God put simplicity into so many areas - from school for the kids (public school, free, and fabulous), our budget (very little income = very little choices = SIMPLE), to our schedules (one car = communication about our schedules) and lots of things became SIMPLE. And as we lived life and went down the path of SIMPLIFY, simple started to become core to who we are as family and who I am as I mom, wife, friend, and woman.

The cool thing is that when junk is cleared out, room is made for NEW things. One of the new things on my "to-do list" was being a Compassion International blogger. While I have yet to throw this into the mix of my NEW simplified life, I still get their emails, and I was surprised/excited to see a post written about praying for God to give you ONE WORD to define the coming year - and how that leads to a focus on Him. So my group of girlfriends were not the first to try this idea?!?

Take a few minutes and hop over here to read it...

What is even greater is that God had already laid a word on my heart for 2012. And that word is...(drum roll, please...)...

NEW

NOT new clothes, or a new house, or new junk to throw into the mix. But new thoughts, new business (God just gave us one of those), new ideas, new passions, new vision, new love, NEW NEW NEW.

So as we plow into 2012 with NEW Hope and a NEW year, I pray for the NEW to replace anything OLD that needs to be gone. For NEW ideas, NEW hope, NEW dreams, and NEW adventures.

I would love to hear if you ever pick a word for a year - and what that word is!

Happy NEW year;)

Summer.  It is finally here.  It is hot hot hot with temps and heat index topping 100 degrees.

This is the first summer (that I can remember - except the year the twins were born) that I have not worked.  It is bliss.  My house is trashed.  I need to go to the grocery.  There is laundry and housework undone, but it is still bliss.

We are into week two, and I my children are bringing me a great deal of joy and delight.  I have played numerous rounds of poker, have finally beat Andrew at bowling on the wii (I think he lets me win), and have carted them all over town just because I can.

This is a new groove for me, and I am feeling my way through.  The boys are taking on more chores and responsibility because I actually have the time to show them where the dishes go and HOW to actually clean their bathroom. We are setting goals and plans for the summer - not to stress us out - but to give us all a feeling that we have done what we set out to do - spend time on relationships.

Last night I was cleaning out their backpacks from the last day of school. Their teacher had them each write a card of "my new habits"  On it, they were to write what they working on in their personal lives. (pretty cool for a first grader!)

Blake: "I am going to try my best to stay off the "oops list" at school and to obey my mom the first time when she tells me to do something."

Brantley: "I am going to try my best not to shove all my stuff under the bed when my mom tells me I have to clean my room."

And, that, right there, is some awesome stuff.

So in that spirit, my new habit would read something like this.

"I am going to try my best to not yell at my children when I am frustrated about something else. I am going to try my best to slow down and enjoy every minute I have with my kids this summer."

I have worked for so long that I think my adrenal glands may be shot. The stress of work, my having own business, a family, being a wife, a mom, a mom to a special needs' kid (they actually all have special needs), financial changes, school changes, life changes, etc. over the past 6 years have taken their toll.  But the more physical clutter I get rid of (junk we don't use and need) creates open spaces of time as well as debt reduction.  There is less to clean and maintain (having stuff takes energy). The voids now have created time and space for me to spend my energy on my little ones, who aren't so little anymore. It has been a transition for me, but I am getting better at it every day.

Today we dropped of Jeff(rey) - he wants to be called Jeff now which really makes things confusing - at a movie with his friends. (a totally other blog post).  The movie was 45 minutes from our house, so we decided to go hang out at the library.  Another 15 minute drive, we find out the library was CLOSED.  Go figure.  I haven't been to the library in years.  Learn something new every day. So I gave them each $10 from the clutter cash I got from unloading junk on Craigslist this weekend, and we hung out at Toys R US for 2 hours.

We saw every aisle (some two and three times). We visited the potty (twice), tried out bikes, balls, and laughed at the Barbie Jeep. I felt bad for the kid in the Lego aisle whose mom kept yelling at him because he was taking too long to pick out his Lego. She was tired of him asking about the prices.  She would pull her cell phone away from her ear, and whisper/yell at him, "just pick one! I have to GO!"  And I saw myself in her.  The business clothes.  The guilt purchase probably induced my a weekend promise of "I'll let you buy this if you just give me a little more time to work..."  And after our third or fourth pass at the Lego aisle, it looked as if the boy had recently had some kind of surgery (bandages on his head), so truly God only knew what this stressed woman was truly dealing with.  But, now, the trip that was supposed to be fun for them has turned sour.  Is he really going to enjoy the toy?  Please understand, I have walked in her shoes (and they hurt my feet) and I'm not judging her or condeming her for her choices. I get them.  I've made the same ones.  I have GRACE abounding for her.  I really wanted to find her a chair and a glass of wine and tell her to chill for a few and I would keep an eye out on her kid because we were parking in the Lego aisle too and she was scaring all of us.   I guess it just made me even more thankful that I was not wearing the dress pants and high heals.  I didn't even have make up on.

So we wandered. and played. and wandered.  Blake announced that we "really needed to get cable TV back.  There is tons of new stuff here that we knew NOTHING about."  Ummm, sorry, Blake, but that was a top reason for ditching the cable TV!  So, a few nerf pool swords and a plastic bowling alley later, we left.  Brantley helped me drag Andrew out...It was a good day of summer vacation...

a huge step for Brantley...the first time he has shown ANY interest in actually riding a bike!

what is better than beating the tar out of your brother, I mean, really?!?

This would not be a wise purchase...

Dream on, Blake...

I love that Blake is still slashing Brantley while Brantley tries to pick up Andrew and tells him, "dude, you are SOLID!  Maybe you should drop a few pounds..."

Where do they get that?!?

Since we were last together, I was the event planner for a wedding, the twins turned 8, the twins got baptized, Easter, Spring Break, a round of strep throat, another round of strep throat, Blake had a staff infection in his leg, a million and two baseball practices and games, Mother's Day, my mom had knee surgery, we had our 19th wedding anniversary, I've organized 3 HUGE bins of Legos and I went running once.

And to that, I should say, the end. HaHa.  I'll throw in some photos instead.

And, as a random thought...I LOVE Vista Print.  I have always used them for printed stuff and have moved my blog and web site to them.  I like to change my blog design like I like to change my t-shirt.  I have a hard time loving just one.  So I love to click and change the back-ground.  I know this causes distress to some of you, and for that, I am sorry.  You may wear the same t-shirt everyday.  I do that sometimes too:)

Here are flowers I made for the wedding.  The bride had fabulous taste and I LOVED doing them!  I can't wait to get some official photos from the wedding photo guy, so you don't have to see the inside of our garage fridge, but, well, here you go.

You can't really see the strep on this shot, but this is the best my iPhone could do.  We have been swapping strep since the end of March.  This week we had 3 out of 4 (originally 2 out of 4, but doc called and Andrew's 2-day test turned positive) with strep.  I swear, I have boiled tooth-brushes, tossed them and replaced them multiple times, boiled sheets, clorox wiped the wii controllers, sprinkled chicken blood, you name it, on these kids and they still get strep.  I told them this week that I was going to line them up and take them all for surgery to yank out their tonsils.  I was over it.  I want Dr. Karin to have a new BMW or something.  This is getting old.  I think they thought I was kidding.  I really wasn't, but I won't tell them that.  They are now all on meds at the same time.  They better get better or their first week of summer break is going to be in the out-patient surgery center.  That should win me mother of the year

Here is a fun photo from Spring Break.  We have finally arrived where we can sit and watch the kids play in the sand and surf.  A beautiful thing, indeeed.  Tomorrow brings more rounds of baseball games - tournaments of champions for Jeffrey.  Allstar game for Blake.  Lots of LIFE going on.  Luke's prom.  Caroline's 12th birthday.  Mathew finished his first year at Bethel college.  Sam finished his first year at Auburn and is heading to spend the summer at Notre Dame with Susan, Kevin, Mathew and James.  James is heading to his senior year. Jeffrey is heading to 7th grade. Andrew is making another pass a kindergarten, but is in a regular classroom, so we don't really care.  The B's are rocking through 1st grade, and we are all loving relationships and loving LIFE.  Is it hard? Yes!  Do we have struggles?  YES!  But the hard parts make the good parts sweeter, and for that, today, we say, thank you, God.

May we all spend our weekend loving LIFE that we have been blessed with.

I spent some time this week talking to another parent of a child that has Down Syndrome.  We are instant friends.  We get each other in ways that even our closest friends and family never will.  Those are difficult, but true words to write.  Until you walk in my shoes, you can watch, even participate, but, until you have a child with Down Syndrome, you will never truly KNOW our lives.  This couple, however,  are also, are disgusted/discouraged that over 92% (some statistics report 98%) of parents that find out that their baby has Down Syndrome during their pregnancy choose to kill their baby.

Harsh words.  Kill the baby. Terminate the pregnancy.  Is either really politically correct? Does one wording of it (kill vs. terminate) really change the outcome?

This dad and mom are making a documentary to give to genetic specialists, and OB/GYN docs, and pediatricians.  Information.  Real information from moms and dads.  Those of us who actually walk the walk.  Live the life. 

I would have begged and cried for this information  in the days post-diagnosis with Andrew.

The questions asked of me last week raised old ghosts.  Old fears.  When the words, "I think your son has Down Syndrome" were actually first uttered, how did I feel?  What did I think?  What did I know?

Six years later, I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that those emotions still steal my breath.  I wiggle my toes, blink tears from my eyes, and breathe a deep, cleansing breath.

What exactly do we have to offer to this project?

And then the answers come fast and furious.

Hope.

Freedom of fear.

Reality that is different from previous perception.

Breath comes easier.  Twitching stops.  Relaxation begins.  Freedom.

I answer the question last week, "what were your first thoughts when you were told your child might have Down Syndrome?"

My quick answer. "All I could think was - the lights are on, but no one is home.  vacant stares, no life. a drooling adult with his tongue hanging out."  This may sound harsh. cruel, even.  But that is the truth of that moment.

But then I would look at my baby.  Bright eyes. Snuggly. Loving. Interested.  Interesting. Alert.

And I realized that I had previously believed a lie.

Any my husband brought God's truth to the table.  The parable where Jesus is asked what the parents had done (how had they sinned?!?) that their son was blind.  And Jesus tells them that they basically have lost their way, lost perspective - that the child is blind so God can be glorified.

And the answers come.  Glory in "weakness." Strength in weakness. and peace.

A precious group of singers sang this morning about Heaven.  Glory.  Being with Jesus.  That this life is not our home.  Hope. Freedom.

Our pastor then said that their would be no need of wheelchairs in heaven, no cancer, no sickness, no sorrow.  And I agreed.  Amen. Amen. Amen.  Let that all be.  I have lost friends to cancer.  My mother in love has lost her leg to cancer.  She will get to dance on both feet.  My boys will run without asthma.  Their legs will not burn with eczema.  My nose will not run with allergies.  Knees won't hurt.  Pain is gone.

But I have to tell you.  I have to wonder.  I don't know the answer.  But the thought can't escape me.  Will Andrew have Down Syndrome in Heaven?  He has been this way since conception.  He was formed this way.  He is not in pain.  He does not have major health issues.  I am fascinated by the thought.  He seems perfect to me now.

I wish I knew the answer.

I know you all are anxiously awaiting the winner of yesterday's hair bow drawing.  A reminder of the prize...

I awoke to a puny sick Brantley with barf and fever which has pretty much set the tone for the day.  Poor little man.  He is comfy in our big bed with a movie, Gatorade and puke pot, so I came to do the drawing.

Here is the scientific process...

Step One:

Step Two:

And finally, a good shake of the bucket and a call for an impartial judge...

and the winner is....

then I tried to get a better photo...

Ok, since you can't read it, it says PAIGE! Congrats, Paige!  I love you and will bring bows to you:)

But then Andrew pooped his pants (after he had already gone on the potty on his own this am) and I was off for more Clorox wipes and to spend some time praying that this tummy bug is not going to take over our home.

Happy Thursday!

It is SPRING BREAK around here!  And while that has come with hanging at the beach, sitting by the pool, and eating junk food, it has also brought a round of SPRING CLEANING.  Our garage still holds the last of the boutique inventory, so be on the look-out in the Clearance Corner for some below-wholesale pricing deals.

In my cleaning, I came across these cute-as-can-be hair bows.  Seeing as no one in our house is EVER going to wear them, and I really want them to go to a home where they will be worn with love, I'm giving them away.  It is my first blog give-away!

If you live in the U.S., and have a little one that will look adorable in these, leave a comment on the blog. Tomorrow morning, I'll use one of those random number counter things to pick a winner.

I'm off to clean out some more clutter, how about you?!?