He is 20

Twenty years ago my baby boy was born. God blessed us with this precious gift, choosing us to be this little boys parents. The Lord entrusted us to raise this boy for His glory. We raised him up, taught him at home and gave him as much wisdom as we could. He flew from our nest with a firm foundation to be a light to the world. Our prayers are continually with him as he lives his life. I promised myself when he was born that I would not blink. I would savor each day, each moment and enjoy every year. I blinked here and there and before we knew it he was all grown up. Now he's a man, yet, he will always be my little boy.

This year he turns 20.

We are so blessed that God gave this sweet soul to us. I wouldn't have chosen any other boy as our son. He is perfect for us. He was such an easy going child, and never gave us too much guff. He was compliant and dutiful, sweet and full of love. If I could do it all over again...I would in a heartbeat.

This is our second year without him at home.

 It stings my heart that we were not able to spend this special day with him. We pray he had an awesome day. At least I know his sweet love made his day filled with celebration. She really made it extra special for him and even kept some of our little birthday traditions. Her's to another year. Son, we pray your 20th year will be filled with blessings and much love as you continue to shine!

Happy Birthday to you!!!

It Was A Good Day...

I woke up this morning and crept into my son's room, singing happy birthday. Down to the kitchen I went to prepare him some birthday pancakes. Or shall I say mouthwatering birthday pancakes from scratch. Yummy. My boy came down to a pile of pancakes with a candle on top. Birthday wishes were made as his candle was blown out. So sweet.
Here is the recipe to those yummy tantalizing pancakes:
Mouthwatering Golden Pancakes
****
· Milk (I prefer evaporated milk or cream for thicker pancakes and more flavor) (3/4 cup)
· Flour (1 cup)
· Baking powder (1 teaspoon)
· Salt (1/2 teaspoon)
· Eggs (1 egg whisked)
·Melted Butter (2 Tablespoons)
· Sugar (1 Tablespoon)
-vanilla (1/2 teaspoon)
Mix together dry ingredients then add wet ingredient. Mix together.
 Do not over mix. if batter is too thick add a little extra milk until you get desired consistency.
Now pour onto a heated griddle. Serve topped with butter and your fave syrup.
 Enjoy.

After breakfast we took him to the movies. We saw The Avengers.
Then we went to our favorite birthday place. Red Robin...
We had burgers and rootbeer floats. Oh yeah.
 
We also enjoyed cookies. Since he is not really a cake kind of guy...
So a stack of chocolate chip cookies topped with a candle of course.
It was a good day for our birthday boy.

You Will Forever Be My Baby...

The doctors tried pushing for a c-section to be scheduled May 28th.... We decided to wait a bit longer.Thankfully we didn't have to wait much longer...5 days later...June 2nd.... my water broke. I went into labor and in just 6 hours and 30 minutes of pushing AND with no pain meds. I gave birth to my very first child. A sweet boy...I was going to say little boy. But he was bigger than we anticipated. At 9 pounds 11 ounces and 21 1/2 inches long, it was like we were holding a three month old baby. He became the center and joy of our lives. I promised myself I wouldn't blink.

 And before we knew it, our boy became a man. Today he turns 18. We have enjoyed watching him grow up into the wonderful person the Lord has made him to be...Sometimes I secretly wish I could just turn back time for a bit, to hold him in my arms, listening to his little coos, holding his tiny fingers. I miss dressing him up in those little boy outfits and watching him take his first steps. These things will forever be in my memories...Memories I will forever hold dearly and close to my heart. Today we will enjoy watching him, enjoying his day, celebrating his birthday.

 Happy Birthday to you my sweet son.

Forever I will love you, We are blessed that God chose you to be our boy.

 And though you may be a man today, you will forever be my baby.

A Home School Graduation...

It's official... We graduated our boy from High School Home School. Can I just say we are very proud parents right now. It was wonderful, it was special, it was definitely memorable. We thank God for giving us this young man. We invited family and church family to this glorious occasion. It was a blessing to share this special moment, a huge accomplishment and milestone for our boy. It was also quite emotional, I almost couldn't make it through the little speech I put together, I was a wreck...Tears were flying everywhere..Happy tears of course. I just get all gooshy.. I don't think there was a dry eye in the group.

(With proud parents)

(Our little happy family)

You did it son...Congratulations.

(Notice cake...cute huh? It say's 2011 on it because he technically graduated in December...

We waited for Sprintime to celebrate)

(With Friends)

(With Great Gramma)

(With Grandparents)

We are truly blessed

Here is a special video I made for him. Check it out...The song is the sweetest thing.

 In just a little over 3 1/3 minutes you will see our boy grow up. Enjoy...Oh and don't forget to pause my playlist music on the sidebar so you can hear the song on the video.

Haiti Concert Fundraiser...

    

My son had a wonderful opportunity last Summer on a 3 week missions trip to The Czech Republic...It was such a wonderful opportunity for him to serve. Before the trip our church held a concert fundraiser, which was a huge success. This year they did the concert fundraiser again, this time for Haiti. My son will not be going on the trip this time since there is so much going on right now and possibly making a move this Summer, but he did participate in the concert. First let me share who these beautiful photographs were taken by. My son has a really close friend back home in Washington who was blessed to take a missions trip to Haiti a few months ago. Todd Kaumans is a very talented 19 year old film maker and photographer. He has used my sons music in a couple of his film projects as well as acting in a couple films he did. My son has also made some graphics for his entrepreneur business as well as designing his business card. They really have made a great team. Todd will be going back to Haiti in the Fall. I just had to share these shots from his trip. They are so captivating.

    

The concert was delightful through and through. Our church really has some talented people in it. Of course I am a proud Mama who adores her sons music. I am his number one fan. I pray he will go far in his composing his own music. After these sets of pictures make sure you click the video links I left below.

    

The first one is a lovely slide show of pictures taken by Todd as the music in the video was composed and played by my son. It is absolutely breathtaking.
P.S Please press pause on my music playlist on the sidebar to hear the music in the videos.

          

The next song was composed and played by my son....

He calls it Valzer Italiano which is sort of like a waltz.

                     

The last one above was also composed by my son and played as

a funky duet with our very talented friend Matt.

 If you check out my YouTube channel after the videos

 you can also watch a couple more videos I took from a couple other talented peeps.

What a wonderful fundraiser for Haiti. Enjoy,

His Graduation Pictures

 
Yup...It's true he graduated early from High School in December 2011, yet we have put off the grad pics. and ceremony till this Spring. It is now official...We home schooled our boy all his years through H.S., then he started attending a Jr. College this last Fall. Now he has one year of college under his belt finishing up in early May. We planned his special graduation ceremony for May 12th. I found a really fun site for home schooled graduates where you can order special diplomas and tassels etc.. We ordered both and found a wonderful deal at the thrift shop for a black grad gown and cap for....2 BUCKS...On sale. And it was in his size. So exciting. The guests are RSVPing, the food is planned out, the pictures are taken.
Now we just wait for the date. I can't believe the time has come...And he will be 18 in June.
 
All these changes. We are very proud of him. He is pursuing what he loves, studies hard and has kept a job through this school year. We look forward to the many blessings ahead that are awaiting him. We pray for him daily, we love him with all our hearts.
    
We had fun doing this little photo shoot. We are on a budget and can't afford to have professional pictures done. I would so much love to do that for him...So instead we improvised as best as we could. Thankfully my camera takes decent photos. He changed his clothes a couple times, we found some spots to take pictures in our town and he smiled his sweetest smile. And thank God for photo editing from Picmonkey
 ( I am so loving it)
 I played with the pictures for a spell and ended up with some nice shots. I am pretty proud of them. He loves them too. Just one more tiny session in his cap and gown, ceremony and party pics.
And we will have some wonderful picture moment memories. I am so grateful to God that we can do all this on a budget and still make it a special memory for our son. Wish we could buy him a car.
 Oh well. (sigh)
 
Just a couple more weeks and I'll get to share the rest of this story.
 Thanks for following along with us. Have a blessed day...The weekend is almost here.

Through His Eyes..(i phone)....

 

My son Maestro....What a gift, what a joy. We wouldn't trade him in for the world. This young man of mine was a little boy not so long ago. He will always be my little boy of course...Even though he is growing up so fast. We are very proud parents...I can boast right? In just a matter of five months he will be 18. I can't believe it. He has been home schooled almost his whole life up until this year. He started college to finish his senior year off as well as earn college credits early. They call it a dual credit program and ttechnically he has already graduated from the 12th grade this Winter..Woot Woot.... We are going to have a big celebration coming this Spring....So exciting. We will be taking his Senior pics and getting him a diploma. Now he is on the road to becoming a music major. He has been a talented pianist since the age of 7, writing his own compositions since. He has written a music score for a short film his talented friend has written and directed last year. So many wonderful gifts God has granted to him. We pray that he will fulfill his dreams of using his gifts in music some how in his future. Okay...pass the Kleenex.

 

This school year thus far has been a wonderful growing experience for him in so many ways. He has also captured some great artsy photos off his i phone as well....So, I thought I would share just a bit of his college experience so far...Through his eyes (i phone).

              

Oh yeah...He would also like to invite you to come by his new blog where he will record his thoughts, goings on in life and love for the Lord and music etc...Please stop by and visit him, perhaps become a follower and please keep him in your prayers. Your support will surly be an encouragement.

The Scoring Of....

Have yourself a wonderful weekend.