What do you say?

Kara graduated this past Sunday May 17 from high school. She found out on the Friday morning before that she was Valedictorian of her class.😃 She was ecstatic to say the least and so were we. Kara had worked extremely hard these past years to reach this goal. In addition to her regular course load, she took dual credit classes and has already completed 15 hours of college credit. On Friday night, we went to Clarksville, TN so that we could spend the day Saturday getting registered for fall classes at Austin Peay University. We checked out the mall side of town, the river walk area and downtown. We spent the night on base at Ft. Campbell. It is nice the base is there so we have a good place to stay when we visit at very reasonable rates. We had a great time at registration on Saturday and Kara is still pleased with her decision to attend Austin Peay. She wants to pursue an Elementary Education degree with a K-6 certification. I guess it runs in her blood! Graduation was a success although it rained the entire time and that put a damper on making outside pics. We had a little get together at the house afterwards with family and friends.

Kali completed 6th grade and has a busy summer ahead of her with a Disney trip we have planned for next week, church camp and then a trip to visit her BFF Faith later in the summer.

The title of Kara's speech that she gave at graduation was titled "What do you say?" What do you say to the people you have spent the last 13 years with? Today I sent my Kindergarteners off for the summer and into first grade in the fall. What do I say to them and their parents after the last year? I don't have the words. They have been such a blessing to me and I have enjoyed watching them grow and learn. It is pure joy to hear them read to me!!!!! When they realize they can read, it is such a priceless moment! They will always hold such a special place in my heart and their families too.

Thank you Lord for the blessing of children! Prayers that you and yours have a blessed summer!

When things don't go as planned...

Sometimes I wonder if God thinks to himself when we post things on social media "you probably wouldn't want to post that if you knew what I know." Things don't always work out the way we plan-actually things rarely work out the way we have planned. Maybe the end result is the same but how we reach it is much different than how we thought it would be. And so....

Spring break was the last week of March and first week of April. I had it all planned out or so I thought. I had an outpatient surgery scheduled and would be able to rest during the spring break and during the days to follow. Marty, Kara and Kali would be able to help me and take care of me. I would not have to worry about a thing. The surgery went off great and I was home in just 8 hours from the time I had arrived at the hospital the morning of the surgery (Tuesday). That night-I was a little out of it thanks to modern medicine :) -Kara was starting to feel very bad and began with what we thought was a stomach bug. By Thursday night, she was very very sick and we took her to er. She had seen our primary doctor but was not recovering as she should of been. She was admitted to the hospital for dehydration and we expressed our concern to hospital staff of a spot on her leg that looked infected. They were not as concerned about it and did not give it the attention that we thought it needed. She was released on Saturday from hospital. Due to my surgery, Marty had been the one to stay with her at hospital since I did not need to be up and about any more than necessary. I did go and see her each day at the hospital but didn't stay for long at a time. The spot continued to get worse and by Tuesday we were at a surgeon in Jackson who lanced the spot in his office. It was determined to be staph. They cut a spot 3 inches long, 1 inch wide and 3 inches deep out of her leg which she had to change the dressing and pack twice a day for the last 5 weeks. Up until yesterday she still had to pack it but now it is small enough for a bandaid. Praise The Lord she was able to heal from it. She was quite the trooper and did awesome taking care of her wound.

I had thought I would be the one to be taken care of during this time but not so much. Honestly, those
first couple of weeks are a blur to me. My mind was overloaded with worry for Kara that I really don't  know how I felt through my whole recovery. I am thankful that even though selfishly I thought it would be my time to be taken care of that my mind was kept off myself and on my sweet Kara.
Just days after her procedure we took off to Chattanooga for the TN Future Business leaders of America state conference. Kara was the state Vice President for this year and this was her big finale. We had a great time in Chattanooga and it was a great conference. Kirk and Kara really enjoyed being a part of FBLA during their high school years. We will miss it for the next couple of years but hope our school will still have an active chapter when Kali gets to high school.

While we were in Chattanooga, Kirk started his trek home from Florida. He had told us the week after my surgery and the day before Kara's procedure that he would probably be coming home. He had a shortened stay with the Disney program. He really enjoyed his time there and would like to go back when he finishes his degree and work in a management position. Things didn't work out the way he or we had planned but we have to trust that God has a better plan and trust in his ways. Just in the last 2 weeks I have been reminded of how nice it has been to have Kirk home. He got to attend his
uncle's wedding weekend before last, be with us for homecoming at my home church, be here for the celebration of my Uncle Sammy's life at his funeral this weekend, celebrate Mother's Day with me and be here for Kara's graduation activities. Thank you Lord for unexpected blessings in unexpected ways.

We are down to the last 7 days of school. Where in the world did this year go?!!!! I have really enjoyed my sweeties and they have been such a blessing to me. I will miss them but I feel like they are ready for summer break and ready to move on to first grade.

 Blessings to all and I hope that during the times that things don't go as planned you can see/experience the unexpected blessings that only God can provide. :) May we all have the best summer ever!