What is The Color of Joy?

If you could give JOY a color... what would it be? This thought coming from the artist who keeps her palettes after a painting project because the palette of mixed colors is just as pretty as the work of art! Just sit back and think of times that you have smiled and think what color was there. Some colors in my life are hard to describe, but Crayola's latest colors hit some of them right on target.

The Colors of My Joy

Cornflower~ Bo's eyes, what a beautiful shade of blue, with his white blonde hair and gingerbread skin

Goldenrod~ The gorgeous yellow glow that radiates through the back of my house at sunset; bouncing off all of the dark brown and honey tones of our home.

Salmon~ The shade of coral that I just feel pretty in. You know that one color, when you put it on you know it brings out the best in your hair and skin. Gorgeous!

Tumbleweed, Raw Sienna, & Brown ~ The three shades of our dog, Rolo's hair. Women would pay alot of dough for these beautiful colors and natural highlights. Definitely our Sunshiny, Florida dog.

Brick Red ~ The color of the berries draped on our living room armoir and above our front door. I put them up at Christmas and just can't seem to pull them down because they are so pretty. My house doesn't have much red to coordinate the berries... but who cares, they bring me just a little peep of joy!

Midnight Blue~ The color that my husband puts on and makes me melt... woo-hoo, midnight blue! Hince... four children and a closet full of midnight blue shirts!! :)

Mauvelous ~ Isn't that a fantastic name for a shade of pink! It is the color of the sky of some sunsets that I view over our backyard fence. Since there is no other pink in my life... God gives me that one often!

Shadow ~ The shade of green that matches Jackson'e eyes and most of the shades of my scrapbook pages. When at Michael's and I see a pack of paper mostly with the tones of "shadow", it's hard to resist.

Dandelion, Canary Yellow, & Banana Mania ~ The shades of yellow that make up my Colby's head of hair. If you saw him today, you may think that boy needs a haircut... but I just can't! My curly hair is only seeming to come out on him and it's just precious... that smile and that wavy hair... watch out... we've got a cutie britches on the loose!

That's just some of the colors of joy in my world... doesn't it make you want to go buy a 64 pack of crayons and color away!!??!!

My Brother Warms My... Back!

So, it was bathtime! Got the tub runnin', the boys were lovin' the bubbles and spelling words on the wall (thanks, Jen!) Well, I stepped aside to get their towels laid out on the counter.

In that split second I hear...

Jack ask Colby, "Do that again, just pour it on my shoulders this time."

Colby responded, "Pour what?"

Jack said, "The water in the cup."

Colby said, "I don't have a cup."

Jack nervously asked, "What was warm on my back?"

Colby giggled and said, "I peed on you!"

Laughter ensued, bath was cut short, and my blog was screaming for me!

Have a great night... and a clean bath!

God's Perspective

I was about to title this post... Blessings, Blessings, Blessings. I planned to write about our beautiful Father's Day Sunday, funny stories with the kids, and precious moments with family. I took a step back mentally and realized there are a lot of people in our life who are hurting right now... goodness, we are going through a small, hurting time right now. Isn't it funny that my automatic thought to post was blessings? Then I realized that I am viewing our life right now with God's perspective... yes, there are people very close to us going through difficult challenges and yes, we are struggling with a little this and a little that... but I feel God telling me... "I'm in control of all that stuff... no worries... you just focus on loving all of the people and soaking up the blessings that I am pouring on your life."

So, with God's perspective... I am going to pray continually for my hurting loved ones, be there for them however possible... and in the between time HAVE FUN!!! "Count it all joy," my fantastic Father tells me... He's working through the tough stuff and He's working through the fun stuff... I just have to be joyful knowing He's working and that I am blessed to get to watch it!

Some other Fantastic father's who bless my life truly deserve some special accolades as well. What a lucky gal to have so many precious men in my life... and another on the way!!!!

My Sam... mmm, mmm, mmm! He loves the Lord of his life, he takes care of the lady of his life way to well, and he ADORES his children. We surprised him for Father's day with the boys showing up for our Sunday service in t-shirts that highlighted how much they love their dad! Colby and Bo in, "My Dad is the Man!" and Jack wearing, "My Dad Rocks." We told him that we had a yummy steak dinner planned at home that night and that he could do whatever he wanted during the day. He let me know that morning that he would love to have some "cave time" in his recliner, so I planned to take the boys to Target, get the yummies for the delicious dinner, and then take them swimming... leaving plenty of cave time! Ended up... he went to Target with us, got some new shades, and then went to the pool with us (swam for awhile then kicked back and read his ESPN magazine!) Sam is the MAN and ROCKS our world!!!

My Daddy... Sam let me know at the beginning of our marriage that he had some pretty big shoes to fill when caring for me after my dad had for 21 years. I agreed! :) I called my dad midday Father's Day and just missed him, called my sister's where he was heading and got no answer. So, at 7:00pm my dad calls me... "Baby, I was just calling to check on you to make sure you're ok because you always call me!" Oh, a daddy's love for his children NEVER ends. Even on their day to receive all the attention! I adore my dad... always have, always will!

Sam's dad... I owe all of my children's athleticism and spriritual growth to Mike. He coached Sam on the field and off the field in areas that Sam now naturally coaches our children. A firm, dedicated father who went the mile coaching Sam in sports and training him up in the way toward our Lord. Thank you, Mike, for leading a legacy of Faith and Fun!!!!

My Stepdad... the grandkids call him Grouch (to his request because he figured he'd be a grouchy old man), but he is everything but a Grouch. At the present time he is creating and building a Mountain home and farm that is a dreamland for his children and grandchildren... equipped with tractors for each grandchild to race, horses for us to ride, paths with our own names, and on and on and on... He loves his family and makes us laugh until the tears roll! Happy Father's Day, Dan... you enrich our lives in soooo many ways!!!

Another Amazing and Amusing Day...

Picture taken last week...

Notice Bo's red eyes (eye infection) and Colby's shade of white (stomach virus) and Jackson not caring of catching either. Amazing and Amusing!

God is so good... He filled my day today with giggles and awe!

It all began with my monthly check-up. The boys came with me to visit Dr.Gibbs because our 10:00 playgroup followed my 9:15 appointment. Sam got everybody loaded up and I rushed into the van, blew a kiss and we hit the road. Got stopped by a train backing traffic up just two car lengths from my turn into the parking lot, causing me to be late. Caleb would've enjoyed!Finally, pulled up at the doctor (7 minutes late... I WAS ON TIME, before the train!), unbuckled everyone, and realized Colby didn't have his shoes on. I quickly noticed that he hadn't just kicked them off... we forgot them! I scrambled around the van looking for anything to cover his feet... I found one of Jackson's tennis shoes (left one) and one of Jackson's flip-flops (right one). So, as you can imagine... Colby looked real nice walking into the doctor's office. It's one of those moments that you wanted to look like you had everything pulled together... pregnant mom with three boys, trucking to the doctor alone... looks like a pulled together picture... then you see Colby's feet. I just chuckled and let the nurses know... "I'm glad that I had those shoes in the car!" We were in the room and Dr.Gibbs began to find Max's heartbeat. My three precious angels stood beside the table in perfect stairstep formation and listened intently with big eyes of anticipation. We heard the heartbeat briefly and then heard a bunch of kicks. They giggled. The doppler got a little loud causing Bo to get a little nervous. He looked at me with a frown, tears in his eyes that look just like his daddy's, and said, "Mommy," with nervousness of what that sound was. Jackson immediately noticed, leaned over to pick him up and whispered in his ear that everything was fine and we would hear the "boomp a boomp a boomp" again. Bo was at ease. Amazed and Amused... my three boys; in a matter of 25 minutes can have me giggling over mixed up shoes and not a care about it... to in complete awe of their love and care for one another.

The day went on and then it was time for Women's Bible Study. I was Amused and Amazed by some of the precious women I have the honor of being with every week. We began the evening eating cake and learning Salsa dance moves from our resident Columbian friend. The amused chimes in here... 5 month pregnant me doing a Salsa dance... I looked as good as Colby in his shoes! The amazed part of the evening came at the end. Beth Moore had just presented the question to us... "How would your faith hold up in trial? Do you REALLY know what you believe with the explanation to back it up?" So, the ladies wanted to get that info pulled together... SOON! They want to study, they want to dig, they want God's Word to be so impressed on their heart that there would be no evidence against their faith. I was in awe of their determination... so, we will be working on our own Personal Statements of Faith from the inspiration of Scripture in a few weeks. How exciting! How Amazing!!!

So, thank you, Lord for another day full of Amusement and Amazement... YOU ARE SO GOOD! One last thing... Can you help me with remembering the shoes thing... thanks!

Love Is Many Things...

Love is many things, but last week, my mom embodied love.

Love was long, strong hugs to three little boys.

Love was sweet, back-and-forth smiles between mother & daughter.

Love was a trip to Toys-R-Us.

Love was a backrub on a sick little Colby.

Love was watching Cars and giggling away with the boys.

Love was rushing to Target to get one last goodie even if it made us late.

Love oogled over scrapbooks for over an hour.

Love teetered on a see-saw.

Love left an imprint on us all... can't wait until July!

Glorious Day!!!

I LOVE DAYS LIKE TODAY!!!! Following a beautiful Sunday morning with our church family and a wonderful meeting with our Creative Ministry, we felt the sadness and joy of hosting a farewell cookout for some sweet friends of ours who are moving to Tennessee. The cookout ended up consisiting of 11 adults and 11 children... 22 people who we adore!! 22 people in my 1400 sq.ft. house, but that just made it even sweeter because it caused us all to be close together! Good thing our back yard is bigger than our house for some stretching room!

I know that the Italian in my blood runs very thick... My grandmother's maiden name was Destefano and she was everything Italian! Her spaghetti and meatballs were out of this world and family meals were big and full of joy. That is where my joy of the day blossomed from... I LOVE big families, I love eating together, I love children running around smiling... I loved our big family cookout!!! Not one of the people here today were blood relatives, but it sure did feel like it!!

Let me give you just a little glimpse into one of my beaming moments...

I'm standing in the kitchen in perfect view of the living room and backyard. The breeze is blowing through the house because the back door is wide open. I hear giggles coming from every direction. From outside on the trampoline, swingset, or slip and slide... or inside from the playroom. I see four mommies, a baby bouncing in one's lap, relaxing on the couch and chairs sharing funny stories. My view to the backyard is a front row seat to the Men's Football game. The smell of the grill just flowing through the air. This is what the joy of family is all about... the sight of happiness, the sound of giggles of big and small, the smell of fresh air filling the house, the taste of yummy food, and the feeling of pure bliss.

Who's coming over for a cookout next weekend... our door is wide open!