He really is, especially if you compare him to my rough & tumble 120% all-testosterone-filled 4 year old, Brendan...but us mothers aren't supposed to compare our children, right?

I love them both for so many reasons, but I'd like to brag on little Corbin for a minute...this precious little boy, the only of the 5 babies that my body didn't not starve off, came into this world as a pure miracle...and one of the things that Kelly & I hoped he'd get from us is our love of dancing...and I tell you what, he's got more rhythm in his little tapping toe than a lot of us white folks have in a lifetime...he LOVES to dance and sing and play his guitar!!! I have to tell you, though, he's a hard one to catch on camera...and that's sayin' a lot b/c those who know me know that I almost always have it out! Anywho, I was able to catch these the other day and although they're similar, I just couldn't pick a favorite...can you??

Mallory...Such a sweetie...

My friend, Ruth, let me take some pics of her sweet little girl, Mallory and I thought I'd share a few with you...I tell you what, my friends, this is one little girl that'll melt your heart...

Brrrrrr....It's Cold!!!

I am MAJORLY delinquent in getting these posted....but these are from our last snow a week or so ago...

">

Ready to fall in love??...Meet Carter...

Another one of my closest friends, Priscilla, has an oh so precious little boy named Carter...he has eyes that will melt your heart... Here's one of the sweet pictures I captured of Carter the other day...

Sweet as can be....Little Miss Anne Marie

My very sweet friend, Wendy, let me take pictures of her kiddos the other day...she's got 2 sweet boys and a precious little girl...and since I don't have any girls of my own, I first wanted to share with you...

Little Miss Anne Marie...

Delight in Weakness...

Hello, friends!

I know I've been a total blog slacker and I really have a good reason...life's just been rough...ok, is that enough for you or do you want the gory details??

A quick update is that we're all well (vs being sick), although I have been in a lot of physical pain the last few weeks...I've had both ends of me scoped as well as having a CAT scan on my abdomen--they still don't know what's up with the pain and so I have been specifically praying (and you could do this for me too, please...) that God will either knock me to the ground and that way I know this is something that I should keep pressing on to find a solution OR that if I am just as Paul asked the Lord three times to remove his thorn and three times God said no, I am begging for the Lord to be faithful and gracious in my suffering...

In 2Cor12:9-10, God told Paul..."'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' (and Paul, being such an awesome example of a Christ-follower responds)...Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong"....Amen, Brother Paul--you are the man!!!....Am I the only one catching how much power there is in being weak???...or how Paul actually used the word "delight" in the same sentence with weakness...I tell you what, friends, Paul is such an amazing example of being strong in your faith...of how to persevere and fight joy in times of trouble...and I, too, with the help of the Holy Spirit and by the grace of God shall delight in my weaknesses so that Christ's power may rest on me...Thank you, Jesus!!!
Blessings,
Candace
P.S....I'm working on getting pics up in the next few days!!! Yippee! Please leave comments on your thoughts! Thanks!!! :)