a visit in ohio

We have been out of town at a few meetings, 

and had the opportunity to stay with some friends in Ohio.

They have children our childrens ages,

some very, very close! 

The children call them Uncle Tim and Aunt Sandi

and I won't bother telling them different.

One of the first things I did was take a walk, yep, in the snow.

I some places it was up to my knees still!!!

But, I love going for walks, and I really enjoyed it.

I found something on my walk.

Tracks; deer, coon, birds, turkey......
Tracking down south is a bit different...

We all went bowling. 
Some of the children had higher scores than me!!
I told them I needed bumpers.
Here the boys are making sure nothing gets wasted out of the nachos!

Angel and Hunter are only one day apart. 

With so many of us playing, 12 to be exact, 
most of the time we spent waiting.
But we all had a good time.

Sandi curled Paige's hair one day.

And mine, which was a job, because my hair is very thick.
I liked it, and Nick did too, thanks Sandi.

This is what happens when you turn boys out to play!!
Then the temperatures got up into the upper 50's and lower 60's, 

and the snow melted. That left.............MUD!!!!!
We all had a great time playing out, even if it was super muddy. 

This is what is left of the new socks after the snow melted???
I'm not sure if it's best to throw 'em out 
and start over, or try to wash 'em.

Larky and Stonewall were playing basketball. 
No, Stonewall isn't picking, only scratching.

Summer and Paige had a great time thinking up ways to irritate Aaron,
aside from teaching Stonewall that he likes Summer best!!!
Aaron lets Stonewall play games on his I-phone, 
so while Aaron wasn't paying attention,
Stonewall learned how to text and call Summer.
Pretty good for a four year old.

Levi and Jewel hangin' out.

Callandre and Hunter playing.
We had a fun week playing and getting to spend the time together.

 

Boaz' Birthday

Yesterday would have been Silas Boaz' 3rd birthday.

I miss him greatly, some days more than others.

Some days are ok, and some days I miss him so much it is a physical ache.

But my God is still on the throne, He hasn't changed!!!

A few weeks ago I received this beautiful bracelet from some great friends who live in Mississippi.

It says:

SILAS BOAZ BLACKBURN    10 MAR 07

UNTIL WE HOLD HIM AGAIN   01 NOV 09

The beads are beautiful, and I love the bracelet.

 Not knowing what was in the package when it arrived, 

but knowing these friends,

I was crying before I even got it opened.

It was a thoughtful and timely gift. 

The Lord used these people to be a blessing to me.

On this birthday there were:

no presents to unwrap

no tiny squeals of joy

no blankies to drag around

no turtle to find for nap time

no scooter racing through the house

But there was:

one more blond haired boy in the presence of Jesus Christ

 walkin on the street of gold

and fishing in the crystal sea

or flyin round with the angels

my little man

Sometimes it's hard to think of my little Boaz "being" somewhere. 

It's so easy to see him running through the house, 

chasing his "Sissy" with the mop

with that smile that lit up his whole face

or that very thoughtful look, like he was pondering something

maybe that devious "Scruggs" smirk when he was

about to get into, destroy something,

tease someone, or he was going to run away

 I can imagine him fishing with Bro Hank

listening to the love story of  the Boaz and Ruth

asking about the animals that were on the ark

and sitting in the lap of my Saviour, Jesus Christ

 

hog hunting

Nick took Josiah and Levi hog hunting this week. 

Josiah's 12th birthday was in January and Levi's 10th was in February, 

so this was for their birthday.

I will go ahead and warn you, I saved all the bloody pictures for last. :)

As you can see they are a little excited. 

They have both been hunting before, but it has been a while.

They saw lots of hogs, some very big. 

The first time they pulled up to shoot they were both too excited to pull the trigger.

The next time though, Josiah pulled right up, the hogs were uphill 

so he aimed a little high, got off a perfect shot and stayed calm.

The next morning Levi was ready. 

He missed on his first shot, but did good on his next. 

He shot this one because he liked the colors on it. :)

It doesn't matter to me, they'll taste the same.

 Nick shot one too. His goal was to let the boys shoot one though.

They had an excellent time and cannot wait to shoot something else!!!

And now for the bloody pictures, which do not bother me! 

I grew up going hunting and fishing.

I always baited my own hooks and cleaned my own fish.

Sometimes we hunted with dogs here, and a typical thing to do 

is gut the deer and let the dogs have it.

If that bothers you, maybe you should skip the rest of the post.

   Josiah's was a good heart/lung shot. 

They gutted and skinned the hogs.

  Levi's and Nick's hogs waiting to be tended.

This is what was left of the heart of Nick's hog. 

The blood definitely doesn't bother the boys! ! !

They had a great time and Nick thinks I should go next time. : ) 

sunday meeting

This past weekend we were out of town at a church in Mississippi. The motel we stayed at had an indoor pool, which is normally heated. For some reason the heater wasn't working, but you know children don't care about that. The room was warm though. Truthfully, Nick and I both got in just not for as long as the children. They had an excellent time splashing and dumping buckets of water on one another. Stonewall brought his water gun, for long range vengance!!!  : )                                   The church we were at did a family school, where everyone stays together for sunday school. The pastor taught on..........................................the plagues in Egypt. Can you guess which one he taught on? Yes, the frogs!!! He made it very interactive for the children and kept their attention. He was explaining how there were frogs everywhere; in the beds, bathrooms, food.................you get it.  He handed out these stickers for saying the verses correctly, which Josiah did. He walked around while he was teaching. Then, in the middle of the lesson, he starts pulling these frogs out of his pockets and throwing them in everyones laps. They were going all over everyone. In our laps, our hair, on our Bibles, purses, on the floor. I'm sure everyone had several frogs on them. And I can tell you all of those children know what the lesson was about that day. We came home with quite a few frogs, the children all understand that plague very well now.

What interesting thing have you ever done to help people (children or adults) remember a Bible lesson? Or what is something that has helped you remember a lesson?

Boaz and Buddy-makin friends

Boaz and Stonewall have always been best friends. They are only 16 months apart. They did everything together. There were certain things that only Stonewall could do with Boaz, they were buddies. But, with Boaz gone it has left quite a hole in Stonewalls life. Sometimes I think he must feel lost. He has grown a little closer to a few friends though. Boaz and Gracie were little together,and played constantly. Of course, a little fighting too, like here they're fighting over the toys. Hunter joined in this time with their game.Boaz and Stonewall worked together well too. Very cute. Boaz loved his pockets and I even had to start checking them before washing. I usually found a small derringer gun or a rubber glow in the dark snake!!  Building houses for their "animals".This is the Saturday before we had to take Boaz in to the hospital. I knew in my heart something was wrong, but never dreamed what it was. I even believed it was serious, but we never guessed it. As I got to, and left the doctors office on Monday I told the Lord, "Lord, he's always been yours, and if you take him now, you are still gracious and kind. And no matter what, you are still on the throne". I really felt then that he would take him, but as time wore on and he started getting better, I began to believe I was going to get to keep him. But it looks like God took me up on it. I don't like it, don't think I do. I miss him every single day, in ways only a Mommy can understand who has lost one. Some things do remain though, no matter how I feel. My God is still in control, even when I don't understand. 

Stonewall was being a little gentleman this day. It was sooo cute watching him pull his little brother and a girl in the wagon.                    

Here's Sissy snuggling with her little brothers. They loved it and so does she. Stonewall took over Boaz' bed in Sissy's room, but he really likes to sleep with his Sissy and steal her blankets!!! : )  Gracie climbed up and was feeding Boaz his yogurt, though I have no idea why. It was very cute. Just the kind of thing friends do! When Boaz got sick, even the little ones seemed to realize our days with him were a gift. We didn't want to give him everything he wanted, but we all realized God could take him at any time.Stonewall loved his "Buggy". He didn't understand at all. He has seen him feeling so bad that I think he just thought he was sleeping or still sick. He wanted to know if Boaz wanted to color, and gave him toys!So, one day we realize Gracie and Stonewall have taken up together since Boaz passed. We overheard them talking too. Gracie said, "Now that Silas is gone and up in the clouds we'll just have to do with each other". And they really do a lot together.  They are playing house, obviously the kitten is the "baby". Stonewall had been "babysitting" while Grace "fixed dinner".Here's Stonewall and Cheyenne, they play together pretty good, though sometimes Stonewall acts like......well.....he's such a boy!!! He can be cute and be feeding her pretzels one minute. But then the he turned around and stepped on her blanket, smiling the whole time. Chy though is letting Stonewall have it!!  : )  One time Chy decided to wrestle with him. Stonewall again is laughing (he's used to wrestling with his brothers), but Chy was NOT!! She could not get out of this one! It took a few minutes for Alex to be able to settle her. Really, I didn't teach him to wrestle with girls.   ; )                                           I sure miss my little man. Some days I miss him more than others. Some days are much worse than others. I am very glad that Stonewall has friends to help fill in that empty space I know is in his heart also. The other night in church Stonewall raised his hand and asked prayer, he said, "please pray for Silas, because................" and he bawled. Yes, even at four years old there is a large empty space that hurts. He comes to me, sometimes several times in a day to tell me things he remembers about Boaz, like "Buggy called me Tonewall". I guess he must have days that are harder than others too. Stonewall and Boaz were best friends and I'm glad his memory of Boaz is so sharp. I want it to stay that way.  : )