January 2013

Little Miss is reading ALL the time...

chapter books in fact!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She loves to read and I just hope

HOPE that this love with continue!!!

EARLY release day!!! ~

Had to make it fun:)

But what in the world was I thinking?!? ;)

My two favorite precious, sweet girls!!!

 

Cannon, Cade, Walker, Kate, Hadlee, Hudson

SO thankful my kids have such wonderful friends!!!

CrAzy!!!!!!!!!!!

Again, what was I thinking?!? 

HAAAAAAAAAA

Pappa Jack came to visit us from New Mexico!!!

It was so nice having Troy's dad here

with us!  The kids loved it:)

I don't know what it is...but this little

guy is just so dreamy.  Sleeping or not! 

I.heart.hudson.jack.

4th graders at 3 Spoons with Mrs. Cates!

What a FuN teacher:)

Even wearing the scarf we got her!!!

Nothing like having your "neighborhood

friendly Spiderman" at church!!!

I love his little world:)

This precious little girl is growing UP!

I was SOOOOO proud when Hadlee came

home from school and told me she

chose President George W. Bush

for her famous president project!!!

Raising this girl right;)

We love a good DaNCe PaR~TaY!!!



I never, EVER know what I'm going

to find in the photos on my phone!!!;)
This action shot of Hudson with a

bow on his head jumping off the

chair was a good one!!!;)

Getting Facebook messages like this

sure does make a wife proud!

It has become expected at South Bosque

that when it's raining, Troy helps

Mr. Everett get the kids out of the cars

at the drop-off line.  He started doing

that last year and it continues...

I got me such a good man:)

Bat Family...

Supporting our #1 basketball player...

#55 Walker Pierce!!!!!!!!!!

I got to meet up with Angel(a)
one afternoon.  We were supposed
to have lunch, but all sorts of crazy
things happened to her so I just
drove down to where she was
and we sat and visited in a
parking lot on her way out of town:)
Angela has no obligation to us,
yet she loves and cares for us like
she's known us all her life. 
Such a blessing!!!

I had been looking for a chest for Hudson's

room.  He was so excited when I showed

him this one at my dear friend

Stephanie's shop!!!  I love it

and it looks awesome in his room! :)

There's nothing like a visit from a

NaNa to boost my heart and soul!!!
LOVED when Sweet L came to visit

on her way through town...

My how our times since

Baylor have changed!!!  

We wouldn't have it any

other way!  We love our Petits!!!;)

I cherish lunch with this Love

every single day.  He's the only

 one of my kids who will eat

salad and drink coke with me!!!;) ha!)

This handsome guy ~who IS my heart~

had an awesome try out for baseball:)

StuD MuFFiN!

SO.Proud.of.THIS.Kid!

(And he got on a great team with our

friends from last year AND three

good friends from South Bosque!)

 

Couldn't resist posting this picture

on Facebook to stir up trouble

amongst Hudson's three favorite aunts!;)

I love every minute with my little family

of five.  Their laughter and fun and love

make my world go round and round!!!

Thank you, Sweet Jesus...

God is SO good and my heart is SO thankful.

"His tender mercies are

over all His works."

Psalm 145:9

Travis at TLC

"But I trust in You, Lord;

I say, 'You are my God.'

My times are in Your hands..."

Psalms 31:14-15

 

Travis started his latest Superman Saga

at the Transitional Learning Center

in Galveston January 10th.  He and Lynna

had a great first week there...

playing in Galveston!  ;)

Getting adjusted to life at TLC

wasn't quite as easy as hanging

out at the beach though:(

The physical therapy there

is AWESOME!!!  We have been

amazed at how much his walking

has improved!  This is such a

PRAISE:)

While the PT is amazing, other aspects

of this rehab have been difficult

for Travis.  For his safety and their

liability, they are extremely cautious

with Travis and do not let him do

as much as he did at home.  It is all

very understandable but at the same

time very difficult on Travis who

wants nothing but to be independent. 

It's also just difficult going back into

this type of environment...having a

roommate, new nurses, therapists, etc. 

We had really hoped that the speech

program would prove to be very

beneficial at this place. 

Unfortunately, the speech department

is not giving Travis or Lynna much

hope at all for his swallowing and talking.

This has been like sucker punch #9,873

on this journey.   His therapist says

his case is the worst she has seen

in her over 20 years experience. 

BUT she also says that she's never

seen anyone work as hard as Travis!!!

Technology in the years to come

will be crucial for Trav's chances

at ever eating or talking again. 

This.is.hard.to.take!:(

BUT, we aren't going to lose hope!!!

And Superman Travis certainly isn't!

DUH!!!

 

For now, we are encouraging Travis

to soak up as much of this amazing

physical therapy and we will get the

speech elsewhere (please pray for this

as we are in touch with someone who

might can offer some expertise in this area).

Travis is also receiving a lot of

counseling which he needs as much

as he needs PT, OT, and ST.  Anybody

would under his circumstances.

TLC says that it is crucial for Travis

to truly being to accept his new life. 

He continues to deal with perseveration

(Uncontrollable repetition of a particular response,

 such as a word, phrase, or gesture, despite

the absence or cessation of a stimulus,

 usually caused by brain injury) and also

not accepting/understanding his limitations.

Travis is determined to go to LA

which was a life long dream before

the accident.  We hope and pray he

can reach this goal...but his time

table for it is definitely not accurate. 

My ultimate prayer for Travis

is for him to find his purpose...

and embrace it!

Whatever that purpose may be!

 

 I know there is one, and

I have a feeling God intends for it to be

AMaZIng!!!

You cannot imagine my thrill

and delight and happiness the

night that he finally answered my

FACETIME call!!!!!!!!!

Hudson's sweet questions about

where "Tavis is" continues to

melt my heart and the kids' prayers

every night for Travis are something

to behold.  I know God is listening

to those sweet, innocent, precious prayers.

Walker was recently Star Student and

had to fill in a poster to hang in the class.

He did it all by himself and look

how he filled this in...

WOW.

I found THIS in Hadlee's backpack

one day.  She had made it at school

in her free time.  How sweet is it

for her to be thinking of Travis like this...

We like mailing him stuff to

hopefully brighten his days:)

Lynna has been as many weekends

as she can afford.  It's a long drive

and it's not an easy one.  In fact,

her last trip she had a wreck in

downtown Houston:( We've

made the trip once and enjoyed it

so much.  Scott has also been

going when he can.  It's so hard

thinking about Travis being there

alone so much.  It hurts my heart

every single day to think about it

and picture his handsome and sweet

face there.  Of course, the other

patients and many of the staff have

come to love our Superman:)

We miss him something awful. 

I cracked up this night when

he answered my Facetime

with his aviators on!  He's a riot;)

A friend of ours whose son I taught

and they happen to be Lynna's neighbors

brought this to me for Travis!

It's perfect:)

I realized a long time ago that

angels really do live amongst us.
We have sure met plenty on this journey

with Travis.  Some are friends we've

known forever who have stuck with us

through allllll of this and others are

complete strangers who have blessed

our lives in countless ways ~ mostly with

their love and support and prayers. 

Angela is an angel...

she has been praying since day one for

Travis, but this summer really became

involved in our journey.  She's a doctor

and a speech therapist!  She's been

such a huge advocate and help

for Travis and Lynna.

Now she is a dear friend, too......
I love knowing angels!!!


 

Lynna took this picture of Travis

at her hotel in Galveston. 

Obviously Galveston agrees quite

well with Travis!!!

The beach always has:) 

One afternoon they were driving up and

down the sea wall and Lynna told

Travis that she wants a house there.

He texted her that he was going to

buy one and she could come

and stay with him as long as she

cleaned it for him!  ha! 

Thank God for Trav's

fighting spirit, his great sense

of humor, his good looks,

and for just how much fun he is. 

One thing I sometimes catch myself doing

 when I see a picture of Travis pre-accident,

is getting so sad and crying.  It's not really that "I"

miss that Travis (of course I do to some point),

but it's more I miss that Travis for him.

For all that he wanted to be and do. 

I am so aware of how quickly our lives

can change.  I look at my own kids

and I wonder what lies ahead...and

I pray.  I pray my heart out for them to

seek and serve God first and only and always. 

I'm thankful that I don't have regrets

with Travis before his accident. 

Oh sure, I wish I had corrected him

more and pleaded with him more

to change his wild ways ~ which I

knew he eventually would ~ like

we all do as we grow up. 

He didn't get that chance.

Thankfully, I don't have regrets

over the time we spent together or

how much I loved him then or now. 

God continues to nudge me and remind me

in my saddest moments over Travis

that He does have a purpose for him.

An amazing purpose for all of this!

I read this quote somewhere...

"God uses enlarged trials to produce

enlarged saints so He can put them in

enlarged places!" (Bishop Eddie L. Long)

Bring.it.on.for.Travis!!!;)

This merely strengthens my prayers

for TRAVIS to find that purpose.

La Tante (moi) will do everything

in my power to help him forever. 

Once my Superman,

Always my Superman!!!

I swear Tenth Avenue North must

have written the new song "Worn"

for Travis.  Talk about perspective...

before July 25, 2010, I would have listened

to that song and applied it to my measly

little life of just being tired. 

Now I listen to that song and I

KNOW what it is to be truly worn...

I think of Travis and others I know who

are truly WORN, truly struggling,

truly needing redemption to win. 

Travis would give anything to

know that his struggles will end. 

Sure, in reality, we are all worn...

but I needed this true perspective in my life

and the realization that there's only

one source for us to feel

redemption win no matter what

our circumstances are. 

http://youtu.be/UUEy8nZvpdM

 

"God can restore what is broken

and change it into something amazing.

All you need is faith."

Joel 2:25

Haddie's Hair Salon

How much do I love this?!?

Wonder if Hudson was asking his

stylist what product she was using?!?

Seriously.SO.Cute

Peaking around the corner

and seeing this going on

and hearing them "chat"....

P~R~I~C~E~L~E~S~S

The Lovable, Quirky Hudson Jack

I AbSoLutELy ADoRE this KiD!!!



Hudson is so quirky, cute and fun!

Sometimes I just don't even know what

to do with him!!!  First of all, he

continues to only wear his two pairs

 of Nike pants ~ we alternate the navy and

the black.  Except for church,

he will wear his Sunday clothes! 

He's also still very into "layering"...

as in he sometimes likes to wear

two pairs of underwear (finally

wearing them the correct way though!),

usually his Spiderman PJ top underneath

his clothes, and you never know what

else!!!  UNLESS it's a shirtless Pierce

day...which also happens quite often!!!

SUCH a Hudson LooK!!!!!!

He is FULL on in Power Ranger character;)

 

Almost ALWAYS he wears (or at the very

least carries with him) his Spiderman

glove and usually one or two

Nike baseball gloves and sometimes

one of the camo gloves Mrs. Janice made him!

He's the funniest little guy I've ever known!

He told me to look "seweeeus" (serious)

for this picture with Batman.  I

need to work on my looks!!! ;)

His realm of characters is vast!

Could somebody please call 9-1-1?!?!

These are the two cutest firemen EVER!

Huds is ALL boy...he thinks he

can play baseball just like Bubba;

yet, can play American Girl with

Hadlee like nobody's business!;)

He requests "under ahhhhmore"

most everyday, too.  AND he is all

about Walker's old camo boots!!!

Just chillin' in mommy and daddy's bed

with his Robin pants on and his

Spidey mask.  Oh and of course

his Spiderman glove!!!!!!!!

This kid is three years old now.

He's HUGE...as in tall and big for his age.

SWEET as a kid can be!!!

More lovable than anyone in this world.

Talks.all.the.time!

My favorite line...always at random:

"Mommy, I do love you."

I tell him almost everyday that I could

just eat him up.  He always tells me no

that I should eat up Bubba and Haaadeeeee.

Addicted to his milk...

in fact when I bring it to him

(heated up of course!),

he will say to his milk:
"Come to Spiderman!"

Potty trained so easily:)

He loves to "nuggle"!!!  (snuggle)

He's just dreamy, hilarious,

sweet, tough and so lovable. 

 

Hudson, I do love you. 



Brother Trouble

I am amazed at the relationship between

Walker and Hudson.  There are seven 

years between them, but they are so

close.  It's a precious, fun, rambunctious,

sweet brotherly type love they share. 

Hudson worships Walker and

Walker is so good to his baby brother.

BUT......sometimes, Big Brother 

picks on Little Brother.

The thing is that Little Brother is 

TOUGH though....
really, really tough and 

he can throw a mean punch

OR just throw with really good aim

(I should especially say in this case).

So it was in the bathtub,

and Huds had enough picking

and decided to launch a "cup"

at Big Brother and he hit
Bubba right smack dab
in the corner of his eye :(

Hudson just kept repeating,

"I soweeee, I soweeee"

 

The next morning Walker still

had a little bit of a "shiner"! 

(It actually just looked like he

was wearing eye liner like the

big brother in Diary of a Wimpy Kid...

but Walker didn't think the comparison

to Roderick was funny!!!). 

Bubba forgave him though

and in no time they were back to

being "besss fweinds" as usual!

I am so thankful that God blessed

me with boys/brothers!!!

Raising boys is special....

My heart is full:)