Annabeth is 14!

 Last weekend, in addition to celebrating Mark's homecoming, we also had some BIG events for Annabeth. Saturday night was her first high school dance and Sunday was her 14th Birthday!

Homecoming Ready

Mr. Oscar Chase was also all smiles 

Annabeth's shoes are from Amazon (she purchased with a giftcard)

Her dress is from At Home with Heartland (a local Boutique) 

Retro looking hairclips were a $6 (for 5!) find at Marshalls

Before the dance, we met her friend "A" for dinner at Fazoli's. Both girls manage food allergies and the families felt safer if the girls ate safe food before the dance and did not consume anything while at the dance. We were worried about cross contamination, lack of food labels, or improperly labeled foods. We had a fun dinner and it eased all of our worries.

Annabeth loved the dance and is already planning next year's dress and overall look. This year she was channeling "Alice" from Twilight. 

Sunday was her 14th birthday. She was up at 6:30, even after a late dance night, ready for presents before church. With zero toys on her list we went for teenage and practical - a CD, new pajamas, snacks, and her big gift was a new suitcase set. I realized on our Arizona Trip that she is maybe too old to still have an American Girl Suitcase and she agreed. Mark found a fun pink one that will be easy to spot on planes and busses. We passed her AG suitcase along to a sweet little friend of Owen's later in the week.  

We went to early church, met up with a friend who gave her the sweetest gift, and then had lunch out at Jockamo's. Her friend Maggie made some handmade items, gave some snacks, and then also gifted her a little New Testament which she had marked with her favorite passages and verses. We all thought this was such a unique, beautiful gift idea!

We always allow the kids one eat out meal and one paid for activity for their birthday. She said the dance could count as her paid for activity as we paid for tickets. For the afternoon we watched Wicked and then headed out to youth group. Since it was her birthday, we took dinner so she could have just what she wanted. We made BBQ meatballs, BBQ weenies, chips and queso, veggies, and she made an adorable Taylor Swift friendship bracelet themed birthday cake. 

I really felt like a "big kid" mom as I didn't have to 

help at all with her cake. She LOVES baking and was more

than happy to do it all by herself.

Annabeth also led the lesson, music, and games for youth night. She chose a lesson based on her dance solo song for the year "Flowers"  She did such a wonderful job fostering thoughtful conversation based on this song. She chose it about six months ago as her solo and has been excited to share it with everyone she can. It's so true - in the valleys of life God plants the seeds that become the flowers.

Leading  Youth Group

I could not be more proud of our Miracle Girl for using every moment of her life to share God's goodness and grace. I have shared many times that while I waited for the call from NICU to know if she had survived or not, I bargained with God. I pleaded with Him and said "If you just save her - we'll give her to You for life!" He did and so we have. To see her live for Him is the greatest gift! There is nothing she could do that could be more amazing, more powerful, or more meaningful than to do the work that lasts - the work of testifying to His good grace and saving power. 

Happy #14 to our girl! 

Mark is HOME!!!!

Mark is home!! 

I've just wrapped up a season of solo parenting while Mark was away at Bomb School. 

Since around the time Owen was born, Mark has served on our county's Bomb Squad and we have known that whole time that eventually his number would be up for a 6 week course in Alabama. He has been away a week or two each year for smaller trainings but this year was the big one.

He left in the heat of August, pools were still open, we were in shorts and tanks, the house was decorated for summer and now he's home in October. We are working our way through our Fall Bucket List, the house is decorated with pumpkins, and we are ready for fall fun together!

These past weeks have been so incredibly hard. As the primary caregiver and home educator, I am used to long days/nights with the kids. I am used to carrying the bulk of the home/child/errands for our family but somehow knowing that I was going to have to do it completely alone overwhelmed me. I was a mess before he left, sobbing as I tried to learn to use the weedeater so I didn't have to pay for yard help, and crying myself to sleep each night. (I'm thankful he didn't RUN out the door at that point)

In the first few weeks, I was incredibly bitter and jealous. I've certainly never gotten to come home and say "Hey, I'm headed out of town for 6 weeks..." I tried, but failed, to be happy for him as he lived a dream and accomplished a goal that he has worked hard for. 

In the middle, thankfully, my parents and sister had us along for a big trip to Arizona. We got away, relaxed, saw somewhere new, and I came home refreshed. I came home focused. I came home determined to savor these weeks of just the kids and me.

We certainly didn't carry on as normal. They had extra TV time, they had cereal for dinner one night, we ate pizza rolls every week, and my yard hasn't been weedeated since my dad kindly did it in Week 2 BUT we did it. I did it. 

We are SO proud of Mark's hard work at school, for all of the 100s on his exams, for passing with flying colors and coming home with ideas to help train his team better. 

I did not share outside of a small circle of friends/family that Mark would be gone so long as I didn't feel entirely safe with everyone knowing he was gone. In turn, this lead to some confusion as the kids and I took a trip to Michigan City and the Arizona Trip and Mark was noticably absent in pictures as well as in our daily lives. Have no worries, we are happily married, we were just long distance for a bit like our dating/engaged days. I am forever proud to be married to an honest, hardworking man, who shows integrity in all aspects of his life. Welcome home my love.