Recipe for Sleep?!?

When life gives you overripe bananas . . .

You just gotta make banana chocolate chip

bread.  You already know that I ate one of

the loves . . . all by myself.  It is so incredibly

yummy.  I ate mine right before bedtime.

Maybe THAT will help me sleep.  Goodness

gracious.  I used to be THE best sleeper on

the planet.  Not anymore.  Grrrrrrr.

I will try anything . . . even a whole loaf

of banana chocolate chip bread.

Here's to a good night's sleep!!!

Mom's Day Flowers

Posting from my iPad today! Practicing for my little journey next week!

I did want to post this picture of my be-auuuutiful flowers that my

wonderful Tim sent me! My boys really went the extra mile

to make my Mother's Day special.  Even though it was really

different not having our amazing Mike with us, we managed to have

a wonderful Mom and son day!  I don't know if I have mentioned

it, but I have THE most wonderful boys on this planet!

Baseball Tryouts.

I do so love it when I get to an event

and I lug my camera around for hours

in 104* heat and then go to take a picture

and I do not have a card in the camera.

Nice.  That was the scenario today.

However, I did capture a couple

of pics with my phone.  

Luke had baseball tryouts in the

miserable heat of the day!  He made

the team!!! Yeah!!!!!

Here are a couple of pics that I 

took with my phone!  I could not 

zoom in nor could I get very close . . . 

This was mostly my view of the

tryouts . . . Thank the good Lord that

Jeffy went with me to tryouts!!!  We

had fun talking and laughing while

the boys were working so hard out

there!!!

A big congrats to my Luke.  He will

play American Legion ball this summer

and try out for Desert Oasis High School

baseball when school starts in the fall.

High School . . . I think I blinked!!!

Happy Mother's Day.

Happy, happy Mother's Day to THE bestest

Mom on the planet!  I am so very grateful

that my special Mom and I have always

shared a close relationship.  I am so very

grateful that she is mine, mine, mine.  It

has been so wonderful to live back in

our hometown to be able to be near her!

My mom is a great example of a 

wonderful Mom, grandmother, and 

daughter.  I am thankful that she loves

the Lord with all of her heart and shows

it in her daily living.  We are looking

forward to celebrating all things Mom 

as soon as she is feeling back to 

her normal self.  We have had a difficult

road with her health the past year.  We

are pray, pray, praying that we will be

able to get to the bottom of all of this

very soon.

Happy Mother's Day Mom!!!!

Whitewater Rafting.

Not the best pic . . . It took this pic

with my phone off of Luke's computer.

This picture is not worth a thousand

words, but the expression on Luke's

face when he got out of his 

Scoutmaster's truck was!!  He had a

wonderful time with his troop 

camping and whitewater rafting on the

Kern River in Cali on a beautimous

day!!  I am so, so, so thrilled for him!!

He is my outdoorsman!!  This is just

what my sweet Luke needed!!  I am

thrilled that he had such a wonderful

time!!!!  Now to get my guy into a

shower and the haystack!!!!

Mother's Day Surprise.

My sweet amazing Tim sent me these

beautiful flowers for Mother's Day.  I 

am soo incredibly blessed to have a

wonderful son who thinks of and loves

me in spite of myself.  I am so very

thankful for my Tim.  He is an incredible

blessing to me.  I am so thankful for

our close relationship.  The flowers are

so BEAUTIFUL and brought gobs of

happy, happy tears to my eyes!!!

Love being you Mom, Tim.

I am truly blessed!!!!

Only 11 more days and I will get

to rendevouz with my oldest son

in the Philly.

Get Well Soon.

Our Grandy has been pretty.darn.sick.

It started with a plethora of symptoms and

has lasted an ENTIRE year.  Now we 

are in the THICK of it!!!  Please

pray that we get our sweet girl back

uber soon!!!!

Whitewater Rafting.

Luke is going on an exciting whitewater rafting

trip with his Scout troop this weekend.  Today

was a flurry of activity as we packed his

backpack and gathered all of the necessary

items that he will need to have a fun time

on the Kern River in California.

Unfortunately, Luke is comparing this trip

to his birthday river rafting trip where I 

took Zach, Sam, and Luke down the 

Truckee River when it was running after

a season of the most rain in like 100

years.  It was a disaster!  Seriously, we

are lucky to be alive.  The waves 

crashed around us, submerged our

raft multiple times, rocks hit us,

trees scratched our faces . . . We 

were seriously out of control,

unprepared, and totally unsure of 

what to do on the Truckee River.

Hence, my Luke is a wee bit nervous

about this experience with the Scouts

as he is comparing it to our horrendous

near-death experience down the Truckee

on his birthday . . . 

Can't wait until he returns on Saturday

to see how much he loved it!!!!

The Three Principals.

All three of the principals for my dissertation

have been interviewed.  All of the information

is contained on these two recorders.  I used

two recorders just in case one of them decided

not to work during the interviews.

I am going to be one busy girl typing, typing,

typing all of the information on these

recorders and tapes.

Chapters 4 and 5 . . . here we come!!!

Buds.

Did I ever say how much I adore my boys'

friends . . . They are simply THE most 

amazing group of people EVER.  All of

my boys have chosen awesome forever

friends.  This weekend Sam went to a 

prom-style birthday party for one of his

friends.  This group of friends is a really

close-knit group and do most everything

together.  If they are not eating and

sleeping at our home, then they are over

at one of the others home.  I.love.that.

Jameal is 6'8 and Sam is 5'7.  It took a

little doing, but it looks like Sam is 

finally breathing air up there . . . 

Baseball Time.

Out of our four boys, Luke is our bestest

athlete.  Give him a ball, racket, bat, or

club, he is a natural.  The Mom part of me

cannot believe that my youngest boy is

starting high school next year.  Did I blink

or something?!?  Luke is going to try out

for Desert Oasis baseball team.  He will

have an extremely busy summer ahead 

of him.  That means he would play American

Legion ball this summer . . . a game almost

every single day with practice every single

day!!!

While it is beyond our imaginations

to believe that our Dad is not here

to coach our Luke, we are so incredibly

thankful for our Uncle Jeff.  He has taken

Luke under his wing and is going to work

with him every.single.day until tryouts.

Once again, we continue to be amazed

and incredibly thankful for our wonderful

family and friends who have stepped up

to the plate in so very many ways.  We

seriously do.not know what in the world

we would do without them.  While I still

struggle to even accept the reality of it

all, there are those who have and have 

been such a blessing to our family in 

more ways than anyone could ever

imagine.

I struggle with the fact that my boys

earthly father is in Heaven.  It is beyond

my comprehension that our wonderful

Dad will not be here for Luke's baseball

games, has not here for Sam's golf

tournaments this season, is not here to

root Tim on with his guitar playing and

career choices, is not here to see how Zach

has managed to work and go to school

this semester.  Has not seen Luke's 

incredibly darling little friend Faith or

meet her amazing family.  I do not like

the fact that Mike has not been here to

talk about my dissertation or the fact

that tomorrow is my last principal interview

or the fact that I am working on Chapters

4 and 5 . . . 

Pretty crazy to even begin to comprehend it

all . . . Thankfully, I do not need to worry

about carrying that burden all alone!!

All-Time Favorite Snack.

I still can't believe I ate the whole

thing!!!!  For about a bazillion 

years this has been my very favorite

go-to snack.  I jumped up and down

the day that I saw it comes in a 

PARTY SIZE!!!!!  It is seriously

addicting and seriously yummy!!!!

I don't eat meat or dairy and seriously

try to limit my sugar intake.  I 

swear if a doc ever tells me that I

can't eat popcorn . . . 

My Zach.

Yep, Zach is the man of many

faces in our home.  How, oh,

how I love my Zach.  Like all of

us, my Zach definitely marches

to his own drummer.  He has his

own way of accomplishing tasks

and ordering his day.  He is the

smartest of the smart!  Zach is a

wonderful son and brother.  We 

do not know what we would ever

do without him.  I miss my Mike so

much when I see Zach.  I remember

how when Mike was so sick, he 

was still insistant upon taking Zach

for his special sushi lunch.  Mike

NEVER let a deed go unrewarded.

Zach loves to report in about

EVERYTHING!!  When we ask

him for the time, he tells us how

the watch was made!!  We do so

love that about our Zach.  He is

working like a little dog to put the

finishing touches on school!!!

I love, love, love this boy!!!!!!

My Tim.

My Tim is quite the guy!!  He is gives

THE best hugs . . . hands down.  He

can grab you and bear hug you and

make you feel like you are the most

loved person on the planet.  He has

an infectious laugh.  Those are the two

things that I miss the most about him

when he is gone.  Tim makes our home

come alive . . . there is always a plethora

of activity going on when he is here!!

The boys love it that he takes them 

shooting, has an interest in what is

going on in their lives, and brings a

hustle and bustle to our home.

Tim is so talented!  He has a passion

for his dreams like none other.  He

and I sharpen each other as iron 

sharpens iron.  We.are.so.much.alike!

I am so thankful for the way that he

loves his family and is devoted to them.

I am sad for the way that he truly

misses his most amazing Dad.  I am

thankful that he is mine, mine, mine!

My Luke.

Unequivocally, my Luke is THE bestest

thirteen year old on this planet.  I love him

like crazy.  He melts my heart.  He is an

amazing human being.  He is sensitive,

kind, loving, Christlike, and loves all others

above himself.  Plain and simple, without

Luke, I would be toast.  I lean on him

when he should be leaning on me.  He

takes such good care of me.  He is so

concerned about my well-being and puts

that above his own.  I worry so about my

youngest, losing his precious Dad at the

tender age of thirteen.  How could that 

possibly be.  Seriously, I know that I have

said it a million times before and I will

probably say it a million times again, I

simply.cannot.believe.it.  Truthfully, I do

not know when your heart and your mind

accept such a devastating loss.  Is it a

year from now, five years from now . . .

As we begin to emerge from our protective

cocoons and venture out into the big world

out there, it is only with the help of those

like my Luke who are so gentle, kind, and

thoughtful.  I am so thankful that he has a

plethora of good friends . . . yet, he is the

nicest and bestest friend to them.

My Luke is pretty darn amazing!  There is

not a moment that goes by that I forget

to thank my Heavenly Father for this sweet,

wonderful, talented young boy.