Christmas Play

Samuel is in the middle

See that sweet little curly headed angle, don't be fooled!!!! He is mine and I know better :)

Ridley and Chevy are in this one! I am still looking for a good one of Tori :( I will try to post it soon.

Well today I was the mom of Mary, a Shepard and 3 yes, 3 angles. It was a church play and a mom can dream right??? It was the Christmas play. I helped to do the props so my job was pretty easy this year. Each of my children did so well. They really made us proud. Everyone did a great job. Our Joseph was MIA (in 20 inches of snow) so in comes our wonderful pastor, Jamie to save the day. He is so funny, so we all wondered if it was going to be a comedy. But it was great !!! Today was the last big commitment we have till Christmas so now I will maybe, just maybe get things done!!!!

While you are praying please remember our Pastor Jamie and his wife Lori ,they are going into the hospital in the morning to have sweet baby girl #2 :)

Also continue to remember the Raby's the twins. They are making progress everyday, by the hand and grace of GOD.

Merry Christmas to all,

Shana

A long story....

I forget sometimes that not all of you have been on the crazy journey with us. Kevin and I met in high school and were hard to separate from then on. We married the year after I graduated and had our first son in 1999. I was told in September of 1998 that we would most likely not be able to have children due to poly cystic ovarian syndrome. God heard and answered our prayers and we had Samuel in July 1999. I always wanted a houseful of children. Again we were told sorry again GOD granted us a son. Ridley was born in November of 2002. He was early and both pregnancy were very hard. It was with a heavy heart that I followed the doctors advice to have my tubes tied. The day I had that done was so sad for me, I was forever closing a door I was not ready to close.

Fast forward to 2005. God had opened the door for us to attend classes to be foster parents. The first class brought even more sadness for me. Kevin left the class and said we were not cut out for that. In his defense they spent the entire class telling us just how broken these children were and it was enough to scare any sane person, which is probably why I still could not understand where the problem was.I cried all the way home, it seemed as though my dream was even farther away then ever. All that I could do was pray.

That fall came and I saw that another class was coming up and I went to Kevin and asked of we could just take the class if after all the classes were done if he still was against it I would accept that and know we had tried.

We took the classes and they were taught by a different teacher. At the end Kevin said we would try and see where we ended up :)

We had to fill out mounds of paperwork and tell them what we type of child we thought would fit best with our family. I always wanted a girl so here was my chance.

They called on a Monday in April around 3:00 to ask if we would take a newborn baby BOY, and oh yea he is a straight surrender. Which means we could adopt him in six months. What did I say? When and where can I pick him up???? He was a 4 lb drug exposed baby who stole my heart before I even got to him. Evan was the child I was meant to have.

May comes and they call to see if we would take a baby girl that was 2 months old. What did I say???? Yes :) Yea a girl, oh wait I have a 1 month old boy!!! Oh well here we go!

We got to adopt my Tori when she was 18 months old. We were done. I had three boys and my sweet girl.

Don't answer the phone, well I did they were needing to place a teenager she was ready to be adopted. Oh yea and she is pregnant. No problem I can get out of this quick. Every question I asked thinking these will get me off the hook without guilt was answered showing me that GOD had picked my final child the child that would complete our family.


Chevy came to our family not sure what to think but really we were just as lost. I was not sure what to do with a teenager and a pregnant one at that. We just took one day at a time as we still do.

Aiden was born on May 15, 2008. What a great day it was. I loved him as if he were my own. He went to sleep in September in his bed and woke up in heaven. His intestines ruptured and it took his life. Our sweet boy with the deep voice would change lives in the three months he lived. I sat in the hospital begging GOD I would do anything he asked, please just let the doctors help Aiden. But GOD does not make deals.After Aiden passed away time was measured by breaths and that moved to hours and eventually days. I have learned to lean on GOD, as he is the only one who can help us. I have stopped asking why... it no longer matters because why will not change it. I choose to say thank for allowing us the three months, I am forever grateful for each day. Even in the pain I would do it again, he was worth it.

sorry this is so long just wanted to fill in some of the blanks.

Shana

Even today I love being a mom

As any mother knows someday are what you thought they would be. They are swinging at the park, a peaceful lunch, a dinner that does not require a peace treaty, bath where the water stays in the tub, and bed time that does not require a the promise of coming back with reinforcements. Sadly enough today was not one of those days. Today was a day that my children thought it was their day to enact democracy. I am sure some will disagree with me, but that is not how we run our home. I feel that I am doing my children a great disservice in life if I give them impression that they will always be happy and the sun always shines. Yes MOST of their friends parents, some these parents are my friends, feel they need to give in to their sweet babies. Kevin and I do not stand for smart mouths or bad attitudes. They each have been testing the limit with these and they found the over the limit line today. With that being said not a hair on their heads is harmed but they were put back on the straight and narrow. I say all this to tell you that even in this I love each one of them almost to the point of pain. I know what a blessing each one of them is. My children are a choice not a chore. God has given me the greatest gift. The gift to be a part of the lives of 5 people who he holds dear, as they were his babies first. They are only on loan to me. I will look closer at them, why because in each of them I will see the face of God. I hope that God will see fit to allow me more time with them.

Shana

Time flies when you are a mom of 5 and having fun

Thanksgiving was a wonderful day. The week started with all of us working together starting on to get the house and the feast that followed ready. I love this time of year. Well, really my love starts in the fall. In the South the kick off of the first football it is also a unspoken kick off of the eating season. Tailgate parties, fall festivals, county fairs, trick or treating, Thanksgiving, CHRISTmas and New years. In the south we really do not need a reason to eat, we eat and eat well. Food that involves a a get together is very important. You must get the details ironed out well in advance. If you host you better be ready. I love to host, I am lucky that my husband is so wonderful. He humors me even when I really need to be committed for at least a 24 hour evaluation. We had all of my family over for lunch. We ate and ate and when normal sane people would have stopped we ate again. Christmas decorations are almost up and I am working on cards now. I am going to try to finish up all of the must do CHRISTmas by Monday of this week, I am ready to step back and enjoy the spirit of the season. While I whole support Santa at CHRISTmas, I will teach my children that Jesus is the reason we have CHRISTMAS.

May God bless you in this Holiday season,

Shana

Today is Greys day, sometimes it is the small things

Thursdays are my days to watch my favorite shows. Greys and Private Practice.
I have set some goals for both my self and my family. Mine are health related. I was involved a are head on crash 9 years ago and still have chronic pain. I worked out daily to keep my joints moving but that before life took a detour. Fast forward a year and I have days where I can not walk because of the fibromyalgia. That just does not work for a mom of 5 as well as a wife. So I have started working out again yesterday.

God HAS blessed our family this past year. I know if you look at the calender last year you would see that Aiden died. Yes, that forever changed our world. You can not go to bed one night and wake up the next morning to a baby that went to be with the Lord in his sleep and not be forever changed.

But in this I have learned to lean on God. I have learned that I can survive. I can survive, even when I do not want to, but only with God.

My husband is my rock, he is my best friend and my other half. He is my high school sweet heart. Our children could not be more blessed.

As you go into this season of Thankfulness. Be thankful, take the time to pray about what that really means to you.

Thankfully saved by his grace,

Shana

Tori set Evan Straight

Today was slow starting. I sound like I had been gargling rocks for oh.. about 6 years. I felt horrible. But no rest for a mommy. Well as much as I would love to say I got to rest all day, I had to run a few errands. This is where my mom comes to the rescue, she went with me to help out. Tori was telling my mom and I that she wants a Strawberry Shortcake doll that is just a big head so she can brush her hair. My mom tells her, maybe Santa or mommy will get it for you for Christmas. This is where Evan gets set straight by Tori. Evan in his sweet three year old voice, Twoie (tori) I will get it for you. She puts her hands in the air and says, EBAN (evan) you have no way to get to the store and you do not have any money..... WOW is both smart and a smart alec. I have to say I did laugh.

Please when you pray tonight pray for some friends of our family, The Fords. They lost Courtney Ford in a car accident last night. She was only 21 and had a 10 mo old baby girl. This is such a sad loss for them. They can use all of our prayers.

Shana

Thanksgiving is almost here

I am sooooo excited that Thanksgiving is almost here. We are hosting it at our house for my side of the family. I love to cook so the wheels are turning in my head. Mom and I going shopping next week so we can get it all and start cooking. Hopefully my sister will be able to come over and make pumpkin butter with us. Stay tuned for pictures of the Christmas decorations that will begin next week.
Did I mention I am a terrible mom? I ran over Samuels skateboard ramp!! The excursion won. Well I guess maybe just maybe they will put things up.

I am going to really try to keep up with this blog. We will see how that goes.

Shana

I am soooo excitied!!!

I am starting a kickball team and an area league :) I am so pumped, I can not wait. If you want to join let me know.

Today we spent it with Granddad. Any day with him is a fun day. We went to the mall and had lunch and then came home picked up a few thing and went to put flowers at mam aw Edington's grave. I know some of you are thinking wow you are FUN. But I love to hear the stories of family I have never met. This is helping my children to see just who they are. I took some pictures and I am going to get with my father in law to put together a scrapbook on our family tree.

Please pray for my Husbands second father (step father just sounds wrong) he is still not feeling well and and could use the prayers. But hey who couldn't?

This week will be busy and I am ready to meet it head on.

Shana