Beachin Asbells

This summer headed back to the beach!!!

We have visited the 30A area many times with and without kids. We like the lack of highrises (less bodies on the beach) and non-touristry atmosphere. We headed back to Sea Grove this summer for our family vacation.

Luke has been talking about the beach since the last time we went three years ago. He talked about the 'pirate room' him and Evan shared, the elevator to the 4th floor, the balcony. He talked about it all! 

Now, three years ago, he did not enjoy the beach as much as I wanted him to. He wanted to remain in the pool. He was also too little to be in the water by himself so one of us had to follow him around constantly. Not my idea of a relaxing beach vacation. Like my friend once said, "I mean, if I can't relax on the beach with a book and cold beverage, I am not sure I'd like it either. It's hot...and sandy..." But, I knew this year would be different.

On our way down, I pulled my blog post from 3 years ago to read about the things we did. I was quickly reminded to set my expectation low....very low.

The trip started out very rough. Evan had spent a week at Camp of the Rising Son in French Camp, MS. We had planned to pick him up and drive straight to the beach. It would add a little time to our drive, but it was at least in the general direction. I got a call the night before we were leaving. I had been waiting for this call all week. I just knew the camp was going to call me to say he wasn't eating...or wasn't sleeping...or broke his arm. I have a very active imagination. When I saw an unknown number at 8pm from Pontomic MS, my heart immediately sunk. 

Nurse: Mrs. Asbell? Um, hi. I have Evan here and his eye has been bothering him all day. He's come several times to us to talk about it. This time when he came we saw it was really swollen and goopy.

OMGAHHHHHH - I don't think I heard a word of what she said after that. I knew in my mommy heart Evan had pink eye!!! I classify pink eye up there with lice. So gross. So very gross and so very contagious. 

They told me they could keep him for the night in the infirmary. This means he got to sleep in air conditioning AND watch a movie. We arrived around 8:30 and I immediately knew it was pink eye. We grabbed his stuff, thanked the amazing staff at CRS, squirted some drops in his eyes, and took off....but didn't get far. Luke quickly puked in the back seat. 

**SIGH**

Thankfully he hit a blanket in the floor, so clean up was easy. I bought some Dramamine, told him to open wide, and then we took off again.

Thankfully those were the two worst things that happened the whole trip. Evan's pink eye spread to the other eye, but he was completely healed by Monday. And by a complete miracle and a metric ton of hand sanitizer, no one else got it. 

We enjoyed a lot of good food, amazing weather, and some really fun times in the ocean all week. 

I think my favorite memory was at lunch one day. The boys were just talking and Evan casually said, 'Luke, who is your best friend?" Without even looking up from his lunch, Luke pointed to Evan and simply said, "You."

I love how easy their friendship is.

The kids (and adults) spent a lot of time looking for ocean treasure!

We had a great view from our balcony. That is a VERY important feature for me when choosing a condo. I like to take my coffee on the patio, my dinner, my 5pm drink, my everything! It's also great for people watching. Especially when you people watch the same family take family photos three nights in a row...

The boys LOVED the ocean. The rougher the better. We had several calm days, but the boys always seemed to enjoy the rougher ones better.

We did some non-beach things as well. We ate well at Florida Fish House, The Hub, Bruno's, Grayton Brew Pub, Blue Mountain Creamery, Goatfeathers, The Perfect Pig, and more!

But my favorite time was when we were all together on the beach.

Thank you family vacation for giving us a reason to slow down and focus on each other. We'll see you again next year. 

Evan's heart

I've been trying to find the words all day to express how proud I am of E, but keep coming up short.

This has been quite a year of growth for Evan and me. Both of us have to stop and remind ourselves that our worth is not measured by what other people think of us. It's not measured by how hard you can hit a baseball or the grade on your report card. It's not measured by how many 'likes' you get or how clean and organized the house is. It's not measured by how many people pick you for their secret special club. Our worth has already been determined when Jesus chose to die on the cross for us...for me...for him. Now it's our turn to show in our outward actions what that means to us.

Evan and I are blessed to call St. George's our second home...our second family. All the people SG Gryphons take the time to get to know each and every student. Their strengths, their weaknesses, their hardships, their successes. When I tell you that they know my children almost as well as I do...I am not lying.

This year Evan was recognized for citizenship at Award's Day. I said it all day and I will keep saying it. THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ME. THIS IS HOW GOD MADE HIM. It's my job to nurture it and some days I feel like I fail Him. God gave me this precious gift just like he is. I pray to follow God's plan for his life.

But at St. George's, they recognized this gift Evan was given. His empathetic heart. His love for little kids. His positive attitude. The way he loves to lift others up. This is what his teacher wrote about him. This is what caused me to do the 'ugly cry'. Thank heavens I was in the back row!

"This young man truly lives his life by putting others before himself. As he walks across campus he easily greets others and never hesitates to stop, jump in, and help if he sees a need. It is wonderful to see him interact with younger students as he has the ability to make them feel special. He always has the time for a high five or a hug. He can be seen on almost a daily basis taking the time to speak directly to children in the early childhood division. At the beginning of the year, he would take the time each day to interact with a Junior Kindergartener who was unsure because he was new to the school. This young student instantly had an anchor each and every day that increased his confidence. This good citizen has an innate ability to see when his classmates need encouragement as well as finds subtle ways to build them up. One time in office hours he was seen asking a student to explain a math problem to him even though he understood it, just to help this other student regain confidence after a tough afternoon. He always faces every challenge whether it is in the classroom or on the playground with a positive attitude."

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree

The first grade Animal Play was a hit!!

At St. George's the first grade students do a collaborative study all about animals. This unit spans across not only their school subjects but their specialty subjects as well. In music, they sing songs about animals. In library, they research using primary sources about animals. In art, the sculpt animals. In technology (that's me) they learn about proper internet research and good use of online resources to learn about animals. They make a digital presentation on animals. In Innovation lab, they learn about conservation. They design AND implement a business from start to finish to raise money to adopt an animal at the zoo. It's animals everywhere! The unit ends with a great field trip to the zoo.

During this, the student put on an Animal Play where they get to showcase to the parents and school all they've done. Their art is on the walls. Their presentations play before the show. The music is sung during the show. Their research and facts are their lines in the show. The way this comes together as a part of their learning is quite amazing.

This year, the students got to pick an animal they were interested in. Luke picked the kookaburra because of it's laughing bird call. The first time he heard it, he imitated it perfectly. Luke's laugh is almost as unique as a kookaburra, so this was a perfect fit.

Let me just say, Luke keeps surprising me. In PK, I remember telling his teacher he might not even get on stage for the PK performance. I remember the conversation so clearly. I said, "We might be absent that day." Luke really didn't like people looking at him when he was younger. Like, I am not kidding. People looking at him made him very uncomfortable. My first child LIVES for attention. The more people watching him, the better.  As a baby, Luke would cry when strangers would try to talk to him. If he knew you, cool. If not, don't come near. So what did I think about an entire audience looking at him when he was 4....terror. I thought it would terrify him.

He, of course, proved me wrong.

He shined that year and has kept shining on stage since. This year he especially got into the role. But I knew he was nervous. He kept putting his hand on his heart and grinning. I knew he was feeling his heartbeat to see how fast it was beating. That smile though....it meant everything.

He also knew everyone's line. I had no idea he had them all memorized. It would have been fine, but he was standing behind the three main characters. So every time they said a line, he mimed it behind them. Every. Time.

He was showing off his costume outside. He, very seriously, said, "WAIT! I have to use my feathers to camouflage!" This kid seriously makes me laugh.

And of course, we are super lucky to have family come see Luke perform! The whole grade spent so much time perfecting their performance. It meant so much to have them take time out of their day to appreciate their hard work!

We love you little kookaburra. I pray you keep this joy and laughter the rest of your life!

Double Digits!

I can't believe it. I have a ten year old. 

Evan. I cannot even put into words what you mean to our family. You are our passionate one. Your heart burns bight. You hate injustice and truly believe you can change the world. You can be stubborn and fiercely protective. You are smart while still searching for knowledge. You love people. Oh, how you love people. You believe in people. You believe in people when they don't believe in themselves. You are loyal, true, and the most empathetic person I know. Evan, I look up to you and pray you seek the desires God has for your life. 

We started the big celebration with some paintball. Now, this was low impact paintball which means the guns were lighter, the paintballs were smaller, and the hits wouldn't hurt 'as much'. Looking at the bruise that is on Evan's leg a week later, I would say 'low impact' still hurts. 

It started raining as soon as the boys put on their gear. I mean...raining! Thank heavens for no lightning, but they were soaked before they even made it out to the battlefield. With ten year old boys, the rain only added to the fun. For this 40 year old momma, it did not. 

They had epic capture the flag battle in the woods and on the field for about an hour. Evan told me, "it felt like being in a real-life video game!" He can't wait to go back.

We had family over on his actual birthday. Evan got everything he asked for and more! He even got a special birthday song by Callie!

I think turning ten was Evan's favorite, even with a swollen nose!

With a childlike faith...

The boys and I are a big part of The Stirring at Hope Church. John has played in the worship band for almost 10 years and I have been on the Leadership Team for 7. The boys are regulars and love helping out in any way, from being a greeter to taking up offering. We love our church!

Each year, The Stirring has a Maundy Thursday service. It’s one of our ‘big’ services that we plan for months on end. Each year, Holy Week become sort of a nightmare for me until Friday. Not only do I have our regular Easter stuff to get done, school egg hunts, Easter baskets to fill, Easter brunch, etc, I also am very involved in the planning of Maundy Thursday. These big services have a lot of moving parts that have to be executed in such a way that it looks seamless. And on top of this, it’s baseball season....for two boys...

Needless to say, I usually don’t feel very holy during Holy Week.

This Maundy Thursday seemed to be pretty taxing on my emotional and spiritual self. I was very caught up in the details, which is where the Devil lives (or so I hear) that I was missing the bigger picture. I was caught up in stressing about if the wooden chargers on the table were the right shade of brown. Did my volunteers know not to wear white? Were all the highlighters the same thickness on the table? Would someone go rouge and write a word that wasn’t on our list on the table (they did). And oh...would I screw up announcements somehow (spoiler alert: I did).

This is actually me doing announcements Christmas. I just like the picture.

This Maundy Thursday, we focused on things we need to lay down at the cross. Things we try to pick up and carry even though we know it’s in our best interest to give over to God. Those things that keep us from getting closer to God. Those things we just don’t quite trust God to handle. Those things we are ashamed of.

Boy did I have a list.

You would think helping with the planning of this service would be a huge wake-up call for me. While I had those moments, it was my children who really made me see what I was missing.

After the service was over, Luke pulled on my sleeve. He told me he wanted to ask me something:
Luke: What were they writing on the table?
Me: Well, those are the things that they want to give over to God. They have something in their life that is preventing them from being close to God, and they are choosing to lay it down and let God take care of it.
Luke: Did you write a word?
Me: Yes.
Luke: What was it?
Me: I wrote ‘perfectionism’ because I sometimes I get hung up on what my life is supposed to look like rather than the life God has planned for me.
Luke: Can I write a word?
Me: Sure, baby. What do you want to write?
Luke: Worry. I have worry in my heart, and I want to give that to God.

Luke, my one who is always thinking and listening even when I believe he isn't, got it. He really really got it.

We walked up to the table and he wrote his word. Evan comes bounding up to us in his overly excited way bouncing and dancing around saying “Hey y’all. What are y’all doing? What’s going on? What’s he writing?” I explained our conversation, and Evan asked if he could write a word. He asked me not to share what he wrote, but it really pulled at my heartstrings as well.

That night, I went to sleep knowing that if not one of the 2000 people in that room enjoyed, liked, or was affected by the service, that was okay. My two boys....only 7 and 9... got something huge out of it all while showing their momma what was important.

The next morning I woke up to this. Someone from the church took this picture of Evan worshiping. I showed this to Evan and asked him if he remembered it. He didn't. He wasn't sure when it was taken or what part of the service it was. All he knew is he felt like lifting himself up to God in praise. It truly wrecked me.

One demonstrative child and one deep quiet thinker. Both children of God. Both allowing God to work in their heart. Both showing me what I need to focus on.  Both whom I am proud to call mine. 

Luke: "Be strong and courageous, for the Lord, your God, will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

Evan: Proverbs 16:3, "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans."