Rachelle D. Alspaugh's Blog, page 55

Mother's Day 2015

 It is such an awesome privilege to love and be loved by these two boys and have them call me Mom.
 
I made everybody's favorite for dinner tonight, chicken enchiladas. But this time Juan David watched very intently until he knew what to do, and then he took over! He's ready to make his own enchiladas now someday, all by himself. :)

Showered with love

In all twelve years that I've been teaching here in Texas,  I don't know if I have ever had a class shower me with so much love during Teacher Appreciation week as I did this year. Actually, both classes showered me with love, affection, presents, and appreciation all week.  Here are a few pics to prove it. :)





Our coworkers said our classroom made it look like we robbed a floral shop with all the flowers we both received.   This is what I took home with me . . .  and displayed on my kitchen table.  This is what I left in my classroom. :) The next day I took home a huge box of perfumes, lotions, and candles. The day after that, chocolates. And the following day, more chocolates, more candles, classroom goodies, and jewelry. Plus I still continued to get more flowers every single day all week. Then Saturday I got to celebrate the week at Starbucks with my three favorite guys in the world, compliments of a gift card from a student. 
I love summertime, and I love spending time with my boys, but I am sad to think I only have a few more weeks left with my precious four and five year olds.  I love them dearly, and they sure did make me feel loved this week. The flowers alone made my year.

Defensive MVP

Gotta brag on my son. I went to his end of year soccer banquet for high school tonight. I was one proud mom when his coach announced the three awards for the JV team, and he won one of them!  I am so happy for him!

    Another one of those moments when I think, "What if . . . ?"  "What if we decided it wasn't worth trying all over again the second time to adopt him?"

Here is a picture from yesterday's game from his recreational soccer team, FC Garland. All of the boys in the picture are on the same high school team, but yesterday they had to play as opponents in the recreational league. Made for an interesting game, especially when the yellow guys won. :)

Embracing today with gratitude

For some reason, I have a hard time embracing today. I am always looking toward tomorrow (or next month), and I find myself missing out on the joy of right now. My daily gratitude journal helps me immensely in this area because it helps me count my blessings before doing anything else rather than letting the anxiety of all I don't have (or all I still need to do) take over my attitude for the day.

(Yes, I write about that much every single day, first thing in the morning.) Without getting into details at the moment, let's just say our family is dealing with more change and loss again. I have my moments of panic, but for the most part, I feel a very surprising peace about it all. Maybe because people are praying? Maybe because I'm focusing on Scripture and saturating my mind with it? Maybe because I've watched God carry us through so much that I know He'll carry us through this, as well? Maybe because God starts me out each day by reminding me of everything I have to be thankful for?

Maybe for all the reasons above, and probably more.

Today I am choosing gratitude, despite the temptation to focus on what's gone.

Today I am thankful for sunshine, for my front and back porch, and for a restful day. I am thankful for my boys' soccer teams and soccer games, keeping them healthy, motivated, determined, and disciplined. I am thankful for the beautiful weather yesterday that we had while we watched their games yesterday, and I am thankful that they both won.






I am thankful for my family, for the relationship my sons have built as brothers over the last two years. I am thankful they enjoy spending time with each other.

I am thankful for my husband and his commitment to me. I am thankful for the marriage program at church that is helping us be better communicators with each other and better spouses to each other.

I am thankful for my church, my pastors, my Lifegroup, my ReEngage group, my Bible study groups, the student ministry, and the growth that I see in my sons as they faithfully attend and participate in all of the activities and events offered.

I am thankful for my sweet Pre-kinder students and all that they teach me every day. I am thankful to be in a classroom where I can have fun and move around all day. I am thankful for a job that lets me walk away fulfilled at the end of the day, ready to come back the next. I am thankful for my principal's faith in me to teach the babies of the school, to start them out on the right foot.

I am thankful for friends who are always there, to love you through the hard times and celebrate with you in the good times.

I am thankful for my writer's group--for their friendships, their honest critique and feedback, their encouragement, and the opportunities they open up for me.

I am thankful for all our stuff because nearly every item we own came with a story of blessing.

I am thankful for a personal God who knows me fully and loves me deeply. I am thankful to see how God loves me in my own love languages, through quality time and with words of affirmation. He made me a morning person specifically to spend the early morning hours with Him, and He speaks words of affirmation to me through His Word every morning before I start my day. No wonder I am never in a good mood if I get up too late and miss that time. (Watch today's sermon online to understand where I got all that from. Excellent message. www.lakepointe.org )

Gratitude. It does a body good.

Let it rain, let it rain

No wonder I've felt so scattered lately. This has been the season of constant rescheduling, first from the snow, now from the rain. Usually by now, the boys' spring soccer seasons are coming to a close. But so far, they've only played about 3 games and have had at least five postponed and rescheduled, and then some postponed and rescheduled again. They get all psyched up to play one, two, or even three games a week,(while we get all stretched out trying to make sure everyone has transportation at the right time), only to watch each one get rained out. When it's not physically raining, they still can't play when the fields are soaked and filled with puddles. 

David's campout (AKA Man's Land) got rained out last weekend, too, so they decided to combine it with Juan's campout with the high school guys this weekend.  Guess what? It rained and poured and stormed all day yesterday, so much that they had to cancel the actual camping out part. They made the most of the situation, though, and turned it into a full day event today, starting early this morning and going till late tonight.  It's out on a big piece of land that belongs to the youth pastor's family, so they got to do a bunch of outdoor/guy kinds of things.  Mike went along with them, so I am glad they are getting to spend the day with him, as well as with each other. He's been working a lot of odd and long hours lately, so they've missed a lot of quality time with him. (As to all those long, odd hours, that will be a whole different post).

I will post pictures after they get back.

Change of plans

I got so excited when I saw a weekend on the calendar where both boys would be gone just a week after our anniversary. I seized the opportunity to plan a little weekend getaway with Mike.  We made a reservation at a local campsite, and we eagerly counted down the days. Well, first we found out that David's campout only lasted one night instead of two. Mike saved the day (and my disappointment) by asking if he could spend a second night with one of his friends going on the campout.

David played a soccer game till almost ten o'clock on Thursday night and then came home to finish packing for the next day. He went to bed quickly after getting home and told me to wake him up early so he could get all his stuff ready to go. Time would be tight after school before getting him to the church by 5:00. 

I got him up early on Friday morning, only to have him walk out to me saying, "I'm sick, Mommy. I think I have a fever."

He was burning up, so I took his temperature and found he had a fever of almost 101.  He said his throat was killing him. A few hours later, he came home from the doctor diagnosed with strep. Ugh. He missed school, and I had to text his youth pastor to say he'd have to miss the campout. I also texted his friend's mom to cancel out on Saturday night plans, too.

So, rather than cancel our reservation for Saturday night, we took David along with us on our weekend getaway. Not exactly what we'd planned, but we did enjoy spending the weekend with him. Sometimes he really does just need some focused time with Mom and Dad. Love that boy.




 










 Things turned out in David's favor, too, when they postponed his church campout due to thunderstorms coming through the area Friday night. Looks like he didn't miss out on it, after all.  

To Awanis Key Leader Camp and back

 Packed and ready to go  Buses pulling back in


Celebrating little sister's birthday after we said a special prayer for her life.

I celebrate you today

Happy 13th birthday to my little Colombian princess. Not a year goes by on this date that I don't stop to celebrate you and to wonder what you're actually doing and how your mother is celebrating with you. Not a day goes by that I don't think of you and pray for you. Taking the time to re-write our story has evoked more emotion in me than I knew still existed, and it has made me realize how much I still miss you. Your sweet voice still plays in my head. Juan David and I talk of you often. He will love and adore you forever (both of your brothers will), and I hope someday you will be able to reconnect with them. We still have your pictures up in several places at home, so know you will always be a part of all of us. I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to know you and love you because I know that has helped your brother attach well to our family since coming home two years ago. You would be so proud of the man he is becoming. I am grateful for the memories we made with both of you together. I love you, Sweetheart, and I always will. May your special day be blessed and full of life, for the lively little girl I remember you being. (Your brother is camping this weekend, but we will get a small cake to celebrate your birthday with him when he comes home.)

Happy 22nd birthday to Julian, too, earlier this week. We love you and miss you, but at least we are still in touch several times a week. You are your brother's hero, and I will make sure he always knows how much you did to help him come home to us.

(For the whole story, tune in to my other blog periodically, unexpectedtearsbook.blogspot.com .)

One more soccer team

So proud of this guy. He tried out for the soccer team at Austin Academy this week, and he made the team! He didn't think he stood a chance against all those big eighth graders.

So, now we officially add one more team to the mix.

Camping, camping, and more camping

If I've witnessed anything through our camping adventures over the last year, it's this: camping is where family happens. I don't feel we really started to gel as a new family unit until we went camping, again, and again, and again. There's just something about getting away together, even if we only drive a few miles up the road to the nearest lake and campground. Mike and I enjoy the quiet mornings with a cup of coffee. The boys enjoy late night campfires, s'mores, and playing games till the wee hours in the morning. We love to get away on our own, and we love that God blessed us with a camper to be able to invite others to go along. 
We enjoyed our last campout in November with my brother and my nephews to celebrate Mike, David, and Juan David's birthdays. When I saw a free weekend on the calendar for Easter this year, I quickly filled it with our first campout for the year. Then at the last minute, we invited our friends to come with us. 
I came home feeling blessed, and I eagerly look forward to the next free weekend that might pop up on the calendar.  Here are a few pics of our fun!
































 Two weekends from now, both boys will be at different campouts. David will attend Man's Land for the middle schoolers at church in Bonham, Texas, while Juan David will participate in a leadership retreat at Mt. Lebanon with several ESL students from  all the high schools in Garland. (His teacher from his leadership class selected him to attend.) Mike and I might take the weekend to go camping alone for our 16th anniversary (a week later), unless Mike has other plans for us that he hasn't shared yet. :)  The following weekend after that, Juan will attend Man's Land for the high school guys at church in Paris, Texas.  Lots and lots of camping this month, and for all good reasons. I love it!