Hours of Entertainment for $17.99

We bought this game, Uno Spin, on Wednesday at Target. The three of them played it for about 6 hours Wednesday and probably another 4 today. Money well spent, in my opinion.

As you can see, Noah is very good at remembering to draw cards in this game.

Yes, those are ALL his cards.

Sequence

We just finished playing Sequence. Noah and I won the first round and then Cole was on my team which left Morgan and Noah (who forgets to draw his cards after his turn) on their own team. Morgan said their team was the disability team . :) She ran and made their "team sign" (handycap??). We all had a good laugh over it. What fun is it if you can't laugh at yourself? Morgan labeled herself ADD on her sign and left off the H in the ADHD. They're a pair, those two. Believe me, we can't leave out the H!!!

And, do you see Karin again in Noah's face?

Oh, and notice the tie dye and puffy paint shirts? Those were yesterday's craft projects. I'm running a summer camp here.

His Mother . . .

. . .Up and down, left and right. I took this pic of Noah this afternoon downtown in front of the Falls. It is a little dry now because of the lack of rain. When I downloaded the picture on my computer and it popped up on my screen it was like looking at Karin. That look, the smile. . .I will put another pic I took of Karin with this exact look so you can see for yourself! BTW, I did NOT dress Noah today.

Band of Brothers Re-united

I just took this - must be polo day. Please forgive the messy room - she is 12! and well, we have to pick our battles. Right now the boys are chasing 1 girl around the house with toy weapons (c'mon this is the South, afterall).

Countdown continues. . .

Counting The Days. . .

Dear BFF,
I miss you. I miss you. I miss you. I miss our 14 phone conversations in one day. I miss your standard, "hi ya" when you see me or talk to me. I miss your "gotta go!" that goes with an abrupt hang up because someone has found you in the closet. I miss your Monster Cookies. I miss you alerting me to what is on sale at Gap and Old Navy. I miss you telling me the cutest craft whatever that you have seen that we are now going to make for all our kids teachers. That one really hurts. I miss making little scrapbook things for you and you loving everything that my creative hands produce. I miss talking to you about Survivor. I'll never forget the one season you forgot to watch the finale. My kids miss you too. They miss hanging out with you and eating nothing but potato chips while they are at your house. Our friendship was full of fun memories.
I get a smile on my face and a lump in my throat when I think of you. I believe, with all my heart, that God allows you to see us. I don't know that for sure but that helps me get through missing you. It makes missing you slightly easier.
Your kids are good. They are alive, healthy and doing good in school. Jeff swears to me that they do not eat McDonald's everyday. They miss you and I am sure their list of misses would be 15 times longer than mine. They are great, great kids in which you should be very proud. Jeff does all he can to keep it all together and keep all the balls going. But, lets face it, you did it all and sometimes that shows in how we have tried to pick up the pieces. You were an amazing Mom, wife, daughter and friend. I can only hope to be half of what you are. When you see Cole eating a bag of chips all day (and nothing else!) you will know that I have arrived completely. I'm a ways off.
I am keeping up my promise (tears) to you and watching over your kids as much as I can from 4000 miles away. I think Jeff & Rod would both vouch for me that the miles have not stopped me much. I adore them, as if they were my own, and I believe God put that love for them in my heart. But, I am a poor fill-in for you.
I hope you are saving a place for me. I'll be there soon.

Love,
Bethey

P.S. In honor of you (are you ready for this??) I got a tattoo yesterday. Lord, it hurt soooooo bad. I'd rather deliver one of my 10 pound kids than do that again. I was racking my brain over what to get that would mean something. Then it came to me that I should get a Forget Me Not. I told Morgan and she loved it - so I knew you would too. Forget Me Nots have 5 petals. One petal for each of my kids and one for Salina and Noah. Remember those are the seed packets that you wanted Jeff to send in the mail??
P.P.S The Bi-pass is finished! I have the last laugh on that one!


For all you Blog Followers: Jeff asked me to say a big, big warm thank you. Thank you for reading, thank you for caring, thank you for wearing pink, thank you for being you. Thank You!!

She very well could have saved his life. . .

We just go the pathology report back on Cole's mole that was removed by a plastic surgeon last Friday. The mole is NOTHING. Thank the Lord. As I was thinking about the results, it occurred to me that Karin is still giving. Had we not gone through what we did with Karin in the 3 months prior to her passing, that mole that has been there since he was small, would not have even caught my eye. The doctor has told me how moles changes over time, especially as a child enters puberty and that is why they were so aggressive to remove it. Not to mention it was shaped strange and not symmetrical. God deserves all the glory on this one, but I will say he used Karin to possibly save Cole's life. Like I said before, she would have given me the shirt off her back.

Just 12 days until Noah comes!!! Morgan has spent the better part of 2 days working on a sign to welcome Noah. She's bored, its Summer vacation. You remember the drill. We can't wait Noah!!

Noah, the celebrity . . .

The older kids and I were just out at the nursery. On the way home one of them asked, "How long until Noah gets here?" I had to calculate and then I responded, "17". We decided we are going to make a big sign that says, "Welcome Home Noah!". He is like a celebrity, the kids are so excited. We can't wait for you to come Noah!!!

We have hope

As the one year anniversary of Karin's passing is quickly approaching, I have been thinking a lot about the past year. A year ago, I never thought we would make it this far. There have been days when the valley of grief is so deep that you can not see the Light. Now, a year later I can see a small shard of light in the valley. There will forever be hard days. And, the devil would have us believe that God is no where to be found and that we are in this all alone. But God says, "He will never leave us or forsake us." He has not forsaken us now, and He never will.

I was at the mall today with the boys in the little play area. A lady that looked like Karin sat down next to me and was watching her kids play as well. At first, I was not really focusing on her when I was talking to her so I did not notice her resemblance to Karin. She asked me if I just had boys and I told her I had a daughter as well. She said, "I think I want a daughter because I think of how close my mom and I are and we talk every day . . . " I zoned out because I started thinking about Salina and how when she is pregnant she will not have her mother to call and say, "I throwing up, what do I eat?" Then we started talking about preschools and as she was talking I realized she was a short haired version of Karin. She had dimples and everything. I gave the boys the 2 minute warning because I knew if I stayed there long I would start crying.

We have almost made it through what may be the hardest year of your life (depending on who you are in all this). Next year will be a little better. Yes, there will still be hard days. There will always be hard days, but God is ALL good, ALL the time and even though life is not all good, we will press on! Thank God we have hope.

Just in case you are wondering . . . On the 19th, Jeff & the kids will be on the houseboat with Karin's family. I think that is a great diversion to keep their minds off the day. I'll make sure Jeff takes some pictures.

I know this is last minute but if you get a chance, watch ABC 20/20 tonight. It starts at 10pm but the piece at the very end - around 10:45pm - is on sunscreen. It is an excellent piece and is only about 10 minutes long. What sunscreen you pick really makes a big difference.
More later :)