Here's to a Good Woman!

Somehow I stumbled onto this website - through Island Life I think. But I was really impressed with the site and with all the encouragement that it gives to women. As I surfed through the website, I kept looking at the home page where you can nominate a Good Woman/Mom that you know... I wondered who I could nominate and than it hit me... Check it out here to see what I did!! :)

And another...

Ok so here is yet another FANTASTIC giveaway from Island Life. She has linked to a site that makes the most beautiful handbags I have seen recently. They are gorgeous and look like top notch craftmanship. Check Babycakes Boutique out here.



Which is your fave? I love the Perean in Morning Glory - On the Go bag. The colors are so light!

Island Life Giveaway - times 2!!!

I think that I'm finally getting the hang of this blogging thing. Typically I don't have much time during the week to surf or add to this blog. Between teaching and working my Master's and being a wife, mom, chef, lunch maker and maid... it doesn't leave much time for anything! But this weekend I have been on top of things and haven't had much to do for work so...

I hopped over to An Island Life where they are giving away new custom Blogger template by Judi at Doodlebug Designs.

Since I absolutely HATE the choices that Blogger offers I'd LOVE to win a breath of fresh air for my blog. Check her site out! Her work is great and pretty inexpensive as well. I love her use of colors - my favorite is the brown and teal colors together.




The other giveaway that she's got going on is from The Fine Art of Family. My favorite is the Toggle Necklace with space for 2 photos. They are exquisite pieces of jewelry, and thus the price is reflected in the artistry.

Again, what a gorgeous item to win... so check out both of her up for grab items! May the best woman win!

Check her out and enter to win too!!

River time

Last weekend we drove up to Darlington to take flowers out to Moses and then to take a walk by the river. Abraham just loves water and was excited to see the rocks and stuff. He spent quite a long time picking up rocks and tossing them into the river. He sort of fell in, which Momma was worried about cause it was so cold... but he could have cared less! We walked the trail and he rode in the stroller, at least for a little bit. As you can tell, he decided on other modes of transportation. :)

Over the past 2 1/2 years Darlington has become a place where we go to decompress and just get away from it all. The cemetary overlooks farmland and it is just absolutely beautiful and very peaceful. It is the perfect place to be quiet and to remember him. When the weather is nice, we usually go up every other week. I wish I had pictures of the area to show you but I guess these will do for now!


This is SO much fun!!


How 'bout dis one, momma?

Oops! I fell in!


I just LOVE the river!!


Abe "pushing" the stroller - so much for riding and making it easier for us!


Abe and his rocks

Abraham and Daddy


Abraham and Momma

One Word

I sent this as an email to my friend Mel and she decided to put it on her blog as a post. So I'm following suit. The trick to this meme is that you can only use ONE WORD to answer the questions. Drop me a comment and let me know if you are playing so I can come and read your answers!!


1. Where is your cell phone? purse
2. Where is your significant other? bathroom
3. Your hair? dirty
4. Your mother? reading
5. Your father? sleeping
6. Your favorite thing? shoes
7. Your dream last night? nothing
8. Your favorite drink? margarita
9. Your dream/goal? retirement
10. The room you're in? living
11. Your hobby? work!
12. Your fear? drowning
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? house
14. Where were you last night? buontempos
15. What you're not? chef
16. Muffins? blueberry
17. Where you grew up? Maryland
18. The last thing you did? email
19. What are you wearing? pj's
20. Your TV? movie
21. Your pets? none
22. Your computer? necessity
23. Your life? hectic
24. Your mood? exhausted
25. Missing someone? Moses
26. Your car? dirty
27. Something you're not wearing? makeup
28. Favorite store? Target
29. Your summer? beach
30. Like someone? YES
31. Your favorite color? green
32. Favorite season? summer

33. When is the last time you laughed? today
34. Last time you cried? yesterday
35. Who's tagged? You!!

Praying for Nate and Tricia

Please be in prayer right now, Wednesday evening, for Tricia as she is in surgery for her double lung transplant!! These next hours will be very difficult for her and for her hubby Nate. If you have ever sat in the waiting room of a hospital, waiting for someone you love to come out of surgery, you know what an agonizing wait it can be. Pray for Nate as he waits for Tricia - for Tricia that she will be able to bounce back to full health - for the donors family as they have lost a loved one - for their extended family as they support Nate and Tricia through this time.

And please consider what part you could have in organ donation. I have thought about it and my thoughts are these - after I am gone from this earth and with the Father what does it matter what happens to my physical body? It won't be ME. And if my physical body can give LIFE to someone like Tricia, someone who needs new lungs so that she can live and enjoy watching her sweet daughter grow up --- then THAT is what I want to do. What would you do?

A boy after his momma's sweet tooth heart!

SHHHHH! Don't tell Daddy!! :)



Don't mess with a boy and his ice cream!


What are YOU lookin' at???

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

Wonderfully Made (by JD Cunningham)

I see in his eyes proof that he’s mine
And his smile is the same one she’s given me so many times

And each time he laughs I can’t help but cry
Cause the world’s bound to hurt him no matter how hard I try

And I try to remember though I still can’t conceive
That he belongs to you more than he ever will me

For you created his inmost being
Knit together in his mother's womb
And his frame was never hidden from you in a secret place
From the depths of the earth you saw his body form
And ordained every step of his days
So I praise you for he is fearfully and wonderfully made
And I know full well your works are wonderful

I may never know and surely won’t understand
The path that you chose to take this boy down to become a man

But please make him faithful and God make him brave
And grant me the wisdom to point him back to your ways

And all through the years as his little heart grows
Lord pierce it with love so that some day he’ll know

That you created his inmost being
Knit together in his mother's womb
And his frame was never hidden from you in a secret place
From the depths of the earth you saw his body form
And ordained every step of his days
And he’ll praise you for he is fearfully and wonderfully made
And he’ll know full well your works are wonderful

Lord I praise you for he is fearfully and wonderfully made
And I know full well your works are wonderful

Psalm 139:
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be


**I was crusing through some blogs the other day and happened upon this one from a lady named Myra. She is a mom of an autistic boy with their own set of struggles. She had this song posted on her blog and it struck a chord with me. The Scripture verses that this song is written from were the ones that Michael and I meditated on when we first found out that Moses had Downs Syndrome. The fact that even though he wasn't "perfect" in the worlds eyes didn't even factor into our thoughts about him. We are convinced that our Father gave Moses to us perfectly - with no mistakes or imperfections. We accept him because he is our child, our flesh and blood and we LOVE him.

Moses has been on my mind alot this past week. Maybe because I was home for break, just Abraham and I... and I had time to reflect as I watched Abraham play and interact with other children. I sometimes get wistful and wish for just one more day with my Moses. My heart just aches to see him and hold him - to have him with me for just one day. In my head I know that his life on earth would have been a struggle. There would have been a number of heart surgeries that he would have needed and daily, one on one care. But you know what? I'd give my right arm if he could be here and be healthy. Yet as much as I miss him and shed tears for my own personal sadness, I have a hope that I will one day see him again and be reunited wtih him. He has a perfect body and is running like he never would have run here on earth.

We are truly blessed to have been entrusted with sweet Abraham. He is an amazing miracle and gift to us. Our Father has showered us constantly with His peace and comfort each time that we get missing Moses. He is faithful and we are grateful for that.

Please Pray

I just checked in with Nate on his blog and it seems that this might be the night/day that his beautiful wife, Tricia receives her gift of life - a new set of lungs. Please stand in the gap with me for this dear family. A side note, their 24 weeker Gwyneth is doing fantastic! Be sure to check out her updates as well! Thanks!

Time with friends

So this week has been my spring break from work. It has been delightful to be able to spend time with Abraham. He and I have also had the opportunity to catch up with friends we don't usually see. On Tuesday we spent some time with Maureen, a former student of mine. She rode with us as we did a few errands. It was so gorgeous out that we hit the playground too. Maureen just loves Abraham to death. It was actually quite nice to have a "babysitter" for a little bit. We had lunch before we headed home. It was really neat to have time with her.











We also got together with my dear friend Tabetha and her daughter Bethany. We had lunch at Mc Donalds and then hit Target together. We don't get to see them very often because they live a bit away from us, so it was definitely good to see them both.


Abraham and Bethany having lunch together




Posing with Ronald




My Tabby and me :)

Spring pictures

Having a Picture People Portrait club card is great.. if you use it before it expires! Unfortunately, I'm not super good about doing this. The card is great - for each time you come in, you get a free 8x10 and $10 off a second sheet. It pays for itself in the first visit.

So I have had the card for nearly a year and hadn't used it at all. It expires in May - which means I have to get my moneys worth... and soon!

All that to say, Kari and I went this past Monday and got pictures of the kids done in their Easter finest. These are the 2 best shots of Abraham from the shot. Over all he was pretty good - considering that the appointment was right in the middle of his nap. By the time we got out of the mall it was after 4 and no nap. Can we just say, not a happy camper!!

Anyhow - I think I have talked Michael into getting a family picture done too before it expires... ahhh, leverage!! :)



Our sweet boy (2 1/2)



I did it!!!



Alex (6), Chloe (4)

Happy Easter!

We had a rather uneventful Easter here. Kari and I usually go to Beachmont for the Easter sunrise service but this year, after seeing that it was supposed to be 29 degrees... had a change of heart! We were plenty cold last year and it wasn't that cold out!!
We enjoyed Easter service at church and then went to mom's for dinner.
I managed to wrangle both boys outside for a family picture. I promised them both it would be quick and painless... and I held up my end of the bargain! 5 minutes and we were done. Pictures are not a favored activity around here! :) Too bad they are living with a picture-a-holic!!




Me and my boy



Finally, a decent picture of Abraham and me!!



Abraham and Daddy



The Ragan's

Easter Egg Hunting

Kari and I took the kids to an Easter Egg hunt at Oak Grove Baptist Church the Saturday before Easter - mainly because we didn't want to have to do our own with them! But it was a really great day together. They had some games inside that the kids played. A moon bounce entertained the kids for a while as well. We saw a really cool karate demonstration and then there was a mini-Gospel message presented. The church did a great job at community outreach. We certainly enjoyed it! Then there was the Easter Egg hunt - Alex did much better than Chloe and Abraham!



Moon Bounce Fun!


I'm supposed to put the eggs IN the bag???


Baseball game


I got to help Chloe on the putt putt station and darn if we didn't get a HOLE IN ONE! Yahoo Chloe! You go girl! :)


Alex is ready to go and grab him some eggs!

Cheese!!

Steelhead fishing in Ohio

Steelhead fishing in Ohio - this sucker was HUGE! We have a replica of it hanging on our living room wall!

Fly Tying with Daddy

For those of you who might not know, Michael is a fly fishing enthusiast. Fly fishing being completely different than the fishing I think of when you sit in a boat and throw in your lure and just wait for something to bite. Fly fishing, to me at least, involves much more skill. I cannot say that I'm an expert by any means but when Michael talks about the fish, water, flies... I do listen. He has been tying his own flies for a while now and really enjoys it. I tried to take a picture or 2 of them but the pictures just don't do the art in them justice.

Since Michael gets very little time on here I thought I'd devote this post to him and his hobby.




Starting early, Daddy is teaching Abraham to tie flies. Abraham has his own Wooly Bugger fly!

Rice update take 2...

Ok so I determined this past Sunday that it was NOT rice in my lung which caused the pneumonia. This will perhaps be TMI for some but I was in the middle of a coughing fit on Sunday when something came shooting out of my mouth. I looked on the floor after I calmed myself down and lo and behold, guess what was on the floor??? A GREEN PEA!!! NO lie!! A freaking PEA shot out of my mouth - most likely coming from my lung. What the heck?? Would you believe that I haven't coughed once since Sunday?

Something this weird could ONLY happen to ME!!

Rice update...

For those of you who were worried about me with my rice escapade... I am feeling better and was back to work today. I had a check up tonight and the DR said the antibiotic did what it was supposed to do. I'm not quite 100% but I will be. Thank you for all your prayers!

For you Patty Sue!

On one of the blogs that I frequent often (Lawrenson family)had a mom post on there some of her wishes for Tricia, being a new mom. I wanted to join in on the fun so here are some of my favorite things from my mommy viewpoint.

1. When she is able to wear clothes and even the preemie clothes are too BIG!

2. When she passes her carseat test and is ready to come for the first time. Get the camera ready!

3. Midnight feedings and cuddling with Gwyneth - her little hands on your face or holding your fingers.

4. Tossing her in the air and getting a face full of... well you know what!! :) (This actually happened to me with my niece - thanks Chloe!!)

5. Watching her fall asleep on Nate and seeing them together.

6. Being the only one that can calm the frantic cries - sorry Nate!

7. Belly laughs when you do raspberries on her belly.

8. Watching her hit milestones the experts said would be slow in coming,ON TIME!

9. Hearing her say I love momma/pappa for the first time.

10. Having her carry a book to you, plop in your lap and declare "Read to you, Momma!"

11. Hearing her emphatically proclaim at the end of a prayer - "In Jesus name AMEN!

12. Having her pat your face when you are having a bad day and say "Don't cry Momma."


My sweet boy is just 2 years old and we have had so many amazing memories.. but I look forward to the next 2... 5... 10... 20 years with him. Watching him grow up to be a strong, independany, God-loving man will be such a gift to me. We are BLESSED!

Ragan family's Look A Like Meter

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Free genealogy - Online family tree

There's something in my lung...

Ok so here is an explanation about the comment about our Saturday lunch in the Harbor... We went to the eatery and I got Chinese food - rice, chicken, veges. I had taken one bite successfully but on the 2nd bite I took I realized that I couldn't do 2 things at once - like talk and eat :) I inhaled the rice and it got stuck. Couldn't breathe. And drinking something didn't dislodge whatever was stuck. Come to find out, the rice was in my windpipe (I think) So all Saturday, Sunday and Monday it really hurt to breathe deeply. I kept saying something was wrong. But then the pain subsided. I had the nurse at school check my breathing on Tuesday (at the urging of a teammate who is my 2nd mom) and she suggested I get checked out. Went Wednesday to the DR and they found that I had PNEUMONIA!! It is possible it was caused by a foreign object in my lungs but it wouldn't show up on the chest xray. So I've been home from school yesterday and today... I feel better today but it's still hard to breathe. I'm on antibiotic to prevent anymore infection.

This could only happen to me!!!