Laughter is mine...

Many times I am stopped in the grocery store, doctor's office, park... wherever... and asked "Wow... three boys! Are they all yours?" I'm always so floored by this question! How brave of a stranger to ask such a thing! After answering their question with a proud "Yes", they always seem to end up with the same look on their faces... pure exhaustion. They go on and on about how busy my life must be and how dirty and loud my house must be. It's funny how most of the time, the thought (for many) of having three boys doesn't bring about positive thoughts, but negative ones instead. I couldn't be ANY happier though! I love my three boys so much. They make me smile, they keep me young... they make me laugh!

My house IS loud, it isn't clean all the time, but it isn't necessarily dirty, and it is most definitely BUSY! I wouldn't have it any other way though. I know someday the noise will be gone and I probably won't be able to sleep anymore. The smudges on the windows will only be made by whatever pet we have at the time and my schedule will be wide open... YUCK!

Jason asked me yesterday what it felt like to celebrate my eleventh Mother's Day. I simply told him... "It's my favorite holiday. I get to celebrate the one thing that I always wanted to be."

I love being a mom. I love the fact that life is never boring. I love that above all else... in spite of life's little tornadoes that get sent your way sometimes... laughter is always mine.

Ways in which my boys have made me laugh lately...

1. Seeing Colby outside doing the watering with nothing on but a pair of swim trunks and cowboy boots. Apparently, the hose has a little leak and it gets him wet. This was his way of preparing for this.

2. When talking about how he LOVES baseball, Lucas was trying to convince his brothers that EVERY boy has a ball and bat because baseball is the most loved sport. At the end of his speech, he added "Oh, except for the kids in Africa. Maybe we should do something about that."

3. Walking through Bath & Body Works with my three boys is such a "treat". Recently though, I couldn't figure out why all of these girls who work there were smiling at me with a different kind of smile. When we walked out, Lucas and Colby informed me that Caleb was winking at all the girls AND blowing kisses! UGH... I probably won't be laughing at this one a few years from now.

TIme for some spring time fun!

I'm totally aware of the fact that the past couple of posts here have been pretty heavy. That's where my heart has been. However, God has truly given me peace in our situation. So now it's time to lighten things up a bit. The past couple of weeks have been full of activities, but most of all... we have been having all kinds of spring time fun! Spring is always a busy time for us. Baseball is in full "swing", the school year is winding down, lots of yard work to catch up on... you get the picture. We added a BIG one this year though. Three weeks ago Colby was invited onto a competition team at gymnastics! We are so proud of him and all of his hard work!! He started team practices this week (six hours of gym time every week). We are a busy family... but a happy family.

Contentment

It seems as though these past few months have been a whirl wind at our house! Are we moving? Where are we moving? When are we moving? We really thought we were on the right track with this whole idea of moving. It was an idea that came to us for many different reasons about a year ago. We prayed about it and moved forward with it.

This week, after meeting with a couple of realtors we have discovered that now is NOT the time! The market is even worse than we thought it was, and selling now would be a costly mistake. So... we will wait it out. But it's more than that. There has been a word that has been laid on my heart this week that just keeps resonating... contentment. God has been speaking to me about this a lot this week, and I believe even before this week. I just wasn't listening. I didn't want to listen. I was caught up in the moment of all the "to do's" to get the house on the market. I wasn't just being still in the presence of God. We actually had a teaching at church about this today. It came at a perfect time... just as it usually does. Now it is up to us to exemplify contentment with what we have. Afterall, everything we have was given to us by God. Who are we to try to change any of it in our own power?

God will bless us through HIS plan for our lives. We have been trying to pave our own road for our own "needs" instead of letting God take us down the path that he wants us to be on! I won't lie and say that learning about this news this week has been easy. It's been disappointing. However, I already have a small amount of peace in my heart (that I know will continue to grow) because of the surrendering process that has taken place here this week. I can trust Jesus... that he knows what's best for me, my husband and these three boys that I love so much.

We need your prayers

It's been a long while since I've updated here. So much of the time I think to myself, "I'd really like to update my blog." As most of you know though, time gets away from us, there's always such a LONG list of other things that NEED to be done, so updating the blog gets shoved aside. Tonight though, I can honestly say that updating the blog is necessary!
We are preparing to put our house on the market once again. We took it off during the holidays. During that time, we refurbished our kitchen cabinets and got new kitchen countertops. The kitchen now looks absolutely beautiful! So, we are now taking the next step and listing it once again. Some of you know first hand how hard it can be on a family to have your house up for sale. Keeping it picked up and clean is a real chore when there are three boys living under your roof. Jason and I try not to obsess about it with the boys. We try to be encouraging and gently remind them of all the benefits that will come from moving off the hill.
The biggest thing that we need prayer about is our ability to cast all of our anxieties over this aside. To lean on Jesus and trust Him and His perfect timing. It sounds so easy, and yet it's not. We need to feel peace about God's will for our lives. We need wisdom and discernment regarding the choices that we make for our future. As I type this, I feel so blessed to know that I have friends and family to pray these things for us. Prayer makes a difference! We feel confident that prayer will make THE difference this time...

Thank you friends... you are precious to us. ~

Never to be forgotten

Fall is my favorite season. The air is crisp, the trees are stunning and the sky actually has a golden tint to it. It means summer is gone again. Life slows down just a bit. The urge to "hibernate" overcomes me! This past fall we did something new. We went on what I would call a "fishing tour". Every weekend we picked another spot in which to go fishing. We packed up the car with poles, bait, chairs, snacks and books (for me, of course) and hit the road! I think it started out as the great search for "the big one", but it soon turned into more than that. It became our favorite way to spend time together. We sometimes landed in places that we didn't even know existed in this state of ours. We were on an ADVENTURE! We have some great stories about these adventurous days (sometimes late nights too). More than anything though... we have precious memories that are never to be forgotten.

Summer's favorites

There are many favorites when it comes to summer with the Gray's. To name a few... camping, hanging out with friends, swimming, baseball, hiking and time at the beach! The "flavors" of summer are sweet and memorable...