It's Turtle Time.....

We had our 7th and 9th annual Duke Boy Birthday Bash this weekend.  We decided to tone it down this year and not invite quite so many people due to our special guests.  We just so happened to find a turtle man who lives at the beach!  We didn't tell the boys about their special guests until they were here.  And for the record, they are tortoises, not turtles ;).  Mr. Randy brought his African Sulcata tortoises, Franklin, Ben, Jerry, and more for the kids to pet, ride, watch eat, water, play.....and so on!  It was a blast!  The largest was about 300 pounds and 60 years old.  The smallest was about 15 pounds and 6 years old.  They can live to be over 100!  Needless to say there are some boys in this house who want one as a pet.  As much grass as they eat, Daddy-O probably does too!  I have to say they were pretty cute.  Joss may be the only one who would object!

Here's Jerry having a snack!  And taking a break from giving rides.

We all posed for a picture.  Joss wasn't having it!

Cam-Cam taking a ride while Jonesie observed.

Jaxon REALLY wanted to keep this one.  Too bad he doesn't have $500 laying around!

Miss Priss was happy with her bubbies!

The awesome turtle cake made by Jojo's Sweet Treats!

Caden blowing out his candle!

The birthday boys!

The tortoises were all loaded up and ready to head back home!  I bet they slept all the way home!

It was a beautiful day for a party.  We all had a wonderful time!  We may just have to look Mr. Randy and his tortoises up on our next beach trip.....I just realized I didn't get to take a ride....

7 already??

I can't believe that 7 years ago today, yes just barely after Jaxon's 2nd birthday was coming to a close, Camron and Caden made their grand entrance over 11 weeks before we expected! It's hard to believe they once weighed under 5 pounds put together! I can't tell you how many times we've heard "double trouble"....but we've always thought more along the lines of the doublemint commercial...double the pleasure, double the fun! We are truly blessed to have been given 2 sweet boys at once! We thank God for the miracles they are! They sure defeated so many "odds". 

They are both such great friends. I love the bond they share.  They look up to Jaxon and are wonderful with Jossalyn. 

Caden has a sensitive side but is as feisty as they come.  Camron is sensitive as well and super silly! These boys keep me on my toes that's for sure!

Happy birthday my snicker-doodles! We love you all the way to the moon and back (back, back, back, back....;))!

My baby is 9!!

It is so hard to believe that 9 years ago today, Daddy-O and I entered the wonderful world of parenthood for the first time.  Jaxon was the one who made us Mommy and Daddy.  He is such a special kid.  As a matter of fact, I personally think God thinks we are pretty special to have blessed us with a son like Jaxon.  Even though he can aggravate his brothers to no end, he is the best big brother to all of his siblings.  He willingly helps them when they are upset, consoles them when they are hurt or sad, and he even changes a diaper now and then.  His love for people, animals, and nature amaze me.  He has such a big heart.  He may just give someone the shirt off his back if I don't stop him ;).  He's definitely a people pleaser!  I just pray this doesn't get his feelings hurt some day!

I am just so thankful to have such a wonderful son.  He loves his family, his friends and most importantly God.  All of which are evident in his daily life!  Happy Birthday snuggle puppy of mine!  We love you....MORE ;)!

Talking 'bout my girl!

The princess has just blossomed lately.  We look at her in awe wondering just how she got so sweet.  We don't question the spoiled factor...that's a given!  She talks better than most...but only when she wants to of course.  She loves her family and friends and she lets them know!  We hear the names of her loved ones many times daily...and even the ones she acts like she's not too fond of to their face (ahem...."Yuke").  She loves to play with ALL of her Bubbies things.  But she loves her babies too.  They get diaper changes and bottles.  She likes to cook and serve and make everyone "EAT!" in her kitchen.  Most of all she likes snuggles.  We don't mind!  We like them too!  When we are doing school, she's pretty sneaky when it comes to drawing on all the boys' papers!  I'm fairly certain they don't have one page that's been kept "clean".  They don't mind.  They do their work, read their books, etc with her in their laps or climbing all over them.  She likes to sing "Jesus Loves Me" and her "ABC's".  She follows Jaxon around with her My First Bible every day asking him to "read Jesus".  And he does, over and over!  I swear she has better manners than the boys with her pleases, thank yous, and bless yous when someone sneezes.  Ok, please excuse the bragging on my baby girl!  She's just such a joy and we are so thankful to God for blessing us with her!  

The Things Above

A common theme in my life lately has been based on the verse in Colossians, "set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth."(Col. 3:2)  How hard is that?  I mean really.  I began this month in a fast.  A fast I intended to last 21 days.  On day 8, it was clear I needed to stop but I considered continuing, just to "finish".  How often do we miss God's voice because we are so focused on the things of this world.  So on day 8, the day of a new beginning, the fast ended.  I learned so much during that time.  I was reminded of how often we put too much weight on worldly things.
Ironically during one of our bible lessons this week we were discussing what was important in life.  Answers that I got from my boys were,
*to help other people
*to tell people about Jesus
*...so they spend eternity in Heaven with Him just like we will
Wouldn't it be great if we all really put things like this first.  I mean really.  You have to be intentional, that's for sure.  We are making that a goal 'round these parts.  Wanna join us?

I think it's so ironic that my last post was about my good ole friend poly....you remember, Poly Myo Sitis. ;)

We had our fall GMOM sale last weekend. A new, sweet friend texted me just before it started to tell me she was praying for me as she knew it was going to be a tiresome time! Well, I barely made it through the sale. If you ask my co-coordinator, I probably wasn't her favorite person come Saturday afternoon. My energy had plummeted, I was having crazy heart palpitations, and I just felt like poo in general. After a quick trip to urgent care and a fun little EKG, I was told to go home, rest, drink lots of water, and call my dr Monday.  Monday was not fun! My legs ached pretty badly. The dr had me come in for a check and some bloodwork. It turned out I had shingles! I sorta thought those were for my 80 year old friends....anyway. My levels had also risen pretty high and pretty fast which caused the severe leg pain. Apparently shingles make you feel like you got hit by a bus....or a train....something really big. The elevated ck levels made it hard to walk. So in turn we've had the "Jenn gone hermit" special this week. I have to say its been nice to be home. Nice to have more quiet time. Even nice to not put on a stitch of make up.  

I am SO thankful for a hubby who could come home early and also has a schedule that allowed him to rest with me help me for a few days. I'm thankful for 4 blessings who do their best to help their poor achy mama. I'm thankful for parents who let the kids play at their house and take them on field trips because I just.couldnt.do.it. I'm thankful for friends who pray for me and check on me and bring me Starbucks and try so hard to do for me even though I am self-admittingly a bad receiver of said help! I am feeling so much better than I was at the start of this week! PTL!

During this week I was reminded on numerous occasions that my reaction to my situation is a choice. I chose to embrace it.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says "Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

I'm sure I've shared this verse before but it just speaks volumes to me. On good weeks and bad ;).

poly-myo-si-tis

Many of you reading this are aware of my autoimmune disease, polymyositis.  I haven't talked about it in a while so I thought I would give an update.  We have been back and forth on what meds "help" and what not.  I am currently taking prednisone and methotrexate.  I haven't had a rituxin infusion since last September.  My levels at last check (which was about a month ago) were at a record LOW!  As a matter of fact, they were 2 away from being in the normal range.  Oddly enough about 2 weeks ago, I began having some pain.  My hands and wrists are the most bothersome.  Probably because they are being used the most.  The muscles in the backs of my legs have also been sore.  Sometimes to the touch.  Prayers are appreciated for the pain to stop!  I have to say I am thankful this disease is not affecting me in many of the ways it has other people.  It's not fun, that's for sure but, I am doing my best to focus on the positive.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8