"Do you know why I love Jesus so much"

I know it's has been ages since Ive posted but life is just crazy busy. Something came up yesterday though, that I told myself I never wanted to forget. Since the reason I started this blog was to give my kids something to look back on I wanted to make sure and put it on here so I would NEVER forget. On our way home from gym last night Pate randomly says "mommy, do you know why I love Jesus so much", I said no, why? She said "because he chose you to be my mommy". It literally left me speechless for a few seconds. Maybe bc the biggest lump formed in my throat. Those are words I will never forget. Pate was our "reason" for so many unanswered prayers and God reminds me of this daily. He knew from the begining what was meant to be for us and that "reason" couldnt be any sweeter. God is SO good and his light here lately has shown so brightly in so many ways in my life and I know its his was of saying "Ive got your back, I told you I would be by your side through it all", and believe me HE has!! Life is good and so is HE!! Now, my goal is to get back on here by the end of the week and update update update!!! Let's see how that goes! ;0)

Just stuff....

I can't believe I have gone this long without posting. This will be a totally random, out of order post, but will try to get in what I want to remember years from now. School is flying by, thanksgiving came and went and now Christmas is around the corner. Both kids had great report cards and i had the sweetest emails from all three of JT's teachers to me since I couldn't make conferences. They all three talked about what an amazing, smart kid he was. MAkes my heart smile, :0) pâté had a sleep study done at children's, still waiting on those results to come back. That was a wild night to say the least. She also turned SIX. When people used to say to me enjoy every minute with your kids, it flies by, I could never have imagined just how fast. Thanksgiving was great and I have so much to be thankful for. My amazing husband and kids, my sweet friends, new and old, my health, my job, the roof over my head and for God's unconditional love. There have been times in my life when I couldn't see the light of day and couldn't imagine feeling "whole" again. Gods forgiveness and unconditional love has shown me that I have a purpose and although I don't always understand why things happen, I have learned to really trust Him. I am in a great place in my life right now and I am THANKFUL!! Running is going good, a little set back with my hip/leg but I will pull through. I have decided to do another marathon, just trying to decide which one, looks like little rock may be in the works. May even try to pull off doing OKC in April too. I have so many pics to post but not on the right computer to do that, so hopefully can get those up this week.

"Your skins are different colors"

As I'm out on the field coaching during the soccer game I'm visiting with our goaly "B" and Pate. Pate says something to me and calls me mom. "B" says are you her mom? I said yes. He gets the most perplexed look on his face and says "your skins are different colors". I said yes, Pate is adopted. He again gets this really confused look on his face and says "hmmm, ok". It made me smile. I love the innocence of kids.

My favorite time of year.

Other than it being a little chilly this is my favorite time of year!! I love the change of colors on the trees, Halloween, lots of Birthdays and Holidays approaching. School is flying by. My class is GREAT this year and JT and Pate are still loving school. Very thankful for that. Tessa and I's soccer team is undefeated. Since we have coached basketball and soccer together we have been undefeated! Just sayin... LOL. Craig said there is only one coach in this house. HAHA. Pate is excelling more than I could have imagined in gymnastics. She is too young to compete in the first meet but we are hoping by December she will be ready to go. JT has gotten into working out with Craig every morning at the gym. I am proud of his dedication. He is definetly growing up WAY to fast. His voice is changing and he's offically taller than me. I dont think I was ready for all this. I am beyond proud of what a great kid he is I just want to cherish every minute and its FLYING by. God has blessed Craig and I with an amazing life and children. Life is GOOD!!

This last pic is of our master shower I had tiled for Craig's bday. He LOVES it. It was a standard shower board shower before. Wish I would have gotten a before pic.

Random pics.

This would be alot easier if I wouldnt wait till I have so many pics I dread doing it. I really hope my kids look back one day and appreciate having this to read. LOVE U JONESY and PATE!!

Start of a new year and so much more..

This year is bitter sweet. Not only is JT growing up way to fast, but Pate started kindergarten!!!! It was easier sending Pate than it was JT, but only bc Pate is with me at school. Its great that we all ride to school this year together. I am so blessed to have a career that allows me to be with my kids. I am also lucky that my kids LOVE school. JT loves 7th grade. He is on an amazing team this year. I knew when I chose the team that he would love having a male teacher and I was right! Pate has Mrs. Bryan and she loves her. She is so sweet, patient and loves on her kids all the time. What a great feeling to know your kids are in great hands all day. I have an amazing class this year! The kids are so sweet, smart and fun!! I love that I know so many of their parents and have had so many of their siblings. I hope the year continues to be a huge success!!! Our life is back to crazy mode. Craig is in full swing of football and JTs travel team is playing some fall tournaments this year so no break in sight. On top of all that Pate has been asked to join team at gymnastics. I wish I could say she gets it from me (ha) or its genetics but..... she is just one talented girl. We switched to Flame bc we wanted the whole gymnastics experience and at ACU its just tumbling. Within the first 3 weeks at flame Pate has been bumped up in level 3 times. The latest class she went to she was the youngest by 10 years. It was 5 girls and 4 were 15 and then there was Pate. :0) To say she loves it is an understatement. She literally flips around the house and begs everyday to go to gymnastics. SO, we are going to give team a try. I was very hesitant about her doing it bc she will be the youngest and the hours are long but we are going to give it a try and see if she can do it. When we adopted Pate our goal was to give her the life she couldnt have. So, we are going to give her every opportunity to succeed to be the best she can be at whatever it is she wants to do. This is a huge commitment for not only Pate but our family. Practices are 3 hours a night, two days a week, 9 competitions throughout this year, which means I will be going one way with Pate and Craig will have to go the other with JT to ball tournaments, which will KILL me. But, we do what we have to for our kids. It will all work out! I am excited to see her grow as a gymnast and cant wait to see where this will take her!! Our life is crazy and chaotic but I wouldnt change it for anything! One day all the craziness will be gone and I will want it all back! So, I am going to enjoy every minute of it. In all this chaos I MAKE time to run. Its hard some days and it may be a short run but it is my peace! I have been contemplating doing the LR marathon again. Not sure Ill have the time to train so may just do the half but I love to have goals to reach. It keeps me motivated. Ive started running with a running group and I love it. It was great seeing the people new to running come out and meeting new people to run with. So great to be around motivating people that share the love of running. All my pics I would attach to this post from our last couple of weeks are on my phone and I have yet to put them on the computer so as soon as I do, I will post.

Our trip to Oranage Beach 2012

Jonesy and I had the best trip to the beach thanks to Craig! The time flew by when we were down there but we ended up getting alot in. We laid on the beach everyday, we parasailed, we ate at some great places and mostly just enjoyed our time together. We had some friends that were staying just down the street so that was alot of fun too. I was really worried about leaving Pate but she ended up doing pretty good without me :0( Her and Craig hung out and grandmas came to the rescue! This is definetly a trip I will not soon forget!!