My mom.  She is one tough lady, I'll tell ya.  This picture was taken at Coop's birthday party, two days after her ankle surgery.  Doesn't she look good?  Well, it's been almost a month since her surgery.  And even though she's had some really hard, rough days God is good and has shown mercy on her through it all.  She continues to get stronger every day, and I've noticed that she has gotten more confident in what she can do, and her determination level has increased as well!  Praise the Lord!  She may not know it, but she is setting a wonderful example of how to take a disappointment such as this, and just leave it in God's hands, trusting His will for her.  I have gotten to spend a lot of time with her the past month.  Our visits have been fun, and I've enjoyed letting her depend on me for a change!  We have also enjoyed watching as much HGTV as we want! 

And I MUST give credit to my Dad!  That man has worked harder around the house than ever in my whole life, and he's doing it out of sheer love.  It's the kind of love I always knew was there, but never really noticed until now.  He sure has a servant's heart.  It is so funny to see him rinsing the dishes before he puts them into the dishwasher, because it "bugs him when people just load them all dirty with caked-on food and stuff."  And he scrubbed the microwave last week too - haha!  Anyone who knows him knows that he is a pretty social guy, and it's been hard on him not to be able to go here and there and visit with people whenever he wants.  But he is exhibiting the perfect picture of Christ's love towards my mom, by serving her and taking care of her and I am supremely PROUD of him.  In fact, I've never been prouder of either of my parents than I am right now. 

Mom keeps telling me "thank you".  And I keep telling her, "This is what family is for, Mom."  And that's what I truly believe - family takes care of each other.  I am truly blessed to be a part of THIS family...

First Days of School - Already?!

Without too much grumbling or groaning, the boys are starting to settle into the school routine again.  I think it is harder on me than on them, actually.  I am so used to having them here, chatting about this and that and making fun plans for the afternoon or the next day.  Luckily, Hunter is really enjoying his teacher this year, which is a huge blessing since last year's teacher wasn't at all what we expected.  3rd grade...wow.  He is just growing up too fast! 

Coop is back at the same preschool as last year, but he is going different days, different hours and with one different teacher.  He is taking it hard, and he has been known to follow me around the entire morning asking me not to take him to school, but once he gets there he is okay.  Needless to say, I've been doing A LOT of praying for him!  I'm pretty sure it was a good idea to keep him out of kinder this year...we both would have been crying the whole year!