Update

Wow! It's been so long since I have written but life gets so crazy and everything you want to do slips away and everything you don't want to do stares you in the face until you do it. I can't believe summer is almost over. Only 3 weeks left until we go back to school! I am so ready for it. This summer has been so crazy. The kids are hitting the pre-teen or full blown teenager stage with mouths, attitudes, eye rolling, whatever mode and just plain why me. So needless to say I am ready to go back to work with 2000 high school kids who don't belong to me. So let me get to the updates on everyone.

Steven is 14, heading to 8th grade at Sandy Springs Middle School. He loves playing drums, basketball, football, and talking to girls. I think if texting was a class he would have an A in it. Steven is still playing assistant drummer at church and loving every minute. This summer he has spent some time at my mom's working for a local auction, which is really good for him. The boy loves to make his own money. He has found a friend up there that will buy anything from him. I bought Steven this cheap MP3 player for 20 bucks he sold it to the boy for $50.00 then downloaded songs on it and the kid paid him 30 bucks. Steven should be a used car salesman. He can sell anything or trade anything. He has even begun to sell ice cream to the kids outside. One child wanted peanut butter ice cream, which we didn’t have, so my son takes a marker, writes peanut butter on a fudge pop and sells in to him for $1.00. I don’t know if I should be scared or happy that he is willing to earn his own money. One thing for sure, we have gone over everything he cannot sell: sisters, TV’s, computer, anything that belongs to his sisters, CD’s, DVD’s, the dog and the cars.

Jewel is 11, heading to 6th grade at Sandy Springs Middle School. She loves playing flute, singing, dancing and looking cute. She is determined to marry a Jonas Brother, just not sure which one. This summer she has enjoyed swimming and sleeping as late as she can. One day I left her to sleep until she woke on her own, which was 1:00. I think my most memorable moment with Jewel was when I took her to the Dr. to get her shots for 6th grade. Just the usual 4 booster and the elected one was the Gardisil for young women. After talking with the pediatrician about my concern we both thought it was a good thing to get for them. So that same night at church our Pastor asked if anyone had a praise report. Jewel’s hand goes up and tells him that she got 5 shots and she cried. Then all of a sudden she also announces in front of the whole congregation that she also got the Gardisil shot for females only. I fell on my knees. Not to pray but of embarrassment. All I can say is she is proud that we are taking precautions so that she will not get certain types of cancer.

Jessica is 11, also heading to 6th grade at Sandy Springs Middle School. She loves the clarinet, singing, dancing, and being silly. I believe she wants to marry a Jonas Brother too, but not quite sure. Her most memorable event this summer was starting the summer off with whooping cough. I thought that was a thing of the past but not for us. She proudly took her shots but warned us she would cry and she was not excited about getting them. Then she proceeded to talk the Dr.’s head off for the next 45 minutes with everything and anything. HMMMMM wonder were she got that ????? All 3 kids attended their first overnight camp ever. They were gone for 4 days and 5 nights and never once missed me. I was like, how dare that church camp have a lake with a trampoline in the middle, horses, pool, gym, Christian rock band every night, air conditioning and food. They were so excited and didn’t care I was home missing them like crazy.

Sage is 8, heading to 3rd grade at Camp Creek Elementary. She loves dancing, and singing. She would love to marry a Jonas Brother too. We have had her for 3 weeks this summer which has been really great. Really gives everyone a chance to enjoy her and let her see what craziness goes here while she is gone. She has done a lot of traveling with her family this summer. We were trying to figure out how many states she has been in this summer and I believe it was 5. She is with us now for 10 days and is fitting in just fine. We played Phase 10 last night with all the kids and Sage could be a real poker player. She already has the POKER FACE. So serious, and she wasn’t letting anyone get a peek at her cards. We asked if she needed any help from me or Dad and she said no I am good. It was too funny.

Gracie will be 3 in Sept. She loves tennis balls, her blanket, hanging out the car window and her Mommy. I really believe she’s ready for everyone to go back to school and work so she can have the house to herself. But then again, she wouldn’t be getting all those extra snacks the kids feed her. Cinnamon Toast Crunch seems to her favorite and the kids are so careless in dropping a few for her.

Sam is doing great and liking his job at ZC Sterling. I think it’s the first job he hasn’t complained about since I have known him. He is supposed to be working on his book this summer but it’s hard when he has a wife that can’t go to sleep unless he is rubbing her butt. Then the kids have gotten us hooked on WEBKINZ. If you have children, never ever buy them one. It’s a stuffed animal of your choice and comes with a code that lets you go online and play games, feed it, and buy it a house to decorate. You can have a garden and even take it to school. It is so fun and it’s really educational for the young ones. Then Sam hooked me on Facebook and the games on there. Farkle is our latest craze. Between reading, keeping up with the Braves, Webkinz, Facebook, and loving me everyday life is a little busy for him.

I am great, loving life, God, my family, my wonderful husband. What more could I ask for? I am looking forward to returning to work in a few weeks. I still love working for school system in the cafeteria. This year is going to be a little strange in the afternoons. The twins don’t get out of school till 4 and I get out at 2. What will I ever do with my free time? I know! ENJOY PEACE AND QUIET!!!!! I hope everyone is doing well. You guys need to get busy and write back. Let me know how life is treating you? I miss all of you guys. Keep us in your prayers and we will do the same.

Love you all
Darlene and Sam
And Da Bunch

Hello

Wow! I can't believe it's been four months since I have written on my blog. As many of you know my mama had throat cancer and I was spending a lot of time in Maggie Valley taking care of her. Thank God, she is doing so much better. It was an uphill battle for several months but now I think she is finally reaching the end. She has lost a lot of weight and still isn't eating much. My puppy eats more in an hour than she does all day. Yesterday she drank a Carnation instant breakfast and that was all she had the entire day. Her taste buds are still really burned from the radiation. The doctor said they will never be the same but she should feel better in a few months. Thank you to all who sent up prayers, special thoughts, e-mails, phone calls--we really appreciate all of your support.

Summer is here and we are having a blast! Steven, Jewel, and Jessica spent a week at church camp in Commerece, Georgia. What a blast they had. There was a lake, pool, horses, slip 'n slide, gym, and evening services every day with a Christian Rock Band called Julian Drive. Of course Steven loved the band, being the drummer he is.

One night while the kids were gone, Sam and I were at Taco Bell when I got a text message from my friend and camp leader Lynn. She said Steven was in the altar raising his hands and crying out to God. Right there in Taco Bell, burrito in hand, the tears started flowing and I was thanking God that my 14 year old son was in an altar calling on God for guidance and strength. I know that there will be a lot of battles Steven will go through in his life and he may stray away from God, but what thrills me is to know that the seed has been planted. God's love will never leave you no matter how hard you try to ignore it. God's love grows in our lives daily. I am just thankful that we are able to bring our children up to know God. I am not one of those people who try to shove God down your throat. I will stand and tell the world I LOVE MY SAVIOUR!! I will share my testimony to anyone who is willing to listen. But as Joshua 24:15 says, "as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." I can't make my kids serve God but I can pray, plant the seed, and make my home a God fearing home.

Now we are in Maggie Valley. I bet you guys get tired of hearing about Maggie Valley, but if you ever come here you will know why we visit all the time (my parents are here). My Pop is having a small surgery tomorrow for his pacemaker--hopefully just changing the batteries and he can come home the same day. But if it's the leads then he will spend the night. So if you will, say a prayer for us; we would appreciate it. We are also here to do a little work this time. We are staining my parents' deck and their neighbors' deck. It's not a bad job. The kids help and we have music and little breaks. It's a nice family time. Sam, I am sure, is so upset because he had to go back home and work this week. I know he would have loved to help stain the decks. Not to worry, my sweet loving husband: I am sure the honey-do list I left you at home will keep you busy till I get back. I know I am the most thoughtful wife in the whole world.

Back home next week to get ready for our third week with Sage for the summer. It's nice when we get Sage for a week at a time. We try to cram a lot into her two day visit every other weekend. When you get her for a week it's nice just to spend time with her doing normal things like watching a movie together, or playing games, or just watching her play with the other kids outside. But I have to keep reminding myself that she is only 8, the twins are 11 and Steven 14 so they can fix their own breakfast and lunch or get something to drink without my help. Sage is 8 and needs a little help. One morning she stayed in the bedroom watching cartoons and about 11:00 she came out and I said, "did you have breakfast" and she was like, "ummmmm NO." I felt terrible cause everyone else did their own thing for breakfast and here she was watching tv and playing. So now Jewel is her breakfast buddy and Jessica is her lunch buddy and of course at dinnertime we are all buddies. But as a buddy every time you get something you must ask Sage if she wants something. HMMMMM that might not be a good idea though...Jewel thinks an ice pop is a breakfast item.

Hope everyone is doing well.....Rake, we miss your updates. Are you playing on Facebook now?

Till next time...
GOD IS LOVE