THANKFUL THURSDAY

Where do I begin, this Thursday, I have worked through so many decisions and tough choices. Thank you Lord for being there as the voice telling me what to choose. Thank you Lord for giving me a life to make choices and family and friends to share those choices with.

I'm thankful for my little guy who now rides his bike all alone. I'm especially thankful for Bike Helmets as he crashed and cracked his helmet this week.

I'm thankful the little girl who was under my feet non stop all week long as Daddy was out of town. I'm thankful that although she is a busy girl, she is the sweetest little girl I have ever met.

I'm thankful for new and old friends alike, some have been in my life for such a long time and others only recently, but they make such a difference in the person I am.

I'm thankful for a young lady who I believe God just brought into my life. I pray that I can mentor her in any way she may need. I don't believe people just come and go from your life...I believe they forever stamp your heart with their presence.

Trayjan the Bike Rider

Trayjan has learned to ride a bike! We are very proud of him as he has not had any interest until the last couple of months. He decided he wanted to learn so we went and bought him a cheap bike not knowing how long he would stay interested....to our surprise he wanted to give it a try for more then a day. Travis had put training wheels on Trayjan's bike per his request. This whole training wheel thing was just down right useless, Trayjan learned nothing, including keeping his balance.....so after two months of playing around with the training wheels it was time to just do it. I had Travis take the training wheels off and began to teach Trayjan about balance, putting his foot down to stop himself from falling, using the handle bars to stay balanced once riding, going down a driveway, using his foot pedal brakes and so on. It took him about an hour of coaching and he was up and riding....it was amazing...he is such a quick learner! So by day two we had a rider on our hands, although not without many crashes. He wears his helmet of course but hasn't put his elbow or knee pads on. I have to say after the effects of two crashes in one day, we have made the rule that not only will he be ALWAYS wearing his helmet, but knee pads and elbow pads are required until he's a bit more experienced. All this week we have had the pleasure of going on Family bikerides, which are the most fun ever! We have so many paths and trails in our neighborhood we can visit a different way each time we ride.

p.s. Jie is so funny, she has all these little pink bikes and mostly just rides Trayjan's little bike we have had since he was 2. He even put x's on it and 01 for the General Lee when he was 3. He loved it and it is so sweet to see another child riding it, I don't think I could part with it ever.

Trayjan's 1st day of First Grade

Well, this amazing little guy was so very brave and ready to take on the world this morning for his 1st day of First Grade. Quite a different little boy then last night as he was fighting his sleep because of nerves. He is growing up so quickly and I know although Daddy was so very proud he wanted nothing to do with any of us walking him into school (including mommy which should never happen), he broke my heart. I was miserable for a bit this morning missing him and feeling like the picture I had made in my head of how this day would go was just crumbled because of his wonderful confidence and independence.

I love this precious child so much. If only he knew my heart is not quite ready for what he realizes he is ready for. If only he knew he takes my heart with him each time he leaves me. Although my tears were shed, I couldn't be more proud of who he has become. He may have fears and hesitance but he knows he is strong enough to get through anything. He knows that he has been raised to take on situations that may not always seem so great in the beginning, but through his confidence and trust in our words, he will pull through everytime. I know that he prays when he is feeling scared or anxious. I know and trust that he knows God is there to get him through it. Thank you Lord for being with him (and his little sister who put pretend cake and ice cream at his bedroom door so when he got home he could have some). Thank you for giving these precious children the confidence to get through their fears.

Thankful Thursday

I purchased a new CD for a song that we love....Boom Boom Pow, by Black Eyed Peas. Trayjan loves to listen to our new songs over and over again and although I don't think a little 3 1/2 year old girl (named Jieuse) is even paying attention.....she is! After about 10 times of hearing the song...I all the sudden hear this little voice in the backseat saying things like, mmm boom pow, and it occurs to me, she hears every word. Now when we get into the car..she says Mommy, I hear my favorite song #1. So today, I am thankful for the precious songs being sung from my backseat each day by a precious little girl, who not long ago, had no songs to sing.

Last night as I was getting into the shower, Trayjan said I want to take a bath and just talk. Boy, sometimes that little guy sounds like he's so much older. So I said sure, you take a bath and I will shower and we can talk. He does this once or twice per week and last night he said, "Okay mom let's tell Jokes". Sometimes he wants me to tell him a Pee in your pants story, a scarey story or a vomit story. (He loves to be told stories). So we began telling Jokes, he and I laughing very hard at each ones Jokes. So what seemed like just another joke, was not just another joke, but time well spent with my little guy who is growing way to quickly. So today as well, I'm thankful for a son who always wants to talk to me and listen to my stories and jokes (and he loves them).

Lastly today, I am thankful for summer days watching my kids play outside. I'm thankful that each summer we have a waterslide for the kids to play on. They love playing in the water. I pray that they never think they are to big to play outside and enjoy things like our waterslide.

Summer Fun

Well, I have to say, I don't think BOYS every grow out of their TOYS! Trayjan's little hummer came from Grandma and Grandpa Stout when he was about 3 years old. He got a couple great years of usage then moved onto some other toys. So there it sat in the corner of our garage in our old home and now in our new home for over 2 years.....poor thing just collected dust on top of dust. I decided that I would try to charge it and if it charged let Jie have it, but needless to say, it charged just like new and Trayjan decided he wanted to ride around in it. His buddy came over and they were officially CRASH DUMMIES (which is why Helmets are on). They have loved it for the last week and have been riding it everyday. They are so darn cute in it, even though their combined weight doubles the weight limit (I think! Notice the caved in tires).

Trayjan has officially advised us he doesn't want to be the only kid in our neighborhood who does not ride a bike, so we went out and bought him one and he is slowly becoming brave enough to take it on. He may be riding it by next summer by himself (he simply doesn't want to practice every day and the other day he told me I couldn't practice with him only dad could). Well, if that is the case, dad is gone all the time, so it quite frankly might be next summer or the next summer or quite possibly the next summer. He may be driving a car before riding a bike. Ha, Ha, LOL!