Our Family, Our Lives — Page 11 — raisingthreeknightsandaprincess.com

Why wouldn't I trust?

At the end of my last post I asked what things do you (I) stare at from the other side of the glass? Things like Fred who is in the sewer drain AGAIN this morning and won’t come out. He gets into trouble every time I let him out at night and I wonder if we’d be the same way if God allowed us out into the “wild blue yonder” on the other side of the glass? What trouble would we get in to? Would we be trapped having to be rescued each morning? Would we go hungry? Would we be overwhelmed by what’s been put in front of us? I think the answer is a resounding “yes”.

I took these last night during football practice……..

And I wonder….if my God can paint a sky like this for me why, oh why do I not trust that He ALWAYS has my best interests at heart.

Thank you Jesus for speaking to me through your beautiful sunset.

Fred (again)

You guys have all heard about Fred, our 18 pound monster of a cat. He’s been talked about almost as much as The Pioneer Woman’s basset hound, Charlie, here on my little ole blog. He’s been lost since we moved to Florida, he’s had ‘dizzy kitty” syndrome, he continues to go down the storm drain and I have to drag him out each morning he’s let out at night. I really think he’s missing a marble or two. I have a friend who definitely thinks so, but he’s the sweetest lovingest cat around!!! And there is a lot of him to love.

REAL LIFE MOMENT: “Did I mention I have a kid today that has about as much concentration as a grain of sand?”

This morning Fred was enjoying watching an anole.

Photo taken from The Lizard Lounge

Between the squirrels, the black snake, the anoles and the birds he’s a nervous wreck some mornings while watching from inside the windows. It is especially funny when the anoles climb right beside the window seal. Oh how he chirps, moving his lips nervously in anticipation of catching one. He may be big but he’s fast. When he dashes out the door he can catch an anole and have it back inside MY HOUSE in the blink of an eye. Lovely, huh?

Which leads me to ask the question????

What do I chirp for that is on the other side of the glass?

What am I not content with? Where am I anxious? When do I want to run out the door and grab something hoping no one sees? Where am I unwilling to wait for God?

How about you?

Fred…the rather large cat

Fred went missing several days ago. He was gone for three days. After the third night Baby Girl and I went to tape photos on neighbor’s doors. It’s not like Fred to go for over 20 minutes without food so I knew he either was in some one’s home, hurt, or worse. I printed 20 fliers and took a role of tape with us. After the 20th flier was distributed in 100 degree heat we were headed home when Baby Girl started singing, “Kitty, kitty, kitty.” She, like Fred, rarely goes 20 minutes without breaking out in song about something.

As she sang I thought I heard a faint yet guttural meow.

After shh-ing her I called for him and sure enough it was his meow.

We found him in a storm drain, a little dehydrated and really stressed out but alive!! We took him to the vet for some IV fluids and he hid underneath the bed for a day or so. He’s slowly regained his appetite and is wanting affection now. Almost back to the same ole Fred.

All…

18 lbs...

of him.

And we are very thankful!!!

1 Comment

Posted: August 20, 2010 by Julie |Category: Our Family, Our Lives | Tags: Florida, Fred, missing cat

Pop-Warner Football

We’ve moved from Rec League football in SC to Pop Warner football in Fla. I think our family is going to like the changes. Academics are stressed along with discipline and a team approach to practice, playing and winning/losing. I’ve noticed they do a lot of running not only for exercise but for discipline as well.

My second-born likes to pace himself and blast off on the final lap. He usually rounds the corner first.

There is lots of stretching and conditioning the first week.

You can get ’em…..stretch!!!

Here’s #1 son who hates to have his photo taken now. When were they allowed opinions?

Some more stretching…

Line Leaders must be responsible for keeping their line straight.

But my guy always does it with a smile…

I love that about him!!

I think I might have a budding soccer player in my midst…

This one is going to be a soccer player because it’s all she’s talked about for a year now!!!

My babies are so grown up! Just looking at this picture of baby girl makes me realize she really does need a new nickname.

IN HIM,

Julie

6 Comments

Posted: August 10, 2010 by Julie |Category: Our Family, Our Lives | Tags: Florida, Football, Pop Warner, Soccer

TIDE Stain Release On Sale Target

I found these tonight at Target for 2.99 and had a fist full of $1.00 off coupons. So I got them for 1.99. Yippee! They are normally $3.49 or higher!

I saved $8.00 and spent $8.80

On fishing…

I grew up fishing with my dad. Many a Saturday mornings we fished at a friends pond. I can still smell the smell of grape worms. “Mmmmmm….” We fished for bass most often. We also had a pond across the street from our house and summers were spent there with neighborhood friends catching brim and other little fish whose names escape me now.

So it warms my heart that my daughter also loves to fish with my husband. The boys can take it or leave it but she love fishing with her daddy.

Friday night we came home and it was almost dark and it was raining. The perfect fishing weather. So father and daughter pile up in the jeep to run down to the pond in our neighborhood.

About 30 minutes later they walk into the garage with this big guy…

Look how big he is compared to my daughter…

Hello mama!!!

Look at the mouth (and throat) on that thing! Yuck.

(Somehow over the years my ability to deal with worms and guts has diminished quite a bit.)

After showing off their catch off again they went to put him back in the lake to catch on another rainy night.

5 Comments

Posted: August 9, 2010 by Julie |Category: Our Family, Our Lives | Tags: father/daughter, fishing, large mouth bass

Friends

Well, here we all are PLUS our very first babysitter we had when we moved to SC. She was awesome. The kids loved her. I loved her. We had her for years before she graduated, got married and moved away from us. I remember her wedding in Charleston SC. It was just beautiful and baby girl was really a baby back then. Six years later we are privileged to find that her sister lives about 45 minutes from us in Florida so we get to see her now when she visits. Yippee!! Now she has a little one of her own who is walking and talking and going a mile a minute. Somehow I hope chasing after my four has helped her in parenthood.

It’s so nice to have friends visit. We’ve had several since we moved. I love having friends just walk in the door and say hello. We don’t have that here yet but the anticipation of friends from far away coming to see us is just as wonderful!!

1 Comment

Posted: August 6, 2010 by Julie |Category: Our Family, Our Lives | Tags: Florida, friends, moving

Traveling again…with numbers.

Numbers often cause me to feel comforted……then other times, uncomfortable.

But driving home yesterday (back to Florida) I felt comforted by these numbers. It had been a good week of visiting friends, another piece of letting go, bringing more furniture, and several HARD conversations with Rocketman. (Note to self: I’m going to have to come up with a new name for him now that he no longer works for a company that makes airplane ignition systems).

Hello lovely digital car odometer numbers. Predictable. Rational. Systematic. Orderly. Infinite. Well, unless when they represent mileage on a car.

Hello again….predictable friends of mine.

And the numbers I’d been waiting for……

Hey there round, straight, nice pretty numbers.

Oh! Here are some more. I like you too.

Oh, I know what’s next!!!

I liked these too….

There is something comforting about God’s order of things (like numbers). They spoke to me as I pulled a U-Haul and kids 6 hours to Florida yesterday. The kids kept asking why I was taking photos of the odometer. “I don’t know.” I’d say. “I just want to.”

Rocketman followed or led depending upon whether or not I was talking on the phone. He says I go fast when I’m not and slow when I’m talking. That’s probably a good thing right?? Oh, and yes, I pulled over to take everyone of these shots.

Even the fact these made it all the way made me feel good.

The passenger side seat looked like this: gifts from friends, plants from the house, water cup for dog, band-aid that has been wrapped around my hanging plant for about 15 years…..

And a few of my favorite things that sat on my desk once I got home……my favorite lamp (I had to talk myself into buying), two of my favorite vases, my candle from a dear loved and missed friend , my favorite photo of baby girl picking flowers (sorry for the flash), my new phone and my coffee cup (also from that sweet friend) and a supply of pens and pencils. Something about them bring comfort too.

Order.

Feelings evoked from material things.

Thank you Lord for both.

Won’t it be wonderful when one day all our comfort is derived from just looking upon His face? I’m thankful now though that I’m allowed a few creature comforts. Now….off to that cup of coffee on my desk.

1 Comment

Posted: August 2, 2010 by Julie |Category: Our Family, Our Lives | Tags: numbers, odometer, order, traveling

Feeling alone

My best friend and I haven’t talked in a while.

We’re both in very hard life places. But I realized today as we emailed that I tend to close myself off when I don’t have anything good to say. When did I decide everyone only gets to see happy Julie?

The fact is we’ve moved. It’s hard. I miss all my friends. I’m not ready to make new ones yet. I’m grieving. It’s hard on my husband, on my kids and on me. I can’t move myself out of this place. It’s where I have to be until I’m done. That’s all there is to it. When we last moved my 11 and 10 year old were 2 and 1 and I was pregnant with #3. I remember it taking a year to get out of the place I was in. I missed my church, my friends, and most of all my support group of family who I’ve depended on so much since getting married. They are the people God puts in my life to share it with. We were in KY for 3 years. The move to SC took almost a year of grief. We just moved to Fla from SC after 10 years. I’m not liking the math that’s running through my head at the moment.

Another fact is I struggle just to get through the day. Yea, I know all the “go out and meet people”, “stay busy”, stuff but it doesn’t do any good. Everything feels hard right now. We’re renting. I have mauve walls, no energy to paint. I have brown carpet, purple carpet. I don’t have my bed, or my friends, or my CVS guy, or the post lady, or my bible study group.

You know, nothing makes sense when you are grieving. Nothing anyone says. Nothing anyone can say.

Grief is just grief. It looks different for everyone. For me, it’s climbing into my shell. Wanting to disappear from the world and lick my wounds. That’s hard to do with four demanding children. I know they know mom is not ok. I know they feel my sadness. I hate the way it comes across at times.

I’m not really good being the weak one. I do much better in the support role. God has given me much strength there. But in the hard place where nothing feels right and nothing makes sense. That is where I stink at being honest with myself and others. God feels far away even though he shows me he’s here with me. Grief just feels so strange, so foreign, so hard.

I think of others who have lost children, loved ones, and I feel guilty for feeling so sad.

Like I said, “Nothing much makes sense right now.”

Nothing.