The Bright Eyed Brunette

The last time we were at the river, I wasn't even sure that we would be back for the rest of the summer, but here we are! We had a picnic at the river on Friday evening, and then went for a nice little ride on Sunday evening. All that means is that Makena Faith is almost fully recovered!! She got in and out of the boat with no problem, and had no pain! I kept reminding her not to bend or twist and she kept giving me "that" look (the sassy side I mentioned in my previous post).  I am so glad that she is better though. I would say that her biggest issue now is when she first sits down and not being able to sleep now that she is off all pain meds. It doesn't help that Carlie gets up for school around 5 a.m. and let me tell you, she is NOT quiet (they share a room). She wants to move out into the camper but we don't plan on that happening any time soon!! Here are a few pictures of our weekend river adventures. Makena Faith. She was sure not to get in the wate

A while back I mentioned a few things that happened that kind of turned our world upside down.  I felt as though I was somewhat getting over it (or used to it) then BAM something else happened.  On Monday, July 15 around 7 a.m., I got a phone call that I never wanted to get.  It was Carl telling me that Carlie had been in an accident in Little Rock.  I felt like my heart stopped beating.  I called my parents and they took me over there. Makena stayed at home with Trey because I didn't have time to wait on them.  I knew that she was ok (maybe a broken bone in her hand) and that no one else was involved. The whole ride over there I felt numb and light headed. I am not made for trauma situations. Turns out, she had a blowout on her back tire and ended up bouncing off of the wall about three times. I hate looking at this picture. We are so thankful that Carlie wasn't hurt, even though we can't say the same for Sassy Saturn. Carl snapped this picture. Poor baby!

This sweet girl turned 17! Sixteen was a rough year for her health wise.  Thankfully she is recovering from her second back surgery beautifully!  Her goals for this year are to get a job, graduate, get into her college of choice, and have fun (she would also like to be a church camp counselor)  I am super proud of the young lady she has become.  She is sweet and thoughtful, but she is also a tad bit sassy and stubborn (perfect mixture of mom and dad!).  She is also incredibly talented and she loves Jesus with all her heart. She is wise beyond her years in many ways. She is thought of as shy and quiet but believe you me, when she feels passionately about something she is NOT afraid to let it be known. This year she wanted to have a crab boil for her birthday.  We love us some seafood around here! We mainly just invited family.  My parents neighbors (Uncle Alan and Aunt Polly) and their grandson, Bayne also came. It was low-key due to her still recovering.  We have pretty much

It was a very different 4th of July for us, but then again, that seems to be the theme for this year! Carl was off and I was thankful for that. Not only was he able to help my dad cook lunch, he was able to spend time with Trey. During all of the chaos of taking care of a sick kid and having another kid getting tons of attention from starting something new in life, I feel like he gets left out. We had fried fish and all the fixin's at my parents house. My dad's sisters came and their neighbor, whom we jokingly refer to as "Uncle Alan" was there. His wife was in Florida visiting family. We just hate for people to be alone on birthdays and holidays! Plus, what's one more...or 5!  We all had a nice visit and the food was delish. Makena was able to come and kind of celebrate with us. She ate with us then laid down. No swimming for her this time. None of us swam long because it started storming and raining and did so for the rest of the afternoon. My guys My

Hello July!  I would love to say that I'm sad that our summer is basically over, but honestly if I already had my curriculum, we would be starting back to school this month!  June was a very trying month for our family.  Lots of changes came about and we were trying to (and still somewhat are) settle into a new normal. Trey's squash are blooming and looking great! The chickens are growing as well. I am excited for them to start producing! Carlie and Trey went to church camp for the first ever (well besides a 1 night preteen retreat YEARS ago). Makena was a little bummed because she couldn't go but we got to sleep-in as late as we wanted (Carlie usually has a way of waking EVERYONE in the house when she is up) and we hung out and did some one-on-one things.  It is hard adjusting to having only one child at home. She realized real fast that she didn't want to be the only child!  As for Carlie and Trey, they had fun.  Trey more so than Carlie.  I was all wor