Big Stuf '08

Philip, Brice and Shelby went to Big Stuf last week. They had so much fun! Shelby took some pictures but none of Brice or Philip. They had wonderful worship times and they had fun free time on the beach.

Shelby asked her good friend, Reagan, to go with her. She knew several people from school that went on the trip. Her is a picture of them outside there room.

One of the special guests during the week was Jeff Foxworthy. The kids said he was great. I didn't even know he was a Christian. Philip said he has been a Christian since a young boy and told his testimony. I'm glad they had a such a great time.

Quiet Week...I hope!

Eli and I sent Brice, Shelby and Philip off to camp this morning. Philip has been texting me along the way. I know they made it to Milton a while back so I'm sure they are pretty close to their destination... Panama City. The kids were so excited to be going. I don't think either slept much last night. Davis, the youth pastor, will be blogging throughout the week. You can read, if you want, what they are up to. Just click here and it will take you there. Eli and I plan to have a nice, quiet week. We went to Blockbuster today and rented some movies, we are going to sleep in everybody's beds, and we plan to have a friend over and maybe go swimming.

Please pray for us because I don't do very well when Philip is not here. I can't sleep and when I can't sleep I get very grumpy. Pray for Philip because he won't get much sleep this week either and he gets pretty grumpy too!! Pray for Brice and Shelby. I pray that they will listen and learn and have fun. I hope this changes their lives. Neither of them have ever been to something like this and I can remember my days as a youth. I remember how different speakers, at camp, changed me.

Well, Eli is pulling me to come play Wii with him. He loves having me all to himself. It's pretty fun!

Thanks for reading........

Do Over

This has been one of those weeks that you would like to do over. And when I say do over, I don't mean I want to do it again the same. I wish it could all be different. Tuesday we got word that one of our church partners, who was 36 weeks pregnant, lost her baby. It was so terrible! Today we are having a funeral/memorial service for her. Her name was Grayson Strong Butler. Please remember Joey and Gretchen Butler in your prayers. They need strength in the next weeks, and months. They are strong people and I have seen God work through them already but today is going to be hard. Pray for Philip today also because he is doing some of the service. He has really worked hard on the right words. You know how emotional he is and I want him to be able to make it through without falling apart. We also had another emergency within our church. A family being torn apart and there is really nothing you can do. Pray for Dawn as she tries to balance taking care of her own family while helping her brother. (God knows who Dawn is) I have mentioned our friend in Hattiesburg, Mike Madaris. He had 6 rounds of his treatments this week and seems to be doing fairly well. We have some other friends from our days in Hattiesburg that are going through an unimaginable time right now. Jason has been going through chemo for leukemia the last 8 months or so. This week he took a turn for the worst and is now on a ventilator with no brain activity. He has a wife and 3 small children. Please pray for them all. I can't imagine what is going on with that family.

Soooooo, as you can see, I'm just about done emotionally. I'm ready for some brighter days. Philip always says it seems to come in threes. I'm glad we are past that point. Let's start over with a new day!!

I don't think, in a long time, that I have spent so many late night hours thanking God for my children and my husband. It's times like these that you don't want to take anything for granted. Thanks for praying for all of our friends.

Happy 4th

We had a fun 4th of July. We went to Columbia to visit Philip's parents. We ate too much as usual and just had a really good visit. Philip and I were able to visit an old friend of ours, Mike Madaris, from our Hattiesburg days. He is a fine man who worked in our college ministry there. His family has meant so much to us over the years. He is leaving today to go to MD Anderson to start treatment for melanoma. Visit his blog to follow his journey ( a bend in the road, as he calls it) and please pray for him and his family. We went to Silver Creek and Monticello on the 4th and saw some kin folks and swam in Philip's cousin's pool. Then we went into the city of Monticello and watched some fireworks. It was alot of fun. Eli even made a new friend. He discovered that he has a 3rd cousin that is the same age as he. They had a blast together swimming and watching the fireworks. We are gearing up this week for camp on the 15th. We have lots to buy and do before they all leave. We have an orthodontist appointment and several meetings to throw in to the mix as well. It's a full week...

Cooking out at the Thurman's.

Swimming at Margaret's house.

Eli and Chazz

Watch a video of the fireworks. It's a little long but if you didn't get to see a fireworks show this year you may enjoy.

Big News

Ok, so maybe it's not big news for everyone. But for the Thurman house, it's a big deal. Brice, Philip and I have decided that Brice will not play select soccer this next year. We have dealt with this decision for a couple of years now and this year we are following through with our gut feelings. Brice has played with this club since he was in 4th grade. (he is going into the 9th) We have spent who knows how much money for club fees, team fees, uniforms, hotel rooms, gas money, food, injuries and even more time with practices and traveling. Brice was tired of being gone all the time and being gone from church. This year our club and a rival club (Jackson Futbol Club) have decided to merge a couple of the age groups, ours being one of them. We thought it would be a good year to take off because of this. We can sit back and see how things progress with this and see how we feel next year at this time. Brice will play JV at the high school and play on a rec team. He and Shelby are thinking about playing for a Division 2 team also. This is what Shelby played on this past season. They travel some but not nearly as much as the select teams do. I know that the competition will not be anywhere near what Brice is used to and he will miss his friends. But as for our family, I think it was the right decision. Pray for Brice has he switches gears a bit and tries new things and for him with his friendships. I hope that the boys that he has played with, that are continuing to play on the team, won't shun him or exclude him. He does have other friends at school but I would just hate him to lose the friends he has had for so many years. But on the other hand, if they were only friends with him because he was on the team I guess they aren't worth much anyway. Thanks for praying...

Dog Days of Summer

This is about what we feel like these days. We counted last night. The kids have been out of school 38 days and they have 40 more. I can't believe that!! The kids are so bored these days. It's just too hot to play outside long. They stay out there MAYBE 30 minutes and come in sweating to death. They are doing a lot of fighting. We can't wait for our vacation to the beach next month. Too bad we have to wait until the end of the month. Next week is 4th of July so we will have to have something fun to do but I haven't planned anything yet. Brice and Shelby will be going to church camp on July 15th. (Big Stuf) Check out the link and see what they will be doing. They are really excited about that. Philip is going as a chaperone. It will be fun to see how he makes it on such little sleep. That exactly why I didn't go. I would have been miserable.

Well, as we count down our last 40 days, keep me in your thoughts as I try to keep peace around here. It's not easy some days. I just want to put my head under the covers and "disappear"!

Honey Do

Last weekend we started a big project. Almost 5 years ago I had this great idea to paint Eli's room like an American Flag. He was born several weeks before the 9/11 tragedy and I have always been partial to flags for him. We worked really hard on this paint job so when Eli wanted his room painted again, we just put him off until we couldn't anymore. We had to sand the red stripes a good bit to not be able to see the lines through the paint. We painted two coats of primer and only had to paint one coat of actual paint. We decided that Brice was out growing his bed because it has a foot board and his feet were hitting the end of the bed so we gave Eli his bed and dresser. He was so excited. Since the first night that Eli slept in his "new bed" he has slept later than he ever has. I don't know if it's the bed or the fact that his walls are darker and it's darker in the morning it there. He loves his room and now is trying to decide what bed spread he wants. He really wants a Star Wars theme but I'm trying to steer him away from that. He won't like Star Wars for long... We will see.

Eli has 12 foot ceilings in his room so we had to borrow the church's ladder. I don't like ladders so I could only paint as far as my arm could reach. Take a look at the before, during and after.

We were able to get Brice a new dresser and head board for his room. He also got a new mattress and box springs. He really likes his new furniture. So do we. (Mom, notice the flags on his dresser.)

Shelby also got a new mattress and box springs. She says she almost needs a step stool to get up on the bed. We all think Brice and Shelby's beds are the most comfortable.

I know Philip is glad that these projects are over. Just wait until I throw the next one on him...