Stages of change at our house.....

Our God certainly has a sense of humor. We are going through different stages at our house.. Of course, that is what happens when you have a young lady entering her tweens.......

And a little boy who is STILL potty training (This has not come easily for us!! UGH!)

So I could just sit and cry and wring my hands or I suppose I could actually seek God and ask HIM for help.. It has been a rough few months with Karyss.. We are struggling in many areas and the poor dear is just a mess at this point. I am very excited about a book I was able to find to help her through this time..

As for Riley, we are just being consistent and I think he is training me. I am tied to the clock and running to the potty to make sure we make it in time.. We are progressing.. Strange to have such a large gap and see what a difference it makes.... God knows best. It was His plan for them to be this far apart but.. I guess we just have to get through each stage

I am excited to see what lies ahead for my sweet children.....

Just borrowed.

Well, today is the day to post pictures of my grown up girl and I am struck with the thought that our children are not ours... They are on loan. God has given them to us for just a little while. I have been reading friends' blogs this week and catching up on their struggles and joys with their children and it seems we all have the same frustrations. I know I am very far from a perfect mother and there are days I want to run away and hide. I am trying to look at my children through God's eyes today... I need to teach them His ways so they can grow closer to Him.. They are not mine. They are His gift to me so even as I watch Karyss who is so grown up now I can know that I have done my best for Him.

sorry, my little sermon for the day :-D

Here is my grown up girl!

Enjoying mommyhood

So is that a word?? Mommyhood. I have just been reflecting on it today and I am so enjoying my children. Karyss is at that stage between little girl and adolescent and I am completely not ready to see her grow up. Last night I decided we needed some little girl time so we sat down and colored together for over an hour. It was quite a nice time. Even Riley wanted to get in on the action so up in his chair he went too with pictures and chubby crayons.. so cute to see. I am just so grateful to God for what He has blessed me with. My son is growing so fast and now that he may finally have some relief from his eczema and allergies then he can enjoy life a little more.

I have been reading some of my friend's blogs this morning and I am so enjoying that! Reading the stories of your kids makes me smile.

Thanks!

Thought I would post a couple of pictures of my cuties here. Enjoy!

My boy .. I love those curls and his shirt says it all for me :-D
See how she is growing up already?? My sweet girl.

pictures from the summer

Karyss and Riley are so cute together!!!
Karyss got a new haircut and she loves it!!!
My adorable Riley!!

Riley and Seth in nursery
Dan thinks this outfit is girly but I LOVE it

We loved our time at the cabin in Tennessee
Riley loves church nursery

Karyss LOVED her birthday party in Canada...
My parents, sisters and my kids

My grandfather will be 90 in February... So great for him to spend time with us and my kids!
My cousin's baby, Rylan is 3 months younger than Riley!

Karyss already loves my cousin Derrick and Riley really enjoyed him too!!!

A long time absent

Sorry I have done it again.. gone a while without writing. This week we are deep in the preparations for Camp. We leave on Monday to go to the Wilds in North Carolina. Having never been there, I am really looking forward to it. This will also be Karyss' first time at camp. She is at Junior camp while we are at Teen camp. I am nervous for her and am trying to prepare her to be a "big girl" while she is there.. Is it just me or do kids just grow up WAYYYYY too fast.?? I am looking at her and seeing how tall and grown up she is with her little pre-teen face.. I can't believe how much she is changing.
Riley is growing too so much that I can't stand it. We were finally able to find something to clear up his eczema. It looked so painful. I know he is feeling much better now.
My Daniel's birthday is Saturday so I am also in the middle of packing and preparing, trying to figure out a way to make his day extra special. Anyone out there have some ideas??

As I said we will be gone all next week but I promise to blog when we get back all about our wonderful time at camp

Karyss is finished!!!!

She is done with school for the year. Can you believe it?? She finished on Tuesday with her awards assembly. It is hard to believe my little girl is a third grader now. Wow.

Here are some pictures of her special day!

This is Mikayla, her best friend. Mikayla is not coming back next year. She is going to be homeschooled. Karyss is DEVASTATED by this.

She LOVED her teacher this year. Ms French is a first year teacher and was so special and sweet to Karyss. She is going back home to Utah and getting married next summer. Karyss will miss seeing her as well.

Sorry I haven't blogged much lately. A LOT has been going on. I will try to get back in the swing of things now.

Hope everyone (all 3 or 4 of you that read this :-D) are doing great !!

Long time no Blog!

Hi Everyone. Did you think I fell off the earth?? It has been really busy around here with church and activities and all.. guess we're just gearing up for summer.... I took up the task this week of clearing out Karyss' toybox! There were things in there from YEARS ago!! I couldn't believe the amount of junk she had stuffed in that thing.. Which led me to ask.. Do any of you have any good ideas for helping kids stay organized?? I was terrible at it as a child myself and I am not all that great at it now but Karyss is really struggling. Her room is small and it is so hard for her to keep it clean. Any suggestions???

My babies

Just found some pictures of Karyss as a baby and thought I would post. Do you think she and Riley look alike???

Karyss was probably a week old in this picture and Riley was less than a week old. What do you all think?? It probably would be a better comparision if I had done a picture of Riley with his eyes open.

Our Easter

Karyss loved coloring the Easter Eggs.. Riley helped by supervising :-D

She LOVES Green

Finished Product! Aren't they pretty??

Karyss' Easter Basket

Riley's Easter Treat

All Ready for Easter Sunday! She is so proud of her "princess dress"

Our little Easter bunny :-D

It was great day

Quiet day

Hi all. Just a quiet day here at the house of Basham. We are sitting just listening to a Mac & Beth Lynch CD while waiting for dinner to cook (Cheesy Shell Lasagna... DELICIOUS). Karyss and I played some games today and mostly just hung out together for her last day of Spring break. I took on the horrible task of cleaning out the computer hutch and right now I must say it looks wonderful. The worst part about our computer is that it is in the living room so anyone coming in to our house can see the clutter... Not now.. It is DE-Cluttered. What a nice feeling. I can sit down and pay bills ( with all the stress that goes with that) and not be stressed by the clutter. Does anyone out there watch "Clean House" on the Style network??? I don't know how some of those people live.. I think there might be a slight exaggeration before the designers get there.
Anyway, just wanted to check in with everyone about our quiet day.
Have a great weekend everyone!

Riley at one month and prayer request

Hi Everyone. We took Riley for his one month appointment and He is GROWING!! He is almot 9 pounds now! 8 lbs, 14 ounces to be exact and 21 inches long. I am so proud of the way he is growing and changing!! Today is the first day of a 4 hour schedule. Tonight will be the worst. Please pray that he tolerates it well. He has done fine on it today so far. Pray that Karyss is able to sleep if he needs to cry it out a little bit . Also, if everyone could please pray for my husband. When we moved here a year and a half ago Dan was hospitalized with a blood clot in his bowel which caused him to have to have an emergency bowel resection surgery. It was a scary time and quite honestly we almost lost him. He was also diagnosed as a diabetic at that time. He receovered wonderfully and had his energy back which had been lacking for quite a while. He felt so much better. Now he is tired ALL the time and has no energy. He is currently sick with flu-like symptoms and his blood sugars are plummeting ( last night his reading was 40.. those of you who know about diabetes will know that is terribly low). He is going to the doctor on Friday. Please pray that he is able to get help and be back to himself. I am terribly worried. Thank you!