Sam's Fam

Sunday, October 23, 2016

Children's Museum, Washington Farms, Football, and Visits with Friends & Family!

We have had a lot of fun the past four weeks! Last month the kids and I met my sister and her two kids in Atlanta for the day. We went to the Atlanta Children's Museum. The kids had an absolute blast. They all had fun doing all the different activities, but Thomas was absolutely obsessed with the ball area. He kept running off and going there. The weekend of the UGA-TN game our friends the Moores came to visit! They are some of our best friends from Birmingham and we absolutely love when we get to see them and their little boy Charlie. It was fun to just hang out, and then they of course went to cheer on Georgia with me and Bryant. The next weekend Josh was gone for the SC game, so the kids and I went to Opelika for a night. My parents were gone on a trip, so we just went down to see my sister and her family. It was lots of fun to see their new house and hang out. The next week Bryant had his first school field trip. They went to Washington Farms and I got to meet them there! Going on a field trip is more organized and limited, but he definitely had fun! Then we had the UGA-Vandy game that weekend. I had fun spending time with Bryant at the game! This past Wednesday the Country Club had it's annual Halloween Carnival. I took the kids, and they seemed to have fun. They just played games and bounced in the bouncy house. And we ate dinner there. I didn't take hardly any pictures of them in their costumes, so I'll have to do better on Halloween. Then Friday night Josh was off since this is Georgia's bye week, so we went to Washington Farms as a family. It was an absolute blast!! The kids had so much fun doing everything. Unfortunately Josh wasn't feeling the best, but he pushed through so we could all be together. Other than that this past month Taylor got her very first haircut. Her hair looks so much better now and she did a great job! We also had a couple of birthday parties for different friends, but I failed to take any pictures. And Jama has been here a good bit and gone to the two home games we've had with us. It has been so much fun having her here to hang out with us and just to help me. She really is such a huge help when she is here. I hit the jackpot when it comes to MIL's! That's about it...below are lots of pictures!

OBSESSED

Working on getting the pipes together at the Children's Museum.

BALLS!!!

Time to cook us up some food.

Grocery shopping

Oh...you know...just another day on the farm. ;)

They climbed up into the earth.

Working on his writing.

Silly Bryant and Wells!

Working on building a skeleton.

Even Emmy got in on the gardening.

So much fun at the Children's Museum!

My two thumb-suckers thought it was fun when they found Bryant's old paci stash!

Taylor's hair before her haircut.

and the AFTER!

Celebrating daddy's birthday with him a week early!

Just running through the streets. He can't seem to use the sidewalk...he always goes into the street.

Hillary and I ready to cheer on the Dawgs!

PreGame

Friends!

Charlie and Thomas high-fiving goodbye. Skye (aka Taylor) was overseeing them. ;)

Thomas loves when he can climb in my van and pretend he's the driver.

BUSTED!!!

Love these two!

Hanging out with friends.

Thomas was very interested in cousin Emmy.

Wild Child

Picnic Dinner!

Bryant with a few of his school friends on their Field Trip

Bouncy Pillow fun

Wagon Ride!

Who's ready for some Georgia football!?

Me and my buddy!

Trader Joe's fun

Future golfer?

"Mommy, take my picture with my baby and puppy dog."

Thomas's favorite part of the carnival...the balloons of course!

My Princess

Bryant did an AWESOME job running to raise money for his school!

Pumpkin Slingshot!

Corn shooter

Seriously...the big bouncy pillow is super fun.

Just throwing some baseball.

Pig Race!

Corn box fun.

Love my family!!

Cow train

The Pirate Ship...but he's too cute to be a pirate!

Such a fun time at Washington Farms!

Until next time...

Heather

Sunday, September 25, 2016

A stressful time...and the things God showed me!

You can probably already tell from the title that this is a different kind of post. No worries, I do have a couple of photos to share of the kiddos, but not much to share about them. It's been a pretty normal week for the kids and I. There's just one thing that really stands out. And that thing is that I found out that a biopsy I had the week before was benign. Obviously, in comparison, nothing else really mattered this week. I did not have cancer, and I was so relieved! Let me back up a little. A little over a month ago I went to the doctor about my throat. After ultrasounds and doctor's appointments, it was determined that I could have thyroid cancer and a biopsy should be done. The odds were highly in my favor, as only 25-30% of biopsies with my situation come back cancerous. And thyroid cancer is very curable. So all in all you would think there was no reason to stress. Ha! Turns out when someone tells you that you could have cancer, your whole world kind of stands still while you wait to find out if you do. Now that the whole thing is over, I had to ask myself, do I wish it had never happened? And I can honestly say, no. And here's why. God showed up. He showed up like I personally have never experienced him showing up. And I can say without a doubt a fire was lit underneath my faith that I pray never dies down. In particular a fire was lit under my prayer life and my belief in the difference prayer really can make. I have to share one experience that I will remember the rest of my life. Sharing this story is really my main reason for writing this post. Throughout this past month I have struggled with anxiety and fear. I wish I hadn't, but I did. One morning I was really struggling, so I texted my mom and asked her to please pray for me. And she did. Right after I texted her, Thomas bit my knee! I screamed "No" at him and it upset him. So I ended up having to pick him up to calm him down. Well, he immediately wrapped his arms around me and fell asleep! He never does that. I mean it was in the morning, he wasn't even tired! And he proceeded to sleep on me with his arms wrapped around me for 45 minutes. And I can not explain it, but I just felt this peace while he was laying, sleeping on my chest. I called my mom later and told her about it. She got really quiet. She then said, do you know what I prayed when you texted me? I prayed, "Lord, I want to put my arms around Heather and comfort her right now, but I'm not there. Will you please put your arms around her and comfort her? Will you please give her Your peace? Thank you, God." Unbelievable. I started to cry because it was just so cool how God had used my 18 month old to answer my mom's prayer for me. And it made me realize that God really is listening to every single prayer we say, even if it doesn't seem like a big deal. And he can answer prayers in ways we may never be able to imagine! In addition to that experience, I also experienced God providing for me through friends who jumped in to help me with watching my children during all of my different doctors appointments, and checking on me, and praying for me, every single day. It was just so awesome to see and experience and feel God's love through them. And then the Sunday after I had the biopsy, when my fear was at it's highest while waiting for the results, our sermon at church was on fear. The principle being "Fear Not". It was so good, and at the exact moment I needed to hear it. That was God. And so when I look back on this health scare, I pray I will never forget how God showed up in amazing ways, and reinstilled in me that he is still doing everyday miracles, and that he does hear every single prayer, and that he will provide everything we need when we need it. And so I share this personal experience just in case anybody needs to hear that or be reminded of that. :) And for those who just came for the adorable pictures....I won't leave you hanging. ;)

GOOOOO DAWGS!

Crazy curly-haired babe!

Precious girl dressed herself for fall...to bad it was actually 90 degrees!

Big brother reading a book to sister!!

Reading to Tay and Thomas! He is so proud that he can read some now! (Still on the easy, beginner books, but they all three love it!)

Until next time...

Heather

Monday, September 19, 2016

Football Season is in full swing!!

The past three weeks have been good! Football season is keeping Josh pretty busy, so it's mainly just been the kids and I. We actually went to the season opener at the Georgia Dome. Josh's mom and his sister's family were all there, so we got to see them and hang out. It was lots of fun! We also went to the home game against Nicholls State. We lucked out and got to be in the Sky Box, so it was great! The game itself wasn't the best, but at least we won! That next week my parents came into town for a night. They came so they could go have lunch with Bryant during Grandparent's week. They also got to take him to the book fair. He loved it! And it was good to see them, if only briefly. Other than that we have had lots of play dates with different friends and stayed busy with school and stuff! Oh, one more thing, Bryant lost his first tooth!! Unfortunately he was actually home sick from school the day he lost it, so he wasn't super excited. But the next day when he felt better, and the tooth fairy had come, he was very pumped!! That's it for now. Below are some pictures.