Back to blogging....

So much time has past since I last posted. Our family has been blessed in so many ways. I hope to get back to the parts of blogging that I enjoyed years ago. To begin with, our boys are older, of course (their parents are older too, but we won't dwell on that.) B is nine,R is seven years old, and L is four. We are currently winding up the 2012-2013 school year for the older boys as well as baseball season. Whew! Victor and I are ready for a break in the back to back sports seasons. Two boys in football, then basketball, then baseball with separate practices and games has meant a year of non-stop running! The saying goes, "Live and learn."  We have definitely done both!

In other news, we moved Again and more exciting...Victor is now very happily self employed.  After nearly fourteen years of building, land development, quality control, and home inspection experience he is now designing and building homes independently. People ask if the transition was scary, but I honestly believe that God was preparing us for this our entire marriage. The transition was pretty simple, but the results have been phenomenal! I won't go on and on.....but we are most definitely blessed to have more time together!

So, this is it for now. More to come.

Our Eldest Son

The oldest.....he is six years and ten months old and he is mature and naive at the same time. this picture was taken a year ago when he was a kindergartner. He raised more money for "Jump Rope for Heart" than anyone else in his elementary school and got to be teacher for the day in P.E. class.

B loves school. He is in a dual language class and we are so blessed that he has the sweetest classmates and is a hard worker. (Side note......he now translates common construction phrases that his Daddy hears at work. It makes him feel very helpful!)

B played baseball this summer for the first time and he both enjoyed it and improved. Really, as a mom I wasn't super excited about entering this extra curricular phase and the start of the season was rocky (for me...he was fine.) See, I was chasing a toddler and the games were loooong and slow. However, there was this one game where things just suddenly clicked and those little boys suddenly got it...and then...it got exciting!! Who knew?!

He likes to go fishing and he frequently debates favorablity of weather conditions with his brother.

He has a kind heart, large vocabulary, and he is quietly conscientious.

He likes to shoot and hunt....like A LOT! He takes shooting very seriously and he is accurate!

B and R have always been the best of friends and fiercely competitive! They share similar interests, but approach nearly every situation from opposite angles. B is careful and persistent. R jumps in with reckless abandon.

Our love for this boy is tremendous!! He is a blessing each day!

Finally, if you don't want to take our word that B is super special just ask this little guy! He happens to adore his "Bubba." B is patient and kind to his baby brother and they are always a beautiful picture for this mommy's eyes.

Re-introduction Part 1

So, I was thinking that it is probably a good idea to re-introduce our family. We may have changed since you last saw us here.

This picture was taken Thanksgiving 2009 at the Cross Ranch (Gran and Papa's new playground) we love it there, but more on that in another post.

B is six years old, R had just turned five years old, and L is one year old.

Yes, we actually got a good group photo!! Thanks, Mimi!

Now I will begin a little catch up with each of my guys.....starting with my main squeeze.

Victor is still working for residential builder and for the past year we have been very blessed b/c he has been working in a neighborhood just 5 minutes from home and he enjoys his work.

He still likes to hunt and does so whenever he gets a chance. However, over the past several years this is the view that he enjoys the most.

Several, years ago he decided that of all his hobbies fresh water fishing comes out on top....and THEN he got a yak and he was in love!!

That's short for kayak, for all of you non-fisher persons (myself included.) ;)

Yes, now he continually yearns to be fishing on a river!!

In addition, he continues to serve the Church as a deacon focusing most of his energies to that end on the areas of worship and building and grounds maintenance.

He is always moving towards improvement. God has blessed our family with a wonderful leader. He continues to show kindness, love, and spiritual growth! We are thankful for him each and everyday!

Nothing on TV

Sometimes, when there is nothing good on television you learn something about yourself...........

What? You don't? Oh well, it's probably just me......

You see, one night not to long ago we were flipping through the channels and my honey happened to stop on a program about hoarders. You know, the one where people are more or less burying themselves alive within the walls of their home. Don't panic, this isn't going where you think!

Anyway, the program exposed a woman who just couldn't seem to give up any of her stuff even though she was surrounded by filth.

Then a psychologist was asked how and/or why a hoarding problem begins. It was explained that for some people, after they face a traumatic loss they are then unable and unwilling to give up something and eventually they can't part with anything and they tend to accumulate more and more stuff.

Other folks however, are perfectionists and that is the root cause of their hoarding.
Say what???

That's right, if they don't have the time or don't know quite how to organize a space perfectly they put it aside thinking that someday they will get back to it. However, if they don't get back to it the disorder grows and spreads and eventually becomes so overwhelming that the person never even attempts to manage it because they know they couldn't get it perfect. WOW!!

If anyone is still reading at this point they are wondering where all of this rambling is headed........

Well, it occurred to me (and it just seems to keep coming back to me) that my dear, sweet husband has been after me to blog again ever since I stopped. He says his misses it. Which I think is sweet but surprising (he lives with me so he is already familiar with any material I have to blog about.) Nevertheless, after months of him pestering me and reminding me I still haven't picked it up again even thought there was never a time that I didn't intend to blog again soon.
So why haven't I posted???

I have not blogged because, I am a perfectionist.

See, I had this third baby and I got behind on house construction pics. Then, I just got behind on posting in general. But, I was gonna get it all sorted out! I was just a month, no three months, no a year behind, and then, and THEN it was all just to much and I couldn't catch up!!!! I didn't even know where to start!

So I didn't....until now.

Now I will blog because my honey wants me to blog and because I don't have to be perfect. Someone profound died so that I wouldn't have to be perfect and I needed to be reminded.
So, thank you "Hoarders Buried Alive."

It's been a great year!

Yes, it's been a whole year (to my great shame) since I last posted. In that year we have been blessed beyond measure!!!

We moved into our new house on March 28, 2009....you read that ten weeks to a house from start to finish!! Uh huh, my hubby ROCKS!! He was also highly motivated to not bring another person into that tiny rent house with only one bathroom!! He cut it close!



We celebrated Braden's 5th birthday on April 4th with a fun pirate party complete with a treasure hunt! Check out the loot!






































































......and what are they doing?????





















Did you guess????


Oh yes, Papaw and Jan got B a tepee for his 5th birthday! Very unique and one year later...it is still a hit!
























Then five days later, we welcomed a new, beautiful, healthy baby boy!! Lincoln Bryce Cummings was born on April 9, 2010 by c-section. He weighed in at 8' 11oz and was 21 " long (our smallest.) The doctor's proclaimed the delivery smooth sailing but the Mommy proclaimed the recovery the roughest yet!
















L came to us laid back and easygoing!! His brothers have adored him from the very first.

Thank you Lord for little boys!!!

Week Ten of Construction of House #2

I don't have many pictures of construction this week. The garage door was installed. Insulation was blown into the attic and Victor spent all day Saturday on the Bobcat removing construction debris and leveling the yard in preparation for the driveway and the sidewalk to be poured. He also dug trenches for water and electrical lines and then installed these lines.

This is a pic of the front yard sans foundation form boards, excess drywall material, and piles of masonry sand and stone. Victor moved the big stuff with the power equipment and this pregnant lady and her little men handled the smaller junk. We made quite a picture I'm sure.
Nevertheless, we got the job done.

The wearin' o' the green......

We now interrupt the continuous stream of construction updates to say Happy St. Paddy's Day!!















Thanks Pappaw and Jan for the cute buttons!
As we drove to school today I heard B say to R, "Okay, I will surprise my friends w/ my shamrock button and you can surprise your friends w/ your green smiley face button!"
They were so proud and funny!!