HOME

I wrote earlier about HOME...I have such great memories of my home in Livingston...
roller skating in the house (my baby rides her bicycle in our house), riding our bikes for miles, building forts, playing outside on the trampoline until we had to come in because it was dark.

I love our street...there are always kids squealing up and down the block...on our trampoline, in the playhouse...now they rip-stick...we skateboarded.

And yesterday, my 12 year old daughter gave me the most awesome compliment.
She said, THANK YOU.

"Thank you mom for being one of those cookie moms (cookie that you eat...not KOOKIE, like coo-coo~ although she'd often like to call me that).

Monday she had her friends over for a cookie party. I wrote them an email and said, "hope you aren't too cool now...". They weren't and had a blast.

I have had this group over for about three years to study God's word after school. I listened to them talk about boys...correcting each other's "thoughts" about boys...
and I realized, "YES! THEY ARE STILL KIDS!"

I almost cry at how blessed I have been to have my children planted here on a rock.

No place is perfect...and challenges lie in EVERY COMMUNITY. But as I told them, Chad and I will be the ones in the back row of the movie theater clearing our throats and "expelling someone" if we see them do ANYTHING out of character becoming of a young lady who deserves to be respected. They sorta giggled and Shelton was appalled at the thought (she is waiting til college to "date"....she can "court"....:))

They can resist, but hopefully someday in the back of their mind, when they are in a questionable situation, they will remember their parent's comments, and then have some backup with "Mr. Chad will GET you!"

They have such huge hearts and again we plan to collect items for our favorite family the Gardners. (read in previous article-or in Southern Beauty Magazine~ have 14 children~ most adopted and special needs children)

I am so blessed that I can be home at 3, hear them come blaring in the door, backpacks and giggles...and watch them race to the stove for cookies....

These days will be gone way too soon...
as Brent begins to drive in a year....

And we don't have them here this year for Christmas..
they travel to the beach to celebrate Hanukah and Christmas with their dad's family.

So often we are so eager to "get them back to school".
Nurture EVERY minute!

You can bet on Dec. 26 we will be CRANKIN UP THE COOKIE FACTORY and starting Christmas all over again!

Blessings!
Allison