CW the Younger

In March, oh so long ago, I took B-10 Gatlinburg all by himself, as a Mummy/B-10 Homeschool trip. Well, this weekend was CW's turn to go on vacation alone - for three days to Huntsville, Alabama.

Late Saturday evening we left home, I had hoped to get on the road early, since it's a four hour drive, but alas that was not to be. We drove for almost two hours before stopping for dinner (yes, it was a very late dinner, and I wasn't going to stop at all, just drive through, but CW wanted Cracker Barrel and we just happened to find one).

Here is Jonah (the family travel pet) and CW enjoying Cracker Barrel

The drive was long, I only got lost three times, and someone needs to build a road straight from Atlanta to Huntsville.

We finally check in the hotel, to find out that it is under construction - oh, we HAVE a room, just on a floor with LOTS of construction workers and construction noise. And the pool is coming apart. (Literally, the floor of the pool is coming apart, but they let us play in it if we are careful).

This is noted by the fact that CW has already enjoyed the pool three times in two days.

Day One was spent at church (the oldest church in Alabama in the Southern Baptist Convention - with a freaky iron rocket-ship steeple). Breakfast at McDonald's. Lunch at Joe Davis Stadium where the Huntsville Stars AA Baseball team plays (we saw three innings from the VERY FRONT ROW)! Then, because it's so darn hot we went to the mall.

We shopped at the Disney Store and found a few cute items to bring home for B-10 and Cousin Irene. I also found an adorable dress from a place I'd never seen called B Moss Clothing.

In the mall was also one of those bouncy, flippy, things (I'm being very technical!) and CW wanted to spend part of his money there (he had $30 in spending money for the trip).

We ended up coming back to the hotel and swimming again. Also, we played an N64 game on the TV (Paper Mario) which cost $6.97 per hour, but was well worth it! Dinner was room service, because we were tired, and the bed was comfy!

Monday was all laid out. I did my research ahead of time and we went (after breakfast at the hotel) to the US Space and Rocket Center. It was nice to see, CW enjoyed what he could of it - but the place was overrun with the Space Camp kids. Now, don't get me wrong, I am SURE that the bread-and-butter of the place is these kids, but REALLY. At one point a 9 or 10 year old boy shoved CW down to get inside a simulator first. Half the simulators were roped off for the Space Camp kids, and then they brought them into the IMAX and most of the counselors left the kids alone. It was not fun (but we got great souvenirs.)

I promised CW we would go to a children's history museum afterwards, which would be more fun for him. Yeah - it would have been fun if it were OPEN! I was so fed up (because I had already put $10 in the parking meter to get us 3 hours of parking time) that I took the advertisement saying they were open on Monday to the Huntsville Visitors Center.

They couldn't do much for me, but they did give me two 20% off coupons to the Huntsville Botanical Gardens.

This is BY FAR the absouletly best attraction in Huntsville. Kids and parents alike will LOVE this place. Make sure to let your kids wear sandals and shirts you don't mind them getting wet. The Kid's Garden was beautiful, and the Butterfly Garden was exquisite.

This is CW in the 1/2 Acre Wood, being rained on by the giant watering can. :)

The only bad part was losing Jonah. Luckily, we left out name and phone number and recieved a call this evening saying Jonah had been found! :D

We came back to the hotel to play a bit more Paper Mario and swim until dinner time (room service again). We'll be leaving early tomorrow to head home, because B-10 will be having surgery this week (which is a post for later...).

CW's favorite color is red AND blue, and he loves salad. His favorite animal is a cow. (Which he says when he moos...). His favorite vehicle is plane (and rocket) which he got to see today on the big screen (we saw the IMAX "Magic of Flight").

He's my favorite CW. Ever.

~Lone Butterfly )i(

This Morning I Cried...

We bow down,

we lay our crowns

at the feet of Jesus.

~

The goodness of

His mercy and love,

at the feet of Jesus.

~

And we cry holy, holy, holy.

And we cry holy, holy, holy.

And we cry holy, holy, holy

Is the Lamb.

~

~

This morning the entire family gathered at my sister (Boo's) church for her baby's dedication. They had all the babies up on stage and gave them their tiny bibles (which Nephew promptly shoved in his mouth), they gave a prayer then sent the children back to the nursery.

~

Boo and Fireman (her husband) slid back into the seats next to Fiance and I right before this song began. This is one of my favorite songs, but this morning I was touched unlike I have been in weeks.

~

I serve on the Media Team at my church, which involves me spending every Wednesday night working on slides and every Sunday morning running the slides for the songs, sermon, and annoucements. And while I have had a few Sundays off (due to a horrid meltdown of the church air conditioning system), this was the first Sunday I had off and was in a church. I had forgotten how joyful it is to worship.

~

I love serving, and have no desire to leave the Media Team, but it is so hard to never have the chance to SING the songs, because I'm so worried about making sure the words are up there for the 900 people or so that are singing during our church services.

~

I'm sure Boo couldn't understand why I was crying, or that the tears on my face were from joy, and a heart that was truly - at that moment - fully prepared to worship.

~

How lucky are we, to be able to lay our crowns down, at the merciful feet of Jesus? How beloved am I, to be the daughter of a King? How often does my heart sing to Him? How incredible that the Holy Lamb died for me?

~

May you be blessed on this Day of Rest.

~Lone Butterfly )i(

The Lake House

For Memorial Day Weekend we celebrated with Fiance's family. The two of us drove down with B-10 and CW to hang out with all the cousins (5 girls - and another on the way!), two aunts, two uncles, and even more extended family. There were 22 people there at one point.

The boys and I camped out on the front lawn in our beautiful Coleman Tent. It's large enough for both boys to sleep on their cots and for Fiance and I to sleep in sleeping bags, me between the boys and him in front of the zippered door (to prevent midnight escapes).

I was hesitant, but really enjoyed myself. The boys had a blast, just as I expected. One Sunday morning, before we drove down, Fiance had taken us all to Target to purchase them their own water shoes and life jackets - which they didn't take off unless they were sleeping! Tuesday evening we had to drag them inside to put on clothes to wear home. :)

My favorite part of the entire weekend was one of our trips out on the boat (we took seven). Fiance and his youngest brother got into the raft behind the boat, while the three oldest children (B-10, CW, and their oldest girl cousin: Princess Flower), curled up on the seats. Fiance's stepfather and I stood and talked while he drove them around. The kids ended up falling asleep and napping for almost an hour, while Stepfather drove the boat through the lake and up the Chattahoochee River.

On the way back we woke the kids and I took a turn with each of them. As I was holding on to the raft, speeding behind the boat at somewhere between 2500 and 3000 RPM, I closed my eyes and let the water softly spray my face. It was so easy to relax and let him drive, knowing that I had no control over where the boat went or how fast.

How is it that I can so easily trust another human being, but struggle with doing the same with God? Stepfather could have easily had an accident, throwing me and whichever child I had in the raft into the air and painfully hitting the water. Yet I could lay my head back and hold on tightly to the handles and not even worry.

God is so much more trustworthy! He guides my life - if I could simply remember to hold on and relax I could enjoy so much more of what He has planned for me. Instead I spend my time yelling out instructions and trying to direct the raft myself. Inevitable I tip over, and try to blame God, when in fact - I was the one not doing what I was suppose to do.

My prayer today is that I can allow God to be in control, and give Him the trust that He deserves, while doing what I need to do in obedience to Him!

~Lone Butterfly )i(