5 Good Reasons

I know, it's shocking.  I'm actually blogging...

First of all, thank you all for the sweet comments on the new rooms for Carter and Ava!  I really appreciate all the kind words of encouragement you left for me, they each made my day as they came in.  We are grateful for the way the Lord has provided for us and for our kiddos and we're totally enjoying the new "look" around here!  Carter's pending arrival is definitely on our minds these days, I think before we know it he's going to be joining us and we can't wait.  I'm so behind on this blog and all of the ones I love to read, but the past week has been busy and I'm trying to be careful about using my "free time" to rest and not do much of anything that isn't necessary.

Anyway, I thought I'd play catch up a little bit, in the form of a list tonight.  Here are 5 good reasons I've been absent for the last few days...

1.  Trav's Mom is here!  On Wednesday, Texie flew in to see us and help for a few days.  It's been great to have her here and such a blessing to have an extra set of hands to do just about everything for me :)   We are blessed to have Grandparents galore who are always available to help us and support us and love our little Pagey!  Ava is in Heaven, with constant attention and new clothes and shoes to boot.  Texie has the spiritual gift of "shopping" (ha ha) and she always brings us lots of new treats to enjoy.  I think Ava may have inherited her love for shoes from Texie in fact!  Ava is a shoe horse, just like her Daddy and just like her Texie.  I can only imagine the damage they'll do someday when she's old enough to figure this out...

FYI, I'm making a mental note now to never let Travis and Ava go shoe shopping together.  I'm not sure who would lose control first!!!  Thank goodness I'm around to bring some restraint to the picture!!  Ha Ha Ha!!  He'll love that I just said that....

2.  Because Texie is here, Travis and I were able to go away on the Volunteer Staff Retreat this weekend.  It was a quick retreat, but lots of fun and more than anything, I think I enjoyed the car ride we got to share there and back!  It was fun to be alone and do some talking that we normally don't get to do without a little redhead interrupting us :) Praise the Lord that I managed to get some sleep while we were there too!  I wasn't banking on that, but God was good to me and let me rest!  I was thankful we didn't have to make any emergency trips to the hospital because I was in labor!  That would have been a story...

We had lots of time to participate in crazy games with our awesome leaders, like this one.  Which I believe is called "Bohemian Kickball"???  I'd never heard of it, but it was hilarious to watch and seemed like it was fun to play.  Even though we had no students with us, we had to incorporate games into the weekend!  If you volunteer to work with students, you're basically still a kid at heart, right???

But It wouldn't be a student ministries retreat without an injury!  One of our junior high volunteers broke his nose but thankfully wasn't hurt as badly as he could have been.  His nose was about an inch to the left of where it should have been and his eye was immediately black and blue, but no concussion and nothing life threatening, so he stayed for more fun!!  We are so blessed to have incredible leaders in junior high and high school who have committed their time and lives to loving Jesus and investing in students.  I think we had about 50 or so volunteers with us this weekend, but many more serve every week.  Travis and I are so grateful for this season of ministry here...

3.  Last Tuesday, I got a teary call from my Mom after she and my Dad had to put their little dog to sleep.  Very suddenly he had an enlarged heart and consequent heart failure that required a hard decision to be made.  It was a very sad week for our family and many tears were shed.  It's amazing how strong the bond between a pet and it's owner can be.  Tiggy was a part of our family for a little more than 7 years and was the source of lots of memories and laughter.  He was a birthday present for my youngest sister Jennie, but he was very attached to both of my sisters and especially my Mom.  Ava was totally entertained by him, I think she often thought he was a toy because he was so little!  And Ryley also loved him as they spent lots of time together over the years :) They looked like the odd couple but they grew to be a good pair.  We will miss Tigger and the joy he brought our family.  Losing him makes me very sad about the day we have to say good bye to our own first baby, Ryley.  Not only will Travis and I be sad, but so will Ava and soon Carter.  That will be a conversation I'm not looking forward to...

Tiggy chilling in the sunshine :) 

The odd couple!  We're pretty sure Ryley's head was bigger than Tiggy's entire body :) 

4.  One of the best distractions in our life right now, is Trav's soccer team!  He is coaching the varsity boys team at a local Christian school and it's been a great thing.  He loves doing it and Ava and I have been happy to attend as many games as possible.  Although it's fun, it has been a busy month.  We are averaging about 2 games a week and of course practice every day, so I've had to try and patiently deal with feeling like a single parent at times.  Some days I'm better at that than others, but really I am thankful he's been able to do this and happy that it's basically a short season!  The good news is that they are doing very, very well!  They are 5-1-1 right now and playing great!  It's been fun to cheer them on and to keep our schedule full during these weeks of waiting for Carter.  Ava is a hit on the sidelines!  She loves to cheer for the boys and often she trolls the crowd looking for cell phones she can steal and play with.  Seriously.  I have to keep my eyes on her like a hawk!  It's a good thing she's cute or it would be incredibly embarrassing!!  You know, the kind of "whose kid is that??" embarrassing :)    

5.  Finally, perhaps the best reason I haven't been blogging is that I'm pregnant.  Did you know that??    I'm 9 months pregnant to be exact :)  I'm officially tired all the time and so ready to be done with this part of pregnancy.  I'm not sleeping very well at all and I have a toddler who is non-stop action all day long.  More than ever before, I am trying to cut as many extra things out of my life as I can, so that I have time to rest and time to do what is most important.  I've been transitioning Ava from 2 naps to 1 and so my "free time" is a little less than it used to be, but I'm confident that it's a good decision for all of us and one that will pay off when Carter comes home!  Anyway, I hope to hop on here a little more this week and post some funny things that have been happening with Ava, but if I'm not as active as I used to be, now you know 5 good reasons why!  

Have a wonderful week!!  I can't believe we're marching into the end of September already, didn't school just start??