We had a very busy Mother's Day weekend! It started on Friday . . . with a "rodeo carnival" at the boys' school. Donnie & I took turns working in the booths for the boys' classes and taking the kids around to play the games. Then we headed back home for our Friday night tradition of pizza and a movie. We saw "The Waterhorse" which was sadder than I thought it was going to be, but was a good movie overall.
Most of Saturday was spent at the baseball field . . . there was a ceremony in the morning and a game that afternoon. It was so very hot . . . you can see how red Allie's face was!
After being out in the heat all day, we desperately needed to cool off so we headed for the pool where we all had a great time!
On Sunday, I got to sleep in while Donnie got up with Allie! :) And then they all brought me breakfast in bed and gave me several Mother's Day surprises. The boys had lots of homemade treats and cards and letters for me - which I absolutely loved! And then Donnie got me THIS - which I am so excited about! That means I'll be posting more video! :) Then we headed to church where the boys sang and were a part of the Mother's Day tribute video - which was quite fun to watch! Then we all headed out to lunch at the Japanese Steakhouse with my mom and the rest of the family.Here is my mom with her kids . . .
my brother, Steve, step-brother Josh and I.
And my mom with her grandkids!
Notice Allie with her hands over her mouth . . .
that's her new thing to do when she laughs!
It's too cute - unless you are trying to take a picture! :)
Notice Allie with her hands over her mouth . . .
that's her new thing to do when she laughs!
It's too cute - unless you are trying to take a picture! :)
And me with my crew.
Baby Girl had too much fun running up and down the bridge! 
This was a gift from my mom!
She can always work Jacob in there with her photo magic which I am so thankful for!
She can always work Jacob in there with her photo magic which I am so thankful for!
Then we all went home and changed into some play clothes and headed to one of our favorite parks to play!
I am so blessed to have these children who call me mom!
This park has the best trees to climb!
Allie played with some bubbles!
And some of the guys played baseball!Of course, Baby Girl was trying to be right in the middle of the action.
All 8 of the kids!
Brandon was in heaven with all these trees to climb!
(You can barely see him in the picture below!)
"We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures."-Thornton Wilder
We ended the day grilling hot dogs at Steve & Rhonda's house - while the kids swam! It was a very special and fun Mother's Day - spending time with the ones I love. Of course my heart ached for Jacob . . . I miss him so very much - every single moment. But my life is blessed with God's grace and love and somehow I always make it through these bittersweet days.
Ending with a scripture . . .
"If you . . . know how to give good gifts to your children, then how much more will your Father in Heaven give the holy spirit to those who ask him?"
Luke 11:13
Only by His grace,
Only by His grace,
29 comments:
Glad you had such a wonderful day. I need a nap just reading about it. You must have all slept well last night.
Love Allie with her hands over her mouth. Reese does that when something happens that isn't supposed to--or he isn't supposed to do!!
Wow - your Mother's Day was full of Bliss as I can see. Such a beautiful family.
Happy (belated) Mother's Day, Heather! It looks like you guys had a GREAT weekend :)
I have four little boys who would love to climb those trees too. Amazing! We made it to a beach on Saturday but at 50 degrees it was way too cold to swim.
Have a great week!
Heather,
As always, I love seeing the pictures and reading about your beautiful family. I feel as if I know you all after all these years. :-)
Ah, the Waterhorse. We went to see that in the movie theater when it came out. Oh my Lord, that was a mistake for our family! I walked out about 3/4 of the way through and Rob said that my two oldest were weeping throughout the ending quarter of the movie. I thought it was a bit over the top!
I thought of you and Jacob yesterday on Mother's Day. I know he was up there celebrating you with his Heavenly Father, who was looking upon you and saying "Well done."
Hugs always,
Leeann
niccofive.blogspot.com
What a FUN Mother's Day! I love the pictures. Happy Mother's Day! Looking forward to your new videos!!!
I always enjoy reading your entries and seeing all of the pictures!
I wish you could send some of your heat to Iowa for us! It has been unseasonably cool--temps only 55-60 degrees-brr....
Looks like such a fun day! That tree is amazing. How blessed you are to have such a fun place to roam and play. Glad you had a wonderful day. Check out my blog and help me decide on my post. Also...did you see the frog fountain? Made me think of you!
Heather,
I love your blog and have been following your beautiful family for some time now. You guys have so much fun and lead such an active lifestyle! I have a quick question: My 7yr daughter would LOVE to climb those trees--in what park are they located? I live in South Tampa but we would definitely take a little drive to check them out!
I love the pictures. Allie covering her mouth is TOO cute for words! It sounds like you had a wonderful Mother's Day, though I can only imagine how your heart was missing one very special boy. I have to say, I am itching to get in that tree myself. My kids would be in heaven playing around there! I hope you have a wonderful week. Summer is right around the corner!
Reba
Glad you had such a great Mother's Day! LOVE the pictures as always!
Lifting up prayers right now!
Psalms 118:4-6 Let them now that fear the LORD say, that his mercy endureth for ever. I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place. The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?
Loved all the pics, especially the one w/ Baby Girl right in the middle of the ball game. They are all so precious and I love how your mom included Jacob. I can only imagine and hope to never have to live firsthand that ache in your heart. You are a beautiful Mom Heather & as you are blessed, these kids are too by having you as their Mom. Only God knows the impact you have had especially on the boys' hearts with losing their brother & watching you walk through this journey Fully Relying on God. Kids pick up on so much more than we know. Amazing seems like such a small word to describe what I know of you through your blog, but that is the first word that came to mind.
I imagine the way Jacob describes you in the heavens he is "rising up and calling you blessed" as he is able to thank Jesus face to face for giving him a Mom like you. You've been trusted with much Heather and one day you will be met with the words straight from the lips of our Savior, "Well done my good and faithful servant."
Blessed by your life my friend.
Love,
Lelia
Heather,
I love all the pictures. Josh has grown so much, he was just a small boy when I first started reading Jacob's page. Allie's pictures just say "JOY", she just shines. The boys look like they had a great time swimming and climbing trees. Allie will be climbing with them before long. It looks like you had a wonderful weekend... I love the picture your Mom gave you, it's beautiful. Have a great week.
Carmen
Heather,
I know I have told you this before but every post you write makes me smile. I was looking through all of the pictures from the past two posts and I realized I had a great big grin on my face! What an amazingly beautiful family you have!
The swimming pictures made me long for warmer temperatures. We have had a few warmish days but nothing like that. My husband says it's like a baseball team, "we just can't string the hits (warm days) together.." Everything is like a baseball game to him (LOL).
Thanks for brightening my day!
Love,
Kelley
What a great weekend with your beautiful family!! It is not HOT here yet, but starting to warm up!
Glad you had a wonderful Mothers Day!!! Funny... I got the same gift (to me, from me)... hopefully we will both be posting some more cute videos soon!
Heather ~
The kids are just beautiful!! I can't help but stare at Allie - she is just precious!!!
Please send Rhonda my best!!
Thinking of you,
Natalie
Heather -- It looks like you had a fabulous Mother's Day! I loved all of the pictures, but I especially loved the one with Jacob that your Mom made for you!
Heather I am tired just thinking of keeping up with that schedule. I love the pictures :) Those boys are just handsome and Allie is cute as a bug. It looks as if you and your mom had a great time.
Happy Mother's Day! I so enjoy the photos, thoughts, and stories that you share. I especially love your bubble pic with Allie.
Thank you for sharing your heart.
Darlene
Heather~
What a sweet Mother's Day you had!!!
I JUST love all of your pictures...and your gift...so perfect.
Kim~
Heather I KNOW you had a wonderful mother's day!! I just love the pic of the picture of that tree! It is MASSIVE!! I couldnt help but see irony of that tree, "Though the "roots" have been exposed to the elements and harshness of the world, they still HOLD STRONG and still EXHIBIT strength and beauty through it all! If you look "past" the bareness of the "exposed roots" you can always spot an "angel in the midst of it all"! Such a "perfect" description of your family!
What a great day! I love the gift your Mom made you ... so precious and sweet! The park looks awesome ... I know my son would have had a blast there too! Happy belated Mother's Day to you!
One more thing I forgot to inquire about--your necklace. I see you have it on in almost every picture. I have never seen anything like it. Very interesting!
It's always hard to pick a favorite from your pictures but this time, my favorite is of Allie in the pool with Donnie! She just oozes happiness! Thanks for the smile!
J
Hello, my Friend!
Gosh, I can't believe it's been so long since I've "visited" all of you. I'd been struggling with knowing that Mother's Day was coming up and that it would be ANOTHER one spent without Brent. Then there has been so much tragedy with so many people I know recently. There's a family (The Oswalts - caringbridge.org/ms/carter) that recently lost their home to a fire. This family also recently lost a baby AND they have a son with a heart condition. THEN there's a 30 year old wife and mother of 2 that died in her sleep (she's a neighbor). Yes, there's been so much heartache and the fact that we deal with missing Brent has been just too much at times. I've been trying REALLY HARD to keep busy. I've found that this is a great way to fight off the blues. (Well, of course PRAYER is the #1 answer)
Anyway... I've been "catching up" with your family for the past 30 minutes or so and I must say that I'm so glad I did. I LOVED your "LOVE STORY!" How ROMANTIC and GOD - ordained it was! I'd seen the pic of your "first kiss" before and it cracks me up each time. It looks like you 'knocked him off his feet' with that kiss. HA!!!!!! I LOVE it! It's SOOOOOO SWEET!!!
Then of course your Mother's Day post and all of the pictures of you and your babes. I'm like you... there are SO FEW that were made of the boys and me. I'm always the photographer as well. (We'll, have do make sure we do something about that, eh?)
The gift from your Mom was PRICELESS! I LOVE how she worked Jacob into that picture. I've wondered at times if there would be a way to work Brent into a picture of the boys... I'll have to go and actually READ the book I got when I ordered PhotoShop. Can you believe I've STILL not read it or learned how to work it? I'm pathetic. LOL!!!
Of course as I neared the end of the page I saw your tribute to all of the children that have received their HEAVENLY healing. I "teared up" immediately as I saw Brent's picture on your blog. I wanted to THANK YOU for recognizing him. I don't know why, but there is an unspoken need in my heart (and in that of many mother's who've lost children) that their babes not be forgotten. It really meant a lot that you shared Brent along with the others. You are so SWEET and THOUGHTFUL as you've always been so obvious in the way you care for others. I truly admire you and am always "gleaning" from what you've learned.
THANKS AGAIN for being the PRECIOUS person you are! It's been a TRUE JOY to get to "know" you and your family. I hope we get to meet in person one day on THIS side of Heaven. =-)
LOVE YOU!!!
PS... if you have a yardsale (Allie's clothes) I wanna come and shop for our Allie! O;-)
Heather,
It looks like you had a great Mother's Day.
I had to laugh when I saw the picture of Allie's red face. I remember my kids faces looking like that when we lived in Florida. I still see them with red faces, but it is usually when we hit -20 to -40 degree weather with wind chill.
The framed picture of you and all your children is beautiful! Your mom really does have "photo magic", she does such a great job.
That tree really makes for wonderful pictures.
Your so blessed to have children that love to be photographed. My kids run and hide when they see me coming with my camera. I guess it is the age.
Your photos show what a beautiful family you have. They also show all the love you have for one another. I can't imagine the pain you feel during these special occasions without Jacob. Every photo I look at that you post, Jacob is such a huge part of though. Even though he is in Heaven now, he lives on so strong through your amazing family.
Thanks for sharing.
Enjoy the rest of your week.
Oh, Heather.. it looks like you all had a wonderful Mother's Day! I love all the pictures. Those smiles of Allie's are truly contageous... I smile everytime I look at her pictures. :)
Shannon,
It is Medard Park in Plant City! It is just beautiful there!!
Whatever the future holds, keep your eyes on the Lord and His Word. Praying!
Philippians 4:6-8 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
Well your mother's day looks like it was wonderful!! You all really know how to do things right! :) I have not been able to check in this past week and I can't believe how much I missed you! ;) I really do need to start one of these things so you can check in on us, too. However, I'm afraid our lives would seem boring in comparison. I am glad that you, your mom, and Rhonda all had a marvelous mother's day! I'll email you soon!
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