and then they were nine...

It happened again. The twynns had a birthday. Nine years old!

I was telling them the story of their birth. As terrible as my memory can be on a regular basis, I can still remember with great clarity the immense feeling of "ahhh" after Adam was born. I had not realized how hard it was to breath and for the first time in what seemed like forever, I could take a deep inhale of oxygen in my lungs. Then I also remember clearly what it was like when Jenna 'said', "Nope. I'm good. I can stretch my legs so I think I may hang out in here for a little while longer." She decided 16 minutes was long enough and came out to join her brother. AH-MAZING. There were 2 of them. TWO! I still catch myself looking at them with wonder that they both were in my belly at the same time. Yep, two of them. 

Praise be to God that they seem to be turning out ok despite the parenting skills of their mama and daddy. They are good eggs. I think we'll keep them.

Bye Bye Summer!

Well, I don't know how it happened, but summer came and went and now school has begun. Just a little recap of our last couple of months:

In May, Paige and I were able to get to Texas to see my beautiful niece, Emma, and handsome nephew, Jason, graduate from Concordia University. It was such a fantastic weekend! (which was, incidentally, Paige's first time on an airplane.)

School ended in a flurry of activity!

Then it was, "Helloooo, Summer!" We hightailed it to Texas.

At Amy's Galveston beach house:

We got to see Nana and Papa

Night swimming at Arti's

THEN I got to fly to Denver to actually see my husband. (Thank you family for watching the Glynnlets!) He had been in Denver for what seemed like forever. We celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary!

We got to celebrate Mama's 70th Birthday

The kids went to their first drive-in movie with the Browns

Then back to Georgia we went.

In one week, Hannah and AJ went to overnight camp at Doe River Gorge while Paige and Jenna went to Circus Camp.

And what did Adam do? He had Camp Adam.

Lots of time at the pool

A trip to 6 Flags

We earned free Chick Fil-A

And then...

Happy 12th Birthday, Abby Jane!

For her birthday, she wanted to go camping. So off we went to Vogel State Park. And this is the best park we've been to so far! We ate, hiked, ate, swam, and ate some more. It was a wonderful couple of days!

We got a fun visit from Arti, Hope, Stratton, and Harper

We had visits from other friends, too (hope you appreciate me not posting the photo, Cady, since you said you didn't like it!).

And then it happened. BAM! Summer vacation ended.

And School began.

The first day back in school.

Hannah is in 8th Grade

Abby is in 7th Grade

Paige is in 5th Grade

Adam & Jenna are in 3rd Grade

It will be a wonderful school year. How can it not be with these amazing kids?!

WHEW!

So, yesterday my friend asked me what I do all day. Not in a mean sort of way at all. It was truly a curiosity of what "kept me so busy and my house is still so NOT clean" kind of way. And I honestly could not tell her. I could not give her words that adequately explained my 24 hours 7 days a week. 

But tonight, what I do know is what I have done in the past 48 hours...

Spent 7 hours on a 7th grade field trip to the zoo.

I made 4 different variations of 8x5 canvases like this:

1 huge 16x20 canvas:

2 wreaths like this:

1 letter like this:

56 burned music cds (28 sets of a 2 disk playlist) for the twynns' class that I compiled. 

(It is an AWESOME playlist)

and...

1 homemade banana bread for the bus driver.

We ended the day at our pool with the neighbors celebrating the last day of school. 

And that, my friends, is why I say "whew". 

Let the summer begin!

Hannah is 13!

Well, today marks a first in our house. We have a teenager!

The worst part of this day was that her daddy could not be here to celebrate with her. But thankfully technology is a part of our world and he got to be here through FaceTime and video and phone. And he sent her a "pizza' - a yummy round thing with white chocolate and all kinds of goodness!

(She won't let me eat any. She's waiting on her daddy.)

Hannah's day started with breakfast (cinnamon rolls) in bed. And of course we sang to her!

This year's May Day basket.

She didn't want me to bring lunch to her so she just took her lunch to school like normal. (Even her yogurt was wrapped!)

Unfortunately, they had testing at school today. But she said she got serenaded several times in her different classes. Then she chose Mellow Mushroom for dinner. Always a wise choice!

The waiter even gave her a treat on him!

I can't quite believe that Hannah is 13. But it's been an an astonishing life since God gave her to us. I'm grateful that He let me be her mama.

May these teenage years give us lots of fun, laughter, and memories!

Happy 7th Anniversary

It was crazy to see what my calendar had on today's little square... 

Today marks 7 years of living in Georgia!

It's a little bewildering to me that the time has passed as quickly as it has. I'm not sure if I thought how long we'd be living here when we left the farm those years ago (a couple of hours later than planned... remember the dead car battery?).

I remember that day so clearly. We pulled out of the farm gate, put in the cd that Craig made for us (he named it "Movin' On Up"), turned up the volume and set out. I was crying and Abby said, "Mama. It's ok. We may be moving to Georgia, but Texas is our home." So, I pulled myself up by the bootstraps and told her she was right about that. We put our noses toward the north (yes, I keep telling everyone that this is the north) and started this adventure.

An adventure with just the seven of us. Me, Chris, a 5 year old, a 4 year old, a 3 year old, 2 one year old babies, and Pearl.

Deuteronomy 8:6-7 was my bible verse for those days: "Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in His ways and revering Him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, even Georgia". Well okay, maybe it's only my NIV that has that last part of verse 7, but it's true. It is a good land. It has (verses 7-9) streams and pools of water, hills, honey, bread isn't scarce, and rocks in the ground (although I don't think God means all these dumb rocks in this dead gum red Georgia clay, but I digress). And you know what? It even has American stores here! 

It's been a fun chunk of time. We've met lots of people and made some friends. We've seen things that we never would have seen if we didn't live here. We've learned a lot. It's been good for us to be on our own and figure out how to do life together. I've grown up some (notice I did't say matured) and Chris and I are doing this team thing pretty well. Some days better than others, but there's pretty good stuff going on here.

Would I like to be back home? You bet I would. How could I not when so much is happening with the people I love? But when people ask me if I want to move back, I can't give an answer to that. I keep telling myself that I'm in God's hands and right now it's not something I should dwell on. He has me in this land, a good land, for right now. 

If I dwell on where I'm not, I'll miss life where I am.

So, happy anniversary to us. My prayer is that we let God lead us to where He wants us. If it's another 7 years here or somewhere else, may it be full of love and laughter!

I love my house 

I love my nest

In all the world 

My nest is best!

Remembering Who I Never Knew

Today I remember a woman. A woman that I never got to meet. 

Today would have been her birthday.

She had red hair and a fiery attitude that matched.
She was brave - she moved across the world with her husband and 3 babies.
She liked to shop. No. She loved to shop.
She was a daughter. She was a sister. She was an aunt. She was a wife. She was a mama.
She loved to laugh.

These are the things that I know. But I often yearn to know the things I don't.

What was her favorite color?
Did she prefer the mountains or the beach?
What was her favorite memory from her childhood?
Were her hands smooth or rough?
What did her voice sound like?
What did she smell like?
What did her hugs feel like?

This woman that God loved:
She gave birth to the man I married. Would she be proud to have called me a daughter? What stories would she have told me about Chris that only a mama would know? Would my kids have reminded her of their daddy as a baby?

This woman whose memory still lives:
I see her red hair in Chris's goatee. My daughter shares her name. We use china every single day that she bought for me before she knew there was a 'me'. There are memories told by Chris about her. I wear an apron that she gave as a gift, which found its way to me.

There are so many things I wish I could talk to her about. Ask her questions about. Listen to her about. Share with. Love with.

While I can't do all these things, it does not take away the love I feel for the woman I only know through others. For the one who carried my husband in her womb.

Today, I remember Jane.

Cold Day!

Today school was cancelled because of extreme weather conditions. Right this second it has warmed up from 6 degrees to 10 degrees. We've seen this "experiment" on the internet from people who are in the negative temp. We decided to give it a try here. Not quite the amazing show people more north give, but it made us happy...

365 Page Book

I saw a quote about the New Year that made me smile.

"Today is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Write a good one."

How can the beginning of a new year not bring to mind all the possibles that are waiting for you? Everything from "floss more often" to "workout three times a week" and "eat healthier" holds so much potential for most of us. You have the "do less" hopes and the "do more" resolutions. Pair that with a fresh white page of a brand new journal? (doesn't everyone adore the office supply section?) Such excitement!

But then, a couple hours later, it hit me. 

The blank pages of a book that hasn't been written... it's waiting for ME to write it?! 

The only book that matters was already written. 

Psalm 69:28 (ESV) speaks of those whose names will be blotted out of The Book. That means their names, our names, are already there. Already written. Already destined for eternity with The Creater. A book whose pages were filled at the start of time. Filled with our story.

What if it's left up to me to write the next year of my life? Well, then, how many ways will THAT be screwed up? What a terrible book that would be, wouldn't it? While my ability to plan is amazing (*cough*), I am selfish and short sighted. How many times would I plan for something and miss the path already paved FOR me, which is greater than what I can comprehend? (hello 5 kids that we didn't plan for!)

So, how do we find out what the plan is? Are we supposed to sit on the couch and watch out the window for it? Do we barge head first into our days thinking God will bless us because that is what I want? Do we cautiously tip toe through our weeks hoping our choices are His? It's not like that at all. For me, it's like a Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew novel - detectives trying to solve the mystery using clues around them. Maybe even using a super secret decoder pen found in a cereal box! But, instead of looking in bushes and turning over rocks to look for the clues, we are to ask Him what we should do. After all, it's His plot.  

How to discover what our pages say? We should pray for the Lord to show us what He wants us to do. And then listen. That's the rub, isn't it? Listening. But if we obey Psalm 46:10 and just be still, it's easier to listen. He'll guide our path and our choices. How much easier will life be if we uncover what is perfectly written for us instead of trying to come up with it from scratch on our own?

So maybe, for me, I change the quote. I think I'm going with...

"Today is the first blank page of a 365 page book already written. Decode with His pen. It will be amazing."