Who am I to Deserve This?

It's official - softball season has begun. [Thank goodness Molly made the team this year.  My favorite coach was going to have a long, cold season sleeping in the building from now until May if she got cut....]  Saturday was the official Kings Mountain Scrimmage [or, as we like to call it, Bring on the Cold as Crap Weather Scrimmage].  My goodness gracious it was cold !  Two days before it was 75 degrees but Saturday?  30 with a -25 wind.  There was no escaping the it either.  And, since my favorite coach runs the whole sh'bang the ENTIRE Shortie clan was there ~ one coach, one player, one concession stand worker, one gate keeper, and two goats asking for more stuff from the concession stand. Good times....good times :) I am excited about this softball season - I've got a really good feeling that it's going to be super fun!

Craig and I are so very blessed.  I look around at all of the things we have but that's not what makes us blessed.  We have these four amazing children that continue to make us laugh [and cry] and fill our lives with joy.  How could we ask for anything more?  Why would we ask for anything more?  We've spent the entire weekend together and it has been glorious.  I love just talking to them and giving them hugs.  I never imagined that being a parent could be such a fulfilling and worthwhile "job."  We have struggled since we've been married [not us as in struggled to be married but struggled financially].  We sort of put the "cart before the horse" so to speak.  Actually, we put the cart then the horse then the wheels on the cart.  I never would have imagined, in 16 years, we'd be where we are today.  It is not us that put us here but He who deserves the glory.  He blessed us with wonderful families that helped us out [and still do] along the way so that we never, ever went without the things we needed.  He kept us going through good times and bad and helped us through MANY mistakes [of course more mistakes by Craig than me but who's keeping tabs?].  

This begs the question, "Who am I?"  I am not deserving of anything God has done in my life - not one single thing.  Yet, His grace and mercy have sustained me, encouraged me, inspired me, and beckoned me to come a little farther still.  He has provided when we could not.  Breathtaking. Amazing. Love.  My heart is overjoyed and I wanted to share :)     

Short and I have decided to pack up the Shorties and take Washington by storm [I am quite certain the Secret Service just increased exponentially at the thought that Emma and Gabe would be in DC at the same time].  We are uber excited!!!!!  The last time we took our kids on vacation was almost 4 years ago [vacations cost money and we are just now learning to use ours to our benefit...never too late I suppose] and we just went to the beach.  Now, don't me wrong [Chrissy Hynde and the Pretenders just went singing through my head...hello 1986] being the good rednecks that we are we love us some Myrtle Beach [I know that rednecks aren't the only ones that go to Myrtle Beach but the people that aren't redneck stay in them fancy places 'cause the rental spots I'm always in are full of rednecks] but we would also like for our kids to see some other places on vacation.  We felt like DC would be a good choice for several reasons:
1. Alot of things to do are absolutely free [and when you are taking 6 people on vacation then free = good].
2. We relish blazing hot weather and kids on vacation ~ we love a challenge!
3. Emma and Gabe are so into Abraham Lincolnton and dinosaurs right now and the Molly and Cooper are history nerds buffs [smh] so DC seemed like the perfect place.
4. We can spend as much to go there and do 100% more as we can at Myrtle Beach.
5. Disney World was not an option this year.
I will be sure to keep you posted [as if you care] because I have HUGE plans.  I'm planning this vacation for maximum overload ~ we are going to see it all!  The hotel is booked already so we are well on our way :)

Gabe decided this morning that he no longer likes nursery.  When I asked him why, in his tiny voice he answered, "It's just too hard to be good all day!" All you Kindergarten teachers might want to consider an alternative assignment for this next school year, a new profession, or some serioius drugs if his name shows up on your roll. [Don't say you weren't warned - I have proof.]  Then, you can have a conversation like the following and you are thinking, "Wow!"
Gabe: Mommy, I like cemetaries. 
 Me: Me too! When we go to Washington we'll get to visit a huge cemetary.
Gabe: Is that where Martin Luther King is buried. 
Me [sad but I wasn't sure or not]: I don't think so.  But there are some really neat graves there like JFK's [as if he was going to know who JFK was]. 
Gabe: What happened to him?
Me:  A mean man named Lee Harvey Oswald shot him and he died.
Gabe: Did he shoot him because he didn't like him? 
Me: Yes that is right.
Gabe: Like when Plane [aka Pontius Pilot] let Jesus die because he didn't like what Jesus was telling about God?
Me:That is right.
Gabe might be a stinker but he listens when it is important :)

As always, life as a Short is awesome!!