ch-ch-ch-changes

this is how my life feels right now.

so many changes happening so fast.

some of them i knew where coming and some i had no clue.

colleen is now driving and working. i knew this day was coming but nothing has prepared me for how it would make me feel. my prayer life has deepened and i fight the desire to dip her in annointing oil everytime she walks out the door.

mark's boss closed the doors on both shops about a month ago. really Lord did we not just go through this last year? why now, why us, why why why???

all i know is my children will grow up and leave home, jobs will come and go, friends may move away but they are always near and God will forever hold me in His unchanging hands.

hockey pics

jonathan

cliff

mark

almost mother-in-law

i was happily surprized this evening by my almost mother in law dropping off a box of fresh baked brownies. she was on her way home and thought of me and all my children and knew we would enjoy them. how sweet was that?!? if you are asking yourself why would i call her my almost mother in law. well because she is not mark's mom she is mark's ex-wife's mom.

I have always been especially blessed with people who truly love me.

people who don't have to love me but choose to love me.

seven years ago when i married mark i not only was welcomed into his family but i was also welcomed into his ex-wife's family.

i know this sounds strange but as a child of divorce my mother set the example that even though divorce can separate a family you can make the choice to rise above and love the ones that God has placed into your life.

so when mark and i married i went out of my way to always rise above and treat his ex-wife's family as if they where my own. this has not always been easy but it has always been worth it. we all love jonathan and none of us ever want him to feel he has to take sides. so if the adults get along then he is never stuck in the middle.

so thank you wilma for the wonderful brownies and the wonderful love.

summer project #2 - paint

for quite some time i have had the idea in my head to switch the kids bedrooms. the girls were cramped into a very small room and could really use more space. the boys don't need so much space since we just have jonathan part-time. so since i am taking the summer off from college i decided i better get it done before i ran out of time and want-to.

The girls bedroom is yellow.....this would never do for the boys.

This is colleens little corner....or should i say her little rat nest.

i found all kinds of surprises when we moved the bed.

so the week before camp the children sorted and boxed up their rooms.

finally most everything is off the walls and the furniture has been moved out.

it took me all day monday to move everything out and clean so that we could start painting. this is the pile of trash i swept up after moving the beds. i promise you they do clean their rooms but when you have packrat children sometimes the best thing to do is move everything out so that you can clean it really good.

when i got home from bible study on tuesday night my wonderful 6'5" husband was in the process of cutting in all the corners so that when i got off work on wednesday mexa and i could finish the painting.

finished painting!

it took us all night thursday to get all the furniture and boxes moved over. when the kids got home from camp on friday they moved back in.

once the girls new furniture and bedding get here i will post pictures of both the new bedrooms.

sweet sixteen

Happy Sweet Sixteen Sweetheart!!

We have had a year of glamour

and drama!



friends

friends

and more friends

blue hair

pink hair

and back again


photo ops

attitude

and peace

I can't imagine my life without you

you are growing into a remarkable young lady

whose heart is to serve the Lord
I thank God for you everyday

summer project #1 - read a book for fun

for my first summer project i decided to read a book for fun. it was nice to read a book i wanted to read and not one i had to read for school. of course i am a bit of an over achiever. my one book turned into seven. it all started innocently enough. i will never learn that once i start the 1st book in a series i will not be satisfied until i've read them all. for this very reason i tend to not start a series until the whole series is written. i am a really fast reader and once i start reading i don't want to stop until i'm done and nothing is worse to me than the anticipation of waiting for the next book to come out. especially when it takes years for the next book to come out. this is the case in the earth childrens series. i'm still waiting for the last book of the 6 part series and the author has yet to write it. to be honest i have been waiting 20+ years for this series to conclude. i read the first 2 books when i was 12 which was a long, long, long time ago. they where already out in paperback when i read them. just for fun i googled them and the first book was originally published in 1980. and here it is 2009 and we are still waiting for the last book. almost 30 years. how sad.

Big news

The boys just returned from their yearly roller hockey national tournament. The boys did very good. Jonathan's team took gold in the silver mens division and Cliff's team took gold in the freshman division. Mark played in the bronze mens division. His team didn't do so good. Jonathan also tried out and made the USA Jr. World Team. Which means he will be traveling to Italy in September to compete at the international tournament. We are so very proud. i'm sorry i don't have any pictures. my camera got dropped at the tournament last year and i just haven't gotten around to replacing it. there was a professional photo guy at the tournament so as soon as i get some pictures i will post them.

well guys this is all i have for today. there are big doings going on at the watson house this summer. i am taking the summer off from college and have lots of big and little projects going on. so of course there will be more time for postings. as soon as colleen gets home on wednesday with her camera i will post pictures of the project i am working on now. until then it will be my little secret.

texting - june 24, 2009

colleen is on vacation with a friend and her family and this is one of our many text conversations.



colleen 10:02pm - 20 dollars is going to king leonitus :)

me - who is king leonitus?

colleen 10:03pm - my hermit crab

me - i thought it was gonna be sir walter raleigh

colleen 10:06pm - i like king leonitus better it makes him look stronger and i can randomly yell sparta! for him :) cause he is named for their leader :)

me - ok ru sure its not 2 big of a name 4 him?

colleen - what are you trying to say. do you not have faith in my beloved crab? do you doubt his fury :)

me - its a hermit crab not a pitbull

colleen 10:15pm - thats what she said:) kidding. no don't underestimate it. he's part fire dragon ninja. i bought him a net for his cage and i got you another present :)

me - does a crab really have fury?

colleen 10:15pm - not all crabs but this one is like nemo he's special :)

me - k

colleen 10:16pm - don't say k. say i'm amazed at his beauty and grace : )

me - i am amazed @ his beautiful crabbiness.

colleen 10:19pm - :) yes :) that's the spirit :) do you laugh at my logic :)

me - yes i laugh

thanks

thanks for praying.

mark is home and resting.

pray for mark

my husband is having cataract surgery today on his right eye.
all your prayers at noon would mean so much to me.
even though i'm on break i will blog later to let you know how it went.
somehow a laser so close to his one good eye scares me.
his left eye is lazy so the right eye does most of the work.

taking a break

duh....since i haven't blogged in over a month. i'm just not finding the time to keep up with the blog so i will be taking a break. i might be back and i might not. i haven't decide yet.

she will be sorely missed

this was the last line of an obituary for my friend Sharon. this was the most fitting last line i think i have ever read. to say Sharon was a delightful person would be stretching it a bit.
she was who she was and thats all she ever wanted to be. she was to the point and if that hurt your feelings then oh well you would just have to get over it. once she decided you were ok then nothing could convince her otherwise and heaven help you if she didn't like you. i had the pleasure of working beside this women for the last 3 years and i am a better person because of it.

Sharon you will be sorely missed by all those who knew and loved you.

the adventure begins

Picture yourself in an ancient European city-Florence perhaps or Madrid. You find yourself at dusk, wandering through the older parts of town. Narrow streets are lined with dimly lit shops-pawnbrokers, no doubt, alongside various dealers in antiquities, booksellers, curious haunts harboring mysteries from far-off lands. Partly out of curiosity, partly out of a wish to avoid the jostling crowds, you turn into a musty parlor. As your eyes adjust to the twilight inside, you discover aisles crammed with Babylonian trinkets, Persian rugs, suits of armor, Colombian pottery. You browse indifferently among everything old and intriguing.

Then, something catches your eye. Sitting in a pile of forgotten silver urns and incense burners, it might have escaped your notice altogether. But it seemed to call to you, whisper your name. In fact, it is already in your hands. This is ridiculous, you think. You turn the lamp over and over most carefully, looking for . . . you're not quite sure what. Obviously it is from the Middle East, Arabia most likely. What am I thinking? These things happen only in fairy tales.

Something you read long ago-was it in Chesterton?-crosses your mind. "An adventure is, by its nature, a thing that comes to us. It is a thing that chooses us, not a thing that we choose." He's right about that, you admit. Alice wasn't looking for Wonderland when she fell through the looking glass. Come to think of it, the four children just stumbled into Narnia through the back of the wardrobe. Anodos simply woke to find fairyland had taken over his bedroom.

But another voice rises within you, urging caution. You've got places to go, for heaven's sake. Don't let yourself get carried away. The voice is full of common sense, of course. But the voice also seems old and tired. From how many adventures has it swayed you in your life? How many dreams left in the closet? "Closing time," calls the curator of the shop. He begins to blow out the lamps. Your heart is racing. Somewhere back in your mind you hear the voice urging you on to your duties.

But it is too late. You've already rubbed the lamp.

(The Sacred Romance Workbook & Journal, v-vi)