Girl Getaway!

Last weekend I went to Branson with some of my girl friends. We call ourselves a book club. We don't do much reading. HA. Three out of four of them have a birthday in November, so I got them all a birthday present. I got them book club t-shirts! Beth and I spent a couple hours at the spa. It was amazing!  It was a much needed getaway.We had so much fun. We ate, shopped and laughed a lot.  I can't wait to do it again!

Grace.

Last Monday Luke and I were baptized!

It is something I have been praying about for a while now. I kept thinking I had to have some sort of epiphany to make it happen, but that wasn't the case.  It was a long, slow process for us. I noticed changes in Luke when he got home from Men's Encounter. Our relationship with God and each other changed.  I talked to him about getting baptized and he agreed that he wanted to rededicate his life to Jesus Christ.  Once we set the date I couldn't wait!  We wanted it to be a private event. Neither of us were comfortable doing it in front of the entire church. We really wanted to do it outside, but there isn't much water in our area and what water we have is very nasty. I think Vance was really excited we agreed to do it at the church! So, Monday after we picked Kinnison up from school we went to the church and we were both baptized in front of our children.  It was an amazing experience. 

I want to say THANK YOU to Vance, Keith and Brian. Vance has been a huge part of our journey. Keith helped out with the video and music. Brian took some amazing video and pictures. We are so thankful for each of them! If you haven't seen Brian's work you are missing out.  He is an amazing photographer. Check out his website.

I also want to say THANK YOU to all of our family and friends that have offered congratulations and words of encouragement.  We are so blessed!

Luke- I am so thankful that God gave me you. You are my best friend. You are the most AMAZING father in the world. I love listening to you do devotionals with the kids and I love that you always make them your first priority. We are so lucky to have you in our lives. We love you and are very proud of you!

Amazing.

We have had a big week! I'll share the details and pictures soon! In the meantime, I want to share a video of our amazing daughter.  We are so proud of her! Kimber has also memorized a bible verse. I'll record and post it soon!

Also, for now I am going to leave the blog public. I didn't realize you would have to create a gmail account and log in each time you viewed the blog. I have granted access to the people I know about, so if I ever decide to go private you will still be able to view it.

Kindness.

I found this letter on Pinterest and I thought it was worth sharing.  Glennon wrote this letter to her son and shared it on her website.

Dear Chase,

Hey, baby.

Tomorrow is a big day. Third Grade – wow.

 Chase – When I was in third grade, there was a little boy in my class named Adam.

Adam looked a little different and he wore funny clothes and sometimes he even smelled a little bit. Adam didn’t smile. He hung his head low and he never looked at anyone at all. Adam never did his homework. I don’t think his parents reminded him like yours do. The other kids teased Adam a lot. Whenever they did, his head hung lower and lower and lower. I never teased him, but I never told the other kids to stop, either.

And I never talked to Adam, not once. I never invited him to sit next to me at lunch, or to play with me at recess. Instead, he sat and played by himself. He must have been very lonely.

I still think about Adam every day. I wonder if Adam remembers me? Probably not. I bet if I’d asked him to play, just once, he’d still remember me.

 I think that God puts people in our lives as gifts to us. The children in your class this year, they are some of God’s gifts to you.

So please treat each one like a gift from God. Every single one.

Baby, if you see a child being left out, or hurt, or teased, a part of your heart will hurt a little. Your daddy and I want you to trust that heart- ache. Your whole life, we want you to notice and trust your heart-ache. That heart ache is called compassion, and it is God’s signal to you to do something. It is God saying, Chase! Wake up! One of my babies is hurting! Do something to help! Whenever you feel compassion – be thrilled! It means God is speaking to you, and that is magic. It means He trusts you and needs you.

Sometimes the magic of compassion will make you step into the middle of a bad situation right away.

Compassion might lead you to tell a teaser to stop it and then ask the teased kid to play. You might invite a left-out kid to sit next to you at lunch. You might choose a kid for your team first who usually gets chosen last. These things will be hard to do, but you can do hard things.

Sometimes you will feel compassion but you won’t step in right away. That’s okay, too. You might choose instead to tell your teacher and then tell us. We are on your team – we are on your whole class’s team. Asking for help for someone who is hurting is not tattling, it is doing the right thing. If someone in your class needs help, please tell me, baby. We will make a plan to help together.

When God speaks to you by making your heart hurt for another, by giving you compassion, just do something. Please do not ignore God whispering to you. I so wish I had not ignored God when He spoke to me about Adam. I remember Him trying, I remember feeling compassion, but I chose fear over compassion. I wish I hadn’t. Adam could have used a friend and I could have, too.

Chase – We do not care if you are the smartest or fastest or coolest or funniest. There will be lots of contests at school, and we don’t care if you win a single one of them. We don’t care if you get straight As. We don’t care if the girls think you’re cute or whether you’re picked first or last for kickball at recess. We don’t care if you are your teacher’s favorite or not. We don’t care if you have the best clothes or most Pokemon cards or coolest gadgets. We just don’t care.

We don’t send you to school to become the best at anything at all. We already love you as much as we possibly could. You do not have to earn our love or pride and you can’t lose it. That’s done.

We send you to school to practice being brave and kind.

Kind people are brave people. Brave is not a feeling that you should wait for. It is a decision. It is a decision that compassion is more important than fear, than fitting in, than following the crowd.

Trust me, baby, it is. It is more important.

Don’t try to be the best this year, honey.

Just be grateful and kind and brave. That’s all you ever need to be.

Take care of those classmates of yours, and your teacher, too. You Belong to Each Other. You are one lucky boy . . . with all of these new gifts to unwrap this year.

I love you so much that my heart might explode.

Enjoy and cherish your gifts.

And thank you for being my favorite gift of all time.

Love,

Mama

People, kids especially, can be so cruel.  I want my children to know that no matter what anyone else thinks about them, they are perfect in my eyes and  His eyes. I know that every one makes mistakes. I have. Still do. I have talked about people.  And, I have had people talk about me.  In high school some of my dearest friends spread rumors that I slept with the entire football team to try to win homecoming queen. 

You know what the best part of being married to your best friend is?  Acceptance.  Luke knows everything about me. He has heard  the rumors and he knows the truths. He has seen me angry, hurt, and broken. He has seen me at my best and my worst. He knows what my intentions are and what is in my heart.  He loves all of it.  He accepts the good AND the bad. And, I accept him just the way he is. I pray that my children are as lucky as I am. I pray that they find someone who loves them and supports them unconditionally. More importantly, I want them to know that their dad and I will always love them.  NO MATTER WHAT. They mean absolutely everything to us. 

I could relate to Glennon's letter because I once reached out to a new student. In jr. high, we had a new kid move to town. He seemed lonely.  I decided I wanted to be his friend. His name was Ben. Guess what?  He became one of my very best friends.  When those girls were being mean to me, he was there for me. When I had boyfriend troubles, he was there for me.  We are still friends to this day.  He married a beautiful girl and is coaching college football! He has told me over and over that I was the only person that was nice to him when he started at our school. That made me sad. He is an amazing person and an awesome friend. Who wouldn't want to be nice to him? Luke encouraged Kinnison to find someone that was alone at recess and to invite them to play with her.  She did it and she ended up playing with that girl almost every day at recess. I was surprised when Luke asked her to do this, then it occurred to me that he moved a lot as a kid. He was the new kid. And, it doesn't apply to only new kids. Kids are picked on and left out for no reason at all.  I want to teach my children to be kind to everyone and how to cope when others aren't kind to them.  

I read in the news today that an eighth grader in Oklahoma shot himself at school. Perhaps if someone had taken the time to reach out to him it could have been avoided? Tragic. I can't even imagine what his parents are going through. 

I am going to share Glennon's letter with my children and share my own story with them as well. 

Struggles.

Everybody has them. The problem with some people and society in general is that people think their problems are bigger than everyone else's problems. People have become very selfish.They think about all the things they need, want and deserve. When something doesn't go their way they think poor me and have a big pity party. Entitlement and self pity are two of my least favorite things. Of course I am guilty of both of these at times....everyone is.  But, most of the time I try to put things in perspective. 

I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet. ~ Anonymous

We all have struggles, but should remember that there is always something to be grateful for. Someone, usually a lot of people, have it way worse.

Money has been tight. If you have noticed, we have been in a drought. People aren't buying or selling mowers. I am so thankful that I have a husband who is willing to find new ways to provide for us. My car needs lots of work. I don't want to spend money on it because we are broke right now, but I am thankful that I have a husband that can fix anything. It saves us tons of money on labor. I am buried in medical bills right now. You know what I am thankful for? I am thankful that my kids' illnesses were treatable and that we have doctors to take them to when they are sick. My grandparents have been ill a lot this year. You know what I am grateful for?  Every single day I have with them. This list could go on and on and on. I am so incredibly blessed and so thankful for everyone and everything God has give me.

I have had a rough week. Luke is in Colorado. I have been going non-stop with the kids. I am exhausted. It seems like everything that can go wrong is going wrong. And, to top it off I have had a couple people be unkind to me. Next time you get mad at someone or what to be rude to someone stop and think about what they might be going through. Your comments or behavior might just be the straw to break the camels back. My neighbor called me Monday morning and threatened to shoot our dog. Instead of calling to tell me that my dog was at their house, she called to threaten me.  This was after I received a very hurtful email. It set me off. I am not proud of my response. I hung up on her.  But, I assure you that response was better than the alternative. She also complained that my dogs bark too much. I live in the country. They live about 1/2 a mile down the road.  They have roosters. Their roosters crow at the butt crack of dawn.  Funny right?  I have never once complained to them about their roosters. But, she wanted to call and complain about my dogs? Tator only barks when someone is here and Tilly has only ever barked at a turtle and an armadillo. They do bark when the kids ride their bikes, which isn't very often since we are never home. Tator is our guard dog. He lets us know when someone is here and he is extremely protective of the girls. We wanted him just for this reason. Luke is gone a lot which leaves me home alone with 3 kids. She and her husband are retired. Not once did she think about what I might be going through. What kind of day or week I might have had. Her phone call sent me over the edge. I screamed, cussed and cried....and then prayed for forgiveness. My response was not what it should have been. I should be thankful for my hateful neighbor. It means I have a home.  Seriously, I want to have a grateful heart and I want my words to be kind.

I have had so many people judge me, criticize me and hurt me in the past. I have always tried to please everyone. It has really hurt myself self esteem. I am extremely hard on myself. 

Well, those days are over. I am working on handing my worry over to God and I am giving up on pleasing anyone but him and my immediate family.  

I am the luckiest woman in the world! 

I am toying with the idea of making the blog private. I post a lot about the kids on here and just want to protect their privacy. I have no idea who reads this regularly. If you are interested in staying in touch email me at cryshamilton@gmail.com or leave a comment.

Always Behind.

I can't seem to stay caught up. I still haven't posted pictures from Labor Day!

Kinnison kept us busy with the Clothesline Fair Parade and square dancing. Kimber was adamant that she wasn't going to square dance this year. I hope she changes her mind next year.

Photo by What My Eyes Have Seen Photography

Sunday we had a centennial celebration at the farm. The farmhouse is 100 years old! I wanted to do something special for my Grandparents for making the farm such a special place for us. I took a picture of the farm during each season and framed it. It turned out beautifully and my Grandparents loved it! My mom used the pictures on the cake!

Luke is on a hunting trip this week. He left Saturday for Colorado and won't be home until next Saturday. I hope he is having fun! He deserves a break. We miss him so much already. It is going to be a long week!

Happy Heavenly Birthday!

Last Monday our angel would have been 5.  It was Kinnison's first day of school, so we were very busy. I always try to keep myself busy so that I don't have time to sit around and have pity party. Well, yesterday I went for a walk at the park while Luke went to pick Kinnison up from school.  I always listen to worship music when I work out. About halfway through my first lap it hit me. I sobbed. Not necessarily because I was sad.  I was thinking about how wonderful a birthday in Heaven would be. I was thinking about if my Grandpa Lester, Papa, Granny, Uncle Steve, Grandma Veda, Grandpa Tom or Edith are taking care of my babies. I tried to imagine what they are like and who they look like. I read Heaven is for Real over Spring Break. It talked about this very thing. The little boy describes his sister in Heaven. His parents were shocked because they never told him about their miscarriage and they didn't even know if it was a boy or girl. Very inspiring. 

Anyway, I just wanted to take the time to say Happy Birthday to our sweet baby.  You are missed and loved very much! 

Back to School.

The first week of first grade is officially over. 

We miss Kinnison at home, but I am happy to have some sort of schedule again. Her school activities always keep us very busy though.

She had a practice spelling test yesterday. If you get 100% on the practice test you don't have to take the test on Friday! Everyone in her class passed the practice test. They got an extra recess today! 

Last weekend Kinnison learned to ride a bike without training wheels! She is getting so big!

Kimber has adjusted well to not having Kinnison at home. She helps me out with Kanyon. She can write her name by herself now. She can count to 25. She knows most of her uppercase letters and some of her lower case letters. She knows all of her colors and shapes. Her favorite food right now is a Slim Jim. She would eat one for breakfast, lunch and dinner if I would let her. 

Kanyon is a mess. He is into everything. He can say mama, dada, wow, woah, uh oh, dat, dis, and baba. He is walking really well. He climbs even better. He is super strong and full of energy. He wears me out.

I want to say how proud I am of Luke. Last weekend he went to the Men's Encounter with some guys from PGCC. He had an amazing weekend and met some great guys.  He is a terrific husband and father! We are so blessed!

Laundry Saver!

On average I do about 4 loads of laundry a day. Most of our laundry is stained with grease, oil, grass, dirt, markers, ketchup, chocolate milk, cooking oil, ect.  I have tried every stain remover out there. Most of the time I can get the stains out, but there are always a few that are extremely stubborn. I also have a problem with deodorant stains.  I kept seeing a homemade recipe for stain removal on Pinterest and decided to give it a try.  It worked wonders! It is AMAZING!

Here is what you need:

1 Part Dawn
2 Parts Peroxide
1 Part Baking Soda

Example: 1 TBSP Dawn, 2 TBSP Peroxide, 1 TBSP Baking Soda
If you have a lot of stains you could do:
1/4 cup, 1/2  cup, 1/4 cup...ect

Mix the ingredients together and use a brush to rub the mixture into the stain. I use a toothbrush. I have let it sit for 30 minutes and overnight...just depends on how bad the stain is.  I have used it on white and colored clothes. It doesn't bleach them!

I'm 30!

Thursday I turned 30! And, thanks to my husband it was the best birthday I have ever had. He started planning months ago! He told me he tried to get off work, but had training that day.  He told me that Mom was going to watch the kids so I could have a day off. He made arrangements for me to get my hair done, a massage and a mani/pedi. It was a much needed break. It was so relaxing!  I knew something was up because he was acting strange, but I had no idea he had planned me a surprise party. I got home early and couldn't get ahold of Mom. Luke said he wasn't going to be home from work until 6. I was getting restless. Finally at about 5:15 Mom called from the farm and told me she had been down there working and I could come down there to get the kids. I didn't figure it out until I pulled onto Crawley Rd. and saw the signs. He put Swamp People themed signs on the trees! When I saw the first one I had to back up. I literally laughed out loud. It was so much fun driving from sign to sign. I couldn't wait to see what the next one said. 

Luke was getting nervous so he had Mom call me to come down there earlier than planned. I beat most of the guests down there. It was still an amazing surprise!

He had told my Mom and Sister about the party months ago, so they helped him with the planning. They cooked jambalaya, shrimp and even alligator! Mom made chocolate alligators to top the cupcakes with and they ordered the Swamp People Action Set to use as a cake topper! 

I want to say THANK YOU to my wonderful husband. I was dreading my 30th Birthday and you made it special. I had so much fun. It was seriously the best birthday I have ever had! Thanks for being so good to me!

I also want to say THANK YOU to my Mom and Charity. Luke told me everything that you guys did and I appreciate it. 

Last but not least, I want to say THANKS to everyone who came. I appreciate the gifts, but most of all I appreciate you being there. The most wonderful part of the night was getting to visit with my friends and family. 

I am so unbelievably blessed! 

Love,