Team Courtright

I'm so excited! My stepson, Taylor has decided to play football again this year! Last year we were only able to make it to one of his games because of my hubby's crazy work schedule (only had Sundays off) so we made big signs to show off at the game and hold while we cheered for him. This year we wanted to get sweatshirts made and hubby chose TEAM COURTRIGHT to go across the back! We opted to go with black sweatshirts w/ white writing so we could wear them for all of our kids events and not have to worry so much about team colors. With as many battles and struggles as we've had in dealing with being a blended family, I LOVE looking at us like our family is a team and that we can work together and cheer one another on! They didn't have a sweatshirt in Bitty's size so we just got her a black tshirt and had Team Courtright written on the front so it could be seen. How cute is this?!


So yeah, we're excited to watch Taylor play football again. Can't believe he's in 8th grade and going on 14 years old!!! YIKES! Exciting thing is that means only 4 1/2 more years til he's an adult! WAHOOOOOOOO!! The Lord has been showing me some awesome things and I feel great in knowing that once he's out on his own things will be a million times better! I just have to continue to pray for peace and strength to endure the next few years and then I'll see the reward for my work...for not giving up and for continuing to stand strong in the Lord and what He wants me to do and how He wants me to act. I don't know how people can go through the trials and tribulations of life and not have a relationship with the Lord! He's my saving grace!!!

PRAISING GOD!!!!

My stepson, Taylor was baptized this past week while he was away at church camp!! I just feel like shouting it from the rooftops! We have a complicated relationship to put it nicely. I do get glimmers of hope and I can see that God is fully working in the situation but as always, once things start getting good Satan jumps right in and does stuff to mess things up again. He's 13 now and as he's becoming a young man I can see that he's starting to see truth in things rather than the lies he's been constantly fed since I entered the picture almost 11 years ago. He is still blinded in a lot of ways but that's to be expected until he gets a few years older or even until he moves out on his own, away from the constant influence he gets where he's at. I just cherish the moments, however few and far between they are, that I get with him that are genuinely good and free from all the cruddola. I constantly pray for him because it has got to be so tough being in his position and bouncing from house to house and being put in situations that he's put in. I look forward to the day that God fully opens his eyes and when Taylor is free to love us the way he really wants to without shame or feeling like he's letting the other family down. I am just so beyond excited that he heard God calling him to step out and be baptized! I know that God is working in his heart and that just moves me to tears and makes me want to jump up and down and cheer!!! I still hold strong that God is going to mend my broken relationship with Taylor but even if He doesn't, I know that I'll be seeing Taylor in heaven where things are uncomplicated and perfect and there we will be free to have a perfect relationship without Satan's influence!! That in itself brings me peace!! So today I want to thank God for the work He is doing in Taylor's life and in our relationship! Thank you ABBA!

Summer Lovin :)

WAHOO, IT'S SUMMER!!! So we homeschool all year long but we're really laid back about it, especially during summer months. I'm so excited about everything that goes with summer...bbq's, camping, 4th of July, picnics, beach days, hiking...adventure!!! I have a mission this summer, that I'm hoping will become such a normal part of life that I do it all year long. My mission is to do at least one fun project or activity everyday this summer with my kiddos. I'm going to try to take pictures during each special event but as you know, sometimes you can't take the camera with you. Yesterday we had a BBQ at a local lake but it was so windy at first that right after we ate, we loaded our stuff up so it wouldn't blow away and then went over to the water, where the kids splashed and played for awhile. It amazes me that no matter how windy or cold it is, kids don't care, they'll jump right in and play around! I love it!

So far this past week we've had a picnic at one of the elementary schools with a friend of ours and her kiddos, where the kids got to ride around on bikes, eat our picnic lunch and play on the playground for 3 hours.



**FYI, mom wasn't using her brain properly and neglected to administer sunscreen on herself (she did however get the toddler covered) and dear ol' brainiac mom has a RAGING sunburn on her back, shoulders, arms and shins that hurts even 3 days later! Yes...lesson learned! LOL

We had a fun lunch of english muffin pizzas one afternoon, where Keegan got to pick what toppings he wanted and make his own pizza. He loved being in charge! :)


We just bought a new tent that fits our family a whole lot better. It's like 18x10 and can fit both of our queen sized air mattresses, Tatym's playpen and still have plenty of room for our stuff. My hubby, who happens to be the world's BEST dad (and husband), was itching to set the tent up to check it out so it's been up in our backyard now for like 4 days so the kids have been having a blast playing in it. Hubby even had a campout with Keegan the night before last. I love our new tent!


It's been raining a lot here lately so one day this past week, I took the kiddos on a puddle jumping walk! We walked around the neighborhood on the hunt for massive puddles which we found some great ones! I couldn't take the camera along for obvious reasons! LOL Tatym was soaked from head-to-toe by the time we got done and Keegan was soaked up to his waist! It was a blast and definitely something we'll do a lot more now that Tatym is getting older...but hopefully it won't rain like that very much this summer! *Wishful thinking!*

We went on a walk around the neighborhood on a sunny day. We walked down to my grandparents house to check on our garden and then we stopped at the park and played for a little while.

Have I mentioned how much I love being a mom?! I feel so blessed to be able to stay at home with my kiddos! It's the best "job" I could ever hope for and I'm cherishing the time I have with them!! <3>

*~* One happy lady right here! *~*

Yes, I've always had bigger than normal feet for a girl. I remember being in 3rd grade and wearing like a size 6 in women, maybe bigger. I guess I've just gotten used to my ski length feet but boy howdy, seeing Bitty in my shoes really makes me realize just how big my clodhoppers are! LOL As an adult, I can fluctuate between a 10-11, depending on the shoe brand and style but man, it's like half the length of my daughter! :)

My hubby has a huge love of guns but always feels bad spending the money on them so tonight he said he wanted to talk to me about a compromise he had in mind! He asked if I'd be ok if he got a gun, if he bought me the red Kitchen Aide I've been drooling over for a VERY long time. Hello?! Do you think it took me more than 2 seconds to respond with "OF COURSE!"? I bet it was half of a second for me to answer! I'm sure as heck not gonna pass up that plan! LOL You should have seen how quickly he jumped up, grabbed his phone and called the gun store to try to work out a deal (gotta love the salesman in him, LOL) and flew out the door at 5:30 so he could buy the gun before they closed at 6pm. On his way home he got this *insert angelic rejoicing song*:



Hubby said I seemed more excited about the mixer than I did when he brought home the Cricut for my Christmas present....I don't know, I think it's about the same excitement! :) Let me just say that I love my husband!!!!!! He hasn't been the best about gift giving (definitely not his love language) but the last couple of years (we've been together for 10.5 years) he's really been steppin up and getting me some whopper of gifts! THANKS BABE-A-LICIOUS, YOU'RE THE BEST! <3>

I can't wait to whip up batches of goodies with that little miss as she's growing up and of course with my son too!

Isn't it so pretty??? Now all I need is a bigger kitchen so I have more room to whip up my yummy-ness!!!

3rd and final post for today...hopefully! LOL

Ok, so yesterday was just such a great day and I took about 255 pictures so I thought I'd break my posts up into 3 seperate ones so sorry about that! LOL Scroll down to see the other 2 posts if ya want to! :)

We went to a really cool pumpkin patch that we'd never been to before and had a great time!! We went on a tractor ride through the pumpkin patch, pet some goats, walked through a huge corn maze and just looked around at everything! Keegan (my almost 7 year old son) proclaimed, "This is the best day of my LIFE!" Awwwww....that's what parents love to hear! I'm so glad he had such a great time! The Lord blessed us by keeping the rain away and we got lots of great pictures!

Here are pictures from the corn maze:
The kiddos in front of the corn maze sign.

Off we go:

I sure love him!

Keegan & I acting scared:

Daddy helping Tatym through the maze:


This is the ginormous apple Keegan picked out for a snack! No joke, the thing was almost as big as his head and it weighed 1.27 POUNDS! YIKES!

So big, he couldn't even eat the whole thing! LOL


The kiddos:




Mining area:


Feeding the goats:



Getting goat kisses:


Daddy caught with his pants down! LOL


Our trip through the pumpkin patch:

She loves pumpkins!

My boy & me! :)
Tatym wasn't too thrilled about riding behind the tractor:

All-in-all it was a fabulous day!!! We agreed to make the 2 1/2 hour trip to this pumpkin patch a new family tradition!!!

FOOTBALL

Our family!!


This year my stepson, Taylor is playing football and we were lucky enough to get to go see one of his games! My hubby works 6 days a week so getting a day off during the week is hard and Taylor's games have been on Tuesdays & Wednesdays. Things worked out that hubby was able to get yesterday off so we drove the 5 hours over to where Taylor lives and watched him play!!! His team played really well, spanking the other team 26-0!! WOO HOOOOOOO!!!

Here are some pictures---mind you I'm taming it WAY down! I took about 100 pictures from his game! LOL

Keegan & I made signs to show our support:


GO #51!!!!




We're really hoping Taylor sticks with football, he seems to be a good player and enjoys everyone cheering for him and watching him play! Hopefully next year we'll get to see more of his games!!!